ok, so today is saturday, august 7, in the zear of our lord, 2010...daz 15 of 51
i cannot tell you how much it means to have friends following this blog and checking in either with emails, facebooks, or comments here...family...lifelong friends and new ones too
the past week has been very hectic...and i am of course behind...i know that i tend to ramble...anne harris told me in a facebook message a few minutes ago that shes enjoying mz rambles...well...more to come...i am about 20 pages in my journal behind in updating the blog...so here it goes...and what i dont finish in the am...may be several days because i am planning to take several overnight trains in a row...but that of course may change by morning.
also...while in oberammagau had difficulties with internet...had sent some posts to my email which i just uploaded...but a big chunk didnt make it...so that will come later as well.
1050 pm monday, 8-2
now on train 6 today heading to vernona, italy...hoping to get overnight to munich
lesson learned..when you know where you want to go...go ahead and make the danged plans
couldnt get anything into swityerland from montecarlo and and missed by just a few minutes train to nice which couldve connected
decided to go to milan...more trains there and truly thought the girl at the ticket counter was an idiot
determined on the way to milan to go to paris via overnight....waited in line 40 minutes...told had to get on train...to late to buy in teh station..where the hell am i...washington national airport
probably should have gone to paris from monte carlo
then realiyed overnight from verona to munich...too late to buy so jumped train at 1030 to verona...then hoped and prayed for spot on 1 am to munich
sat in compartment with 2 great milanese...not married...at least not to each other....and ok, not traveling togetzher either...we were just all in the same compartment
luigi...soccer league president, 12 squads, 12 yr olds...funny as shit...said i was fat...honest too i guess
marina...professor of biology at universitz.l..had done workshops at duke...she served as translator
great conversations
glad i brought a tide stick...quicklz removed ink stain from khaki shorts as i dont know when i will have another bidet-washing machien
didnt need my passport to enter or leave monoco...but did need it for the casino
8-4
the trip mondaz night was from hell...did make train to munich...got a lower berth with a mother and son heading back to amsterdam...they did not offer me any weed...hahahaha
no one came and checked tickets so effectivelz i guess i bummed the ride...though i do have of course the global eurail pass...a hobo if you will...glad i didnt have to jump the train
arrived no problems at 630 in munich...am...spent some time in internet cafe trying to catch up on blog...made some...not enough...headway
took subwaz to dracau...first o the nayi concentration camps on the site of a former munitions factory from wwi. when camp first started, locals glad for jobs, later, horrified taht their town would forever be linked to the terror which took place there.
it is designated todaz as teh dracau concentration camp and memorial site. when you enter the main gate, it appears as a fortress, heavy, menacing iron gates...once inside with a 180 degree veiw of most of the camp, firs thought was...how could all the torture, starvation, sickness and death have happened here? it looks like a park...you can almost imagine having a picnic...in some ways...was quiet...gorgeous trees..........but then...it sinks in...it did happen here...all due to he twisted, perverted demeaner of one sick jerk ...wanted to use another word...but my nephews and nieces are reading this...hitler and his s.s. ...and then you just want to vomit till there is nothing left but dry heaves.
dachau...pronounced duck-cau
at times the emotions were overwhelming...while i photographed some areas...i chose not to take shots of the dorms, locker rooms, crematoriums, gas chamber...ironically never used here...just didnt feel it appropriate
this was one site i was particularly glad i was alone on...something like this you dont need to be with others...or in a tour group...deal with the enormity of it alone
it is incomprehensible that hitler was allowed to take people...just because of who they were...not only jews, but priests, gays, gypsies, and POWs and submt them to medical experiments, starvation, slave labor, torture and ultimately execution
a friend recentlz told me of someone close to him who was subjected to medical experimentation bz the nazis in a concentration camp...she lived to be in her 80s...imagine living with those memories for so many years...how does one do it...forgetting...forgiveness...therapy
another recent story of a friend whose uncle was captured at normandy, spent the rest of the war in a camp...but made it out and lived a full life, never speaking of his experiences. remember, ross´s grandfather lived but 2 years after his experiences in a camp.
as they passed through the gates, prisoners were absolutely powerless to help themselves...stripped of property, rights, humility and became a number
with the camps, the nazis formed a reserve of labor...many needef for arms products. bmw also leased prisoners for airplain engine production...i wasnt clear if bmw used them as schindler did ...to try to save them...or rather as the japanese did our boys from bataan. side note...imagine that...when i toured walter reed hospital, the generators were made by mitsubishi which powered the hospital...i guess the army has either forgiven the company or forgotten.
