Bill & Kathy's excellent adventure

Naples and Pompei

2009-07-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Naples, Our Last Cruise Port of Call…

We arrived in Naples early in the a.m. and docked so quietly I doubt that anyone felt it. There were lots of tour options for today, but many of them involved a 9 or 10 hour bus ride. That was Bill’s sole criteria for tours….no tours longer than 4 hours. So, we chose a trip to Pompeii with a local guide.

First, a bit about Naples. Naples is the third largest city in Italy, with a population of about 1.5 million people. Naples is in Campania and is the place where Pizza was invented (at least the thin crust pizza), and Enrico Caruso, a wonderful tenor, was a native of Naples. It is in the middle of two volcanic areas, Mt. Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields. Naples was founded by the Greeks, though I am pretty surprised that the Venetians didn’t get there first. It was part of ancient Greece and then part of the Roman Republic, where it was a favorite resort of wealthy Romans. It was the capital city of the kingdom of Naples from the 13^th century until 1816, when it formed a union with Sicily. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. So many different civilizations (the Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, Normans and Germans) have stopped, fought and taken over in Naples, each adding to a pretty rich history, that it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Naples was badly damaged in WWII and again in a major earthquake in 1980. These two periods of destruction in modern times have allowed Naples to rebuild in a more modern way and a new city is rising on the edge of the Eastern Harbor.

Naples taken from the ship

Both Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities destroyed by volcanic eruption in 79 A.D. are located outside of Naples. Of the two, though Herculaneum is much smaller, it is better preserved than Pompeii.

We boarded our tour bus, once again, no leg room, and heard a brief history of Naples from our local guide, Vito. He joked that his last name is Corleonne….I don’t know. It didn’t take long to go the 14 miles to Pompeii; again I was struck by how many apartment owners have as much greenery as they can cram onto their patios.

We export the best!

We arrived at Pompeii and were lucky to be early into the site, so no heavy crowds yet. Pompeii was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe. The last eruption took place in 1944 and Vito says they seem to occur about every 60 years, so they are overdue. Bill was glad no eruptions occurred while we were there!

Pompeii Necropolis we saw on the path…

The volcanic eruption buried Pompeii under 60 feet of lava ash and mud, and it was lost for nearly 1,700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1748. The forum, the baths, many houses, and some villas remain surprisingly well preserved. We know the exact date of the eruption (August 24^th, 79 A.D.) because Pliny the Younger provides a first-hand account from his position across the Bay of Naples, in a version which was written 25 years after the event. Perhaps it was so memorable because he lost his Uncle, Pliny the Elder, during the eruption.

Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge of the excavations in 1860. During early excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains. It was Fiorelli who realized these were spaces left by the decomposed bodies. He developed a technique of injecting plaster into them to recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims. What resulted were highly accurate forms of the citizens who failed to escape, in their last moment of life. Hydrogen Sulfide gas from the volcano killed most almost instantly. This technique is still in use today, with a clear resin now used instead of plaster.

Plaster cast of a victim

The remnants of “The House of the Faun” are well-preserved and have beautiful mosaics in some inner courtyards. The house belonged to an important Roman family and is named for the bronze statue of a dancing Faun in the courtyard. There is evidence that after the great earthquake in AD 62, the House of the Faun was rebuilt or repaired, but was ultimately rendered unusable by the eruption. The layers of ash covering the abandoned town preserved artworks, like the mosaics of the House of the Faun, which would have otherwise been likely destroyed or decayed due to the passage of time.

Dancing Faun

House of the Faun, interior courtyard

The Roman baths are also in very good condition and Vito spent a great deal of time telling us how the baths were designed to work. The water for the public baths (men and women had separate baths) came from one of the great Roman aqueducts. There was a cold plunge pool, a steam room and a hot pool.

Roman Bath

The last thing we saw was the Forum, which was very interesting because I thought the pillars were carved from marble, but in fact they were bricks stacked in a pattern and then plastered over. A lot easier and cheaper to do than marble.

Pillars of Forum with Mt. Vesuvius in background

Once again, I was sad to see to many stray dogs of all ages, obviously not cared for, living in the ruins of Pompeii.

Tomorrow it is back to Rome for three nights before we go home!

Athens (Socrates lived here!)

2009-07-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Athens

Benjamin Disraeli said, “Never apologize and never explain,” but I don’t know how many friends he had nor how often he blogged. At any rate we are apologizing for the delay in the last stops of our trip. It was Athens, Naples, Rome, just like that and then in Rome we decided another day at the Vatican Museum was a must and then we were just plain tired and then we were home and then I came down with the flu. So, we’re late, we’re sorry.

Athens

I am not sure why Celebrity called our stop “Athens” since we were in Piraeus, the largest harbor near Athens, not Athens itself. Piraeus is about 7 miles from Athens and it is actually and pretty nice community with gorgeous water views.

Solstice, our ship, at dock in background

Athens is the Capital of Greece and its recorded history goes back at least 3,000 years. According to legend, the goddess Athena gave the city an olive tree as a token of her protection of the city and the god Dionysus gave the vine tree. Athens was named for Athena. Athens was the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles and other philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world. It is often called “the cradle of civilization” because of its cultural and political impact on Europe during the 5^th and 4^th centuries B.C. (the Golden Age). The Roman Empire took control of Greece in the 2^nd century and it stayed that way until Rom fell to the Byzantine Empire in 476 A.D. Then came the dark ages, 500 years of misery, which must have been pretty awful for a country that produced Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Euripides and Aeschylus. The Turks ruled Greece until the 19^th Century, when there was an 8-year war of independence and in 1834; Athens was proclaimed the capital of the new, independent Greece.

The one reason I can think of to go to Athens (unless you are here to change planes to go to Santorini, Mykonos, Crete or Rhodes) is to see the Acropolis, which is exactly what we did. We started our tour with a stop at the Panathinaikon Stadium where the first modern day Olympics took place in 1896. It is built entirely of marble, and I don’t believe any other stadium in the world can boast that. After more than 100 years, the Athenians were thrilled to hold the Summer Olympics here in 2004.

Show stadium pic here

From there, we moved (very slowly because the traffic in Athens is unbelievable) to the Acropolis, which people often think of as being one place, when really it features many monuments. The day we chose to visit, so did approximately 5 million other people from all over the world. I don’t know if it was really 5 million but it felt that way, in the heat, when we were waiting outside the acropolis because the gate was closed, because there were too many people already in there! Our local tour guide found us a little shade, which we needed, it was really hot. In addition it gave her a chance to greet her sisters and her cousins, all of whom are also local tour guides.

The Acropolis

When we finally were admitted we started the long climb into the Acropolis (I think it is about 150 steps up and you are climbing from approximately sea level to about 490 ft. Lest anyone thing that the number of steps is the big thing, let me tell you that the steps are marble and very slippery even in dry weather. In addition, when you get higher, you are climbing on the ancient steps, uneven, marble, and very high in between steps. Our guide says they often close the Acropolis when it is raining because the steps are treacherous.

The Acropolis is a World Heritage Site and consists today of the remains of four ancient buildings: the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and the Propylaea.

Parthenon

The Parthenon was built by Pericles in the fifth century B.C. as a monument to the achievements of the people of Athens. It was home to a giant statue of Athena and took 9 years to build. It is probably one of the most recognized structures in the world. The restoration work there has been going on for 30 years and they want it to be perfect so it may go on a lot longer than that.

The Erecthion sits on the most sacred site of the Acropolis. According to legend, Poseidon and Athena Nike (this is her battle persona) fought over who would be the patron of Athens at this site.

Erecthion

Athena was the victor. This building contains the porch of the maidens or Caryatids, which are now copies as the originals have been put in the Acropolis museum. The fifth maiden was carried off to England by Lord Elgin…who knows if she’ll ever come home.

There is an amazing view of the city from up here, even through the smog that all big cities now have.

Athens taken from Acropolis

There is a small temple, called the Thission, built in 449 B.C., below the summit of the Acropolis. It is believed it was a temple to Athena. In later years it was used as a church, dedicated to St. George.

Also below the Acropolis is the theater of Herod Atticus, built by the Romans in 161 A.D. and still used today for classical concerts.

