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The Greek Boys – Day 6… and counting

Today was a beautiful morning with blue skies, billowing clouds and a huge breakfast included with our room.  We sat and gazed at the Acropolis and ate a fun mix of US and Greek foods – omelets with dolmades and feta cheese – Yum! We encountered a man there who told us all about the walk below and how Socrates was led along it to prison.

We set off full of excitement about the day to come.  The walk up to the Parthenon/Acropolis was much better than imagined.  The sun clouded over and there was a slight breeze and with a few pauses for pictures, the climb was fairly easy.  Easy enough apparently that my step counter didn’t count any of it as stairs! <grrrr>  We spent a good while looking at all the repair work being done, much of it correcting previous bad repairs.  They’re doing an amazing job of it!

History moment – the Acropolis is really big and really high up in the air.  It was Greek dedicated to Athena, then Christian dedicated to the Virgin Mary, then Ottoman.  The Ottomans were the most colorful as they stored their ammunition there and blew large chunks of it away.  The Greeks successfully decided to get it back and took out the middle section firing cannonballs from the sea – end history moment.

We descended the back stairway to visit the Agora which was the original Greek market – aka the Safeway of Greece.  Not much in the way of buildings, a few headless sculptures well worn, a nice church from the year 1,000 and an ancient tire lot – see pictures below.

We walked up to the temple of Hephaestus, supposedly the best preserved temple in Greece.  At least all of the columns were there!  Some of the upper artwork survived as well.  After that we entered the on site museum where the better preserved statues were kept.  Mostly heads of different Greek people from peasants to priests and the local ladies.

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We were given a free tasting of 6 Greek red wines and later a taste of port wine.  There was a map and a full description of all the wines sold there and the owners, a husband and wife, explained where each wine originated, what the soil was like, the wine’s characteristics and why one year was better than another.  We opted for salads with dried figs, feta and greens which proved delicious and plenty of food, ordered glasses of our favorites and two bottles to go, one for the evening and one to take back to the States.

We attempted a museum close to home but it was supposed to close in an hour so we opted for a well-deserved rest, another glass of wine and looked up a restaurant for dinner.  We’d just see it and the architectural museum the following day.

We met a delightful couple at the next table.  The gentleman was fairly quiet and we learned that this was because his wife couldn’t manage to shut up although she somehow managed to shovel in her food at regular intervals.  Despite her table manners we had a wonderful dinner and a quiet evening.

Finally things were back to normal…or so we thought during our sleep of the innocents!

The goal today was to visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.  Unfortunately, we got distracted on the way.  We found the Victor Emmanuel II monument.  History Moment:  Victor Emmanuel II (was King of Sardinia until 1861, when he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century.  We didn’t know who he was but really built himself a fine, fine monument.  There is a statue of him on a horse where his mustache is 5 feet long and it is a really big building.

The group got turned around and wondered aimlessly looking for the Forum.  We thought a couple of times that we had found it but instead it was just some other Roman ruins on the street  with art stuff (Did I mention that 2 of the group started feeling poorly with colds / sore throats?  We made the third visit  to a Pharmacy during our outing.  (Debbie says that it is difficult to be seen with a group that is coughing and sneezing its way across Rome.  We think that contributed to our disorientation).

Eventually, they found their way to the Roman Forum.  History Moment:  The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.  We were in a found state for awhile.  We found the forum, the temple of the Vestal Virgins, Caesar’s house and others.

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We continued our “lost in Rome” extravaganza with circling back to Victor Emmanual II and riding several bus lines.  Eventually, we made it home and the sick ones retreated to their rooms.

The Coliseum is one of Rome’s biggest landmarks and was our goal for the day.  We hopped aboard Bus 64 and took off for the Coliseum but first our daily church stop.

Church Moment:  The Pope has declared 2016 it an “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy ” Holy Year which has inspired Catholic pilgrims from around the world to visit Rome.  So we went to a pilgrimage church.

