Houston Bound

And, after a fun filled year in Dubai... we are headed back to Houston.  That was not the plan.  We expected to stay here for three years, but still I'm happy to be going back to the USA.

There are lots of things to love about Dubai.  I've met some amazing people here.  Made some great friends that'll I'll truly miss.  I've seen a lot of the local sites and enjoyed the ease of living in the "Paris of the Middle East".

I'm hoping we can make arrangements and get the move scheduled pretty quickly.  I want the stuff shipped so that container can get there in the least amount of time possible.  Once the job was offered and the decision to accept was made, I'm ready to have the deed done.

Why is it that the 'not knowing' is the stressful part of any job change?  Not knowing if the job will be there, not knowing where the work will be based, not knowing if the compensation will be equivalent. All the unknowns are what keeps you awake at night.  Once the decision is made and it's a 'done deal', then I'm all about going forward and making it happen very quickly.

We expect to be back in Houston some time next month.  It will all depend on how fast it can all be scheduled.  We'll pack up, load the container, ship it and step on a plane.  Life is going to change for sure.  We're hoping it's for the better!

--  Sandee Wagner

Desert Safari

Our desert safari started with a taxi pickup at a local hotel.  We climbed aboard our 15 passenger bus and headed out toward the border.

When we got there, and by 'there', I mean the random part of the desert that appeared to be a parking lot of sorts, the bus pulled in and we all climbed out.  We transferred into two 8 passenger 4 wheel drive vehicles for a 'dune bashing' ride out to the desert camp.

I was busy screaming and flailing, but I did managed to snap one photo out the front window.

There were at least two times where we went up on two wheels and I swear he lost control coming off of one big dune.  We were told that you could have an 'easy' ride, but we got the 'queasy' one instead.

When we got to the camp, there were five camels giving rides.  You could line up, wait your turn and then climb aboard for a fun filled 50 yard trek, a slow turn and then back to the starting point.

The kids wanted a go and so did a couple of the other grandparents.

I opted out of the camel ride.  This is truly not on my bucket list.  Plus, look at that face!  Did I really want to tax that poor guy?  He's suffered enough.

The camp itself was a fenced arena lined with outdoor rugs, low tables and sand filled 'pillows' for seating.  It was oriented around a low stage and well lit.  The sound system was excellent.  I know this because the first act was a guy playing what I can only figure was the middle eastern equivalent to bagpipes.  Yeah.  Let that one settle in.

Next came the main act.  A belly dancer who did several numbers.  She did one with a silver pleated cape that she swung around like wings.  It was done to a very Egyptian sounding music. I really think it was the theme song to the Mummy movies that came out a few years ago.

Next, she did an actual belly dance with all the hip shaking and heel dropping.  She wrapped her hips with a jingly scarf and the coins were clacking.  All the menfolk were mesmerized.

Her next dance was more interpretive.  She pulled on a blue, drapey vestment and did a lot more hand movements to a different tune.  She was quite a talented gal.

Her final number was completely different.  She pinned back her hair, changed into black jeans and a black tank top and had them turn the lights out.

She lit two pots, torches really, that were on the end of tethers about as long as her arms.  Then she began to swing them around.

Imagine all the flaming baton twirlers you've ever seen and then multiply that by a really flexible gal.  She did incredible things with those swinging torches.

The last act of the evening was a gentleman who was billed as performing an Egyptian specialty.

He was a whirler.  I won't say he was a Whirling Dervish because he obviously did this as an entertainment, not a religious act.

He started out with about four layers of weighted circle skirts.  He did a bunch of spinning with some hand held drums.  Then he began to untie the skirts and swirl them about his head.

The big finale included the bottom two skirts being outlined in tiny LED bulbs.  when the lights went out, his swirling skirts up and down danced with light.  It was kind of pretty.  One of the guys with us timed him and he spun constantly for over nine and a half minutes.  When he finally finished, a couple of guys got up on the stage and he put the skirts on them so they could try their hands at spinning.  I really think they had just drunk one too many beers.

All in all, the desert safari was a pretty fun TOURIST experience.  I don't believe there was anything inherently Emirati about the whole thing.  Even the music appeared to originate from other middle eastern countries.  But like a Colorado mining town chuckwagon dinner, it was a fun family experience.