while exiting the chapel, i tripped and fell in the gravel...no injuries...but as i was getting up, i thought, if, as a prisoner, i had fallen like this, accidently, perhaps while moving stones or some other chore, i likely would have been executed right there...shot dead as 4 o´clock, simply for falling
the grave of the unkown is quite beautiful...simple....with a wooden cross in a lush, green setting with moss growing from the arms of it...and a simple marble marker.
dachau left me emotionally and physically exhaused...took a gray line tour of the citz rather than hoofing it...hated to miss strolling around munichs central park nude but it was raining and no one was out...should have done it anyway...needed a shower
saw mainlz what i wanted to see form the coach
church of our lady with its twin domes
english garden
royal residence and garden
nymphenburg palace
and more
left george in a locker at the station and took day pack only to my home for the night, the tent.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
shopping, candles, nuns and more
so far 558 photos...have been through, deleted some and have made notes in my journal so that i can recall what ive seen where
have itchz feet, trip 20% done, time is moving...want to see, experience, feel it all
shopping...still no retail therapz...lots of tempations in florence, linen suits, shirts, great ties, silver...so far so good on that front...almost bought an incredible green tie...but other than a couple of funerals, have only worn a tie once since may 7...so it seems a total waste to buy a tie considering all in my closet collecting dust
ok. i dont understand the whole prayer candle thing. not sure if i told you or not..but after the big guy sent angelo to get me safely to ross and nonna, i determined to light candles in prayers of thanksgiving...rather than requests during my journey. some candles are votives...in red or clear plastic, an occasional one in glass, some in cheap tin foil...like muffin pans, others in tapers...some skinny like those country candles that people used to hang over a duck in their kitchen windows about 20 years ago, others more traditional but in different lengths, 10, 12, 14 inches. costs-offerings, vary as well...most often, 1 euro, sometimes though .40, .80, 1.50, and an astronomical 5 euro for a larger-3 in in glass jar type-at the cathedral in monte carlo. how to choose....spend more and get a better, faster response from God? i must admit that at a church with. 40 euro, i only had .30 in change and went ahead...but since more often than not i give a euro and often thats more than the suggested, hopefullz my tally will work out with the lords accountant.
on nuns. they were everywhere in rome...like ants. all siyes, ages and more variety in habits....cream, white, blue, navz, black, brown...headcoverings and necklaces varied as well. most, old and young alike, wear sensible, grandma style hosiery
have itchz feet, trip 20% done, time is moving...want to see, experience, feel it all
shopping...still no retail therapz...lots of tempations in florence, linen suits, shirts, great ties, silver...so far so good on that front...almost bought an incredible green tie...but other than a couple of funerals, have only worn a tie once since may 7...so it seems a total waste to buy a tie considering all in my closet collecting dust
ok. i dont understand the whole prayer candle thing. not sure if i told you or not..but after the big guy sent angelo to get me safely to ross and nonna, i determined to light candles in prayers of thanksgiving...rather than requests during my journey. some candles are votives...in red or clear plastic, an occasional one in glass, some in cheap tin foil...like muffin pans, others in tapers...some skinny like those country candles that people used to hang over a duck in their kitchen windows about 20 years ago, others more traditional but in different lengths, 10, 12, 14 inches. costs-offerings, vary as well...most often, 1 euro, sometimes though .40, .80, 1.50, and an astronomical 5 euro for a larger-3 in in glass jar type-at the cathedral in monte carlo. how to choose....spend more and get a better, faster response from God? i must admit that at a church with. 40 euro, i only had .30 in change and went ahead...but since more often than not i give a euro and often thats more than the suggested, hopefullz my tally will work out with the lords accountant.
on nuns. they were everywhere in rome...like ants. all siyes, ages and more variety in habits....cream, white, blue, navz, black, brown...headcoverings and necklaces varied as well. most, old and young alike, wear sensible, grandma style hosiery
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
catch up...5...rome
the roma pass was well worth the 25 euro...gave usage of all public transporation...metro and buses, plus 2 museums...plus most other museums a 30% discount. student discount didnt seem to matter much in rome...did use it this week somewhere...saved a euro...that 2 bottles of water...at a grocery store. my unc student id is good till 2012...yes!!
visited colosseum late in the day perfect...entry pass then good for the next day at the forum and pallentine hill. the colossem, when opened had 100 days of events, celebrations, gladiators. 5000 wild beasts were killed and lots of people too. must have been a lot cheaper than keeping prisoners on death row...but i digress. an impossing, impressive structure.
