We headed out to camp in far Eastern France. This is an area we frequent because it's closest to the Czech Republic by car. We got a late start so we stopped in Germany for the evening. It was a good thing because it started to rain quite a bit that night. I was driving around looking for a campground or hotel and we saw a campground but it was part of a small amusement park. We continued on.
After a while we found a nice old fortified village called Iphofen that was very picturesque. I was surprised there were no tourists. Some of the dwellings were incorporated into the town wall.
Iphofen towerss
Iphofen wall
We eventually found a small hotel close-by that was above a meat market. The nice woman who gave me the key said she might be in her brothers meat market helping in the morning when I would look for her to pay for the room. We began calling it the Hotel Schweinefleisch. Across the street was a beverage store where I bought some drinks just before the man closed then we talked for a few minutes in English before I got back to the room. In the morning there was a cafe across the street also for coffee and croissants.
One great thing about Germany is that they always have McRib, not just for a limited time.
Schweinefleisch indeed
We stopped for a couple of these on the autobahn. We also like a rest area restaurant I call Segways because the real name is similar and the sign looks like a guy on a segway. For Segways you actually have to stop and look at the food in the serving line to see if it's fresh.
I've spent a bit of time driving on the autobahn and it isn't at all like the mythical place as depicted in the car commercials. Maybe there is no speed limit on some sections and in fact I'm sure I drove on some but the reality is it's crowded and usually difficult to remember what the speed limit is because it changes every few kilometers based on traffic and road conditions and also weather.
Autobahn outside of car commercials
When we got to Metz we camped and enjoyed a walk in the town and stopped at a top rated restaurant from tripadvisor. Most of the patrons were French but a few were english speaking. It was gooood.
In the morning we drove to visit the Maginot line.
Maginot line tunnel
Kitchen with dummy cooks
Munitions train we rode on
Generators
In the evening of our second day an antique car group passed though the campground for a night.
Here's a car we saw when we were driving through a village one day.
Here's the Centre Pompidoue in Metz. We failed to go inside because we ran out of time.
On our way back through Germany we stayed in a place called Weinforum Franken in Eibelstadt where we ate a very good nettle soup and I had a special fixed price menu with fish wrapped in ham, curry potatoes and several glasses of wine. The food was very good and our room was huge and modern with a view of the square. The building was remodeled by a group of architects who occupy the top floor of the building with their studio. I know this because they were struggling to get a new plotter up the stairs in the morning. I recommend room 10 if you go.
We also stopped in Zurndorf to visit the Playmobil Funpark on our last day. This was a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time eating the great food.
We were really looking forward to seeing Rome and especially the Colosseum. The Colosseum was built by an emperor guy with one of the coolest names: Vespasian. I also can't go to Rome without the soundtrack in my head playing Wim Mertens piece, "Struggle for Pleasure" because it was in the film "The Belly of an Architect" which was largely set in Rome.
Pyramid of Cestius
One the way into Rome we passed the Pyramid of Cestius that was built in 12 BC in the middle of the wall around Rome. Our first stop was of course the Colosseum which was a mob scene of tourists. We had prepaid tickets from the internet but we still had to wait fifteen minutes in the prepaid ticket line. The inside of the Colosseum had a lot of areas to see compared to my last visit more than 20 years ago. Back then, nobody was paying to go inside, cats ruled the place and tourists just looked at it from the sidewalk.
We then looked at the Circus Maximus which is just a large park but surprisingly retains the shape of the original venue. The spine running down the middle is still visible also. It is easy to imagine the chariot races that took place here.
Next we went to the Capitoline Hill where Michelangelo designed the travertine paving pattern. When we were there some sort of formal military event was happening. Some thought it was a funeral for a high ranking military or government official and it very well could have been. There was a band playing and men giving speeches. At the conclusion they all paraded out of the square.
We quickly looked at Trevi fountain, another tourist circus, noting how the fountain is built into the side of a building. Around the corner we had lunch. I ordered a very good fish but was made to give it up to a boy sitting next to me, who was reading an Artemis Fowl book for the six hundredth time, in exchange for an unexceptional pasta dish.
Trevi Fountain
We ate inside in the AC
We don't mind if the head's still on.
Pizza dough with Nutella inside.
We admired the fine tailored suits in the nearby stores before making our way to Vatican City. We had prepaid tickets for this museum also but we had a licensed guide to show us around too. It's a good thing because I headed for the museum entrance that is no longer in use before she guided us to the new entrance.
