Europe!!!

Rome, Pisa, and Venice

2008-06-15T08:03:00.007-04:00

On Friday, I started the day at the Sistine Chapel in Rome. I just wanted to go straight to the Chapel, but instead had to walk through most of the Vatican Museum before I was able to see it. In each room, there was a sign that said the Sistine Chapel was next. Once I went through the door, however, we were in another room showcasing the Vatican Museum. Here are a few pictures of the long halls of the museum...

This was from one of the rooms. It was painted on the ceiling, so the room looked taller.

When I finally got to the chapel, we were not allowed to take pictures, so I just looked around a while. The chapel was built as a rectangle, and had a domed ceiling. It was not exactly what I had pictured, but it was still quite amazing. One wall in the front of the chapel was completely covered by a painting incorporating many different figures and stories. I could only decipher a few of them, but there were quite a few of them.

After I finished at the chapel, I got on a bus to go to the catacombs of St. Callisto just outside of Rome. The first Christians were buried here around 100 years after Christ, and the last ones about 300 years after. The catacombs have four levels, and there are hundreds of graves there. I was not allowed to take pictures in the catacombs, but I did get some of the gardens above ground...

In the afternoon, I decided to go see the leaning tower in Pisa. Unfortunately, I got completely lost following the directions of a cuople of Italians, but I was finally able to get to the train station. I went to my hotel in Florence, then went back to Pisa the next morning. It was raining, but as we neared Pisa, the clouds started to part. Here is a picture as I was walking to the tower.

After I left Pisa, I went straight to Venice to catch a night train to Vienna at 8:30. I got to Venice at about 4:30 so I had some time to wander around. I quickly found that the city does not have a straight road or canal longer than a few feet. My original plan had been to stick to the main canal and follow it around so that I wouldn´t get lost. Unfortunately, most buildings go right down to the water, and so there is not a path along the canal except in a very few places. I quickly became lost. However, based on my experience with Italian directions the previous night in Pisa, I had purchased a good map of Venice. I quickly found myself and from then on didn´t make a turn without looking at the map first. I found the main chuch and tower in town, and went up to the top...

This morning I got to Vienna at about 8:30 in the morning, and went to a cathedral downtown. The choir started practicing, and I was able to get some video of it. The sound just filled the room. After that, I sat awhile just reading, and then I went over to the Spanish Riding School. When I was in Vienna a couple of weeks ago, I had bought a ticket to see the famous Lipizzaner stallions do their world famous show. It was pretty amazing. The finale was eight horses and riders doing an intricate routine all in sync. I was sitting up above, and so I could see how everthing was perfectly aligned. The announcement before the show said that picture taking disturbed the horses, so we were not supposed to take any while the horses were in the arena. However, it was not like a hard and fast "no pictures" rule, we just couldn´t disturb the horses. Anyway, I did take a couple of pictures when the horses were not looking.

Tonight I am taking a train to Switzerland, and I will be there most of next week. Next Sunday I have to be in Madrid for the start of my summer school program in Spain, so I will be flying to Madrid from Dublin after the morning service at the O´Gormans church.

Rome

2008-06-12T15:15:00.008-04:00

I had a long and exciting day today. I am exhausted, and it feels like I must have walked 10 or 15 miles. However, it was worth it. The hotel I am staying at in Rome is very close to the Coliseum, only about two minutes walk. Also, this little internet cafe is almost right across the street from my hotel, so I found a great spot! Anyway, since I was so close, I started the day at the Coliseum, it is huge!

After the Coliseum, I walked across the street to the old archeological site where some of the original buildings from Rome are still standing. The site was a little hard to navigate, since there were no signs or anything identifying the ruins. The highlight was the old Roman Forum, where people used to buy, sell, and conduct business. For all of these sites, you have to kind of imagine what they looked like with all the pillars still intact and covered with white marble. It must have been amazing.

After I finished wandering around the old ruins, I decided to try and find St. Peters Basliica and the Vatican. I walked along the Tiber river for a while looking for a dome. I didn't quite find the church I was looking for, but I ended up at this castle. It dates from Emperor Hadrian, and was used as a mausoleum for many of the emperors.

From the top of the castle, I was able to locate the church, and it turns out I wasn't that far off. I walked up the street towards the church. I waited a bit in line, then went up to the top of the cupola. 551 stairs to the top!

