Week 15 July 21-26

This week was a short work week since we had the holiday and our trip to Rome.  Molly started her job this week, and we had a pretty lazy weekend.  It was very rainy and windy all of Saturday so we didn't venture out of the house too much.  On Sunday, we decided to go on a bike ride and adventure.  Our friends had mentioned the town of Lillo and the abandoned city of Doel to us on Friday night and this piqued our interest.  Lillo is located 18 km north of Antwerp.  After riding mostly through the port of Antwerp (think shipping yards, chemical plants, and refineries), we arrived at the very small community that contains a fort that Napoleon built when he was trying to conquer Belgium.  Lillo is about 4 square blocks with a handful of cafes and not much more.  There is a ferry from Lillo across the river Schelde to Doel.  Doel is an over 300 year old town that is now almost completely abandoned.  Doel lies on the river in the midst of the Antwerp harbor.  As the port expanded, Antwerp wanted to buy the land of Doel in the late 90's early 00's to make room for another container yard or ship dock.  Many residents took the port up on the monetary offer and left the city, but there were some people that refused.  Over the years, there have been many legal battles back and forth and the number of residents has continued to dwindle.  The town has gone from a little over 1,000 folks to now not quite 20!  Arriving off the ferry, we were not really sure what to expect, and honestly we were a little nervous.  The town is full of abandoned houses that have been covered with graffiti.  During the day, the town has a handful of tourists and families wandering about, but we decided we would probably not want to be one of the 20 remaining residents there after dark.  After reading more, we now discovered the citizens of Doel had originally planned the street art as an attempt to try to create a sort of outdoor, evolving museum with graffiti from famous artists throughout Europe.  While there was certainly some amazing art, it is obvious that Doel has also become a playground for the less talented graffiti artist/vandals.  With all of that said, we were struck by the oddity of an 'almost' abandoned city.  Taking away the graffiti and boarded up doors and windows, the houses could very easily be ours.  It is bizarre to think that in a matter of 15 years, a city can all but disappear.  

As we set out on our ride back to Antwerp, of course it decided to rain.  By the time we got home, we were soaking wet and freezing, but we had a great adventure in Doel.  

The nuclear power plant looms over the remaining residents of Doel

The town of Doel

The fort in Lillo

Riding in the rain!

A Friday night peek at the Church of our Lady in Antwerp

Check out what Molly found on a sweatshirt in Belgium!  Shout out to K-town!!!

Week 14 - July 13-21

This week, we had our first major European vacation to the fine city of Rome.  Tuesday was Belgium  National day (similar to 4th of July), so we had a 4 day weekend to make the best of.  We left out of Brussels late on Friday, to arrive in Rome around midnight.  It was a this point that we had our only negative experience in this wonderful city.  As we had researched, there are unscrupulous cab drivers who prey on sweet looking and naive tourists.   All our preparation and training completely deserted us when we were tired and travel weary.  Not only did the driver we selected scare the hell out of us by driving over 170 kph (105 mph) and making up lanes on any side of the road, he then pretended not to speak English and demanded 150% of the fixed airport rate.  To make it really insulting, he fast-fingered another 50 euro note from us as well.  In short, we got taken for a ride.

Enough about that, as it was truly the only negative part of the trip.  We stayed at a lovely B&B owned and operated by a mother-son team.  We only saw the son (Alessandro) once, but Mama Alessandro (we never learned her real name) was a wonderful hostess.  She spoke about as much English as we speak Italian, but we were always able to communicate in the end.  She was extremely helpful with instructing us how to get around the city, recommending neighborhood restaurants and gelaterias, and even arranging an early morning cab pickup for the return airport trip.

Our first stop on Saturday was the Vatican Museum.  One of Tyler's co-workers has suggested that we buy tickets on-line, and it turned out to be great advice.  The buy-at-the-door ticket line was a couple blocks long with no shade (it went over 100 degrees that day), where as we were able to pretty much stroll right in.  The museum is a wonder to behold.  The shear amount of priceless artwork is overwhelming.  Every wall and ceiling are also works of art.  Of course, the tour culminates at the Sistine Chapel.  The chapel itself is unbelievably beautiful, but sharing the space with hundreds of other visitors and security guards shouting repeatedly over a loud speaker (No Foto! No Foto! SHHHHH!) does dampen the potential reverence of the site.  From the museum we headed to St. Peter's Square and Basilica.  Our plan was to go into the Basilica, but the line was incredibly long (and you can't buy tickets ahead because it is free).  So we just hung out on the square for a while enjoying the view.  We took a quick stop for lunch, and then we headed for the Spanish Steps.  The heat had worn us down pretty well at this point, but we made it to the top of the Steps.  Next, the Trevi Fountain didn't take much of our time as it was under renovation.  The Pantheon was just a few blocks away, and we were so bummed to see that it was closed for a private ceremony.  We figured the only way to turn our luck around was Gelato.  Down a side street, we went to Giolitti, a neat gelateria where the guys behind the counter like to have a little fun with their patrons.  The gelato did the trick, as the Pantheon was just opening back up as we walked past.  An amazing structure to say the least, we felt we probably could have spent more time there, but we wanted to get headed towards dinner.  Our last site visit of the day was to Largo di Torre Argentina, which houses ruins of what they believe were Pagan temples, and now...lots of cats!  They have turned the site into a sanctuary for cats which helps the cats stay healthy and off the streets.  Dinner was at a great spot (Ai tre scalini) where the food and drink were amazing.

