The World's Smallest Country

The Vatican - 0.2 square miles with a population of 770, none of whom are permanent residents. (I should have asked for a stamp in my Passport when I was there!) It has its own postal system, armed guards, radio station (KPOP), mini-train station and helicopter pad. Not bad for a country with no permaent residents.

Our last day in Rome, we went to visit the Pope's home. It was a Sunday and it was free Sunday and it was crowded. The Vatican musuem which you have to go through to see the Sistine chapel is only open from 9-1pm. So, get there early and not have to wait in much of a line, right? We got there at 8:30 and we didn't get into the museum until after 10am. A long wait, a long line - in the hot sun. At least there were some interesting people.

My favorite? There were a group of what appeared to be HS/early college girls from the Northeast (I assume New York) who were with their teacher or chaperone of some sort. They were about 10 feet in front of Jane and me. The teacher was loud and funny, but dignified and classy - if you can be all of those at once. First, I started laughing because the teacher started a bet with a Euro entry fee on how long they would wait in the line before they got into the museum. I almost asked if I could get in on that action.

Second, we were in a very long line and some people do not enjoy waiting in lines - they like to cut in line. A man attempted to cut in line in front of this group of students and the teacher nicely, but forcefully, said "No Way, Buddy. No Butting, go to the end of the line like everyone else and she personally escorted this guy arm in arm to the other side of the barricade and towards the back of the line. It was hilarious. It became ever more funny when she said similar statements to 5-10 more people. There were some nuns that kind of cut in but she didn't say anything to them...just kind of looked at them and let them pass. They probably have a get in line free card anyway!

The museum was interesting. It is 4 miles worth of ancient statues and Christian art and paintings and at the end of the tour? The most famous painting of them all - Michelangelo's Sistene Chapel. I've never really been a big art fan, but I thought the waiting and going through the museum was worth it once I got to the chapel. Maybe it's because I'm catholic. Maybe it's because I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Either way - It was gorgeous. While in there, I just kept thinking about what it would be like with all of the world's cardinals locked in there for prayer to vote on the next pope. I was not able to get any photos of the chapel because they are not allowed.

After the Chapel, we went to St. Peter's Square and Basilica. It's excatly how it looks on TV and how you hear it described in books. The church is impressive. As the largest church in the world, it is massive. The statues of angels would seem like giants to most normal sized men. Thousands of people walk around with their eyes looking up (towards heaven). You really can't believe how large it is. You can also go to the top of the dome for an impressive view of the city. Amazingly, there are no skyscrapers in Rome. There is a law that no building can be taller than the dome of St. Peter's.


The most disappointing aspect of my trip to the Vatican was that I did not get to see the Pope. There was a small oppotunity from a family friend who is becoming a priest and was studying in Rome who offered to get Jane and I tickets to the one of the Pope's next addresses. However, after some miscommunication, it did not happen. The Pope was in Poland anyways when we were there. That would have been awesome though - maybe next time.

When in Rome...

...do as the Romans do. At least, that is the famous saying. So, what did Jane and I do during the last portion of our Italy excursion - went to Rome. And how classical was it. We arrived on Friday, May 26th, and after checking into our "iffy" hostel near the train station, we began to explore the wonders of the old city. First, the Colosseum.

**I must warn you, I do not look very good in any of these pictures as my allergies were the worst they have ever been. I think my eyes watered for 3 days straight."

Colosseum
That's the Colosseum below. That enormous building standing behind me. Yes, it is huge and yes it is magnificant. It's amazing to think that this building was built before the time of Jesus. It is more than 2000 years old. I suppose you could say that the Romans were like the Americans back in the day. They liked BIG and the decided to put two theaters together to make a circular amphitheater that seated more than 50,000 people.

Seeing the buidling makes me think of the movie "Gladiator" which I watched for the first time this past spring. The Colosseum was a gathering place for young and old, men and women, as a place of entertainment where they watched Gladiators, criminals and wild animals fight to the death. The floor has been removed from the arena to reveal the labrynith of passage ways and holding rooms for the gladiators and animals.

The Roman Forum
Down the path from the Colosseum, is an area known as the Roman Forum. This was the political, religious and commerical center for the Romans. The most important buildings both political and religious were located here. When Rome's empire expanded, this area became the center of what they knew as the civilized world.
It's hard to beleive that admist all of these ruins, famous rulers such as Julius Caesar once ruled the area and walked along the same paths in which I trampled on. From Temples to Basilica's to the spot where Caesar was burned, it almost felt wrong to be walking on such "sacred" ground. The old columns make you wish that you had birkenstock sandals on and were walking around in a sheet. Everything is old. These green doors are still on their ancient hinges.


