The Final Day

Well, this was the final day of our Italy trip. Here is the 2nd oldest outside mall in the world. It was actually destroyed in WWII but there were so many pictures of it that they were able to rebuild it from the rubble. It was very interesting to walk through actually. There were desiger shops in there of Gucci and Prada right next to a McDonalds (which had brown arches instead of gold).
This "mall" above is right next to the Duomo in in Milan. We were able to go up on top of it actually and walk around. This church took over 700 years to build it and is green and pink marble. It is quite extroardinary to see.

Here is a picture of us on top of it with all the spires. It was amazing how small the people looked from the top of it.

This was a picture of the Robison's at the top of the mountain at Lake Como.

And finally, just one last photo of us on the same mountain overlooking the Lake.

We had a wonderful trip and now you grandmas can expect some more pics of the grandkids on the blog. :)

A Day Off

After all the traveling both weekends and walking and walking and walking, we decided one day it would be good just to lay around and not really do anything in the little town we were staying in. We decided to go for a walk and take some pictures of the little shops that we purchased things at and here they are. The first picture is the Gelateria where I purchased Gelatos from the Italian lady who spoke no English. It was really fun to try and talk with her because she kept asking me i I wanted to have all of the scoops (I asked for two) the same kind. I thought she kept asking if I wanted a bigger cone. It was confusing but fun to fend for myself when I can't speak the language. That is a part of the trip that I really loved.

This is the Pasticceria (pastry shop) that we went to 10 times or so while we were there. There were little pastries of many different varieties there, so we kept going and trying new things. She also didn't speak english so it took several tries a couple of times to get things that we wanted. The rest of the time we just took Titus or Angie with us so that we could just tell them what we wanted.

This is the pizza that Leann ordered a couple of times. It is called the Atomica becuase of all the ingredients on it. That is one thing about Leann, she wants to get her moneys worth so she gets something with everything on it.

This was my pizza that I ordered. I loved it because it had a blue cheese on it and it was extremely salty. I don't remember what it was called, but I ordered it several times. No wonder we didn't lose weight while we were there...even though it felt liked we walked to the moon and back some days.

This is a good summary of how we felt about our trip. It was a joy we will remember for our entire life.

More of Florence

Well, another Italy post for you all. Here are some of the things that we saw while we were in Florence. The first picture is of a place right across from the Ponte Vechio, which is the oldest bridge in Florence. During WWII, all the other bridges were blown up, so it is a bridge that really shows what things were like there several decades ago. I can't remember the name of this place, and since I am typing this while doing a garage sale, I am not going to go read my journal to find out what it was, sorry! I do know though that we saw a ton of art and sculptures here and had to make reservations - how sad is that. It seems like so long ago sometimes, but then other times, it seems like just days ago.
Here is the Duomo in Florence. Actually, this is the bapistry that is in front of duomo. The detail on the buildings are just fascinating and you could spend hours looking at the buildings just getting to see the different parts of it.

This sculpture is called the Rape of the Sabines and depicts the scene where the young overcame the older men and stole the Sabine women. The sculpture is really dramatic and is a great work of art just seing how they all fit together out of the one piece of granite.

Driving in Italy was one of the most of interesting things while we were there. All the roads twist and turn so much that you get sick after just 4 blocks it felt like sometimes. Also, while you are twisting and turning and trying to figure out when it is your turn to romp into the roundabout, don't forget to look up and to the right and read the signs pointing which way to go. Also, don't worry if you have to go around the cirle 5 times or so just to read all the place that are listed one after another. It really is just comical how many signs they put in one place, and sometimes, only in one place.

Finally, this picture was taken from the Piazza Michaelangelo. This a picture overlooking the city of Florence with the beautiful Tuscan hills in the background.

Florence Lodging

OK, this was one of the best highlights of our entire trip. In Florence, we booked a room at an old castle that had been converted into a B&B. You can see part of the castle in the center of the picture and it wraps around behind the trees and goes to the other side. It is basically a U shape. The building on the right was added on later.
On of the things that we were most excited about was that the B&B was up on a hill overlooking the city. You could see part of Florence from where we were, but not all of it. We were perfectly fine with that because we had spectacular views of the surrounding hills and countryside. Below is the picture out one of our windows from our room. You can see the house on the next hill and the olive grove in between us and the house.

