March Pics

Rome for Spring Break!
Monday, March 25th through Thursday, March 28th
ROME PART TWO: Wednesday and Thursday

• Nick and I wandered a lot so if a picture isn't labeled and you're not sure where it was taken . . . neither are we. 

• River Fiume. 

• So many plazas so little time. 

• At this plaza, the same in the above photographs, a wandering vendor (as I refer to them) gave me several roses and told me I was beautiful. Then he asked Nick, "Is this your wife?" We laughed of course and told him we were friends, after which he wanted payment for the roses. So we gave them back. 

• Mom! I know you like Mini Coopers. 

• This made me laugh. And also miss my '99 Chevy Cavalier, which is also yellow. I'll be home soon, lovely!

• Fountain by the Spanish steps. 

• The Spanish steps. 

• Tea break!

• The Vatican!

• Perhaps this is childish, but I found this funny. It required photographing. 

• Perfect weather, no?

• See the camera up on the balcony near the top right? Neither did we, at first. Look harder, it's there. 

• Where can I find a uniform like that?

• "South Wind", I'm assuming. 

• The nuns in blue were the ones chanting, "Papa Francesco!" Nun-ly cheerleaders, if I may. 

• The Pope! He's just under the large American flag, the figure in white. Due to the crowds, I couldn't get a clear picture, but we saw him pretty well in person!

• Havoc in the crowds!

• Small deli/mini buffet where Nick stopped to grab a chicken sandwich. 

• I love how colorful the buildings are here in Europe. 

• A castle! And the back of Nick's head! Huzzah!

• Even street performers need a lunch break every now and again. 

• Who wants to walk on sunshine when you can walk on an old brick wall? The choice is obvious. 

• That poor river again. 

• This is one of my favorite shots of the trip. Definitely in my top five. 

• I feel like this could be a motivational poster. OBSTINANCE: Because sometimes that's all it takes. 

• More street performers, similar to ones we have in Madrid who do these seemingly impossible "balancing" tricks. 

• I love how a citizen decided to decorate the riverwalk. Lovely touch. The beer really adds that missing element. 

• Another one that I would place in the top five. As a writer, this gets to my curious side. The mystery of the unexplored alley appeals. 

• As Natalie promised, wonderful produce. Pretty cheap too. 

• Orange grove in the courtyard of a library that Nick and I wandered into. 

• Piazza Navona. 

• And to conclude our trip, dinner at a small local restaurant where Nick ordered the seafood pizza and I ordered the much wiser choice of mushroom pizza with spinach. It's always nice to eat at place like this and support a small business owner. 

ROME PART ONE: Monday and Tuesday

• On to Zurich!

• Nick bonded with his front seat mate, a little Spanish girl named Sara, who was mesmerized by the blondness of Nick's hair. 

• Well, the sign seemed a little ominous, but this was an adventure and you can't back down when you're on an adventure. 

• We were certainly enjoying the Easter display in the Swiss airport; knowing that we wouldn't be at home for Easter, we decided to soak up the cheeriness of this spring display.

• Mmmmmm . . . . beef, carrots, mushrooms, scalloped potatoes, and red cabbage and a glass of red wine to wash it down. Best meal of the trip right here. Second best since I've been to Spain. 

• Coming down into Roma!

• Tuesday morning the day began rainy and gray, but the colors of the cars and buildings of the city still jumped out. Also, notice all the overhead wires above the streets. 

• Dad! Check it out! They have a Hard Rock in Rome too!

• I don't recall what building this is, but it certainly looked significant. So we paused for some photos. 

• Color enhancement mode for this picture of an obelisk. 

• Pigeons!

• As in Madrid, scooters seemed to be a popular mode of transportation, though most were parked on this rainy day. 

• We probably should have just eaten here. At least the cuisine would have been cheap!

• I was conflicted: props for the parking job or shake of the head at the ridiculousness of it all. Honestly, we laughed, took a few pics, and moved on. 

• Here comes the Colosseum!

• Nick poses in front of the Colosseum!

• The Roman gladiators yet live!

• Ahhh the sweet warmth of the fire pillars. 

• Cafe across the road from the Colosseum. 

• Within the walls of the Colosseum. 

• Strange to see all the modern tourists among the ancient stones . . . the ancient Romans never could have pictured this, I'm sure. 

• The remains of the statue of a gladiator. 

• Our mumbling tour guide. Speak up, woman! Be bold! You're showing off the Colosseum! Also, notice Nick scratching his head in consternation in the glass and me taking this picture. 

