Roma: Colosseo, Catacombe San Sebastiano

Today was our busiest and best day yet in Italy, and considering yesterdays events, and how little sleep we got, that is good news.

Grace's words perhaps sum it up best: "Wow, it seems that when we're in a hurry and need to get something done, we work well together," and she's right, because we had so many things planned for today that in order for us to accomplish all our plans our minds really had to be in sync, and it seems they were.

We essentially accomplished the following:

Morning - Colosseo
Afternoon - Catacombe San Sebastiano
Evening - Fútbol: Italia 2 - Deutschland 0 (make sure you watch the video clip of Italia's celebration after their win tonight; it's at the end of today's journal entry).

Morning

So we begin with the morning. We visited the Colosseum:

Construction of the colosseo begun around the year AD 72, during the reign of Vespasian. It was inaugurated in AD 80, with a seating capacity of more than 50,000 spectators. Bloody gladiator combats and wild beast shows were held here, iwth "games" lasting upwards of 100 days and nights. After the Roman Empire fell, the colosseum became overgrown, until the middle ages, when it became occupied by two Roman warrior families.

Currently it serves as a reminder of Roman history. All the marble that used to adorn it has either been pillaged or removed and used for other buildings. It has also been damaged several times by earthquakes.

Still, I was moved by its formidable size.

Afternoon

In the afternoon we visited the Catacombs:

Catacombs, or catacombes, are underground corridors and passageways that were built as communal burial grounds. While this was the practise of not only the early Christians in Rome, but also pagans and Jews, it was the Christians who later on began burying martyrs here, so that they would be buried close to the fathers of the Church. Eventually, catacombes became sanctuaries for remembering the martyrs buried there.

The particular catacombes we visited, San Sebastiano, was the original resting place of St. Paul and St. Peter, until they were transfered to the Basilica di San Pietro at the Vatican. In the 4th century, a church was built on top of the catacombs (see picture above), to commemorate the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.

San Sebastiano contains approximately 80,000 tombs (they're still digging, discovering more), but this is by no means the largest of all the catacombs. The largest one, I believe it's San Castillo, is the resting place for more than 500,000 people.

Evening

Finally, in the evening we watched the Italia - Deutschland game. What a super game that was. Both teams played so well!! But again, my team lost...

Funny story related to the game: we watched the game at a restaurant near the Basilica di San Giovanni, but after yesterday's transportation lesson, we wanted to be sure to catch the last bus home. This meant we had to miss the last 15 minutes of the extra time. We were quite bummed about that.

However, while on the bus and stopped at a red light, we saw a whole bunch of people - mostly, uhm, men - streaming out of restaurants, jumping up and down like little children, screaming and whistling. Some of the men jumped on each other, holding, hugging, even kissing one another. The occasion? Italia'd scored the go-ahead goal: 1-0, with less then 3 minutes to play in the game.

Immediately, one of the girls on the bus got out her cellphone and called her friend in order to get the full details of the goal. She relayed all the info to the entire bus. So we too, got to enjoy the goal!

Then, a few stops later, the same girl, still talking on the phone to her friend, announced that Italia'd scored again: due a zero, due a zero! It was the funniest thing. Again the bus erupted into jubilation.

I don't know how else to explain this, but that's what I came to the WM for! The celebration, the fun, the intensity, the unexpected! These kind of moments are priceless indeed.

I love fútbol!!

The game ended very shortly afterwards, and Roma - and all of Italia, for that matter - erupted into one huge gigantic party. After getting off the bus, I got out my camera and used it as a video-recorder for about a minute. Here's the result:



Today's WM scores:
Italia 2 - Deutschland 0

Roma: Spanish Steps, Piazza Novona, Piazza del Popolo

Grace and I decided to take a break from each other today. I needed it. I wanted to spend the day by myself, do my own thing, go where I want to when I want to how I want to and for whatever reason I want to, and that's exactly what I did.

I know. I'm selfish.

I ended up going to one of the main shopping districts in Roma, looking for some capris. No luck though, as I didn't find any that fit me properly (what's new..). I did, however, much to my joy and pleasure find a few UCB stores that kept me busy for a few hours....

Spanish Steps:















At around 8pm, Grace and I met up and took the #46 bus to Piazza Novona, where we found ourselves a nice place to eat dinner. The place we found today was good, but not as good as yesterdays'. After dinner, we went for a walk, and we ended up at Piazza del Popolo where we enjoyed a nice view of Roma by night.

Piazza del Popolo:















Night view of Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peter's Basilica) from Piazza del Popolo:















But then things turned ugly. Unbeknown to us, there was a taxi strike in the city. We walked around looking for a taxi for quite a while and just could not find one. The transit system also shuts down early in Rome, so only night buses were going, and they don't come as frequently as the day buses.

