Thursday, August 25, 2016 – Believe it or not, we paid for passes to get into Universal Studios just to see the new Diagon Alley (from the Harry Potter movies) exhibit.

OMG it was worth it. They had all the streets, shops (at least the store fronts and real shops for some things) as they did in the movie. It was so very worth it. We couldn’t find the entrance at first and had to ask someone who worked there. He said, “Do you see that building that everyone seems to just disappear into the brick wall? I think you will find what you are looking for there.” You walk in and immediately see the Weasleys’ Wizard shop. It’s the Weasley twins magic shop from the movie. Here is a shot of the outside and one of the inside. On the inside you can purchase all sorts of goofy “wizard” tricks and toys. Wizard-born and Muggle-born Wizards are welcome.

Like I said, the shop was fun and filled with trick trinkets to play pranks on the unsuspecting.

In other shops that are not simply storefronts you can purchase snacks, drinks, toys, trinkets and the famous Butter Beer or Pumpkin Juice. We drank the Butter Beer (it sort of tasted like Cream Soda) and brought home the Pumpkin Juice.

 

The Gringotts Bank (remember from the movie where all the trolls were and Harry took that ride to get to his parent’s volt to get some money to pay for his school supplies?) was really a trip into Harry Potter world. Walking through the bank to the ride was exactly like the movie scene. When Harry asked, “Haggard, what are those things?” You totally feel like you are there.

It was really fun. The ride was a 3D – hologram – experience. Leading up to the ride is a blast, all the hallways, (fake) elevator rides, security checkpoints to get to the actual ride is an adventure in itself.  I won’t go into too much detail, but it is definitely worth waiting in line to get to and really there is entertainment all the way so even if it is an hour wait, it goes by really fast. In the photo below of an outside view of Diagon Alley, the building directly in front with the Dragon on the roof is Gringotts Bank.

The Wand Store had a waiting line, but like the Gingotts Bank it had some fun little rooms with scenes and performances to keep you entertained while you wait. I will not give you all the details of the wait, but it did involve some reenactment of scenes from the movie with tourist participation included. The guy below was awesome – he never spoke – sort of unnerving, but fun in a strange sort of way.

OK, yes I am a sap and I did purchase a (plastic) wand in the gift shop that I will never do anything with. Today I’m a tourist OK?!?

Remember the Knight Bus scene in the movie when Harry escaped from his muggle home and the Knight Bus, “emergency transport for stranded Witches and Wizards” picked him up? The driver was Ernie, Stan was the bell hop and I don’t know the name of the shrunken head with a Jamaican accent that did a lot of talking. Anyway I had my picture taken with Stan in front of the bus. This is outside of Diagon Alley (appropriately so).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FArmRa092H0 If you want to see the scene, this YouTube link will refresh your memory of the scene.

We ended our Universal tour with a trip to the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. It is sort of a take-off of the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. Universal created a character, Professor Doctor Penelope Tibeaux-Tinker Toothsome of London, and her methods of infusing chocolate into extraordinary chocolate recipes. The Emporium is a chocolate shop, deli and restaurant and definitely a fun and literally “tasty” place to stop on your way out of the park. I didn’t buy any of them, but they did have Bacon and Beer flavored chocolate. (YUCK! I’ll stick with the chocolate flavor or maybe the coffee flavored chocolate.) Photo take from their website.

Professor Doctor Penelope Tibeaux-Tinker Toothsome must have lived in the industrial evolution era. The shop had merchandise for sale such as the normal t-shirts and all that, but also monocle eye pieces, top hats to match the era and chocolates in the shape of locks and keys. I did take a few photos of Tod modeling some of the merchandise.

This was the last stop at Universal. On to Port Charlotte, The Harbor House – Our Florida Home!

Not sure when or what the next post will be but until then, thanks for tagging along!

Saturday, April 30, 2016

It is hard to imagine the trip is coming to an end. Last night we packed up and organized our things for the long journey home. Here is a picture of Mom and Kathy, just chilling out in Linda and Mom’s room on our last night in Rome. I think we were just talking about everything we did and how we couldn’t believe it was coming to an end.

Obviously we hadn’t done enough shopping or spent enough money because you see all four of us were still shopping at the Rome airport duty free shops. We bought jewelry, chocolates and travel bags to transport some carry-on items.

Kathy and Linda were purchasing wine to take home for their kids. I think Linda picked up a bottle for Chad and Mandy and Kathy picked up two, one for Jake and Jenna and one for Derrick and Emily. I was ho-humming around about these “unique” cigars I wanted to purchase for Tod. The problem was, I was not sure if it was legal to transport them into the United States. I was talking to some English guy about which ones he was contemplating purchasing and we were both concerned that U.S. customs would confiscate them and that was just too much money to throw away.