There was a full variety of 4x4 rentals, guided tours of the desert via ATV, and arts and crafts available.  The kids all got hennae tattoos and sand paintings with their names inside.  There was even a guy walking around with a falcon on a perch you could slip onto your arm for a photo opportunity.

We enjoyed the experience and the kids got a huge kick out of it!  I'm so glad we went.

--  Sandee Wagner

Planning Your Trip to Rome

After my short foray to Rome, I feel the need to give some travel advice to others planning to make a trip there:

1.  Take good walking shoes.  Rome is a town you see on foot.  Be prepared, train.  Work up to it.

2.  Go in February or March.  This advice came from someone whose gone to Rome a lot.  The big crowds in the summer make everything a lot harder to see.  We were there the first week of March and the weather was a little dicey (cool 40's to 60's, and misty rain) but it kept the crowds down and it's easy to layer up and carry an umbrella.

3.  Lose weight before you go, you'll gain weight while you're there.  Embrace Italian food.  Don't listen to anyone who tells you, "there's a good Chinese restaurant down there..."  These people are not your friends.

4.  Plan your days.  If the weather is nice, the Romans will be out in force.  Save your busy 'museum days' for weekdays, when most folks are at work.

5.  Plan your meals.  Any place that you can walk into at the last minute is probably not great food.  Most places require reservations.  Think about where you'll be, or pop in and ask for a reservation for the next day.  A little pre-planning will net you some great meals.

6.  Never assume that folks speak English.  We took a friend who speaks fluent Italian and I think it was the smartest thing we did.  He argued, haggled and joked with everyone.  I think we got well taken care of everywhere we went.

7.  Recognize that you can't see it all.  I think it would take a month of full time tourism just to get to all the sights in Rome.  If you include the places nearby, add another week.  Sometimes you have to pick the high points and just be okay with that.

8.  Throw coins over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain so you can be guaranteed a trip back to Rome.  It's that good.  You'll want to go back.

--  Sandee Wagner

Taste Testing Rome

Our native guide, Robert Spano, is a chef and foodie.  I can only recommend that you see Rome with a foodie.  He never steered us wrong.

He and his older brother have been having a debate for years about which coffee shop has the best coffee, and which gelatto shop has the best ice cream.  We had to jump into the Taste Test.

For gelatto, the two contenders are Giolitti's and Fassi's.  To be fair, I ordered the exact same thing at both places.  I wanted the taste test to be fair and equal.  Giolitti's is more conveniently located near the major tourist areas.  Fassi's is in an older part of town and you have to go looking for it.  Both have high quality, extremely generous portions and a clean, well lit environment.

Fassi's is twice the volume for half the price.  I guess being away from the high rent district shows in the pricing structure.  That said, I didn't pay the bills.  So Giolitti's was my pick.  Their gelatto had a smoother 'mouth feel' and stronger flavors that didn't get overridden by a second flavor in the same cone, or the generous dollop of fresh whipped cream on top.  Both the Roberts picked Fassi's for size, volume and price.  But of course, it was their Euros paying the bills!!


For coffee, the two contenders are Sant Eustachio Il Caffe and Tazza de Oro coffee shop.  Both are close to the sites and relatively easy to find.

The first thing you have to know about having coffee in Rome is that if you sit down at a table, it's all twice as expensive.  The Romans will go into a shop, order coffee and a croissant, nibble the pastry and sip the coffee and leave in five minutes.  All while standing up at a bar with folks queuing up behind them.

The Roman experience is to drink coffee on your feet while leaning against their bar, and paying half the price of the seated diners.

We decided to be fair in the taste test and only allow the actual coffee drinkers to decide.  The two Roberts were willing to take the challenge, I ordered hot tea.

We bellied up to the bar and ordered two cappuccinos, one hot tea and three croissants.  The boys savored their coffees, discussed the merits of expresso, American coffee and cappuccino.  Then we licked our lips and waited for the other entry in the taste test.

Denied.  Every time we tried to get into Tazza de Oro, they were closed.  We did hit the area early on Sunday morning, and maybe they are exceptionally religious.  I don't know.  But we never got to vote on the best cup of coffee in Rome.

I asked Spano about his straw poll and he said that Giolitti's was ahead about 60-40 with those who found Fassi's and gave both a shot.

I think Sant Eustachio was edging the winners for cup of coffee, but since it's the oldest coffee shop in Rome, it might just have the popular vote.