Finally we boarded a bus bound towards Valle Aurelia. But after about 20 minutes on the bus we got worried because we weren't coming across any recognizable city landmarks. Hmmmm .. what to do. We got off the bus, and began walking, eventually arriving at .. believe it or not .. the Vatican!

Here again, the Vatican at night: this time, from up close!















But as exciting as our discovery was, let truth be told, we were not in a good mood. We'd boarded the bus based on Grace's whim that "it was going in the right direction", and we exited it based on my determination not to ask the bus driver for directions back to our hotel. I may be a tourist in the city, but I'm not a dumb tourist in the city.

I know. I'm stubborn.

For the next hour, Grace and I had it out. We discussed, argued, even got a bit angry. She was hurt: I'd disregarded her feelings. I was pissed off: why did we enter that bus??? We were both tired. It was hot even at midnight. I was annoyed. We had a long day ahead tomorrow and wanted to get to bed. She was annoyed. We argued some more. I said sorry. She forgave. But I was still pissed. And so the story goes.

Finally, we saw a police car to one side of the Vatican. We approached it, and asked for advice. The kind response from a policewoman was basically something like "you're a 1 hour hike away from the Domus Aurelia". She empathized, but said she couldn't help us except give us the directions to walk home.

And walk home we did. Most of the way home was uphill. We got home close to 2:30am. Nice. So much for a good night's rest.

By the end of our walk, however, we'd managed to reconcile somewhat. Somehow, the pilgrimage home (it seems appropriate to call it a pilgrimage) calmed us down. By the end we even joked and laughed about it.

Lesson learned: make sure mode of transportation is sorted out when away from home. Translation: we should've known the damn taxis were on strike.

All in all, a brilliant first full day in Roma.

Roma: Trastevere

Arriving in Roma:















We arrived in Roma around 1pm today, and after taking the metro from Termini to Valle Aurelia, what should've been a 15 minute walk to our final destination, the Domus Aurelia, turned out to be 1 hour +.

Sweat rolling down my back.

Clothes sticking to my body.

Curse.

Thirst.

Cough cough.

Shoulda known better than to walk around in a big city without a map.

Regardless, we arrived - finally! - safe and sound, after calling the Domus by phone and asking for directions. The woman at the Domus was super. Thank God for kind and patient people.

After checking in, we both took a much needed and well-deserved siesta. At around 6 I got up, took a book, bought myself a lemonade, and parked myself downstairs under the palm tree in the front patio, before meeting up with Grace for dinner around 8.

Many people have told me that the best place to do dinner in Roma is in a section of the city called Trastevere: the ambience is great, and the food is even better. So that's what we did. We went to Trastevere, to a restaurant called Alle Fratte di Trastevere, and damn, was the food ever good. I think it was the best meal I've had in a very long time. I had insalata mista with veal a la milanesa, and it was deeeeeeeeeeelicious! If I ever return to Rome, I will return to this place!

Here is a picture of what seemed to be the central square in Trastevere:

Firenze: Uffizi, Basilica Di Santa Croce

Happy Canada Day!!!

Another team bit the dust today. This time it was Brasil - the team I picked to win it all!! All my teams are losing .. what's happening? I'm scared to cheer for another team now, because they'll end up losing. Next matchups are: Germany - Italy (I'm going for Germany), Portugal - France (I'm going for Portugal).

Today was our last day in Firenze, so our goal was to make good use of our time. For the most part, we got things done: we saw the places we wanted to see. But not without a little trouble. Today Grace and I got on each other's nerves a bit, because she was fed up with all the fútbol, and I'm getting a little tired of all the museums (I've been visiting museums for 5 weeks now .. it's tiring!).

Anyways, here's what we did. In the morning we went to visit the famous Palazzo degli Uffizi, probably the most famous museum in Firenze. The building (below) was designed and built in the 16th century. Although originally it housed government offices (uffizi means offices in Italian), presently it houses the world's single largest collection of Italian and Florentine art.

Highlights of the Uffizi were a few works by Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, they had a superb exhibition on da Vinci called The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci. There was also a non-Italian art room which had a few interesting works by the likes of Rembrandt, Velázquez, and Goya.

Late in the afternoon I also walked over to the Basilica di Santa Croce, a basilica built late in the 13th century by the Franciscans. Unfortunately the doors were already closed so I was unable to see the interior of the basilica, but below is a photo of the church itself. This church is attached to a convent which holds the graves of many famous Italians, such as Michelangelo, for example.

Here are a few other random pictures we took throughout our stay here in Firenze.

