The Old World Part VIII

The next stop was the port of Sorrento. We had originally planned to visit Pompeii. It would have been great to visit the ruins of that ancient Roman city but I had read that it was in a state of decay due to the tourists that thronged it's streets on a daily basis. As a conscientious American, I decided to visit the Isle of Capri instead. When we went to get our tickets, we had been closed out of the tours to Capri. So, we decided to slum it and visit Sorrento instead. The hydrofoil we had planned to take to Capri was cancelled due to rough water so that worked well. I heard Pompeii was great but at least I can sleep at night.

I walked out onto our private deck when we dropped anchor at Sorrento. The shore line was a cliff that was riddled with caves. I am sure that most of them were man made but it looked cool from the ship. The city ran right up to the edge. It looked cool. We decided to go ashore and just wander around to see the sites. It proved to be a great decision.

Sorrento is a town with the shopping experience of a life time. There is alley after alley of outside shops that front for inside merchants. It is what you would expect to see in an third world country. America has truly lost something when it went with the department store idea. There is so much more freedom when you have a merchant on every corner selling a variation on the same thing. For those who like to haggle, it is a shoppers paradise.

The best part was the blue sky and lovely views of the water. As we pulled away when the day was done. the sunset over the Mediterranean was amazing. It sank into the water as we went past the Isle of Capri. It was the perfect ending to a lovely day.

Icool

Cobb

Where Is My Super Suit?

I have tried so hard to not comment on the election. It wasn't until McCain picked Sarah Palin that I finally settled in on someone to vote for. Who could not love the home grown woman, mother and Conservative? Only the jaded, I hate anything that stands for freedom and success crowd could fail to see that she is someone that we can trust. But enough about the fiction writer's that parade as journalists. I really want to talk about a Disney movie that puts the entire election into perspective; Pixar's The Incredibles.

For the few Americans that have not seen The Incredibles, it is about super heroes that are forced to go under ground because the very people that they saved sued them for damages. Instead of thanking them for saving their lives, they took them to court to extort money for any damages that occurred while their very existence was being dragged from the jaws of death. Talk about thanking someone by kicking in their teeth. Of course suing people because they have and you have not has become the American way. It also reeks of ability envy, (substitute class for ability). Those who have being forced to compensate those who haven't simply because they have the means. It doesn't matter that their existence is dependent on the super heroes ability. I deserve compensation for my affliction. Fortunately the super heroes refuse to give up on the very people that despise them.

We end up with the super heroes triumphing in the end. The villain has no super ability but is a mechanical genius that can create gadgets that mimic super hero ability. He creates a machine that wreaks havoc and only he can control it but like Frankenstein, it has ideas of its own. It gets out of control and the super heroes come to the rescue. In one of the scenes, a hero named Frozone who can freeze water, is trying to get into the action to defeat the machine. He is in his high rise apartment and sees the giant robot roll by. He looks in the closet for his costume and it is not there. He calls out to his wife, "Honey, where is my super suit?" She answers, "What?" He asks again, "Where's my super suit?" She replies, "Why do you need to know?" He says, "Where is my super suit woman?" She replies that they have had a dinner party planned for the last two months and he is not going anywhere. Just like a liberal president's wife, I mean a super heroes wife to let the world go to hell so she can impress her friends. Especially since it is now on the tax payers dime.

My middle daughter has made Frezone's question the phrase of the day. If we are forced to endure 4 years of descent into socialism with a firm drop into communism, I am sure that Osam, I mean Obama will one day ask Michelle, "Where is my super suit?" After all a savior would not be a true messiah without the proper wardrobe.

Icool

Cobb

Old World Part VII

After our stop for lunch, we drove around to see a few of the sites. It was fun but I would have liked to stop and get a few photos instead of trying to get them through the window of the bus. It makes for poor pictures but I guess that is what photo shop is for. We arrived at the street that leads to the Vatican and the bus got quiet. This was the reason many in our group had taken the tour. For the Catholics in our group, this was the Mother Land. For us protestants, it was the place where the Pope lived.

The square in front of the Vatican was huge. It is surrounded by two sets of massive columns, like arms reaching out to the crowd. Our tour guide told us when we left Italy and entered the Vatican State. It was cool to be able to just walk over a line in the pavement and be in another sovereign nation. The camera worked overtime as we walked up to the entrance. It was lunchtime so the lines were not long (our guide knew the best times to hit all of the attractions) so we got in quickly. At the entrance we saw the Swiss Guard which are the official Vatican military. They were ornately dressed and carried pikes. Not very effective but sure looked cool.