• A little less than half of the stage was recreated to allow tourists to visualize what the Colosseum would have looked like during its hay day. To the right, one can see the support columns and the underground tunnel structures. 

• Roman gladiators depicted in a fresco, miraculously still well intact after centuries of looting. 

• A group of tourists stands on the stage, which we were unfortunately not able to get on (that was a separate tour) but they offer a nice perspective. 

• An archway visible from one of the outer balconies of the Colosseum. 

• Nick and I pose inside the Colosseum! Thank you guys from the tour group who took our photo. 

• View to the modern street outside. 

• A horse and buggy takes a couple to the entrance of the Colosseum. 

• I could not believe the teeny size of this truck! I made Nick stand next to it for perspective purposes. Who fits into that truck, I honestly don't know. Elves?

• We stopped here for a spot of tea and a few mouthfuls of bruschetta. 

• Quaint outdoor cafe directly outside the Pantheon.

• And behold, the Pantheon!

• Obelisks seemed to be popular in Rome. This one in the center of the piazza, plaza, in front of the Pantheon. 

• The Roman band who tried to extort a large tip from Nick and I for a photo with the group. 

• We did pay about 2.50 Euro for this photo. Seems fair to me. That's a little over $3.00 just for the privilege of posing with these gents. 

• The government building again. 

• The government building was a popular tourist site and truly breathtaking in its enormous size and ornate decorations. 

• Note the guards!

• Inside the basilica behind the Pantheon. 

• Looking out from the Pantheon. 

 

• Welcome to La Fontana di Trevi. 

• Piazza de Colon, Plaza of Columbus, I believe. 

• Well, the Bernini Fountain was supposed to be here. And it is. But it's behind that lovely red advertisement, currently undergoing renovations. Ahhh well, we still posed by the fountain!

• What?! No fountain until next year! 

• Ashna, I thought fondly of you while eating the only Indian food I've had in months and probably the only Indian food I'll get until I'm back in the States. So good. Chicken biryani and a samosa. It makes my heart glow just to remember it. Third best meal I've had since coming abroad. 

Photos from Parent Weekend, Courtesy of Mom
Thursday, March 14th through Monday, March 18th

• Ahh Sol. You never cease to amaze. 

• So are we going in, or are we just going to pose outside this beautiful shop all day?

• The little old man in the green suit jacket sporting the cane off to the right was doing a jig to this saxophone player's music; we simply had to tip them. They were definitely in cahoots. 

• Behold, Parque del Retiro!

• Temple Debod. 

• Parque del Retiro again!

• Dad and I mess around at Temple Debod!

• El Palacio Real from behind. 

• Hieroglyphs at Temple Debod. 

• Credit to Dad for this shot of the cross atop the mountain at the Valley of the Fallen. 

• I honestly don't remember where this is . . . 

• Or here . . . possibly Segovia?

• Roman architecture is a must see at some point in your life. These are the aqueducts in Segovia and they are mind-boggling. How the ancient conceived and constructed all this leaves one in awe. 

Spring Break Photos, Part One
Saturday, March 23rd and Sunday, March 24th

• Provisions! After Nick woke up from his nap on Saturday afternoon (Day 1) we made a beeline for the grocery store, conveniently located just five minutes' walk from the residence. Nothing like donuts, booze, and shampoo to start a week off right. 

• Nick decided to buy some Easter candy for himself. Here he proudly poses with his chocolate bunny. 

• The nautical stand at el Rastro!

• Market Sunday. And with the warm weather, we were spoiled. :)

• British sunglasses! Shocked!

• Ahhh Lady Madrid! How lovely you are in blue and white!

• Tantas llaves! So many keys!

• We discovered another arch! This is not the well known Triumphal Arch of Joseph Bonaparte, but I confess I'm not sure which one this is. Further exploration required. 

• Success! After I did it, Nick decided he too needed to run up the down escalator while we waited for our metro. It's harder than you would think, folks!

• Saturday night was rainy but peaceful. We made our way up to Gran Vía after I admittedly got us off the metro one stop too early. Thank you to the two madrileño gentlemen who pointed us in the correct direction. 

• Traffic jam on Gran Vía!

• Sunday night drinks at that place that we ditched, Mom and Dad! I still don't know the name of it, but Nick and I were smart enough not to even attempt to order food. Well, he got tapas, but I stuck with a good ol' vodka based something or other. Tip of the hat to my Russian heritage, eh Grandma? :)

• Nick enjoyed his sausage tapas immensely and even shared a few samples with me!

