We celebrated our 10th anniversary on a trip to Europe. For my own recollection, I'm writing up some of our favorite memories from the trip.
Day 1- Roman Forum, Colosseum, Vatican Museum
You walk out of the train station and BOOM. There it is. Enormous palace of carnage. Rome's magnificent Colosseum and lots of guys dressed up like Gladiators looking for a picture and a tip.
The arch of Titus. This was constructed under direction of the Emperor Titus by the conquered Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. According to Josephus, 1.1 million Jews were killed during the siege and subsequent battle on Jerusalem.
The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.
First of many slices of pizza and gelato cones in Italy.
The interior of the Colosseum, below the stage.
Vatican City. We had such bad jetlag day 1 that we fell asleep on the steps in St. Peter's square.
How convenient. A little tiny Vatican post office trailer right in St. Peter's Square.
This image is haunting to me. This is a Roma woman (gypsie) begging outside the Vatican museum. I didn't give money to the gypsies in on the trip, but have wondered if I should have. They have a 70% unemployment rate in their population of people and face harsh discrimination. It was heartbreaking.
Mummies in the Vatican museum.
Cute little kumquat tree in one of the gardens in the Vatican.
So, frescoes on ceilings are pretty spectacular. This ceiling was the length of two football fields and all ornately decorated. While we weren't able to take pictures of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, there were many others nearly as magnificent! I was interested to learn that Michelangelo actually painted the chapel ceiling standing up. It took years to complete.
We went up and down many flights of stairs on a crazy wild goose chase following the red arrows to the Sistine Chapel. It reminded me of the Salt Palace, but worse.
After visiting the museum, we left Vatican city and collapsed into the chairs of the first little Italian restaurant we found. The walls of Vatican city are directly behind Topher. This is where Topher opened a little envelope revealing the gender of our newest addition to the family.
Happy Daddy excited to find out that it is a girl!
Day 2 - Pompeii
This little pizza joint is worth a pic. It had the best pizza we've ever eaten.
So, we were fascinated to see that there was graffiti everywhere in Rome, especially decorating the walls of the train stations. We noticed though that there was NO graffiti or vandalism on any of the historical remains.
Pompeii was one of the highlights of the trip. The ruins were much larger than I expected..
The stones in the road were used as walkways for pedestrians when they washed the streets out daily. Chariots had standard sized axles, so that they could fit around the stones. The numbers of stones in the street indicated the number of lanes of traffic that were allowed.
The casts of victims were very sombering.
Mount Vesuvius in the background with its top blown off. It used to be a cone shaped mountain.
This is an area where there was an open market for groceries.
Topher heading into the men's public baths.
Fast food right outside the men's public baths.
A brick oven.
Pompeian welcome mat - in mosaic of course.
Statue at the House of Fawn on a beautiful mosaic floor.
Indoor plumbing with lead pipes.
Aerial shot of the excavated portion of the city. Huge.
Day 3 - Jewish Ghetto, Tiber River, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Mass at Saint Peter's Bascillica
Topher did a great job navigating the train system in Rome. This is me in Termini station, the central train hub.
Day 3 was a walking tour of the city We were amazed at the city and how ancient ruins and modern buildings stand side by side everywhere.
Fresh Fruit!
Loved the water fountains with fresh spring water running all through the city.
This is the Jewish Ghetto. Jews were forced to live in this small area of the city several times, including during the Holocaust. It is near the bend of the Tiber river (below) that used to flood annually and cover the ghetto in water.
Jewish synagogue.
Even though Mussolini was not anti-semitist, during the Holocaust he enforced many anti-Jew policies as he grew closer to Hitler. The Nazis came and told the Jewish community that they needed to produce a large amount of gold within 24 hours, or they would be taken to concentration camps. They gave everything they had, and many of their non-Jewish neighbors did the same. The Nazis took the gold, and later came back and took many of the Jews anyway. Many years later, the Catholic church (Pope John Paul II) opened a dialogue with the Jewish rabbi in Rome and acknowledged that the church should have used their influence to help protect the Jews during WW2, but did not.
While the Jewish population has never fully recovered from the devastation, they have a small thriving community now. The pictures below are from their district filled with Kosher shops and lovely Jewish restaurants.
The Pantheon is one of Rome's best preserved historical sites.
The dome on top of the Pantheon is made of increasingly lighter materials and the dome thins as it reaches the oculus, which is the only source of light in the structure. When it rains, it just comes right in!
Rafael's tomb. Yep. THE Rafael.
The Spanish Steps. Romans have little houses and for centuries have socialized in public piazzas and squares, like this one.
Pregnant mama resting on the steps.
We headed back to the Vatican to attend a mass in the afternoon. This is the Swiss guard, who protect Vatican city. Their cool outfits were designed by Rafael.
St. Peter's Bascillica. The most spectacular cathedral in Christendom. The pope's bedroom is in the building on the right. When he is in Rome, he comes out and often waves to the crowds on Wednesday at noon.
Catholic worshipers coming in for Mass. They entered singing in Latin together. I found it interesting that their worship occurred simultaneously with lots of tourists snapping photos of them and the church they were entering.
Beautiful interior.
The altar.
Living water.
Michaelangelo's masterpiece, completed in his early 20's - Pieta. Mary holding the body of Jesus after being removed from the cross.
St. Peter. We also saw his tomb inside the cathedral, which is believed to hold his bones. Peter was executed by crucifixion head down in this area of Rome by the emperor Nero who used to have a circus and chariot races where Vatican City is now located. They tortured and killed Christians in the public square, Peter is believed to have been one of them.