Check out the shield made of flowers...pretty cool.

After I came down from the top, I went inside the church; it was enormous. I was not able to capture it all in the same picture. It was that big.

I left the church and went towards what I thought was the Pantheon. I ended up at the Royal Palace...

I finally found the Pantheon, and again, I could not capture the whole building in one picture.

I walked back toward the Coliseum, and stopped at Trevi fountain. The legend is that if you throw money in the fountain, you will someday return to Rome. Of course, that rumour was probably started by the man who cleans the money out of the fountain every night.

After the fountain, I went back to the Coliseum to see if I could capture the sunset. It has been cloudy all day, except for a few times in the afternoon when the sun came from behind a cloud. Anyway, here are a few...

I'll be headed toward Venice tomorrow, hopefully stopping in a few places along the way. I have not yet made my plans. Enjoy!

Greece, Italy

2008-06-11T14:51:00.006-04:00

Well I am finally in Rome. I sailed on a ferry from Patras, Greece and arrived in Bari, Italy. The first train out of bari was not until 1:30 in the afternoon, so I wandered around town for a few hours. I also updated this blog...took a couple of hours to get all the pictures uploaded and everything. Here are some pictures from the ferry ride...

Of course, before the ferry, I was in beautiful Athens Greece. I took a metro train to downtown Athens. I sat in a small square that was right in front of the Greek parliament building. After a few minutes, I heard a band playing, so I went to see what was happening. It turned out to be a changing of the guard ceremony at the parliament building. Here are the pictures...

Check out the high step that they use to march. It is really cool to see all the soldiers in perfect step with each other...

After that was over, I went back tothe square and sat and read for a while. Eventually I went to find an Internet cafe where I could write and post some pictures. That was the place that allowed me to install and run the program, unfortunately, it didn't quite work out. Anyway, I eventually left there and went to my hotel to check inand drop off my bag. After that I went down to the Akropolis. Here are the photos...

The next day, I went to a few more ruins, and then got on a train for Patras. Here are a few photos from the train ride...

After I got to Italy, I got on a train to Naples. I ended up sitting next to a math professor from Florida International Institute. She was from Italy, and actually had taught at U of M for a semester. She had also lived in Naples for a few years, so she told me a few places to visit. Here are some pictures...

The city was very dirty, there were piles of trash in the streets, and people did not seem to use the garbage cans. I stayed there last night, but I didn't do much there this morning. Instead, I decided to go to Popmpei, which is close to Naples. It was pretty amazing to see the paintings and everything that survived the volcano. Here are a few pics...

I got to Rome today, but I was actually kicked off the train for the first time using my Eurail pass. Apperently in Italy, some trains require a reservation, and if you don't have one, and the train is crowded, you can be kicked off. It took ma another hour before I actually got here, but everything workedout alright, now I know to make a reservation before getting on train! Anyway, I will be wandering around Rome tomorro, I will post again soon. Arrivederci!

Travel Update

2008-06-08T06:30:00.013-04:00

Note...I am now in Bari, Italy, having just arrived on the boat from Greece. I didn't post this before because I hadn't uploaded all the pictures. Also, I was not able to get the Vienna pictures, the computer I was using was too slow. Anyway, I'll just post the blog as I wrote it from Greece...

This is a very long post, but I finally found a place that allowed me to install a program to (hopefully) recover my Vienna pictures. I am sitting here waiting for it to finish, so I decided to post an extra long blog. Enjoy!

I am in sunny Athens, Greece. I arrived on an night flight from Frankfurt, Germany last night, and I went straight to my hotel. I woke up this morning and spent a few hours just relaxing in the sun, and reading my Bible. It's really amazing to be in some of the same places where Paul walked and preached. This afternoon I'm going to the Acropolis, and to Mars hill, where Paul talked with the Greeks of his day. It should be fun!

Last week was pretty cool, although I didn't exactly follow my plan. I was going to travel on the Romantic Road in Germany and see some of the castles, but it was raining all week, and every place I wanted to go took at least five hours to get to on the train. From Vienna, I started out by going to Salzburg for one afternoon because I was on the train all morning. I spent most of the afternoon at Salzburg Fortress (Hohensalzburg), which is on the top of a bluff overlooking the town...

