When in Rome, act like a Roman

To celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we decided to visit Rome Italy over the four day weekend. We stayed in a pensione near the Spanish Steps. While there, we found out that a pensione is one step above a hostel. The place was nice enough with clean, comfortable beds and our own bathroom. Biggest drawback was the lack of television (I know!) but they did have wireless internet.

With less than four days to visit and two young sons to drag around, we carefully selected what we wanted to see, leaving the rest for a later visit. Our first full day, we went to the Vatican, visiting St Pietre's Basilica and the Vatican Museum. St Peter's Basilica and the square were amazing. Even chasing Jacob around the confessionals in St Peter's, I felt a sense of tranquilty and peace that I rarely feel in everyday life.

Next up, we visited the Vatican Museum, the only way to see the Sistine Chapel. Searching for the Sistine Chapel felt a little like searching for Venus di Milo in the Louvre. We kept looking, walking, following the signs, but it was always just a little bit further. Christian and Jacob's tolerance for museums is low and we basically ran down the corridors trying to find the chapel. And when we did find it, I was a little disappointed--crowded with no open seats to sit and look at that beautiful masterpiece. After some rest back at the pensione, we went to the Pantheon. Christian was enthralled with the mice outside the Pantheon. After dinner, he wanted to go back and see what they were doing.

For our second day in Rome, we visited the Coliseum, the Palantine and Roman Forum. The Palantine and Roman Forum make up this large area of Roman ruins. The area is massive and full of history. It was completely worth the effort to see a lot of it even if after a few hours we just wanted to find the exit.

From a language perspective, most people in Rome spoke English and knowing Italian was of little use. Regardless, if you made the effort to speak some Italian, the people seemed just a bit friendlier, even if they just corrected your Italian. Of the places we've been in Europe, it did feel like we were back in the US with the large amount of Americans that were there.

Public transportation was easy, even though the train system looked like it hadn't been renovated since Mussolini was in power. We walked a lot and as you might have heard, the roads are cobblestones without any sidewalks and we had to dodge quite a few cars. Food was so-so though we did not venture outside of the more touristy places. Breakfast was always a cafe and pastry with absolutely no chance of having some eggs and bacon to go with the pastry.

Overall, we had a lovely time in Rome. Our time there was very short but we are looking forward to our next visit.

album 10\04\09, by Jamie Lewis

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Want some cheese with that wine?

Our latest adventure had us taking an hour-and-a-half flight from London to Geneva Switzerland where we took a forty minute train to our destination of Lausanne Switzerland. Lausanne is known for being part of the Switzerland Riviera where the steeply sloping land down to Lake Geneva is covered in terraces of grape vines. For us, we were in Lausanne for Bryan to run his sixteenth (? I've lost track) marathon. In the midst of all our sightseeing, Bryan ran a 3:07 marathon, a minute off from his PR but still an excellent time.

One thing we learned from our trip is that the Swiss produce wine. It's not well know since they consume nearly all of it, unlike the nearby French who sell their wine. We tasted a few of the local wines and found they were all really good, much like the better known wines from France's Cote Du Rhone region.

Another thing we learned was how easy and extensive the train system is in Switzerland. We even took a narrow gauge engine up to Rochers De Naye. Our biggest issue was accidentally sitting in first-class and having to upgrade. It wasn't extremely expensive to upgrade. The problem was that Switzerland's first-class is not nearly as nice as first-class on a train in the UK! On a positive note for the train system, the last train we took back to the Geneva airport even had a small playground to keep the kids happy. Merci beaucoup to the young man at the train station who pointed out this wonderful feature.

The other interesting thing about Switzerland is that they allow the members of their army to keep their weapons at home. No big deal, you think until you're on a train with fifty of them and they're all carrying around their machine guns. One even had it in the overhead luggage rack, sticking out so that you could hang a coat on it. A little unnerving!

