30 Nov '05 - + 19 - 17 We're Back - A Transatlantic Crossing
After living in Germany for six months and traveling back for a month,
we are back in St. Louis. We got back on Thanksgiving, and we've
spent our time since then unpacking, cleaning the house, reading mail,
seeing family, and getting back to work. I miss our trip already.
Rome was fantastic. We spent three days there between
Slovenia
and our transatlantic crossing on the Grand Princess, and we could have
spent a lot more time than that. It's a huge city with history
and beauty (and Catholic extravagance) everywhere. We tried to
get by with the summary from our Lonely Planet
Mediterranean Europe book, but there was so much to see and comprehend that we bought another guide book just for that city.
The first thing was saw was the Roman Forum. This was much bigger
than we ever expected. In other cities, we've been excited by
seeing a block-long Roman city wall fragment, or seeing the remnants of
an individual temple or baths. Those experiences were blown away
by the Roman Forum. It has block after block of ruins of
important temples, palaces, arches, and basilicas. It has to be
seen to be believed (and it's all free).
The Roman Forum during the day
The moon shining over two temples in the Roman Forum
The Arch of Titus within the Arch of Septimus Severus
We also spent a lot of time at the Vatican, touring the amazing St.
Peter's Basilica, touring the Vatican Museum (full of hundreds of
people ignoring the signs and taking flash photos of the Sistene
Chapel, not caring that they are damaging the art that will be out of
focus in their pictures), and even seeing the Pope. Seeing
Benedict was interesting, with the 25,000 other people in attendance (I
think most of them actually were Catholic). The Pope gave a
message in Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, English, Latin, Klingon,
and Esperanto, which was fairly impressive, although it meant that
fellow observers stopped paying attention or being polite when their
language was done.
The Pieta by Michelangelo
Sunlight in St. Peter's Basilica
The Pope in his popemobile
Additionally, we saw countless other fountains, churches, squares, and
bridges. It's a very beautiful city with very good pizza.
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
St Peter's over the Tiber River
Trevi Fountain
From Rome, we took a 14-day cruise on the Grand Princess to cross the
Atlantic. We stopped in Livorno, Italy (to see Florence); Cannes,
France; Barcelona, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Ponta Delgada, the Azores;
and Bermuda on our way to Ft. Lauderdale. We had a mostly great
time. The food and wine were wonderful, except the cheese
desserts were disappointing. Being on the sea for so long was
great, except when it was too rocky in the North Atlantic (Jenny
discovered she can get seasick). The on-board activities were fun
and we met some wonderful people, although the average age of the
passengers was post-retirement. Some of the stops were beautiful,
but the 6-10 hours per port afforded by a cruise itinerary is just not
enough time really to see a city or get to know a culture.
Despite the minor frustrations, taking a cruise home was a relaxing and
luxurious way to celebrate the end of our adventure of living in
Europe. We'll likely never have the chance again in our working
lives.
Ponte Vecchio in Florence
The Rock of Gibraltar, a highlight of the cruise. As we passed
it, the Rock was hidden by a late afternoon storm. However, that
led to a beautiful 180° double-rainbow off the aft of the ship as we
sailed into the sunset. The Rock then came out of hiding for us
as we sailed away from it, with Morocco off the port side.
The natural volcanic beauty of the Azores
The Grand Princess
Horseshoe Bay, a fantastic beach on Bermuda
Only one comment:
I accidentally came across your page while looking for pics of Hamburg. I lived there for 3 years, many years ago, and am now living again in California. Coincidentally, I will be traveling through St. Louis tomorrow, heading to LA. I must say that I enjoy your site, and will keep it in my bookmarks. How I envy you having lived in Hamburg recently, as I would just about give my right arm to move back and see my old friends. (whom I sporadically keep in touch with…
Keep up the good work with your site…
Robert
Robert (email) - 02 December '05 - 02:00