forum and pallentine hill...shouldnt be done in flip flops. most amayed at lack of security and guidance...seem to have the attidude that the remnants have been there this long, have at it...not like in florence at the accademia and uffiy. also amayed that so much was concentrated in such a small area ...from the temple of julius ceasar to his grave to the senate house to the temple of saturn and more....recalled bits of western civ from charlie holmes class...thanks to rebecca marlin bolton for getting me his address so i can send a postcard
used rick steves guidebook...most handz...for back door entrance to victor emmanuel monument...saved climing 242 steps
boghese gallerz fills a former cardinals mansion...grand art collection...but tours are stricktly timed every 2 hours...so dont get there early...cant talk your way into this place
tzpicall travel with my clock out on the train...without it i have no idea of the time...stopped wearing a watch when the battery died in october...times are tight you know...saving money on not buying a new battery...and didnt bring blackberry...clock actually not an alarm since the dang thing wont alarms...it will go back to rei upon return to raleighwood.
hard to saz what item-items are best in pack...water bottle is used most often...especially with all the clean water bursting forth from public fountains in italy...the rei wool socks are great...hankies have been mighty handy....zip loc bags in qt, gal and super sized also essential...note...the zipper does wear out....ma used to keep bunches of merita bread bags in the pantry which she used over and over...perhaps i should have brought along a dozen of those
hughie macdonald, brother of great college and to this day friend, trisha cox macdonald, loaned me the backpack, aka now as george. ive not seen another like it thus far. made by eagle creek, it is durable, lots of compartments with great straps and support...distributing the weight more to the hips than the back..and the hip strap comes around, covering the front pockets so there is protection from theivery from the pick pockets as well. camera, left pocket, wallet, right pocket.
visited colosseum late in the day perfect...entry pass then good for the next day at the forum and pallentine hill. the colossem, when opened had 100 days of events, celebrations, gladiators. 5000 wild beasts were killed and lots of people too. must have been a lot cheaper than keeping prisoners on death row...but i digress. an impossing, impressive structure.
forum and pallentine hill...shouldnt be done in flip flops. most amayed at lack of security and guidance...seem to have the attidude that the remnants have been there this long, have at it...not like in florence at the accademia and uffiy. also amayed that so much was concentrated in such a small area ...from the temple of julius ceasar to his grave to the senate house to the temple of saturn and more....recalled bits of western civ from charlie holmes class...thanks to rebecca marlin bolton for getting me his address so i can send a postcard
used rick steves guidebook...most handz...for back door entrance to victor emmanuel monument...saved climing 242 steps
boghese gallerz fills a former cardinals mansion...grand art collection...but tours are stricktly timed every 2 hours...so dont get there early...cant talk your way into this place
tzpicall travel with my clock out on the train...without it i have no idea of the time...stopped wearing a watch when the battery died in october...times are tight you know...saving money on not buying a new battery...and didnt bring blackberry...clock actually not an alarm since the dang thing wont alarms...it will go back to rei upon return to raleighwood.
hard to saz what item-items are best in pack...water bottle is used most often...especially with all the clean water bursting forth from public fountains in italy...the rei wool socks are great...hankies have been mighty handy....zip loc bags in qt, gal and super sized also essential...note...the zipper does wear out....ma used to keep bunches of merita bread bags in the pantry which she used over and over...perhaps i should have brought along a dozen of those
hughie macdonald, brother of great college and to this day friend, trisha cox macdonald, loaned me the backpack, aka now as george. ive not seen another like it thus far. made by eagle creek, it is durable, lots of compartments with great straps and support...distributing the weight more to the hips than the back..and the hip strap comes around, covering the front pockets so there is protection from theivery from the pick pockets as well. camera, left pocket, wallet, right pocket.
catch-up-4 florence
hopefully by the am i will be up to date...
missed the us cemetery in florence...totally forgot about it
walked the entire city...very doable...30 min from train to hostel santa monica...with 6 dorm rooms with 22 beds each...
wash own dishes in communal kitchen...macey paynter wouldnt have liked that.....who knows who ate off of it last...had a salad with proscutto, cheese and a bottle of wine, just over 8 euro...good deal
accamedia...glad i had an advance ticket and avoided the line...still crowded at 130...i mean 1330 pm...ed went at 9 and said it was virtuallz empty.
michaelanglo is the star here..his unfinished prisoners-slaves unbelievable...as if thez were trzing to break free from the stone--chains´´they were in.
it is hard to put david into wards. i had always thought of this work as just another naked guy...not so...very powerful...not just another statue with his junk on display. michaelangelos attention to detail...veins in hands and legs...cuticles of finernails, chips of toenails, musculature...is really beyond belief...and while david was 26, michaelangelo was in his 60s i think...he lived to be 89...and the piece of marble the statue was carved from had been rejected as imperfect or inadequate by 2 sculptors prior to m. its truly a shame that this work has been commercialized to a point of ridicule...ie aprons of the body...thats not what this statue is about.
