St. Petersburg

Today we had a FULL day of the spendlors of St. Petersburg. We started with a city tour, then a visit to the Hermitage Museum, and finally an AMAZING performace of Swan Lake.

Quick tour of city: The city was founded around 1703 by Peter the Great. In the 1700's it was the capital city of Russia. The winter palace, which is now the Hermitage museum was built for the royal family residence. There is an old fortress that was built in 1703 by Peter the Great that has a church that holds the remains of most of the Russian Czars, including the remains of Czar Nicholas and his family (the last of the Romanov family). The Hermatiage museum was BEAUTIFUL. However it was insanely crowded and the tour was long. Needless to say, this tactile learner didn't take many notes as I was fanning and trying desparatly to pay attention to the guide. Since this is the land of the "White Nights" (about 16 hours of daylight right now) I say that the museums should be visited in the winter months when it is dark for about 16 hours and FREEZING. 

Burial Place of last of the Romanovs

Hermatiage 

The highlight of the day (and frankly the trip) was our viewing of Swan Lake tonight. We went to a beaufitul theater (modeled after the Bolshoi in Moscow) to view the State Academy of Ballet's perforamance of Swan Lake. I never aspired to be a ballerina (have you seen my build????) but you would have to have a negative estrogen level to not dream of being a dancer in this ballet. It was breathtaking. However, my favorite part was getting to sit on the 2nd row for the 3rd act (male usher, Margie, friendly, you do the math...) where I really got to hear the orchestra. I was actually sitting less than 5 feet from the flute player and WOW....they were amazing. The dancers moved with no effort, the orchestra played like they were playing for the king and queen, and I enjoyed every minute of it!!!

I got back into wifi only to get quite a few texts, emails, and facebook messages about safety. I do understand there is tension in the Ukraine area. We are not in that area. We are in the north close to the Baltic (Google map St. Petersburg). I appriciate so much the thougths of my friends and family though. All is well with this traveler!!!

Arrival in Russia

We boarded a train in Helsinki this morning to head to St. Petersburg, Russia. I'm beginning to really like travel by train. Lots of room, the cafe car, plenty of space to walk around...call me Sheldon Cooper!!

St. Petersburg is a BEAUTIFUL city that is known as the Northern Venice due to all the canals. There are over 70 canals and more bridges than there are days in the year. The city is close to the Baltic Sea and has 5 million residents. There is a saying that not everything that gliters is gold, but that isn't true in St. Petersburg. All that gliters IS gold! The tour director that has been with us for the whole trip is from St. Petersburg. Maria has been amazing the whole trip but she is really glowing now talking about her hometown. 

Tonight we went to a Russian Folk Show at the Royal Palace. It was AMAZING. There were Russian singers and dancers that really wowed the crowd with their talent and costumes. We even had champagne, vodka, and caviar during intermission!

I will try to blog tomorrow night but if I don't it is because I'm late getting back from viewing Swan Lake. Yep....we are getting to see Swan Lake in Russia!!!!!!!

Tallinn

Today we traveled by ferry from Helsinki. Finland to Talinn, Estonia. Estonia has a varied history including being under Denmark (following a takeover during the 12th century Crusades), Germanic, and U.S.S.R. control. In the 1860's Estonia began a revolution that was apparently centered around a music festival. To be honest our local guide was not fabulous so I didn't get a great deal other than there is an awesome music festival that happens every five years. The majority of the country is Lutherean but apparently this music festival is the "real religion". In the Russian crisis during the 1990's Estonia quietly regained their independence from the U.S.S.R. I think it happened during the music festival. Maybe over some items purchased back in Denmark at Christiania. 

Music Festival Site

We did learn that Estonia is very technologically advanced. Citizens don't have to sign anything. They have ID cards with PIN codes. Their voting is all done online, from home. Wouldn't MS politics have a FIELD DAY with that?!?!? Esontia actually came out of the Russian finanical crisis in good shape due to a young prime minister that studied Milton Friedman and free market economies. They still have socialism in this country but it is VERY easy to start your own company here. Juding by the blondie that pulled up in his Porsche convertable looking like something out of a J Crew catalog during our lunch today I'd say it is working well for some.