Once inside we noticed that one of us had chewing gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe. I took the shoe to the very large crowded WC area and was startled to have an Italian woman scolding me. At first I thought that I was getting a drubbing because I was supposed to put some euro-coins in a dish to use the restroom but then I noticed that I had wandered into the ladies washroom. I don't think they have a dish here anymore.
I made my way with her help to the mens room and began cleaning the shoe with TP but when I was done and walking away she was there waiting for me and scolded me for not flushing that paper away. I thought I was saving water.
Vatican Museum Garden.
After getting into the museum our guide didn't let us push our way to the Sistine chapel. We looked at the entire museum. We saw three Salvador Dali paintings, a large Etruscan urn that looked like it was pieced together from hundreds of fragments, and an astounding number of statues.
Etruscan Urn
Inside the Vatican Museum.
Trompe l'oeil ceiling fresco
Gallery of Maps
Dali painting
One of the many thinkers by Rodin
When we got nearer to the Sistine Chapel we were getting very hot and tired but they had placed a cafe in the museum just before you arrive at the chapel. We had a rest and something to drink before heading into the place. There were many signs showing a camera with a circle and a line through it just before entering. My first impression when we got inside was of hundreds of people holding cameras overhead and multiple flashes every second. Our guide had actually said to just be stealthy when we take pictures and to avoid flash. This place was a carnival. One guard was telling people "silence" but it was futile. The frescoes were very impressive though. I've seen way more than my share of painted ceilings and this one really is different.
Carnival Atmosphere.
Sistine Chapel Ceiling
After we left the chapel we made our way to Saint Peters Basilica. This place is impressive. We spent a few minutes here but were really ready to leave and get back outside. We quickly went to the Pantheon before giving up on the tourism for the day. The Pantheon is one of the best preserved Roman buildings. It was built using concrete and has had the largest unreinforced concrete dome for almost 2000 years. Unreinforced means that there is no steel structure inside the concrete.
These Vatican Guards should be stopping picture takers.
Dome of Saint Peters Basilica.
Pantheon Facade.
Pantheon oculus.
We were happy to get back to the ship to take a swim and cool off.
We're actually already in Prague but we have catching up to do on the blog because we didn't have good Internet connections or time to write things. Coming up should be posts for: Rome, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, more Barcelona, Olot Spain and the Salvador Dali theater museum in Catalonia. Today we were in the center of Prague to go to McDonald's and the Big Ben English bookstore so we snapped a few pictures. Above is the Lesser Quarter tower for Charles Bridge. The dome in the background is the church of Saint Nicholas. Below is my burger from McDonald's. Every Summer they have a few items on the menu that are theme items. This year the theme is Italian. This is a Grande Italian Burger. It was REAL good. They could get my business back in the US if they served this there.
We walked through Old Town Square. During our walk in the city we saw three different wedding couples in the most crowded areas. One couple had a stretch limo pull through a huge crowd that was waiting to see the famous astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall do it's little show. I commented that they were probably going to the Town Hall to be married but it seemed that they were there just for the clock. After the clock struck a trumpet player on the tower played for the wedding couple. Below is Old Town Square where they were setting up a stage for a show of some kind. The church is called the Tyn Church and is very whimsical but the most interesting thing is that buildings are built right in front of it.
On our way home we walked across Charles Bridge with a view of Prague Castle. The cathedral is located inside the castle walls. I'm not sure if any other cathedral has such an unusual location.
It seems like something that only happens in Prague. We came upon an outdoor public exhibit of large colored aerial photos mounted to an iron fence. They were very cool, but then a full orchestra came walking past carrying their instruments.
Our day in FlorenceItaly began with a buffet breakfast on the ship. Then, we disembarked and waited several fretful minutes for the driver/guide from the tour company, RomeinLimo to arrive. Based onthe name I expected a limo (what else?!) and I held my breath as wewalked by several beat-up Nissans and arrived in front of a stunningMercedes-Benz.
Our driver for Florence and Pisa was an Italian man named Fabricio (am I spelling that right?) who was very knowledgeable about the area and who had many jokes to share. It was about an hour’s drive to Florence, a town with many architectural and artistic masterpieces that I was looking forward to seeing.