Later that evening, we headed to Campo de'Fiori (Field of Flowers - and why it is called that is beyond me because there is no field and there are no flowers). This place was filled with bars, cafes, restaurants, mimes, fire eating men, and lots of people.















Palatine Hill
The next day we went started off at Palantine Hill which contains the ruins of the imperial palaces. The world PALACE comes from this hill, where the emporers chose to live.



Mamertine Prison
Outside of the Roman Forum is the Mamertine Prison. This prision is more than 2500 years old and Saints Peter and Paul were once held here. Saint Peter was once chained to to this column. Of course, the picture did not turn out very well due to the low light.







Pantheon
Later that afternoon, we went and saw an example of Rome's best preserved interior. The Pantheon. And, because it became a church, the barbarians left it alone and didn't take what they could from it to build something new. With it's 142 foot high Dome, it was Europes biggest until St. Peters in the Vatican topped it with 3 more feet. Of course, in this picture you can not see the dome.















Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps were next on the list, however I just realized that I did not get a single picture of them. They were so crowded anyways, that you probably couldn't have seen the steps. So, I borrowed this picture from google. I'm still not so sure why this place is so popular by everyone who visits Rome, but it seems to be the place to go. Of course, we climbed in stairs and sat for a bit because when in Rome, do as the Romans do. The steps are located in Piazza di Spagna and are named for the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican which has been in this location for 300 years.

Trevi Fountain
Later that evening, we went to the Trevi Fountin. Now, when I was first heard about this fountain which was probably in the book "Angels & Demons" I just assumed this was a normal fountain like what you would see in a park. Circular with spouts of water shooting in all directions. Then, when I first saw the fountain, I thought, "WOW". Now, that's a fountain. There are no streets that lead to this fountain, but you can hear the excitment as you approach. For hours, folks sit and eat gelatto from one of the many shops in the square. Rome is filled with aquaducts and this fountains shows how Rome took full advantage of the abundance of water.

Rome is a wonderful city that will keep you on your feet and tire you out before you realize it.One thing I really liked about Rome was that you can't dig in Rome without finding another underground building. The old Roman cities seemed to have sunk and the new city was built on top of it. Also, on around every corner and on every street is another Church. I think you could spend days in Rome and not see everything, but I also think that there are more beautiful places in Italy to spend your time.

The Buried City and the Monster that threw up

On 25 May, Jane and I took a tour from Sorrento to the city of Pompeii. Now remember, the city of Pompeii was buried in ash when the volcano, Mt. Vesivius, blew it's top in 79 AD. A majority of the grounds that we were walking on were older than Jesus Christ himself. I never thought I would be walking on history like that.

25% of the city of Pompeii is still covered as archelogists have decided to keep some a mystery. It's probably a good thing too..because with the wear and tear that tourists and weather can cause an area, there will be something left for future generations.

Our tour bus left Sorrento around 8:30am and travelled to Pompeii, where, as a group, we embarked upon the walking tour into the past. First, we were in the amphitheaters that sat more than 1,000 people. You can see part of the old stone seats in the bottom left corner of the photo.






It was spectacular to see how a city was frozen in time for so many years. It's also neat to see that life wasn't as different back then as it is now. There were streets, stores, art, music....I suppose we've just updated some aspects of life to be a little more efficient. This picture shows artifacts that had been found. The body is not a mummy. When archelogists were digging, they found cavaties were bodies had been buried. They then filled them with a plaster type substance and that is how we are able to see how people appeared back then.

In this picture, on the street, you can see several sets of 3 large stones. These stones were used as a type of "cross walk". The streets were often filled with water as the street side merchants would throw their liquids into the street. In order not to get your feet wet, you could cross on this blocks.














In this picture, you can see some of the first water pipes used. These pipes (made of a type of metal) were used in the Bath/Swimming Pool areas of the city.


















Part of the Church in the "Town Square"














Old Frescos found on walls of "rich" people homes in Pompeii










After walking through Pompeii, we rode the bus up to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. This volcano is the only volcano on the mainland of Europe to have errupted in the last 100 years, with the last erruption in 1944. It is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes as a population of more than 3 Million live at its foot and it is known for violent erruptions.

