Eating in Rome

All of our meals - except breakfast were eaten in the outdoor cafes.  Love! 

 For a quick refreshment during the day - these trucks were pretty cool.  They offered everything from sandwiches to beer to popcorn to gelato.

 A lot of the restaurants were right on the street, so cars would be driving by as we were eating.  Crazy, but cool!

 Our favorite waiter.  We went to his restaurant twice.  The 2nd time, he took care of us a little too well:  3 desserts, and shots.  Ohhh, too full.  That was our Thanksgiving meal:  bruschetta, salad, and pasta.  And our meal for pretty much every evening :)

Rome - St Peter's Square & Vatican Museums

 We went to St Peter's square a few times.  On Sunday to hear the Pope give his weekly blessing, on Monday to see St Peter's Basilica, and on Tuesday for the tour.  Whew.  Good thing it was only a mile from our hotel :)
There is beauty every where you go in Rome.  This is St Peter's square - designed by Bernini

 Here is the Pope giving his blessing.  I thought it would be short & sweet, but he did a 10 minute long prayer (in Latin).  Then he blessed all those standing in the square - in at least 6 different languages.  He also acknowledged any group that had flags & signs.   We were impressed.

 Inside St Peter's Basilica - largest Roman Catholic church in the world.

 The main altar - designed by Bernini.  St Peter (apostle & 1st Pope) is buried beneath this.  

 Looking up at the dome.

 Michelangelo's Pieta  1499

 Mom in St Peter's

 Mom in the courtyard

 Part of the Vatican Museum.  Michelangelo studied with this sculptor (? name), and then changed his sculpture's to be more muscular.  His later works were very different than his earlier works (like the Pieta)

 Me in the dome

 Ceiling in the Vatican museums

More ceilings in the museum.  They are painted, but look sculpted.

 We also went to the Sistine Chapel, but no photos were allowed.  More amazing days in Rome!

Visting Rome, Italy! 1st day Roman Forum & Coloseum

Chris & I wanted to take my mom to Europe for a nice vacation.  We asked her where she wanted to go, and she picked Rome.  Sounded good to us!  Chris had a business trip scheduled to Austria for the week following Thanksgiving.  So we tacked our Rome trip onto his to make it a little easier.  We flew from Boston to Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday, 11/15.  Then it was a 1:10 hour flight to Rome!

Hop On Hop Off bus trip - to get ourselves acclimated to Rome & all it has to offer (which is a heck of a lot!)

 1st day was the Roman Forum.  Amazing!  The building below - in the background was the Senate house.  Dating back to B.C. times.  Yes B.C.  Julius Caesar was in this building.  Hard to believe until you actually come face to face with the history.  This area was flooded by the Tiber River & silt buried it.  It is an ongoing archaeological dig site, with much to still be discovered.  So cool!

 This building is still in good form.  If you look closely at the columns, you can see the gouges where they tried to pull them down at some point.  Our tour guide said that many professors believe that 70% of ancient Rome is buried underneath the current Rome.  It seems that everywhere we went in Rome, there was an ongoing archaeological dig.

 The site where Julius Caesar was burned.  He was assassinated elsewhere, but laid to rest (cremated here).  His body burned for 7 days in the year 44 B.C.

 More of the Roman Forum.

 Arch of Septimius Severus - 203 AD

 Me & Chris

 B.C. roads - 'All Roads lead to Rome'

 Colosseum finished in 80 AD.  It only took 8 years to build (13,000 slaves helped), and it could hold 50,000 spectators.  It was used for gladiator contests and public animal hunts, executions, and re-enactments of famous battles.
The back half of the building was pillaged by the Catholic churches, which used the marble to build other churches.  One of the Pope's put a stop to the stealing, and put a cross inside the Colosseum (see picture below).

 The inside - so amazing. The floor is gone, and there are at least 2 levels below (where the floor would have been).  The animals & other gladiator contestants were kept here before the contests.

 Lots of visitors and November is the 'off season'.

 They have built a small floor to give visitors an idea of what it looked like.

 This used to be a staircase.

 The Cross put here by the Roman Catholic church.  The Pope does the Stations of the Cross here every Good Friday.

 Such a beautiful building.   So much is missing, but fortunately, so much is still remaining.

 Mom & Chris by the Arch of Constantine - dedicated 315 AD

 Mind blowing Day!  It was time for a birra (beer)

More to come!  Rome has non stop 'atmosphere'; archaeological sites; churches; food; shopping...

Monson half marathon!

We decided to squeeze in another half marathon before the year was out.  It was a little last minute, but there were a few options.  Unfortunately most were sold out.  All but one - the Monson half marathon.  It was near Springfield, MA - so a little bit of a drive, but we decided to sign up anyway.  

Beautiful Sunday with some wind.  Lots of runners, so we were happy about that.  The race started at 12:00.

 It was a hilly hard run.  Wowzer!  Brutal!  But we did it.  We ended up staying together for the whole run.  Good thing, since I needed all the support I could get.  I didn't think the hills would ever stop. (they did at mile 10  - finally!)

 Picture of the finish line.  We were so ready to see this!

 Nice swag!  Bottle, medal, and pint glass!

It's definitely a race that will keep you honest in your training!

Taking the Green car back to the Garage

Our garage at home is big, but not big enough.  So we keep our green 34 coupe off site

See you next spring!

Lawn art

Fall is here, and our yard is bare.  Except for those irritating leaves and our lawn art:

Our bird is from Colfax, IL - Robert Cumpston.  He makes animals out of tractor parts, or anything he can find at a  junk sale.  So cool!

Our little wheel barrel man.  We usually plant some flowers in him every spring.

 Our gas pump.  Chris drew up the design (along with our friend Arthur), and they punched it out of sheet metal.

Our compass

 Our water pump.  A gift from Chris' brother Dallas

 who also gave us these

 and this!

Hoping they don't get covered with too much snow this year!!