Blog Update: European Wrap Up

It is June 13th 2018, tomorrow we fly back to the states after our nine month adventure in Europe. It has been an eye opening amazing experience. We have made a trip to the north to see Florence and Pisa and another to the south to see Pompeii and Hurcleon. We had saved Rome to spend with our friends who were coming to visit. After nearly a month in Italy we have seen so much but realize we have just scratched the surface. We try to see as much as we can but still take time to relax and enjoy our surroundings. There is so much to tell about the city of Rome, I will try to keep it as brief as I can but still bring you our reader along with us. When we flew into to Rome we were told by our new landlords to come to a restaurant in the neighborhood and he would come and get us at 3pm. We arrived by taxi to the restaurant at noon so had some lunch and hung out till 3. Our host Jacapo showed up and we walked with all our gear (40lb's Leiann and 60lb's for me) to our new "home". It was a fifth story studio but did have an elevator (thank God). The place fit our needs just fine but a little pricey compared to Cyprus ($700) at $1,000 a month. Compared to staying at a hostel for $30-40 a night still a bargain and we have a kitchen so save lots cooking at home. That first afternoon we took a little walk around the neighborhood (not the tourist zone, but nice and clean). We found a little place to have our first meal in Italy. The next day we jumped on a bus that took us into the middle of the city. We were totally lost again (as usual and the way we like it). We walked and found our way to the "Spanish Steps" featured in the movie Roman Holiday (circa 1950's). We then walked in what is one of the main tourist area's looking for the hoop on hoop off bus, which we found. We do this often to just get the lay of the land and target places we want to visit, they also always give you a tourist map. As the sun was setting we found our way back to our apartment with some idea of where we were. The next day we did some walking exploring out further in our neighborhood and made a trip to the grocery store to stock up. The next day we wanted to figure out how to use the local metro (subway) and find the train station that our friend Eilidh (Alee) would be coming into. Rome has a great subway that goes around the city in a big circle. On our way home that evening we walked along the Tiber River overlooking the Vatican, a castle and a large ornate parliament building. The first thing that hits you in Rome is that around every corner there is a huge church, or a huge fountain with large statures, or a huge building with statues and columns. On an open air tour bus it is literally like "oh look at that" "oh look at this" around every corner. Like Athens the City of Rome dates back to several hundred years BC. But unlike Athens Rome was and is again the center of the Catholic Church. There are over a thousand churches and even more fountains in the city! When Eilidh got here we started in earnest exploring Rome. We took the Vatican tour the afternoon she got here and would recommend it as we were able to do a "skip the line" tour. The line getting into the Vatican is blocks long and inside it is just nuts, with people pushing everywhere. We were very happy that we chose this option afterwards. We spent three hours inside with our guide, she was very good and spoke perfect English (not always the case). She told us that there were over 5,000 paintings alone not to mention statures and other relics and that if you spent only two minutes on each of just the paintings you would be there seven months! Then you could start on seeing the rest of the place. So she said she would try to show us the most important things and give us some history without boring us. She did a great job of this. We learned that Michelangelo was only 35 when he started on the Sistine Chapel and almost quit because the pope was trying to direct his work. He returned when he was sixty to paint a huge wall size painting displaying the images of the "Book of Revelations". Also she showed us the famous paintings (read entire rooms) done by Rafael, who was only 24 when he started the paintings. Of course the Basilica of St. Peter was the highlight and again is one of those you gotta be there moments, simply amazing (see pictures in the gallery). The next day we headed for the famous Colosseum and Roman Forums. When you first see the Colosseum towering over you ten stories high it is hard to believe it's nearly two thousand years old and still standing. We spent a couple hours inside trying to imagine gladiators going at it killing each other or lions and other "wild beasts" being slain by a guy with a sword and or spear (see pix). We spent another couple hours walking the ruins of the Roman Forums. The forums are what is left of a compound named and built for a specific Roman emperor, ie: Caesar's Forum..... There are something like four or five of them. It's hard to tell one from another because you are looking at ruins. You see what is left of a building, like the forty foot tall columns with connecting stone beams at the top, which was