ROMA, the Empire of

When in Rome!
We are in Rome, home of the Vatican and a boat load of old stuff! It is 27 centuries old after all, so there was no shortage of stuff to see. For such a small town, it is HUGE! Such a cool place. It is so easy to picture Romans in togas wandering through grand structures and pantheons. Oh, and there are fountains and statues everywhere! To top everything off, we had 3 nights and 4 glorious days scheduled in Rome!

After finding our “good deal “hotel, an adventure in itself, and not really in Rome (it was way out there-like an hour commute to the city centre), more like the East Bay is to SF, we headed out for a bite to eat- Italian of course. We ended up by the Spanish stairs and in the high end shopping mecca of the city. Good thing it was late and the shops were closed. Didn’t matter since I don’t have a credit card anymore- thanks Barcelona. Window shopping is more our budget anyhow.

On the sightseeing bus

After a good night sleep, we hit the ground running. First, jump on the sight seeing hop on, hop off bus. We found this the best way to get an overview of the city, and see a lot fast. It was so hot, hot, hot (100) in Rome and even hotter on the top of the double decker open top bus. We were melting, really that it literally looked like I wet me shorts, I was sweating so bad. Anyhow, we blazed though, seeing many centuries of stuff, literally, and made it back to our hotel around 11:30pm. Wow, very tired, but we popped in our copy of Angels & Demons, all excited to watch it again, as we are headed to the Vatican tomorrow. Alas, it was in Thai or Chinese, hmmmm. That’s what you get for copying it! Oh, and the subtitles were crazy bad/wrong English.

Old downtown Rome

the Coliseum

One of many great statues

Memorial to fallen soldiers

Forming our plan for Saturday, along with some Internet study on the places and dress codes, we turned in. First up, Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica. This was absolutely beautiful. The scope of the design, the structure, the sculptures- Michelangelo’s La Pieta, the bronze alter, the marble floors, the mosaics….

Vatican City

Saturday was our dedicated day for the Vatican. Although we had seen the outside of St. Peter’s Basilica, we hadn't really explored the city. Packing our day packs, I stuck in my dress and non-tank top, sleeved shirt. After trekking over to the Vatican, changing into my dress in line, and making it through security, almost. We forgot the wine opener and Brian had to hide it at a street vendor shop. (Okay, so god needs some protections, who knew?), we were in. The cathedral was amazing. Directly in the entrance was Michelangelo’s La Pieta.

Michelangelo’s La Pieta

Look at the size of those Cherubs!

I’ll let the pictures tell the story, but it is massive. And yeah, we climbed to the top of the dome. After a quick stop at the post office and a Mass schedule check, we decided to take a quick break. It was 36 degrees C that day, so very hot again. Off to the Sistine Chapel but alas, it was closed (at 4pm on Saturday!). Bummed we headed off to see some other amazing Rome sites – the four fountains, the president’s house, the Trevi fountain.

Taking a break at one of the many sidewalk cafes

One of the four fountains

a street in Rome

the Trevi fountain

Wandering several miles through the city eyeballing churches, high end retail and sidewalk cafes, we stopped into a cute little wine/spirits shop for a cold beer and are treated to free tastes of Grappa, olives, oils, balsamic vinegar’s, & cheeses – Yum! We could have stayed their longer, but we had a schedule to keep and it was already getting late! Off to the next large fountain/square before dark. Starving, we ate pizza while soaking our feet in yet another fountain before riding the train out east to our hotel.

The yummy olive, oil and grappa store

Our last full day in Rome, we went to the Flea market and then jumped into a streetcar to see the pope. I did after all, promise some people a good word would be put in, you know? It was Sunday, but he was on holiday at his summer house - dope! God 's right hand man takes a vacation? I guess everyone needs a break. We did manage to catch the morning mass on the jumbo tron in the square. It was still very goose bump inspiring, even in the five languages, none of which I fully understood – Latin, German English, Italian, and French! Oh,and I’m not really religious but it's was still so cool.

Wow, if that's suppose to by Jesus behind the pope, he's hot!

The great thing about Rome was that you could take a picture every 20 seconds or sit in amazement for a half hour without blinking.

Barcelona

I was so excited to arrive in Barcelona. I have fond memories of this city and upon our arrival, it didn't disappoint. It was morning, but already bright and sunny. ahhhhhhhh! After checking into a hotel and dropping off our exceedingly heavy packs (seemly more now then ever), we took off for some food and the beach.


It was packed and buzzing with tourists. We laid out our sheet and promptly were roasting in the sun. After a quick dip, I decided to take a nap. Laying on my purse, full well knowing the thieves at the beach, I fell asleep. When Brian took a dip in the med, one of the beach vendors came by and stole my purse! Not only was it a really cute Fossil bag, but it had my passport, Eurolines bus pass, wallet, with driver's licence, visa credit card, bank card, and reciprocal yacht club card in it. Among other things, was a USB stick with pictures and work, and my Frida Kahlo garnet necklace that Brian got me in Mexico City. The topper was the lady next to me saw it happen but didn't bother to wake me. Sure, she was French and didn't speak much English, and totally not her responsibility to foil a crime, but come on! You think she would have yelped or kicked sand on me, something!

The Halloween street

The Candy land street?

The Fall Season Street?

Underwater World

Close up of one of the bottle fish :)

Halloween again

Medieval land

Fairy land?

Under the Sea

The Enchanted Forest

Anyhow, totally freaked out, I ran to the police station like a keystone cop. However, it was not funny. After calming down, cancelling my cards, and eating a cookie offered by the police woman who had been doing stolen wallet/purse reports all day, we made our way back to the hotel.