Day 4 - Train through Tuscany and Costa Drama
We loved our train ride through Tuscany from Rome to Venice! My favorite part was the countryside where we saw mile of vineyards, the leaves haven all changed colors for Fall. Upon arriving to get on the shop (Costa Fascinocia) we were very dismayed to learn that they would not let me board because I was pregnant. After a lot of failed conversations, Topher called my Dr. back home, who provided a letter letting them know that they needed to let me board, and that I was in fact 19 weeks and still eligible to cruise. Sheesh!
Day 5 - Bari, Italy
We visited the Cathedral of St. Nicholas. It was a lovely tribute to Jolly Old St. Nick!
This lovey woman was surrounded by hoardes of tourists just moments before this picture was snapped. She was there worshiping at the sepulcher of St. Nicholas. I was impressed with her faith, and her ability to block out the crowds and distractions and focus on her worship and prayers.
Little cuties playing with the altar candles.
Fun to see a familiar site - pipe organ!
Baptistry
Day 6 - Corfu, Greece
We toured this large Byzantine age castle on the Greek Isle of Corfu.
Notice that when the castle was built, the city was six feet lower than where it is today. It has been built up over time.
Loved this tiny little playground.
I was super excited (embarassed Topher a bit with my exuberance) when I found this little Greek bakery. One item on my bucket list was to eat baklava in Greece.
Me and my baklava. :)
Day 7 - Santorini, Greece
Santorini was stunning. The island shoots straight up out of the sea. Beautiful.
We loved walking through the beautiful peaceful villages of Ia and Oira.
Remember how I mentioned that the island shoots up out of the sea? Well, it does, literally! This is the view from the bottom. The only way to get up is by tram, bus around the back side of the island, or to climb a switchback trail that goes straight up the front of the cliff. Donkey rides are offered on the trail as well.
Look dangerous? It was.
We came upon this sweet lady named Ann (in her 70s) who had fallen from one of the donkeys and was badly hurt. Topher kindly helped her down the mountain to the medical staff from the ship.
You guessed it. That is real Greek yogurt with honey and rose sauce (jam made with rose pedals). We loved this little restaurant (one of the last ones open, most had closed for the season). The girl who served us provided us with some of the best service we received on the trip.
Day 8 - Athens, Greece
We were VERY happy to learn that our itinerary had been changed, and that we would be traveling to Athens, rather than Mykonos (which I'm sure is lovely, but hey... Athens). It was such a treat to see Athens and Rome on the same trip and compare the two and how they influenced one another.
I loved the olive groves that were all over the city!
This is the Acropolis museum, build right over ancient Greek ruins. The floor on the main level is glass, so you can see the ruins being excavated below.
Athenian ampitheater - which inspired the Colosseum.
The Temple of Athina Nike - her statue inspired the Statue of Liberty, later built by the French.
The Acropolis (well, part of it... it is huge!)
The first known theater.
The Parthenon.
Modern day Athens. This is the view from near the Parthenon, which is up on a hill overlooking the city.
Oh, look! We were actually there together!
The Acropolis is actually an active archaeological site. Scientists are actually in the process of going through the rubble in the area and reconstructing the structures that once stood in this area.
Day 9 - At Sea
Well, we were surprised to find that our cruising experience was quite different from our previous trips. While it was hard to get used to the buffet closing for half the day and water not being free on the ship, we did enjoy the marvelous selection of cheeses and chocolate bar. Also, they had Nutella croissants at breakfast that were marvelous!
Our friends at dinner. We were the youngest by about 30 years.
Dancing at dinner.
Day 10 - Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik was one of my favorite stops. The stone city was so clean it gleamed, and the views of the ocean were spectacular. Croatia has been war-torn through much of the 20th century and has only been recently opened again for tourism. Croatia is referred to as the "Pearl of the Adriatic."
Huge walls were built around Dubrovnik in the Middle Ages to protect it from invaders. We hiked about 3km around the city on the tops of the wall. We looked down on one side and saw this man in a tiny little boat (smaller than my bathtub) rowing out to his vessel. Row, row, row your boat.
The roofs all over the city were red.
So, so lovely. I hope we make it back here one day.
Day 11 - Venice, Italy
By day 11, we were a bit overwhelmed with amazing city after amazing city. We had to gear ourselves up a bit, but found our energy and excitement quickly returned when we exited the ship to spend our last day in Venice.
I'm a lousy shopper, but I was mesmerized by the tiny streets winding past beautifully decorated shop windows. Many stores sold decorative masks. Venice used to be like Las Vegas - what happens in Venice, stays in Venice. Many visitors came for Carnival celebrations and donned masks to engage in their vices undetected.
Venice is also famous for glass. The nearby island of Murano has glass artists. The selection and beauty was astonishing!
Lovely little bakeries, quaint restaurants and gelato shops are mixed in with the rest of the fancy stores.
Rialto Bridge
Dinner on our last night.
Gondolas used to be the primary mode of transportation in Venice, with 10,000 gondoliers on the waterways and canals. Today, there are only about 500 gondoliers, and licenses cannot be purchased, but must be inherited from a gondolier who is retiring or has passed away.
The Bridge of Sighs which connect the palace and the prison. The Palace of the Doge was not fortified and protected like many palaces and castles built during similar times, but was right in the main square. The Doge said that protection was not needed, because he was beloved by his people. However, there was a history in Venice of corruption and an underhanded judicial system, where many people were escorted from the palace, across the Bridge of Sighs, without a proper trial.
Well, it was such a lovely and romantic journey together! So grateful to have been able to visit here and make so many wonderful memories.