The "old town" of Estonia is supposed to be the most presevered medevil city in the world. I don't doubt that parts of it are original and it is very quaint and charming but frankly, it is a bit like "Ye Olde Town Disney" instead of a true medevil feeling. I don't want to discourage you from visiting here as it is a lovely place, just know that it can be a bit touristy. Several in our group had been to Estonia many years ago and said it was less commercial then. I guess the free markets are working....

Ye Olde Medevil Disney Square

The last thing I'll say about the land (sorry for the negativity) is that this gene pool isn't a pretty mix. I know I'm no Miss America, but sometimes you need to paint the canvas God gave you. These people don't have a brush to start painting....bless their heart. 

We head to St. Petersburg tomorrow. I'm not really sure about the wifi situation there so if you don't hear from me either assume I'm fine or call the embassy :-/

Helsinki

Yesterday was just a transfer day from Stockholm to Helsinki by way of the booze cruise. Don't worry though...our group made it just fine with no incidents :-)

Today we arrived in the last stop on the Scandinavian journey before heading to Russia. Finland is VERY different from the other Scandinavian countries though. There is definitly more of an Eastern European feel here. The Norwegians, Danes, and Sweds have much more Western influence in their dress and they all are basically tall, thin, and blonde. Here we see the more "goth" dress style, more heavy set builds, and not so many blondes.

We started the day with a city tour of Helsinki with our British tour guide. Apparently the Finish tour guides are hard to understand so our tour leader Maria ensured we had the Brit. Richard, the Brit, explaned a bit about the history of Helsinki, going back to the olden days when the city was filled with livestock roaming the streets and an island close by that was the largest export of tar. Yes, imagine the stinch of old Helsinki. 

A bit of history on Finland...from the 12th century to 1808 it was a part of Sweden. From 1808 to 1917 ot was a part of Russia (hence the more Eastern feel of the current inhabitants). The Russians czar Alexander kind of paved the way for Finland's independence. Following the Crimean War of 1863 he gave Finland five gifts for being her alligence to Russia during the Crimean War: their own language, their own parliament, their own currency, their own flag, and their own national anthem. There is a bit of fear in Finland now with the current conflicts in Russia over Crimea and the unsettledness of the Ukraine. And really....who is going to fight Russia for Finland? Might be an interesting country to follow over the next few years.

80% of Finland is Lutherean. We went to the Rock Church, which is a very modern church built below the ground. It looked like something that belonged in Colorado instead of Finland, but was quite lovely.

Rock Church

We then finished our tour viewing the Sibelius monument dedicated to the famous author of Finish music including a favoriate of Finlandia....better known to U.S. Chrsitians as the song to "Be Still My Soul" or "This is my Song".

After a stop at the market for a lunch of calamari, salmon, fish, potatoes, and veggies a few of us headed out to the fortress island. This island has been the reason Finland has never been successfully attacked from the sea. In fact, during the Crimean War the citizens of Helsinki purchased tickets to stand on a hill and watch the Anglo Saxon forces try to bomb the island and watched them fail. 

We ended the night shopping at Stockman's which is Helsinki's answer to Harrods or Macys. We found Reindeer jerky, cheese, bread, wine, and chocolate. Whatelse does one need to end a day in Finlandia?

Stockholm

**Note -- the wifi is slow so I'm not including pictures on this post, but I will upload them to my Facebook album and I'll comment how they relate to each item.

Sweden is the third largest country in Europe. A few of the famous companies that are based here in Sweden are Volvo, IKEA, Electrolux, and H&M. The capital city of Stockholm is made up of 14 islands. This my friends makes it VERY hard to navigate. I consider myself a decent magellen but between trying to figure out what island you are on, the names of the streets being SO LONG that they don't always fit on the map, AND trying to find a bridge/water ferry/bike/canoe/horse to take you to the next island, I spent quite a bit of the day lost. Seriously the street names are absurd....Klarabergsviadukten??!!