We got off the bus in the center of Athens, near the government buildings, so that we could walk into the Plaka, one of the oldest areas of the city, narrow cobblestone streets, old houses, taverns and shopping. We had a great Gyros and a Greek beer here before going off to do a little shopping for worry beads. Loved this statue in front of a church in the Plaka and the information contained at the bottom.

Eastern Orthodox Priest - see his quote about how priests are to be executed below! And his support for the jews.

We’re off to Naples tonight!

Istanbul, where east meets west

2009-06-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

Istanbul, where East meets West

We arrived in Istanbul at 7:00 this morning. It is, perhaps, the most unique city in the world because it is the only city in the world built on two continents, Europe and Asia.

Bridge east and west

It is on the shores of the Bosphorous and one of the longest suspension bridges in the world connects the two parts of the city. Over the course of 10,000 years, Istanbul has been the seat of three different empires. The Ottoman Empire, the last of these, lasted from 1299 to 1918, when Turkey picked the wrong side in WWI. The League of Nations started to divide up the spoils with the Greeks being interested in Turkey. But the national hero, Mustafa Kernal Ataturk organized his people and forced the establishment of the Republic of Turkey as we know it today. Istanbul has more than 2,000 mosques and 99% of the populatioln is Muslim, yet this country prides itself on having a secular government. Bill and I chose the Ottoman Istanbul tour which allowed us to see the Topkapi Palace (everything but the old harem section), the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.

Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace was once the home to Ottoman's sultans and their harems. Mehmet II built this in the mid-1400s and it was home to three generations of sultans. Suleiman the Magnificent is the one who enlarged it from a small Summer palace into a great complex of buildings set in beautiful gardens. Within the final section of the palace a museum has been arranged with household items (including a diamond encrusted baby cradle), the famous Topkapi Diamond and the Spoon maker Emeralds, each over 8 carats and traded for a spoon. The gardens are quite beautiful still and there is a corner courtyard that looks out over the city and the Golden Horn that is an amazing view.

View from palace

We lost a tour member on this section of the trip because between the bus and the palace she stepped into one of several holds in the street and broke a bone in her foot. Saw her back at the ship later in a cast and black and blue. She won't be touring the rest of the trip.

The Grand Bazaar was our second stop because it was Friday and there are extended prayer times on Monday at the Blue Mosque so we would not get there until after 6 p.m. The grand bazaar, which I think could be titled “The Grand Bizarre” in a huge market place with both covered and uncovered sections. There are merchants with permanent shops there and also lots of men who try sell you “100% silk, hand loomed rugs, 2,000 knots per sq. inch....only 50Euros!) You can buy anything you can think of there, rugs,leather, jewelry, silver, souvenirs, antiques, textiles and artwork. It was overwhelming so Bill and I sat down and had a Turkish coffee, very good.

Blue Mosque

We were finally able to get to the Blue Mosque after the 6 p.m. Prayers were finished. It is also called the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed and is the only mosque in the world with six minarets. The blue in the name comes from the thousands of blue Iznik tiles which line the wall of the mosque. The stained glass windows also have blue as a predominant color and the domes and half-domes are full of beautiful mosaics. We had to take off our shoes at the entrance and carry them in a little bag. There are many,many faucets with small stools in front all around the outside of the mosque, where worshipers stop to wash their feet and faces before they enter. The interior of the mosque is all carpeted and there is a small altar at the front. We were not allowed to walk past a certain point.

Women are not allowed to worship on the first floor, but must sit together in the second balcony, “so they won't be a distraction to the men” our guide pointed out....right. And he presented to us a young boy about to be circumcised which is a tradition moving to manhood, who was enjoying all the attention and adulation – little did he know!

We had a “connect the dots moment” in front of the Blue Mosque when Sinan, our guide said that the entire area had once been the Hippodrome, the site of chariot races, and the large entrance to the hippodrome had four large and beautiful bonze horses over it. The horses were stolen by the Italians. “They're in Venice,” we said at the same time!
Hagia Sophia where they are restoring minarets as seen from ship.

The Blue Mosque sits just across from the Hagia Sophia which was once the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world and the home of the Patriarch of that religion. It is said that 10,000 workers participated in it's construction and that Emporer Justinian had marble brought in from all over the world. It has been a museum for some time now and is full of beautiful mosaics and byzantine art. The Hagia Sofia is in the process of restoring its minarets.

The traffic in Istanbul, which is now a city of 15M people, was incredible and there is a haze of smog over everything. We were warned that pedestrians do not have the right of way ANYWHERE and to beware of the traffic. We were also taught the Turkish word for “NO” and told to use it repeatedly as the merchant will just follow you and keep following you trying to sell you something, even after you have repeated said, “Hayer.” I am taking back everything I said about Italian disorganization because they are models of precision compared to the residents of Istanbul.

We spent a day and a half in Istanbul, but Bill and I used the second day as an opportunity to rest, get some sun and enjoy all the ship has to offer. We haven't talked much about this ship, the Celebrity Solstice, but I'm going to ask Bill to post some of the “ship” pictures here.

While we have not played croquet at the lawn club, the beautifully manicured large area of real grass on deck 15, we have strolled up there in the evening when attendants are watering and it smells wonderful.

Lots more grass too!!

The ship has a library, a card room, a world map room and offers enrichment lectures on a variety of topics during the cruise.

Bill is just back from the astronomy lecture and we both went to a lecture last week on the connections between the Etruscans, Romans and Greeks. We have met people from all over the world and crew members from all over the world and we have eaten far too much good food in every venue on board. We have heard a world class Polish violinist and a 1950s Irish comedian in the big theater.

We are off tomorrow to Kusadasi, Turkey)

Kusadasi and the beautiful ruins of Ephesus

We knew we were getting close to Kusadasi when we saw pigeon island with the old pirate castle on it.

pigeon island with unknown foreground

Kusadasi is a small (50,000) and thriving metropolis Turkey's West side, right on the Aegean Sea. It has become a big holiday destination over the last few years because of the beaches, deep water harbor and because it is within a few minutes of Ephesus, the showplace of Aegean archeology.

Harbor Kusadasi

We boarded an early busy for Ephesus and were glad because I think it is going to be at least 85 today and there are not many trees around the ruins. We have learned (after a week!) that if the ship's news tells you to be at a certain place for your tour at 9:00 a.m. You should be there by 8:40. Otherwise you will be on bus 35. We were the first people in line and were on bus#1 this time, so the first one at the ruins. Our local guide, Tahir, as born here and other than a year, spent as an exchange student in Buffalo, New York, has lived his whole life in the area. Our buses drove along the Arcadian Way a ceremonial road built during the Hellenic period. Our buses dropped us off at the top of Ephesus and we were able to tour the ruins while walking downhill. As opposed to others buying their tickets at the bottom of the hill, who had to walk up in the heat.

Ephesus was colonized by the Ionians in the 10^th Century B.C. The city itself was established by one of the Generals of Alexander the Great. Excavations have been going on for some time and so far have uncovered the Artemis Temple (only one of the 127, 60' tall pillars of one of the seven wonders of the world, still remains), the theater, the Prythaneion Temple, the Marble Road, the Trajan fountain, the temple of Hadrian, the Serapis Temple and the Celsus Library (which alone was worth the price of admission), and the baths of Scholastika. The great theater, where St. Paul preached, is in amazing condition. It originally seated 24,000 people and they still have concerts here. They are still repairing damage suffered after a Sting concert almost 20 years ago, where the acoustics brought down part of the wall. The last concert given here (can be seen on You tube) was Elton John's concert. He had his piano lowered to the stage by helicopter!

Great Theater

The Library of Celsus was my favorite, perhaps because the facade has been so well restored by the

Austrian Archeology Institute over a period of five years.

Library of Celsus

There were feral cats all around the ancient city. Our guide told us not to worry about them as they are fed by the soldiers that guard the site. It didn't look like the soldiers were feeding them very well and I wondered if our guides explanation was merely to preclude us from asking about the hungry cats.

The Tourism Board had arranged a small entertainment for us, a triumphal procession of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra along the very road they had once used to enter the city. Then a gladiator fight, some dancing and juggling. I did not think Cleopatra looked very happy....of course, her costume was heavy, it was really hot and Marc Anthony did not look like Richard Burton!

