Rome

Italy!!

            Our first day in Rome was one of relaxation, a nice change of pace.  However the next day it was right back to the grindstone.  This means trying to survive Rome’s metro, which is not bad except it is extremely humid, quite a few people, and hot.  The metro is probably warmer than it is outside, or at least more humid.  So it was the metro to the Coliseum and the nearby Roman Forum with Palatine hill.  All of this was tons of walking in an extremely hot sun and hardly any shade, particularly in the Forum.  We saw so many tourists and I have begun to think of myself as a different kind of tourist, hopefully one that doesn’t stick out as much as these people, but the backpack does not help.  Anyways, the Forum was my favorite.  It has so many old temples and while most do not know what each temple was for, unless you had the audio guide, they were usually labeled with the deity that was worshipped there.  After this very warm morning and part of the afternoon we stopped by the Bocca della Verita or Mouth of Truth, the myth goes that if you were to tell I lie will your hand is in the mouth it will shut on your hand.  Do not know if it is true, definitely did not try it.  That evening was one of steps and fountains.  For we went over to the Spanish Steps to watch more silly tourists, look at the obelisk at the top, and check out the fountain at the bottom.  I had never realized just how much water Rome really has, and it seems like any time there was even a small natural spring, they put up a fountain.  Check out my facebook pictures of all the obelisks and fountains and you will get a small idea. Otherwise it was a night of sitting by the Trevi Fountain (threw in two coins) and eating gelato, then heading over to the Triton and trying some cheap wine.   All in all a great start to Rome.

            The Vatican museum was our next stop.  I got there early and only had to wait 10 minutes in line and right away headed to the Sistine Chapel.  There was hardly any one there and it was still very quiet, a nice time to enjoy all of the beautiful artwork.  However I had to go through everything that I had missed by skipping ahead to the chapel, thus I had to go back, look at everything and then go through the chapel a second time.  This time it was packed and everyone was talking and taking pictures.  Normally this would horrible and guards would be everywhere, but everywhere you looked there was a camera and guards were just watching, not saying a word.  I was extremely happy I had been in there previously.  Later that night I headed to the Pantheon and found more obelisks (three) and some amazing fountains (fountain of the four rivers by Bernini).  Then it was a quick metro stop at the Coliseum to see it at night, this was a bit of a disappointment, and the lighting was not the greatest.  The next day we were back at the Vatican to see St. Peter’s Basilica and Square.  There were no lines and while inside we were the only ones for quite some time, making it extremely quiet and easy to relax and take in the splendor.  Outside was another obelisk and more fountains and then we tried to find some catacombs, did not work out exactly.  But I did get to stop at San Giovanni’s Piazza and see the tallest obelisk, which ended my tour of Rome. 

            The train ride to Naples was extremely hot and uncomfortable, air conditioning did not work.  And then we had to get on a smaller local train to get to San Agnello which is close to Sorrento.  But details of that part of Italy will be coming soon. J

~DH

Florence: The Gelato Capital

Italy!!
Our first stop in Italy was Florence. And as Suzy and I love ice cream we were very excited to try gelato. Thus we learned that Florence is considered Italy's gelato capital :) this is wonderful news for us. We also were informed that some places make their own and after trying some of this, know that it is probably the best I have ever had.

While in Florence we have visited the Uffizi, to see the Birth of Venus and Spring, Accademia to see Michelango's David, the Archeological Museum for the Chimera and the Francois Vase (Chimera ended up being in California), the Bargello Museum which houses Bernini, Donatello, Michelango works. Some of these museums were planned, Uffizi and Accademia and such. Others such as the Bargello was found on accident, in which we went, "hey that looks neat. let's go there," little did we know we would be seeing some amazing things. For one thing I never knew that Donatello did his own David and it is also really interesting. Then there are the churches.

Florence has some very famous churches. The two main ones we saw were the Duomo and Santa Croce. The Duomo we found on our way to the Uffizi, for as we are walking down the streets we see this HUGE green and white building, and once again think, "wow, what is that?" So we stop there, people are standing in line, everyone is taking pictures, and there are signs but none say what it is. Instead we find someone selling postcards, and there it is 'duomo.' TaDa! We found something we were not even looking for! And inside of this amazing building is even more amazing architecture! Dante has a painting of himself there and many famous people helped with its building. The bapista next door has amazing doors on it, but we chose not to go inside. The Santa Croce is also beautiful. Even though you wonder if there are a few different buildings you see that things were slowly added on and everything works together. Inside of this church was many floor plots for various citizens of Florence. Some of the citizens were quite famous, Michelango's tomb is there, as is Galileo's. Otherwise this church is a wealth of knowledge, for as we have learned you take your time and see more when you have an audio guide. Therefore I learned that during the flood of 1966 the waters came high enough they reached the church, and the water level is marked in the church. This level was higher than my when standing in front of the plaque. Also one of the monuments for a famous citizen is the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty.