After a long day of sightseeing, Grace cools down with a Cola.















Cub at sundown at Ponte Vecchio earlier today (we were there again tonight on our way to dinner).















Grace at the Museo di San Marco 2 days ago.















Next up: Roma!

Today's WM scores:
England 0 - Portugal 0 (1 - 3 Penalty shootout)
Brasil 0 - France 1

Firenze: Duomo, Ponte Vecchio

The heat here is exhausting! They ought to instal air conditioning in our hostel!

Anyways, today we visited the Duomo. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.














































































Afterwards, we went to a small café to watch a tragedy: Argentina - Germany. I'm crushed - again. Argentina played brilliantly for most of the game, but lost. Que porqueria, que cagada. After a great goal in the first half by Ayala, Klose tied the game in the second half. Argentina made 2 tactical errors that in my opinion cost them the game: halfway through the second half, Riquelme was substituted. What was the coach thinking? Riquelme's the heart and soul of the team! Voludo! The other error Argentina made is collapsing into a defensive mode after scoring the go-ahead goal. They always do this!!! They play attractive, attacking, controlling fútbol until they score and lead the game; then they completely change their style and play defensively in order to protect their lead. This is not their strength .. and today proved it .. again!

Well, poor Grace. She has no interest in soccer, yet she braved the café with me, and had to put up with my irritability after Argentina's loss. The rest of my day was ruined.

Anyways, not all was lost. Late afternoon we walked over to a famous bridge in Firenze, Ponte Vecchio. Below is what we saw:

Ponte Vecchio:










































Sundown view from Ponte Vecchio:















In the evening we wanted to go to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the Italia - Ukraine game, but there were so many people at the park we could not find a place to watch the game from. We ended up eating dinner at a resaurant near the park, and even though we couldn't watch the game, we knew Italia was winning the game because everytime they scored we could hear the crowd cheering all the way from the park, plus, all the restaurants in the neighbourhoods would erupt in joy everytime they scored. It's interesting being here and seeing how Italians celebrate their victory. The fact that they won the game tonight is good news, because it means they will play Deutschland next. Should be a good game!

Today's WM scores:
Deutschland 1 - Argentina 1 (4-2 penalty shootout)
Italia 3 - Ukraine 0

Firenze: Museo di San Marco, Galleria del Accademia

What a day! I love Italia!

Grace and I arrived here in Firenze at 7am, after an 8 hour train ride from Zürich. When I got out of the train, I was enveloped by a wave of heat - even at 7am - that made me realize we're no longer in northern Europe. We'd definetly arrived in mediterranean territory.

After checking in at our hostel at around 10, we showered up, put on summer clothes, and took the bus downtown. First stop, Museo di San Marco. This museum is not rated as one of the top museums in Firenze, but in my books it just may end up being the best place in Firenze.

San Marco began as a Dominican convent in 1436, but not just any convent, for in it lived the likes of Fra Angelico, Cosmo di Medici, and Girolamo Savonarola. The Medici family at one time ruled most of Florence, and in fact funded many of the Renaissance artists; Girolamo Savonarola, on the other hand, was a monk who spoke out against the excesses of the Renaissance and eventually was burned at the stake for his stance.

However, the highlight of this museum was the radiant frescoes that Fra Angelico painted on the walls of each convent cell. I believe at one time, 40 monks lived at this convent, and Fra Angelico painted a fresco for each cell, with amazing themes, like the annunciation, the betrayal, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the transfiguration, or the 2nd coming of Jesus. The paintings were amazingly powerful, I can only imagine what it must have been like for monks to meditate on them on a daily basis. Some of them brought me to the brink of tears, such was their beauty.

Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed of the cells or the frescoes, so the best I have to show of my visit to the museum is a picture of the main hall, as well as a picture of the common area of the convent.






























After taking in the frescoes, we walked across the Piazza di San Marco to the Galleria del Accademia, which according to most sources, is a much better place to visit (and more expensive too .. the entrance fee to Museo di San Marco was 4 Euros, whereas the Galleria was 12!!!).

The main attraction at the Galleria was Michelangelo's David (see picture below), and while sculpture is not my favourite type of art, I admit, David is a masterpiece. David is made up of one solid block of marble, carved by the artist at the age of 29. Based on my recollection, he's at least 5 metres tall. There are a few other of Michelangelo's statues on display, all of them very interesting and skilfully made.

There were many other works of great art, including a marvelous exhibition by Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1425). Grace and I spent much time taking each of his works, discussing colours, shapes, and most importantly, the message each of the works were trying to convey. I found these two samples of his works on the Galleria website.

