The Eternal City....Rome!.(day 1, part 2)

We walked out of the subway station to find the ruins of the famous Colosseum looming directly in front of us. Even having seen it before doesn't take away from the awe that this immense structure evokes. It is simply HUGE (50 meters high and 527 meters all around) and it boggles the mind imagining the ancient Romans constructing this place without the cranes and other modern machines and tools we would use today to build something similar.




Bill and I have both toured the inside of it before so were content to get photos of the outside and move towards the Roman Forum. The forum was the heart of ancient Rome and contains the all sorts of ruins from various buildings, monuments and walls that made up the political, religious and commercial center of the city beginning as early as 5C BC! Of course between then and now were many fires, wars, new religions, new rulers and other things that helped the forum evolve into its present state. It is hard to imagine how it must have been in its heyday.




It was VERY VERY hot all day and we were quite thirsty and tired by the time we walked across the forum. It was so dry that every little breeze created dust devils all over the place. Everyone was clustered in little pockets of shade. When we climbed the stairs that lead up to the Capital Square and the Piazza del Campidoglio we were almost at the end of our endurance. Bill said he was alarmed at how red my face was. There was a little spigot coming out of the wall with water coming out of it, we didn't know if it was safe to drink or not, but saw no signs saying that it wasn't (being used to seeing "Kein Trinkwasser" signs in Germany) and people drinking from it and filling their waterbottles. We were so thirsty we decided to take the risk. I heard someone say "We will find out in about 20 minutes if it is OK or not!" The lady who ran our Bed and Breakfast told us that these are called "nose fountains" or "il nasone" and the water that flows from them comes through aquaducts and channels out of the mountain springs outside the city. Thank you ancient Romans!!

The Eternal City....ROME! (day 1, part 1)

This past week Colin had his week of Boy Scout camp so Bill and I decided to take a little vacation of our own. RyanAir flights to Rome were too low to pass up so we found a nice Bed & Breakfast near the Vatican City and packed our comfortable shoes and some clothes, our cameras and BIG memory cards and hit the road! The first thing we did once we dropped off our bag at the B&B was stroll over to see St. Peter's and hopefully get in to see the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. (When Colin and I visited Rome a few years ago it was only a few days and the museum was closed...we were SO disappointed!) When we walked up to the walls of the Vatican City we were dismayed to see the LONG line of people leading all the way to the next street corner, then around it and down the block...and on and on until almost the gates that lead into the Piazza of St. Peters! It was very hot and we decided to skip the museums for now and plan to get their early early the next day and hopefully not have to wait as long. The Piazza is SO big and the effect of all the columns, fountains and statues and of course St. Peter's Basilica is just overwhelming. Pictures really do not do it justice....I actually didn't take very many because I wanted to get one to really capture the feeling I had but couldn't figure out how to do it.


















The Vatican City is policed by the elite Swiss Guard, the worlds smallest army. And they aren't just stage dressing. They are sworn to protect the Pope even if it means putting their lives on the line. Each one is trained in hand to hand combat as well as how to fight with halberds (those big spear/axe things some of them hold) and swords and other more modern weapons that we usually associate with the military. They wear colorful uniforms that are said to have been designed by Michelangelo. I guess they must be brave if they are willing to go around wearing blue and orange striped knickers and jacket with a huge ostrich plumed hat.





Before we could go inside St. Peter's basilica we had to go through a couple of different checkpoints while we stood in line. The first was a metal detector and the second was kind of a dress code check. They are very strict about people dressing properly inside the churches in Rome and do not allow bare shoulders or skirts or shorts that are over the knee. Some people slipped through since it was very crowded and those who were turned away were NOT happy about this. Ah well...there were plenty of signs to let them know what was allowed.The interior of St. Peter's is IMMENSE! It is so large that it can handle 20,000 worshipers, I am glad there were not that many the day we were there, but there were a lot of people visiting.



The first thing I wanted to see inside was Michelangelo's Pieta. It is a beautiful marble work that depicts Mary cradling Jesus's body after the crucifixion. One thing that makes this sculpture unique is that it is the only work that Michelangelo signed. He overheard someone say that it was not his work and that of another sculptor, so he carved his name and that he made it in Florence into the sash that Mary wears.

After we viewed the Pieta we wandered around in the rest of the church, craning our necks to the ceiling, taking in every detail we could. There is SO much to see! I was fascinated to learn that there are very few frescos or canvases in the basilica but many extremely intricate mosaics instead. Looking up at Michaelangelo's dome from below it is hard to imagine that the beautiful figures that decorate it are formed out of hundreds of different colored tiles. I made sure to take a picture of one of the mosaics and also a closeup shot so you can see the individual tiles. Amazing!





After we were finished at St. Peter's we headed to the subway to make our way towards the center of Rome. I will pick up the travelogue there tomorrow. Caio!

How does your garden grow?

With all the rain we have been having over the past weeks my garden (and the weeds!) have been growing nicely. We finally had a sunshiney day this week and I wasted no time getting out into the garden to clean out as many weeds as I could before the clouds rolled in again. Weeds wait for no man! Since things were looking all ship shape I took a few pictures. Hopefully I can update in a bit and have MUCH bigger plants and tons more blossoms on the flowers to show off. Most of the flowers I have are either perennial or 'volunteer' flowers from the ones I planted from seed last year. I love how many come up AND not having to buy plants, but it is SO hard to be patient and wait for them to grow big and bloom.

Happy Birthday America!!!