Thankfully the first part of the day was spent on a city tour so we had a guide and bus driver to lead us around. Our first stop was at City Hall. This isn't a concrete block with a jail in back. This city hall is where the Nobel Prizes (with the exception of the Peace prize...remember it was back in Oslo) are given. The building was built between 1911-1923. It went over budget so there were advertisements in the local paper asking the citizens to donate whatever they could to finish the project. There is a sweet story of a little girl that brought her piggy bank to the architect and asked him to use her money for something special. The architect placed a crown in the hands of a princess on one of the statues in the courtyard in her honor. The reception hall to the top right side of the banquet hall was supposed to be done by a famous painter but he died. They asked another artist, who was a young 28 years old, to complete the project. He created the golden hall that is completly made of gold mosaics. Well....the Sweds HATED it. So much so that the man sunk into a depression and couldn't work again for many years. Today, the hall is loved a little bit more. One of the most striking features of the Golden Hall is the mosaic on the far wall. It is of Mother Sweden in the middle of the world connecting the East and the West. This hall was being completed after WWI where Sweden remained neurtral. 

A little bit about the Nobel Prize...it is awarded by the Alfred Nobel Foundation which was created by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of, among other things, dynamite. The first prizes were given in 1901 in all the major areas except Economics. That prize was created later, and is funded by, the Bank of Sweden. This was created as an honor to Nobel who contributed a great deal to the economy having 90 factories worldwide. It was Nobel that insisted the Peace prize be given in Oslo since at the time of his death Norway and Sweden were still one country.

Another cool fact for my music friends about the banquet hall is that there is a pipe organ in it with over 10,000 pipes. Unfortunatly they are hidden behind a decorative screen :-(

After City Hall we visited the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a ship ordered by the Swedish king in 1625 when Sweden was at war with Poland. It took three years to build and there was a grand celebration in the harbor for its madien voyage. It was HUGE ship at 69 meters long and 52 meters high. It had TWO gun decks, which was unheard of at that time. The king ordered that those gun decks be open for the occasion. The Vasa set sail and caught a wind that pushed her to one side. Then there was another wind that pushed further. The gun decks took in water and 20 minutes into her maiden voyage the ship sunk killing 30 of the 150 people on board. In 1961 the ship was excavated and a museum built around it. The Sweds...they know how to celebrate their mistakes.

After a stop to view the "old town" of Stockholm, Wendy and I decided we were ready for a bit of fun and a little less history. I LOVE history, but this is a 17 day trip...got to take a break. We also needed to cool off a bit. It was a BEAUTIFUL day here but we packed more for winter instead of summer so we headed over to the Ice Bar. They have these in many cold countries of the world. They put you in a fur lined parka and stick you in a room where EVERYTHING but the floor is made of ice. We had a wonderfully refreshing vodka and managed to last about 30 minutes. It would be expensive to maintain one of these in Mississippi but could you imagine the traffic on a hot day??

Our last stop was the ABBA museum. Yes, an entire museum based on the group ABBA. We were able to "record" a track, dance on a lighted stage, and learn more about this funky Swedish band. 

I will say this has been my least favorite stop on the trip. The Norwegians will the prize for the nicest Scandinavians. The Danes were pretty cool and Copenhagen is beautiful. The Sweds are helpful but not overly nice. On to the last Scandinavian country tomorrow....after I find myself a Swedish massage in the morning :-))

Arrival in Stockholm

There isn't much to blog about today. We started the morning with a shopping trip to the mall next door to our hotel in Copenhagen. It is a little bit warmer than most people packed for therefore shorts, tshirts, and flipflops were the needed items. Our bus driver Max, whom we had met the day before, entertained us with Danish jokes of which the funnisest one was one that involved a tour leader, upset stomach, and beating the s*)t out of a ghost. Travel to Denmark for the rest of the joke :-) Max was a very sweet former policeman that said our tour group needed to be arrested....for being nice...so he could keep us in Denmark.

We boarded a flight from Copenhagen to Stockholm and enjoyed a leisurly dinner and walk from our hotel down to a view of the city and the Baltic Sea. We took several pictures of the moon visible at sunset. For those that have seen my travel photos I think we have as many pictures of flowers, birds, and the moon as I have of the London Eye ;-)

The Baltic Sea and Stockholm

Moon over Stockholm

Although The Lord blessed us with cooler weather in Stockholm there is no AC in this hotel. Wendy and I have one fan going at our feet and one fan going at our heads. We are VERY grateful for the fans provided in the rooms. Otherwise I fear we would have been forced to take our LARGE pillows to the street for sleep. Southern chicks need AC!!!!

