Vatican

Again, there will be alot of stuff I probably get wrong. Sure wish I had that Advanced European History book that is in storage...

Well, this is the Vatican Musem. It really reminded me of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Endless works of art. Our guide told us that if you looked at each piece of art for one minute, it would take you twelve years to see it all. So, this will be a high-level overview!

They have these placards of the Sistine Chapel in the main courtyard because you cannot talk in the chapel or take pictures since it is a sacred place. It was incredible......it was at the end.
I don't quite know what this is, but I've seen this image before.

I am really embarassed I don't know the name of this...

Lots of sarcofi (spelling?) sarcophagus plural....
sarcophagus -
Greek Antiquity. a kind of stone thought to consume the flesh of corpses, used for coffins.

Persues with the head of Medusa

Ceiling shot. Sorry, I don't know exactly what it was. Many of these pictures are not the greatest.

Bronze statue. I was told that the grape leaves are relatively recent additions:)

Another ceiling.

We were told this was probably a menu. It is a mosaic.

This was in the tapestry hall. It is the Ressurection of Jesus. Sorry it is blurry... No flashes were allowed... But, I wanted you to see it.

Again, I am really mortified that I do not know whose work this is. I think it is Rafael....

My pictures of the School of Athens painting were not so good, but I really do remember that one from high school.

So, no pics in the Sistine Chapel.... Apparently some Japanese company paid for the cleaning of the ceiling, and they have all the rights to the photography. As I said before, it was truly amazing... So detailed and intricate. And if I remember correctly, it took 4 years to paint, which is incredible.

Here is a link to a site where you can see photos.

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Main.html

This is infront of St. Peter's Cathedral looking out to Vatican City.

I am sad to say, I did not go in St. Peter's Cathedral. The tour was supposed to be 2 hrs, but it was 3+ and i was starving, and supposed to meet someone. I would have liked to see La Pieta and a few other things. Maybe next time.

Not quite sure what crowd they were expecting, as I think the Pope is in the Middle East this week.

The Trevi Fountain

Rome Pictures

A day and a half was not enough to see Rome. I did two guided tours, but there was so much to take in. I hope I tell you the right information about these places...

I believe this is the Arch of Constantine.

I do know for certain this is the Colosseum! It is right by the street, and has become discolored due to the pollution. Also, only one third of the building remains because of earthquakes.

I thought this place was fascinating. Below you can see underground passages where the animals were kept before the fights. It is not there now, but there was a wooden floor that covered this part, and it was covered in sand - partly for traction of the gladiators, but also to soak up the blood.

When the stadium was finished, there was a 100 day festival where 2,000 men and 9,000 animals were killed. The animals came from all over the world - lions, tigers, bears...

This is Palantine hill - where the city of Rome was founded. I forget whose palace was here (Agustus?), but this was part of the baths, and an private arena for sporting events.

This is the Forum. This was the city center of Rome. The most important temples and courts were here.

Here is another view from outside the Forum. It is mostly ruins now.

This is the House of the Vestal Virgins. The girls were selected at age 10, and served for 30 years. If the girl failed to keep the vow of chastity - they were taken to a crypt and buried alive with a lamp and a loaf of bread.

This is the Temple of Vesta. It was Rome's most sacred spot. There was a flame burning, and it was thought as long as the flame burned, Rome would stand. The Vestal Virgins tended the flame.

Victory Day in Moscow!

Here are pictures from the Victory Day Parade. Sorry some of them are not the greatest, but we were on the embankment across from the Kremlin, and there were lots of people, so I was just holding up my camera hoping to get some of the tanks...

Here is a Fox News article about the parade. It tells what some of the planes and missles were - since I have no idea :) One person I was with commented that he was glad there were no shots fired during the Cold War, because he is pretty sure we would've lost.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519614,00.html

Nice park

Christ the Savior Cathedral

More Casperia Pics

Mosaic right inside the first steps of Casperia.

One day I was walking around in the countryside, and found this watering trough. I suppose it is for livestock since it was a rural area, and there were cows and horses around. It was built in April 1880. I thought it was quite a lovely spot. You probably could drink this water. There are many spots in Italy where there are fountains you can drink from since the water is piped down from the mountains.

I must say I have a new respect for the conditions necessary for growing grapes for wine. Each morning was very cool and humid. The sun warmed it up, and each afternoon, it rained a bit.

