Day 5 - Dec. 23rd

I haven't given any of the past days a theme but I have one for today. OVER - OVER WHELMED! From the time we left our little court yard the images just overwhelmed you. Then we made the Vatican City Museum. I could of took photos non-stop and not even came close to the great pieces of history and art. I'm posting couple of photos but if you want to see all the crazy snap shots of today. Click this link. (This is only a small portion of my photos - I will continue to add as the WIFI allows me.)

Not sure of name

Left the court yard at about 8:15 a.m following Aaron's leadership. Turn right out of the court yard and up the hill to the first corner. Turned right and went up even a deeper hill. After a long block turned right once more and went up another hill. We arrived at our bus stop. Sara had purchased on and off bus passes (which I highly recommend). After a short while we learned we were at the wrong bus stop. So we cross the street and walked behind our first monument. Down the hill to our bus stop. (When we returned for the day we learned walking straight for block and half was our court yard. No hills!) The picture to the left is the Church (sorry didn't get name) that we had to walk around. 

The bus was a double decker and we went right to the top even though it was still cold outside. Took a ton of pictures on our way to the Vatican. Again check out that link for more.

Vatican

From the bus stop we walked across a bridge up to the front of the Vatican. Waited for our tour and at 11:00 a.m. the tour took us around the Vatican to the back. I lost track how many blocks we had to walk. All I know is by the time we left the Vatian Museum Pam said her step counter was over 7,000.

#11 IL Buono, IL Bruitto E IL Cattivo
Smoked Ham, Rockett Salda, Tomino Chees,
and Truffle Oil

Aaron had heard about this sandwich shop that sold sandwiches named after movies. Another Mile and half later we sat down for lunch.  (See photo). Along the way I tried to buy a hat. They told me 45.00 I said 15.00 got him down to 25.00 so we walked. 

Rigatoni alla amatriciana
Rigatoni with sheep cheese, tomato sauce & bacon

After returning to the bed and breakfast (apartment). We took about a 30 minute break then off for supper. Aaron and Sara said they had picked so it was Pam and my turn. Has we walked outside the court yard Pam said right. We walked about two blocks crossing the road. Came across a small restaurant where their sales person was outside recruiting. After checking out the menu board we decided to go inside. The gentlemen from outside went in and seated us. We both order still water which came in a fancy bottle. Aaron got a beer and Sara her wine. Pam and I stuck with the water. The meal turned out to be the best of the trip so far. After the meal we returned home well Pam and I did. Aaron and Sara headed out for some Gelato.

What I learned while being in Italy

If your planning a trip to Rome and plan on driving let me give you a few pieces of advice.

1. Don't do it! I've driven the road from Dallas to San Antonio. I've even driven in New York City. Nothing compares and I mean nothing.



Traffic - Everywhere 

2. If your not going to listen to my first piece of advice then here's another. If you have to get behind the wheel while in Rome - Go and I mean just go! Don't wait for other cars to let you in - just force your way in. Keep your arms in because someone on a motor scooter will soon be passing you by. Don't assume that because your by the curb that it won't happen either.

There are a ton of narrow roads running through Rome. Most of them have small stores on the bottom floor with apartments on top. Look for a super mart not just a mini mart. The mini marts are more expense and as the title states, not a lot to choose from. You can also find a place to eat on almost every block. 

Below find just a very few photos of our day in the Vatican

Day 4 – Italy here we come! Dec. 22nd

Let me start by wishing my daughter Jessica a Happy Birthday. She stayed behind to take care of the dogs and the house.

 Well we were up again early. This time 5:30 a.m. We needed to take the rental car back to the airport and this included refueling it. To save time Aaron routed us through several villages. For those familiar with Germany you know what that meant. The roads, they were windy and I mean windy. Then consider it was dark and the speed – well it was an adventure. Not for Pam who was sick by the time she arrived at the airport.

Sara drove their car to leave at the airport with Pam. Aaron and I dropped off the rental car. Now you might think that the drop off would be close to the airport but no. We were over a mile from the airport in the dark at some vacant lot. Aaron made a call and after a little walking we found a lady who would shuttle us to the airport. She drove a van with a 5 speed filled with smoke but at least we didn’t have to walk.

This airport is one of the smaller airports and we couldn’t check luggage until 2 hours before departure. We found a little café (yes even in the airport we had some food choices). I had a breakfast sandwich made with salami and egg. Actual was pretty good.

