Saturday Beth and I along with the Pizzuto's went hiking to the Kreuzberg. It started with a 10km hike to the valley of the MT. The girls hiked around the area while the guys did some Klettern (rock climbing).
This is the hike in. You will notice our elevation gain was over 1080meters. The girls did some additional climbing bringing them to a height of 2122meters - which was higher than the boys. The Garmin site converted this all for you to units you can relate to.
The video below is the same rock climb that Gus and Brian did. We climbed a ridge that was very narrow as you will see in the video.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Italy with the Campbells - Rome Day 2
Our second day in Rome was packed full of big tourist sites...the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.
We started with the Colosseum which was quite impressive! It was much bigger than I thought it would be. I think that we were most impressed with the underground section where people and animals were kept for the fights. There were so many different hallways for them to go through and get up onto the stage.
Brian and Ben had to have a "fight" while they were in the Colosseum. I'm not sure who won!
We then headed across the street to the Roman Forum which is a large area of ruins from around the time of Paul. It was interesting to see so many ruins in one place and to think that Paul could have walked where we were walking.
We then headed to the Pantheon which is a church with a domed roof. The roof is made out of concrete and has lasted hundreds of years. There is an occulus (a big hole) in the center of the roof and the sunlight was shining through when we were there. I wondered what happens when it rains, but saw drains in the floor to take care of the extra water.
We walked next to Piazza Navona which is a big square with several statues in it. There also were a lot of artists selling their hand-drawn pictures there and we enjoyed watching them work.
Our next stop was a very touristy place, Trevi Fountain. This is a big fountain on the back side of a building in a place that you really don't expect to see such a large fountain. We had some gelato while we sat and people-watched at the fountain before taking some of our own pictures.
Our last stop for the day was the Spanish Steps. This is just what it sounds like - a whole bunch of steps! They are called the Spanish Steps because they are near the Spanish embassy in Rome, but really have nothing to do with Spain. We went all the way up to say we had done it.
We then headed back to the campground and decided that we would head back to FN the next day. We had originally planned to stay another day in Rome, but we had seen everything that we wanted to. It was a good idea though because then we would have a day to relax before a bit more sightseeing before Ben and Laura left to go back home.
We started with the Colosseum which was quite impressive! It was much bigger than I thought it would be. I think that we were most impressed with the underground section where people and animals were kept for the fights. There were so many different hallways for them to go through and get up onto the stage.
Brian and Ben had to have a "fight" while they were in the Colosseum. I'm not sure who won!
We then headed across the street to the Roman Forum which is a large area of ruins from around the time of Paul. It was interesting to see so many ruins in one place and to think that Paul could have walked where we were walking.
We then headed to the Pantheon which is a church with a domed roof. The roof is made out of concrete and has lasted hundreds of years. There is an occulus (a big hole) in the center of the roof and the sunlight was shining through when we were there. I wondered what happens when it rains, but saw drains in the floor to take care of the extra water.
We walked next to Piazza Navona which is a big square with several statues in it. There also were a lot of artists selling their hand-drawn pictures there and we enjoyed watching them work.
Our next stop was a very touristy place, Trevi Fountain. This is a big fountain on the back side of a building in a place that you really don't expect to see such a large fountain. We had some gelato while we sat and people-watched at the fountain before taking some of our own pictures.
Our last stop for the day was the Spanish Steps. This is just what it sounds like - a whole bunch of steps! They are called the Spanish Steps because they are near the Spanish embassy in Rome, but really have nothing to do with Spain. We went all the way up to say we had done it.
We then headed back to the campground and decided that we would head back to FN the next day. We had originally planned to stay another day in Rome, but we had seen everything that we wanted to. It was a good idea though because then we would have a day to relax before a bit more sightseeing before Ben and Laura left to go back home.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Italy with the Campbells - Rome Day 1
After a rainy night at the campground, we awoke to a dry morning for our first day in Rome. We took the campground bus to the train station and then got on a train that to us to the main station in Rome. We then figured out the Metro and got ourselves nearer to Vatican City where we were going to spend the day.
We headed to the Vatican Museum first. My favorite part of this was the temporary display of Faberge eggs that were on display. The storied behind them all was fascinating as well as looking at all the tiny pieces of each one. Never in my life did I think I would see things so delicate!
The other part of the Vatican Museum that was pretty cool was the Sistine Chapel, but we weren't allowed to talk or take pictures in there. It was bigger than I had expected, but I was hoping that we could take some pictures in it.
After seeing the Vatican Museum, we headed to St. Peter's Square where we had lunch and people-watched for a bit.
We then went into St. Peter's Basilica and walked around it for a while. This is definitely the biggest church we've been in so far! I sent a postcard from the Vatican to my former boss which was interesting because Vatican City has it's own post office. We then had to take some pictures with St. Peter's in the background.