Cleo and Marc Anthony dropped by for a visit (as they had in the 1st century)

We were dropped off downtown for shopping, which we did and our guide had recommended a small restaurant for lunch down a few alleyways. We had a little table outside and some very good food. A small feral cat waited quietly under Bill's chair for bits of chicken he conveniently (and unobtrusively) dropped. When we were finished, the cook came out of the restaurant and had someone ask me if he could have the #1 yellow sticker on my blouse (which the tour bus uses to identify us) and I gave it to him. He pasted it on his apron and said, “I am number 1 cook.” He was very funny and he as a good cook.

We walked slowly back to the ship, stopped to eat some fresh Baklava and write some post cards and made it back in time for a nap before dinner.

Tomorrow is a sea day, which they give us if we've had a pretty intense couple of days of touring. Everyone will sleep late and spend the day by the pool or playing bingo or reading in the sky lounge or getting enriched, like Bill. I will have him post some more ships pictures here and before you know it (like 8 a.m. Tomorrow) we'll be in Athens and we'll be able to tell you everything about the Acropolis and shopping at the Plaka.

Rome to Santerini

2009-06-18T23:50:00.000-07:00

We had one evening in Rome at the end of our tour back at the Albani Hotel. We really like this neighborhood and if we come to Rome again I would definitely stay here. We hitched a ride with the group going to the Trevi Fountain and then out for the “farewell dinner,” along with Sunny and Ron. Trevi was a mass of people and it was hard to even get close to the fountain.

Said good-bye to the group and shopped our way up to the Spanish Steps(which is right in front of the oldest and largest French church in Rome....so why aren't they they French steps???...actually they are across tithe street from the Spanish Embassy, which is the oldest continuously operating embassy in Rome) and then caught a cab back to the Albani.

We had our own farewell dinner (about 8 of us) down at Setso Pizza Y Cucina where Bill and I ate on our first night in Rome. We will see one of these couples, Sharon and Graeme, on our cruise ship as they are doing a long vacation, like us.
The next morning we had breakfast with the people whose planes didn't leave at 6:00 a.m. And while they were off to the airport, we were off to the Cavilieri Waldorf Astoria, which is high on a hill behind Vatican City.

Show all

We arrived early and the room was not ready, but they upgraded Bill and so we sat in the Imperial lounge on the 7th floor, drank champagne and looked out over Rome. It was pretty smoggy that day but it was still a beautiful view. Our room was lovely, big balcony overlooking the grounds and they gave us access to the Imperial Lounge, which serves three meals a day and has a full bar. That's when we decided we were not leaving the hotel until we left for the cruise. It gave us an opportunity to unpack, sort, do laundry and repack before Monday morning,as the same time that we got a little pampering from some wonderful staff. Bill got some great shots of the Vatican and of the City during both day and evening.

The grounds are beautiful with a pride of bronze lions on the hillside, flowers everywhere and a beautiful pool.

There was a wedding reception in the courtyard of the hotel Sunday night and there was fireworks for the bride and groom. We pretended they were our fireworks to celebrate starting our cruise in the morning.
The next morning were were off in the shuttle, which picked up a French couple at another hotel, and two U.S. Servicemen, who were in Rome on vacation but are stationed in Nuremberg. One is very short, home in two weeks and very glad to be going. The other has four more years and is slated to go to Afghanistan the first of the year. We'll light a candle for him when we get back to Rome. We dropped all four of them at the Rome airport and drove another hour to the cruise port terminal in Civitevecchia, which means “Old City.” The check in at Celebrity was pretty smooth and we were in our cabin by 2:00 p.m. Dumped our hand luggage and sent off to explore the Solstice (which we are still doing) because it is so large. We got back in the cabin at 3:30 and unpacked our bags and met our cabin steward before the lifeboat drill. Managed to get through that and find our table in the dining room. Had dinner after sail away from Rome. We didn't stay up late (sorry Patty, no shows that night) but were kept up anyway by the people to the right of our cabin, who sat up until 3 on the veranda, talking very loudly. We haven't heard a peep out of them since and the “Do not disturb” sign has not left their door handle.

Day two was a sea day, so more exploring. We went to the gym in the a.m. And sighed as we ate our oatmeal and fruit. Breakfast in this buffet was overwhelming and since it goes for nearly 24 hours, you could just stay in the ocean view face for the whole voyage. Not us, of course because after eating our way through Spain and Italy I was worried about fitting into the sparkly dress for formal night(good thing we did a lot of walking because it fit). We went to a lecture in the morning on the connections between the Etruscans, the Greeks and the Romans given by a woman who has lived and taught in Italy for almost 50 years. We slept, sat on our patio and wandered. We had dinner that night in one of the specialty restaurants called “The Tuscan Grill” which was wonderful but honestly on my best day I could not do six courses.

We did two courses and shared dessert and could not finish our steaks. Do not know what it takes to provision this ship, which carries 2800 people and 1400 crew, I think. The people working on this ship are from all over the world, and so far we have met crew from Romania, Macedonia, South Africa, Greece, Croatia and the U.S. No show this night either because we are getting off the boat tomorrow to see the small town of Santorini. Santorini is a small, circular archipelago of volcanic islands in the Southern Aegean Sea.

It's essentially what remains today of a huge volcanic explosion. It was first settled in 3,000 B.C. But this civilzation disappeared when the island was engulfed by the eruption, which left it uninhabited for centuries. It was resettled by the Phoenicians around 1,000 B.C. The volcanic eruption produced a tidal wave over 800 feet high, which completely destroyed the entire Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 75 miles away. Fira (also called Thera) is the main town on Santorini and is reached either by funicular (cable car), donkey or by climbing 600 steps....which the donkeys have been climbing over...for many years...it's very slippery.

The ship was not in Santorini for long (docked at 2 p.m. And sailed away at 10:00 p.m.) and even though we lined up early for tender tickets (this ship is so large it had to be buoyed out) we were on boat#21. Didn't arrive until about 3 and waited for an hour in 90 degree heat to take the cable car up to the top of the cliff,where the town is, as opposed to riding up one of the little donkeys or walking up the 600 steps up the cliff (which is the same steps the donkeys use, so a little slippery). We were within ten feet of getting on the funicular when it broke down. We waited...they tried the easy fix, which did not work, and said they did not know when it would work again.

This is the point at which Bill and I looked at each other, looked at the blue, blue, blue Mediterranean, and looked at the beautiful little whitewashed taverna right on the water. We had a beer there, visited with a Ford dealer and his wife from Missouri and did a little shopping at the harbor and tendered back out to the ship, which left a little later than planned that night, because of the broken cable car. No problem really, because Mykonos is only 96 nautical miles away, just a hop, skip and jump for a ship this large.

We are still trying to take in how big the ship is, the dining room has two levels, as does the theater. There is both an indoor and an outdoor pool, a basketball court, a putting green with real grass, four specialty restaurants, and 11 bars. There is a huge spa and beauty salon, a big fitness center with the most up-to-date equipment there is as well as a large room for yoga and pilates classes. There are a large number of shops, a library,a card room, a casino and an art gallery. We are on the starboard side of the ship and still have to think each time we get off the elevators, which way we are turning.

We had been told we would tender out again at Mykonos, another small island, but awoke at 5:45 a.m. To find that we were tied at the pier. We had an early tour to Delos and so we were at the buffet bright and early for more oatmeal and surprisingly good coffee. This time we were a little closer to the front of the tour line to pick up our tour# (#3). All the participants wait in the theater until their number is called, then file off the ship and are met by a local tour guide. In this case, our guide Elena, was French but lived on Mykonos.

We all boarded the “Orca” and were off through very choppy seas for a 30 minute ride to one of the prime UNESCO Heritage sites in the world, Delos. Both Bill and I were very excited to take this tour. We both love history and there is something about walking through places like this that fascinates us and connects us to the past in such a visceral way. That is not to say we don't admire the beautiful setting (whitewashed buildings, blue roofs and bougainvillea blooming everywhere) but we really love the history.

Mykonos is part of the Cyclades, lying between Trinos, Siros, Paros and Naxos. It is really beautiful because while people used to white wash their stucco homes using lye-based washes for health reasons, it has become a trademark here and now by law you cannot paint your house a different color.

Delos is an uninhabited island about 30 minutes offshore and it is considered the birthplace of the God Apollo.

The ruins on this island date back to the third millenia B.C. The first real inhabitants were the Carians from Asia Minor and they were followed by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Cretians and Ionians but Delos really flourished under the Romans (2nd thru 1st Century B.C.) because they were only interested in the harbor and the taxes it produced. This picture comes from the most early times of Delos.

