Day 12 ~ Rome

The kids throwing their coins into Trevi fountain

In front of Trevi fountain

The front of the Pantheon

Inside of the Pantheon

The roof of the Pantheon where this hole is the only source of light for the whole building

Outdoor cafe dining

A military band we came across near the Spanish steps

Climbing the steps of the interior of the Colosseum

The interior of the Colosseum with the basement exposed

We visited the catacombs at St. Sebastian dating back to the 1st Century AD

An exhumed catacomb - creepy & cool

Through the keyhole of Orange park, you can see across the city to St. Peters Basilica

The ruins of the Roman Forum

We spent the day with a guide touring many of the sights of Rome. We began at Trevi fountain, which is a natural fountain that an artist sculpted around. It is not the fountain from the movie "When in Rome" - that fountain doesn't exist in really life. It is said that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder you will one day return to Rome. We visited the Pantheon, which is the largest domed building in Rome (St. Peters is the tallest) In the middle of the roof is a large opening which provides the light for the whole building. They even have drains in the floor for when it rains. We visited the Colleseum, where blood and gore were entertainment. We visited the catacombs at St. Sebastian which was amazing. One could get lost in the maze of graves. They dated back to the 1st Century BC. In the church above there is a monument dedicated to footprints that are said to be of the resurrected Christ. We also drove on the most ancient road in Rome which dates back to the 1st century BC. We wound our over to the remains of the Roman Forum. What an experience to be surrounded by so many ancient things. This makes northern Europe seem "new"!

Day 11 ~ Rome

 A car just Tate's size

 In front of the Colosseum

Sunset in Rome

Today we had a rare morning to sleep in, hurray!  In the afternoon we went into the city center and caught our sight seeing bus.  We hopped off at a shopping district and enjoyed walking up and down the streets.  There were churches and monuments around every bend.  It was another beautiful day, a nice change from our previous drizzly weather.  I would like to take a moment to say how CRAZY the drivers are here!  It is a wonder there aren't more reports of tourist deaths due to automobiles.  There aren't any lines painted on the roads to indicate lanes, basically as many cars, motorcycles and scooters that can fit in the space can drive along side of each other.  I don't believe there are laws about complete stops, pedestrian right of way or making way for ambulances.  It is just every vehicle for itself.  Truly crazier than any other transportation experience we have had thus far.  Trace of course believes he could get a motorcycle and navigate his way around the city without any problem.  

Day 10 ~ Rome

 The entrance into the Vatican Museum

 A painting by Raphael depicting Christ's resurrection

 Vatican architecture

 Inside St. Peters Basilica

 The wall that designates the end of the Vatican state

 The Swiss Guard that protects the Vatican City

 In front of St. Peters Basilica

 The Colosseum

 Us on the hop on hop off site seeing bus

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

 REAL pasta - by the way they don't give you spoons to twirl it with.

Genuine Italian cannoli and Sfogliatelle  

Trace and Tate with their newly acquired team ITALIA scarves

We spent the morning touring the Vatican. It is a tremendous experience.  The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is breathtaking.  The imagery and symbolism is so interesting.  I don't know how it was possible for Michelangelo to paint it all in 4 years.  We weren't able to take any pictures in that section of the Vatican.  We also went into the basement or original Constantine part of the chapel that dates back to 300 AD.  We toured St. Peter's Basilica as well.  Truly remarkable artistry from the marble floors, the sculptures of saints, the mosaic scenes and the painted ceiling.  Each element has meaning and purpose, beyond it's obvious beauty.  We then had lunch at a charming restaurant.  Bill, Taylor and I had homemade spaghetti carbonara, Tate had homemade fettucini and sausage, and Trace had a seafood spaghetti.  It was a life changing experience....Olive Garden will never be good again.  We chose to hop on a sight seeing tour bus to see some of the sights.  It was really fun and a great perspective in which to view the city.  We hopped off at Santa Maria Maggiore - the largest chapel in the world dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  It was another beautiful chapel dating back to the 14th Century.  We learned today that Rome was established as a city in 750 BC.  Everywhere you look there are ancient Roman ruins nestled among other modern elements of the city.  We came back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool at the end of the day.  We are currently watching the Euro Cup soccer match between Italy and Croatia.  Go ITALIA!!!  

Day 9 ~ Rome

Gelato in Rome!

I mentioned at the end of my last post that we are without our laundry.  I should explain...

In order to get from Munich to Rome, we had a connection in Vienna, Austria.  We had only 30 minutes to make our connection.  As with all our inter-country airport experiences here in Europe, the plane de-boards on the tarmac and you are bussed back to the terminal.  We were dropped off at gate #1 and had to get to #33.  We were walking as fast as we could, but when we heard our names announced in a Austrian accent, we broke out into a full sprint!  We made the flight, but were not at all surprised when we landed in Rome that we left the baggage carousel empty handed.  We did make it to our hotel, had real pizza for dinner, and walked the city long enough to get a gelato. Great news though, our bags are being delivered any minute!  We are having a full travel experience.

Day 8 ~ Salzburg

Bill driving on a rainy Autobahn - very focused

 The peak of Kehlsteinhaus Mountain

 The sign outside the Eagle's Nest conference room

 What Bill & Trace had for lunch - pork knuckle

 Architecture of the villages in Salzburg

 The palace where some of the Sound of Music exterior scenes were shot

 The famous Gazebo of 16 going on 17

 The tree lined lane where the Captain didn't recognize his children hanging from the branches

 Tate donning his new Austrian hat.  He is planning on wearing it fly fishing with Grandpa

 The boathouse and dock

 More quaint store fronts

 The church where Maria and the Captain were married

 Bill & I doing laundry at about 10:00 pm

The German instructions for using the machines.  

We only thought about using google translate AFTER we figured it out!

As I mentioned before, Bill chose to rent a car in Munich so he could drive on the Autobahn.  He was so excited until we were assigned a BMW 5 series STATION WAGON!  We laughed pretty hard.  We were finally able to get on the road after spending about 20 minutes figuring out how to get the GPS to speak English.  It didn't take Bill long to get comfortable with the no speed limit situation.  Our second day in Germany was actually spent in Salzburg, Austria.  We spent the day with our guide Peter touring the Eagle's nest - Hitler's famous mountain retreat and the many sites of the making of the Sound of Music.  Today the Eagle's nest is used as a tourist attraction complete with a restaurant.  It was eery to be in the same rooms that Hitler and his cohorts used to plan some of their strategy.  The original elevator is still used to get tourists to the living quarters. After leaving the Eagle's nest we enjoyed a traditional German meal in a neighboring town.  We walked the streets admiring the charming architecture and eating some delicious apple strudel.  We also saw much of the countryside as we toured the sights of the Sound of Music.  We even listened to the CD as we drove and sang along.  (Taylor and Tate are watching the movie as I post this)  Our day came to a late end as Bill and I went on a laundry adventure!  Good news we have clean clothes...too bad we don't have them with us!