But truthfully speaking, the frescoes at the Museo satisfied and saturated my spiritual and aesthetic appetite, at least for the day.

Zürich: Meeting Grace

Today's the first day since June 9th that no WM game will be played. What? No World Cup game today? How can that be? What's going on in this world? Actually, today and tomorrow there'll be no games, as teams get ready for the quarter finals.

Maybe it's just as well that there are no games the next few days, because my trip enters a different phase today also. I switch focus from Deutschland to Italia, via die Schweiz.

I left Frankfurt around 11am, and arrived in Zürich around 4pm. There I met up with Grace, who's joining me for the next week. Together we will conquer Firenze (Florence) & Roma. I'm excited about this next portion of my trip, because I think I'm ready for a different side of Europe. Italia fascinates me. So much history. I look forward to take in as much of it as I can.

On the ohter hand, I'm a little nervous too. One of the best ways to ruin a friendship is to go travelling together. I'm an expert at that: I've done it at least twice before. On the other hand, perhaps there's no better way to find out if Grace and I are a good match until we spend 24 hours a day together for 7 days in a row, in a place neither of us are at home. Sounds like fertile grounds for World War III to me....

But anyways, I'll give it a go. I look forward to it.

Anyways, it was great seeing Grace again. I'd missed her during my time in Germany. We had a pleasant time catching up.

After meeting up, we went for dinner and a nice walk around the city, before settling at a café near the train station for a few hours. At 10:30pm we boarded the train. Next stop: Firenze.

By the way, Zürich is beautiful, but it's freakin' expensive.

Frankfurt: Rudolf & Olga

After saying good-bye first to Christian, who returned to Paraguay this morning at 10am, and then Paul, who returns to Canada shortly after noon, I proceeded to walk around Köln for a few hours, before boarding the train to Frankfurt.

While still in Köln, it started to rain. Weird. It was the first time it rained during my stay here in Germany, and it reminded me of Vancouver in a longing sort of way. As the drops came down on my head, I once again realized how beautiful rain is. It's like God literally showering us with his blessing.

But then after about 30 minutes, the rain got heavy, so I had to pop into a store and buy an umbrella. More money to spend ... there goes the blessing.....!

Once in Frankfurt I went straight for the Straßenbahn #12 which leads straight to Schwanheim, where my cousin Rudolf and his partner Olga live. I "checked in", showered, and watched Brasil-Ghana with Olga, until Rudy arrived from work around dinner time.

In the evening we went to visit Olga's parents. She was keen on introducing them to me. They're from Russia, and fed me some good-ol' Russian food: borsch (red beet soup) and pilmenyi (small balls of minced meat covered with pastry; similar to perogies). It was very authentic, and very yummy indeed.

A good and relatively rest-ful day.

Olga's family, from left to right: mom, niece, twin sis, dad, my cousin Rudy, and Olga.















After visiting her family we went home and watched the last little bit of Spain-France. Wow .. can't believe France won!

Today's WM scores:
Brasil 3 - Ghana 0
Spain 1 - France 3

Köln: Dom

We began today with a tour of the Kölner Dom, a massively imposing church right in the middle of Köln. It's magnificent, and it's the landmark in Köln. If one ever gets lost in the city, just look for the giant towers, they will surely help reorient.

The grandeur of the Dom is best described by my favourite tourist guide book: "With its soaring twin spires, this is the Mt Everest of cathedrals. It's packed with an amazing array of art treasures and its elegant proportions and dignified ambience leave only the most jaded of visitors untouched. . . Its lacy spires and flying buttresses create a sensation of lightness and fragility despite its impressive mass and height. . . This sensation continues inside where a phalanx of pillars and arches supports the lofty central nave. . . Soft light filters through the radiant stained-glass windows, whose dazzling richness deserves closer inspection."

Below, the giantly imposing Dom in Köln. I took these pictures from approximately 100 meters away. Note that even at such a distance from the church, I couldn't get the spiral towers into the picture (1st picture). In the second picture, note how small people are compared to the church.

































The church design follows a brilliant theological statement about our Christian faith: as the church is 'uncomfortably big and imposing', so too is our God. He is bigger than our imagination can bear. On the other hand, the church is 'envelopingly warm'. Again, a true statement about God, as he welcomes us with open arms through his Son Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord!

Some pictures of the church interior follow.

























































































Some more trivia about the Kölner Dom:
* It's Germany's largest cathedral

* It took over 300 years to build; its construction began in 1248, but because of a financial shortfall, it wasn't finished until 1880
* The remains of the 3 Magi who came to offer gold, myrrh, and frankincense when Jesus was born, are said to be housed in a shrine inside the church
* Some of the stained windows in the church are 700+ years old
* The main tower of the cathedral can be climbed. It only takes 509 steps to get to the top! ;)

* Until the Eiffel tower was built, the Dom was the tallest building in Europe.