--  Sandee Wagner

The Pantheon

Some of the sights in Rome require their own explanation.  One of them is the Pantheon.

The Pantheon was built by Agrippa.  He was an ancient Roman architect who built a lot of the big monuments.  Or, at least, he put his name on a lot of them.  I was told that Caesar Augustus was the leader at the time, but he didn't care about having his name on things, so Agrippa got to put his name there.  I guess for some, putting a name on a building feels like making history.  For Agrippa, it worked.

The Pantheon is BIG.  You can't really get any scale in this little picture, but those columns are high and that roof is huge.

There is a domed roof inside.  When it was built, they cast blocks with recessed cutouts to lighten them so the roof could be held up by the supporting walls.

The only light in the Pantheon comes through the oculus, which is that round hole in the center of the dome.

The place was closed when we arrived.  The only pictures I could take were standing outside the entrance, where the guard held everyone behind a velvet rope.

Regardless of the fact that I stood outside looking in, it was a sight to behold.  Definitely a feat of architectural engineering.  I'm pretty sure that all domed construction was compared to this as people built other structures.

The multicolored marble, popular in the churches of the area, still clads most of the interior walls and the floor, but the outside has been stripped of all its marble cladding.

Once the Christians took over Rome, the Pantheon fell out of favor as most shrines to multiple gods must.  For over four hundred years, this was a fish market.  There were canvases attached to the front of the building and stretched out over the square to provide coverage for the stalls and vendors.

 The doors on the Pantheon are said to be original to the structure.  It's really hard to imagine them opening and closing for over a thousand years, but there you go.

I wish I had been able to frame in a head or two so you could get some idea of the scale of this place.  I keep saying, "it's just HUGE!" like that's going to get my point across.

Since we couldn't go inside, all I could do was point and shoot, so my pictures don't really provide scale.  I'm not sure I could do this edifice justice with my $65 camera anyway.

Suffice it to say, "it's just HUGE!"  The wikipedia page gives some measurements for the folks who need a mathematical construct to understand.

 Inside the doors, the dome dominates the view.  The multicolored marble floor shows geometric patterns and all the colors are represented there also.

 Outside the doors, under the portico, the column facings grace the porch walls and are topped by Corinthian capitals.

The roof rises overhead about three stories and you can see the original construction materials.

The Pantheon is a marvel of structural engineering.  It is mighty in its size and construction.

If you got to Rome, you've got to include a trip to the Pantheon.  It's well worth the trouble to get there.

--  Sandee Wagner

Rome Day Four

On our fourth day in Rome, we had the perfect recipe for going to the Vatican:  1) weekday, so the Romans were at work; 2) light overcast and rain, so the tourists were light; and 3) time to devote to it.

If you're going to see the Sistine Chapel, you're going to stand in line.  A long line.  You pay to see the Chapel, you don't pay to see St. Peter's Square or the Basilica.  We tried to time it so that we'd be at the Sistine Chapel and in line when they opened up at 9:00 am.  I think we might have missed that by a little, but not much.  The crowds are frustrating and it's not really well controlled or guided like most public places.  Compared to the crowd control at the Louvre, it was a riot.

We bought our tickets, fought our way past the crowds of tourists and tour buses full of students, and entered the residence.  There was loads to see, all the walls full of art and decorated like a palace.  Once you get inside the chapel, there is no talking (the guards shout 'silence' every three minutes) and no flash photography.  In the peak season, I'm told there is a conveyor belt that carry the tourists through so you only get a couple of minutes to take it all in.  During the month of March, there are less people.  We were able to sit down, look our fill, then move to the other side and take it all in.

The frescoes in this room were done by the dream team of artists.  What I never knew was that the chapel ceiling, Michaelangelo's work, was his first ever painting.  He was, first and foremost, a sculptor.  There was a statue that he really wanted the commission for and he was told that it would be given to the man who painted the ceiling too.  They really wanted him to paint that.  So he took the job so he could sculpt the statue.

It's really amazing to sit and see the artwork.  I was quite taken by the decoration on the walls that is covered up by the famous Raphael tapestries.  They've done a faux wall hanging that alternates color and pattern but is similar on all four walls.  It is my favorite part of the whole place.  It looks like real fabric.  There is a sheen and as you move toward it, it moves in the light.  Like real fabric folds.  Gorgeous.  I would have taken a picture, but I'm sure one of those rude guards would have tackled me.

