ITALY!!!

April 15th-26th

ITALY

First...

NAPLES 

POMPEII

SORRENTO

Fabulous food - ravioli, everywhere bread

Positano and the Amalfi Coast.  We got here by mistake.  Took a wrong turn on our way to Pompeii and Vesuvius.  Best wrong turn we ever took.  Cliff-side driving on narrow roads, with unbelievable views.  Driving our little Fiat car, with wide wheel base, we felt like race car drivers, going in slow motion through hair-pin turns.  Motorcycles buzzed around us like mosquitos, so that is what we called them.  Driving past parked cars only to pass oncoming cars, trucks, and even full size tourist buses bordered between nearly impossible and just plain scary.  Go to YOUtube Positano or Amalfi Coast to get some video adventure.

Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius.  Fascinating.  People caught in the act of living when the volcano blew.  Body impression casts from cavities in the lava show how the people died.  Aside:  BYU has recently used a new light-wave technique to read formerly unreadable document ashes from jars in Pompeii.  Amazing what they have found.

Fancy dessert following an expensive dinner.  Where's the chocolate cake?  The Gelatto? 

 

Our Sorrento Hotel view - across the bay from Vesuvius and Naples.  Vesuvius is just to the left, out of the picture.  But we literally could see this view from bed as we awoke the 1st morning near Naples.  This hotel and view was so spectacular we stayed 5 nights here.  (Besides, Carolyn had caught my cold and was in need of a rest).

ROME

Roma (Italian spelling) - Trevi Fountain.  Rome seems to have a fountain and a statue with naked people at every intersection.

Rome:   Il Vittoriano Monument.  A conquering hero obscures this view.  This monument wiped out a whole section of Rome's archealogical history 140 years ago when it was built.  But is sure is impressive.

The Vatican - St. Peters Square.  It was Easter time, so we couldn't get in for an audience with its noted occupant.  He has a nice museum and a church with a painted ceiling that was pretty impressive though.

Colosseum - Rome.  Truly iconic and unbelieveable.  Standing since 70 AD.

Interior - Colosseum.  The lions, tigers and bears were not having lunch with the gladiators. So, for entertainment we played our own games in the stands - sudokus.  

Traditional Lasagna, NOT "like-ah yor Granma usted to make-ah".

Small cars.  Our Fiat was gigantic in comparison.  We had 12 inches more width and 15 inches more length.  

Spanish Steps - Rome.  

Our hotel room was nearby in the historic sector.  Walking distance to every site in Rome.  Small room, shared bath.  

Every world-class store was on the nearby street...Giucci, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Swarovski, Prada.  Lucky we have no space for souvenirs.

We attended Church in Rome on Easter Sunday.  After sacrament meeting, a mission office couple, Elder and Sister B from Seattle, invited us to dinner.  To our surprise, two other guests also came to dinner -- The new Project Director for building the Rome Temple, and his wife.  Fascinating afternoon.  Hanno and Julie L., of Austria, talked about their experience building both German temples, The Hague temple, Preston, Kiev, Sweden and several more.  His discussion was faith-promoting, funny, dramatic, and insightful.  What a treat.

Never try to get out of Rome, Italy on Easter Sunday.  Every car, bus, train and bicycle is booked solid.  So are hotels...and we had already checked out of ours.  Fortunately something opened up across town for one night only.   

Even on Monday we could not get out of the country, so we settled for a bullet train to Florence.  Stroke of genius! 

FLORENCE

Renaissance City of the 15th century.  Birthplace of Michelangelo.

While planning our next move we took time to wash up so we could look our best for DAVID! 

He may be 17' tall and a bit stone-faced, but he is camera shy.  No photos allowed.  (Who needs photos of David when I have Lane in the flesh!!!)

The Ponte Vecchio Bridge, built in 1345 was the only town bridge to escape destruction during WWII.

Everywhere, we could behold carved masterpieces.  Italian gelato.  Tastes as good as it looks. 

Carolyn poses all statuesque-like (or gargoyle-like) in front of the Duomo, or cathedral set in the heart of Florence.  

In total we spent 12 days in Italy.  Leaving Florence, it took 3 more trains to get us to Austria.  (Italian rental cars are not permitted to cross borders, so we surrendered our car in Rome.)

What a breathtaking experience!  So much to see.  We missed Pisa and Venice and ...and...and...what to do?  

Love to you all,

Lane and Carolyn