Copenhagen

After finally awaking my roomie up at 10:30 a.m. (one of the many awesome things about Wendy as a roommate is the ability to make as much noise as a marching band and you will NOT disturb her sleep), Wendy and I took off exploring the beautiful city of Copenhagen. We started with Tivoli Gardens, which is the cross between amusement park, state fair, and botanical gardens. It was around 80 degrees today with a clear blue sky and according to the locals they only get 4 or 5 days a YEAR like this so many of them were out enjoying the park. 

Tivoli

We continued along through Copenhagen along the many pedestrian streets toward the Botanical Gardens. We were enticed here to see the beautiful, lush green spaces but also there was a rumor there is an arctic greenhouse that is climate controlled for arctic plants. While the weather here is a breezy and low humidity 80 degrees, it is still warmer than expected. Most places do NOT have air conditioning so therefore there is little relief inside. Sadly the arctic greenhouse was closed but we still got to see a flower that blooms only once every 15 years. We also got a reminder of how hot we could be in Mississippi as apparently this flower likes very warm and VERY humid air. I'm going to admit our tour guide nor the "official garden brochure" described the plant in any detail. After a 5 second Google search I am understanding why they didn't refer to it as it's um....accurate might be the word....name.

Here is the plant and here is the link to find out more about it: http://www.vocativ.com/world/denmark/penis-flower-blooms-copenhagen/

After the garden tour we hiked back down to the National Museum that is located in one of the prince of Denmark's palace. The museum was somewhat interesting but we only had 15 minutes to explorer before closing so all I can really tell you is every other room was really hot and the original Danes were farmers that then spread farming to other parts of Europe. We traveled back to our hotel for our included dinner with the group by water taxi. We thought it was going to be a 10 minute cruise. It ended up being an hour but we did get fresh air, a breeze, and another look at the beautiful city. 

Following dinner I walked back to the Tivoli Gardens with a a few other travelers to enjoy the park at night. I love traveling and visiting with so many people, especially since most (with the exception of Wendy and Margie) are my dad's age. They have all experienced so many neat things in their lives and there are lessons to learn from them all. See dad...I told you that you could hang with this group. There are at least 30 people older than you!!!

Oslo and Copenhagen

I wasn't able to blog last night since we were on a cruise ship and their was no wifi on the ship. For our last day in Oslo a few of us went to see the Opera House that is built to resemble a glacier. You are able to climb to the top and see a view of the city. Apparently locals love to go there to do yoga, drink a glass of wine, and hang out with good friends.

Climb to the top of the Opera House

After a brief walk around the city of Oslo we boarded an overnight ferry to Copenhagen. We had an amazing Norwegian buffet for dinner and then joined many of our fellow tour group members on the deck for wine. We ended the night in a piano bar where a few of us made friends with a few Norwegians. 

We arrived the next morning to the beautiful city of Copenhagen. After a stop to view the little Mermaid statue which is a tribute to Denmark's most famous writter Hans Christian Anderson. This afternoon we took a water taxi to New Harbor, which is ironically the oldest harbor in Copenhagen. The sun was out and the weather was warm so it was a PERFECT day to sit at a harbor view restaurant with a Carlsberg and enjoy the music of the Jazz Festival that is currently going on in Copenhagen. We did take a little excursion over to Christiania, which is basically a commune founded in 1973. The people there love to live the "free life" including a little side business of cannibus trading. It is controvisial with the government but the tourists seem to love it. We walked back along the canal to our hotel where we are enjoying the World Cup futbol match on Danish tv.

Nyhaven (New Harbor)

Oslo

Oslo is the growing capital city of Norway. There is a tremendous amout of construction going on building new neighborhoods in the city of Oslo. In fact, architects around the world travel to Oslo to study new architechture. On of those buildings is the new Opera House which was opened in 2008. These same architects are rebuilding Times Square in Manahatten so look for some new fangled styles in the U.S. 

Norway is quite the progressive nation. 40% of Parliment has to be served by women. Imagine that rule in the U.S.!!! The Nobel PEACE prize is given in Oslo (note the capital PEACE....other Nobel prizes are awarded somewhere else, which I think there will be more to come about that). 