So I’m not saying if I did or did not purchase the cigars and stash them in my carry on, nor am I saying if Tod did or did not bring some of said cigars to North Dakota when we went to visit Keith and Heidi. But, had I purchased them, this is what they would have look like.

I’m just saying, this is what Tod would look like IF I had smuggled in “unusual” cigars.

Thank God we ran out of time so we had to stop shopping (spending money) and get on our plane. Again it was first class, so a very comfortable trip back to Washington.

In Washington we again split up, them heading to Chicago and me to Dallas. My luggage didn’t arrive at the same international terminal as we were in and the girls waited with me as long as they could, but eventually had to rush off to get through U.S. customs and catch their plane. It was a cluster with luggage that’s for sure, but the airline customer service took care of it and eventually my bag showed up and a new ticket issued for my trip to Dallas.

Before they rushed off we took one last photo of all of us. Again Linda holding the camera / phone and me reaching over pressing the button. Don’t judge how we look on this one, remember we had been traveling for a very long day by the time we took this photo.

By the time Mom, Kathy and Linda got to security (you have to go through security again after you get back into the U.S.) they had only minutes to catch their next flight. And guess what you cannot bring through security? Liquids over 3oz! Including wine purchased at a duty free shop in-route! Linda being a more seasoned traveler tried to reason with the security. They were very apologetic and asked how much time they had because they could go to the security manager and try to get it waved, but, they only had about 10 minutes until the doors closed on the plane so unfortunately, they both had to relinquish their wine and rush off to catch a plane.

I think before this trip was over, we were all thinking, “Where next?” Writing this blog all these months later gave me time to look back on everything we did and saw and I came to the realization, “I desperately need a hairstyle! Not a new style, no, because I don’t have one! I need a hair style!” Do you know how hard it was finding any photos of myself that I looked half way decent on? Insane, here I thought I looked good until I saw all these photos! Next week, a haircut for sure. Bet you all thought I was going to say something profound right?

On a more serious note, if you ever have a chance to do something like this with family or close friends, just do it. It was a wonderful trip that all of us will cherish forever! Thanks for tagging along everyone and for letting me relive this trip with you.

Friday, April 29, 2016

I’m really glad we saved St. Peter’s Basilica for a day of its own. It is too beautiful and grand to share a day with any other sights. Granted we had some shopping left to do and the area around Vatican City has some great little shops and not too pricey.

I believe I mentioned previously that St. Peter’s Basilica is a Renaissance church, designed and created by Michelangelo, Maderno, Bramante and Bernini. It is one of the largest churches in the world. Construction started on April 18, 1506 and it opened on November 18, 1626. Wow, one-hundred and twenty years. It amazes me how in that time period, the people that design and oversee the initial project will never live to see its completion.

I think I already used this photo, but I wanted to start at the entrance to the Basilica. The inside is so remarkable; it will be hard to pick out which photos to share with you. (Well obviously ones we all look good in.)

Every room, every corner, every ceiling, every statue, every portrait; all more beautiful and breathtaking than the one before. It was difficult to take it all in. The Catholics definitely did not spare any expense when it came to this chapel or shrine.

Looking at some of these photos makes it hard to believe we were even there, but, can you understand why it is so hard to even pick out which photos to share?

I didn’t get any photos of the shops, but the Vatican City Museum hallways that were not part of a museum display were filled with little shops. Here are a few of my purchases. Puzzle postcards and books. I also have a book of the Vatican Museums, it’s in Florida. The girls purchased rosaries, postcards, and I am not sure what else.

Mom getting Holy water. At first she was shy to do it, maybe because of the rope, but of course I encouraged her.

Everywhere you look, more beauty to behold.

Just more magnificence! (Yes I was talking about Kathy, Mom and I! The only thing that would make it better is if sister Linda was in the photo too instead of taking it.)

 

There are also several tombs or crypt rooms under the main level. We toured as many as they allowed. It was very interesting and I was actually surprised at the number of women who also were laid to rest in the Basilica. I do not think you were allowed to take photos, I guess that would have been sort of weird, but it was really interesting to read about each person and to see the intricacies of the tombs. The photos are complements of the internet and I have no idea who to give credit to or I most certainly would.

After the Basilica we had lunch at a little sidewalk café. We thought it was just an outside café, but, the inside was really a very nice restaurant. (Italian cuisine – of course and the food as in all of Italy was wonderful. Or maybe it was the beer that was wonderful?) Our waiter was named Leon and why on earth I remember that who knows. He was very charming, a good quality in a waiter wouldn’t you agree? Below is a shot of Leon with Mom and Kathy that I took and one that Kathy took of Linda and I.