The area around Mt. Vesuvius is now a National Park. A road leads to about 200 feet from the summit of the volcano and from there you hike on foot to the crater along a path. The first picture here is a picture of the inside of the crater. The second picture, in the center, you can see steam coming out of the wall of the crater.



Do you think it might erupt soon?

After a sleepy ride back to Sorrento, Jane and I left the next morning for the final leg of our Italian expedition - Rome.

Sorrento and the Isle of Capri

After Pisa and Florence, the next stop on our itinerary was the Amalfi Coast. In this area, we visited the Isle of Capri and the buried city of Pompeii and the volcano, Mt. Vesivius.

The town of Sorrento was your typical coastal, tourist town. But it was great. Our hotel was down on the water near the harbor and we were just a short walk from the city centre filled with shops and restaurants.

Due to delayed trains, etc, we didn't arrive in Sorrento until about 9:00pm on 23 May. After dropping our stuff at the hotel, we went for a walk around town. To our amazement, stores were still open and restaurants were still serving.

The next morning, we hopped a boat to the Isle of Capri. Capri is famous for it's colorful grottos. We went to see the Blue Grotto.

Also known as Grotta Azzurra, the cave gets its name from the light that shines through the salt water of the Mediterranean Sea filling the cave with blue reflections. When we arrived at the grotto, we had to wait for a small gondola type boat to come and get us from the shore. As we got into the boat, we had to practically lie down as the opening to the cave is very small and it seems as though the boat drivers have to wait for the perfect time inbetween waves to pull us into the cave. Once my eyes adjusted, the water was the blue color of liquid drano. It was gorgeous.

The rest of the day was spent taking a nap on a terrace along the water as well as a little shopping and eating before heading back to Sorrento.

The Leaning Tower and Italy's Renaissance City

Originally, Jane and I were going to take a night train from the Cinque Terre area to Naples. Having reconsidered the idea, we instead made a short detour to Florence. On our way, we made a very SHORT pit stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower. It was one of those places that I really wanted to go to and glad we did.














Our apartment-mates in Monterosso recommended a hotel to stay at in Florence as they had just come from there. We nicknamed the hotel "Grandma's Hotel" as it was run by an older lady (who only spoke Italian) and her grand-daughter Cristina. As the hotel only has 8 rooms, we weren't expecting on there being any available. However, to our luck, it had an empty room for one night. The arrangements were very simple, however it was clean and very affordable. Plus, anytime while travelling, it is such a treat to have people such as Cristina and her grandma be so welcoming. The name of the hotel was Soggiorno Magliani and it was near the central market.

The next morning, Jane and I went to explore the city a little bit before we had to leave on our train. We went to see the Duomo - Florence's Gothic Santa Maria del Fiori cathedral. It has the 3rd longest aisle in a Christian church. We also climbed the dome for a beautiful view of Florence.

After a bite to eat at a small cafe, Jane and I found the "Straw Maket". Jane bought some purpose and I too had had my eye on one. Having heard that leather purposes in Italy (especially Florence) are often better quality and less in price than in the US, I was really interested in getting one. However, I've never been much of a bargain shopper. I did though manage to get a purpse for 10 Euro less than what the guy was offering it for. I felt special!

It was getting late and we needed to start heading to the train station. Jane and I were also interested in some Gelatto because supposedly, it is supposed to be the best in Florence. We stopped at a few places, but it was kind of expensive. So, we stopped at one final shop, we each ordered a cone. To step back, Jane remembered a few days ago that she forgot her ATM card in Germany. So, I became known as her "Sugar Mamma" for the rest of the trip. As I went to pay for the cones, the total was 14 Euro. My jaw dropped and I began to laugh as I think that it was the most expensive place that we had stopped at yet.

We enjoyed our cones and hurridly made it back to the train station. However, our train was delayed 40 minutes. As we sat and waited, we met a very nice man from Rome whose name was Ramolo Bernardi. He is a business man who works with aeronautical companies such as Boeing. As we waited, he sang for us one of his favorite songs by Frank Sinatra. He also told us that his favorite movie is Message in a Bottle with Kevin Costner. It's funny what people from other countries consider their favorite movies (as many of them are made in the US). Especially the older generation. I suppose, thinking about it, pop culutre (music and movies) is one way that people from other countries learn English. US music is all over the place. I can't think of too many songs in another language that are popular in the US.

