Europe Photos

Well, I made it back - safe and sound after an eight hour and then four hour flight. I'm almost back on California time and glad to be home. I miss having so much to do and discover, but I'm with family and friends now and get Christmas - so it all balances out, huh?

Like I mentioned, I took around 4,000 pictures - I'd love to go over them in person with everyone. But if you just want the abridged visual journey through my trip, I think I posted a slide show into the blog - and you can access the online album from there (by clicking on a photo or however).

Again, thanks for all your prayers, thoughts, advice, loaned gear, and interest in my Europe trip. I enjoyed it that much more thinking I'd get to share it with you all.

Coming home

I am somewhere over the Atlantic as I write this - at first i was eager to get home (I still am) - but being in Paris again made a part of me want to stay - even without the energy for it.

But I'm ready for the USA. Europe is great - but I probably could never live there long term. There's just something a out America that makes it better (family and friends are a big part too!).

Last last night in Paris

Went to a Christmas market (they're big in Europe) - got some shopping done, had a ton of great food and really enjoyed the atmosphere.

Traveling

Just traveling back to Paris to catch my flight home tomorrow. Lots of boring travel - but I'm exhausted and ready to get back to the USA.

Also, fanta is super popular here.

I was sick - but now am better

My stomach got real upset yesterday afternoon - tried to nap and missed out doing anything else in Florence - oh well - I'll be back someday.

I'm feeling much better today - maybe it was the awesome camomile tea I had last night - it was at some chic gipsies cafe in Florence. The tea had actual camomile flower heads in it - it was about 7 dollars but worth every euro. Seriously, it was the beat camomile tea I've ever had.

Gusta pizza

Pretty darn good pizza - all this for only 10 euros!

Uffizi

I am done with museums - yay! The Uffizi was brutal being tired, lame and starving - but I soldiered through. Oh, the name of that other museum was Bargello - Italian is all Greek to me.

I wish I could have taken pictures, but they yell "no photo!"

Borgedello museum

No photos allowed - snuck this one - lots of cool statues here. But sadly, my left ankle feels like it's about to go - I may have to buy a wrap - we'll see how it handles the Uffizi.

Florentine breakfast

That croissant like thing had sugar on top and was doughy in the middle - oh so delicious - and that tart thing tasted like orange Gatorade - which was odd but good.

Did you know ...

That Florence is about the same size as Bakersfield (in population)?

That really makes you think.

Michaelangelo's grave

At Santa Croce church

View from the ponte Vecchio

Awesome mosaics

In the baptistry of the duomo

View from the cupola of the duomo

This was almost worth eight euros - I mean, it was priceless - but eight euros was a but much ...

Did I mention the prices everywhere have gone up by at least an euro - even more in some places - this frustrates my budget.

Florence

My train was a bit late - I'm a bit worn out - and Florence is full of americans and feels run down and dingy - until I see the big sights.

We don't serve tap water here

Or that's what the Korean host attempted to say to me - some places here don't serve tap water - I guess they clean their dishes with dirt and use special water for cooking. It's a little annoying when you know they have it and want to save 2 euros for gellato - but that's life in Italy!

This might be a bad idea the night before an early train

Roman evening

This photo doesn't do the scene justice - there was a crescent moon over the Forum - and I thought about how the Romans called the moon in that phase the 'bull's horns' since it looks like a bull's horns ... That's when history connects and Rome just meshes with me.

Also, today I met up with my new seminarian friend, Christopher - the son of the deacon at grammie and papa's church. We walked around Rome a bit and had lunch - he's a great guy and answered so many of my questions about churches and Rome.

Wow, I've done so much and been blessed to meet great people in my travels. Only a few days left - Florence and then home!

Mosaic in santa Maria de Trastevere

Trastevere

My, isn't it lovely?

Scavi tour

I did my Scavi tour today - it tours the necropolis under the Vatican and St. Peters tomb and supposed remains. The iPhone is not the medium to describe the experience - it's totally awesome and eerie and wonderful and mystical and excellent. So much info - will have to tell you all more in person.

Oh, I couldn't take pictures either - and I saw a 1st century mosaic of Christ that was out of this world! You'll just have to go to Rome to see it for yourself.

Postcards

Are stamps different in Europe? I lick and lick them and they don't seem to stick - I have to soak them and pray they stay on.

I'm sending these from the Vatican - hopefully they arrive quickly. Also, I bought one more stamp from there - but i hadn't written the postcard yet - so do I have to go back or what - since it's a different country? I'll figure that out.

Living european

You can order un quarto of the house wine for the price of a glass in the states. I better get rid of this habit when I come back, but it's typical.

Also, Italians are odd. I saw a gas station attendant smoking a cigarette right by the pump and a barrel of oil - wow. And I saw one guy who used two hand dryers at once - one for each hand. Haven't seen too many oddities, but those were worth noting.