Dumb. That is how I felt.

Determined to pull out of the slump, the next day we went exploring the city. Wouldn't you know it, there was a huge festival going on - the Garcia de la Familia or something like that. After locating it, as it was spread out on several streets, we took a look around. Every street was a different theme of some sort of pagan ish holiday, using recycled material for art. It was very cool. Topped off at the end of the night with a pyrotechnic parade.

The pyrotechnic part of the parade

The next day was sort of a get it together day - all business. We did manage however, to go see Guadi's famous La Sanga Familia cathedral, and take a peek inside. It was awesome. Monday was get the kitty a passport day and we were at the embassy when it opened, at 0900. Being first in line has it's advantages, like it only took an hour to get my new passport. I even managed to get it for a 1 year period. I guess because of 9/11 and the patriot act, emergency passports are only available for 3 months usually. Anyhow, we did go back to the beach with much more success and happiness. We also took in some of the traditional sites of the city including, Las Rambles, the Gothic cathedral and quarter, and the Olympic stadium & surrounding hilltop area.

The Market

So Awesome!

On the tram up top around the Olympic stadium

The port of Barcelona

Despite everything, I still love Barcelona, but was looking forward to moving on. Although, the 5 days we spent here was just not enough.

Next stop Rome.

SWITZERLAND - The Fatherland

Zürich
We arrived in Switzerland, home of my Dad. The bus ride from hell, that only stopped for dinner for like, 5 minutes, really 20 but felt short, seamed to stop every 45 minutes for border crossings or restbreaks during the middle of the night. They made me get off the bus at 3am for some unknown reason - Meow. Whatever! This is the same bus Brian had to throw a hissy fit on just so we could sit together. Anyhow, this bus arrived not at the ungodly scheduled time of 6 am but 5:15am! Great. Oh, but it did stop smack in the middle of town. However, the bus stop was a parking lot. Okay, so we ventured over to the Haptbanhof (the main train station) where we knew there would be amenities. First, however, we needed Swiss Franc (SFc) because they don't take Euros! Whatever! Oh, and 1 SFc = 1USD! OMFG! So when it cost 2 Sfc to use the loo, that's 2 bucks people for the toilet, I was concerned. Let's say Brian's introduction to Switzerland thus far was less than stellar. Thank goodness for family!

Doris picked us up and whisked us away to the Lake house which was smack on lake Zurich, complete with it's own little dock and huge grassy back yard. Awaiting us, was Beat (Doris's brother, my other cousin) and his wife Silong, along with a huge, beautiful, delicious breakfast, brunch spread on the back outdoor patio. We felt like royalty as we basked in the sun, dining with family. We spent the rest of the day lounging around and swimming in the lake. Oh, and using the outdoor shower. It was grand.

The "Rene" Gnome & Friend

Inside the lake house, dining area

Some of the other lake house permanent residents

So as fate would have it, we arrived in Zurich just in time for the largest Techno street parade of the year, in all of Europe. So Saturday, we trotted off to the city to enjoy the action. Wow. It was raining but that didn't stop anyone. However, at $7 a beer, we didn't stay long, and Doris had made us dinner back at the pad.

This is techno?

Again, techno or S&M?

This if for sure a techno float

The Crowd

Blue man group, no, the rainbow men!

When Aliens go techno

Luzcern

Sunday, Doris let us have her car so we headed off to the picturesque town of Luzcern. We strolled the city streets, and had lunch at a cafe next to the river. However, as Brian was suffering from a bus cold, we cut the day short and headed back. That gondola ride up Mt. Pilatus will just have to wait until next time!

Bri on the famous Luzcern Bridge

the Bridge built by monks to tax the Salt road

One of the many decorative buildings

Monday as Brian recuperated, I was treated to a day at the Doris's hair saloon/perfumeria downtown Zurich. Hey, A girl has to do what a girl has to do and beauty doesn't come cheap or easy! It was fabulous! While there I changed our bus tickets for Barcelona from Tuesday to Thursday, claiming Brian had the swine flu and they wouldn't want him traveling on their Eurolines bus! It worked, but it cost me. What did I expect, we were in Switzerland after all. Unfortunately, the 8am departure time did not change. What is up with Eurolines and their schedules?

Anyhow, Beat and Silong came over from Bern (where they have a flat) to make a traditional Thai dinner for us. I mentioned feeling like royalty, yeah, it was awesome.

The dinner party

Tuesday Brian and I just lounged around the Lake house, did laundry and cooked dinner for Doris. It was a great, relaxing day.

The backyard and Lake house

Our luxury lounges

Interlaken

Wednesday, Doris took us to Interlaken. Another very picturesque place in Switzerland. We did not have time to make it up the Jungfrau tallest mountain in CH as it is an all day adventure. We did see lots of tadem paragliders.

Doris, Bri & I

Jungfrau

Site in Interlaken

Swiss Nurse Cow

Bern (Bear)

After some fun shopping in Interlaken, we took off to see some of the sites in Bern, the capital just an 1 1/2 hours away. Yes, kitty's whirl wind travel plan. Anyhow, we saw some of the major things, like the astralogical clock tower, the Parliament building, the main drag, and the river. Alas, no trip to see the bears. Next time.

The Bern Clock

The river with a bear statue in the center

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by Beat & Silongs place near Bern on our way back to Zurich. Silong made us all dinner (awesome) while Beat showed us his still and broke out the schnapps. (He used to be a Schnappsmeister, no really, so cool, and now just makes his own). Anyhow, after some sampling we headed back. Thank goodness Doris was driving!

Barcelona here we come....

Mini replica of a still