Click photo to enlarge and view slideshow It is Palm Sunday and we are in Rome. This morning we went to St. Peters. We had to wait a long time, got mobbed, rushed, pushed and shoved, but we saw Pope John. We wormed our way into a choice spot right on the railing for the Processionals, so we saw him twice walking in and out in his red robes and skull cap and twice more in, then out in Pontifical robes and high hat, carried in the papal chair. Each time we were closer than five feet, close enough to touch him with all the cardinals, bishops in ermine capes, monks, nuns, the colorful Swiss guards, etc. The whole thing was spectacular. Suffice it to saw that few people have ever had a better view (and closer) of the Pope.
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We did some sightseeing around Sorrento then went to Peastum, site of old Roman ruins. and took a boat over to the island of Capri. We are finding Italy very interesting and beautiful Click to enlarge map We are sitting here in the new hostel in Sorrento. It just opened today. Sorrento is on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Naples with the snow capped Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. It is a seaside resort, pretty and poetic. We look out over the Thyrannean sea, cliffs of Sorrento and the Isle of Capri. There are many slums and a lot of damage still from WW2 in Napoli, but it is still beautiful. We went sightseeing yesterday around Sorrento and today we went to Peastum, a site of old Roman ruins.
We are now in Sorrento and plan to spend the next four days here and in Capri, Vesuvisus, Pomeii, and Naples Then we are going in to the mountains above timberline to Cappracota to try and find the Tisones, Dede's relatives. Then we will head back to Rome for four days or so, Palm Sunday and Florence for Easter. Rome is filled up for Easter so we have to change our plans.
Click to enlarge photo We drove into Rome and by the Vatican City. We got our mail at the American Express office and went down the coast via the beachhead of Anzid (beachhead) Lido de Roma and on to Naples.
Click image to enlarge and view slides From Venice we went to Firenze (Florence] but there was no room in the Hostel. So we went on and got stuck in a snowstorm near Bologna. We drove to Pisa and went straight to the tower. What a sight! It leans 14 feet off center due to slip of land during construction. It was was the perfect place for Galileo to do his experiments on gravity. Even the Cathedral and Baptistry lean, but not like the tower.
Click to enlarge image We spent the day riding boats, gondolas, lost on narrow streets, then to the Piazza San Marco and the Cathedral with all its gold mosaics. Confirmed again today that Italians will walk right up and pinch you on the rear on the street!
Click photo to enlarge and view slideshow Venice is fantastic. It was built on 118 islands in the middle of a bay. You must park your car at the edge and get around by sidewalks, gondolas and ferrys. There is nothing like taking a boat to your hostel.
Pasta is the food here, If you stand up, the food and wine are cheap. Wine or vermouth is only 8 cents US and a plate of lasagna, pizza or spaghetti is just 20 to 35 cents. Cheap but fattening. Click image to enlarge We stayed in a hotel last night and had our weekly bath after that 24 hour drive. We usually stay in hostels but once a week we splurge in a hotel to get cleaned up for the next week of the trip.
Click to enlarge photo We drove from Greece straight back through Belgrade to Trieste, 24 hours straight because we couldn’t find a place to stay. Yugoslavia is a dreary country and the farmers are still using oxen to plow their fields. The previous trip through Yogoslavia was interesting but a little scary and very uncomfortable. Even two days under Communism is too much we are very happy to get back to Italy again
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A daily diary of a journey in 1962. Please post comments about where you were then on the Background page.
1962 was pivotal. This is the background:
It was a year colored by the Cuban Missile Crisis, an escalating involvement in Vietnam, the Berlin Wall and the Cold War with Russia, Civil Rights issues, a nascent space program, Nelson Mandela in prison, Betty Friedan's, The Feminist Mystique, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the death of Marilyn Monroe. Archives
May 2011
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