Pantheon

I'm no architect nor historian, but I have always thought that the Pantheon, the temple to all the gods, is the greatest and oldest of all extant buildings, the most ingenious of the classical era, begun by Augustus and completed by Hadrian, who, some say, designed the great dome himself; the grandeur of Rome all in one place. No photo can capture it. But it is worth many.

From the back side it's not all that impressive--ignoring the fact it's 2,000 years old

The facade, begun by Augustus and his chief architect and son-in-law, Marcus 
Agrippa, is more promising

It's when you stand at the great 20 foot original bronze doors and gaze up at the 
sunlight blazing through the oculum, 140 feet overhead, and understand that the 
width of the rotunda is exactly equal to its height...that it begins to overwhelm you

As I said, no photo can do it justice

1500 years after the Pantheon was built, Brunelleschi--
who was attempting the great dome in Florence--was 
permitted to drill into the Pantheon's dome to see how 
it was done; here, I think, are the holes he left 

Rafael's tomb

Another exterior view

Roman Roamin' III

Ruins of a podium temple in Hadrian's Forum

And rising among the columns, the greatest of

them all, Hadrian's Column, chronicling his

reign and conquests

Closer up for a smidgeon of detail

Moving right along, across the Piazza Venezia and up the

stairs of the Capitoline to the Piazza del Campidoglio; we'll

return in a week or so for the Capitoline Museum

Looking from the Campidoglio into the Foro Romano

Theatre of Marcellus, an example of building right over the

ruins

And just down the road, another Ionic/Corinthian/Baroque

Temple/Church, St. Nicholas in Prison

Interior

Campo di Fiore by day

And the Trevi Fountain

Closer-up

And the Spanish Steps, now in bloom

Roman Roamin' II

Another day's roaming.... By this time I had mastered Rome's Metro and bus systems and had purchased a week pass, allowing me to hop on and hop off all over the city.

Our campground--actually a camper-stop adjoined to a

camper storage site, more about which anon--is in southwest

Rome, a bit beyond the Laurentina station, in the EUR

suburbs of the city; the EUR, Exposizione Universale Roma,
was one of Mussolini's experiments in urban/suburban
planning, pushing Rome southwest of the old city; it was
to be home of the 1942 World Fair, but, alas, World War II
intervened; the EUR continued development after 1946 and
today is one of the city's newer if not nicer business/residential
areas

The Palazzo della Civita Italiana, EUR's major

landmark

Monument to the Universal Exposition Rome

that never was

Moving right along (on the Metro), the Circus Maximus, with

Nero's skyboxes overlooking (seriously)

The Piramide, a minor general's monument to

himself, an instance of Rome's 1st century BCE

infatuation with all things Egyptian

Driving past the immense Baths of Caraculla (been there,

done that)

Out on the Appian Way, the oldest and most famous of Roman

roads

Shrine on the Appian Way

The famous Domine, Quo Vadis? church

"Jeez, what are you doing here?!"

Another of the seeming hundreds of Egyptian

obelisks in Rome, this in the Piazza San

Giovanni; originally from Karnak, later in

the Circo Massimo

And, at the end of the day (before being stranded in the bus

strike), the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, oldest and most

important of the four papal churches in Rome (or anywhere in

the Roman Catholic world), officially, the Mother Church,

seat of the Bishop of Rome, aka, the Pope; it's way old, going

back to Constantine

Roman Roamin' I

Most of my time in Rome, awaiting Vicki's return, was spent in non-touristic activities: assorted repairs and maintenance of the Grey Wanderer, washing and waxing it, finding a lavanderia a gettone (coin wash) and doing the wash (finally, near Basilico San Paulo), dealing with my dead Asus eee 900 computer, trying to repair it, bussing to the internet shoppe to maintain connection with loved ones, dealing with jet-lag (the worst I have experienced; don't know why), trips to the grocery and other places. I have almost felt like I was becoming a resident, especially after working through a couple or more transportation worker strikes. (I had to take the taxi home from the Metro station one night.) Nevertheless, I did get out now and then to see bits of Rome. My first trip out was to get to the Beatification of John-Paul II at the Vatican. This was, of course, a very big deal in Rome. Alas, I did not actually get to the Mass, but somehow they carried on without me.

