Return To Rome, Italy, Europe, 2019

After another week in Middle California, puttering and packing and putting Le Sport into storage, Level airlines (a subsidiary of Iberia, which is a subsidiary of British Air, which is a subsidiary of...who knows) jetted us to Barcelona and then to Rome. Black Lane got us from Fiumi to Rebecca's apartment near the Campo dei Fiore, where we spent our first night. (Rebecca, Jeremy, and grand-daughter Penelope--La Familia Sabbatica--had preceded us to Rome by a couple days). Next morning Black Lane transported us and our luggage to Prato Smeraldo, the Emerald Meadow, where we got Le Duc, our European camper, out of storage and onto a campsite. The next couple days we spent getting all of Le Duc's systems up and running, unpacking, moving back in, re-acclimatizing to Europe and its ways, and dealing with the customary 9 hour jet-lag. We got into the city on several occasions, some to be with the family and Penelope, some to do more of our own touring, some for administrative purposes. See below.

La Familia Sabbatica in Rome; Rebecca's blog is SherouseHouse.com

Storefront near Rebecca's apartamiento on Via dei Giubbonari; we're working on P's
recognition of capitals (a. Doric b. Ionian c. Corinthian d. none of the above)

English poets are still frequenting Rome 

Something you'd never see in the US; well, maybe at the White House

In the courtyard on a nearby street

Garden centers double as pet stores in Italy; here I'm walking by one on the way
to the supermercato; half of the garden center is today serving as a canine boot camp

Scores of them, mostly golden retrievers, a few black labs, listening intently, taking
notes, wondering what the treat will be

We visited the Sunday antique market at Porta Portese with Rebecca and P

T-shirt in the market: having endured Berlusconi for some years,
Italians can understand our shame

Silver pizza cutter

The bakery Roscioli just around the corner from the apartment (a Fatamorgana was
just a bit further down the alley)

Yes, we're in Rome

Intrepid Penelope at the Bocca della Veritas

At the Circo Massimo

Imperial sky boxes above the Circo

All Rome abloom; we'll be following the bloom north all the way into the UK

En route with Penelope to the church of San Clemente (next post)

Disneyland, 2019, Part II

Among the attractions attracting and rides ridden (several more than once) were the Main Street Horse-drawn Streetcar, Pirates of the Caribbean (P's favorite), Haunted Mansion (not P's favorite), Splash Mountain, Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse, Tom Sawyer Island, Fantasmic, Mark Twain Riverboat, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, It's a Small World, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Monsters, Inc., Frozen, Luigi's Rollicking Roadsters, Radiator Springs Racers, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Soarin', Toy Story Midway Mania, Little Mermaid, World of Color; and more.

Nice meal at the Carthay Circle; and other places

At the World of Color extravaganza one evening: the group in front of us had
purchased the ear head-sets that change color in response to surroundings...
cracked me up...all adults

Cinderella's Castle under renovation

No Mal de Debarquement Syndrome here

Readying for blast-off

Columbia, great sailing ship

Cinderella?

Wait a second! Isn't someone supposed to be steering this thing?

Later that evening, manned by pirates (of the Caribbean), in Fantasmic

Mickey in historic role

Dragon fire on the water in Fantasmic; which was actually good, I thought;
World of Color, not so much

Happy ending: all the characters riding by, waving, dancing

Jack the Pirate

More night-time extravaganza, projection onto fountain spray

And, of course, three nights of fireworks

Disneyland, 2019, Part I

In mid-March Vicki, Penelope, and I visited Disneyland again. Three days. One of their favorite places. I was happy to serve in my usual role as chauffeur, porter, photographer, and sometime place-holder in lines. And to see all the happy people, especially the loved ones. In moments of quiet, I confess, I am strangely drawn to Disney; but there never have been any quiet moments (to paraphrase a favorite line); the din is constant, never-ending. Anyhow, the weather was near perfect, the lines were not too long, Vicki was able to use the fast-pass and related opportunities expertly, and 7-year-old Penelope never tired at all, insisting we stay until closing Saturday night to do the Jungle Cruise (my favorite) just one more time (our fifth). All in all it was a great visit.

At the entrance

Anticipation; interestingly, we spent most of the three days at the California
Adventure

After Elasti-Person, she sort of lost interest in the
characters; probably didn't want to lose ride time

Pulling a fast pass via the max pass

Old favorite

From the bridge of the riverboat Mark Twain

Occasionally the souvenirs were amusing; my favorite was
"The mountains are calling: Thunder Mountain, Space
Mountain, Splash Mountain"

Vicki and P did the live on-stage Frozen

Happy ending

Aboard the ferris wheel

Thus

Matterhorn with the San Gabriels in the background

Helpful model of part of California Adventure

On Splash Mountain, the final dive, Vicki trying to protect her contacts

At the World of Color, one evening...projecting onto spray from the fountains

Poppy Peeping

A week after Rebecca and family returned from New Zealand, we took grand-daughter Penelope on a road trip to Southern California, in part to visit Vicki's brother Bob and his wife Beth near San Diego, but also to visit Disneyland. Along the way, we took in the "super bloom" going on in the mountains east of LA. California, and particularly southern California, had an unusually wet winter, bringing on a super abundance of spring wild flowers, mostly orange poppies. For an afternoon, we joined the throng viewing them--two weeks ago before the throng got really big--and took in a marvelous natural view at Walker Canyon.

Throng: the access road was a miles-long parking lot; the exit lane from I-15 was
backed up more than a mile, and barely moving; but we got in and got to see
it close up

Pano