Spring in Arkansas

Well, the weather had been crappy all day - rainy and overcast.

But this evening the sun broke through and lit up the soft green colors of spring beautifully.

Click to enlarge.









I think this picture is actually nicer.

So last weekend we took a drive in the countryside. As we passed this barn I commented on the weather vane on the roof. Margot said she thought it was a bird.

Sure enough - it was a turkey vulture sunning himself. The temps were pleasant but a little cool. I imagine the rusted roof was nice and warm.

Mediterranean Cruise - Day 5 - Rome

On the fifth day the ship docked near Rome. We took an early bus ride to the city.

This is a picture of the courtyard at the Vatican Museum.

Our first stop was a walk to the Trevi fountain. The fountain is under reconstruction so no pictures. It was filled with scaffolding instead of water.

This is a street sign near the fountain.

Later we headed to the center of ancient Rome. This is the Forum of Peace from the late imperial period. It was built by Emperor Vespasian between 71 and 75 AD to commemorate the Roman victory in Judea of 70 AD. Some of these ruins just came to light during  excavations in 2000.

The sort of block buildings are part of the Curia Julia built in 44 BC. It is the Senate House built by Julius Caesar. It survived more or less intact because it was incorporated into the basilica of Sant'Adriano al Foro in the 7th century.

This is, of course, the Colosseum. It was finished in 80 AD. The exterior is being cleaned. If you click on the picture you can see to difference in the before and after. There were a lot of people waiting to get in.

This is the Arch of Constantine built in about 315 A.D. to commemorate a victory. It had a similar function as the Arc de Triumphe in Paris. The emperor and his army would march through when returning from battle.

These modern day gladiators were posing for pictures.I assume they will put the cell phone away if you ask for them to pose.

Sue and Bob at the Colosseum.

Margot and me posing.

I don't remember the name of this area but the open area in front of the ruins was used for chariot races.

I took this picture from the bus as we crossed the Tiber river into Vatican City.

We didn't see any of the Swiss guards in their fancy dress. This guy was controlling access at Via Sant'Anna.

This is the Vatican Museum or I should say one tiny part of the museum. The amount ot statuary and other art was incredible. There were a lot of people there, too.

Many of the ceilings were beautifully painted.

Click to enlarge.

Lots of statuary. If you can read Latin please click on the picture and let me know what it says.

Another ceiling.

This is a tapestry from Brussels.

I assume it is Jesus leaving his tomb on the 3rd day.

The entire ceiling in this corridor was painted.

We had to rush through. You could spent days, weeks, months studying all the things there.

This is the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. They are terrible photos since I had to sneak them. Photography is strictly prohibited. Not sure why but probably to keep the visitors moving. It was very crowded. Or maybe somebody decided it detracts from the decorum or somehow desecrates the chapel. Anyway there are a lot better pictures online if you want a refresher in the iconography of Michangelo's work. He painted the ceiling from 1508 to 1512.

 More from the Sistine Chapel.

This small statue was a gift to one of the Popes.

I thought the stained glass was just stunning.

This is Piazza San Pietro or Saint Peter's Square.

 This is Saint Peter's Cathedral. That is the Sistine Chapel just to the right with the peaked roof.

I was a beautiful day.

This farm was along the road back to the ship. Those are colorful beehives I believe.

Mediterranean Cruise - Day 4 Afternoon - Pisa

After lunch at a small cafe on the street in Lucca. We got back on the bus and headed to Pisa.

This is the view that greeted us as we entered through the wall around the Piazza dei Miracoli.

Everyone talks about the leaning tower but the first building you see is the Pisa Baptistery of St. John. I was completed in 1363. It has a slight lean to it also.

There is a large cathedral between the baptistery and the famous tower.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral. I hadn't thought about this before but the tower leans in only one direction. As you walk around it the amount apparent lean changes to almost imperceptible.

It is harder to see from this angle but if you click on the picture above you can see that an attempt was made to straighten the tower after the first few floors were built. The results in the curved appearance. However the tower continue to lean more as the higher floors were built.

The tower used to lean 5 degrees but after some restoration and preservation work in the 1990s the lean is about 4 degrees. That means the top is about 13 ft off from the base.

We stopped for a break under this olive tree in a small cafe.

The tower construction start in 1173 but was halted for almost 100 years in 1175. The long break was because of almost constant wars between the Republics of Pisa, Genoa, Florence and Lucca.

In 1272 construction was restarted and the curve was added to compensate. Construction halted again in 1284 and the 7th floor was finally completed in 1319. The bell chamber was added in 1372.

This is the wall neat the entrance. There is Piazza dei Miracoli includes a huge lawn around the buildings.

This is the wall on the outside. I thought the plants growing out of the wall were interesting.

There is additional interesting history from modern time at Wikipedia.

If you missed any and want to catch up on the other postings in this series here are links.
Day 4 morning - Lucca
Day 3 - Cassis
Day 2 - Palma de Mallorca
Day 1 - Barcelona