J-P2 mementos and souvenirs were everywhere;  Saturday

night a candle-light procession passed by the campground at

4AM; way out on the most distant edge of Rome

The whole city was covered in placards and

banners

At Piazza Reppublica the morning of the Beatification Mass

Transportation plan notices on the Metro that morning, in

Italian, English and Polish (he was Polish, bishop of Krakow)

J-P2 Event Staff at  the Lepanto Metro stop near (somewhat

near) the Vatican; this was as far as I got; unbeknownst to me,

and to other travelers and pilgrims, the transit system had

pulled busses off the outlying routes in order to provide

continuous free shuttles from Termini (grand central station)

to the Vatican; thus, despite waiting for a bus from 6:30AM, I

did not actually arrive in the Vatican area until after 11, when

the Mass was over (well, I was up that early because of jet-lag,

not devotion)

I could have been part of this

But I wasn't; I did admire the man, nonetheless, for his
international work, and particularly for his courageous
aiding and comforting the Polish revolution that overthrew
the communist regime there and led, fairly directly I believe,
to the overthrow of communism throughout eastern Europe

Dish Walk

One of the more popular recreational trails near Palo Alto is the Dish Hills Walk, up a low ridge west of the Stanford campus to The Dish, a radio-astronomy facility, a two-mile roller-coaster of a trail I enjoyed doing several times, the trail-head just a few hundred yards from Holly and Buzz's house, where we were staying. (Thanks, again, many thanks, Holly and Buzz).

Looking out across the Stanford campus to the Bay

South to San Jose; Obama visited Facebook while we were in

Palo Alto...saw the helicopters flying overhead...

And north to The City

"Yes, but the reception is great..."

Just like Montana

Vicious coastal ground squirrel



Moss Beach, CA

We're back in Rome again. I arrived the 29th of April and Vicki the 8th of May. Of course, nothing during our stay in California could surpass the birth of our grand-daughter Penelope, but, apart from helping Rebecca and Jeremy around the house and with their preparations, we did take a few day trips around Middle California, to Half Moon Bay, to Concord (for a crummy RV show), and all around Palo Alto and Menlo Park and Mountainview and Redwood City.

Moss Beach, at the northern end of Half Moon

Bay

Century-old cedars everywhere; Jeremy and Rebecca had their wedding and 
wedding photos done near here last June

Seals on the beach

Surf was up

Really up

Conglomerate

Everything abloom

Return to Rome

I arrived back in Rome Friday afternoon. Alas, there will be no extensive blog posts, and certainly no pix,  until Vicki gets back in a week. My computer died Saturday, and I am reliant now on such internet shoppes as I can find in town. Sic transit, Gloria. Meanwhile I am now en route to the beatification of Pope J-P2. When in Rome....

Grand-parents!

This morning, April 23rd, at 6:43 PDT, daughter Rebecca gave birth to Penelope, making Vicki and me first-time grand-parents. Mother, daughter, and dad Jeremy are all fine, if a bit fatigued. Penelope scored a 9.9 on the Apgar, and, so far, she likes to sleep. She was born 8 pounds 4 ounces, 19 inches long, a dark-haired beauty. No one who knows Rebecca will be surprised that Penelope was born on Shakespeare's birthday. Vicki and I are elated and so happy we made the journey from Rome for her birth. For the next several days we'll be helping the young family as we can. (Thank you Holly and Buzz for putting us up). I go back to Rome on April 28th, and Vicki will return on May 4th. A few more months of European touring, and we'll be ready for the next big family event: Rachel's wedding with Will in Missoula next August. It's been quite a year; and still going!

Penelope

And dad Jeremy

Penelope and Vicki

Grand-parents doting already

c