We were all proud of ourselves for having an actual lunch instead of just Gelatos! I cannot remember ever eating so much ice cream on a vacation, but that’s what happens when you put 4-Jarvey girls together with no child supervision!

We all had last minute gifts to buy. I needed something for Jeremie and Sophy and it was going to be a pain because I had something in mind (which ALWAYS makes it harder). I didn’t get photos of them with their gifts, but, for Jeremie I found a gladiator knife and small helmet on a stand and for Sophy I found a mask. I love those masks and ended up getting a Pinocchio mask for myself. I didn’t need it nor have a place to hang it and it certainly does not match anything in my house, but, I bought it anyway. It just seemed appropriate, the story, written by an Italian writer Carlo Collodi set the stage for Pinocchio and Geppetto in a village near Florence, Italy. Original Venetian masks bought in Italy? It was a no brainer, I had to have it.

A little scary looking wouldn’t you agree? Sophy’s mask was much more beautiful and not scary looking at all.

I can’t believe it, tomorrow we travel home. This week has been an amazing experience and it really flew by. My next post will be of the journey home or Wine and Cigars. Thanks for reading and until the next post, Enjoy Every Moment You Have with Your Friends and Family!

 

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Many of you will remember studying about Pompeii in school. Let me tell you, the history books could not do the Pompeii tragedy justice. It is hard to imagine what all those people went through. They had no warning of what was about to happen and although Vesuvius had been active, the people had no idea it would erupt in such a vicious manor causing such total annihilation. The events of this natural disaster were recorded in letters by Pliny the Younger as he gave a detailed account of what he witnessed and of what his Uncle, Pliny the Elder sent back to him by message. (Pliny the Elder died in the volcanic disaster, but not before rescuing some people by boat.) The letters of Pliny the Younger (found in the 16^th century) are a documented event of the catastrophe that devastated Pompeii and the surrounding villages.

At the time (August 24, 79 A.D.) about 20,000 people lived in Pompeii and the surrounding areas. Some accounts list the loss of life at 2000 people that did not escape. This map shows the cities that were destroyed by Vesuvius.

Within 24 hours Vesuvius dropped 14 to 20 feet (yes feet!) of volcanic ash on Pompeii. That is over 6 inches of ash per hour, it’s hard to even imagine. The heat was so intense that the eyes of man and beast would burst and all liquid would evaporate from the bodies. For others in Pompeii that were not in the direct intense heat, they were being engulfed in ash. Being covered in ash would be like sticking your head in a bag of powder dry cement while someone punched in the sides of the bag. Either would have been a miserably horrendous death, however, thankfully very brief in duration. Below is the current main entrance into Pompeii.

Our guide with the blue baseball hat on. He spoke very good English, a little too much actually….

As the lava and ash hardened, preserving the city and molds of its former inhabitants, looters already laid in wait of the riches buried encapsulated within Pompeii. I am not really sold on the idea of looting as much as the thought of recycling at its earliest period in time. Things like carved marble paving stones and precious jewels and items near the surface were looted. Then Pompeii was forgotten until 1748 when a group of archaeological explorers discovered Pompeii was well preserved under the ash.

In 1860 when Giuseppe Fiorelli, began excavations, he was the first to pour plaster of Paris into the empty spaces left by the original organic elements which had decomposed after the volcanic ash solidified.

This man captured eternally in his last moments of life. It made me sad that his plaster cast sits in a room among all this pottery.

Look closely at the glass case. Inside, the mold of a dog, trying desperately too free himself of the chained collar, which, is holding him as a captive hostage during the eruption.

This young child laying alone. Other sections had casts of entire families laying together, mothers holding babies, but the ones of lone people were the hardest to imagine.

Of the 163-acre city, 1/3^rd is still buried and will take approximately 100 years for the excavation to be completed. (Does anyone want to join my Mom, sisters and I for our next trip in 100 years to see the entire city?) The architecture was simply remarkable and even more so considering the tools and supplies available at the time.

The next two photos are taken inside the men’s bath house. It is mind-blowing how they designed the rooms. This room has upper windows that allow the sun and starlight in the room at all times of the day or night without letting in the rain.

The paintings on the walls and ceiling, statues, intricate carvings and inlaid tile work are true works of art, engineering and craftsmanship even by today’s standards. The bathhouse had several rooms including a changing room, cool bath, warm bath, and hot bath.

