Fernweh

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My Catholic Pilgrimage

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I'm Catholic(ish). I was raised VERY catholic; church every Sunday, first communion, confession, Sunday school, observed lent (even the whole abstain from meat on Fridays part), christian summer camps, conformation, est. Now? Meh, not so much, BUT how could I come to Rome and NOT go to the Vatican?! During HOLY WEEK??? The Catholic guilt would be too much. With Grayson in tow and D's aversion to big crowds (it's weird Howard thing *COUGH* Carrie *COUGH*), we opted for the early entrance (7:15am) with breakfast. Post breakfast we were set free in the museums an hour early before the general public, so we dashed for the Sistine Chapel to avoid the crowds. It was awe inspiring. Stunning. Mind-blowing to think that it was painted in 4-years, by an inexperienced painter who was known for his sculptures. In summary, after spending all day at the Vatican, what I learned was the Vatican kicks ass at ceiling art. To be fair, the Church has never been know
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All Roads Lead to Rome

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Well, in this case, trains. ROME! Such a cool city. Within a very short period of time, Duane and I both gravitated to the city and the vibe. We set down our bags in our apartment and set off for the afternoon. Immediately after we crossed the Tiber River, in a small square there was a man who was blowing bubbled for children so we let Gray play. I think it was probably the highlight of his trip. Endless giggles, squeals of delight, and ear to ear smiles. After dragging G away. We hiked up Gianicolo Park - the eighth hill of Rome - for some of the best views in the city. Tuesday, we took a free tour and learned a bit more about the cities history. Tiber River....also, the original height of Rome Castel Sant'Angelo Pantheon, the temple of every god, is a former Roman temple from 126 AD (no big deal or anything), and is now a church and is is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings. Trevi Fountain Note t
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Grand Palace, Wat Arun and Wat Pho

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The last two days have been extremely full with adventure, eating and exploring. Yesterday we (and what seemed like half of China) started off the very warm day at the Grand Palace. The palace was the official residence of the Kings of Thailand and is made up of numerous buildings, halls, pavilions set around open lawns and gardens. the most holy Emerald (made of jade) Buddha Next, we headed off to Wat Pho, which was just down the road (after grabbing a much needed fresh fruit juice, the stuff is everywhere and is amazing). This temple is famous for the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Within each temple there are different shrines to Buddha for different things, business, love, mother nature, success, health, ect. For the Chinese New Year, high level monks were giving blessings to people, so to take advantage of the rare opportunity, Duane and I stood in line to receive a blessing which was pretty cool. the famous Reclining Buddha In t
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