Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!
As we think about all the wonderful experiences we have had this year living in Budapest and traveling, we are very thankful for our opportunities.  We are also thankful our parents have been able to visit us and share our experiences, and that through technology we have been able to stay in touch with family and friends back home.  We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you are able to share it with those you love.  After the big thanksgiving meal, we'll all probably be looking like these pictures of our pets.  Enjoy!

Pantheon - Rome

The Pantheon was another amazing place to visit.  You don't need to pay to get in and there wasn't a line to get in but someone came up and asked us if we wanted to join a tour and our previous had gone so well we figured why not. Again we learned so much more about the history and architecture than we would have on our own so it really was money well spent.

It's a cool building and as you can see in the pictures below there is hole in the top of the dome to let in the sun and the rain, it's always open.  The pattern around the dome is not just cool looking but it's also functional, have those shapes cut out made the dome weigh less.  Something else that was very clever was that instead of just using scaffolding to get the higher areas they just filled the Pantheon up with dirt.  The clever part was that the left gold and other valuables in the dirt and then the people of the city would go in and take out as much dirt as they could hoping there would be money in there.

The Vatican

One of the many cool things about visiting Rome is that you can also very easily visit the smallest independent state in the world both by area and population, Vatican City.  Of course the Vatican is home to the Pope and Catholicism but you don't have to be Catholic to appreciate it.  The seco
nd largest museum behind the Louvre in Paris is there, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The lines there are crazy so like we did at the Colosseum we joined a tour that allowed us to skip the lines and have a tour of the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's.  Even without skipping the line the tour would have been worth it to hear the history, especially to hear about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel and the Last Judgement. It's a pretty crazy store and let us know different things we should look for, sadly no pictures were allowed in the Sistine Chapel.

The Colosseum - Rome Italy

Our visit to the Colosseum was very cool.  It was amazing to take a couple turns out of our hotel and see the Colosseum just sitting there.  The crowds around it are equally amazing and we were so glad to grab a tour and skip the line and get a tour to learn some of the incredible history.  Looking at it you see it is made up of a series of 80 arches per floor and that is not just for looks.  They way the weight is distributed allows it to hold more weight and at the same time use less material with the empty space below.

The ingenuity did not stop with the design of the exterior, the arena floor itself was amazing.  The had a wooden floor like what you see in the far end of the picture across the entire arena covered in a special sand mixture that was good for cleaning blood.  Underneath the floor was kind of like the "backstage" area where the gladiators, animals and anyone else prepared for the show.  There were 32 elevators located under the stage floor as well for bringing up people and animals. 

The said that seating at the Colosseum mirrored the Roman society in that the more powerful you were the lower down closer to the action you were. I was surprised to find out that women and slaves sat together in the top level.  I was surprised that slaves were allowed to watch at all and also that women could not be with their families.

Today is Jason's least favorite day

Love this cartoon!

Back to Italy!

Map of Italy from the Vatican Museum

We took  a long weekend to head back to Italy.  This time we hit Rome.  Highlights included the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peters, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Pantheon.  As usual we bought a two day pass for one of the Hop On Hop Off tours which is good to point out all of the sites and also acts as a bit of a taxi while we are there.  We also took tours of the Vatican, the Colosseum and the Pantheon.  If you are ever in Rome and at any of those sites and someone asks if you would like a tour that allows you to skip the line, DO IT!  The lines can take hours which is one bonus, the other thing is getting a guide that was explaining everything was so helpful.  I mean it would be cool  to walk around some of the places but we certainly would not have gotten as much out of it without the stories so the extra money is well worth it.  Much more later but a few pictures from Rome for now.

Chocolate Festival Buda Castle

There was a Chocolate festival at the Buda Castle the other weekend. It's always great to go up there and check out the Castle and the views of Pest and what better excuse than chocolate! It was also pretty cool because it was a car free day so we got to walk right across the center of the Chain Bridge.  Anyway here are some pictures from the castle and bridge.

September 11th Memorial Blood Drive

Today I participated in the September 11th Memorial Blood drive held by the US Embassy and the Hungarian Red Cross.  It's things like this that make you feel still close to home even though you are so far away. Even Starbucks was there so things were not too different, except for maybe the alcohol free beer they had for refreshments!

Dogs - Venice

I thought given the almost complete lack of green space on Venice that there would be very few dogs to be seen, but I was wrong.  I only got a couple of pictures of dogs but we saw them all over the place.  I guess wherever people go, so does man's best friend.

Winged Lion - Venice

 

I took kind of a likin to the winged lion you can see all over Venice. It's St. Mark's symbol and he is the patron saint of the city so it is also used as the symbol of the city.  During times of peace the Lion has an open copy of the Bible under one paw and during times of war he has a sword and the Bible is closed.  I didn't see many cases of the the sword carrying lion so I'll have to look harder next time.

Murano Glass - Venice

Venice and the island of Murano are famous for their glass so on Saturday our hotel arranged for us to take a water taxi over to Murano to go to one of glass factories for a demonstration.  It was pretty amazing to watch this guy at work, he made a vase and a horse in ten minutes maybe.  After his demonstration we did some shopping and then headed back by water bus.  If you go to Venice you should really check out the island of Murano.

Regata Storica - Venice

As luck would have it we were there for the Regata Storica.  From what I understand this is the big event of the rowing calender in Venice.  It starts with a procession of old style boats commemorating the reception given to Caterina Cornaro, wife of the King of Cyprus, in 1489 after she renounced her throne in favor of Venice.  It was really cool to see all of the ornate boats and all  of the people dressed in period costumes.  It was followed by races down the grand canal.