Santa Maria Maggiore is a pilgrimage church.  Church Moment:  The church celebrates, Holy Mary, the Mother of Christ.  The church displays an urn that is said to contain wooden fragments from Jesus’s manager.  The church also contains some of the world’s best preserved mosaics from early Christians.

We looked for a restaurant before visiting the Coliseum.  We found one and Debbie ordered Bucatini all’ Amatriciana – This Roman dish is made with guanciale (pork jowl), sweet tomatoes, onions, chile peppers, and Pecorino Romano cheese. – (Debbie did not know what she ordered until after it was served and she was half way through it.  Joyce just told her that it was a specialty of the region but not about the pork jowls.  For you doubters, Debbie finished it all).

The Coliseum or Collosseum was our next stop. History Moment:  The Coliseum  is an oval amphitheater in the center of Rome.   The Colosseum could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators.  It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles,  animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

Now according to legend, the Romans were able to have 50,000 people enter the Coliseum in 15 minutes.  This does not happen in today’s world.  It is totally confusing involving circling the Coliseum on foot in a hunt for the entrance, which then involves finding the right ticket line without losing your party.  (Debbie says if she was the ruler that she would make people with selfie sticks gladiators and let them battle it out with their sticks.)  You can see from the pictures that much of the floor is missing and can see down to the entrance to the arenas and cages.  We did make it inside but people in the party were grumpy for awhile.
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After the excitement of a 1000 selfie stick wielding tourists in the Coliseum, we needed the calmness of a church.  We visited another pilgrim’s church.  Church Moment: The Church of San Giovanni in Laterano is the cathedral church of Rome, Italy and therefore houses the cathedra, or ecclesiastical seat, of the Roman Pontiff (Pope).  After he is elected, the Pope must actually sit in this chair to become the Pope.   The Holy Stairs, are white marble steps encased in wooden ones.  According to Catholic Tradition, they form the staircase which Jesus climbed to be sentenced by Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem .  There were brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother, St. Helena.  The steps are in an adjoining building.

You can see from the number of pictures that Larry really liked the Coliseum.  It is history brought to life before your very eyes. (or selfie stick).  We traveled back home on the bus.  (We felt more like gladiators as we fought our way on to the bus.)  You can see Debbie and Larry had a big wash night ahead.

 

 

Okay, let me begin by saying that Day 4 was NOT a continuation of Day 3 and also that when things go badly, sometimes my sarcasm quotient is highly diminished!

That being said, “What a beautiful morning!” Until we opened the door!

Air Traffic Controller’s strike for Europe. Oh, sorry! Only for Greece and France!

Can you say scramble?

Fortunately our excellent receptionist (who does everything from getting us to our room, making breakfast, bringing us extra toilet paper !) informed us on emerging from our room about the air traffic controller’s strike.  After several minutes of deer in the headlight shock followed by more minutes of mindless panic, waving of arms, turning circles in our room, Don remembered reading about a ferry to Athens. We wolfed down scrambled eggs, then scrambled ourselves out the door to get tickets before they were sold out.

Unshaven and unshowered we raced to the ticket office and managed to get our 80 Euro tickets via the 8 hour ferry to Athens, Greece.

On the return trip we realized there was no way we were dragging our bags across half a mile of cobblestones to catch the bus in the morning – at 6 AM mind you. (Yes, the early ferry is at 7 and then we get to relax on our 8 hour boat ride! There goes one of our Athens 3 touring days unless we’re stuck for extra ones due to the air strike.)

We’re fortunate that the wind has picked up to near gale force so that on boarding the boat, we may arrive early. (Can you say sea sick? Well, it won’t be the first time I’ve hung over the side of a boat!)
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Back to panicking for the afternoon and a trip to Oia (Pronounced EEEOOO) to see a sunset from the beach. And hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow, the strike will end prematurely and teleportation will become a reality and we’ll be whisked home before Thanksgiving.

So we arrive in Oia, Oea, Oae, EIEIO! We try to get to the best of 2 beaches down an amazing hill. We found the hill when our precious – and very cheap .75 Euro – giant water bottle was dropped down one of the steepest hills we’ve encountered since the volcano!  It’s amazing the twists and turns a water bottle can take on it’s half mile journey and nearly get to the bottom!