We vitsited the Viking Museum today and learned a bit about the area that settled this area of the world. The boats that were built for the Vikings were so shallow that they could run up on the shore, attack, and run back out quickly. Again women had strong roles including running the land operations during their day. In fact, a husband stealing the keys to the farm could be grounds for divorce. 

Detail on Viking Ship

Viking Ship

We traveled on to the Kon Tiki musuem to learn about a Norweighn explorer (sorry....can't spell his name so just Google Kon Tiki). Basically this man realized that if people inhabited islands from way back when then they must have built boats out of light wood and reed. He built one in the 1940's and sailed across the Pacific as the ultimate action research project. In the 1970's he and another team built another boat to sail around the middle eastern countires but were stoped at the Red Sea due to fighting in the region. In protest, they burned the boat rather than abandoning their mission.  If you actually want to learn more about this let me know. I'll throw a party and we can watch the documentary of this adventure as it is the ONLY Norwegian film to win an Oscar.

Reed boat of the Kon Tiki

We ended our tour of Oslo at a scupture garden. I, again cannot spell the name of the artist. Google it. The sculputres were amazing in their depiction of the circle of life.

The ending of the day was at an AH-MAZING meal at a local restaurant found by our New York City traveling friends. Trust a New Yorker to find a good restuarant. I could go into details but lets just call this place the Doe's Eatplace of Oslo, Norway. Halibut...to DIE FOR!

Salmon starter with potato blinzes

Hailbut main course

The Fjords and a Lesson in Socialism

Today was one of the most anticipated days for our group. We traveled by train to Voss and then down a "mamma mia" road to board a boat to cruise through the Fjords. There isn't much to tell and these pics won't do it justice but here is a taste...

Train to the Fjords:

Mamma Mia road

Fjords

After the Fjord cruise we took one of the steepest rails in the world halway back to Bergen. Along the way we had a stop to see a fairy dance at a waterfall. I can't tell you why she is there or why there is a sound system there to play her music, but here ya go.....

We arrived at the last stop for the tourist train and waited a while to board a regular train back to Bergen. We made it a few stops and then everone had to get off the train at a stop in the shire of Norway because of a malfunction on the train tracks. In a capitalist country such as the US you better bet every taxi driver, bus driver, local citizen, etc. would have been itching to give rides to the 400 strandarded train riders. Not in a socialist country. It is Sunday. Everyone is off on Sunday,  Therefore it took almost an hour and a half, and our Russian tour guide pulling off a miracle she would only call a "Russian secret" to secure a bus for our group of 42. We felt a little bad about the 300+ still waiting on busses to arrive (it would take 12 busses for all the people) but then we reminded oursevles this is the benefit of competition people. 

Day in Bergen

We started off the morning with a tour with a little history of the city of Bergen. Bergen is an important seaport dating back to Hanseactic times when Bergen had exclusive trading rights for northern Norway. Today Bergen has one of the largest shipping industries in the world and is a research center for sub sea oil drilling in the North Sea. Our tour guide boasted the minimum wage in Bergen is around $21 US dollars but a hamburger is about $25 US dollars so in perspective it isn't that good! It rains around 250 days per year here. We have seen everthing from mist to heavy rain to sunshine to very high winds today and it's only 5:43. Speaking of the time....it is very difficult to tell what time it is without a watch. Bascially there is 23 hours of gray skies about about 1 hour of twlight, which I witnessed around 1:30 a.m. during my restless first night of sleep. 

Our first stop today was at Edvard Greig's house. Greig was a highly popular Romantic era composer from Bergen. His house sits at the top of a bluff overlooking a beautiful Bay area. He shared this house with his wife Nina, whose family was not happy about her marrige to Edvard. They thought he did nothing but write music that no one listened to. As Greig's music became more popular he and Nina, an accomplished soprano, toured all of Europe giving concerts. His music weaves in Norwegian folk tunes with more traditional classical styles. At the hight of his popularity he was offered $20,000 to tour the U.S. but turned it down due to his tendancy toward sea sickness. The U.S. settled for Strauss but only paid him $6,000. 

Edvard Greig

View Edvard had for composing his works...

