Live from Vienna!

Okay, so Amy and I are at our hostel in Vienna, and all is well. We don't have wireless, so I'm using the hostel's computer... it BLOWS! I'll update the blog from London once I'm there with Johanna. Until then, just reread everything else, haha.

10-24 Florence Day Trip and "Where Have I Been!?"

Long time no speak. I'm now in Catania, Sicily, and that's a story of its own, so I'll wait until my Sicily entry to talk about that. This blog will be about my 10-24 day trip to Florence. I had an absolute blast, and the train rides were really great. I loved seeing the Tuscan countryside while on the train. That said, onto the 19 pictures in this collection!

The Duomo! This beauty of a church is in the heart of Florence, and is an absolute masterpiece from its details and decorations to Brunelleschi's absolute Goliath of a dome!

Some of the decoration and intricacy within the facade of the Duomo.

The beautiful bronze doors which took over a decade to build in themselves!

A shot of Brunelleschi's dome from the outside.

The main altar of the Duomo.

A selection of the many unbelievable frescoes painted on the inside of Brunelleschi's Dome. Note the baby-eating dragon on the right side. The significance of all these frescoes is that as the dome progresses from bottom to top, the scenes change from hellish scenes to those of heaven.

The inside of the dome... and it still doesn't all fit within the scope of an 18mm photo.

My head was literally 1 ft below these frescoes while I was ascending the 440-some-odd steps to the top of Brunelleschi's Dome. These things are unbelievable, and I was really excited to get the chance to be so close to them where I could see brush strokes and details.

Me on top of the dome looking out on the city of Florence.

A replica of the Statue of David, positioned where the original was at ONE POINT. The original is now housed in the Accademia Gallery in Florence. I went there later in the day, and I have to say I was absolutely awestruck at this statue. I really thought it was all hype, but it really is unreal! If I had to recommend two other statues within the walls of the Accademia, it would be Eros with Swan and the Pieta. Eros with Swab is just hilarious, because it's a statue of a little boy holding a swan in his hands, and he has a big smile on his face. The swan, however, over the years of deterioration since it's been made, has lost his head. So there stands this boy, happy as can be, with an absolutely headless swan... not the artist's intention, but absolutely GOLD! The Pieta is not Michelangelo's Pieta or a copy of it from St. Peter's. This one was an earlier version, which they originally credited to Michelangelo, but have since changed their opinion, and now give credit to one of his unnamed students. They say this because the body of Jesus is far too disproportionate to be the work of Michelangelo. However, I enjoyed this statue, because unlike many statues and paintings of Jesus at the cross, looking malnourished and weakened, this statue portrayed him as powerful, large, and strong, but still made it obvious that we were looking at Jesus. A very cool way of reinterpreting the stations of the cross.

Another statue near the replica of David. This one portrays Hercules in combat.
San Lorenzo church. Lots of Michelangelo stuff within these walls, but some of it was closed, and I would have had to pay an extra 8 Euros just to see a tomb he did for the Medici family. I'd rather spend 2 Euro and just enjoy the inside of the church.

San Croce church. Didn't get a chance to go inside, but like the Duomo, the detail and decoration on the facade is breathtaking.

Exhibit A... these gorgeous carved giant doors.

Coming over a bridge just west of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

A shot of some covered walkways leading up to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

The Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Very cool bridge with tons of history. It has been described as Europe's oldest wholly-stone, closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge, but it has since been proven that this is inaccurate.

Another shot of the Ponte Vecchio.

The "inside" of the Ponte Vecchio, with countless amounts of infinitely expensive jewelers situated on its edges.

So that'll do it for this post. My plan has changed for this break, and you'll know why in my Sicily entry. I'm leaving for Venice with Amy at 10:15 or so tonight by aeroplane. We'll be there for a day, and then heading to Cinque Terre. After Cinque Terre, we're taking an overnight train to Vienna, where our plan will continue as originally intended. I'll be all over the place over the next few days, so my blogging could be limited. I owe you guys the following blogs right now: Siena day trip from 10/25, and my Sicily experience since the night of 10/26. Those will come in due time... please be patient with me. With those will more than likely be my Venice and Cinque Terre entries. Enjoy this for now, and I'll be back in touch soon.

Florence Day Trip on 10/24 and Notes About Upcoming Blog Entries

This is the 4th and final post of the day. If you're checking back for the first time today, make sure you check all the way back to the Disneyland post to make yourself fully up to date.

I was going to use this space to update everyone on my Florence Day Trip I took on the 24th, and post pictures like I always do. But, it's now 2:42 AM, and I'm leaving for my Siena day trip at about 6:30 in the morning, which means I'm waking up shortly after 5:30. That said, no pictures of Florence for tonight. I'll give you all the description of Florence and all the amazing pictures (despite the constant drizzling rain) during my next blog.