We then went and waited in a line to check our bags. Now it was supposed to open at 8:30 a.m. but the folks took their time and finally opened about 8:45. Bags check, time for security. Like to say this went easier than the stop at KCI with a pocket knife accidental left in a purse. But unfortunately, we (me) packed the plastic bag with shaving cream in the carry on. That required Pam to be stopped and the bag opened. But no arrest so we were able to move on.

We were now in a small area that was filling up fast with clearly not enough chairs. Boarding was to occur at 10:00 and departure at 10:30. So about 9:35 we got in line to go through the gate. At 10 no airline personnel was at the gate nor was there a plane. The sign by the gate changed at 10:25 that our departure would be at 11:10. Then about 10:45 Aaron notice on the screen they changed our gate from 5 to 4. Well we were standing in gate 5 which was the first gage on the east side of the airport. So, you would have to assume that gate 4 was on the west side. Aaron took off and we followed. At first the 75 people or so looked at us but did not move.

By the time we got to the west side (we could still see the east side) the 75+ folks started to head our way. But we had a problem. According to the signs Gate 1- 3 was on the west side and gates 4 – 7 were on the east side. So, as the crowd reached us we told them there was no gate 4. Everyone looked puzzled and we headed back to gate 5. Where we learned gate 4 and 5 were together. Mom gave her son a hard time for his leadership decisions.

Finally, at about 11:00 they opened the gate and checked us in, well kind of, we were herded into another room where we stood waiting for the plane to be ready (it just had arrived). Then if you’ve never been at a small airport. We started walking onto the air strip. We had to walk a bit to work our way around the plane to get to the other side. There were two boarding doors and we loaded from the back. Should I add that it was raining the whole time. Oh…. The adventures we are having.

The plane was packed and the 3 of them sat together while I sat across the aisle. Pam thought it was funny that I had a dad and little girl beside me. She called her little Jeffery based on Bill Cosby comedy skit. But the girl sat and watched cartoons on her dads ipad the whole way.

The photo below should tell you how the other three enjoyed the trip.

Now we traveled on a cheap flight. What do I mean about cheap flight?  No free water or peanuts. But even better they were selling raffle tickets on the plane. Ready for this one? They were also selling after shave, perfume and other cosmetics. See photo of the gentlemen walking the aisle.

While the flight wasn’t too bad the landing was rough so rough that the people aboard the plane started clapping after the plane came to a stop.

Took a while to get our bags and then we caught a shuttle to “Central City” of Rome. I thought the traffic was bad in Germany. See some of the photos.

I was actual sitting in a chair facing backwards to take pictures. The car is parked. The streets are narrow and cars were often double parked like this.

 Traffic was like this most of the way.

More traffic but look down the street how tight everything is

If we seen one we've seen hundreds of these. By the way they don't wait for light changes. They simply drive between, behind cars and keep on moving.

You will see rows and rows of these along the streets.

One flying by.

They have no alley so their trash cans are lined up on the street in front of stories. See these almost every block.

We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast. As the photos show its part an old building that appeared to once have a street run through it. Two bedroom, kitchen and unique bathroom for our 5 day say.

Our Bedroom

The Kitchen

Aaron and Sara Bedroom

 This fountain is outside our door. Now its outside but in a court yard

Everyone was hungry so we started walking down the street passing mini markets, bakery’s, bars and a variety of other stores. We finally stopped at a very small restaurant where I had my first Italian pizza.

While eating, we visited with a couple from Australia. They were on a 9-month vacation traveling around Europe and North Africa. Interesting people. Then some ice cream (I should say we got Gelato) and back to our rooms for a evening of relaxation. The TV didn’t work so we used my computer and watch Netflix. Up early Thursday and off to see Rome!  

Day Three (Wednesday - Dec.21st)

REMEMBER DAY 4 - We are off to Rome

Blue Dots indicate where we been, Aaron and Sara live near Kalserslautern which is located in the Rhineland area

Day Three

After a restless night of sleep we were up and rolling at 6:45 a.m. and out the door by 8:00 a.m. As stated earlier Sara and Aaron had purchased me (actual all of us) tickets to Miniature Wonderland.

Aaron using his GPS found his way to a garage near Wonderland. Sara using her GPS guided us to the location. This required us to cross over water and had the opportunity to see some unique buildings. See photos below:

Once we located Wonderland we still had about an hour before our tickets were good. So off we went looking for a bakery.  According to Pam’s step counter we walked about a mile and half and along the way we saw some a variety of ships. See photos below.

We first decided to stand outside a bakery that was opening in 15 minutes when I spotted another bakery and grocery store about a block away. Off we went each getting our favorite donuts and I had another Endbeer (Strawberry Milk).