Kathy (and Linda’s forehead and nose) at one of the larger bakeries in the market section. I read that there were 81 loaves of bread cooking in the bakery of Modestus in Pompeii on the day of the eruption. The next photo of all 4 Jarvey girls at the bakery.

Below are tile-work samples in some of the more elaborate homes. (There were 35 homes with private bathrooms found in Pompeii.)

I don’t remember what the terminology was, but in today’s world it would be called a house of prostitution. It had several rooms and each had a painting over the door. This explained which “act” would be performed in that room. The beds were really short as were some of the common area doorways. The Pompanos must have been very short! Wish I could have gotten someone to lay down on one of the beds just to give a perspective.

Of all the places we toured, this is one that I would really like to read more about and also to return to someday while it is still there too return to. Although Mount Vesuvius has not erupted since 1944, it is still considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Experts believe another catastrophic eruption is due any day. Almost 3-million people live within 20 miles of the crater of Mount Vesuvius.

I think we had walked enough so were ready to say good-bye to Pompeii and meet up with our driver. The next stop was Naples to take in the view of the harbor, eat at a local pizzeria and to tour a castle. It would be a little hard to top Pompeii, but we were up for just about anything, although let me tell you I was really glad for the car ride and rest that it provided.

We stopped for a view of the harbor, but, all I have photos of is this tiny little car that I found so amusing, I mean just look at how compact it is.

Next stop was a little pizza place in the Spanish Quarters – Quartieri Spagnoli. I do not remember positively; however, I believe it was Pizzeria Napoli. We didn’t have to translate the menu to order; the pizza lunch was included and our driver (whats his name) ordered for us.

We each received a whole pizza! And gosh darn it, didn’t we each eat almost the entire pizza!? Must have been all that walking around, anyway, that’s my story.

Below is a picture of the girls with our driver. I don’t remember his name, but, he did speak English! That is how pizza’s are in Italy. Hand tossed crust, sauce, some cheese and a few pieces of fresh basil.

I believe the pizza gave us a little energy because believe it or not we were ready to tour Castle Nuovo.

Castle Nuovo is in central Naples. The initial castle was built in 1279 and remains one of the main architectural landmarks of Naples.  The picture below taken from the WiKi was taken by Richard Nevell of London.

Our driver purchased our tickets, but, did not go inside the castle with us.

Barons’ Hall: Photo by Richard Nevell of London.  Get a load of that extremely high ceiling.

Inside the castle, there were different sections of museums; one with glass floors so you could look into the cellars or dungeons. That part was sort of creepy.

Kathy couldn’t go into those rooms because of the glass floor and all. (She has an issue with heights, elevators, escalators and glass floors.)

You see from the pictures why it was creepy. Were they slaves? Prisoners? Was this just the normal burial process? Who knows? I didn’t research it. I can tell you one thing, after all that walking, we all slept really good!

Next Post; The Basilica.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016 – Today we are going to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City to attend mass with Pope Francis and to tour St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. (I cannot wait to tour the Sistine Chapel.) We ended up saving the tour of the Basilica for Friday, it was just too much to see in one day.

Vatican City is a city/state in the middle of Rome. They are governed in an elective monarchy and the Pope (head of the Catholic Church) has supreme legislative, executive and judicial power over the state of Vatican City.  The current Basilica started construction in April of 1506 and completed in November of 1626.

Site 58:St. Peter’s Basilica is a Renaissance church, designed and created by Michelangelo, Maderno, Bramante and Bernini. This church is one of the largest in the world.

Site 59: St. Peter’s Square is the large plaza directly in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Site 62: The Sistine Chapel famous for the frescos by Michelangelo. More on that later.

Site 64: Vatican City, home of the Pope

Site 65: Vatican Gardens with sculptures, fountains and plants.

Site 66: Vatican Museums with work of de Vinci, Titian, Bernini, Raphael and many others.

It is an early 8:00 am start from our hotel (not that 8:00 is early for us working class, but we did have a few retires with us, and besides, we were on vacation). We wanted to get to the entrance of the square by 8:30 to make sure we had a good spot when the gates open at 9:30. The wait seemed to go by really fast and soon we were inside the square staring at everything. I was trying to pick out the fountain from the Angels and Demons movie and trying to count the number of statues along the rooftop of the square area. (In case you are wondering, there are 140).

Lower left is Mom and Kathy waiting for the Pope. The lower right photo gives you an idea of the size of the columns in front of the Basilica. This photo is from Friday when we returned to Vatican City to tour the Basilica and to Shop. I put it in this section so you could get an idea of the size of the columns in the pictures above.

