Amazing how, despite these ancient burial sites' distance from major city centers, there still manage to be a few people holding forth in a shack selling Coke for two dollars a can. After a suitable snack break (I resisted the Coke and wondered how long my resistance would last), we were freed again at an even more wide-ranging site with dozens of burial mounds available for exploration, climbing upon (hey, even the families of the deceased would occasionally come to picnic with their dearly departed), and just plain getting lost in.

As the afternoon progressed, curious sun-seeking lizards came out onto the rocks to soak up the sun. Black, with tiny, bright green spots, we took bets on whether they bite or are poisonous. Some had a darkened tail, signifying loss and regrowth. Most jumped away through the low grass before we could even tell they were there.

And again, our group gets a special tour of a burial mound that's closed today; this one even has its own moat. Now -that's- style.

Just when our collective will for sightseeing has been exhausted, we are treated to a spectacular view of the Tyhrennian Sea with the sun easing down to the horizon beyond it.

Italy sure is great, I think to myself, not knowing words that could equal the view :-). We shuffle onto the bus one last time, pretty much overwhelmed by the day's catch of museum/necropoli/countryside. It's a very quiet bus ride back to Rome, as two dozen tired students absorb an entire culture in ten hours. And we have two months more of this still to come? Last one to take caffeine supplements is a rotten egg!