The other thing that I found interesting was the language. The part of Switzerland that we visited is in the French speaking part. Now, when we visited Paris, we found quite a few people who spoke English and spoke it well. We never had a problem communicating. It was quite different in Switzerland with very few people who spoke English, at least willingly. When you walk in a store and you don't know the language, you feel like you're underwater and can't breath. I had to remember French from my high school French classes and I think I did my teacher proud. By the end of the weekend, I was remembering some words and phrases that fifteen years should have erased. I now know what phrases and words you should know prior to visiting somewhere a foreign language is spoken.

After visiting for five days, we've now made our way back to London. We certainly enjoyed our time in Switzerland but are happy to be home. Less than a month till we head out on the next adventure--Rome! I need to get our copy of Italian for Dummies!

A Visit to Greenwich

The highlight of the past month was our visit to Greenwich. We took a short tube ride to Greenwich in southeast London for Bryan to run the Run to the Beat Half Marathon. After Bryan ran his personal best of 1:25:51, we walked around Greenwich Park and the town. In the middle of the park is the Prime Meridian, the point that divides the eastern and western hemispheres. I insisted on getting my picture taken with one foot in each hemisphere. Makes the four corners seem insignificant!

The boys are growing quickly, changing everyday. Jacob has now learned how to say truck and milk. He loves to play with trains and cars. Christian is making lots of friends at his new school. He has swimming lessons on Wednesdays and football on Sundays.

Another new development is the weather--fall has arrived! It has been ten years since we have experienced real fall weather. It's the one thing I've always missed from Missouri. We are wearing long sleeve shirts already. In Louisiana, we'd still be in flip flops!

Ou est le Tour d'Eiffel?

So I haven't been very good at keeping this blog updated so here's my second post in the same day. Right after our trip to Scotland, we went to Paris for the weekend with Bryan's parents. We rode the Eurostar from London's St Pancras to Gare Nord in Paris and stayed in a hotel about four blocks from the Louvre. I used my limited French vocabulary "Ou est la wc?" and saw some of Paris's famous landmarks. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower despite my fear of heights and visited Notre Dame and the Louvre.
I have always wanted to go in the Louvre and was not disappointed. We wandered around one wing of the Louvre looking for the Mona Lisa and then the Venus de Milo statue. We only found the statue after we stopped looking for it and started looking for the exit.
The last day in Paris we took a short train ride out to see the palace at Versailles. We toured only the house but I'd love to go back for the gardens. The thing I liked the most about Paris is that its truly the way people portray it, with lots of sidewalk cafes, beautiful architecture and a wonderful vibe to it. For the kids, there are some parks for them to play in and lots of carousels for a quick ride. Touring the Louvre and Versailles did get boring for them but there was lots of wide open spaces for them to burn off steam after the tours were done.

Did we find the Loch Ness monster?

We took a four and a half train ride from London's King Cross rail station to Edinburgh for our first big trip. We spent two days in Edinburgh, exploring the castle and the streets as well as doing a little shopping. I think most people would be surprised to know that castles are wonderful places to take young children.

This picture is of the boys outside the Scottish Parliament. We just happened to be in Edinburgh right after the Lockerbie bomber was released from prison and the political aftermath of that decision.

After a few days in Edinburgh, we drove north to the Highlands. It took us four hours to drive from Edinburgh to Fort Augustus on Loch Ness. The roads were super narrow and it was the first time either of us had driven on the left side of the road, on the right side of the car. We stayed in the Highland Club on Loch Ness, this neat old abbey that has been turned into self-catering apartments. We drove all around the Highlands, going on lots of nature walks. My favorite walk was to Upper Nevis Falls. The scenery was breathtaking. We made sure to visit one distillery (Glen Moray) and see the bridge at Glenfinnan while we were there. Our seven days there quickly came to a close. We all had loads of fun and I would recommend it as a place to visit.

Christian turned four last Wednesday. He got a basketball goal with NBA stickers for his present from us. It has taken its place in the garden. Jacob really enjoys the new red couch from Ikea in the reception room. The old couch and loveseat are in the garage now but we found an Ikea couch that would fit up the stairs.