The Pope rode along the paths of the crowd and stopped to kiss babies on the head. I didn’t get a close-up picture of him but we did get fairly close as he rode past. The photos below show the stage / alter during mass. The mass was in Roman, Italian, English, Japanese, German – they had several translators. There were a few very large Jumbotrons that gave everyone a good close-up view of Pope Francis.

After mass we toured the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. I cannot even describe the museums and the grounds. The artwork in the museums started in the 1300’s and progressed through the centuries as you traveled through the museums. There were so many statues, paintings, tapestries and other types of sculptures it was really hard to take it all in.  I will try to pick out a few of the better photos to show you, but they simply cannot do everything justice. I actually do not even remember how many separate museums there are, but each was very unique with the century, artist and type of artwork.

There was artwork was on every wall, the ceilings, the floors, everywhere you looked there was something beautiful and fascinating to see. One entire hallway (huge hallway / room) was the Map Room and every painting was of an ancient map. I bought a book of the map room for my husband Tod. He collects maps and has them from all over the world, some he gathers on his travels and others people give him. Even my sister Linda sends him maps of different countries when she is traveling.

This statue of Perseus holding the severed head of Medusa was carved by Antonio Cavova at the end of 1800 – beginning of 1801 (in only a few months).

Notice the fig leaf? During the restoration of the artwork, all of the male statues private areas were fitted/covered with fig leaf’s. It looks like an add-on and out of place (which they all were).

It reminds me of my Grandmother using one of her lace handkerchiefs  to cover  a small ashtray my Grandfather had of a statue of a partially nude woman.

The place I had been waiting to see was the Sistine Chapel where Conclave is held by the cardinals for the election of a new Pope. The ceiling, walls and floor are all decorated with frescos and tapestries. I really had been waiting to see the famous ceiling that was painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 (while lying on scaffolding).   Other 15^th century artists work displayed in the chapel include Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino and Raphael.

I couldn’t wait to see Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam”. If you are not familiar with it, you have very likely seen a portion of the photo which portrays Adam and God’s hands almost touching. It signifies God breathing the breath of life into Adam. So from the picture below, imagine just the hand of God and the hand of Adam – I am sure you have seen that picture someplace.

Fun Fact: “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo and “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci are the two most reproduced works of religious art in the world.

You are not allowed to talk or take picture inside the Sistine Chapel so I took these from the Wiki on-line. (Although some people were taking photos and talking, it was annoying.) I wish I knew how to give the artist credit for these two photos.

How do you top that type of a day? Well we all agreed on Gelato Ice Cream for a treat. There were Gelato shops all over and no, this was not the first day we stopped for ice cream. It was however the day we did not ask specifically about the size of the serving. It was ginormous! And you know what? We ate every darn bite! Needless to say, we did not stop for dinner that night. Not one of us could eat another thing. And yes by God, we did each have our own dessert plate just like the one below! All equally disgustingly too huge for one person, but, that did not stop us from eating every bite.

It was another early night, I think Kathy was sleeping before my hand reached the light switch, but trust me, I was not far behind her in falling sound asleep.

Next post – Pompeii.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016 – after our long day yesterday, we had a lazy morning and a late start today. It was rainy so that may have been part of the reason we were not too anxious to venture out of our luxury hotel, but after all we were in Rome so we needed to get out and get going with our day.

We took a cab to the Colosseum and immediately upon arrival we all bought cheap ($5.00) umbrellas that were probably worth $1.00, but they kept us dry when it rained so they were priceless to us and we had no complaints. We waited out the worst of the rain in the subway shelter (us along with a few hundred other tourists.) Then when the rain let up, Linda and I stood in one line to purchase tickets while Mom and Kathy stood in a different line to get into the Colosseum. It worked out really well, because originally we thought we would be in line for over an hour and it turned out to only be about 10 or 15 minutes. (Maybe the weather had something to do with that.)

Isn’t this just a cool structure?

Somewhere around 70 A.D, Vespasian (a respected Roman ruler) returned the land near the center of the city to the Roman people, and proclaimed that a new amphitheater would be built for the public to enjoy gladiatorial combats and other forms of entertainment.

Construction took approximately 10 years, which was very quick for the period. Vespasian died in 79 A.D. so his successor, Titus, officially dedicated the Colosseum in 80 A.D. with a festival which included 100 days of games. The Colosseum, 620 feet by 513 feet diameter and 157 feet high with a 1788-foot perimeter, was the largest amphitheater in the Roman world.

The Colosseum had seating for more than 50,000 spectators to watch gladiator combats, hunts, wild animal fights and even mock naval combats for which the area was flooded with water (this was at a tremendous expense). Most of the warriors who fought were men, however there were some female gladiators. The gladiators were usually slaves, condemned criminals or prisoners of war. This period of history really seems to have been a barbaric time for humans as they were force to fight to the death against each other or worse yet against a wild animal.

