Mid-point check-in

I'm heading into my second day in Rome and I still haven't put up anything on the National Archaeology Museum in Naples. The pictures are piling up, and it's getting hard to keep up, mostly because I'm still doing a lot every day! And honestly, that's the problem I was hoping I'd have.

So, just a quick recap on where I am, what I've done, and what's coming up, with a promise of catching up on the pictures as quickly as I can.

Where I've been

• Barcelona - Wonderful experience that left me looking for an apartment at the airport while I waited for my flight. High points included:
• Wandering the streets of Barcelona until I found a great restaurant, beautiful churches, open-air markets, and the Mediterranean
• Museums with my wonderful friend (and native guide) Isaac
• Tapas and drinks with Isaac
• A living nativity show that still makes me catch my breath when I think about it
• Naples - While I appreciate that there are those who can love Naples, I am not that person. My highlights here were all out of the city:
• Pompeii and her wonderful ghosts who walked with me as I visited
• Vesuvius and Vulcan's shadow
• Herculaneum teaching me how the sausage was made

Where I am

• Rome - I'm here now, and wow! This city has already lived up to the hype and I've been here just over 24 hours. Not doing highlights yet because, well, it's only been 24 hours! But I'll mention what's on the agenda:
• Roman ruins - the big ones, not just the "Oh, I've turned a corner and look! Roman stuff!" Think Coloseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill. That's planned for tomorrow with my friend Tracy E who happens to be in Rome at the same time I am!
• Dinner out with Tracy for a belated birthday treat.
• Catacombs, which everyone and their brother who's been here has told me is an absolute must-see. So, I'm going to see them. 
• Visited six cathedrals today, but none in Vatican City, so that's a definite go for Sunday
• This includes mass with the Pope to get his blessing on my two rosaries

Where I'm going

• UK - I'm bugging out of Rome early due to feeling more than a little homesick. Since I'll be with a friend in the UK - and English is the preferred language - I'm hoping that will staunch the worst of it. That means giving up midnight mass with the Pope on Christmas Eve, but it does mean giving my worn out body a rest from 10-mile-a-day city hikes for an extra 48 hours. 
• Lincoln - Time in, catch-up on pics, cathedral, castle, Christmas dinner with Brian
• Edinburgh - This is a whirlwind 24 hours in Scotland, so we'll do the castle, of course, and then see what other mischief we can manage
• Preston - Dinner and drinks with our friend Pete!
• London - BRITISH LIBRARY!! And dinner and drinks with our friends Berry, Kyle, and Shaun
• Paris - The last leg of this amazing tour. Brian and I are taking the train through the Chunnel on our way to a (in theory) relaxing three days in Paris, including New Year's Eve. We'll also be having drinks with another friend, who's real name I honestly don't know. Huh. I know him as Duque. *grins*
• Find textile museum that Tracy mentioned
• Louvre
• Arc de Triumphe
• Notre Dame (outside only, of course)
• Stroll down the Seine
• Coffee while sitting at a table, just watching Paris go by

Then, the day after my eldest two children turn 26, I fly home to my dog, my new kitten, my children, and my job. And an unprecedented amount of sleep, I'm going to guess.