Our first stop in Florence was the Santa Croce church that contained the graves of Galileo and Michelangelo. Other than that, there was a dome, a couple of paintings, sculptures, and some tombs to see. Then, Fabricio picked us up and we went to see St. John’s Basilica, also known as Florence Cathedral the other important church in Florence. We didn’t go inside the church this time, but we did look at the façade and Bruneleski’s famous dome.
After that, we walked a couple hundred meters to Florence’s town hall, where there was an open-air statuary exhibit. Two notable statues in the exhibit were Perseus, a statue of Perseus holding Medusa’s head, and a statue of some guy fighting a centaur. Fabricio arrived at the square several minutes later and handed us tickets to the Uffizi gallery, one of the oldest and most interesting museums in Europe.
Fortunately for us, the Uffizi gallery was right next to the town hall. As we expected, the entrance to the Uffizi gallery was packed, but we pushed through the mob and into the entrance. Unfortunately, like almost any other art gallery of its kind, the Uffizi did not allow photographs to be taken inside the gallery. I found that out while snapping a (bad) picture of The Birth of Venus, the most famous painting in the Uffizi gallery. Some lady took the liberty of tapping me on the shoulder and saying “No photo,” probably because she was mad that she couldn’t take any photos and just wanted to spoil it for me.
Mostly, the Uffizi gallery had four types of art: busts of (famous?) people, paintings with or of naked women, landscape paintings, and paintings showing large crowds of people doing things. When we exited, Fabricio took us to a restaurant close to the Uffizi run by an old Tuscan man. They had all kinds of pasta and meat with different sauces to choose from, but it was strange to see that they had no pizza! (We were in Italy, what else could I expect?) We ordered, and the food was brought to us very quickly.
We were soon back on the road, heading for a museum of statuary called something along the lines of “l’Academia” to see Michelangelo’s most famous statue, the David. We arrived, entered, and rushed past several exhibitions in our excitement to see the David. Finally, we arrived in a room, and there we saw it. A magnificent fifteen-foot tall white statue of a naked man with a sling over his shoulder and a rock in his hand. And, yet again, there were no photos allowed, and this time they meant it. I spotted at least two security guards walking around telling people to stop taking photos. It seemed that the David was popular enough that almost one-third of the people in the room tried to take a picture. And, my dad held up his camera, the guard approached, she opened her mouth, my dad pressed the shutter and he took the photo. He laughed nervously and the lady scolded him. Immediately, the security guard lady walked over to a phone and started speaking into it. Minutes later, an announcement came on that strictly no photos were permitted. We quickly walked out and admired our sole picture of the David.
On our way out of Florence, my dad spotted a huge hill in one corner of the city and told Fabricio he wanted to take a picture from the top. Fabricio said okay, and he drove us up the winding road to the top of the hill. At the top, there was a fabulous view of Florence, and you could see all of the tallest, most popular landmarks. We took several pictures, and started back down the hill and out of town.
About 45 minutes out of Florence, we began to see signs for Pisa, and Fabricio said that we could take a short detour and buy some of Italy’s finest cherries. We said yes, and soon Fabricio was taking us down a country road. Then, we saw a fruit vendor.
The fruit vendor had a small stand by the side of the road next to a truck. We pulled up to the fruit vendor, and we got out of the car. Fabricio proceeded to buy some cherries for us and for himself. We got back in the car and we all ate the cherries on our way to Pisa.
When we arrived in Pisa, all the cherries were gone and we were ready to watch the scenery. Fabricio told us about the importance of Pisa as we drove around. Pisa was actually pretty big and had a number of things to see, including some parks, the LeaningTower, and the smallest gothic church in the world. Of course, all of us were very excited about seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but Fabricio knew this and took us on a route where we would be teased by fleeting glimpses of the monument. We began to shout for joy when we saw it peek over the top of the buildings. Fabricio pretended not to see it, and parked after showing us a Templar Knights building.
We got out and walked over to the tower. It was amazing. The tower was situated right next a large cathedral that was in front of a grass field. The paths were mobbed, as no one could go on the grass, and everyone was taking a picture. Naturally, we took a fair share of pictures, including the ever-popular “I’m-holding-up-the-tower!” picture.
All of us almost got lost in the crowd, and we beat a hasty retreat before someone actually got lost. We got back into the car, and Fabricio began to drive us towards Livorno, where the ship had docked. Along the way, Fabricio shared many jokes, stories and facts about the area. Finally, we arrived back.