In the following photo notice the oval shape in the floor with sort of a maze or stalls. This section was uncovered at some point, but during the glory days of the Gladiator, this maze of rooms and tunnels was where the wild animals as well as some of the prisoners were kept. This underground area included ramps and elevators used to transport the animals and Gladiators.

The amphitheater remained in use for about 4 centuries with the last recorded games being held in the 6^th century. (Maybe because the human race was becoming more human or more civilized.) Earthquakes were the main cause of destruction of the amphitheater.

Now this is team work! Not sure if you can tell, but, Linda is holding the camera / phone (she has the longest arms) and I am reaching over pressing the button. She couldn’t hold her arm out far enough to get all four of us all in the picture and press the button so it truly is teamwork! (Oh yes, Mom and Kathy smiled when they were supposed to, so they did their part too.)

This is an old entrance into the Colosseum – we didn’t come in this way but found it when we toured around afterward.

Where to next? Well believe it or not, sister Kathy wanted to go to a Harley Davidson shop so she could get some t-shirts for a friend of hers. Mom and Linda didn’t care where we went and I was up for anything so we hopped in a cab and went to the nearest Harley Shop. (Sometimes with the drivers we just pulled up the location on our phones and showed him where we wanted to go, which was usually easier than trying to speak Italian.) The shop was small but it did have a selection of shirts, caps, coins, shot glasses and a few pieces of jewelry.

We spent some time and money in that shop and it was sort of fun even for the shop owner I think. I purchased t-shirts and a shot glass for Keith and Heidi and 2 coins for some friends in Texas. Mom purchased hats for my Uncle Bruce and Brother Bill, and as I recall Kathy purchase shirts for her friend and a hat for Bob. I just do not remember what Linda purchased but it may have been a shirt for Chad.

I didn’t take any pictures of the Harley shop but I do have a picture of the coins and pictures of Keith and Heidi in their shirts.

Notice behind Keith and Heidi on the wall, not sure if the new one is there in the photo, but that is their shot glass collection with glasses from all over the world.

We left the Harley shop and decided to walk, trying to find a local’s restaurant. As usual it may have been dumb luck or just coincidence but we found the most amazing little local restaurant hidden away on a back street. The place was empty, I think because we were early for dinner, we were tired and hungry and the service and food the best we had in Italy. I would really love to go there again someday.  (Bonus, someone there speaks English.)

http://www.ristorantevladimiro.com/

Thanks everyone for tagging along on this trip. The next post will be of St. Peter’s Basilica for mass with Pope Francis and a tour of the Vatican museums.

Pantheon

The next “scheduled” stop is the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a Greek name meaning “temple of every God”. The estimated building completion year is approximately 126 AD. The dome is still the world’s largest non-reinforced concrete dome. It has a central opening (oculus) to the sky. The height to the oculus and diameter of the interior circle are the same, 142 feet. (Amazing) The Pantheon is reported to be the best-preserved of all ancient Roman buildings. I do not remember why, but for some reason it was closed to the public at the time we arrived. It may have been because a mass was going on, but honestly, I just do not remember. I have a few photos of the outside and took one from the internet.

The photo below is from the internet and like the others, I have no idea who to give credit to.

Next stop; Piazza Di Spagna. (Well, unless we find something else along the way.)

Spanish Steps

Piazza Di Spagna or the Spanish Steps is another must see in Rome. We found it not by using our map, but more by following the other tourists. Another amazing site. Linda and I walked to the top and took a few pictures looking down and it felt like about 1000 steps. (Really it is only 135, but the photos cannot do these steps justice.)

This photo is from the Wiki.

The stairway was designed by Francesco de Sancitis and Alessandro Specchi. The 2-year construction completed in 1725, thus creating passage from the Bourbon Spanish Embassy and the Trinità dei Monti church.

The photos below are from the top looking down. At the top is a café and as you see some local musicians having a jam session. In the lower left photo shows along the path to the top are photos of famous people walking the steps. (Mostly American actors and actresses.) The last photo is just a cool rooftop patio hidden away in this busy section of Rome.

Next post, The Colosseum, until then, happy travels.

 

Monday, April 25, 2016

As I had mentioned, our hotel was spectacular, but not within walking distance to anything, so we decided to take a cab to Piazza Barberini which is a large plaza in the city center of Rome. Triton Fountain or Fontana del Tritone which is a seventeenth-century fountain by the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini is in the center of the plaza square. I am sure my Mother or one of the sisters has a photo of this fountain, however I did not, so this photo is from the internet.