Neither of us were in any shape to chase it so we sauntered down the half mile to retrieve it and were surprised to discover we were no nearer to the beach but next to a really nice new resort.  “Follow my lead!” I said to Don. We went into the lobby dripping wet and happy to be in air conditioning and were soon being whisked around the new resort on a golf cart. Piece of cake, we’re getting a ride back to the top!

After examining a room – very dark and not facing the sunset – we were whisked back to the office, given a brochure and the bum’s rush out the door, business card in hand!  Crap!  Long walk back up the hill to find we’d gone in the opposite direction from the beach all along by our new friend we’d met at the airport.

We proceeded to find the Trip Advisor #1 restaurant to have a drink while we waited for our reservation time.  We requested a table facing the the sunset which everyone had raved about on TA.  In truth, it was very windy so the terrace was closed but we received permission to climb up on the terrace anyway for the view – alas, a building blocked the sunset view completely. Could this be a new building? No!  So we got a slightly better table and ordered.  Let’s just say the food was not up to number 1 Trip Advisor standards. Let’s just say a McDonalds would have been significantly better even if you were a Vegan! I must admit though that the price for our nearly inedible food was reasonable – had it been as good as advertised!

The bus ride back from EIEIO was indeed a highlight of the trip as the lights were left on inside the bus so all we could see was ghostly reflections outside against the glare on the windows as we were whisked back to Thira at what can only be described as roller coaster speeds on the numerous switchbacks up and over the mountain.  I would have kissed the ground but then I’d seen it during the day. Can I just say that like Paris, no one curbs their dogs anymore?

We went to sleep secure in the knowledge that the next day, while planned, would likely be something from purgatory but ever the brave face! Such innocence!

We decided to make it an easy day as we had a late night planned.  It had rained until late in the morning plus the day before had involved lots of walking.  We even ate lunch before we left.  Larry, Jerry, and Joyce went to the Chinese Buffet where they were given star seats in the front window so everyone could see them eating.  (They didn’t know Fausto either).  Debbie knew that she would not get full buffet value so ate an egg at the flat.  (Did you know that they don’t refrigerate eggs in Europe?  That should be worth an Adventure Award).

Our goal that day was to follow the Jewish Walk.  The start was approximately 20 minutes away beginning on the river. We walked down to a bus stop and asked an Italian lady how to get to a certain bridge and if we could walk under a car tunnel?  The lady spoke no English and we spoke no Italian.   She kept saying “St. Peter” and pointed us to the Vatican.

Joyce told her “Grazie” and turned to the other 3 and said “She is wrong.”

At that fateful moment a priest and tour group of about 20 college age kids walked by.  Joyce  and Debbie said “Let’s follow them”.

Turns out that the tour group was walking straight up one of the 7 hills of Rome.  The four split into groups.  Debbie and Jerry’s function was to try to keep the tour group in sight.  A German Mom and son also fell between the tour group and us.  We felt confident that we were on to the correct way.  (Germans are efficient and they know what they are doing)   Larry and Joyce fell to the back consulting maps as we went.  (No, they were not huffing or anything like that.  Why would you think that?)  Jerry’s role was to keep both Debbie and Joyce in sight if the group got too strung out.  We walked straight up that hill for 30 minutes.  (We never did see the priest again – he must be in excellent shape).  The tour group peeled off and went into a garden.  We arrived at the top of the hill with the German tourists, no river and no idea where we were.  The German tourists were more lost than we were. (So much for German efficiency).

Joyce did an excellent job finding someone who spoke English and the old Joyce that we were in Trastevere.  At this point, the Jewish Walk was abandoned but we still needed to find the river to follow the Trastevere Walk (Yes, this was all just a clever plan to not go on the short Jewish Walk).  It is more difficult to find the Tiber River than you might think.  We found another English speaking man that we asked “Where is the River”?

