The Rockhouse

We are wrapping up day four pretty quickly here.  We spent around three hours wandering around the Roman Forum and then capped it off with a lunch/dinner outside the Termini.  Now, it is time to pack and prepare to move on to Florence.  Man, that was a quick four days.  Tomorrow will be a travel/unpacking day so I am not sure if I will be able to post anything.

So, on the last full day, we are walking around the Roman Forum, taking our time when a women, who I noticed was shouting a few minutes earlier, comes up to us and offers a tour.  When we said that we took a tour already, she began to yell that the tour guides were the devil and that we were his disciples for having taken the tour from him.  She then began to follow us around for about two minutes explaining the negative aspects of being a disciple of said devil.  In the end, she wondered off in much the same manner as I had seen her from the start.  To be honest, I now regret having not taken her tour as it could have been very different from the first one.

It is funny to see the Italian people's reaction to President Bush.  So far, it appears the running gag here is that he needs all that security because people are trying to do bad things to him.  It usually gets a good response out of those around.  Still, his presence cannot be ignored.  First off, as I mentioned in an earlier post, parts of the Vatican were closed down and then today, Thursday, parts of the city could not be reached via the subway due to his visit.  In the end, I would call it bad timing that we are here together since things were closed off due to his visit.

Ah, day three.  The day that should have been a down day turns into one of the biggest so far.  First off, a 7:30 visit to the Vatican that went until around 1:30.  Honestly, it was incredibly long and interesting visit.  The Sistine Chapel was beautiful and the museum surrounding the chapel filled with fascinating artifacts.  Sadly, though, due to President Bush's visit, St. Peter's Basilica was closed which was supposed to be a huge part of the tour.  The cool part, though, was due to not being able to go to St. Peter's, we had a chance to see the Pope speak.  And speak he did.  He and his people spoke for about 90 minutes.  I have to admit, though, people loved him.  After the Vatican visit, it was back to the hotel for a little rest and then back out for dinner and a visit to the Spanish Steps.  To be honest, the steps themselves were somewhat unimpressive but the square in front of the steps was pretty cool.  Still, a whirlwind go around on day three.

Good lord, day two was more exhausting than day one.  All in all, we did a two mile walk from the hotel to the capital and then the Pantheon (as you have seen being hugged below).  Again, incredible day with the Pantheon moving to the top of my list of most impressive of Rome.  A quick side note:  I would recommend a visit to the museum located at the capital. Very impressive with some cool stuff.  Attached is a picture of the founders of Rome being nourished by a she-wolf.  I was going to have a picture taken where I was the third child under the wolf, but there were four museum guards there and they didn't seem to have a sense of humor.

That's right, kids.  In my continued pursuit of all things foreign in the current country I am in, I present to you the Syrian Arab Republic Embassy:

I am proud to present a series of pictures where I hug various things in Europe.  Picture one, the Pantheon:

 
 

Where to start?  Got up, walked to Trevi Fountain(which was awesome, by the way), decided to experience the Metro for the first time (most impressive), and ended the day with a tour of Imperial Rome (the capital, forums, etc).  All unbelievably incredible.  My favorite so far has to be the Roman Forums.  We visited the true location where Caesar died, which was really impressive.  All in all, a good day.

So, how is it I do not see a tornado since 1982, I leave town, and one drops down one block from where my mom lives.  Luckily, she just had tree damage, but the National Guard has her block shut down and she needs ID to get into her house!  Plus, she tells me that a car wash at 132nd and Q which has been there since I can remember is half gone.  Horrible but incredible.

Arrived in Rome yesterday afternoon and finally got Internet working in the hotel room.  Expect the occasional posts until we up and move on Friday.

Nothng really to say, just that business class does have its perks.

Getting lost in New York has it perks.  We now know were the Ukraine Consulate is!  (Sorry for the mussed up hair; it was very windy in NY and I had tried to sleep for a few minutes in the hotel before heading out).

Fun facts I am now learning about New York:

• GPS is useless.  The only time I got a satellite lock on my portable unit was at the top of 30 Rock.
• Good lord, there are people everywhere.  I have never seen anything like it.
• People in cars don't use words, they use horns.  I am still trying to find out the meaning of the various short taps versus long taps, but occasionally, they will cuss which helps the translation process along.
• Grand Theft Auto IV's Time Square is a very near approximation of the one in New York, minus the people.
• Did I mention the people?
• Television and movies do not do Time Square justice.  My gravy, it is incredible.
• The Today studio is still open for the world to see; the Fox studio not so much.

That is about it for now.  A full day on three hours of sleep.  Going to crash now.  HARD.

No sooner do we land in Milwaukee than we get into Newark; things are going off without a hitch!  As we made it to the doors to leave the airport, a man quickly offered a Lincoln Navigator which would take us into Manhattan.  Naturally, being trusting midwestern folk, we jumped.  In all honesty, the driver was an incredibly nice man who moved here from Egypt about five to six years ago and now coaches children's soccer.  What a country!  I have his card and will post it when I find a scanner.  If you are landing in Newark, I highly recommend finding this guy.

Made it to the ground in Milwaukee.  Already, things are going much better than in December.  I am a little concerned that the clouds look dark and it is starting to rain, though.  Hopefully, we can take off and get above it before things get bad.  Fun Milwaukee trip fact:  did you know it was next to a giant lake?  Who knew.  Seriously, it is much bigger than Lake Manawa.

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• A Day Four Wrap Up
• WooHoo - We Are Disciples Of The Devil!!!!!!
• A Quick Note On Bush's Visit
• Day Three Update - A Visit To The Vatican
• Day Two Update
• A Huge Rome Find
• My New Picture Series: Hugging Europe
• Full Day One In Rome
• A Note From Home
• In Rome / Back On Line

• General [16]

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