Also, our room had a nook in it where you could sit. There were windows on 3 sides of the nook so you got a panoramic view of the countryside. This was one of the best things during our whole trip. Leann and I sat in there and read and played cards and just looked at the beautiful Tuscan scenery. We are in love with Tuscany. It is easy to see why people would move there, and I can't say that I haven't thought about it. I have more thought though, what would I do when I got there??? I don't speak Italian so I can't live there and work a full time job. It just isn't possible.....is it?

This is the main entrance where you go to check in. There was seating there just to enjoy the view within the B&B. We loved the building and all the awe it brought to us just being able to stay here.

After a while enjoying the area and the rooms we got, we decided it was time to head out and see what the rest of Florence had to offer, even though we didn't need it to thrill us much as we had already got our expectations fully met. We opted for a photo opp. with the creepy Italian trees down the lane leading away from the B&B. What memories we will have for years to come.

Venice - Take 2

After our lovely trip to Rome and seeing the wonderful things we did, we decided that Venice was in need of a once more. We took Angie with us this time so she could get out of the house with Bella. We ended up going to the island of Murano, which is about a 15 minutes boat ride off of Venice. The island is famous for its glass blowing. We went there just to look around and see the different shops and see if we could get a good look at homemade glass blowing.

This is a glass sculpture in a piazza there in Murano. It is amazing. We didn't know it was there but walked around the corner and saw it. It was stunning and beautiful in the daylight. The picture doesn't do it justice. We think, as you have probably though about it breaking already, that it does get broken sometimes but they just replace the pieces. The whole thing also lights up in the evening, which we didn't get to see. (We think the broken pieces get replaced because all the blue on the ground is actually broken glass.)
This was the glass blowing that we did get to see. They were working on a chandalier while we were there. The guy sitting is rolling the pin so get the orange glass (which hardens pink) around the rim of the glass. Basically, they were making a glass container for a 4 bulb ceiling fan - except much fancier and much more expensive. That gives you a general idea though what the piece looked like.

There ducks are the first thing we saw when we got off the boat and onto Murano. We thought they were really interesting until we got up close to them and saw they were all glass. Then we thought they were phenominal. If you see the duck almost smack dab in the middle, you can tell from here that it is a mallard duck. It was 100 times more detailed once you got up close to it.

Finally, this is one more thing in a piazza that we say that was made out of glass. You can't see it very well, but I wanted to put another picture, so this is what you get. It basically is a christmas tree without the greenery. There are a lot of glass ornaments on it that just hang from different parts of the tree. It was fun to see the different parts of it, but I must not have gotten a close up picture. Oh well, maybe next time.

Finally, we headed back to Venice for the remainder of the time and I was able to snap this very classic Venetian picture. It made my day to get this picture as it is one of the things we have always seen Venice portrayed with.

Anzio

On Suday, we went to church with the Romans where I tasted the worst wine possible (I think) during communion. It was bitter and gross. After church, we went for a drive down to Anzio for an afternoon stroll. We ended up spending about 4 hours there just walking along the beach. The story of Anzio is that during WWII, the British and Americans landed there to launch an attack on the German soldiers. Unfortunately, from my reading, it didn't go the best because the General waited too long to call for an attack. There is a statue in the city along the beach that is of a small girl who apparently led the allied troop to where the Germans were camped.

During our walking, we spent most of our time along the beach. We picked up seashells from across the world. That was an amazing thought of how something so far away is so similar to things so close. We spent probably 2 hours walking the beach and looking for shells during part of that time. Pictured below are Leann and Juliano.

Walking back up the beach after picking up shells.

Here is Juliano and Anna. They were our wonderful, funny, and sincere hosts during our 3 days in Rome. They were so good to us and were the highlight of our trip. They put the whole Italian experience into perspective. It felt like home there. We talked of the struggles every society must deal with. We experience the passion of Italians and the event of dining while with them. Leann and I are both certain we gained 5 pounds just during our stay with them.

This is one of our favorite pictures. It is so innocent and sincere. Just to walk arm in arm down the street talking of things to do, things to see, things to come and things that have past. Just simplicity of being friends. (You would not see many guys in America willing to walk like this anymore.)The end of the day looking back over the sea.