Delos became a huge trading center, grain, spices and the slave trade provided the gold that enhanced it's growth. It was a harmonious group with Roman and Greek gods existing alongside each other and temples everywhere. According to Elena this is the only found from this time period that still exists. French and Greek archaeologists have been working together at this site since the late 1800s. There are still little houses there that are home to all the archaeologists, as well as the ruins and a museum. We saw the Temple of Apollo, the dried lake where he was supposedly born, the marble lions of Delos, the terrace of the foreign gods a really large amphitheater and the remains of “mansions” with incredible mosaics on the floors.

The museum also contained this "David" like statue of Dionysous, who was the greek god of pleasure and wine. This was created long before Michelangelo created David. One wonders if he had seen it at an earlier time.

It's a good thing there was a really stiff wind or I think we would have roasted. The only tree on the whole island is the “miracle” palm tree in the middle of the dry lake. Of course, that same stiff wind created a very rough ride home through big waves. The boat dropped us in the town of Mykonos where we made our way back to the ship without buying a single t-shirt with “Mykonos” spelled out in glitter, or caps, etc. But we did find this beautiful church and just had to spend a minute here.

We will leave Mykonos at 5,hopefully with everyone on board and tomorrow we will be in Istanbul for two nights. Bill and I are looking forward to the tour there. We are skipping the belly dancing dinner to see the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar.

Verona and Venice -

2009-06-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

Verona, Venice and Rome Again...

We are off to Verona and Venice, after an early breakfast at the Florence Metropole Hilton, which is far outside the city center and has a front traffic gate they lock at night...this is part of the reason I won't miss Florence. While I loved the art and the drive up from Pisa was gorgeous, with fields of red poppies in amongst the dry grass, we were far outside of Florence itself. There was nothing about the city itself that I really loved. It just was not a place I liked very much.

I have a feeling that the Verona stop, which was explained by Alessandro, our tour guide, as, “A stop to see the famous balcony where Juliet lived....or so the story goes,” was really a timing issue. I think the tours plan them so that the hotel,where a large group of tourists has just checked out, can clean the rooms before another large group of tourists (us!) check in for two nights. At any rate, it was a nice town, with an existing, small Colosseum in very good shape (far from downtown) and a lovely town square with an herb market. We did indeed go into the inner courtyard to see “the Juliet balcony” but did not pay to get into the house. Shakespeare did not live there and I personally think he just liked the name “Verona.” On the walls of the hallway leading to the courtyard are thousands of declarations of love, some pinned on little notes.

We went to the herb market and bought lovely dried fruit and had lunch off the square at a little sandwich shop, where Bill had his first experience with an Italian pit toilet...enough said. Venice was about a hour away.

When we arrived at Venice, we were dropped off by the bus in a large traffic circle and had to walk across two bridges (everything in Venice is measured this way, where we might say, “it's two blocks from here...” in Venezia, “it's two bridges away” is something you'll hear all the time.) to get to the hotel. The baggage was brought by boat, because everything in Venice, from Fedex to food deliveries, to tourists, are brought by boat. Our hotel was on the Grand Canal, right across from the very busy train station.

Our room keys at each hotel are handed out by the tour guide and apparently the hotel determines one lucky group member who will have a room with a canal view. The lucky member of our tour was Catriona, a retired Illinois school teacher, traveling alone and she was thrilled. Bill and I, on the other hand, were shown to an interior room about 140 square feet, tiny bathroom overlooking the air conditioning system on the room and reeking of cigarette smoke. Bill took one look at me and went back to the desk. We ended up paying extra to have a smoke free room with a grand canal view (we are right behind the red and gold Lion flag of Venice), but we had to pay for it.

Our next stop was off to the gondoliers for a ride around Venice.

We were lucky enough to ride with two couples we'd met on the tour and really liked, Barb and Mike, from Connecticut and Sunny and Ron from Virginia. The Gondola holds six people but only four of them can actually sit next to each other. Bill and I were the last on board and couldn't sit together. But after looking at the alarmed faces of the Gondoliers who helped us all on board (imagine a flurry of Italian, “how will we place all the fat Americans without swamping the Gondola?”) I got the positioning. Mike, who was in the back of the boat said to his wife as we were all snapping pictures of each other, “How come all our vacation pictures make me look fat?” which made everyone laugh. We had four Gondolas of tour participants complete with an accordionist and singer, which the tour company arranged because the Gondoliers don't wear little hats anymore and they don't sing anymore. It was about a 30 minute ride and we saw people in Gondolas the whole rest of our time in Venice. Our local tour started the next day.

We took a private boat,early, to the boat dock that is closest to St. Mark's square. We met our local guide, Manuella there and she took us to the Doge's Palace first.

The interior does not allow pictures, so we'll just have to describe it to you. Basically the Doge was elected, first by all the people of Venice and eventually, by only the aristocrats. This is because a subcouncil of the merchants passed a law that only the aristocrats could belong to the council. The Golden Book, which listed the families who could belong to the council, still exists in the archives of Venice, which are the third largest collection in the world. The Doge's palace was the original hall of justice and there was a council and subcouncils for all decisions. No one trusted anyone else and the Doge is seen in all the paintings there (only two of which have been restored because it's too expensive) as kneeling because he is supposed to be subject to the will of the people. In fact, he was subject to only the will of the merchant class.

We proceeded outside of the palace and over the “Bridge of Sighs” which has nothing to do with romance because it was the bridge that the prisoners took after they had been judged and found guilty in the Doge's Palace and were on their way to the Doge's prison. There is a place in the Doge's palace where people could accuse each other of crimes against the state. They merely wrote the accusation on paper, signed it and slipped it into the mouth of this wall carving.

They did have to sign the accusation....it could not be anonymous.

The prison was very bad and while prison should never be comfortable, I don't think having lead roofs in the top cells so the prisoners actually baked, would be considered humane, even several centuries ago. This cell may look large, but 15 to 20 occupied it!

We proceeded to the Cathedral of St. Marks and Manuella had an interesting explanation for the nature of the City of Venice, a city started and controlled for the longest period in history, by the merchant class. She told us that some consider St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice, to be the patron saint of merchants, but he is also called the patron saint of thieves. The merchants of Venice were apparently fond of taking what they couldn't buy in a good bargain, including their patron saint.

This mosaic above the cathedral door depicts how St. Mark came to Venice. The patron saint of Rome is St. Peter. Venice has always had quite a rivalry with Rome (the only painting in the Doge's Palace with the Doge not kneeling is when the Pope came to Venice for a visit). Venice decided it had to have a patron saint and if it couldn't have an Apostle, it would have an Evangelist and it chose St. Mark. Unfortunately, he was buried in Egypt. So, the merchants traveled to Egypt and stole the body of St. Mark, brought it back and buried it in Venice. The merchants of Venice managed to fool the customs officials on the way out of Egypt by placing raw pork over the coffin of St. Mark. The muslims were offended by the pork and never checked the coffin....according to the story. Poor St. Mark, he wasn't even born in Venice as as far as we know, he never wanted to come here. But, he's now here for eternity.

When the cathedral was finished, the merchants felt it wasn't fine enough so they went to Constantinople and stole these four bronze horses to place on the front!

The cathedral is very Byzantine in appearance, not like any other church we have seen. The interior of the ceiling is all 24 carat gold leaf and mosaic after mosaic, which is really an Eastern rather than a Western art form. It is quite beautiful, but no photos! San Marco Square is enormous and I think it would take you an entire day to take in the sights and the stores and the people. There is the most beautiful clock, mosaic, in the square with all the signs of the Zodiac and a moon that actually changes during the month to show the phase of the moon. Also note that in this clock the Sun is traveling around the Earth! Something Copernicus would fix later with Galileo (who the pope has yet to pardon - as he was convicted of heresy during the inquisition for stating that the earth traveled around the sun!)

The tides are something everyone in Venice pays attention to since severe flooding usually occurs twice a year, at the Autumn and Spring Solstices. Everything here is built on huge pillars of timber sunk into the mud under Venice. Under bell tower alone there are 3,007 timbers.