My next blog post may not be for a little while... though not too long, don't worry yourselves too much. You see, tomorrow I go to Siena for the day, and then we're having a little "Halloween" party/get-together to celebrate our last night in Rome together before the students' Fall break from school. After that comes Friday, where I'll be getting my last licks in for Rome, and packing/moving my stuff out of my apartment. We fly to Catania (Sicily) on Friday night. So, we'll be at our hostel somewhere around 10:45 PM (our time, of course), and maybe I'll be able to blog about Florence, Siena, and my final Friday in Rome at that time.

Until then, review my other blogs, and the other three posts I gave today. Should be plenty to work from! Ciao!

Soccer Game and Roman Catacombs

This is the 3rd post of the day. If you're checking back for the first time today, make sure you check all the way back to the Disneyland post to make yourself fully up to date. The activities of this blog were from 10/23/07. I'll start off with the soccer game, which was actually the last thing I did, and I'll end with the Catacombs, which of course was the first thing I did. so, on with the soccer game. This "calcio" match was between our team "AS Roma" vs. Lisbon (Portugal).

AS Roma is in red. AS stands for Associazione Sportiva, and the team was founded in 1927. Here, a jerk from Portugal (the green guys) tackled one of our guys just outside the box. Nothing came of our free kick.

The free kick I mentioned. The ball was deflected around a bit, but never finished.

This was an action shot of the first goal scored in the game... by ROMA!!! Might I add that the fans are absolutely insane at these games. People bring flares and light them and wave them and/or throw them when goals are scored. There are also what seems to be hundreds of chants that every real fan memorizes and belts at the top of their lungs all throughout the game (especially when Portugal's fans try to chant their cheers... we can't have that). So, at this point, it was 1-0 ROMA!

A three-way aerial fight for possession.

AS Roma trying to recover the ball before it goes out of bounds for a goal kick for Lisbon.

AS Roma keeper makes a solid save.

Put these words in his mouth... "Heee-eeeeyyyyy" (with a lisp... even though there are no "S's"). What a great action shot, haha!

The final score of the game, after a lot of action and excitement... AS ROMA WINS!!!! 2-1. A great way to see the game end!

Stadio Olimpico... the site of the game; about an hour away by public transit and walking, but not too far distance-wise.

The Catacombs Di St. Calixtus, or as the Romans say, San Callisto. These are the grounds surrounding the Catacombs. Beautiful and scenic, Via Appia Antica is definitely a worthwhile stop in any visit to Rome!

More scenery around the Catacombs.

Sheep! Right next to the entrance to the underground Catacombs.

A building and some landscaping on the grounds.

The exit from the Catacombs. Pictures were not allowed inside, so the best I can say is to experience them yourself! The tour is great, and it is given in your native language by a real guide. These Catacombs are Rome's most popular, and go to a depth of 75 feet at their deepest. Over 500,000 people are buried in these Catacombs, and this is only 1 of about 60 ancient burial sites within Rome! Amazing! A sad fact is that they had to move the remains of the people buried here so that they are no longer viewed while taking the tour. This is because when the bones were out for people to see back in the day, people would actually have the nerve to STEAL the ancient remains... unbelievable.

That'll do it for this post. One more today... on my 10/24 day-trip to FLORENCE!

Piazzale De Romulus and Remus, Roman Baths, and Circus Maximus

This is the 2nd post of the day. If you're checking back for the first time today, make sure you check all the way back to the Disneyland post to make yourself fully up to date. Let's dig right into it. Onto the pictures!

This is an example of the sculptural work on the monument at Piazzale De Romulus and Remus. Romulus and Remus are credited as the traditional founders of Rome. They were the twin sons of priestess Rhea Silvia and Mars, the God of War, in Roman mythology. Romulus is credited as the first King of Rome.

When I arrived at the Terme de Carcalle, or the Baths of Carcalle, they were unfortunately closed. But, because you can view them through a gate, I still got some shots and a good understanding of the scale of these things. What an enormous place! very cool to look at, and very reminiscent of the Forum.

A second shot of the baths.

One of my famous panoramics. This one is of Circus Maximus. This was the main site of ancient Roman chariot races, although sometimes gladiator bouts would be fought here as well as public executions. Now, the field serves as a popular place for kids on recess from school. Because of the positioning of the buildings on the site, it really is amazing the kind of presence this complex has within its context. You see the Romans driving their cars on any of the adjacent streets, and they can't help but to divert their attention straight to the Circus buildings! It really is a sight to see.


A panoramic facing the opposite direction... looking longways down the "racetrack."

School children playing a game of ultimate frisbee on the grounds.

Ruins of the circus buildings surrounding the track.