Pompeii

OK, OK. I get tired of blogging. For this being Leann's thing, I am the only one that does it basically. This was our time in Pompeii. Pompeii is a city that was buried by a volcano in about 70 A.D. That is only 40 years about after Jesus died. This would have been right around Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. It was preserved just as Jesus would have seen it. That is the most amazing thing about it. In the back of this picture under the tree is Mt. Vesuvius, the volcano that erupted that covered Pompeii. By the way, Pompeii had the population of about 20,000 they estimated when the volcano erupted. In the bottom right part of the picture would ahve been to boat docks. The sea would have come all the way up to the brick by the tree in the very center of the tree. The volcano ended up adding about 1.5 miles of land to the get to where the sea is now. (Also, there are vendors just down the hill that sell lemonade from the home grown lemons they are famous for in that area. DON'T TRY IT!!! It is pure lemon juice - no sugar, no water, nothing but lemon and pulp. It was gross - thanks Titus!) :)
The picture below depicts the crosswalks throughout Pompeii. They were made like this so that horses and carriages could still pass through the streets, but people didn't have to walk in the muck and poo. On the right and the left are the actual sidewalks. They were very smooth for the most part from all the wear while people lived there.

This is a little street in the town. You can see the buildings on both sides and if you look at the bottom of the picture in the street, you can see two lines about a carriage width apart. This is where the the actual carriages had worn down the stones in the street. It is amazing how smooth they were too. The streets were very well laid and it was amazing to see them.

Have a hankering to go out to eat. They had that too. Here is a diner of sorts where in the open holes, they would have had pots filled with stuff that they could serve to people on the street. One of the most fascinating things that we saw was how smooth the things were in the town. The countertop here could rival marble or granite counter tops that we install in our houses to this very day. We saw the marble baths that the city had that were better than any bath I have seen in our houses to this day.

After hours and hours of walking, we decided it was time to go. The city is worth the trip and mostly because of the Biblical history that Leann and I know. It is amazing to see the stories in the Bible that talk about the cities and what they were to do and how to be Christians. Then, walking through the city you could see exactly what things looked like and why it was hard to be a Christian during this time. I didn't post it, but the first thing you see when you come into the city is the Temple of Athena, which would be saying that the city was her domain and she was the patron god from the Greek mythology. There was a brothel and other things that just showed you what the culture was like and how they aren't really much different than we are today.

Vatican, St. Marks, and stuff

Well, I forgot to put a few things on from the day before so let's catch up a little. The first day in Rome we walked and walked and walked. We saw so many things and here are a few other things that we did. This is the Trevie Fountain (don't know how to spell it). This fountained is carved into the side of a building. You walk around the corner and there it is. You don't think you are walking up to the fountain other than you can hear water. You don't expect it to be in the side of a building though. There were a ton of people walking around and we think that there was a guy having his bachelor party because they hoisted him up and started singing and carrying him through the streets. It was odd and a little funny.
Notice how small the people are in comparison to the fountain. It is HUGE and I really liked it. I would have wanted to hang out in the piazza more there weren't so many people there.

Below is the Pantheon. Today it is owned by the Catholic church and there are a couple of dead people inside it and that is really it. There are a few statues and stuff, but the main thing is just the building itself. It was designed with a hole in the roof and made so that the water would dissipate before it reached the ground inside the building. How did the Romans figure that one out???

OK, no look at the little people standing right next to the columns. Each column is I believe 60 or 80 feet tall. That is huge, but not the impressive part. Each column is a single piece. There are no cuts and it is out of 1 rock!!! AND - they shipped it to Italy from EGYPT!!! Again - what? How? uhhhh?

This is the Piazza Navona. This is where all the artists come to paint and you will hear it in many different movies. One movie it is in is "Return to Me". There were literally hundreds of artists out selling their paintings and just milling around. You can see some in the background, but not to many. This is the fountain exiting the piazza on one side.

As we were wandering through the streets to get back to the train station to go home, we had to stop. We didn't really know why, but kept trying to make our way through the crowd. Finally, when we got up closer this is what we saw. The ladies under the Max & Co. sign are models and were doing a photo shoot there in the street. We just happened to be going the same way they were so when they started moving and the crown dissipated, we actually followed the for about 1o minutes walking. They had their own body guards and all. I would say it was cool, but I was too tired and my feet hurt too much that really I could think was "get the skinny girls out of my way!!!"

This was one last interesting thing we saw in the way of sculptures. This is a coffin. If you are able to zoom in on it, you can see the veins in the horses necks and the muscles in the bodies of the scene. Wonder how much that would cost in these days?