• Nick insisted we stop and watch every street performer. Normally, I'm all for the musical ones, but he wanted to watch this mime who turned out to be pretty funny although I in general am not a huge mime fan. 

• Nick goes up to tip the mime and ended up becoming part of the show when his scarf was stolen! However, he retaliated by stealing another man's date in trade for the scarf. Rest assured however that both woman and scarf were returned to their places of origin within several minutes. Then it was time for Nick and I to head back because on the morrow we would leave for Rome!

A Weekend in Madrid with the Padres
(March 14th to March 18th)

• Welcome to Plaza Mayor, parents!

• Madrid is a lovely city and at night she's simply radiant. 

• My parents in the gardens at the Palacio Real. 

• High speed bus!

• This is gonna be a walk in the park. Parque Retiro, to be exact. 

• We figured it was high time to try a gofre with chocolate sauce. Great decision. 

• Credit to Mom for this photo; she loves the extreme close up. See the trees reflected in the syrup? Now that's art.

• The ancient Temple Debod and my ancient parents standing right in front of it. Who's older? The world may never know . . . Just kidding, guys. I love you. That temple's got you beat by some 2,150 years. 

• It's critical to pour malted apple cider from a great height to enhance the light airy quality of the beverage! It's galling if you don't do it properly! (Although I wanted to know why we couldn't just give the bottle a good rough shake if what we wanted was air bubbles in the liquid . . .)

• El Escorial monastery. 

• "You're the wisest of the them all, Salomon."

          "Oh stop it, David. You're the wisest of them all."
          "Come on now you're flattering me. Look, I'm blushing. It's not good for my stony complexion."

• Valley of the Fallen. 

• Roller coaster ride up to the giant cross at the top? Where do I sign up?

• Snow! My native weather!

• Awwww. I have the cutest parents in the world. 

• Photo Wars, Episode II!

• Dad, the camera is not a toy. It's a high tech piece of machinery. 

• Welcome to the well-stocked bar of Museo Chicote, Ernest Hemingway's favorite bar in Madrid. 

• My mom as a hand model. She never told us. 

• If you had any doubts that we're related, I would like to submit this photograph as my singular piece of evidence to the court. 

• One more drink? Well don't mind if we do. 

• My parents may have helped me, but I am proud to say that I took down that entire skillet of paella. Jenny, I toast my glass to you. 

• The Roman aqueducts in Segovia!

• Dad steals a kiss!

• Episode III of Photo Wars! Does the intense action never end?!

• Views from off the balcony by the Segovian castle. Lovely scenery, even on a cloudy day. Ahh Spain. You are so photogenic. 

Morning Visit to the Spanish Stock Exchange
(March 8th)

• "Bolsa" is purse in Spanish. So this is pretty fitting sign for the entrance. However, I should note that in this context it changes meanings to "stock exchange". Still, interesting. 

• The Swiss flag, along with many other plaque-replicas of other countries adorn the walls of the interior room of the stock exchange. 

• Tom and Melanie getting excited as we wait for our tour guide to appear. 

• Deck shoes at the stock exchange! Wonder whose feet those are . . .

• Mom! The Spanish Stock Exchange also has those incredibly fake looking plastic trees! Now you can defend keeping them. Show this to Dad! :)

• Our tour guide was explaining how the stone work and window designs are all filled with significant symbolism. Here for example, the anchor means that the government is well grounded; I forget what the two serpents facing off mean, but the gear above them is the "wheel of industry"; and above those, two plentifully filled cornucopias. 

• Three different forms of the currency painted on the ceiling. 

• These are bullet holes in the glass from when the Stock Exchange was attacked during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). 

• View out one of the front windows on the second level. Across the street, hard to see through the trees is a large stone monument that has a torch in front of it, which burns constantly. 

• Melanie wants to work at a stock exchange so this visit was the equivalent for her of taking a five year old to Disney World. In a word: magical. 

• This side measures the humidity on the main floor, but the other three sides of this are all clocks. ("Tempestad" is humid while to the right side "muy seco" means very dry). 

• They had a display case of some of the old fashioned bonds! Note the currency: pesetas. Ahh the days before the euro. 

• Melanie interrogates the tour guide about how best to obtain a job working for a stock exchange. Tom zones out in the background. 

A Weekend in Barcelona
(March 1st through March 3rd, 2013)

• A view of the landscape on our way into Barcelona. 

• It was fairly windy on Friday when we came into the city, and pretty cloudy as well, though that soon cleared up and left us with a sunny Saturday and Sunday. 