From St. Peter's, we headed down the road to look at a few other buildings and some squares. The thing that struck me the most was the amount of Egyptian obelisks decorating various squares throughout the city. We took pictures of every one we saw so that we could show them to my mom's class since they study Egypt in 3rd grade.
After a full day in Rome, we headed back to the campground by Metro, train, and bus. We ate dinner at the campground restaurant and it was excellent! Who knew that a campground could have such good food! We all enjoyed our food and then took the rest of the evening to relax before heading out to another full day in Rome.
We headed to the Vatican Museum first. My favorite part of this was the temporary display of Faberge eggs that were on display. The storied behind them all was fascinating as well as looking at all the tiny pieces of each one. Never in my life did I think I would see things so delicate!
The other part of the Vatican Museum that was pretty cool was the Sistine Chapel, but we weren't allowed to talk or take pictures in there. It was bigger than I had expected, but I was hoping that we could take some pictures in it.
After seeing the Vatican Museum, we headed to St. Peter's Square where we had lunch and people-watched for a bit.
We then went into St. Peter's Basilica and walked around it for a while. This is definitely the biggest church we've been in so far! I sent a postcard from the Vatican to my former boss which was interesting because Vatican City has it's own post office. We then had to take some pictures with St. Peter's in the background.
From St. Peter's, we headed down the road to look at a few other buildings and some squares. The thing that struck me the most was the amount of Egyptian obelisks decorating various squares throughout the city. We took pictures of every one we saw so that we could show them to my mom's class since they study Egypt in 3rd grade.
After a full day in Rome, we headed back to the campground by Metro, train, and bus. We ate dinner at the campground restaurant and it was excellent! Who knew that a campground could have such good food! We all enjoyed our food and then took the rest of the evening to relax before heading out to another full day in Rome.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Italy with the Campbells - Venice to Rome
Now that we have no more guests in the foreseeable future, I have time to update the blog again! Since the Campbells were here, we've had 4 groups of visitors, but I'll keep things going in order so that I don't jump around too much and forget something!
On Wednesday, after a day in Venice, we made our way to Rome by way of Florence. The car rides were pretty uneventful and it was nice to be able to stop in Florence around lunch time. We had to eat at McDonald's so that we could count Italy into our list of countries where we have eaten in McDonald's. Laura had been to Florence before, so she knew what were the most impressive things to see and became our tour guide for the day. We first went to the Duomo which is a big church with a tower in the center of town. This church was quite impressive!
After going inside the Duomo and deciding that the line to go up in the dome was too long for the amount of time we had in Florence, we decided to check out a few more churches. We then went to the Medici church and library. Of course, I had to take a picture by the library sign! This church was fun for me because I had listened to a history podcast of the Medici family and could now picture where the things had happened that were talked about in the podcast. We then saw another church, but I don't remember which one it was.
After a quick tour of Florence, we headed the rest of the way to Rome, but by the time we arrived it was raining quite hard. We were supposed to be camping in a tent while we were in Rome, but none of us wanted to set up the tent in the rain and then sleep on the wet ground. Brian went to talk to the guy in charge of the campground and discovered that they have trailers that you can rent out to stay in. We ended up getting 2 rooms each with a bathroom to stay in while we were in Rome. It was nice to be inside out of the rain and to have our own bathrooms. The campground was very nice complete with its own restaurant!
On Wednesday, after a day in Venice, we made our way to Rome by way of Florence. The car rides were pretty uneventful and it was nice to be able to stop in Florence around lunch time. We had to eat at McDonald's so that we could count Italy into our list of countries where we have eaten in McDonald's. Laura had been to Florence before, so she knew what were the most impressive things to see and became our tour guide for the day. We first went to the Duomo which is a big church with a tower in the center of town. This church was quite impressive!
After going inside the Duomo and deciding that the line to go up in the dome was too long for the amount of time we had in Florence, we decided to check out a few more churches. We then went to the Medici church and library. Of course, I had to take a picture by the library sign! This church was fun for me because I had listened to a history podcast of the Medici family and could now picture where the things had happened that were talked about in the podcast. We then saw another church, but I don't remember which one it was.
After a quick tour of Florence, we headed the rest of the way to Rome, but by the time we arrived it was raining quite hard. We were supposed to be camping in a tent while we were in Rome, but none of us wanted to set up the tent in the rain and then sleep on the wet ground. Brian went to talk to the guy in charge of the campground and discovered that they have trailers that you can rent out to stay in. We ended up getting 2 rooms each with a bathroom to stay in while we were in Rome. It was nice to be inside out of the rain and to have our own bathrooms. The campground was very nice complete with its own restaurant!
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