So, that rounded up basically the first day. There is again, so much more that I can't show here or explain, but it was cool. The next day we took off to the Vatican and St. Marks Square. The Vatican actually was about a 5 mile walk inside. The whole time there was so much stuff on the ceiling and you spent almost the entire time walking up on ceiling while you are walking. There was so much Pope art that I really was disgusted at walking through and seeing the Pope and Jesus giving everyone the peace sign. I can't imagine Jesus ever giving people the peace sign! SO, after 3 hours of art that was starting to get on my nerves while just trying to get to the Sistine Chapel. Man they make you walk forever to get there! Anyways, here is one piece of art that I loved and will try to find a copy of someday. It is unnamed and the artist is unknown. I just can't help but imagine how that hug from Christ would feel and how it would cool your soul. I love the colors and the style of the art. This is one of my favorite pictures that we saw in Rome.

After 4 hours in the Vatican, we finally got back out into fresh air. This is St. Mark's square. Michelangelo designed this and this is also where the Pope comes out on Wednesdays and blesses the people.....with the peace sign I might add.

OOPS - this is a picture of the inside of the Vatican and the ceiling details....which is what you really look at going through the whole thing. Also, you spend the time looking ahead of you and wondering if the hallway is ever going to end!

This is one of our favorite Pieta's that we saw. It is in St. Mark's.

Now, the last picture here is blurry I know, but the purpose was to show you how tall the building is on the inside. You can see the people at the base of the columns there and the columns are probably 40 feet tall. NOTE: YOU STILL CAN'T SEE THE CEILING!!! The detail inside the churches are extraordinary and we loved seeing it all. I must admit though that it is hard to appreciate it because there is so much going on that you really can't interpret all that your eyes are seeing. In American museums, there is a piece of art and then blank wall around it so that you can focus on the art. In Italy, the wall is the art and so is the stuff they hang on it and so is the buildings and the sculptures and the and the and the. It is just so hard to actually take it all in and try to remember what you saw and how you felt. Good thing we kept a journal of our trip.

Tomorrow - Pompeii and Kareoke

Rome Day 1

Well, after our early morning drive to the airport and the explosion on the way that made us all freak out and actually stop the car to see if a tire had blown (except we all knew the sound was too loud for that), we made it to Rome and spent an hour on the bus just to get to the train station! We never did find out what the explosion was, but really sounded like a car slammed into another car. It was freaky!

So, we rode on the bus for an hour, checked our bags at the train station and then quickly jumped on the metro to go the coluseum. We rode the metro for a while (like 10 minutes maybe) and walked up the stair and BAM!!!! This is what you see. It was so wierd that you don't actually see it from a distance and then work up to it. You just pop out of the ground and see what is around.
The view is amazing and it is truly awe inspiring just to notice the building. How did they make it? How did they have that technologoy to get the arches so perfectly fit together and in a perfect curve? How did they build things three stories tall in this grand of nature? we spent about 1 hour walking around the outside of it and also seeing the arches of Constatine and Titus. Also, the Roman forum is there and we got to see a lot of that, even though we couldn't go inside because it was closed for some odd reason. (We never did figure that out.) Anyways, we were able to go inside the Coluseum and got to see exactly the way things would have been done ther. It is so big that you just look and look and look, but never really can take it in. Then, when you think about what happened there, you just realize that this was a living tomb of history. Then, it is even more distrubing seeing people making out and having picnics or stuff inside! Do they not know what happened here and the seriousness of the lives lost here? Below are a few pictures of the surrounding area.

Arch of Constatine (who legalized Christianity in Rome)

This is by the Roman Forum (by the Coloseum). It is called the poor mans date. The story goes that a man when he had no maney would take his date for a walk around the Forum (free), a walk to Palantine Hill (also free and pictured in the background), and when done, would stop for a drink at this fountain (also free). You cover up the bottom hole where you can fill up bottles or wash your hands and then out shoots water from the top hole and it becomes a fountain. It is actually pretty clever, but there is no talk about conserving water here apparently because it runs all the time.

Pictured inside the Coloseum (yes, we were there!)

When we were done there, we went to the metro and took another 10 minute ride underground and shop up in a little piazza when we got off. You are in this tiny piazza and walk down a long alley and when you round the corner - BAM - there are the Spanish steps. Again, just odd that you don't walk up to it and be able to see it for a long time getting closer. We had gotten a couple gelatos and decided to sit on the steps and eat our ice cream and relax (this is after about 4 hours of walking)!

We did a few other things while in Rome on the first day, but there are too many pictures to post. We will show them to you in person if you really want to see them all. Tomorrow's post will be of the Vatican and of St. Marks Square.