I was told that the chapel was closed intermittently because of the restoration process that took fourteen years.  I'm glad I got to see the colors vibrantly restored.  It is a stunning work of art.  It's almost too much to take in.  If this art was created for the glory of God, then they all succeeded.  It's just that impressive.

We went from the chapel to the square.  Here's where I get to say it:  Bernini was a genius.  Really.  If you look at maps or large scale pictures of St. Peter's Square, you see the arched colonades that encircle the square.  All throughout the large area, you see these columns, four deep, holding up the roof.  But in the center of the square, there is a small disc set in the stone that you can stand on.  When you look around, the columns are so perfectly lined up, it looks like a single column holding up the roof.  Visually stunning.  Almost feels like an optical illusion.

This is me standing on the disc and shooting a panorama video around half the square, showing the columns lined up perfectly.

Then I moved to the left about 10 yards and did the same thing.  You can see what it looks like (sort of) with the multiple columns shadowed and filling the voids.

I know my crummy little videos don't do the effect justice.  I just wish I could convey how cool it is.  Plus, it was done so long ago... and it's perfect, absolutely perfecto.

We hopped aboard one of the 'jump on, jump off' tour buses.  At this point, I think you'll agree that we've walked our feet off.  We wanted to see some sights that were a little further out, so we climbed aboard and rode uptown.

We got off the Rome Open Tour at Piazza Barberini and went to Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini to see the Capuchin Crypt.  The story goes that when the monks were being forced out of their monastery, they refused to leave behind the bones of their brother monks.  One of them was in the process of being canonized, and his bones would become holy relics.  But they couldn't tell which set of bones was his, so they insisted on bringing them all.  When they got to their new home and began to create graves, they quickly ran out of room.  So, some forward thinking Capuchin monk suggested making an artistic display out of the bones.

Under and beside the church is a small hallway with separate vestibules, each of which houses a display that includes some full skeletons dressed in monk's robes, and bits and pieces of skeletons nailed up all over the walls and ceiling in shapes, displays and artistic renderings.  Imagine if you will, a cherub made up of a human skull with scapula layered into 'wings' behind the head.  It's just gruesome.  They don't allow photography, but the wikipedia page has some good photos to see just what I'm talking about.  If you are dragging a teenager through Rome, this is one stop you can't miss.

Then we went to the Italian Resistance Museum on Via Tasso.  This museum comprises a couple floors in an apartment house that was once used as a prison for captured men.  Several of the 'cells' which were converted rooms in the house, have carved inscriptions that prisoners left behind as messages.  There is a collection of ephemera which includes a lot of Nazi documentation.  The persecution of the Jews and deportation of tens of thousands of Italians is documented.  It's a low budget place.  All the signage is in Italian so take a native speaker if you plan to go.

Resistance fighters placed a IED at a corner known to be frequented by Nazi troops marching by.  They detonated the explosive and 31 Nazi soldiers were killed.  Hitler called for retaliation and demanded that 310 Italians be killed as a show of force.  The troops emptied out the prison in this house, rounded up all the known suspects but could only come up with 150 men.  When they asked if this might be enough, Hitler went nuts.  He demanded 310 men be rounded up and killed.  the Nazis started knocking on doors and dragging men out into the streets until they had 310.  They were transported up to a cave and shot.  The Ardeatine Massacre site is a national park and a cemetery to the fallen.

That evening, we went across town to the Via Rasella and the site of the resistance attack against the Nazi soldiers.  The buildings are still intact and show the bullet holes from that time.  They've never been patched or painted, but are preserved in memory of the Italian fallen.

We ate dinner that night across the street from this site.  The Hostaria Romana was a delightful restaurant.  The food and wine were superlative.  And, of course, the company was stellar.

--  Sandee Wagner

Rome Day Three

The first thing we did was head out to the Trevi Fountain.  We wanted to be there early to miss most of the crowds.  This site was popularized by the film Three Coins in the Fountain.  Legend has it that if you throw coins into the fountain (over your shoulder, back to the water) then you will be guaranteed to return to Rome.

We didn't want to screw up that karma so we tossed the coins over our shoulders for luck.

We got there early enough to see the armed guards watching as the coins from the previous day were cleaned out with a giant shopvac.  Turns out, they collect approximately 3,000 Euros a day.  This money goes to subsidize a supermarket for the needy.  When you toss coins in, you're helping the less fortunate.  It's a beautiful fountain, and a win-win for the tourists.