Inside the Vatican is hard to explain. For those who have seen the buildings in Washington DC, they are beautiful and ornate but they lack the flair and intensity of the Vatican. Every possible spot is covered with a statue, mosaic, column, sconce, or some sort of decorative covering. Most of them are from famous artists or gifts from Kings, Presidents, or famous persons.Unfortunately, it was poorly lighted so many of the pictures came out black (again thanks for photo shop) but I managed to salvage them. The Vatican was a wonderful experience but somehow, I felt of the places we had seem, the Colosseum was more majestic and held a bigger attraction. Maybe it was the lighting.

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Cobb

Old World Part VI

The next stop in Rome was the Trevi Fountain. The few things I knew about Trevi Fountain came from watching television or hearing about movies from people. I know that the Osmonds, during one of their Saturday morning cartoon episodes went to the fountains and somehow discovered a rare coin. I have also heard about the movies Three Coins in the Fountain with Audrey Hepburn. My expectations were a grand but somewhat run down fountain. What I saw was something grand and beautiful. It helps that I had a little event planned at the fountains.

My wife and I celebrated 20 years together this year and when we got engaged, she chose a rather small, non-descript engagement ring. For the trip, I had purchased something more fitting had planned to surprise her at the fountain. After she threw her coin (it was actually a token from the ship's casino) in the fountains, I held out a small velvet box and handed it to her as she turned around. I never asked her what she wished for but after her response, it doesn't really matter.

We stood there a while longer and admired the beauty of the sculpture and decided to do a little shopping. We bought some Euros at a big premium and bought a few things for the kids. After the shopping, we went to a small gelato shop and had a cup of that delicious treat. Gelato is like a cross between ice cream and pudding. It is velvety smooth and creamy. Taking one last glimpse of the fountain, we headed for the bus and onto a lunch at a 4 Star Italian Hotel. It was delicious and of course served with plenty of wine. After that it was off to the last stop, the Vatican.

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Cobb

The Old World Part V

The next stop on our tour of Rome was the Colosseum. There is nothing to prepare you for this ruin. All of the pictures and videos do not even compare to an in person visit to this relic from ancient Rome. Our bus parked about a quarter mile away and we walked up to the swell of tourist that were all waiting to see the famed site of Christian vs lion, Gladiator vs. Gladiator. It was a mixture of circus, freak show and flea market all wrapped into the ultimate spectator event; the once in a life time visit to the Roman Colosseum.

Our tour guide guided us to through the lines and led us to the elevator that took us to the second floor of the Colosseum. Yes there is a great glass elevator in that takes the tourists up to the spectator level. As we walked around soaking in the atmosphere, you could almost feel the excitement that was once the center of social life for the Roman citizen. In the picture below, you can see the ruins of what was the maze beneath the Colosseum floor. It is where the animals were kept before being released. The far left of the picture shows what the floor must have looked like. It was wood covered with sand. Sand soaked up the blood and could be easily removed and replaced.

The Colosseum has gone through a major drought of disrepair. The vandals that sacked Rome took anything of value from the arena. What wasn't taken by the conquerors was used by the Roman citizens as building material for any project that came up. An earthquake took down one side of the nose bleed seats. What you have is a structure that was built 2000 years ago that still stands today. Most of the fancy architecture has been removed or destroyed but the basic building blocks have endured for 20 centuries. That is quite the accomplishment for a culture that never heard of a crane or bulldozer. Of course, the Egyptians always one upped everyone else. Of course Rome will be continued.

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Cobb

The Old World Part IV

As the ship pulled away from the dock in Monte Carlo, there was a huge rush of excitement. We were starting on our voyage around a central segment in Western Civilization. This was the land that formed the heart of the Roman empire, was known for its excesses and for being the authority that ordered the death of Christ and became linked forever with birth of Christianity. Our first stop on the cruise was the very heart of it all, Roma.


We scheduled an excursion in Rome because it was easier having a guide show us the points of interest than walking aimlessly up and down the streets trying to find a fountain or statue. It was very pricey but worth every penny of it. We left the dock in a bus and after an hour ride, entered the gates of Rome. Yes, there is still an actual brick wall that goes around the city. The bus was weaving around the small European cars and motorcycles were buzzing around bus like a flock of vampire mosquitoes. Traffic in Rome was as intense as I have ever seen it and this was early Sunday morning. I could not imagine rush hour.