And now we are on our way to Rome. Hopefully the air conditioning in the hostel works and we find Rome as easy to navigate as we did Florence. ciao!

Munchen!!

Germany!
*Note: This is 4 of 4 about Germany. If you want to read the other ones look at the ones following this, they each pertain to different areas in Germany and are labeled such.

Munich. A beautiful city surrounded by many interesting things. In fact we were outside of Munich for 2 out of 3 days.

Day1: Neuschwanstein and other place. I only call it other place, because I am too lazy to look up the name and too tired. However it is outside of Munich by train about 2 hours. And both of these castles are beautiful. The other place was the home of Ludwig II ancestors, while Neuschwanstein is one of the castles he built. All I can say is that castle is crazy. Ludwig was technically declared insane later on in his reign, but the castle he built had an indoor cave inspired by an opera, a singers hall and was one of the most decorative things I had ever seen. The surrounding mountains only added to this beauty. There was a gorgeous gorge just north of the Neuschwanstein and this could be crossed by a bridge. The scenery was again beautiful. This is also the castle that inspired Disneys castle.

Day 2: Dachau. Germanys first concentration camp. I do not truly know how to describe this place. And while we were allowed to take pictures I took none. This was not due to it being to horrific. It was more out of respect, the people that had died there reserved that and I felt like it was a little thing I could do. So while I can tell you about what I saw there is no real way for you to understand what the cremetory, baracks, gates, guard towers, and yard looked like. They had videos from survivors and we had a great guide explain everything that had occured there. If you would like to know more about this place, just ask and I can explain more throughly.

Day 3: A bike tour around Munchen! Our guides name was Jolly and he was just that. He made sure everyone felt welcome, had fun, was safe, tried beer, and learned alot about this wonderful city. He showed us where Hitler loved to give speeches, where kings used to live, where people tried to riot, where the old gates stood, and a beer garden. Now in Bavaria it is a good thing to know that they sell beer by the liter if you want. A very good thing to know and try, especially during a bike tour. Jolly explained things from the past and the present of Munchen. He told us where the Oktoberfest had started and why, and just how much Bavaria liked their history. These people had even tried to stop a fire by using beer, due to a shortage of water, they are very dedicated to the town and will probably never run out of beer.

So while I did not spend a lot of time in Munchen I did learn a lot of Bavaria and its history. Now I sit in Florence, exhausted but unable to fall asleep. The train ride here included me being on the top bunk of three with a very hard matress. Hopefully the walking tour goes well and the weather holds out. It is supposed to be around 90 something today. And therefore I end yet another chapter and begin the next on ITALY!!

Berlin

Germany!
*Note: this is 3 of 4 about Germany

Berlin may have been one of my favorite cities I have ever visited. There was so many museums, monuments, restaurants, and people that I enjoyed visiting, and therefore I will break up this post into those catagories.

Museums: Berlin had amazing art, architexture, and information. There was old master museums, galleries, and even buildings (sorta). In one museum they had reconstructed old gateways, alters, and fountains. The museum contained pieces from Assyria, Rome, and Turkey. We walked around many museums and were unable to see enough, even while doing this for about 3 days. The German history Museum took a day, and I do not even really look at everything! The various galleries had some beautiful paintings. There was the fountain of youth, conquering love, and a madonna. Also the nice thing about Berlin museums is when you buy some of their tickets you get in to many museums and get free audio tours :)

Monuments: Berlin does not really do flashy monuments. In fact when a local was showing us around the city they took us to many places we had already been. There was a place to honor people who had demanded their husbands back from the police, the square where the Nazis burned books, and a small building that was for unknown soldiers. Everything was just out of the way and unless you knew exactly where to look you would walk right by, which we did about two or three times.

The restaurants we went to the normal person might not consider. For one thing I am a vegatarian, which our guide knew, but decided to be more cultural and ate meat. The other being that one was completely in the dark. The first one I refer to was Austrian. It had tons of meat dishes and amazing drinks. This meant that I had veal, something I rarely ate when I did eat meat. But it was definitely culture food. And the second place was as I said quite blinding. You are told to turn off anything that remotely emits light. We then pick our menu, well it is actually a poem about our food. I think I only guessed one item correct and that was the dessert. It had been labeled as drunk smurfs sledding, and was of course blueberries w/ cream and a bit of liquor. Our server was blind and quite helpful. But the whole experience was fantastic. When you can not see your food you almost enjoy it more. It made me try to picture things but also go with texture too. And though you keep waiting for your eyes to adjust, they do not. So you pour wine in the dark, eat in the dark, and talk to each other, never knowing what anything really looks like.