Since we got such an early start, we walked toward the Tiber River.

The view of Saint Peter's Basilica was tremendous.  It was a little hazy, but still a lovely view.  Rome is lovely with its twisting alleys and streets, cobbled paths and walkways, and winding roads.  We strolled through the tiny streets meandering our way down to the Coliseum.  The  Flavian Amphitheater was also called 'colosseum' because of the colossus statue of Flavius that used to stand outside it.

I could devote a whole blog to the Coliseum.  It's one of the greatest architectural wonders of the world.  I tried to imagine what it looked like all clad in shining marble before it was stripped off by the Christians to gild their churches.

In its heyday, this venue housed gladiator games and competitions.  There were beastieries below
the floor of the stadium with mechanical trap doors and gates to allow the handlers to move them from their cages into the theater.




There were several layers of seating.  The ground floor was reserved for the senators, rulers and their guests.

Lower ranking men climbed a rank of steps up to the next levels.

I'm told that merchants and freed men had the next level.  Then slaves, and on the top rank, women were allowed to watch.

It figures that I'd have to schlep up all those sets of stairs.

I don't know how anyone could fail to be impressed by the sheer size and structure of this amphitheater.



We climbed up a mess of stairs and from the top, you can see into the lower sections where the animals were housed, and the slaves pushed the wheels to raise and lower the doors.

The conjecture is that there was a wooden floor, covered with sand, that the gladiators fought on.  At some point in time, they built a half stage out of wood over part of the Coliseum and they've left that there as a partial example of what the floor might have been like.

You can only walk in, and on, some of the sections.  Restoration is ongoing, and I imagine it will always be so at the Coliseum.  Romans are devoted to preserving this symbol and part of their historical heritage.

From the Coliseum, we strolled past the Roman Forum and saw the ruins of the Gladiator School and Barracks.  From there we climbed the Palantine Hill to see the birthplace of Rome and the scenic vistas.  Throughout Rome, you see images of what it must have looked like, but on the Palantine, it's laid out for you as far as the eye can see.  The site was undergoing renovations so we couldn't get to the side with a view of the Circus Maximus, but I don't feel ripped off.  I think it would take a month to actually see all the sites in Rome.

For dinner, we ate at the Taverna dei Fori Imperiali.  It was lovely.  We shared our pastas and main courses and it doesn't matter what Spano says, I won that round.  I had raviolis in pesto sauce that were to die for, and my veal course was magical.

--  Sandee Wagner

Rome Day Two

We woke early and got started on our first full day in Rome.  We had coffee at the Sant Eustachio il Cafe, which Spano thinks is Rome's best coffee.  I'm a tea drinker, so I didn't get a vote.  We heard the legend of Sant Eustachio who, as an early Christian, refused to make a sacrifice to a pagan god and was martyred for his faith.  The church has a stag's head with a cross coming out of it.

We also went by the church at Santa Maria sopra Minerva where a very famous statue of the early Christ by Michelangelo is on display.  I'm especially entertained by the added 'clothing' that was welded on later when sensibilities against nudity reared their ugly heads.  DH was especially impressed by how healthy Christ looks in this statue.  We see a lot of crucified saviors carved in marble, and he's not at his best in those works of art.  In this iteration of Christ the Redeemer, he looks strong and fit.  The name of the church literally means 'Saint Mary over Minerva', which signifies the fact that the church was "built on the foundations of a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, but erroneously ascribed to the Greco-Roman goddess Minerva."  This began a realization that lots of Christian churches were built on the foundations of pagan shrines.  And lots of glamorous buildings used to be cardinal's homes.

Just a block or so from this church, we saw the remains of a Roman bath that had been built into the block of homes surrounding it.  If you look closely, you can see the barrel shape of the curved brick wall.  It wraps back behind these two houses.  Amazing.  Part of the building is over two thousand years old!

We marveled at the old bath, then continued on down to the Tiber River.  There is an island in the middle of the river called Tiber Island.  Legend has it that the island formed over the body of a tyrant who was thrown in the river by an angry mob.