We arrived at Wonderland and I took a large number of photos. But to be honest I’m including a video from YouTube. It will do much better job showing what we saw. It's not the same but the video will do a better job then my photos. I will share a few videos that show what happens when the lights go down and it's night time.

Here are couple of mine

VIDEOS are here not sure why you can't see them.

I want again to thank Aaron and Sara for the Christmas gift and suffering through a 5 hour drive up and back. For any of you who have driven from Dallas to Houston, well it was WORSE. Plus there were times we were traveling over 100 mph! But once there we spent the night in a hotel and then 2 ½ hours at Wonderland. Yes, we spent 2 ½ hours and I believe if we went back and spent another 2 ½ hours we would see even more stuff that we missed the first time. Whether you’re a modeler, train hobbyist it's just impressive to see the detail and work. I did add one photo of the command center. I don’t believe you would see this in the video.

After Wonderland Aaron put the home address in the GPS. We had a 5 ½ hour drive back. The route took us by the river, crossing a number of bridges, seeing more ships and unique homes.  Once we got a few miles from town we stopped at a rest stop for lunch. I know what you’re thinking – a rest stop. What did we order from McDonalds right? Pam did order form the Burger King but the photos below show you the salad bar, sandwich bar, and fish store. I had FishFilet Champignon and man was it good. See photo. Sara had Cordon Bleu and Aaron had a nice pasta. My understanding is that this type of rests stop is common in Germany.

The food court

FishFilet Champignon

I thought I would share the experience of riding home. Couple of times the GPS recommended we leave the main road due to traffic. That meant we were driving on old roads. Now I want you to consider that when we first entered this road the RECOMMENDED speed was 50khm. That means you could go as fast as you are willing to risk. (This is a 10 minute ride - so enjoy)

Had problems uploading so need to do some work. Unfortunately, like every blog post I'm short on time.

What I Learned about Germany

• ·      Quiet Hours – you ready for this one. The whole country of Germany has a set Quiet Hours. Starting at 8 p.m. and until 10 a.m. you cannot run a vacuum or any machine that makes too much noise. Your music cannot be turned up, etc. Then on Sunday the whole day is quiet hour. It is expected on Sunday you spend time with your family. For the most part everything closes.
• ·      Actual noticed this day one but hadn’t written about it:  There are a lot of people traveling by bicycle. You can see men and women riding their bikes to work, to shop or whatever. You can see bike racks everywhere.
•  Lori James (fellow high school student) posted that I needed to try the gummy bears. Well we actual did the night before and bought two more bags today. Pam and I plan on bringing some home. HMMMMMM good!
• ·      Today I actual saw people driving way faster than us. Remember we’ve topped out around 110/115 mph. Today, we had a couple of cars pass us like we were standing still. 
• ·      Can’t remember if I posted this before – but go to the restroom before you buy stuff at a rest stop or quick shop. While it cost you .70 cents to get in. You get a voucher for .50 cents to be used when you shop. That way the restroom only cost you .20 cents. They also don’t call them restrooms they are Water Closets. WC means there is a Water Closet available.
• ·      Highway driving – don’t have to worry about the highway patrol. Highways are patrol by cameras. If your speeding, a flash will occur. You and your license plate will show up in pictures. Then you receive a ticket in the mail. Like our country fail to pay the ticket and they come looking.
• ·      Just something I noticed but there is a lot of graffiti in Germany. On bridges, walls, buildings, etc.
• ·      Most people know this but not sure about my World Geography students. You need an adaptor to plug in any American equipment.

• ·      If you weren’t aware Euro money is different size. The larger the amount the larger the bill. I have to be honest and say it feels like play money.

• Eating out - actual knew this doing the research before leaving. But when you eat in a restaurant the waiter will bring you the menu and will not return until your ready. Your ready by closing the menu. If you have the habit of leaving your menu open because you wait until they come for your order to make the final decision. Well, you wait a long time. Once you place your order you will see the waiter again when the food arrives and then again WHEN you signal them for the check. Otherwise, they will leave you alone to enjoy your meal. 
• Pizza in Germany has very little sauce. They use the cheese to created the base as well as the topping.

This pizza is goat cheese and mushrooms. The crust is very thin.

• I'm sure most folks know that the roads in the villages are very narrow.

All the cars you see in this photo are PARKED. You need to drive around them.

In this case you need to wait. Again the cars are parked and the garbage truck is on the move.

• Cigarette vending machines are out in the open. Not sure how they deal with underage.