I also went to see Mozart's birthplace and museum. I kind of stumbled on the place as I was walking along. The outside is not very impressive...

but inside they had a lot of original paintings, pictures, instruments, and other things from his life. The camera rules were very strange, in some rooms we were allowed to take pictures, but in other rooms, we had to put our cameras away. I couldn't see any logic to the rules. Anyway, these are some of the pictures that I took...

I walked around town for a little while trying to find out how to get up to the fortress. I ended up walking up a flight of stairs that seemed to lead nowhere, but at the top was a steep road that led to the castle. I found out later that there is a tram up the mountain...oh well, guess I saved a few euros.

When I got to the actual fortress, I couldn't believe the view. It was stunning; the whole valley was in front of me. I filled up my new memory card that I had bought (2 Gb's) and I couldn't decide what to delete to make room for more.

I finally left the castle and got on the train for Munich, where I stayed the night.

I got on a train for Fussen in the morning, and didn't arrive till about 4 in the afternoon. I had planned to see the two castles in the area - Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau - but unfortunately it was too late to go up. It was also kind of wet and rainy, and the visibility was not very good. I ended up wandering around the town for a while...

The next morning I got up right away and headed to the castles. On the bus ride I was told that it was one of the worst days that they had had for a while. The fog was so thick that you couldn't see more than 20 or 30 feet in any direction. I went ahead anyway and bought my tickets. I figured that I could spend the morning inside and the sun would eventually burn off the fog. I also thought that I might be able to get some cool shots of the castle in the fog. Unfortunately, the fog was too thick to see the castle except from up close. This picture was from the morning when I was standing on a bridge where you could usually see the castle. I didn't even know which direction to point my camera.

I went on the tours...no pictures allowed. However, the insides of the castles were very cool, all pomp and grandeur. One of the castles - Hohenschwangau - was a private home of the royal family, so it was not as big. The other castle is supposedly the castle that Walt Disney copied from. It is very fairy tale like...more on that later.

I went through the castles and came back outside. The fog showed no signs of lifting, and in addition, it had started raining. I decided to head for the next town and see if I could fit a side trip back here for some photos. I was waiting at the bus stop when I looked up and saw this...

It was about 2 in the afternoon, so I knew that I wouldn't be able to get to any other town that day if I went back up the mountain. However, it looked as if the fog was lifting, and so I figured I would give it a shot. I went back up the mountain and back to the bridge. Even though I now knew where the castle was, I still could not see it...

I decide to do a little hiking while I was up there, and try to find a good place to be when the fog finally cleared. I went along a little path that continued from the bridge...

I finally reached the end of the trail, where several trees had fallen into the path. I figured I wouldn't be able to see anything on the other side, because it just looked like forest.

The forest was very quiet, and all you could hear was the rain pattering on the leaves. It was awesome.

I finally came back to the bridge, and went back up to the place where I thought I could get a good shot of the castle. It was perfect timing, the fog was just starting to lift, and the castle looked like it was floating in a cloud...

Here is a before and after shot to show what the fog was like...

I stayed there for a few minutes, then decided to go a little higher up...

I came down the mountain and went back to the hotel and washed up. I was all wet and muddy from climbing around on the mountain. It was completely worth it though.

The next day, Saturday, I had to make a flight connection to Athens, from Frankfurt. I wanted to stop in a small town along the way - Rothenburg. The train was supposed to take 4 hours to Rothenburg, and a train from Rothenburg to Frankfurt was supposed to take about 2 hours. I made my flight, but it was close!

Here are some pictures from the town, It has a wall that goes all the way around the old part of the city. I walked on part of it...

and went up in one of the guard towers...

I also visited the Criminal Museum in the town, which displays some of the tools and methods used in the Medieval justice system.

I thought this was pretty interesting...

Well, I will post again when I have some more pictures. The cafe that I am in now is one of the more expensive ones that I have used. It's the only one in town, though, so I guess it has the market cornered.

Amsterdam, Vienna

2008-06-04T03:12:00.004-04:00

Amsterdam canals...

I stayed in Amsterdam for almost two days, but the first day, I pretty much just stayed at my hotel and rested. I had some traditional Dutch food (at least that´s what the menu claimed) and I went to the Rijksmuseum and saw paintings by Dutch masters like Rembrandt. I was not allowed to take any pictures, but I got some of the outside of the museum...

