Whew! That is it!!!

I am up to date with the pictures. Check out the new ones below. Now everything from London through Venice, Lake Como, and Rome is up. I fell behind a little (wonder why?), but now I am back home resting and relaxing after all of the travel and returning to work. So, what is next??? Well, in 4 days Melanie arrives and we are going to do Paris, Mont. St. Michel, and Normandy up the French coast. So, more to come!!! Now, I have to clean the house!!!

London??

Wait, I thought that they went to Italy for a vacation, why are there pictures from London?? Well, we asked ourselves the same question when not but 12 hrs from arriving back in Amsterdam, we were on another plane to London. This time for a 4 day training course (that makes London and Moscow for training, beating Louisville and Cincinnati hands down). So, we decided to mix work and pleasure and stayed in the city for the weekend following the trainings. It was great to see some Ohio Valley faces at the training with Tony coming from Indy before going to San Paulo, Brent stopping by in route to Germany, and Ron in route to Moscow. I really enjoyed London, everyone spoke English and it was easily to get around. The food was different that I expected, but I was able to have my first Starbucks, and some great sushi as a place with a conveyer belt - which I have never seen before. There also is alot of history in London which I didn't really know about and the concept of a king and queen is really interesting to me. The buildings are all beautiful and different, so there is alot to see there. We also saw a show - the Mousetrap (the longest running show in London - the 21,995 episode). That said, the city is expensive. One might think that because the dollar converts to the pound at .5 meaning $2 = about 1 pound) that things would cost 1/2 as much, but they don't. They cost the same - which means it is freaking expensive. Carmel macchiato at Starbucks = 4 pounds = $8. Ouch. That said, it was a great time and a great place to visit. Now can we go home???

Derek and Ben

Brooke and Ben

Big Ben - it is amazing to hear the bells... I never would have thought I would see this....

Parliment and Big Ben. They have a great river walk which connected our hotel to all of this.

At night, what a sight!

At night - pretty cool

Funny taxi cabs to us Americans - traditional for the British...

Changing of the royal guard - happens at the queen's palace almost daily.

Wait a second, isn't Brooke supposed to have the map??

We aren't quite sure what this was - but it was a cool building and check out the London Eye in the background.

Famous Red telephone booths - they are all over the city...

That right... TO ALL TOURISTS... look to the right because the cars drive on the opposite side here!!!! (and notice it is raining - each time it started to rain, we stopped for coffee - I had my first Starbucks in 6 months!!!!

St. Pauls Cathedral - we climbed to the top of the spire in the middle of the picture for an awesome view of the city and attended a great evening choral service here

St. Paul's Cathedral

London Bridge is falling down... falling down....

Take a closer look at this bridge, it isn't going to fall down at all....

London tower - one of the first royal residences and fort during times of war. Currently houses the royal jewels (diamonds the size of your fist - amazing) and a ton of Englands history.

The history of the tower is told by a Beefeater - a former Royal Guard. They live at the tower. Our guide actually had guarded some of the prisoners at the tower when people were believed to be traitors. He doesn't look that old...

From the tower you can see London Bridge in the background as the Beefeater tells more gruesome stories.

I am actually surprized by the stories of killing and murder which occurred in London through the years. The kings and queens were believed to rule not only the people, money, and land, but also were thought to be the head of religons during their reign - meaning they ruled above God. Anyone that believed in God was convicted of being against the king and was brought here and killed on the grounds or on Execution hill - outside of the walls. Children as young as 13 were brought here, imprisoned, and executed.

Because this is royal property it is guarded by the Royal Guard. Yes, they do walk and move on the same beat, but I also can't help to notice the guns....

The queen's home on the grounds. She doesn't visit very often- we were told.

The main tower - includes the original home, including the chapel, living rooms, guard rooms, torture rooms etc. Everything a king must have.

The private church for the kings and queens within the main tower.