When we finished we were rushed into a glass factory, not on Murano, the glass making island,but in the city of Venice, where we saw a demonstration and then were rushed into large rooms which were full of high pressure sales men. I think the glass was beautiful but 500 Euros for a pitcher and four glasses was not in the budget. We saw a lot of beautiful things and the life-sized horse in the entry was entirely made of glass.

Bill and I waited on the bridge for Sunny and Ron, since we were getting lunch and got this shot totally by accident!

We were going to a tiny place recommended by one of my books, Cava Tapi, in a very small street two bridges from San Marco Square. We had a really, really good meal there in a tiny place with five tables and a bar. Some of the best pasta we've had.

We were going to Murano that afternoon so left Sunny and Ron in the square. It was a 20 minute boat ride. We went through the glass museum, which has glass going back to the 2^nd century and some really amazing art pieces. On the way back to the boat, we stopped in a small shop to get some souvenirs, what my children used to call “pimentos” of our trip. The owner was a lovely man who asked where we were from and when we told him, said, “I love Ouray and Telluride in the Summer.” The world is a small place.

Going back to the hotel our boat broke the record for the most number of people every carried on a small boat without swamping it. I was literally wedged into a niche with two British woman (we were standing) and a man(sitting) wearing very short shorts and many gold necklaces, who slept through the whole ride. Everyone except the driver got off at the train station. We crossed the bridge, got back to the hotel for a short rest before our “romantic” Venetian dinner.

Bill had asked Claudia at the front desk for a restaurant recommendation and made a reservation for us at at restaurant a short distance (one bridge) away, in a residential district. It was called Antica Besseta Trattoria. One of the things I loved about our hotel location was that San Croce is the most residential of all the districts. We got lost going to the restaurant even though we were carrying a detailed map, but people were very helpful. The restaurant was charming, with four tables outside (we chose one) and about the same number inside. We sat down and ordered wine when the restaurant suddenly was engulfed with the sound of very loud Italian T.V. Our waiter looked at us and explained that the apartment across from the restaurant housed a very deaf fisherman, who was usually asleep by this time. Repeated whistles through the window did not lower the volume but our waiter told us it should end shortly because the fisherman had to be up early. It did! At that point, a lovely couple from Milan sat down next to us, with their dog, Giotto. Giotto was lying down at their feet, but their table was next to the point where another narrow passageway met our narrow street. Every time someone walking their dog came down the passageway, Giotto launched himself at the dog and a full blown dogfight ensued, along with a long argument about whose dog started it, in Italian. There were may dogfights. The last and most romantic moment was when a couple at the other end of the passageway started a loud fight in Italian. It kept escalating in volume. I don't speak Italian, but even I know what the phrase, “Puta, Puta, Puta” means and it is not a word you'd say in front of your mother. At the end of the meal, the waiter, who was looking pretty frustrated about the lack of romantic atmosphere, handed me a rose. It's a dinner I'll never forget!

All Roads lead to Rome....

Off Rome early the next morning, a very long, 7 hr bus ride, with two stops along the way at an Italian Autogrill. Every time I go into one I am convinced that we never should have worried about Mussolini in WWII. There is no way the Italians are organized enough to win a war.

Sistine Chapel , St. Peter's and Florence

2009-06-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the eighth, we found our way very early to the Sistine chapel. By being in a group (and getting up at 5:30 a.m.)we got in at 8am, before the Vatican museum opened and before single ticket holders were able to enter. The tour of the Sistine chapel begins at the original door to the chapel, which is marked with statutes of Michaelangelo and Raphael as seen in the picture below. While Michaelangelo died in his 80's, Raphael played around a bit and died at 37. Our local guide, Stefano (you have to pass an extensive licensing exam to be a local tour guide) told us that he would prefer to be Raphael, whose statue looked happy! These marble statues are above the original doors, which are no longer used as the Vatican spent untold millions building a new entry-way to accommodate large numbers of visitors and groups.

While the Sistine Chapel was started by Pope Sixtus and completed by Pope Julius, who convinced Michaelangelo to complete the ceiling and then return to complete the far wall of the Chapel. The picture below is the crest of Pope Julius. All of the Popes started adopting new names when they became Pope, starting in the second century or so and then started adopted crests to use. Since they were all members of the Aristocracy, they were used to having them. Only the Pope is permitted to say mass in the Sistine Chapel and still does so occasionally.

To get to the Sistine Chapel you walk through corridors of incredibly beautiful statutes, long hallways with frescoes on the ceiling, and unbelievable tapestries made in Brussels, from sketches done by Italian artists. The largest tapestry in the world is in this corridor and some of these took up to 15 years to make. This is just one of the hallways:

All of these statues were originally nudes, but when a particularly conservative line of Popes came in they forced artists to attach plaster fig leaves in appropriate places. Shocking!
Inside the chapel(sorry we can't show you but no photos are allowed) are the incredible paintings of Michaelangelo -most of the ceiling and all of the far wall. Especially well- known is the section on the creation of Adam (yes there is one for Eve too), along with panels that depict stories from the old and new testaments. The entire back wall of the chapel is the story on the last days, showing heaven and hell. At the bottom right of the "End of Days" wall is the painting of Satan and Michelangelo must have had a sense of humor, because he painted in the face of Cardinal Biaggi, a Cardinal that he particularly disliked on the body of Satan! What I find particularly fascinating is that Michelangelo was not a painter, he was a sculptor,but when the Pope asked him to do this, he hired the best painters in Italy to teach him and when he was ready he sent them on their way and did the chapel. He did not lie down on scaffolding, but stood on scaffolding while painting, wearing a halo of candles at night so he could see to paint.

A mock op of this is shown in the new movie Angels and Demons - as this is the place where all popes are elected. The stove for burning the ballots is placed in the far right corner all the way in the back. There is also a door there into St Peter's Basicilia.
And in the middle of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is the famous creation of Adam panel by Michaelangelo

As you leave the chapel you can go directly into St Peter's Basilica – and upon entering the Basilica the first statue on the right is the Pieta – also created by Michaelangelo – who really only thought of himself as a sculptor – not really a painter. Pieta means “pity” - for the Christ with his mother holding him after his death. Michelangelo was only 25 when he sculpted this. What amazing talent. The Pieta is behind glass now ever since a mentally disturbed tourist managed to get to it with a hammer. The face of he virgin had to be restored, and now it's behind glass to be safe.

St Peter was the first Pope of the Catholic Church, and he is buried here three stories under this amazing canopy of gold.

Here is the original sculpture of St Peter done in the 13th century by di Cambio and touching his foot is considered good luck. We all did it!

Of course (like I already knew this) St Peter is really buried three stories below the basilica and the whole area must have continued access too air – or things would rot! This is one of the grills in the floor that allows the lower levels to have air exchange.

And finally standing back at the entrance of the Basilica, you can see how enormous it is, look at the people at the bottom of the picture. This Basilica is larger than any other Catholic church in the world and is designed in the shape of a cross, with this picture being taken along the longer bar of the cross.
There are markings in the tile of the floor to show you where other churches in the world fit in, and while St. Patrick's in New York is huge, there is no match for St. Peter's. There is no way to really describe the side chapels, the beauty of the mosaics and the frescoes. You just have to see it for yourself. We are not going to put in a picture of the mummified body of Pope Pius X....all I can say is, “What were they thinking?????”

Outside St Peters, we found the Swiss Guards. It seems there are 160 of them and they have been serving the Papacy for a very long time. The must be 18 to 25 to apply and one of their fore bearers must have been a Swiss Guard and they seem to look a lot alike and all are very handsome.

Off to Pisa and Florence

Bill liked Pisa more than I did because once you've seen the original city wall, the church and the leaning tower, that's all there is to see. It is a novelty, of course,but I am not sure it's worth a stop when you have to fight your way through a dozen African immigrants selling fake rolexes and Louis Vuitton bags! -

Off to Florence – We arrived fairly late in the evening and our hotel was outside the city center, so we didn't hit the downtown the first night.

We made it to Academy of fine arts with a local guide, Simone' to see Michelangelo's “David.” I have to say this is an amazing piece of sculpture and we were so glad we got to see it there. Apparently this chunk of marble stood around in the marble yard for 120 years before Michelangelo chose it. It had a flaw, but one that fitted perfectly into his vision. Our local guide, Simone, told us that when the sculpture was finished, the man who commissioned it told Michelango that the nose was too big. Michelangeo argued vehemently that it was perfect. The man insisted. So the artist climbed his scaffolding with his chisel, hammer and some marble dust in this hand, pretended to chisel while releasing the dust but not actually touching anything and when he was finished, asked the buyer if that was better. "Perfect," said the patron.