For years, only outcasts and plague ridden sick people were associated with the island.  Then during an outbreak, a Sybil predicted that Rome could not be safe from illness until a temple was built to Aesculapius, the god of healing.  The folks who were charged with siting the edifice loaded a statue and a snake into a boat and sailed down the river.  Apparently, that's what you took when you were looking for real estate to build a temple on.  The snake crawled up around the mast and when they sailed past the island, it jumped in the river and swam to the island.  The modern medical symbol of a caduceus is based on this legend.

Tiber Island is shaped like a boat and has a 'mast' built in the center to keep that visual.  It is much beloved by Romans and is kind of a park now.  Attaching it to the city is the only remaining Roman bridge still in use.  Too bad my photo shows the 'other' bridge, not the antique one.  It's on the right.

We saw the Theatre of Marcellus which could originally hold 11,000 Romans.  It's an amazing feat of engineering.  From there we went down to a modest looking church called San Nicola in Carcere for a peek at their catacombs.  It's an archeological dig in progress.  The church is said to be built on the prison where St. Nicholas was held prisoner.  I'm not sure how true it is, but it was neat to see the Roman ruins beneath the church and see the actual columns built into the stonework of the outside.

Next we went to see the Temple of Hercules Victor.  It is undergoing renovations, like much of Rome, and we could only look at the outsides.  There was also a Temple of Portunus.  The two together are stand on the Forum Boarium, which was the most important port in Rome, and a commercial center in its heyday.

We then went to Sant Ignazio.  This is a big, BIG church.  Couldn't fit it all into one photo.  What is most impressive about this church is the painted dome inside.  I can't begin to tell you how glorious this ceiling is.  The colors are vibrant and it has shiny gold leaf and tremendous amounts of carved plaster detailing.  To see it in person was a gift.  I was reminded that the people of Rome treat this like a neighborhood church and attend every Sunday mass.  I think my neck would be strained from constantly looking up.  You'd think by this time in my meanderings around Rome, I would have become inured to the fine quality of the church architecture and art.  But I was still goggle eyed with each sight of beauty.

 When Robert Spano was a child, he ran through the streets of Rome and played.  Whenever he asked his grandma who built something, she always answered, "Hadrian".  As an adult, he realized that she was just putting him off, but when he was eight, he believed her.  As we approached the Piazza de Pietra and saw the outside of the Temple of Hadrian, I asked him if Hadrian actually built it.  No.  He didn't.  Apparently, just the wall.  The Temple of Hadrian has one wall fully standing that is incorporated into the Italian Stock Exchange.  It's pretty impressive.

It took me three shots to get the whole facade of this building in my camera's lens.  It's a big place.  You can see the modern windows onto the piazza.  The front of the stock exchange building is around the other side.

From there we went to a small, early Christian church called San Giorgio al Velabro which is unique because it wasn't messed with at all.  When the Christians were building churches, they went to the old pagan shrines and took the marble cladding off the walls and used it to floor their churches.  Then in the Baroque period, they hired artists and sculptors to decorate the churches into their current state of over the top-ness.  This little church was not 'baroqued'.  It's quite austere and plain.  Still had a marble floor stolen from a pagan shrine, but there you go.

Built right into the side of this church was the Arcus Argentariorum.  Literally, the arch of the money changers.

After all the wildly ornate churches, it was kind of restful and peaceful to see this little stone church in its marvelous simplicity.  We were able to walk into and take pictures of most churches in Rome.  Never had to pay an entry fee.  We dropped coins into their offertory boxes and avoided them when masses were being said.  Most had explanatory plaques mounted and were well taken cared for.

From there, we went to the Arch of Janus and to the Cloaca Maxima.  What is interesting to me is that all these old structures are just built into the newer habitations and buildings.

See that little dog behind the gate?  His 'yard' is the Cloaca Maxima.  He's standing in a two thousand year old sewer pipe.  Pretty amazing place, Rome.

Oh yeah, two thousand years ago the Romans built a building to house their Water Department.  Guess what's in that building today, two thousand years later?  That's right, the Water Department.

We walked by Santa Maria in Cosmedin, but it was Sunday morning and mass was going on, so we only saw it from the outside.  Besides by that time, 'you've seen one church...'  From there we went to the Bocca della Verita.  This was made famous by the movie Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.  It was also popularized by other films in Japan.  People (and by people, I mean people besides me and the Roberts) stood in line to have their chance to stick their hand in the mouth of this big disk.  I looked in, saw it and left.