At the tower there were serveral ravens that lived on the grounds. Over time, the kings and queens began to believe that their authority to rule came from the birds and as long as there were 6 ravens at the tower, they would have power. Although claiming not to be superstitious in the current day, the Beefeaters have 8 ravens that live at the tower who are fed daily (and have their wings clipped so they can't fly away). Nice.

I noticed this sign after taking the picture... opps.

Rome

Rome was one of the places on my list to visit while in Europe although I knew very little about it as a city. It was added to our itinerary during this vacation as this is where we met our American friends, Erica and Erin, before they left for their 2 week European cruise. We spent only 2 days here. In hindsight, that was not near enough. This city has so much to see and experience (with such variety), it is unlike any other European city I have visited to date. From Vatican City - St. Peters (with Michelangelo's Pieta), the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel (amazing) and Roman Forum with the historical city ruins (which date back to the time men fought beast to the death - the Colosseum is over 2,000 years old!) - it is just amazing. You can't help but just walk around in awe of everything you see. So, a great chance to see our friends (which I can't believe that I don't have a picture of), however Rome remains on my list and I definitely will be going back. Check out the pictures below!

Rome....let's go!!!!

Brooke and Derek - in front of the War Memorial.

St. Peter's Basicica at night.

St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City. I can't believe that we are standing here, we just saw this on CNN with the death of Pope John Paul the II.

The main alter of St. Peters Basilica. The most impressive church on Earth. This canopy made by Bernini is 7 stories tall.

Within St. Peters Basilica. It is cool, quiet, and reflective.

Angels guard the holy water at the entrance of the St. Peters Basilica. These statues are as taller than me.

All of the popes are buried beneath the main alter. Notice the beautiful gold mosaic in the background.

Burial site of Pope John Paul the second.

Brooke at Trevi Foundation - completed in 1762 to celebrate the cities new aquaduct system. Water comes from 24 different spouts.

This is at the bottom of the Spanish steps a very famous part of Rome. We noticed this line to fill water bottles at the fountain at the bottom of the steps. We wondered if the water was clean enough to drink?? The guide books says that water coming from a spicket like this is cleaned. Erica and Erin wouldn't drink it, but I sure know the value of free water in Italy !!!

The water is actually coming out very fast, I was afraid to fall in!

Success!!!

Everything is so elaborate and detailed even though the scale is huge. The white marble is beautiful!

One of the many fountains in Rome.

The Rome war memorial. We walked to the top - over 300 steps, but a great view over the ruins. Most Romans think that this memorial is hideous, but the grand scale of it is consistent with everything else in Roman.

Brooke figuring out where we are going next and the history of where we were. This was the only place on the entire monument that you were allowed to sit down!

Roman city ruins

The Colosseum. We were going to tour this while in Rome, however Elton John was having a concert there the day we were there and they closed it. Can you believe that??

Roman ruins

Roman ruins in the middle of the city. It is just unbelievable.

A of the client in the tunnel that leads to the Sistine Chapel. The art is just unbelievable.

Some of the several statues within the Vatican Museum

Lake Como Italy

After spending 2 days and 2 nights in Venice, Italy, we traveled west by train through Milan to Lake Como. The largest and deepest lake in Italy, it sits at the base of the Swiss Alps surrounded by small towns and villages. From Venice with 500,000 residents to Varenna with 900 residents, this 4 day stay was the relaxing part of the vacation. It is amazing that both cities base their current livelihood on tourism, however, the towns near Lake Como are not filled with tourist booths crammed next to tourist booths selling seemly endless trinkets. Varenna was filled with local shops and local artists and craftsman who were interested in saying a few words before selling you a piece of art or jewelry. We enjoyed our time resting here. We read books, walked the city, and sat on the balcony of the hotel (Eremgo Gaudio) and watched the boats go by while discussing random thoughts and enjoying a cup of coffee. It was stunningly beautiful and absolutely great. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Ah... I wish I was back there. After our time here (including a day trip to see the Duomo and the Last Supper painting in Milan), we headed to Rome to tour the city and meet up with our friends Erica and Erin.

Lake Como