The group walked to the Cathedral (Duomo) and we had to leave them as we had tickets to the Uffizi Gallery for 11 (our original request was for tickets at 2:00 but apparently even my English is not good enough to order museum tickets).

Simoni said the outside of the Duomo is magnificent but he didn't think the inside was as valuable and only a couple of people in our group climbed the nearly 500 steps to the top of the Dome (in background below)

(one women incurring serious blisters and food problems as a result). But the Uffizi.....There is so much in this museum that were were exhausted after an hour and a half and then had to limit ourselves to our favorite artists, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Rubens and Rembrandt, and even that was overwhelming. Botticelli's "Venus Rising from the Sea" was absolutely beautiful.

I think you would have to spend quite a bit of time here and just do one gallery a day to really appreciate it. It was also very hot, even though it was fairly early in the day.

The famous Ponte Vecchio in Florence (below). This is where people actually live over the bridge! Well we don't know if they really live there, but certainly the gold merchants all have shops there. 18 Karat gold is the specialty of Florentine jewelers. We did not buy jewelry there, but we were glad that we crossed the bridge (originally to look at the Pitt Palace) because we found a beautiful ceramic shop there, down a tiny alley. More on this later.

Gelato became a favorite as we ate ourselves across Florence . Actually Bill is eating his way across Italy. He has tried dark chocolate Gelato in every place we have been, in order to find the best. I fortunately have a more modest approach because I would like to be able to fit into my clothes on the cruise. A funny thing happened when we stopped at this little shop in Florence for Gelato. The woman at the table behind us noticed Bill's CU hat and started to talk to him, she was behind me so I couldn't see her without turning around,but when I did it turned out to be someone I knew in Boulder a long time ago and hadn't seen in about 20 years. She was there with her two granddaughters. Small world!

Finally, just before leaving Florence we found this fantastic ceramic store. The owner is an architect who came to study in Florence 20 years ago and worked in this little shop and now owns this shop and draws the designs for this pottery. We had been hoping to find a piece of ceramic for Kristin and Jerry while we were here, but Allesandro told us the good ceramics were all around Orvieto, where we are not going. We were happy to be able to ship a beautiful piece home to them and I have her website if anyone is interested. In addition she has renovated the three bedroom apartment over the shop and rents it out to people like us.

Tomorrow (the 10th) we are off to Venice,with a stop in Verona for lunch. More later!

Colosseum St Peter's Square and the Pope

2009-06-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

We've been delinquent bloggers for two days. I think running all over Rome, literally, caught up with us. So, a little catch-up. We headed for St. Peter's Square right after breakfast. We knew we could not get in, not having tickets or reservations, but also knew our tour with Globus was supposed to get us in later, so we just wanted to see it.

We could not believe the size of it, a broad boulevard leading up to the entrance to Vatican City, the smallest independent state in the world, with 900 inhabitants (all priests or nuns), which contains the largest church in the world and some of the greatest art. We were just amazed. Bill took lots of pictures of the outside, the huge columned wings, crowned with the sculptures of more than 130 saints (of course, now there are at least 2,000 saints, but 134 life sized sculptures are still amazing). We stopped in the Vatican gift shop and the post office. The Vatican, being a sovereign state, has it's own postage and an extremely reliable postal system. Their stamps are good for mailing anywhere in Rome, but not in the rest of Italy. So, postcards are coming from the Vatican. From there we walked up to the Castel Sant'Angelo, which was originally the tomb of the Emperor Hadrian, built in 129 AD. Aurelian fortified it in 271 and it became part of the city walls and then it was a papal residence for at least 1,000 years. It was renamed for St. Michael in 590 when legend says he announced the end of a plague from it's towers. There is a huge sculpture of St. Michael at the top of the building. We crossed the Tiber river here, using the Pont Umberto, to walk to the Piazza Naronna.

This Piazza is more Baroque with huge fountains at either end, by Bernini and Boromini and several churches,but not as many churches as shops and restaurants. It's a favorite strolling and shopping place for Romans.

From there we walked to the Pantheon and it is amazing. I seem to be using this word a lot in these blogs and the history here is so long, so many ages that it is actually hard to comprehend, coming as we do, from such a young country. This was originally a pagan temple, built by Hadrian between 118-125 and donated to Pope Boniface IV by Emperor Phocas in 608. This is why it was preserved. The Pope simply rechristened it Santa Maria ad Martyres, and suddenly it was a church and it was protected. The dome is the widest in Europe and is precisely as high as it is wide. The walls are 20 feet thick and it is the burial place of the artist Raphael, who died at 37. His sarcophagus rests here. Two of Italy's kings are buried here two. Just walking through the huge columns at the entrance makes you feel small. It's beautiful.

We had a quick pizza nearby and then cabbed back to the hotel to get ready for the Globus meeting and welcome dinner for the tour.

Alessandro spoke to us for over an hour about the schedule ( a 5:30 a.m. Wake up on Monday!) and our schedule for the next two days. Because we cannot get into St. Peter's Basilica or the Sistine Chapel on Sunday, we'll see ancient Rome instead, then see the outside of St. Peter's with a tour commending Monday morning before we leave for Pisa and Florence.

We had a six course dinner at a restaurant near the Termini (main) train station with the other 38 members of our tour. We were surprised at how roomy the bus is as Globus only allows 43 people on a tour while most tour companies cram 55 people into the bus. Lots of leg room, good seats, etc. Our group is all from the U.S. Except one couple from New Zealand stopping on their way to England. There are extended families and single people from California, Tennessee, New York, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, etc. We had a good time (and I had to stop eating after 3 courses) but were too tired to blog.

This morning we were up early since we left for the Colosseum at 8.

We were glad to be one of the earliest groups there, since Stefano, our local guide, says that by mid-day during the busiest Summer days,there are thousands of people trying to see this area. We had group tickets through Globus so we just sailed through the entrances. Well, I would have sailed except for the varied uneven surfaces, everything from fairly new brick leading up to the Colosseum, to large basalt stones which were some of the original pathways. Fortunately I could clutch Bill when needed and didn't upend either of us to the arena floor. The Colosseum was built by Jewish slaves, over 8 years starting in 72 AD by the Flavian Emperors. A father and two brothers. This of it as the world's largest football stadium because stadiums ever since have been modeled on this.

The monument area these days includes the Arch of Constantine -which is the model used by the french for the Arc du Triumph in Paris!

The Romans continue excavating carefully because there are even more ruins under these. Much here is not like the newer Roman monuments constructed of white marble, because it is constructed of White Travertine limestone from Tivoli, which is more subject to erosion because of it's softness. In addition a huge part of the Colosseum was lost to earthquake more than 600 years ago. When this structure was opened, the emperor Titus held 100 days of games to celebrate and between 5,000 and 9,000 animals were slaughtered in the games, mostly lions, panthers and tigers. This type of “game” was legal here until 523 AD.

And on the way we stopped to look at olive trees, something we have never seen. Olive trees can live for hundreds of years. Here is a close up of actual baby olives!

We went to St. Peter's square (no tour until tomorrow) and Bill and I left the tour here, as did a family of five from Scottsdale because we had all heard there would be a papal blessing sometime between 11:30 and noon, if the Pope was in residence. We got there at 11 and between then at 11:45 I could not believe the number of people who showed up in the square, thousands of them from all over the world, some carrying the flags of their countries or wearing special shirts ordered by their churches or their prayer groups. It's been a long time since I saw this many nuns in one place (high school maybe!) but once the window opened you could have heard a pin drop. Then there was huge cheering and the Pope spoke a short sermon or prayer in Italian, then in French, then in German, then in Polish, then in Spanish and then in English. Then he blessed the crowed. I expected it just to be a blessing but it went on for sometime. And if you look closely you will see that his podium is probably thick bullet proof plastic. (by the way if you are interested in the story behind why cardinal Sicola was not elected pope at the last election, just ask!)

We were lucky to grab a cab back to the hotel. The rest of the group was on an optional tour of many things we saw on the 5^th and 6^th, so we rested, had a simple lunch and tonight we'll be packing for tomorrows journey to Pisa and Florence. More from there.