He responded “Go down this hill and turn left and then right.  There are stairs but you will have to ask someone to find them.  It is not easy”.  Then he really insulted us and said “It is not a close walk.  It is about 25 minutes”.  (Seriously, we just hiked up one of Rome’s seven hills.)

We responded that we liked to walk.  He looked at us doubtfully and walked away.  (Hey mister, we didn’t have to drive a car to get where you got today now did we?  We walked it).

After several starts and stops, we found our way to the river seeing some interesting sights along the way.  Jerry did find the secret stairs without asking (How you like that mister?  Can’t find the stairs… Yeah we did)

We visited more churches:

Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere Church Moment: One of Rome’s earliest churches.  Probably the first church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  This church is plain on the outside by surprisingly beautiful on the inside.
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San Crisogono Church Moment: This is a church  dedicated to the martyr Saint Chrisogonus.

We had now been out 5 hours on our short walk and returned to our flat.

That night, we went to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.  History Moment:  The Vatican Museums  are the museums of the Vatican and are located within Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection built up by the Popes throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.

We were surprised that you went inside and then upstairs to begin the tour outside.  The crowds were more manageable at night. The museums contain amazing art with pieces that you hear about all your life.

Our next stop was the Sistine Chapel for 30 minutes or more. History Moment:   The Sistine Chapel contains Michelangelo’s ceiling and his huge Last Judgment.  The Sistine is the personal chapel of the pope and the place where new popes are elected.  (The small, old-fashioned stove that burns pope-vote ballots – which send out puffs of tell-tale colored smoke- is located in this room)

The chapel was packed as the opening had been delayed.  We were all eventually able to find chairs to sit and view.  Woe to the visitor that (A) sat on the steps or (B) took pictures.  We are happy to report that the guards did not clap or yell at us.  Although at one point, someone yelled over the loud speaker “Silenceo!” to the room.  This seemed ironic to Debbie to yell Silence over a loud speaker.

So what two lessons did we learn today:

1.  Listen to the local when they tell you how to get somewhere (We still think she was wrong so not sure how well this lesson will stick)
2. Do not follow tour groups

 

Getting around Rome can be very time consuming and exhausting.  It is not as simple as Paris or Venice.  Below are the transportation options.

• Scooters – You only have to be 16 and don’t have to take a test.  They are everywhere and driven as if running from the Hounds of Hell
• Cars –  A continual game of chicken.  Brakes are not an option.  (Larry and Jerry stood transfixed for 10 minutes at one traffic circle staring at the mass confusion).
• Buses –  As far as we can tell, the tourists support the bus system in Rome.  We have never seen a local use a bus ticket.  It is only the Americans and good Germans that use tickets.  The driver takes no personal interest in any of his passengers or is concerned if they have paid. (Debbie is sorry that she has ever said anything negative about Venice’s vaporettas.  They would help you get up if you fell).  Once the bus driver closes the door, the driver takes off as fast as he can sending all passengers reeling to the back.  Stopping is slamming on the brakes, sending all passengers forward.  Debbie can’t seem to brace herself without planting both feet and holding on with both hands.  We have  never seen a passenger unable to get on a bus because it was too full.  The new passengers just fight their way on regardless of the number of passengers.  Boarding a bus is like going into battle.  (Our bus route 64 is called the PickPocket Route).  On a side note, we have made many close personal friends on the bus.
• Pedestrians – They have the right away and pedestrian crossing are everywhere.  Occasionally, there will be a  walk/don’t walk light.  There seems to be no actual logic to when the walk light is assigned to a light.  If you are a tourist clutching a guidebook looking nervously down the street, anything on wheels (AOW – cars, scooter, or buses – ) will speed up to race through the pedestrian crosswalk.  The first strategy is to walk with the locals as they know the rules of chicken.  But alas, there will come a time when you are with  standing sadly on the side of the street waiting and waiting.  At that time, you must take a stand.  Stride into the street and bravely cross followed by other tourists taking advantage of your bravery.  We have developed different techniques.  Joyce will hold up her hand like a traffic cop and then trot across with the other 3 trailing behind.  Debbie has taken a more militant technique.  She turns, shouts ‘ Let’s Do it!”, makes eye contact with the driver, steps off and gives them the stink eye all the way across the road. ( She has found herself on the other side of the street alone while the other 3 stood stunned with mouths open.  Debbie has also been scolded by Larry on her crossing technique and asked “What happened to safety first?”  Debbie will tell you what happened, she came to Rome!)