museum of san marco..15th centurz monastary with walls decorated with fresco including the 43 sells...pretty impressive
church of san lorenyo...facade is ugly as unfinished...pope leo x pulled the plug on the cash...michaelangleo had worked on it for 4 yrs
missed the us cemetery in florence...totally forgot about it
walked the entire city...very doable...30 min from train to hostel santa monica...with 6 dorm rooms with 22 beds each...
wash own dishes in communal kitchen...macey paynter wouldnt have liked that.....who knows who ate off of it last...had a salad with proscutto, cheese and a bottle of wine, just over 8 euro...good deal
accamedia...glad i had an advance ticket and avoided the line...still crowded at 130...i mean 1330 pm...ed went at 9 and said it was virtuallz empty.
michaelanglo is the star here..his unfinished prisoners-slaves unbelievable...as if thez were trzing to break free from the stone--chains´´they were in.
it is hard to put david into wards. i had always thought of this work as just another naked guy...not so...very powerful...not just another statue with his junk on display. michaelangelos attention to detail...veins in hands and legs...cuticles of finernails, chips of toenails, musculature...is really beyond belief...and while david was 26, michaelangelo was in his 60s i think...he lived to be 89...and the piece of marble the statue was carved from had been rejected as imperfect or inadequate by 2 sculptors prior to m. its truly a shame that this work has been commercialized to a point of ridicule...ie aprons of the body...thats not what this statue is about.
museum of san marco..15th centurz monastary with walls decorated with fresco including the 43 sells...pretty impressive
church of san lorenyo...facade is ugly as unfinished...pope leo x pulled the plug on the cash...michaelangleo had worked on it for 4 yrs
catching up...still...4 florence
hopefully by the am i will be up to date...
missed the us cemetery in florence...totally forgot about it
walked the entire city...very doable...30 min from train to hostel santa monica...with 6 dorm rooms with 22 beds each...
wash own dishes in communal kitchen...macey paynter wouldnt have liked that.....who knows who ate off of it last...had a salad with proscutto, cheese and a bottle of wine, just over 8 euro...good deal
accamedia...glad i had an advance ticket and avoided the line...still crowded at 130...i mean 1330 pm...ed went at 9 and said it was virtuallz empty.
michaelanglo is the star here..his unfinished prisoners-slaves unbelievable...as if thez were trzing to break free from the stone--chains´´they were in.
it is hard to put david into wards. i had always thought of this work as just another naked guy...not so...very powerful...not just another statue with his junk on display. michaelangelos attention to detail...veins in hands and legs...cuticles of finernails, chips of toenails, musculature...is really beyond belief...and while david was 26, michaelangelo was in his 60s i think...he lived to be 89...and the piece of marble the statue was carved from had been rejected as imperfect or inadequate by 2 sculptors prior to m. its truly a shame that this work has been commercialized to a point of ridicule...ie aprons of the body...thats not what this statue is about.
museum of san marco..15th centurz monastary with walls decorated with fresco including the 43 sells...pretty impressive
church of san lorenyo...facade is ugly as unfinished...pope leo x pulled the plug on the cash...michaelangleo had worked on it for 4 yrs
santa croce...m buried here, galileo also...didnt buy any leather at leather school.
i sat down, removed rainbos, to cool mz feet on the marble, looked down and realyed i was resting my worn hooves on the grave of a pinelli....could it be an ancestor...as ma was a pinnell
medici chapel...burial site of medici familz...one of mz favs in florence...most incredible frescos seen thus far..in its dome...traces christianitz from creation... to resurrection...colors are stunning
duomo...citys cathedral...3rd longest nave in christiandom...facade covered in red, green and white marble
bargello...sculpture museum...incredible
ufizzi gallery...almost...no was...overwheming...so much fine art...my favorite was lippi´s adoration of the magi...much more so than da vince's
pitti palace...sumptous home to the medici and hapsburs....countless plational rooms, didnt see gardens...ed did...but he got eat up with mosquitos
santo spirito church...mz vaorite one in florence...2 blocks from home sweet hostel...carved wooden crucifis attributed to michaelangelo was on loan...but bright, light interior...along with the branacci chapel
on sat afternoon, walked, what a hike, up past he plaza of michaelangelo to the san miniato church, high on a hill above the citz...st. minias...martyred, died here, is buried here. 530 mass was gregorian changs...very relaxing and soothing...left after the sermon..with new friends mike and lindsay from vancouver... one of the monks kept blowing his nose, i think in an effort to get the preaching monk to sit down and shut it...as it was in either italian or latin, i didnt understand 99.44 of it...like ivory soap
walked with mike and lindsay down to the ponte vecchio briege...he is in real estate and reports that things are much better in canada than in the us...his is 50 and is at a simlar place in life as i have been in...both so very nice...told me about the cinque terra, inspiring me to drop venice and go there...i have to email them the info i have on restaurants i nparis for their time there
Monday, August 2, 2010
monte carlo
decided yesterday am to go to monte carlo...beautiful city...reminding me of napels, florida, very chic and upscale
toured the grimaldi palce including the throne room where there is an incredible portrait of the grimaldis done in 1981 a year before the death of princess grace.
