http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Calderon-Salmon-Travels/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Calderon Salmon Travels en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:04:35 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:04:35 +0000 We got up Wednesday morning and headed to the airport which was about fifteen minutes from our hotel. Our fairy tale of living in a foreign land has come to an end. We now shift our focus on the realities that have become our own lives. Since Yvonne was flying back separate from us on a different airline we went our separate ways at the Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Rome. Our flight was schedul http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-298256.html I don't think I have ever walked up and down so many stairwells through so many halls through so many corridors as we did to get to the glorious Sistine Chapel Michangelo's masterpiece Each hall and walkway had just thousands of pieces from ancient Rome. Art work marble furniture statues carvings mosiacs tapestries coins and what seemed like an unending number of interesting artifacts http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-298106.html Ahhhh....Roma The Eternal City. We finally get even with Rome. What a beautiful city. It seems everywhere in Rome there are sacred ruins that can be found strewn everywhere. RJ really loves this city says he want to go to school there. Yesterday as Yvonne previously mentioned we got to the Coliseum in the early evening after the last tour had long since finished and it seemed like we had http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-298095.html Tuesday July 7th 2008 We got up early in Florence Firenze and caught our train to Rome. It took us about five hours to get to our destination. Our train cabin reminded me of the old movies where you have six seats in a cabin facing each other with a sliding door that opened and closed. We met a young couple in their early 30's that were traveling to Rome for a couple of days. They were http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-298078.html Rome...we dont have our rental car so we can now be dependent on public transportation without headache on these crazy streets. NOT We made it on one of the few trains to Rome...why...there is a strike We booked our trip from Venice to Rome days before in anticipation of the rumors we heard. Lucky us cause all other trains were canceled. Well not so lucky. Not only were the trains on stri http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-297111.html After a long train ride from Florence to Venice we arrived in the afternoon around 3 oclock. We checked into our hotel so we could immediately site see. We stayed in a little city named Mestre just outside of the island of Venice. A bus from the front of our hotel that runs 24 hours took us across the bridge to Venice. We ate in a little restaurant there. I had sea bass with spaghetti in a f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-297107.html Just after we blogged you the other day Bob and I arrived back to our hotel to find out that Bertha fell in the bathtub. She fell against a fixture in the tub shower. Her ribs hurt and she has a bad bruise on her back about the size of a fist. Her neck hurt her a lot the next day but all in all she is ok. It could have been worse and we are thankful that it wasnt.Ice was sent up from the fron http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-297103.html We left Perugia one day early so we can stay the night in Florence. We made reservations to see the Gallery of Academia which houses the statue of David amongst other works of art from Michaelangelo. It really helped to have reservations because sometimes the wait is very long. It is hard to believe that some of these works of art date back to the time of Columbus. We were visiting the gallery http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-295402.html From Perugia we traveled in one day to Florence and then to Pisa. Bertha keeps calling it Pizza and we laugh everytime she says that. It was two and a half hours to Florence and one hour to Pisa on the train. From the train station we got on a the bus with all of the pick pocketers to the site. It amazes me that each time I see a site like Pisa that we've seen in books all this time it is rea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Pisa/blog-295398.html I cant be related to these people no way. They dont drink water they wait to eat at 4pm and make me suffer from hunger. Theyre like camels. ITs weird how everything closes from 1 to 4 in the afternoon but im starting to adjust so i have to plan out my snacks for myself because no one else seems to be hungary. I bought a guitar yea so wat. Im tired of everybody influencing me to not do what i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Umbria/Perugia/blog-295395.html Wednesday July 2 Bob Bertha and RJ stayed local around town in Perugia. I was not feeling well so I slept the entire day. Our days long starting as early as 730 am and not going to bed until 1230 or 1 am. While I slept they went to explore this little town. They went to the univerisity of Perugia which is an old castle type structure. There are beautiful botanical gardens there and had lu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-295390.html Tuesday We made a day trip to Assisi and stopped at Santa Maria de Angeli there. Amazingly huge church. This is where the tomb of the heart of St. Francis of Assisi's is kept. We bought many beautiful rosaries and souveniers including holy water. The original chapel sits actually in the middle of the huge basillica and has a one person pew on both sides. This truly is the largest church I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-294540.html Our accommodations in Perugia are quaint. It is a one bedroom cottage with the bedroom and bathroom upstairs and the living quarters downstairs including kitchen. Bob and RJ almost touch the ceiling with their heads and have bumped them entering the doorway. We believe that Americans are taller and larger than the average Italian. Under the age of thirty you dont see any fat Italians and just http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-294526.html After we left Rome we started to travel out of the city to find a hotel at approx. midnight. Bob was to just get the Hell out of there We traveled out of the city and found many hotels. Problem was that we could not get off the freeway. We could see the hotels from the freeway but we kept going around in circles and found ourselves back on the on ramp again. There are many toll roads which a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-293490.html We made it to Perugia on Sunday forgetting our own advice about never on Sunday. All businesses were closed like bus lines restaurants or any service oriented facility. About 1 30 we found a little cafe to eat what else pizza.Since everything was closed and no one could help us we decided to call a taxi to drive us to our time share in Perugia even though we had our rental car with us. T http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-293492.html RJ thought that Rome was the cooliest place because there were all young people everywhere. He thought that this could be a place he would want to live previously he thought that of Palermo..Naples...now Rome. While lost we drove by the Collosium more than once it was lit up and looked spectacular. Amazed that there were many ladies of the night soliciting business. Every corner we turned http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-293484.html We really hesitated about driving in Rome because of the traffic and the fact the streets split so many times and go in circles and could be one way. We had been doing well so far in now becoming fluent in what the traffic signs mean. Little did we know....Entering Rome was difficult. I am the map reader but sometimes the map is too general. This then requires Bertha to jump out of the car and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-293480.html Naples Saturday morning we ate breakfast in the hotel. Most often the hotels provide breakfast as part of your cost. We are finding that a good breakfast will sustain us best throughout the day. The night before we learned of where the City Tour was located for Naples. It was the same company as the tour we took in Palermo and we got a discount because we used them before.We sit on the open http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-293472.html We just got back from one of the places where the first pizza ever was made in Napoli I am sure 50 of the taste was attributed to the atmosphere but it was the best pizza I have ever eaten. Thin crust spicy salami basil pepperoni garlic. There is no such a thing as thick crust cheese filled pan crust crusts to choose from. Since it was about 9 pm it is kinda scary. There are stre http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Naples/blog-292557.html The cars we ve rented are miniature. Today we fit into a car similar to a Madza 3 but it was a Fiat. Four adults with two pieces of luggage each. No pick up and go in this car. It was the only rental available. Depending on how we rent the car the cost vary. We rented a car for 75 euros for 24 hours and only allowed us the distance of 200 kilometers. 75 euros equates to approx. 115 America http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Calabria/Cosenza/blog-292549.html