Our first stop was the ancient Christian catacombs. There are several scattered around Rome but this is the biggest and oldest. Our guide through the 11 miles of under ground burial chambers was from Germany. He made the trip through the claustrophobic tunnels seem more of a museum visit than a walk through a grave yard. Most of the bodies were removed during the numerous invasions of Rome by the Goths and other barbarians. They were looking for treasure and settled for selling Holy relics, the bones. We were not allowed to take pictures once inside the chambers so I will have to settle for the memories of walking hunched through about 1/4 mile of hand carved tunnel, amazed that this was done without power tools.

Rome is too much for just one entry so I will continue with Part IV.

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Cobb

The Old World Part III

Our next stop was Monaco, which is really just the city of Monte Carlo. It is a small city on the Mediterranean Sea that climbs up the hills and ends in the bare rock of the foothills. What is remarkable is the wealth that exudes from every possible spot in the town. From the exclusive stores (think Rodeo Drive), to the Bentley taxi cabs, to the mega yachts with helicopter pads on the decks, this is one exclusive town. The traffic was also insane. It made Detroit rush hour look like a Sunday picnic.

We stayed at a hotel overlooking the sea. The hotel is known for the hair pin curve from the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. Our cruise ship pulled into harbor while we were eating dinner. It was cool watching something that large pulling gracefully up to a dock. Since we had been up for 36 hours, we went to bed instead of exploring the city. I know that we missed a golden opportunity to see some of the glamour but it made more sense to be rested that push it and risk being under the weather for the week.

The next day, we went exploring the city. The weather was perfect. We strolled down a palm tree lined, marble side walk next to the water. I was told that we may see some topless strollers but it was either too early or too late. Since it was a prefect day for a stroll, we walked to the Grand Casino, site of a few Bond movies and up to the castle where Princess Grace lived. The view from the castle provided a panoramic of the city with the multiple marinas, high rises, and bustling streets. From there we went back to the hotel and boarded the bus for the cruise ship. With a glass of champagne, we toasted the city and began our round the boot cruise of Italy.

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Cobb

The Old World Part II

As we left the terminal in Amsterdam for our flight to Nice France, we were herded onto a bus and driven to a plane waiting on the tarmac. Engraved in my memory is the last two couples to get on the bus. They were European with the men wearing sports jackets and looking very continental. They spoke in English and laughed and joked the during the short trip. The most striking thing was the assault on my nose of the odor of unwashed bodies. The men were well dressed but they smelled. Welcome to Europe.

The flight to Nice was short and before I knew it we had landed on the French Riviera. I saw the Mediterranean for the first time and the palm trees lining the access road next to the airport. As we went to collect our luggage, we discovered that two of our bags had managed to have been culled from the herd. So we went through the torture of trying to have our bags located in a foreign country. At least the KLM attendant spoke English and managed to trace our bags back to Amsterdam. We were assured that they would catch up with us at the hotel in Monte Carlo. We left the airport without going through customs and boarded the bus for the hotel.

The bus ride was interesting. The tour guide, for lack of a better definition, told us about all of the things we passed. What I saw was a crowded road with tolls about every two miles. It started raining shortly after we landed so it was much like northwest Ohio for cloud cover. The landscape looked like a colony of strip miners had invaded the area. The hill sides were all carved up with large terraces leading up to the top. It looked like a lunar landscape with red tile buildings perched on each level. For all of the bragging about France being the all that and a bag of bread, it was not very picturesque. By the time we got to Monaco, the splendor that would have been France was overshadowed by the Beverly Hills of Europe, Monte Carlo.

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Cobb

The Old World Part I

My wife and I experienced the trip of a life time in late September. We were fortunate to be able to go on a cruise around the boot of Italy. We stopped at 9 different places while in Europe starting with Amsterdam and ending in Venice (actually it was Amsterdam but I will not count that twice.) I will give my impressions of each of the places. I am seeing them from an America perspective but I am sure that they only see the US through the perspective of their media.

I will start with Amsterdam. I remember watching out the window as the plane was preparing to land. I was looking for the wind mills and saw a modern city with bill boards and busy roads. It could have passed for any American city. What was even more surprising is the amount of English I saw written on signs and advertisements. Even at the airport, there was a large number of people speaking English.

The other thing I noticed, being a flat lander myself, was how flat the area was. Northwest Ohio is known for having few hills and little elevation. Amsterdam had the same affliction. The highest thing I saw was an overpass. All in all, it was little more than a pass through point to stop and re board a plane but if the airport is any indication of the city, it would feel like any mid size American metropolis. The only difference would be the funny accents from the people that live there. Of course, that would also be any city in America.

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Cobb