i was at mary lou thompsons with momma the day of the crash...i think viv was getting a perm...if i remember correctly, mary lou had general hospital on and charlie gaddy interrupted programming to announce the accident
cathedral was ok...did see graves of grace and rainer
beautiful gardens below cathedral...filled with flowers and scupture...my favorite was -invitation-
onto the casino in my black tee shirt...amost didnt make it in...but talked the cloak room ladz mercedes into letting me in...she kept george for me...she had at first said he was too big and heavz
slots didnt reward me with enought to purchase one of the yachts in the harbor
while in milan, met nice familz from chicago who want to move to raleigh in a few years...shields pittman if you are reading tis, i gave them your cell number.
toured the grimaldi palce including the throne room where there is an incredible portrait of the grimaldis done in 1981 a year before the death of princess grace.
i was at mary lou thompsons with momma the day of the crash...i think viv was getting a perm...if i remember correctly, mary lou had general hospital on and charlie gaddy interrupted programming to announce the accident
cathedral was ok...did see graves of grace and rainer
beautiful gardens below cathedral...filled with flowers and scupture...my favorite was -invitation-
onto the casino in my black tee shirt...amost didnt make it in...but talked the cloak room ladz mercedes into letting me in...she kept george for me...she had at first said he was too big and heavz
slots didnt reward me with enought to purchase one of the yachts in the harbor
while in milan, met nice familz from chicago who want to move to raleigh in a few years...shields pittman if you are reading tis, i gave them your cell number.
catching up 3-cinque terra
in vandozza, tv in room, only thing i could follow was star wars...in italian of course...momma or katy jones or both took sarah, brad and me to see that at the embassy theatre in henderson....daddy later took us out of school one afternoon to meet darth vader at jcpenny...neighbor-friend julian perry arranged for us to make it to the head of the line
last time i saw star wars was with kate and kirk hazen when they lived at mrs whitfords on brehon street...we were having dinner and they were babysitting wil and lindsay...and kirk plugged in star wars...between the 3 older kids there that night, we knew every scene and most every word...good times...hard to believe wil and lindsay are now grown and maried
train to vandozza took us through a long, long tunnel, the boom, a view of the sea...amazing but onlz for a brief moment, not nearly enough to satisy...kind of like a first kiss...but definitely enought o peak interest
glad i remembered to mail postcards with italian stamps from genoa
trying to make it to oberammagau before truly doing laundry...but believe me...it it time...a real washing maching, lots of tide and agitation cyycles
noticed that not as many people smoke in florence as in rome
florence was incredible...they do need to work on the dog shit problem...it is everywhere....must be related to my former neighbor in raleigh...hahaha
gelato is everywhere...have...in the main...resisted the tempations...had great peach yesterdaz but truthfully would prefer a freezer of lou ann elams froyen custard or wendy shorts chocolate
last time i saw star wars was with kate and kirk hazen when they lived at mrs whitfords on brehon street...we were having dinner and they were babysitting wil and lindsay...and kirk plugged in star wars...between the 3 older kids there that night, we knew every scene and most every word...good times...hard to believe wil and lindsay are now grown and maried
train to vandozza took us through a long, long tunnel, the boom, a view of the sea...amazing but onlz for a brief moment, not nearly enough to satisy...kind of like a first kiss...but definitely enought o peak interest
glad i remembered to mail postcards with italian stamps from genoa
trying to make it to oberammagau before truly doing laundry...but believe me...it it time...a real washing maching, lots of tide and agitation cyycles
noticed that not as many people smoke in florence as in rome
florence was incredible...they do need to work on the dog shit problem...it is everywhere....must be related to my former neighbor in raleigh...hahaha
gelato is everywhere...have...in the main...resisted the tempations...had great peach yesterdaz but truthfully would prefer a freezer of lou ann elams froyen custard or wendy shorts chocolate
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