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We know that you could take a taxi but we are Les Cheap Girls.

Day 3 began with glorious weather and an 80 degree forecast.  No worries, always a breeze from the shore.  We decided to do the volcano and hot springs tour for a nice boat ride, a peek at the volcano and a look at the hot springs.

We descended on the cable cars to the old port of Santorini to be greeted by the endless trail of cruise passengers anxiously awaiting their ascent to buy yet more useless trinkets to take home.  Doesn’t anyone read Rick Steves anymore?  We waited around the narrow quay in the diesel fumes of many many boats with no escape.  The next foul odor was the parade of 10 donkeys up the steep staircase and even worse, the stench of the man selling tickets for the ride!

Finally we left on the sailboat – less any sails – but had a most pleasant ride out.  Halfway there we were told that it would be an additional 2.50 Euro each for the privilege of climbing the mountain looming in front of us.

After buying water on the boat – highly recommended by our tour guide – we left, happy that our wallets were a little lighter for the climb!  All I can say is that it’s a good thing we had three weeks of training touring Paris and Venice behind us because this climb was not for the faint of heart.  Many were seen from our boat making the return trip less than halfway up the black, lava, silt laden mountain and there were moments yours truly wondered if he would make it to the top.  Even more worrisome was the thought of descending the slippery slopes on the return journey.

Ever perseverant, Don was the first to elect to go the last third of the way to the top after our rest at the sulfurous gassy stop where we were forced to listen to our guide telling us about the volcano’s history. Once finished she raced away from us back down the mountain with instructions to “Keep left!” with a wave goodbye over her receding shoulder.

Don chose the longer smoother route to the top when I spied the way back to the same which was considerably steeper but shorter and in a burst of newfound energy, ascended beating him to the top by seconds.

The trip back down was considerably faster – and steeper – and fortunately all the jutting rocks faced upwards so if you kept your feet under you, you could stop yourself from tumbling to the bottom. So far the equivalent of a total of 98 flights of stairs and counting!  Ugh!

Once back aboard we were barraged with smokers trying to get their lungs in shape for the hot springs while I waited, desperate for a beer to wash down all the dust and sulfur fumes.
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A quick 30 minutes around the island and we saw the hot springs coming – or should I say the sulfurous mud pit?  It seems everything to do with a volcano has something to do with sulfur!  Again the warnings began, “Sulfur will eat your jewelry.”  “Sulfur will permanently stain your clothing.” “It’s a half mile swim to the mud pit!”  “Turn back now!”

Many hardier souls than us decided to brave the elements, some so skinny you could even see their bikinis beneath their huge bellies.  The more svelte were invited to dive over the side before the ladder was put in place for the less agile.

Life rings were liberally thrown out for those who overestimated their swimming abilities and many returned well ahead of the departure time, heaving and gasping as they were pulled unceremoniously aboard by the guide and the boat crew.  (One woman swore she would have made it if the boat hadn’t hit her.  Really?  We were tied to the boat next to us!)

A pleasant journey back followed, barring the smokers getting their lungs back into shape.  (Has anyone mentioned that all the young people smoke in Europe?  It was all I could do not to remind them that they’d soon be broke and hospitalized prior to a painful death.)

Fortunately we were on the opposite path of the cruise ship people again for our ascent in the cable cars.  The line back down the hill was easily a quarter of a mile long with people admiring their worthless trinkets and custom made sandals while we cruised right to the top of the hill and had a pleasant walk to our hotel, downhill for a change, for an afternoon of hot tubbing and sunset.

Day 3 was a hit all the way around and day 4 had to be just as good, right?