We didn’t select this site by accident, it is the drop off and pickup location of our hotel shuttle. We were using this as our grounding or home base while we went on our walking tour of the center of Rome and if we timed it right, we would catch the hotel shuttle bus back to the hotel.  Today our goal was to walk a triangle to see Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. When we started we had a tourist map with limited street identification, but we knew the general distance and direction. (Should be easy right?) Unknown to us, this central section of Rome is filled with so many statues, fountains, plazas and cathedrals that no matter which wrong (and there were many) direction we went, we found something amazing to look at.

Trevi Fountain

Fontana Di Trevi our first stop, not too far away and it should be easy to find right? Well not when nothing is in English and not a one of us can read Italian. (Spoken Italian is close to Spanish, so I could communicate a little, however I could read very little.) Already, this early in the trip I was thinking about my father-in-law Albert and longing for his Italian language skills. Tod’s Grandfather Albino and his Grandmother Gina came to the United States, “the land of opportunity”, on a boat from Italy. They were originally from the small village of Maurina which is in the municipality of Sopramaggiore. Albino arrived in New York and found work in West Virginia, however, he eventually he relocated to Northern Wisconsin. In Northern Wisconsin he and other Italian Immigrants found many job prospects in the iron ore industry. Neither Albino nor Gina spoke much English when they arrived, so needless to say, all of their children, although born in the United States, learned Italian and English at an early age.

We finally found some small signs for Fontana Di Trevi, so we followed the signs and the closer we got, we simply followed the crowd. Mom and I somehow ended up ahead of Kathy and Linda – they stopped to shop (Did I tell you I come from a long line of shoppers? I didn’t tell my husband either!) The walking path took us through all these alleys with different vendors sort of like a farmers’ market.  I saw these cool bicycle decorations and pointed them out to Kathy and said, “These would be perfect for Jake and Jenna”.

Mom and I moved on, however, when we got to the next street, Kathy and Linda were nowhere in sight. We knew they must have stopped to shop, so we killed time by investigating the nearby vendors wears. They were not too long in joining us and I asked Kathy what she bought, she said, “Those bicycles for Jake and Jenna.” Of course I wanted to see them (luckily as it turns out) and Kathy was happy to show off her first Roman purchases. I thought they were adorable but was curious about the colors she had chosen. Jenna’s name was in purple and Jacob’s was in pink. I said, “Wow, I’m surprised, I didn’t know Jacob liked pink that much, I would have picked pink for Jenna and purple for Jake.” Kathy was indignant and insisted that Jacob was spelled in copper, NOT pink. And Linda vehemently agreed with her that the color was copper. They didn’t believe me. (Two color blind girls arguing with the one sister that can see colors and not just some of them, all of them.) I told them, “The material may be coper, but the color is definitely pink.”

You know it was just like when we were kids, they would not believe me, after all what did I know? Mom had to settle the color dispute and only when she confirmed would they believe me. They sheepishly went back to the vendor’s stand and explained the error (although I am not sure how much he could understand) and ended up coming back with Jacob spelled in blue.

Aren’t they just the cutest?

After all that we were one alley away from Trevi Fountain. Construction of Trevi Fountain was completed in 1762. It is 85 feet tall and 65 feet wide it is enormous! It is the largest fountain in Rome and the most popular. I am not sure if it is the most popular because it is the largest and so darn impressive or if it is because it has been in several movies, so people are just more familiar with it. Whatever the case it is an amazing sight to see.

The legend is if you have your back to the fountain and throw in a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder you will return to Rome someday. A newer legend involves three coins. Coin number one is a sure return to Rome, the second coin leads to a new romance and a third coin leads to marriage. (We all threw one coin over our respective shoulder.)

Next we were off to find the Pantheon. The map made it look easy, but gain, there were very few roads on the tourist map we were using and somehow we just did not quite find it all that easily. It really didn’t matter much because every block had some really cool sights that took us by surprise.

The first photo is inside two different and equally beautiful cathedrals we happened upon, along with a few other monuments along the way. The architecture and history in Rome is absolutely mind-blowing, all of this and it is only our first day of exploring!

Every turn seemed to give us something amazing to look at.

I have more to write on this walking tour of central Rome post, but I am simply too tired to finish it tonight so I will add a new post tomorrow. For now, good night and I hope you enjoy reading this.