The people that we stayed with were wonderful. They helped us pick the right museums and brought us to the said restaurants. They also made the most wonderful breakfast in the world. I really do not know the name of what it is I ate, but it is like a mixture of whipped cream and cheese. Unfortunately you can not get it in the states, stupid FDA anyways. And thus I am ending this chapter on Berlin, thinking back on my wonderful breakfast.

Dresden!

Germany!
*Note: I am writing all about Germany in a short period of time, very early in the morning. Therefore be sure to check for more about Germany in other posts (4 total) and be sure to ignore any and all of my mistakes :)

Dresden is another beautiful city. We were able to find our hostel very quickly and not get honked at by too many cars, which is a definite improvement. Also the city is very clean, compared to Dublin at least. Our hostel had a definite Australian theme and the people their were not Australian, but this mattered little to them. And now for our tour.

I will break Dresden into two parts, the old part and the new part. We saw most of the new side of town our first day. Now while it really is not that new, it is full of a different kind of German. Our map told us how some people in this part refuse to use running water. But the new side had many cute shops, cafes, and churches. Martin Luther has a church there, or at least it is called Martin Luthers church. Otherwise there is also a rather old cemetary in this part as well. This cemetary is completely Jewish. It felt like stepping into a park and all of the tombstones faced Jerusalem.

The old part of town is more of what had been rebuilt after the bombing. The various churches, castles, and opera house. It was interesting as you can see the old stone that had survived the bombing (completely black) mixed with the new stone (tan color) in the buildings. Then in many places, particularily the caste and Zwinger, there was the old statues and the new standing side by side. Dresden has done a lot to bring back the old city and many of the towns people like this, but some worry because the old palaces are turning in to hotels and soon part of the city scape may disappear behind bigger buildings too.

During our stay in Dresden President Obama was due to arrive. Now one may think that we would be excited for the chance to see our president. We were, but it was also frustrating. Everywhere we looked there was police. And not just like 3 or 4 in one spot, more like 8 to 10. They were circling blocks. When you walked down the street you would see a line of the police vans driving by (again 8 to 10). And the day he was due to arrive the completely closed off most of the old city, as that was where he was supposed to stay. Though it does amuse me that the hotel he is staying in is the old residence of King Strongs mistress (right next to the castle). Thus ending our stay in Dresden, as we fled before more cops came and the city stood still.

Bad Nenndorf

Germany!
For this part of Germany we stayed with some family of mine, Henri! It was wonderful. Bad Nenndorf is a tiny little village (about 10,000) and as they liked to tell us, it was mainly older people. However this village is very close to many other little villages. Therefore we went everywhere around this part of the country.

In Hameln, we saw the town that orginated the story of the Pied Piper, as 130 children disappeared from the town and no one heard from them ever again. It had a beautiful clock that told this story, and it was surrounded by about 20 to 30 different sized bells. These bells played the music of the Pied Piper for the clock at two times throughout the day. Luckily Suzy has a video camera and thus we will be able to share this experience. Unfortunately it will only be shared once I get back to the states.

Then there was castles. One of the castles was on a hillside and not much was left of it, just the gatehouse, a watchtower, and a few different buildings. But the castle was not as impressive as the view that we got when we looked down at the countryside. We were able to see the River Waser and all of the little farms. I should clarify, as it seems that this region does not have many farm house on their own. It was more like the farm houses we just on the edge of town, so the towns/villages are always surrounded by fields. The second castle was most definitely a castle. In fact a duke still lived there or at least still owns all of the property. It was beautiful, tons of wood carvings everywhere. There was also a mausoleum that was huge. But the current owner had blackened out all of the windows and put in black lights to give it a erie effect. This mausoleum had at one point even housed the remains of Charlemagne. There is also a stable that looks more like a small palace. It houses some of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen. They also train their horses for particular "dances", but we were too tired to watch :( as we probably would have fallen off our seats.

A bike tour of the country side was also part of this trip. We biked for 40 km (25 miles) in about 5 hours. It was a great way to see the country and talk to Henri and her family as we biked. Henri tried to teach me how to say more things in German, but I do not think it worked very well. Otherwise I must say that Germany is great about alternative energy. They have windturbines and solar panels everywhere! And while it does not improve the landscape, it did not matter because everything was so beautiful anyways.

And this ends my short description of our stay in Bad Nenndorf.