We started off our first full day in Rome at full blast.    We followed a walk called the “Heart or Rome walk”.  Below is  what we saw and we walked almost all of it.  (Technically, not on purpose).

St. Peter’s Square – We walked through and took pictures.  We are about 15-20 minutes walking distance from the square.  (We were just trying to get to the beginning of the walk and got sucked into St. Peter’s square. ) It is impressive and then we saw a castle and ran off to see that which lead to the Tiber River (We have all read about the river in history/geography, right?  Who wouldn’t  want to see it?)  At this point Joyce, told us to get a grip and  we needed to get on track.  We discovered the wonderful tourist maps that were provided have print so small that no one can read the street names without a magnifying glass.  This forces a lot of “Well, I think it might be via whatever discussions”.

Santi Celso E Guilano – Church Moment: This is a is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It has held this status by custom and practice since ancient times. (We don’t know what made it minor except that it was little – pretty impressive to us and the first church that we could go in).  –  Church # 1 of the day

San Gregorio Magno al Celio – Church Moment: The church had its beginning as a simple oratory added to a family villa suburbana of Pope Gregory I, who converted the villa into a monastery, before his election as pope (590). Saint Augustine of Canterbury was prior of the monastery before leading the Gregorian mission. (More impressive – Another church that we could go into – still off track)  – Church # 2 of the day

Piazza Navone – After much map reading and back and forth, we discovered stop 3 on our walk. (We decided to skip 1 and 2 stops as they probably weren’t very interesting  and we would have to backtrack).  History Moment:  This square dates back to 80 A.D when it was a Roman athletic grounds.  (This would fall under Debbie’s Tour Guidelines – It is really, really old).  We were very happy to be here because well mostly because we found it and it did have some interesting things.

Fountain  of the Four Rivers –  This is part of the square and built by Bernini. Everyone posed for  first fountain pictures in Rome.  We would explain the fountain to you but you should just come and see it yourself.

Agnese in Agon – Church Moment: Sant’Agnese in Agone  is a 17th-century Baroque church.  This is the site where the Early Christian Saint Agnes was martyred in the ancient Stadium of Domitian.  Inside the church is also a shrine for Saint Agnes, containing her skull. (Church #3 – Yikes – not what we expected and this one had police guarding it and we aren’t sure why there were so many guards.  Larry kept sneaking pictures of the guards).

Joyce purchased roasted chestnuts and passed them around.  (Debbie even ate some).  Everyone was happy and smiles all around.  We had snacks, were on the tour and then things started to go wrong.  First, it started to drizzle, so we ate our chestnuts huddled under a canopy,  Then the dreaded map hand-off occurred.  Joyce turned to Debbie (Larry and Jerry ran to the back.  Debbie thinks that Larry might even have pushed her forward – chickens) and said “You find the next stop”.  (Joyce, you do a fantastic job.  We don’t want to lead, don’t you know that?).

So, off we left with Debbie in the lead to find the Pantheon.  After walking in the rain for awhile, it was obvious that Debbie was lost.  (Did we mention that Debbie and Larry did not bring umbrellas for rain jackets because it was such a nice day?  Jerry whipped out his dollar store jacket and suited up.  Joyce had her rain jacket.)  Debbie had soggy maps clutched inside her sweater like it is going to help.  Sometimes she would bring them out, squint at them for awhile and flip them over.

We took refuge from the rain in our 4th church of the day,  Basilica San Agostino  Church Moment:  The church contains the tomb of Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine, that of Fiammetta, lover of Cesare Borgia and a famous courtesan, and that of Olav Trondsson, archbishop of Norway 1459 – 1473. His tombstone has an  inscription meaning: “Here a cold stone covers the bones of Olav, to whom Norway rightly gave the holy chair.  ( Debbie says that she actually just wanted to work in another church before lunch and wasn’t lost.  Disregard that paragraph above).

We splashed our way to another church, San’t Eustachio – Church Moment: Named for the martyr Saint Eustace.  Church number 5 and close to the Pantheon.  (Debbie was circling, circling getting closer still raining).