Vatican Museum courtyard of the pine cone

Hercules!

He was real tall

The ceiling... everything was art

Saint Peter's

Since the Pope can't be everywhere, we guess he ships some of his blessings 

The water fountains of Rome are AMAZING!  Very cold delicious water.

At the bottom of the Spanish Steps

And we made it.  When its 100 F, steps are hard!

Gelato!!!

We LOVE Gelato, and spared you from 10 other photos like this

The Pantheon

The dome of the Pantheon

The cats in their sanctuary among ruins

We planned Sunday's agenda starting with the Colosseum, then the Roman Forum/Pallatine Hill, and dinner in the Jewish quarter.  We had also purchased Colosseum tickets ahead and we arrived right when it opened, but even the ticket holding line was crazy long.  Instead of waiting in the line baking in the sun (if you haven't experienced it, July in Rome is a special kind of hot and humid, and this is coming from two Tennesseeans who know a bit about summer heat), we reversed the order and started with the Forum.  A great choice, since there was no line.  We took some more great Rome trip advice (from Molly's mom this time!), and we listened to Rick Steve's free podcast material on the Roman Forum.  It truly enhanced the experience and made the ruin and rubble come to life.  Between the audio tour and the relative lack of tourists (at least you aren't shoulder-to-shoulder), this site really captivated us.  We marched up Pallatine Hill for more breath-taking views of the Forum, and then took a break for lunch (and gelato of course).  The Colosseum lines had died down at this point, and we pretty much walked right in.  Rick Steves took us through this site as well, and he did not disappoint.  After the Colosseum, we wandered around just taking in the city and ended with dinner at Nonna Betta.  They are famous for their Jewish Italian food, with a specialty of artichokes prepared in every way you can imagine.

The Colosseum

Roman Forum

The Colosseum in the distance

Birds eye view of the Roman Forum

We are too nice to be Gladiators

Capitoline Hill

One of the many wedding photo shoots we witnessed while in Rome

The Colosseum at dusk

We haven't talked too much about food until this point, because that could be a whole blog post on its own. With our events on Monday, that becomes even more the case, as we went on a Food Tour!  We will list lots of the places below, but we highly recommend the experience.  We met our tour guide and group (8 others) in Testaccio, a neighborhood just south of the Tiber river.  The story of this section of Rome dates back to the Roman Empire (of course), where this neighborhood operated the largest river wharf.  All the food for the entire city was brought in through these docks in terracotta pots.  The jars that contained olive oil could only be used once and then were broken in the pieces to be disposed (Testaccio means little terracotta piece).  The discarded pottery pieces were all piled in the same area, and over time, they grew to be a substantial mound.  The ceramic hill rises above the otherwise flat neighborhood.  At any rate, the food and the tour were amazing.  We felt we got as close as possible to a true Italian eating experience.  The tour finished in a restaurant in the side of the pottery hill.  Many restaurants were built there when they discovered that underneath the piles of pottery the temperature is a constant 17 degrees Celsius (perfect for storing wine and for escaping the heat!).  Next we took in the Keyhole of Malta, a tiny but amazing view of the city, as well as the Orange Grove Park with a much larger and even more amazing view of the city.  We were pretty pooped at this point, but we thought we would try again to go inside St. Peter's Basilica.  We were so happy that we did.  The line was basically non-existent (an hour before close) and seeing the setting sun stream through the windows was breathtaking.  We did have to rush a bit (and we didn't have Rick S this time), but we hurried so we could climb to the top of the Basilica for the 360 degree view of Rome.  There was no better way to end the trip than with the gorgeous panoramic view of the setting sun against the whites, yellows, bronzes, and greens of Rome.

Market stall in Testaccio

Bruschetta!

Food Market

Terracotta pot mountain

The Keyhole 

Literally, just a key hole

But you can see St. Peter's Basilica perfectly!

View from Orange Grove Park

Swiss Guards

Inside the Basilica

The reward after 230 steps (and we were forced to take the elevator halfway!)

Us on top of the Basilica

A final great meal at Il Sorpasso, and we were back to the B&B to pack and get a few hours sleep before our early flight home.  Our feeble attempts to describe the majesty and excitement of Rome are insufficient to truly capture the experience.  This was a great first real European vacation for us, and we would highly recommend it to anyone (just pick the right cabs of course!).  We are exhausted after this adventure, but it left us even more excited for our next!

Links and restaurant names if you ever find yourself in Rome... Just GO!
1. Ai Tre Scalini- Delicious restaurant near the Colosseum but still off the beaten path.  Delicious dinner and wine for very affordable prices.  Tyler's favorite meal!
2. Eating Italy Food Tours- This food tour was incredible.  We went to 6 different local shops and tasted some great Italian food.  A history of Rome related to food is involved.  Small tour groups of 10-12 and it is out of the tourist heart of the city.  You get to experience the small neighborhood feel of Italy.
3. Volpetti- An incredible Italian market with all types of cheeses and meats.  Great local flavor of Italy and very friendly staff.
4. Flavio Al Velavevodetto- Restaurant built along the terracotta mountain.  A very cool atmosphere (temperature wise too!).  Delicious pasta and we assume everything else is good too!
5. Il Sorpasso- It's so good it doesn't need a website!  This was Molly's favorite meal!  We recommend the Apple desert and of course Caprese.  They also have many dried meats and cheeses that were delicious.