That'll do it for this post. Next comes the Catacombs and the soccer game I went to last night! Enjoy!

Disneyland/Manoir De Gressy (Paris Hotel) Description and Pictures

Okay, so this is one of FOUR blog posts for TONIGHT! This one is wrapping up the Paris experience. The next one will be my experiences at the Roman Baths and Circus Maximus. The one after that will be the Catacombs and the soccer game from last night, and the final one will be my experiences in FLORENCE today! So, the usual contents will follow: pictures followed by explanations. The first 17 are of Disneyland, and the last 3 are the GORGEOUS "Manoir" (mansion) we stayed at just outside of Paris, in a town called Gressy en France.

Before I get to my explanations, I have to tell the "funny apartment story" I promised a couple days ago. So, two days ago, I was SHOT from our Paris trip, so I slept in quite a bit. I woke up at about 12:15 in the afternoon or so, and I was laying in bed thinking about starting my day and hopping in the shower. Just then, I start to hear a door unlock. I could swear it was MY door! So, I'm staring at the door from my bed (there's a good straight line of sight), and then it opens... what the heck!? Some lady strolls into my apartment like she owns the place, and I'm like "..... hello!?" And she's like, "Ciao... blah blah blah tons of fast Italian and words I don't know blah blah blah ciao ciao ciao blah blah." So I'm like, ".....NO!" And then she's confused (as am I, naturally), so she makes a phone call from the corner of my apartment... weird. She gives me the phone (I'm clothed by this point... weird, I know) and some lady is speaking to me in English. she says that this is the housekeeper, and she came because they're showing my apartment today to some potential permanent-renters. The place was already tidy, but the housekeeper was there to ensure spic-and-spanness. She also told me that if I had any laundry, I could give it to the housekeeper to do. She later informed me that the agency I temporarily rented the apartment from was supposed to let me know of this, but they clearly had failed to do so. So, my interaction with the housekeeper was awkward for the rest of her stay, and I couldn't get myself to make her do my laundry, so I just showered and got the heck out of there. Later in the day, nothing was missing, which is always a good sign. I'm assuming the apartment visit went fine for the possible-tenants, and I'll keep my eyes peeled for any pleasant old ladies trying to clean my house and break into it at the same time... while I'm sleeping.

Okay, onto the pictures!

This first one is of Amy and myself in front of the entrance to Disneyland Paris. Why the interesting pose? A restaurant in Welfleet, Cape Cod, MA, called "Moby's" posts pictures on their walls of people who have travelled the globe wearing their apparel. I have their shirt on, and Amy is kindly displaying one of their wonderful (and not stinky) socks. Look for it in the restaurant next summer for sure!

The castle at the end of Main Street within the main Disneyland Park. This Disneyland, like the one in California, is composed of two parks. One is called simply "Disneyland," and is currently celebrating its 15th year in operation, and the other is much newer and is called "Disney Studios." This is comparable to "Disney MGM Studios" in Florida.

Amy and I in front of the castle.

A great shot of the castle in the context of its landscaping and other surroundings.

Amy and I on Main Street USA (Yes, they still call it "Main Street USA" in Paris), with the castle off in the distance.

A shot of the castle behind one of the 15th anniversary celebratory banners.

Amy trying on this child-size Tigger hat. A perfect fit for her lil dome.

Me jamming my fat head into the same hat... looking dapper as usual. This is one of a handful of pictures you'll see of me trying on various headwear.

Pirates of the Caribbean Island in Adventureland within the Disneyland Park.

A parade that came through celebrating all the various Disney characters through the years. Clearly this is The Lion King float.

This crazy crazy man was playing the drums on The Lion King float.

Me rocking the Goofy hat. I owned a Goofy hat very similar to this when I was younger. This one doesn't fit my head so well.

The landscaping outside of the Disneyland entrance.

Amy likes this shot. Me waiting in line for Rock 'n Roller Coaster in Disney Studios.

A fountain and the classic Disney Studios silo in the background. Again, in the Disney Studios Park.

After Rock 'n Roller Coaster, trying on the 80's rocker hair. Again, my fat dome doesn't fit in this too well. Must still be swollen from my tumble... yeah, right... if only.

Amy and I in front of the classic Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue in Disney Studios Park.

A panoramic of the interior courtyard of the Manoir De Gressy, the mansion-hotel we stayed at while in Paris. Our room had a terrace leading right out into this beauty! This picture still doesn't do the place justice. Check out http://www.manoirdegressy.com/ for their pictures and details of the grounds.

A panoramic of the front of the chateau. The main entrance is beyond the scope of this photo, off to the left.

Our room with the door to the terrace wide open. That means there was 25 or 30 degree (Fahrenheit) air blowing right into our room. Nice.

That'll do it for this post. There are many more to come tonight, so stay tuned!