This morning, you can see the fog in the valleys. I am sure this somehow all contributes to great wine. Not sure if I said it before, but the loudest thing in Casperia was the sound of the birds' wings as they flew by.

I took the train from the airport in Rome to Poggio Mirteto. We passed though the most beautiful area - what I think is Farfa. There is a very broad river, and it was fully of kayakers that day. This picture below is from the train station at Poggio Mirteto. Next time, I will surely check out Farfa.

I am back in Moscow now, but have tons more pictures to post.

Tomorrow is Victory Day in Russia. We are going to walk up past the Kremlin to see if we can see any part of the parade with the nuclear missles.... quite a change from Casperia :)

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/600/42/376957.htm

Oh, as I came in from the airport, I noticed alot of the tulips had bloomed. Since Red Square will be closed tomorrow, I will try to go Sunday and get some pics of the gardens there.

Just a few pictures for now

So, one day they took us to this nearby village - Roccantica. The Count of Roccantica took us for a hike in the mountains. Our ultimate destination was this cave where some monks used to meditate.
Here is a pic:

After the hike, the Count let us into the city or commune, whatever you want to call it. These were just pictures around the city.

This picture is from Casperia one morning before yoga. You have no idea how difficult all the steps were, and I lived at the very top of the city........
Every morning at 6:30 am, the church bells went off. This is the view out of my bedroom window of the church. I actually liked the bells.

Just a view near my house.

Fountain in Casperia. This level had a restaurant, and seemed to be a gathering place of the town.Another view from the same area. Local church.

Vineyards and olive trees. So beautiful.

One day I went for a walk. Here is a view of Casperia from outside.

I think this is wisteria. Things were blooming everywhere!

I got back to Rome yesterday, and spent the day at the Colosseum and the Forum. But, I am not going to post those pics yet! Here are some from Casperia. This is in the Umbria region north of Rome, in the very central part of Italy. It is pretty near where the earthquakes were last month, but there was no damage where I was.

It is going to take a very long time to up load all of my Rome pictures.... probably a week or so...

One thing I noticed today - there are so many tourists here that sometimes you cannot walk on the sidewalk. I am glad it is not that way in Moscow. I hear it will be much worse in the summer months.

Yesterday, the azealas on the Spanish Steps were in bloom - so, I thought I'd wait until this morning when they weren't so crowded to take pictures - but, alas, at 9 am today, the flowers were gone and they were taking the platforms apart.... oh well, it was pretty.

Rome is great, but I am really grateful that I got to spend time outside the city first. I do believe I will be back here, and I am pretty sure the big city is not where I will spend much time. I really loved the Farfa area. I only saw it briefly, a but I do have one picture near the train station that I will post later.

Ok, I am tired. I probably walked 20 miles today. Hopefully that will help mitigate my daily diet of pizza and pasta :)

Russian Airlines

Before I forget, I wanted to share the story of my flight to Rome.

My flight was around 9:30 am. No issues at airport, but the flight was a little late.

This story is 100% true. My seat neighbors were all Russian. Turns out, from Siberia actually. Well, the guy in front of me bought a bottle of scotch or something in the airport duty-free shop. No where else have I seen this happen before - but I have heard other stories. They broke out the bottle, and drank it straight - in the little plastic glasses they give you for water.

They were standing around me - he had friends beside and behind me - so it was like a regular party! They had some crackers and sausage and were quite jovial. They were really sweet when they finally understood that I don't speak very good Russian. I got out my remedial Russian papers, and they had fun going over basic verbs with me. One guy even invited me to his house in Siberia....

It just seems to me, these people pretty much do whatever they want and don't worry too much about the rules.

Italy!

I am in this very small medieval hilltop village north of Rome. It is quite amazing. There are no cars or TV, and all I hear are birds chirping.... Along with that peace and quite, there is alot of good food!

I never knew how green this area was. Guess that is what makes it a great area for wine growing!

All I have is limited dial-up internet access now, so pictures will be later!

I will be going back to Rome on Wednesday.

It has been really good to get out of Russia, to re-set my perspective on how most of the world works..... And, the yoga has been incredible. It is so good to get centered again.

Talk to you later............ Oh yea, so this village is really small, and hardly anyone speaks english, so I have been speaking Spanish here...it actually works out ok :)