• Creative architecture, brought to you by Barcelona. 

• This looks like a Slytherin emblem; I thought of you, Nick. 

• Farggi cafe got our breakfast business. After an eight hour bus ride and four hours or so since the last stop with food available, we came in pretty hungry. 

• 2.40 Euro for a cafe con leche and a croissant? Yes, please. Heart at no extra charge. 

• Our hostel lobby was very colorful and sported a variety of artistic themes. 

• More of the lobby. Note: the pictures don't always upload to the blog in the order they were taken. Not quite sure why, but some may be jumbled around a bit. 

• Let the walking tour begin!

• A few of the buildings were reminiscent of the Madrid style, but there are far less large buildings in Barcelona than the capital city. 

• A Gaudí designed building. 

• The street was bustling as we paused outside of the Gaudí building pictured above for pictures and facts from our tour guide. 

• I honestly do not remember the historical significance of this arch . . . 

• Just like our rent-a-bike system in Madison, the city of Barcelona also has many bikes available for residents or visitors. 

• Once through the arch, a wide paved boulevard of sorts opens up, lined on both sides by palm trees and magisterial-looking buildings. 

• Looking back the way I came. Sara's in the yellow coat, Audrey in the gray/white on the right, holding up her camera and most likely taking a shot of me taking a shot. Round and round we go. 

• Me and Audrey pose in front of a pillar decorated with statuettes. 

• One more shot back at the arch; notice the impending clouds. It rained quite a lot later that day. Luckily, although I forgot my umbrella back at the hostel, I was wearing a hoodie. 

• I've always admired stained glass. There was some beautiful work done in the Jewish Temple I visited about eight years ago for a friend's bat mitzvah. 

• Chandelier in a random church that we stopped to see. So many churches, so little time. 

• Once again, an example of the creative architecture of this port city. 

• What can I say? I really liked these blue donkeys. 

• All hail the ESN flag!

• Yet another church. 

• Can you tell it's Gaudí?

• And into the downtown district we go!

• Behold! La Sagrada Familía! This is by far Gaudí's crowning achievement. 

• Another of Gaudí's buildings. He loved Barcelona and the city loved him back. 

• The outside of the La Sagrada Familía is meant to look like melting rock. 

• On the front of the church, high up, is an evergreen which is meant to symbolize the Nativity. 

• Color enhancement mode went a little far here, but the day was so cloudy I was trying to show the true light brown color of the stone. It appears grayish in most of the photos and I wasn't able to take a completely accurate shot. 

• Inside La Sagrada Familía! Gaudí employed what is known as 'organic architecture'. Note how, in the imitation of nature as the name of this technique implies, the pillars look like trees with the main columns as the trunks and the splayed branches represented by the smaller columns. 

• This church is absolutely massive. It's very humbling simply standing near the center and being surrounded by this great piece of art. 

• The stained glass windows are still in progress, but one day all the windows that are now clear will also be decorated with rainbow hues. 

• We unfortunately weren't able to go up to this second level, but our view just from the ground floor was quite amazing. 

• Most beautiful ceiling I've ever seen. 

• Because there was a high illiteracy rate in Spain even at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th when Gaudí was designing and building the church, several of the major saints are depicted with figures like this stag (the wings represent sainthood or holiness). This particular symbol is for Saint Luke. 

• A small snack stand across the street from the back side of the church. I enjoy the juxtaposition of the old and the modern. 

• Construction of the church was postponed during the tumult of WWII but it resumed in the 1950's which is when this section, the back face of the church, was begun. Note the more modern design, employing basic geometric shapes. Some did not like this style and thought that the back ought to mirror the more Renaissance style of the front. However, given that the front is the birth of Christ and that the back is the death of Christ, the designers felt that the back needed to appear more stark and harsh so the plans were kept and the work continued.

• This is a model of what the church will look like when it's finished. Analysts are currently predicting 2026 for the end date. Our tour guide thought 2030 was being optimistic. 

• Evidence of the ongoing construction. 

• Columbus points to the New World!

• To the docks we go!

• Seaside shopping. 

• Lots of families were enjoying the waterside on Saturday as well, including this little girl on a scooter. 

• Ahhhh the Mediterranean. 

• Lily and Anissa (left to right) walking just ahead of me on our beach tour.

• A view from Parque Güell, also designed by the one and only Gaudí.

• Quite clearly, the park is a popular locale on sunny afternoons. The white benches warm up very nicely and some people even lie down and take naps!