Also, I must look English/French/Italian since people keep asking me for directions on the street - or maybe I just have one of those faces. I understood it in London - but I'm not dressed near chic enough to be thought Parisian or roman - but they keep asking!

Oh, one more note: you'd think they'd play Italian music in Italian restaurants - no - they play Arrowsmith, Lady Antebellum and all the hits of the 70s - today - I figured on violin music but I was wrong. It was like this in Paris too.

Chao!

Capitoline museum more

Why the holy family is such a popular subject with painters I'll never know - but this one is good.

Capitoline museum

Colleen needs a portrait with jack like this.

A roman evening sky

At the capitoline museum

I forget the exact title - but it's the moment were Pontious Pilot presents Jesus to the Jews - to decide if he's to be freed or crucified.

I don't trust my guide book anymore

I went to this restaurant because my guide book recommended it - this eggplant dish was delicious - it was a pretty small portion and also cost 12 euros - the guide said they had affordable hearty dishes - the pasta I ordered next was also good, but also a small portion for the price. I am ready for the cheap food back home where you can eat like a king for $10.

The Dying Gaul

In the capitoline museum.

Ara Pacis

Altar of peace

The vocation of St. Mathew

This Caravaggio (I recently found out I like Caravaggio - and perhaps skimmed two in another church!) - is in St. Luigi de franscesci. But there's a catch - you have to feed the lights with coins or they go out. Quite a gimmick - I shouldn't judge - but it seems a little un Christian to me - either judge charge or ask for donations - don't toy with people.

Anyway, this and two others were AWESOME.

Piazza navona

The fountain if the four rivers - by Bernini (he's really good).

The pantheon

Photos

Did you know - I've taken over 3,000 photos with my iPhone and camera combined? Yeah. And that's not even taking photos of everything I'd like to - it's really quite conservative - because you really have to want to take a photo when it's 28 degrees and you need to take off your gloves to operate the camera.

This is one of the many pictures I took - it's like I'm a bust in the Vatican museum - ha!

Walking across Rome hurts

The money I save on public transport I loose in calories and comfort. I walked sooooooooo much today - probably around 15 miles or something since I crossed Rome twice. I'm glad grandma didn't come with me - the trip would surely have killed her! It's about got me!

But don't worry - I can still walk - just taking it easy for another day across Rome.

Tiber at night

Sistine chapel

Even better than I though! I snuck this photo too - wow, michaelangelo's figures are so vibrant and alive - thy look like they cool move any second. I seriously spent a half hour here - worth every euro.

I cannot imagine how he painted that - this even beats out my recent most favorite chapel (Ste chapelle in Paris) - just wow - I could sit forever under that ceiling - wow - and I bet it's even better during mid day than at dusk!

The real transfiguration of Christ

I guess the one in the basilica is a copy or Raphael did two - I don't l know.

Frescos

Augustus Caesar

The Vatican museum is huge

At this point, I started seeing signs for the Sistine chapel - and I knew that was close to the end - so I back tracked and hit other parts.

I got tired doing that and decided to end with the chapel - lo and behold - there were many more sections between me and the chapel! Oh boy! And the museum's closing soon!

I skipped most of that stuff - I can hit it upon my next trip to Rome. But by then I'll have forgotten what exactly
I missed, do the same thing again - etc. Also, da Vinci's last supper was in restoration - bummer.

Oh well - I saw a ton of other stuff that was great and enjoyed the rest.

Egyptian book of the dead

At the Vatican museum

Saint Peters basilica

Wow - it's big - but it doesn't seem that big on person - though I know it's enormous.

Maybe I'm a tough critic - but, like most Italian churches I've seen, the decoration almost seems too much - a little too over the top. I certainly prefer the austere beauty of a gothic or roman cathedral to the splendor and eloquence of Italian churches.

I feel there just might be a point where you can put too much gilt and too many naked statues over something - maybe I'm jus old fashioned - St. Peters was wonderful but the adornments were over the top sometimes.

Tiramasu

I ate at a place my Italian contact, christopher, recommended - it felt just like an Italian restaurant. The carbonate was delicious - and I've never had tiramasu - now I want a whole one - one big whole one for me. maybe I can make it when I get home.

The transcendence of Christ

I love mosaics - especially this one

Another famous round place

The Keats - Shelly museum

This was a small museum dedicated to the English poets John Keats and pyrce shelly - it was where Keats died at the age of only 25.

The museum was small - and like most places dedicated to authors I've seen - had little of much importance to really do with the author. It was a neat find for four euros - the picture below is of Keats' room and death bed - and death mask - eerie!

Piazza del poppo

The name is something like that.

The Spanish steps

Basilica San Maria di maggio or something

These Italian names are difficult for me - so hang on. I think this used to be a roman bath complex - a museum is attached somewhere. It's now a church with an exposition on Galileo.