Then we went to what the Romans laughingly call 'the typewriter'.  It sounds way cooler in Italian.  The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emmanuel II, also called the Altare della Patria (altar of the motherland) is a giant centerpiece of Roman history.  Several stunning sculptures crown it's columns and they opened up an elevator to the roof so you have panoramic views of the city.  Here, the Italians have their tomb of the unknown soldier honoring their World War I dead.

Also, each sculpture and artwork atop the building has its own story.

It's said that whenever a battle victor returned to Rome, he was honored by being carried in a chariot drawn by four horses through the triumphal arches.  Winged Victoria is displayed atop this building on both sides.

She is in a chariot drawn by four horses.  This quadriga was considered the chariot of the gods.  I hope that song is stuck in your brain now.  It was ringing in my ears whenever I looked at these statues.  This monument was started in 1911 and completed in 1935.

Just recently, they completed an elevator to the top that allows tourists a panoramic view of Rome.  It is not to be missed.

They pack you into the tiny elevator and take you up top.  From there, you are looking out past the ornate fretwork that lines the top of the building.  I wish it had been clearer the day we made the climb to the top.  It was a little overcast, but still a worthwhile hike.

You can see Rome laid out around you, and some of the ruins are best seen from above.

We climbed down and continued on to the Palazzo Venezia, which was a former papal residence.  Then off to the Piazza del Campidoglio to see the statue of Marcus Aurelius.  The whole piazza and surrounding buildings were designed by Michaelangelo and retain all their beauty and symmetry.

We saw Trajan's Column and if we'd only had a set of field glasses, we could have seen both the victories over the Dacians from start to finish.  The bas relief on the column is a long ribbon that shows the whole history.  The frieze wraps around the column and is also reproduced in a museum where you can see plaster casts of the whole depiction without binoculars.  We darted into a church on that square.  Is it bad that I don't even remember the name of the church?  'You've seen one church...'

That evening we spent an hour and a half listening to an organ concert at Sant Antonio dei Portoghesi.  This church, which we lovingly call "just a little neighborhood church", has one of the most famous pipe organs worldwide.  Musicians come from all over to play on this church's organ. We listened to a Russian named Daniel Zaretsky play some amazing music.  I don't think I'll ever be a fan of organ music, or of sitting on wooden church pews for long.  After the concert, I took this picture of the pipes.  Just a little neighborhood church.  Nothing special.

We ate dinner at Pizzeria da Baffetto.  We shared three pizzas and enjoyed the closeness of the family style restaurant.  Word of warning, don't go here alone.  They don't like to take up tables with singletons.  If you're alone, befriend someone in line and eat with them.

On the way back to the flat, we stopped at one of the seven famous 'talking statues' of Pasquino the tailor.  The story is that when Romans were angry about an issue and wanted to speak out anonymously, they attached their arguments to this statue, who spoke for them.  Legend has it that the original tailor, Pasquino, had the shop next to the Hellenistic statue and he counted the Pope as one of his customers.  Anything said there, made it to the pope's ears.  It's a fun tradition that still goes on today.

You can see a board where the rants are posted now.  I don't know when they quit sticking them to the statue, but eventually even the Romans quit defacing the statuary.

Rumor has it that several of the statues 'argued' over the same topic and the Romans were entertained with the witty postings one statue 'said' to another.

--  Sandee Wagner

Rome Day One

Our Roman Holiday started with us leaving Dubai at 9:10 am.  It was a six and a half hour flight, but since we were 'gaining time', we landed at 12:35.  We were met at the airport by Robert Spano and professional driver Sergio Provenzano.  Sergio loaded us into his van and transported us all to our rented apartment downtown.

We got there at about 2:00 to find that Robert had prepared an Italian feast for us.  We dined on homemade spaghetti carbonara, fresh prosciutto and several cheeses.  We downed a glass of wine and began our tour.

We stayed on the Via Della Stelleta in a second floor, walk-up three bedroom, two bath apartment.  By Rome standards, it was HUGE.  There was a small grocery, bakery, wine store and cheese shop on the block.  Along with close proximity to restaurants, shopping and all the sites, I have to say, the apartment was a perfect resting place between our sightseeing.

We took a stroll down Via Ripetta to see the Ara Pacis, Caesar Augustus' Altar of Peace.  On the way we stopped in at two different churches and the Tomb of Augustus in the Piazza Augusto Imperatore.  On the way, we stopped to view some of Benito Mussolini's tacky architecture.  Compared to Rome's other impressive edifices, these are just gruesome.

