We left the coastal town of Odessa, Ukraine on the 17th of July. It was a teary good-bye for us all. We had a two hour flight to Vienna, Austria and then on to Milan, Italy where Nicolo and his mom waited for us. We drove 20 minutes to their home just south of Como, and had a wonderful dinner prepared by Nick's dad and brother, Sebastiano. Later that night, we drove back to Milan where we spent the night at Nick's mom's apartment. The next morning we were off at 10 am on the train for Rome. It was a smooth, fun ride... getting to know Nick's friend, reading, dozing, watching the scenery and dozing again. In Rome, we changed trains, and went the rest of the way to the town of Anzio, where we caught a ferry for the island of Ponza. Total travel time... eight hours! But it was worth it!