We then visited the Fantoft Stave Church, which was orginally built in the old style of complete wood with no nails. Sadly the church was burned in June of 1993 by the leader of a satanic cult. He was charged with the crime but sadly never served any time. Stave churches used to be very common in Norway but their style is extremly small. There was a law passed that a third of the congregation had to be able to fit inside of any church built therefore most stave churches have been destroyed. As such, the owner of the Fantoft church felt it was important to rebuild the church in the same old methods to preserve a piece of the past.

Interior of church 

We ended our tour in the Bergen harbor which is a very picturesque fishing village. Along one side of the harbor are a few preserved buildings of the old orignial city of Bryggen. Disney copied this idea for the city of Arendelle in the movie Frozen. One last interesting fact we learned from our tour guide was that in the Middle Ages there was one pub for every 12 people in Bergen. I certainly hope the alcohol was cheapter then because a pint of beer today costs around $20!!

Old village 

We were able to enjoy an amazing lunch of fresh mussels, shrimp, salmon, scallops, and whitefish for lunch at the Fish Market, located on the harbor. It was all very good but the salmon was unlike any I have ever had before! Amazing!!

Mussels 

Seafood kabob 

We are catching a break now before enjoying a meal on the hotel terrace of items purchased at the local grocery store. Did I mentioned this place is expensive???

Arrival in Bergen

We flew to Bergen, Norway via Atlanta and Amsterdam. TSA could learn some lessons in customer service from Amsterdam. EVERY single person we encountered were kind, happy, and helpful. It may have something to do with the "crops" but seriously....the Dutch know how to make people happy in an airport and an airplane.

We arrived in Bergen to be greated by a pleasantly cool breeze and cloudy skies. After a quick transefer to our hotel, located in the city center, a few of us took off for an adventure up a funiculare to a lookout point high above the cliffs of Bergen. We were treated to stunning views of the sea village below! We took a small hike to a pond where the rain coming across the forest made us feel like we were in a magical fairy land. Seriously....we really wondered where the magical creatures were hiding!!

We followed up our hike by a visit to the harbor and quick stop at the fish market where we tried caviar (not a fan), fresh smoked salmon, and mussels that we quite simply to die for. A few of us then found a local pub for a quick afternoon IPA. 

Following dinner a group of us headed to the local grocery for meat, cheese, crackers, and libations. The locals are so very kind and pointed us in the direction of really good choices, except one cheese that resembled a sponge that none of us shall ever eat again. I'm not sure the homeless would even want it. ACK!!! We braved hurricane force winds to sit on the hotel terrace and enjoy the nignt "lights" of this area. In fact it is 11:25 pm here and it just now showing signs of waning sunlight. 

Tomorrow we'll learn more about this beautiful city by the sea. Until then it is lights out (kind of) after over 24 hours of being awake!!!

Another adventure....

I leave July 3rd for yet another adventure...my longest one yet. I'm heading to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, and Russia. 

Of course the first issue is what to pack for 17 days? The weather channel doesn't give past 10 days so the struggle is real people. 

Recently I was talking with a coworker that has traveled abroad a bit. We discussed the agony of trying to fit in with your attire. Do you just accept you are a tourist or do you search Pinterest for clues on what the locals wear? This trip I'm agreeing with the coworker and giving in to the fact that a Canon camera strapped to my chest pretty much screams "TOURIST" so I'm packing my comfy American clothes.

We'll be landing in Bergen, Norway on July 4th. It's a #maroonfriday AND my nation's birthday. Thinking about that I'm frankly quite tired of people saying you don't want to look like an American while abroad. Do Europeans try to dress like Americans when they are here? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong I'm all about respecting the country you are in and I'll attempt to speak whatever language they speak in these parts but I shall not hide my US citizenship. I'll wear my MSU maroon Friday attire with pride! 

Packing issues solved, remember this blog is about me. Not saying you can't enjoy it, but I have found on the past few trips that if I blog I pay attention to the local guides more and maybe when I'm too old to remember where I've been I'll have these posts to refer to. 

As an apology to not conforming to European attire, maybe through this blog you'll want to travel to the places I'm getting to discover and you'll boost their economy :-)

Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri

Sunday we traveled down the spine of Italy along the Apennines to Naples where we stopped at the ancient city of Pompeii. I'm sure you are aware that this is the ancient city that was buried by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 7 AD. One thing you might not know is that Pompeii was the "Las Vegas" of the region during those days. There were pizzerias along a long strip, fast food restaurants, and 25 brothels. The city is also decaying at quite a fast rate and there isn't enough funding to continue supporting the reconstruction. I suggest you hurry up and book a trip here!!