Roma Borghese Galleria and Beyond

2009-06-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Who is supervising this person?

I think this is your author being supervised by a local roman goddess

Today was our day at the Villa Borghese, a huge park (1700 acres), the largest green space in Rome, that includes the zoo, a beautiful lake, shaded paths, benches and the lovely Galleria Borghese, which is full of both renaissance and baroque art.

We were lucky that our hotel is only about 20 minutes walk from the museum and we were not hit by a single scooter or electric car as we meandered over. We were looked at with contempt at red “do not walk” signs by Romans, who sailed out into busy intersections, merely holding out hands to the vehicles approaching at breakneck speed. We got our tickets (we had made a reservation weeks ago), checked our cameras and backpacks and off we went. I don't think our mouths closed the whole time we were there. This museum used to be the residence of Cardinal Scipioni Borghese, who was a patron of both Caravaggio and Bernini and it includes amazing sculptures, like Bernini's “Apollo and Daphne” with Daphne turning into a tree to escape the ardent Apollo and Caravaggio's “Madonna of the Serpent.”

We were overwhelmed and Bill loved seeing an old postcard of how the museum looked in 1636.

and taking a photo outside of how it looks today, gargoyles intact.

Looks like a picnic in Rome!!!!!!

and another gargoyle who was trying to tell us something? OOOOOOOOOOOOO

It is surrounded by beautiful gardens, locked so we could not get into the side ones, but the one that was open in the back, a formal English garden was in the process having new lavender planted in all the low boxed hedge centers. Saw even more art up in the Pinoteca on the second floor, including several renditions of “Bring me the head of John the Baptist,” like this one of Guido Reni.

When we finished we bought our postcards in the shop, no photos allowed and started walking through the park, past statues of both Goethe (do you think he is in trouble?)and Victor Hugo, who apparently lived here at one time, as did lots of English writers, like John Keats who lived in what's called “The English Ghetto” and actually died in Rome.

We also could see the vatican from a distance with local apartments in the foreground

We walked all the way through the park to the Pincio, which overlooks the Piazza del Popolo. We stayed up to take pictures of this beautiful Piazza, which was built in 1535 and has as a centerpiece an 82 foot Obelisk that was brought by Augustus from Heliopolis, where it originally honored Ramese II.

A trident of strees, like spokes on a wheel move out from this Piazza, two of them on either side of twin 17^th century churches, Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Montesanto, both built by Fontana.

We had lunch at a tiny Tavalo Caldo, very crowded, where you tell them the pizze you want a piece of, they heat it up and off you go to a tiny table. Nearby were a few vespas, which appears to be the major daredevil method of transporation. they drive with abandon!

We cabbed home because it was just to hot and we'd just walked too far.

Tomorrow we are hoping to at least get to St. Peter's square because we've noticed that even though we are supposed to tour the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican on Sunday, they will probably be closed and so the tour will substitute something else. We'll keep you posted about that.

Rome arrival Hotel and parking?

2009-06-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

A slow day for pictures and blogging,as all travel days are. We were up early in Sitges, even the hedge cats were not up when we went to breakfast at the Melia and took a cab to El Prat, the Barcelona airport. Sitges is a little place outside of time and it was a lovely stay. Travel is always enlightening and we continue to remind ourselves that things do not work they way they do in the U.S.A. It is never just a mini-version of us, speaking a different language. At El Prat, there is a huge board, where you look hard to find your flight, for which you never have pre-assigned seats because they just don't do that. The board (hopefully) will tell you which queue you will get into to check your baggage (only two bags under 50 lbs are free) and assign you a seat. What served us well at DIA didn't here because our queue, would not start until 9:30 am. And it was only 8 am. We took a seat along with lots of tired people, people watched and got some cash (you can never have too many Euros). Finally we noticed a queue forming at window 4. Bill motioned the elderly nun in front of us in the line (hope she will realize someday that an Episcopalian was that polite!). The very pretty girl assigning seats told Bill that his carry-on was far too large to carry on, “Only 5 kilos allowed.” He was forced to check it. However,she did not charge him for it, which by everything we had learned,she was supposed to do. There are kind people everywhere.

The flight was uneventful. Just like at DIA,we waited far too long for baggage and ours were the last bags. We realized, reading our Globus info that they expected us to come into Terminal B with all the other Americans, not C with the Spaniards. However, when we exited the terminal, there was a globus person to walk us over to Terminal B,where we picked up two other Americans and an Australian couple. They were all doing different tours and we had an enjoyable visit on the way to the hotel. Checked in, had a beer in the bar and got on line to finish some business, including asking our travel agent to cancel our trip to Sorrento and Amalfi because it is just too much running. We will only have 2 ½ days in Rome and we think there's plenty here to see. Amalfi and Positano will have to wait for another trip. Instead we'll check into the Cavalierri for two nights and see more of Rome.

We walked to dinner a few blocks away, Sesto Pizza y Cucina,where our waiter lived in London for two years,so spoke English and was very nice. Good dinner (early for here, only 7 pm. And then walked back through the neighborhood to the Hotel Albani. We are passed lovely shops, little groceries and some lovely gated apartments, as well as Smart cars everywhere. The price of gasoline here, by the litre, has forced them to be more resourceful and drive smaller cars,and you can park two in a space for one regular car!

We are next to the Villa Bogehese, a beautiful park,and tomorrow have a reservation at the Villa Borghese, a wonderful art museum in a 17^th centure villa. Hope to send more tomorrow.

June1- SitgesTown-haven for lovers

2009-06-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Bill was busy all day (after breakfast) with the motivational interviewing training. He is in one of two English speaking groups, which as many Scandinavians (and a couple of Israelis), as they do Americans. There are French and Spanish-speaking groups, and apparently the Norwegians feel more comfortable with us (and it's a good thing someone does!). However, after a hard days work (and it was hard for me too....sitting at the pool with a group of extremely white Englishmen and women, rapidly turning a bright purple....and continuing to sit by the pool...while I resisted saying a word or slathering them with my 45 sunscreen), we got out tonight, into downtown Sitges.
We walked there, though the more scenic route, along the North end of the seawall, is closed for repair. One of the first things we came to was a Bronze of Santiago Rosignol, a Modernisme artist, contemporary of Antoni Gaudi, who moved to Sitges in the late 1800s.

It developed as an artist colony and small cultural center under him, so it's right that they honor him. And, while the museum, which features his art and others, is in a beautiful building (each huge wooden door is completely different), Sitges is no longer considered an artist colony, but a beautiful beach town on the Costa Brava.

The part of the beach walk that is not under construction is just past the Church of St. Bartolomeo, which was built in the 17th century. The huge staircase past the church leads down into a kind of town square, where there were lots of children playing soccer,(I retrieved a soccer ball for a little boy, too short to reach the window well in which the ball was lodged, and too shy to ask me to get it for him) but he smiled a beautiful “gracias.”

We stopped at Lola's for a drink and some people watching, before walking a long way into town,lots of interesting shops. We walked past the Buenos Aires Grill, where a waiter asked if we wanted to sit down. We told him we weren't hungry yet, and he said, “Des Pues (maybe later) and indeed, it's where we walked back to when we finished. We had a table by the sea, a great bottle of Malbec and a steak where the beef was flown here from Argentina.

The little British girl, waiting the table behind us, told the two English couples at that table that things were bad in Sitges. Several restaurants have closed and the people who do come are not spending as much money. We left a big tip. It did seem to us that there were not many people here for the start of the Summer season.

Tomorrow it's back to work for Bill, who is learning a lot, and for me, as I wait by the pool with my sunscreen for the unsuspecting British!

Transition to Sitges

2009-05-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

Final pictures of Barcelona before we left. You can see the full view of the Sagrada familia from our hotel, as well as the seemingly bombed out building, which is really a brand new apartment building with hurricane shutters on each balcony.