I also went to see Anne Franks house, where she and her family stayed during the Nazi occupation. At one point as we were walking through the house, I thought that none of the rooms were really hidden. I felt like we had reached the end of the house and I did not think that there was anything else. At the back of one of the rooms, I saw a bookcase kind of standing away from the wall. When I stepped behind it, I saw another four rooms on two stories. It was really amazing that all that space was there. I got some pictures of the outside of the house, and of the street opposite...

You can see that the house just looks like four or five stories, but actually, it has 7

I tried to go on a bike ride to see some dikes and windmills and so on, but I couldn´t find anything close enough to the city. I did get a long bike ride though (and a sore bottom.) This is as much of the countryside as I could find...

From Amsterdam, I took a night train to Vienna and arrived on Tuesday morning. I went to a couple of museums, and a lot of churches. I also rode an 80 yr old ferris wheel, and got some great pictures. As it turned out, that night the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was giving a concert at a castle near my hotel, and it was free, so I went. It was awesome, and I got some pictures. Unfortunately, a couple of days ago when I was uploading the pictures, the computer that I was using crashed. I still have the card that the pictures were stored on, but I have to find an undelete program to recover them. I will post them as soon as I get them back.

Anyway, today I am going to see some castles in Germany, and I hope it doesn´t rain!

2008-05-31T12:35:00.006-04:00

I've been in London the past few days, and I have tons of pictures. I found out that a traditional english breakfast (at least at the hotels) consists of thick strips of bacon, sausage links, beans, eggs, steamed tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, butter, jam, and of course, tea. Mmm good! I decided to stay another day in London, and I'm glad I did. Today I saw the Royal Guards practicing the parade for the Queens birthday in 2 weeks. Since it wasn't the actual thing, there were hardly any crowds...and I got some great pictures and video. Here are some of the pictures...

Skyline

Big Ben & Westminster Abbey

Winston Churchill

Skyline

Buckingham Palace

Queens Horse Guard

Parade

Tower Bridge

Tower of London (it's a castle, but they call it a tower???)

John Wayne at Madame Tussauds

Me and Arnold after a hard fight...

Mummies at the British Museum

Stonehenge

Castles, cliffs, and caves

2008-05-29T04:21:00.006-04:00

Sorry about the long wait, I've had a busy couple of days. I went to the west of Ireland, and visited the Cliffs of Moher. Along the way I got some good shots of the countryside and some castles. I also got the chance to visit a cave in the Burren...which is gaelic for "Place of Rock". Here are some pictures...

Irish Countryside

Bunratty Castle

and Dungare Castle

Galway Bay

Cliffs of Moher

Ailwee Cave

I'm in London now, and I'm going to be taking many more pictures. I'll try to get them up sooner though:) I'm having a great time, and eating some good food...check out the seafood chowder soup and "fries" that I had at a little place in Ireland.

First few days - Detroit->Washington->Dublin

2008-05-25T17:12:00.011-04:00

I started my trip driving to the Detroit airport at 5:30am and then flying to Washington DC. I went to see my aunt and cousins who live near the city, and then I drove to Dulles airport. I left for London at 7:00pm, and arrived in Dublin around 6:00am EST.

I've had an awsome couple of days, travelling to Dublin and meeting the O'Gormans. I stayed my first night in a hotel just down the street from the church, and I was so tired I forgot to take any pictures. I did get some during the day though, so I'll have to get some of the church and hotel later. I arrived in Dublin around 11:00 GMT on Saturday, May 24. I quickly realized that I did not know how to use my cell, and I could not get ahold of the O'Gormans. I decided to get a bus to downtown, and see if I could get to the church. As it turned out, I didn't see the O'Gormans till Sunday morning when I went to the church services. Any way, enjoy the pictures I've got so far, I'll post some more when I get them!

In the car at 5:30am going to Detroit airport... Abby looks a little out of it;-)

On the plane...I'm still not awake

My rental car in Washington...

The line for customs at the airport was looooong!

Big plane!

Eden Quay, downtown Dublin...

On the bus

Dublin

It was so beautiful in Dublin when I arrived, it didn't even cloud up till this afternoon...

2008-05-09T14:04:00.001-04:00

getting ready