We continued along the road winding along a narrow and curvy road along the Mediterranean Sea. The bus drivers in this country are truly amazing. Our Tony did a fantastic job getting us safely to Sorrento where we enjoyed a walk around the city center. We stayed in the "basement" of the most expensive hotel in Sorrento. 

We awoke on Monday to a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea from our hotel window! We boarded a ferry to the island of Capri where we enjoyed a boat ride around the island AND a chair lift to the very tippy top of the mountain. Each chair lift only seats one person so it was a wonderful last day activity to sit alone and reflect on such a wonderful trip while you listened to birds and enjoyed the lush vegetation and stunning views.

We are on the road back to Rome now for a last night before our long flight home tomorrow. I hear every room has a view of the Vatican....can't wait!!

Arrivederci Italy... Until next time :-) 

Fast food stop in Pompeii. The holes were used for the ceramic pots to heat the soup.

Boat ride around Capri

Chair lift to the top of Ana Capri

Orvieto and Rome

Thursday:

We spent most of today traveling from Florence to Rome. We stopped halfway at Orvieto, which dates back to around 700 B.C. where it started as an Etruscan city. This is this second such city we visited...Perugia was the first. After the Greeks came to the area (bringing their Olive trees with them) the Romans conquered the area and the region came under Vatican control. The cathedral of the city is most unique with a fresco covered facade. Inside the cathedral is a small chapel with frescos of scenes from the a Bible. It was here to Michelangelo got his inspiration for the Sistine Chapel.

We are staying in the "woods" of Rome in Casale di Romano, or one of the castle towns of Rome. In ancient times the richest families of Rome had sons that became the Pope. These castle towns were where their countryside villas were.

 

Friday:

We started the day as gladiators entering the Colosseum as a theater during the Flaviun empire, it eventually became the place all Roman citizens came to watch gladiators duke it out till the death. We watched the movie "Gladiators" on the bus during our long journey on Thursday. I really appreciated our tour director showing us this movie again so that we could get a reminder of what happened in this massive (50,000 once completed). 

We moved on to the Roman Forum which is where the ancient city was. I wish I could tell you more about this but unfortunately our local guide was not very good. It is a beautiful place though and what I can remember from previous visits is that this is the spot where Peter was in prison, the Roman senate was, and several temples were built for a Roman guards. I wish I could have heard more about Peter. I have now walked where so many disciples have walked, which is a very spiritual journey. I guess I can always Google it :-)

After our tour we headed to the Jewish quarter for lunch. Unfortunately I was feeling quite yucky and couldn't enjoy the pasta....that is tragedy status my friends. After lunch we walked to an island along the Tiber River and got a gelato, which settled my stomach. Gelato cures all people :-)

We ended the day by shopping around the Campo di Fiore, which is the spot where people were taken in ancient times to be killed for disobeying the pope.

Saturday:

Today we visited the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. We had a wonderful local guide for the morning. She started by explaining a few things about Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel since you must be silent while in the chapel. A few tid bits:

1) It was discovered in the 1980 restoration that Michelangelo didn't paint the ceiling on his back. I'm not sure how they figured that out but talk about a neck cramp!!!

2) the center of the ceiling is the human hand touching the hand of God. The shape of the "humans" is actually the shape of a human brain. In all the times I have seen this I have never noticed that!

3) Bartholomew is depicted in the Last Judgement painting as holding his own skin since he was skinned alive. Michelangelo painted his own face in the skin as a representation of the Pope skinning his alive by forcing him to work on this project.

4) There was a cardinal that asked Michelangelo to cover up all the nudity in the paints. At the bottom right of the Last Judgement there is a naked cardinal with a snake wrapped around his body biting him in a most sensitive area :-/

5) The face of Jesus is the same face from a Greek statue of Apollo, showing that Michelangelo studied Greek art.

After we viewed the Sistine Chapel we continued on to St. Peter's Basilica. This was the first historical church I ever entered and it is still my favorite. There is simply no way to capture the size and beauty of this place with pictures. We first viewed the Pieta, which is the only work that Michelangelo signed. As the art teacher with us explains...it takes all your breath away.

