It just occurred to me that we have neglected to mention something rather important. We went to Venice. We spent a night there in between Hamburg and Rome. After dinner, I thought it would be a good idea to "get St. Mark's Square out of the way" but when we arrived, I realized that was utterly silly. We would definitely have to return. Just massively beautiful. And flooded! With gross Venetian water. I waded into it anyway.

To continue (from the incredibly hot Naples):

In the middle of the Piazza, there was some dry ground, but I couldn't resist getting my feet wet, even though I knew I'd basically need antibiotics afterward. Towards the basilica, the water hit my calf (for others, the ankle), and everyone was splashing around trying to move from one corner to another or just playing like children (of which there were so many).

The next day, we visited the Jewish Ghetto in Canareggio, where the Hamantaschen were called "orechiette di Hamann," the Ponte di Rialto (which completely stopped us in our tracks), and so many shops that sold marbled paper and handmade leather-bound notebooks. We bought an Italian phrasebook and can now get ourselves through a restaurant without sounding like complete tourists.

Venice was magic. Especially that night in the Piazza. Napoleon was right all along.