once the front of a temple. All around you, you see columns, arches, walls, some buildings in whole and many that have been built on top of old ones or even inside older ones (see pix). That evening we headed over to the "Trevi Fountain". This is the most famous of all the fountains in Rome. It encompasses the entire end of a building. Huge statues climb the building (150ft) and are as wide as the building (200ft). Water flows out of many of the statures and into a large pool. All of the statues are made from white Carrara marble. It is said that if you throw a coin over you shoulder into the fountain that you will return to Rome and if you throw two you will find love, three you will get married. Leiann and Eilidh both threw just the one. The next day we took our one day mad cap trip to see Pompeii and Hurcleon which I wrote about in the last blog. On Eilidh's last day with us we went to see the Pantheon Temple (now a catholic church). Another marvel that has to been seen in person. It has the largest unsupported dome, even after nearly two thousand years, in the world! We made another visit to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain. We had a great diner in an open air street side cafe, eating some of the best pasta we have ever had. The next day we took Eilidh to the bus terminal and said our goodbyes. Again wondering if we will ever see each other again. We had a great time with her and wish her well on her educational pursuits. The next day our next visitor friend Colin came. We met him at the bus and brought him to our little apartment. Colin will stay with us until we leave and then will stay in the apartment for a few more days as it is rented for a month. We spent the evening catching up as we have not seen each other for three years since back in our sailing days. Colin has traveled more then us so we had lots to talk about. The next day we walked the town with Colin and got him oriented seeing the Trevi Foundtain, walking along the river with the Vatican in the backdrop. The next day we took him down to the Colosseum and Forum areas which he will explore latter on his own. We visited the Manatine Prison and underground dungeon where St. Peter and the Apostle Paul are said to have been imprisoned before their executions. Standing in the underground stone cell 20 ft wide one can only imagine what it would have been like to be stuck down here with God knows how many other men and no toilet, some were said left to starve to death down here. After that we did some random exploring (always fun). We found a real pyramid on our way, go figure. The pyramid dates to 12BC. It is only 100ft high but is cased with white Carrara Marble so is still quite spectacular and certainly unexpected. The following day we took the subway out to the edge of town to visit the tomb of the Apostle Paul that is under the church known as St. Pauls outside the wall. The church is situated out side the city walls as burials had to be outside the city by Roman law. This church is second only to the Vatican and is a place of Christian pilgrimage and the pope visits it once every year. Standing in front of St. Paul's tomb is a sobering moment. The next day we struck out on our own to visit the crypts and catacombs under Rome, leaving Colin to do some of his own exploring. It is said that there are around 180 miles of catacombs under Rome. We visited the crypts under a very old church that is decorated with human bones, strange as you can imagine. Another crypt took us down three stories below the ground to a 4th century church that the church above was built on. And below that was a 1st century Roman Villa with rooms containing wall frescoes predating Christianity and celebrating a long forgotten religion. Under the Villa ran a spring which is why the structure was found in the first place. The story goes that the existence of the two buildings had been forgotten and that a church leader had heard water running below the floor of the church and so starting digging to see what it was. And so started the excavation looking for the source of the sound of the running water. This then continued long after his death and did not finish until many years later. We were able to visit and see the spring that had been the inspiration of his digging. That brings us to today as we get our back packs stuffed full getting ready to fly home tomorrow. Much more could be said about Rome or for that fact about our nine months here in Europe. We have not seen everything, but we have seen much. We have loved getting to know something of the land our ancestors came from (damned immigrants). We have lots of memories to take with us of friends we have made and experiences of a lifetime. We now look again to the future visiting our grandchildren, family and friends. We plan to buy another boat when we get back to the Puget Sound, live on it and in the fall sail once again down the coast to Mexico and start yet another Chrysalis Adventure in the Sea of Cortez. Stay tuned and be sure to check out the gallery to see pictures of our travels. We hope you have enjoyed riding along with us and we hope to share more of our travels with you our readers.