Well it was a quandry about taking the train or a cab to Sitges. There was a wealth of information....all of it different and well meant. Edgar, the 15^th floor concierge, thought we should take the train, but warned that it would be difficult with luggage (and we have three suitcases) and that we would have to be quick after we pressed the “open” button for the train door,because they close immediately and there are steps(I had visions of myself and my luggage,caught in the train door and on the way to the next suburb,while Bill waited patiently on the platform). One desk clerk thought it would be 150 Euros, one thought it would be 50, one thought we would be idiots not to take a cab...etc. Eventually we agreed that taking a cab to the enormous station, either Sants or Gracia, buying tickets, finding the right platform,the right train,climbing lots of steps with luggage and finding vacant seats for the luggage (there are no luggage storage areas above seats on Spanish trains), was to much. We asked Juan,the bell guy, to find a cab where the driver didn't smoke and spoke some English and lo and behold, he found a cab that fit the most important qualification...no smoking. Our very happy cab driver was thrilled to keep repeating, “No fume, No fume,” as we got into the cab and he was an excellent driver. Forty-five minutes later we were at the Melia Sitges, where Bill's Motivational Interviewing training will go on for three days, starting tomorrow.

Sitges is an interesting town on the Costa Brava, and our hotel is in the North part of town. It is about a 15 minute walk to downtown along the seawall and past lots of vacation homes. The Spanish tend to live in apartments (like our condos) not in individual homes with lawns. There are some beautiful vacation homes here (probably primarily owned by the British and French). Bill has taken a picture of one I'd like to have, with a roof garden and a fireplace, looking out on the Mediterranean. Also pictures of sunset behind the hotel as well as amazingly big house built right on the coast.

It was very windy when we arrived (lawn furniture was actually flying) but has calmed down a lot since then. We went to an MI reception of instructors and participants, where I managed to survive Bill pouring a whole glass of red wine down my front, when he made a grand gesture, while holding a full glass. I changed and made it back before the end (though my white jacket will never be the same). We were too tired to go out tonight (not as spry as those 80 somethings in Barcelona) and ordered in a pizze.Before it arrived, the management sent Champagne (or Spanish cava)

to help us celebrate our 30^th wedding anniversary,which Bill has been celebrating at various hotels since 1990. If he would simply employ my idea of adding together both of our first marriages (4 for him, 9 for me, and our marriage to each other – 31 years this Summer – we'd be celebrating our 44^th anniversary!) It was a lovely gesture and we toasted you guys out on the patio. Missing you all.

Tomorrow,he will be learning and I will go explore the downtown and we'll post more tomorrow. I have to say,I really miss our daughter and her family and wish they were here with us!

Cathederal, lunch, and picasso

2009-05-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

What a day...or rather, What a night...which ran into day! Last night we learned that when Barcelona throws a concert, it doesn't start a 8 and run until 11. It starts at 10:00 p.m. And runs until 5:00 a.m. We called the front Desk at 4:00 a.m. Only to be told, with a sigh, that it would not be over for another hour. We moved rooms this morning, to the other side of the hotel. We are hoping that the music festival(which runs through tomorrow night,by the way) will not affect us on this side...when we are wearing ear plugs....and have had a lot of red wine to drink.

Today we did the green and blue lines of the bus turistica, which took us to the Barri Gotic (the old city) so we could see Santa Maria del Mar (Our lady of the Sea) church, started in the 13th century and finished in the 15th. I loved it, very plain but gorgeous stained glass and tiny chapels all around the main altar, dedicated to various saints.

From there, we went to the Museu Picasso, which was really beautiful. It's in the Ribera district, in a very, very old building and has paintings from all of his career, starting as a young boy in Spain. I prefer his early work, as does Bill and we enjoyed seeing all of it in such a historic building.
Another Gaudi building sighted - he was so ahead of his time that Salvador Dali studied his work.

After a full morning we decided to stop for lunch at a spot close by. It's always interesting being in a foreign country. We make so many assumptions and are so often surprised! What I read on the menu, is not at all what I expected for lunch, “Eggs, with potatoes, green chile and local sausage.” I got a beautiful, small baguette, with fresh tomato and olive oil spread on the bread, and an omelet of egg, potato,sausage and green chile. It was good, just not what I expected. Our lovely waitress was Japanese, probably a student (Barcelona has four Universities) and spoke Japanese and Spanish (also some English because she said, “Okay” when we pointed at something). I wished our daughter and her family were with us, because I would have ordered the liter of Sangria!

Then we noticed a lovely store with ornate masks of every description and bill got a good pix. See who else is in pix!

On to the Cathedral of Barcelona, built in the 14th century and dedicated to St. Eulalia, a martyr. No, I don't know why or how she was martyred, though I am sure she's one of the 1400 saints whose deaths I was forced to memorize in the 8th grade. She is buried in the church crypt. There are 29 chapels surrounding this church and there is a life-size figure of Christ, carried into the tick of a naval battle aboard the royal Spanish flagship.

We road the blue line of the Bus Turistic all around Barcelona today (road the red line yesterday) and went through Montjuc park, olympic area, Port Vell, Barcelonetta and back to our hotel. Another George Bush banner appeared and this time I have photographed it closer so that someone can tell me what it means!
When we got off the bus,a block away, I pointed out to Bill that an elderly couple I had seen at breakfast at our hotel got off right behind us. They had to be in their 80s and were amazingly spry. We had the good fortune to be at the concierge “snack and bar area” at they same time they were there and they sat next to us. He served under General MacArthur during the war as a naturalized American citizen and they have been married for 67 years. MacArthur told him he only thought of the families of his men, before deciding if he would put them into battle.
He is still working, every day in San Francisco, as a landscape architect, with an international clientèle. They were funny and so interesting,and we spent a long time with them tonight, laughing and telling stories. They wanted us to go with them to Montserrat tomorrow, but we already have plans for our last day here before we take the the train to Sitges on Sunday. We are hoping to see them at Breakfast tomorrow,and they will no doubt beat us down there. Bear in mind that they flew from San Francisco to Berlin (so he could do some work there) and then here, and on the 3rd they will fly to Majorca for a few days and then to Zürich, “for as long as the money holds out,” Ernst said. I admire them so and hope that we are able to travel when we are that age.
We miss you all, but we are having a good time and will post more...as we go along.

Arrival Barcelona and City Day Trip

2009-05-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Too tired to blog yesterday, that was the two days of travel.

Rode Denver to Chicago in new 767, business class, where the seats go flat and they have a regular tv in front of you, with many channels and many movies. WOW. That would have been nice for Chicago to Frankfort. Too bad we didn't sleep on that leg.

As loud Canadian and loud Scotsman somehow got into two seats behind us (male and female) who became chatty new acquaintances ALL NIGHT LONG. Considered telling them I was infected with swine flu and if they didn't be quiet I would cough on them!!!!

Hilton Diagonal Mar – more of a business hotel away from town, for which we were thankful, as it is most quiet – near the water and beach. Here is our beautiful view.

Today Sagrada familia (Temple of the Holy Family), still under construction since 1880 . Antonio Gaudi's temple. Pix above. Due to be completed in 2030. Also saw his garden (Park Guell), pix also above, unbelievable artist. It is said that when Salvador Dali visited his garden overlooking the city he was filled with “unforgettable anguish.” I kind of liked it!

You can also see the picture with George Bush on “flag”. He must still be pretty popular here!

And you can see the bus we traveled on – looks very romantic!!!!

Tomorrow is Barri Gottic (old city ) day and the cathederal (with pool time built in for Kathy). Met folks from Minnesota today at sidewalk cafe. The had done rome, venice and florence last week when europe was very HOT. Hope it cools off before we get there. Barcelona very nice 70s and cool at night. That is all. bk

Are we there yet........

2009-05-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

My friend, Caroline, suggested we post an itinerary, which is a good idea because even I can't keep it straight. We leave tomorrow morning and Cameron arrives in the afternoon to take up his house/pet sitting duties. Here is our itinerary (sorry no pix with this, but if there was one, we'd look frazzled!):

5/26 Start trip (Denver-Chicago-Frankfurt, Barcelona)
5/27-5/31 Barcelona
5/31-6/4 Sitges for the MI workshop
6/4 - 6/6 Rome
6/7-6/12 Florence, Venice and back to Rome
6/13-6/15 Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
6/15-6/26 Celebrity Solstice - 11 nits Eastern Med. cruise
Rome, Santorini, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus, Athens, Naples, Rome (with 3 sea days in the mix)
6/26-6/29 Cavalieri Hotel in Rome
6/29 Rome, Dulles, Denver, Home!

At home prep time

2009-05-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

Yes you can see by the photo's that Kathy has her dress ready for the big night on the boat, but bill only has his suitcase opened.
So now we are also trying to figure out how to add photo's? yikes, why are they vertical and not side by side? Any help out there?