The overarching theme is happy workers, working hard.  All the bas reliefs show crops being sown, animals being tended, mothers teaching children and men at work.  It is so completely alien to the surrounding architecture.  Makes me glad that Fascism was defeated.

We took a walk through the crowds along the Via Del Corso to the Piazza Del Popolo to see the church that was constructed over Nero's tomb.  In Santa Maria Del Popolo, we saw paintings by Caravaggio (the crucifixion of Peter and the conversion of St Paul) alongside several other period frescoes.

We climbed the stairs from the piazza up to the Gianicolo Hill for a scenic overview of Rome.

There's a palazzo up there that was once owned by the Medici family that is now a very swanky restaurant.  The grounds of the estate are now a public park that is just beautiful.

Also up on this hill are several universities, academies and/or consulates.  In fact, the Spanish building there was one of the reasons that the Spanish Steps were created.  Reputed to be the widest staircase in Europe, these steps link the Piazza de Spagna at the base with the church of the Santissima Trinita dei Monti at the top.

At the base of these steps is a fountain called the Barcaccia Fountain.  It's a fountain that looks like a ship.  Legend has it that when the River Tiber flooded once (and it flooded a LOT) a ship was left foundered right there.  So, the Romans being a funny lot decided to build yet another fountain, this time of a wrecked ship.

The Spanish steps featured in some popular films, so as a result, the area is rife with tourists who are dropped off by the busload.  On an interesting side note, Rome is full of piazzas with fountains and very few of them have any benches or seating.  So folks just sit on the steps of whatever building is around.  Or in this case, on the Spanish Steps themselves.  It was all I could do to keep from using their heads as handrails as I walked down the steps.

From there we walked down the Via Condotti, which Spano assured me was Rome's "street for high maintenance women".  A shopping district.  We strode down the Via Della Croce to the Gambero Cafe where we had a glass of wine and watched the strollers pass us by.

From there we went down the block to the Otello alla Concordia where we celebrated our first night in Rome, and ostensibly the reason for our trip, our thirty third wedding anniversary.

We decided to each order a pasta and a main dish and to share all the food.  We had Pasta Cacio & Pepe, Carbonara Amatriciana, Fried Brains with Zucchini, Veal Saltimbocca and Chicken Milanese.  It was a lovely meal.  I tried everything but the brains.  I ate the fried zucchini.

After that wonderful dinner, we took a leisurely stroll back down the cobbled streets to the Via Della Stelleta and our apartment home for the week.  On the way back, we stopped in Piazza Navona which is built atop Domitian's Stadium to admire the fountain by night.  By the time we got to Tre Scalini's, we managed to consume a wonderful Tartuffo, which is like a frozen chocolate bomb.  Delicioso!!

--  Sandee Wagner

New Toy!

Each Friday, we start our weekend with some exercise.  Today, we went to the beach so DH could paddle in his Fenn Swordfish.  I generally sit on the beach, soak up some sun, enjoy the waves crashing and listen to an audio book while he paddles.  Today was no different.

DH has been diligent about paddling.  He used the club loaner boat for the first six months, then we bought him the new boat for Christmas.  When DH went into the club to rinse off his Swordfish and put it in the racks, he saw a notice for a used boat for sale.  It was the entry level trainer, a couple years old, and very inexpensive.

We chatted about it, called the seller and made the deal.  There are a couple of nicks and dings that need to be filled and sanded, but it's seaworthy.  Best of all, we can now go paddling together!

Here's my sweet ride.  I can't wait to try it out.  I'm sure it will be a tough learning curve.  It took DH weeks to get where he could paddle a while before tipping over.  I've heard that women have 'lower centers of gravity' but I'm sure I'll be getting wet.  Regardless, the price was right and now we can share this great exercise.

The surf ski will be racked in the same club space as DH's Swordfish.  It's a little lower in the grid, but still requires a ladder to get up and down.  I'm not sure I'll be able to rack it on my own.  It takes upper body strength AND balance.  When I took this picture, my back was against the wall  of the enclosure.  You have to back the boat down without whacking your neighboring boats or the wall.  All while standing on a ladder. Luckily DH has had some experience since his in on the top row.

When we go out paddling for the first time, I'll take some pictures and post them.  For now, we are off to Rome for a five day vacation.

--  Sandee Wagner