With all the rain we have been having I wondered if we would be able to do anything yesterday but the weather cooperated for the most part so we headed out. In Mannheim (about 1/2 hr away) the base there is having a big "fest" that is open to the public as well as the Americans. There were rides and games and food..you know, all that you know and love in a carnival! Colin had been wanting to go all week so we went there in the afternoon. We were lucky because it wasn't very crowded at all, I guess they were waiting until later on closer to dark. It was really fun...we all rode some rides (Yes even Bill!) and played some games and won some prizes and ate some good food. Whoohoo!










Colin had to be back in Heidelberg by 7PM to take part in a flag ceremony put on by the American Legion. In the field behind the library they had a huge party kinda thing set up with food booths, a dunking tank, a jail you could pay to lock people up in (it was funny watching the MPs chasing people all over the place to "arrest" them!), stuff to buy and lots of people set up with BBQs and lawn chairs waiting for the fireworks show at sundown. The flag ceremony had a 50 cannon salute, one for each State and they had Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other youth carrying the flags from the States and then posting them. Colin carried the Connecticut flag. Go Colin!


















It was getting close to dark when we were finished with the flag ceremony so we picked up some dinner (Gyros sandwiches and fries) and then drove off the base and through the country roads around the back of the base so we could watch the fireworks from there and not have to fight with traffic when they were finished! We do that every year and it is SO nice! It rained just a little bit, but we opened up the back of the Jeep and stood under it and were just fine. The fireworks were great, we saw some kinds that we hadn't seen before..oooooh....ahhhhhhh!

Johannisburg Palace in Aschaffenburg

Sunday we woke up to something amazing...blue skies and no rain! We grabbed our cameras and headed out to find something to see and ended up deciding to visit Aschaffenburg and tour the castle there. The town sits right on the Main river and the castle is in the middle of town on a bluff overlooking the river, a perfect vantage point for sure. In medieval times the castle was a fortress but fires destroyed most of the original construction except for the keep which is still a part of the building today. It is a MASSIVE structure constructed to be the second residence of the electoral archbishops from Mainz. The archbishops of Mainz were VERY important in political and religious affairs. Wikipedia says that he would be the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps. This changed in 1803 when many parts of Germany became increasingly secularized. Unfortunately the Palace was severely damaged in WWII and had to be almost completely rebuilt. It is always very sobering when we visit these beautiful buildings here and discover photographs of their destruction in the war. It is hard to imagine the amount of money and work it took to rebuild so much history. Fortunately the people had the forsight to safely hide away the art and other treasures so they were not destroyed.




















Inside the palace we were able to see some of the Princely Apartments furnished as they would have been in the last 18th century. Other exhibits were the worlds largest collection of cork architectural models. They were interesting in both their scale and in the amount of detail. Most of the models were of Roman structures..and all out of cork!












Other parts of the museum had all sorts of porcelain and china articles, furniture, exhibits about industries in the town, weapons and this unusual carved sled that we were all fascinated with.










After we visited the palace we took a short walk through the gardens to a unique building called "the Pompeiinam" which was commissioned by King Ludwig I. It was to have been inspired by excavations in Pompeii and have the feel of a mediterranean villa for art lovers to come and see the masterpieces within. We weren't able to go inside because it had already closed...another day!

Favorite Castle

You probably are thinking that we visited our favorite castle this weekend. Actually it would be TOO hard to choose one favorite...but this castle is named "Schloss Favorite" or "Castle Favorite". It was built as a summer residence by the Duchess Augusta in 1710 near the town of Rastatt where their principal residence was located. Schloss Favorite is often called a "porcelain palace" because many of the walls, fireplaces and different places in the palace are covered with over 5,000 handpainted porcelain tiles, each one unique. They reminded me of the blue and white tiles we usually associate with Delft Holland but our guide told us that these tiles were from Nuremburg and were blue because at that time that was the only color they could fire.



Another thing that makes this castle a treat to visit is that it was never bombed or otherwise destroyed so the decorations, floors and ceilings are 70% original. Each room was different than the others, and just when you thought you found the one you liked the best we would go into another. One had hundreds of mirrors decorating the walls and ceilings of the room and painted portions and little shelves with porcelain and china vases and things. Another was a 'game cabinet' and was all done up in black laquer. The floors throughout the castle were either made of wood polished smooth by years of slippered feet or a unique kind of faux marble called scagliola decorated floor that we were not allowed to walk on because of it's delicate condition. We were only allowed to take pictures in the great hall in the center of the castle where they would entertain guests. It is 3 stories tall and is awe inspiring.




Once we finished our tour we took a nice stroll through the wonderfully landscaped gardens and enjoyed looking at all the different kinds of trees and waterways. Bill and Colin found someone's cork and toothpick boat stuck in some reeds and rescued it. Boys will be boys! I came upon a mother swan resting with her adolescent 'ugly duckling' babies and one started to come over to me but got startled and they all headed for the water. Phooey..I thought I was going to get to pet a swan! Ah well.

A Midsummer Nights Dream

Last night we attended a special presentation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream performed by the American Theatre Troupe in the courtyard of Heidelberg Castle. We got some great seats front and center since we got there early and enjoyed the atmostphere of the castle as the actors set up the stage and the rest of the audience arrived. I had never seen a Shakespeare play and wasn't sure what to expect, but we had read a synopsis of the story online before we went so we would have some background. The way they interpreted the play was so fun and interesting, we were not the least bit confused OR bored. Bill and I got some great pictures of the performence and we all agreed that we would love to see another play like this again. Colin said "I can't wait to find out about MORE Shakespeare plays!"