4.15.2010

Vienna and Rome

Amsterdam to Vienna to Rome- all in one Easter weekend.

(Wien, Osterreich) Vienna, Austria


A lovely artist's square- Hundertwasserhaus

Two very nice beers.





Karlplatz with a Catholic Church



Welcome to Rome and to the Vatican Museum, containing 10 different museums.  Thank goodness we thought ahead about online ticket sales.  The queue to buy tickets was (no joke) kilometers long and hours, HOURS long.  We waited in the entrance line for nearly an hour, with tickets.  Easter in Rome is somewhat of a popular holiday destination!


But the art was amazing.  I always like how children are represented so differently in art throughout time.  What can we make of this?  Children are inherently evil?


There it is, the West wall of the Sistine Chapel, The Last Judgement.  We must greatly appreciate these photos, considering we could have had our camera snatched by the gaurds.  Photos are prohibited.  We completely broke the rules.


The ceiling.  Notice a very famous "fingertips" in the second quadrant from the top, center.


North wall.


The setup for the Pope's speech the following day, Easter Sunday.


Inside (San Pietro) St. Peter's Basilica


Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain)


Foro Romano (Roman Forum)


Colosseum


Great view from the middle of the street.




Colossal-sized beers while gazing at the Colosseum.  Had we known they cost 15 Euros each...


1 of 3 fountains in Piazza Navona, Fontana di Nettuno (Neptune Fountain), a Bernini creation.


2 of 3 fountains in Piazza Navona, Fontana del Moro, Bernini- so mythical and imaginative.  Piazza Navona, below, showing 2 of the fountains.



Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps, an international, social meeting ground).

Capitoline Hill, the locale of the Italian Government.


The Pope's speech, Easter Sunday inside the Vatican City, Piazza di San Pietro.


Other than the big-screens, we couldn't see him.


The pizza was good.  But the bruschetta, pasta, Chianti and Peroni- wow!  I was eating sheep's cheese and bacon pasta.


The Patheon


Inside the Pantheon


Goodbye Rome!

4.10.2010

Derichsweiler, Germany

We saw the town in about an hour; it was very small.  Nice and well-kept, but nothing to do and not even a restaurant that was open.  Literally, we came, we saw, we went.  But, it exists!

3.14.2010

Porto, Portugal

We went to Porto for four days at the end of February.  We discovered a wonderful town with lots of Port wine to sample, food to eat, bridges to admire, tiled buildings to inspect, bell towers to climb and markets to stroll. 




Laudry dries outside in the breeze.


The blue and white tiles.


The cave cellars across the Douro River


Hi!






A dense little city


What a nice walk along the river.


I was excited to get in there!


Ferreria tasting room.  There were so many highschool aged children in school groups.  That's what happens when the drinking age is 16.


The tracks leading into Taylor's caves.


Granny panties!


My favorite dude.

 
Roasted cod and potatoes

 


 
Ponte Dom Luis after sunset...

...and in the day.

Calem