Let's see, what else did we do today. Oh yeah, WM. After the tour of the Dom we parked ourselves at a restaurant and watched the Italy-Australia game, while eating dinner. It was nice and relaxing, but truthfully said, I can't eat well right now. It hurts like hell everytime I swallow any food. Coffee hurts my throat because it's too bitter and too hot, and beer hurts my throat because it's too cold.

The only thing that tastes good right now is Halls throat candy. They are a godsend. Oh, by the way, Italy won 1-0. They have a way of winning games they probably don't deserve winning.

Finally, in the evening we went to a WM game. Ukraine beat Switzerland in penalties. Final score: 1 - 0. The game was so-so. It's the last game I'll attend at this WM. From now on, the television will be my best friend.

oday's WM scores:
Italy 1 - Australia 0
Ukraine 1 - Switzerland 0

Köln: Roncalliplatz

Today was travel-day. Paul and I left Leipzig around 11am, met up with Christian at 3pm at the Frankfurt railstation, and then went on to Köln, arriving there here around 5pm.

After checking into our hostel (which by the way is a hell-hole, because it's hot, stuffy, and smokey; sidenote: Germans smoke like chimneys, which in Paul's words, "seems irrational considering Germans are known for their rationality") we walked around town a little.

We watched the England-Ecuador game. England won 1-0 on a nice goal by Beckhy-boy, but I still think this team's highly overrated.

Then we watched the Canadian Grand Prix at a coffee shop. It was cool to see F1 on a giant screen in, of all places, a coffee shop! I love it. More please.....!!! Too bad Villeneuve hit the wall. He can't seem to keep his car off the wall at his home Grand Prix.

Then in the evening we walked over to the Roncalliplatz WM Fanzone, where a giant Leinwand (big screen) had been setup, and we watched the Netherlands-Portugal game with a few other hundred people. As I predicted to my good buddy Paul and Chrsitian, the Dutch would self-destruct yet again, this time to the benefit of the Portuguese. Good for Portugal, they're a good team, so I'm happy for them.

Futbol am Roncalliplatz, besider the Kölner Dom















The "three amigos"















I'm starting to feel sick though. I think my travel-ambitions were too optimistic. I'm tired. My throat hurts like hell. I'm coughing up my lungs half the time (and I quit smoking 4+ years ago!). I can't swallow because it hurts too much.

Long live fútbol!!!

Today's WM scores:
England 1 - Ecuador 0
Portugal 1 - Netherlands 0

Leipzig: Thomaskirche .. Again

Another day in Leipzig, another day at the Thomaskirche for a Bach concert. Whereas yesterday's program was called simply "Motette", this time around the program was called "Motette und Kantate". The program went as follows:

* Drei Choralvorspiele für Orgel (3 organ preludes)
* Gott hat uns nicht gesetzt zum Zorn, Mottete für fünfstimmigen Chor, by Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722)
* Lesung des Evangeliums (Reading of the Gospel)
* Gemeindeglied (Congregational song): Wir wollen singen ein Lobgesang
* Ansprache (Homily)
* Freue dich, erlöste Schar, BWV Kantate 30, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
* Gebet: Vater Unser (Prayer: Our Father)

Again, I was blessed by the program. I can only imagine how God moved people while Bach served here.....


























But I did much more than attend another concert at the Thomaskirche. In fact, the concert was but one hour of the day. Here is how I spent the rest of the day.

I visited the Stassi Museum. This museum houses various artifacts used by the secret police during the communist era.















After visiting the Stassi Museum I visited the Bach Museum:



















In preparation for the Argentina - Mexico game, we hung out with the Argentina fans just outside the Leipzig stadium. It was great fun, and there was a great sense of anticipation for the game. Below .. hanging out with the albicelests (Argentina soccer fans):















The sign reads: "Pele may be king, but Diego (Maradona) is God."















Then in the evening Paul and I met up and walked to the Central Square in Leipzig, where the city had set up a giant Leinwand (screens) for the soccer game. We found ourselves a great spot to watch the game from: right in between the Mexican and Argentina fans.















End result: Argentina 2 - Mexico 1. The atmosphere was phenomenal....party time!

























Street performers:

Viva Mexico (well, anyways, viva this particular Mexicana)!!!

All in all .. a super day. One of the best of my trip so far. I'm tired .. I'm going to sleep well tonight.....

Today's WM scores:
Germany 2 - Sweden 0
Argentina 2 - Mexico 1