As he was teaching Jane and I Italian to further us along in our trip, our train arrived, and it was time for us to board for our ride to the Amalfi Coast of Italy(Sorrento, the Isle of Capri and Pompeii).

Cinque Terre

Our hike into the Cinque Terre park started off with some clouds, but by noon, it had turned into the most beautiful day I had seen in a long time. The Cinque Terre is located in a National Parak and we began the 7-mile hike in Monterosso and worked our way down to Riomaggiore. The hike was amazing. Absolutely gorgeous. You never knew what suprises you were going to find around the next corner.

The first portion of the hike was the most difficult - up and down small little pathways. We met another hiker, Natalie, along the way. She was from Canada and was travelling for a few weeks before her 4-week Italian course in Florence. Natalie became our travelling partner for the day and actually put up with all of Jane and Betsy's sea gazing.

The villages were beautful, each having their own charactersitics. As I stated, we started in Monterosso which was the most "resorty" of the 5 towns.














Next, along the hike was Vernazza, a village with a castle looking down on the harbor.














Cornigla was the 3rd village on our hike, and it was nestled on the top of the cliff, complete with a nude beach that we did not get the opportunity to visit.














Manarola - my favorite of all of the towns - exposed the beauty of rock beach. This photo is during the day.














As we were came closer to Manarola, Jane, Natalie and I decided to go down near the water and sit and relax on the rocky beach. It was amazing. I sat there soaking in the sun (which I don't see a lot of in Germany), watching the water and still trying to comprehend that I am on the coast of Italy.













Riomaggorie, last but not least, showed some of the same characteristics of the other villages, but its streets were long and narrow and very STEEP.


















After some shopping and dinner on the water (I had pasta with crab), we made our way back by train to Monterosso where we ended our last night in the villages by the sea.

The next monring, I woke up a little early and went for a little run along the shore before we had to check out of our apartment. It was such a beautiful morning with the sun shining that it was hard not to want to stay in the little towns a few days longer. When I travel, I really enjoy exploring towns in the mornings before everyone has awaken. This particular morning, children were making their way to school and local men were sitting on a door stop laughing and having a good ol' time. I picked up some breakfast for Jane and I, headed back, packed and we took our stuff to the train station for the day. Jane and I then went back to Manarola where we relaxed on a boat dock before heading out.

Honestly, if I lived anywhere near these towns in Europe, I might never want to leave!

Jane and Betsy's Excellent Italian Adventure

Another month...Another Trip. This time to Italy. First on the itinerary - Cinque Terre.

My friend, Jane, whom I met at Truman State University decided that she wanted to join me for my Italian Expedition. Jane arrived in Bonn on Friday, May 19th. After a few jet-lagged hours, a hot shower, good dinner and a decent nights sleep, Jane and I headed for Italy. We flew into Milan and from there enjoyed the train ride through the hills of Cinque Terre.

Jane and I didn't have a place to sleep in the coastal area of Cinque Teerre..and we decided just to wing it when we got there. Following advice from my Rick Steve's Travel book, we went to the Internet Cafe in Monterosso and asked for assistance in finding accommodations. Apparently, the guy was having a bit of trouble finding places for people. He did manage to find a 2 Bedroom apartment for rent for 2 nights. The funny thing was it was for 4 people. So, we ended up sharing the apartment with a very nice married couple from South Carolina. Sight unseen, the owner came to meet us at the cafe and took us to the aparmtnet which was up a very long flight of stairs - The place was was perfect. We couldn't have been happier or found a similar place for the same price.

This was the view from our window.


















We cleaned up after an already long day of travelling and went to town to let the water wash our cares away. It's funny how the rhythmic sounds of the sea can really put you at ease and let your mind wander.
We found a cute little cafe and tried some local white wine, bruchetta with pesto and another with Anchovies (another delicacy) and washed it down wiht the regional lemon liquer - which both of us sipped on and neither of us finished.

We ended the evening with more sea gazing and gelatto ice cream - Janes first and favorite. Then we headed to dream land to prepare for our hike into the 5 villages known as the Cinque Terre.

Second Time Around

So after a few months of not having a bike, one new bike (White Thunder which never made the blog) and a minor bike accident, I have managed to secure a new set of wheels for myself.

Introducing ______________________


This is an interactive posting where I would like your thoughts on what to name my new bike.

Isn't she a beauty?!?!?! And, yes she is made out of Gold Chrome - A little Bling never hurt anyone.













Send me your ideas on what I should name the bike...I need a good name folks..help me out.