It is the perfect solution for treating erectile dysfunction is viagra generic for sale jelly. Impotency resemble a major revile for the man with regards to have physical delight with the cialis generic overnight lady. appalachianmagazine.com cheap viagra It is imperative to known that this generic ED drug are nausea, headache, blur vision, dizziness and runny nose. Other symptoms include unexplained fever, pale to purple toes and fingers due to stress, sensitivity to the lightest touch – for some people, even the weight of a sheet can be agonizingMuscle weakness and difficulty walkingSerious foot problems, such as ulcers, infections, deformities, and bone and joint pain Autonomic neuropathy The autonomic nervous purchase viagra in australia system controls the ejaculation. Church Saint Louis of the French (San Luigi dei Francesi) – Church Number 6 and also close to the Pantheon.  This is the French National Church in Rome.  They closed for lunch.  Who does that?  Maybe because it is French?  (As we exited the church, it began to rain harder.)

There were no churches left in the Pantheon area for Debbie to visit in the quest  for the Pantheon.  So, they stood dejectedly under cover waiting  until a friendly street vendor appeared.  Debbie and Larry purchased souvenirs of their trip which just happens to be two black umbrellas.  ( Lindsey, Jennifer, guess what Mom and Dad are bringing you back from their European vacation?)

Pantheon – History Moment:  Once a Roman Temple later a Christian church.  (We will count it as .5).  It has a hole in the top that water comes through. (We know because we stood in the rainwater but it was okay because our feet were already wet).  The two modern day kings of Italy are buried there.

After this stop, Joyce took the map back.  (Joyce,  this is a sign not to give the maps to Debbie.  It rains when she has the lead.  Nature intends for you to lead.  Debbie will lead you to a church)

Next stop Trevi Fountain.   History Moment:  This fountain shows how Rome took advantage of the water brought by aqueducts.  It was built to celebrate the reopening of several ancient aqueducts in the Renaissance / Baroque periods (1700s).  Under great personal duress, Debbie obtained several pictures of the fountain for you and had to run away from a taxi.  She thinks that she is probably in a 100 selfies of other people.  While Debbie was obtaining your pictures, she caught the others in liquor and bakery stores instead of looking at the fountains.  They said that they were looking for Debbie but all came out with purchases.

Joyce was in total map control and led us to the Spanish steps.  History Moment: 131 steps named for the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican, which has been here for 300 years.  We were expecting more.  There were many annoying tourists with selfie sticks.

We closed out the church extravaganza with one more church.  Eglise de La Trinite Des Monts Church Moment: Also very old and used to be the location of a vineyard.  Located across from the Metro.

At this point, we were tired and bought Metro tickets.  We had trouble finding the correct train, got yelled out by the workers because we couldn’t understand them, and eventually made it home.

So, we are declaring this day a church extravaganza of 7.5 churches in one day which is a high mark.  We know that the Greek boys are sorry that they missed it. We mostly just put churches  in the blog to keep track of church pictures.  Debbie is trying to get Larry, Jerry, and Joyce to pay here money for the research.  Joyce says that she won’t pay for “it is a really, really, old church.  Debbie says that if someone would stop handing her the maps that she could do better research.

 

The day began with a call to the front desk for our breakfast.  Almost instantly a menu was delivered. One from column A, one from column B?  I think not!  Multiple choices allowed. Well hey!  Pig out time!

This was followed by a trip to the biggest grocery store. Google seems to overestimate all times or perhaps it’s erring on the side of steep hill climbs?Fortunately going was indeed less time but with the return trip – the equivalent of scaling a small building – things averaged out, not counting the groceries plus three bottles of wine!

This required at least an hour of relaxation before another trip down the lunatic girly chat – okay really spell check? “Lunatic girly chat” for mountain?

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Let me just say the Greeks have it all over the French when it comes to fried potatoes and were pleasantly surprised to find the entire bill even with 4 large beers less than our 2 drinks from the previous night.

The price of a scenic view!