• Let the climb begin!

• An upper view of the bench area below. 

• A view into the city. 

• Beautiful wildlife, no?

• Something just struck me about this archway. I had to take a shot. 

• Audrey and I exited the park for a moment to get a few pics of the street below. As you can see, lots of small cars here. And almost all are manual. Not good for automatic drivers such as myself. Guess we'll just have to depend on the public transportation here. Good thing there's an abundance!

• So fourth one from the right means no bongo drums allowed herein?

• Audrey and I hiked up to the very top of that pile of stones bedecked with several crosses for some amazing panoramas.

• But first! A guitarist playing some bluegrass tunes that reminded me not only of family trips down south, but of my brother and Grandpa who, like myself, love this style of music. Check the videos page for several clips of his music. 

• From atop the stone pile!

• Myself and Audrey. We're tired; give us a break. Behind us though, lovely as ever, the one and only Barcelona. 

• Over the ledge a view of the street. 

• Nice tile work, eh?

• Vendors selling lizard magnets! Tempting . . . 

• Mosaics just amaze me. All the time and painstaking effort that must go into those. 

• This park is wildly popular with both tourists and locals. 

• Would you guys consider this a "dragon"? Because that's what this is advertised as. Audrey and I weren't even sure we'd found the right thing when we got here until we compared with other ESN'ers later and found out this was it. Still, it's a neat piece. 

• This is just below that bench area from above. 

• On the way home, Lily and I were taking photos out of the windows of the bus as we admired the impending mountain. 

• Out of order, but these mosaics symbolize the different seasons. Here are pictured three. (One in the bottom left corner; see it?)

• The mountain!

• As twilight painted the world in pastel, we drove past a magnificent wind farm. Lovely. I love the irony here; while it was currently twilight, this represents the dawn of a new era of clean, safe energy. Go green!

Visit to the Palacio Real

(February 24th, 2013)

• Nice cream? Loved the name of this shop, and the giant 3D cone on the facade, but it was a little too chilly to stop for some helado. 

• A little ways up the street from the Opera Metro Station, one can see the Palacio Real between the buildings lining the street, directly up the middle. 

• Now a shot going the other way, towards the plaza that houses the Opera Metro Station. This area was very pricey in terms of the restaurants and shops; clearly it was an upper class neighborhood. To be expected living near the palace, right?

• This spot reminded me so strongly of an Italian cafe that Jenny and I have vowed to visit one day, that I felled compelled to take a photograph. What do you think, Jenny? :)

• Me! In front of another beautiful fountain and in the background, the palace!

• Facade of the shops directly across the street from the palace. I loved all the different colors. 

• The Royal Gardens were very well kept and are doubtless even more lovely when it's spring and the flowers have bloomed. One can still admire the acuteness of the shrubbery, however. It always amazes me how they can get those perfect geometric shapes out of a bush. 

• I have no idea who the two men statues are of. They looked fun to sit in between though. 

• Color enhancing mode! The red building was a bit overdone, but the rest of this shot looks as I remember it. The sun was on and off that day as we had a decent bit of cloud coverage; as such, shots vary in the coloration for this day, but most turned out fairly well. 

• The pigeons love this guy! Whoever he is . . . 

• What we thought was a government protest in front of the palace (an excellent venue, don't you think?) actually turned out to be a massive cooking competition!

• Ummm, can I get a slice of that pizza-looking thing? Please?

• The gates here were massive and the gold ornamentation on the fences and light posts definitely attracted our attention. 

• This is a giant cathedral opposite the castle and which we did not visit because there was a separate entrance fee. Perhaps at some point. 

• Quite  popular, the castle was busy the entire time we were there and it was a chilly Sunday afternoon. Still, the place seems to draw a decent crowd and the gift shop was doing well for itself too. 

• It looked as though it was going to storm at one point during our visit, but we got lucky. 

• Another shot of the church. Judging by the cranes in the background, there's some sort of renovation project going on. 

• The outer courtyard was enormous; archway after archway. One can only imagine the amount of stone it took to build this place. 

• What a pretty light post!

• A view to the surrounding countryside. Far, far off to the right, you can see the mountains past the horizon line. 

• Melanie was excited to get to the balcony and check out the view!

• The tranquil inner courtyard. 

• Man and women exiting to the outer courtyard. I thought the silhouettes were very picturesque. 

• No photographs were allowed inside the palace, but here I am, smiling away on an outer staircase, just before we concluded our two hour visit. Highly recommended to those who get the chance.