 

Sunday, April 24, 2016

We landed in Rome at approximately 8:10 am on Sunday, April 24^th. I had left my house at 9:30 Saturday morning for a noon flight to Washington (which was delayed remember? So I ran to catch my 5:05 pm connecting flight to Rome.) Needless to say we were excited and exhausted when we arrived, although it was just after 8:00 on Sunday morning in Rome, we had the time difference working against us. You see, because of the 7-hour time difference, our local time put us at 2:00 am and our bodies had just not caught up yet.

I can tell you something about those long first class flights, they continually feed you and generously refill your wine (or whatever your drink of choice) during the entire first leg of the flight. I am sure this is to make sure you are full and sedated during the second leg. (Which by the way worked wonders!) I am not so sure about my sister Kathy, she doesn’t drink at all, hopefully, she was at least able to rest.

It was almost noon when we arrived at our hotel, The Rome Cavalieri / Waldorf Astoria, and all I can say is that it was truly amazing. (Thank you Linda and Gary Pond for the gift of the rooms!) We walked around the hotel checking out the shops, dining options and all the amenities. I remember thinking, I am quite certain we will never have the opportunity to take advantage of the pool area or the amazing spa (even though at that moment in time I was thinking how great a massage and soak in a hot tub would feel.) I took the room picture from the internet because none of my photos did it justice.

Chocolate covered strawberries in our room – compliments of Linda’s husband Gary.

The view from our rooms was nothing short of spectacular in all directions.

 

Believe it or not we all took a nap. Kathy and I actually put on PJ’s and crawled in bed for a little 4-hour power nap. Yes, 4-hours. Linda and Mom I believe had a legitimate 2-hour nap. Needless to say we just laid low that night. We went to the hotel restaurant for dinner and asked to waiter to take a picture of us. 

Our waiter’s name was Marco, he was the goofiest waiter ever, but, he really did take Very good care of us. He had this selfie on my phone for a little surprise for us. It was so funny we just broke out laughing. What a fun first night in Rome.

If I am not mistaken, we were in bed by 8:00 pm that night. I at least had an excuse, I was fighting off a cold. Mom’s excuse was that she was one-month shy of her 83^rd birthday. Kathy and Linda, I am not sure what their explanation was, but I didn’t question it. I was too busy getting ready for bed as fast as I could so I could go to sleep! Tomorrow, our walking tour of Rome or Roma as the Italians say.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

We were all starting out from our little corner of the world. Mom and Kathy from Oconto Falls. Their trip actually started on Friday afternoon, (mainly because they had several self-appointed stops along the way). They left Oconto Falls with the first stop being Leatherhead Brewing Company in Green Bay, WI for a traditional Wisconsin Friday Fish Fry and to bid farewell to Kathy’s son Jacob (The Brew Master) and Linda’s son Chad (Co-Owner).

After what they tell me was an amazing fish fry, Kathy and Mom headed to Milwaukee, WI. The next stop was at the home of Kathy’s son (Derrick) and daughter-in-law (Emily) to see the Grand Children (Simon and Lottie Lee) and give them their turn to give Grandma and Great-Grandma a proper sendoff. (All this before their travels began in earnest the next morning.)

See all the toys in the background? Those belong to Daddy Derrick, not the kids.

Not really sure of any other stops, but I know their final destination was the home of Gary and Sister Linda to enjoy a night of hospitality before the three departed Saturday morning for the Chicago airport. (By the way, I am certain it was Gary’s influence that decided our trip to Rome as opposed to Hawaii.)

The girls were picked up at 6:00 am by the airport shuttle and sent me this picture from O’Hare before I even left my home for the Dallas / Fort Worth airport.

When they sent this picture, I had very good intentions to have Jeremie (my shuttle service son-in-law) take a photo of me at the DFW airport, but somehow I simply forgot all about it when he dropped me off. That was a busy airport shuttle day for Jeremie, the airport is about a 35-minute drive from our house. Earlier in the morning he picked up Tod, the Mayor and I believe one or two council men to take them to the airport for a trip to Florida. The three had some business in Florida and then Tod had to drive to Port Charlotte and close on our condo. I really wish I could have been with Tod, but this is a trip I could never have passed up.

I flew from Dallas to Washington where I met up with the rest of the Jarvey girls. They had plenty of time in-between flights, I was not so fortunate. My flight out of Dallas was late so of course my arrival in Washington was late. I literally ran through the airport to get to my connecting flight on time, but I made it and joined my travelling companions in first class. I know I will not mind the flight, I can sleep anywhere and especially with seats that can lay down and a stewardess that is happy to bring you just as much wine as you care to drink. Once my travels started, I couldn’t wait to get to Washington to join my Mom and sisters and now, here we are, heading to Rome!

 

Wonder how we will all look after this 9 hour flight? I’m not sure, but I know I could get used to this.