In the afternoon we visited Trevi Fountain where we all threw our coins in the fountain to ensure our return to Rome. Next was the Pantheon, which has always been cool but never quite my favorite. On this visit we were treated to a concert by a small choir. It showcased the acoustics of the dome in quite amazing ways. I was literally running all over the church recording the sound from various locations. They actually sounded like huge choir when you were on the other side of the dome from them. We also viewed a church with a chapel that had beautiful Caravaggio paintings. The paintings are so real they take on the appearance of photographs. We ended the afternoon with a stop in Piazza Navona where a few of us enjoyed a glass of wine in a sidewalk cafe enjoying Bernini's fountain. 

Orvieto

Colesuem 

Bartholemew and the face of Michelangelo

St Peters

The Pieta

Trevi at night 

Florence

Firenze is the very definition of retreat for me. Every single night I sit on my couch and look at my tapestry of Florence that hangs above it. I've been know to have a glass of vino, or two, close my eyes and transport myself here. I always imagine I'm sitting at a cafe in a piazza watching the people go by with the Tuscan sun hitting my face. Today I didn't have to imagine :-)

We started with a walking tour explaining mainly the Medici family history of this city. Poor Medici's were always the dukes and never the kings. Google that if you want more explanation. We also visited the Academia museum to see "The David" as it is referred to in Florence. Ladies....this man is a beauty. It never ceases to amaze me the details in this most glorious example of the genius of Michelangelo. From the veins of his hands to the furrow of his brow the details are stunning.

After that is was an afternoon of shopping. Dad... You got your Italian coupon gift that was requested :) 

I didn't take many pics today. There are some days I choose to soak in the culture and enjoy a vacation away from the camera lens. You can't record the sounds of Florence that are so wonderful and I have about 500 pictures of the duomo...NONE capture it's true beauty. Come to Florence and see for yourself! But here is one quick shot I took at my first viewing today...

And one more of me and my fav artist. We met in 2010....

Assisi, Pisa, Monticatinni Terme

We started the day in Assisi with a wonderful local guide that explained the history of the town and it's namesake better than I have heard in my previous 4 trips to this town. As most of you are aware, the current Pope chose Francis as his papal name. Pope Francis has become very popular as a healer of the Catholic faith AND showing all Christians how to live a more simple life. Last year at this time Margie and I were amazed at the unity of religions in the Holy Land. Today we learned that In 1987 Pope John Paul II held a conference of world religious leaders (not just Christian) in Assisi surrounded by the frescos of peace to encourage the world to put aside things of this world and live in harmony. I can only hope the Pope Francis will continue this dialogue in an effort to stop judgement and foster love and unity among us all. 

The theme for my 40 days of lent two days ago (yes I'm behind) was retirement. Francis came from a wealthy family. He retired from wealth and chose a profession that satisfied him 24 hours a day and not just 8. Are you satisfied from the time you wake up until the time to go to sleep? In this trip I am. Yes I must work, and I am very satisfied at work, but how can I make my life more meaningful the rest of my waking hours?

One interesting fresco in the basilica depicted the very first crèche presentation. Each year at our church the crèche is presented to the crismon tree by a very special boy or girl. This the first time I realized it is a historical gift of the Christ child to God.

Our final stop in Assisi was at the church of St Clare. She was the first woman to follow St Francis and his belief in the simple life. I have made it a goal to study her more. Kim Hanson might could teach me :-)

We continued on to a surprise visit to Pisa. There isn't much to say other than it leans! It is a beautiful town though and we were able to see it at sunset....amazing.

The hotel pic is for Marvin (we are in a small town outside of Florence) and here are his answers to questions...

1) the grass is "winter grass" to keep the soil something something something (lost in translation)

2) the Italians put multiple families in a home most Americans would put 2 people in so that is where the population is.

3) hotels in the center of the city are quite tiny. If you stay in them longer than sleeping and showering, you are touring Europe incorrectly.

St Francis giving up the fight and choosing Peace

 

Assisi

Pisa at sunset 

The teacher salary will get you the wheels on the right

Typical european hotel. Good thing I get along with my roomie!