Spring Break 2005!
Rome, Italy & Valencia, Spain
Amber and I's first hostel in Rome (long story but we had to switch a couple times).
One of Rome's many basilicas.
Me posing in front of the basilica.
Amber and Aaron posing in front of said basilica.
The front of the basilica (we thought we were posing in the front but it turns out it was the back).
The fountain in front of the basilica.
Inside the basilica (tour guide's head on the left, Aaron's head on the right).
Candles and other 'sacred' stuff inside.
Inside this building are the steps that Jesus supposedly took during his trial with Pilate (they were moved to this building from their original location).
Just, you know, a picture I took of Rome.
The second basilica we toured! (Can you tell our tour guide was Catholic?)
A statue of Constantine, obviously...
Inside the second basilica.
Statue of St. Peter in the second basilica. They actually had all 12 disciples on the walls, carved very ornately.
This is a photo of ruins on Esquiline Hill, one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. Nero confiscated this property to build his extravagant, mile-long Golden House, and later still Trajan constructed his bath complex, both of whose remains are visible today.
Aaron smiling in front of the church gardens where we toured some of the Catacombs.
Me posing near the Catacombs as well. (We weren't actually allowed to take pictures in the Catacombs, that's why I took pictures outside them...to remember the occasion)
Next to some cool cacti near the Catacombs.
These are ruins from one of the many Roman Bathing Complexes. There was the Frigidarium (cold room), Tepidarium (warm room) and Caldarium (hot room). It's really quite an interesting process, I suggest you look it up since I am not going to explain it all on here.
More of the bathing ruins.
And still more of the bathing ruins...with a tree in the way.
My first glimpse of the Colliseum from the tour bus!
Me in front of the Trevi Fountain.
Just the Trevi Fountain.
My view of the Colliseum when I exited the Metro.
Moi (obviously standing in the Colliseum).
A view from the second level of the Colliseum.
And a view from the other side of the Colliseum.
Roman soldiers flexing their muscles outside the Colliseum.
Part of the Roman Forum (what I like to call Rome's own miniature Arc de Triomphe).
Other parts of the Roman Forum.
Amazing ruins of the Roman Forum.
A beautiful pool inside the Roman Forum.
Birds that flocked to Amber, Aaron and I while we sat and enjoyed our view.
Amber and Aaron exploring the ruins.
The Vatican Museum.
First Aid tents set up outside the Vatican while thousands upon thousands of people flocked to Rome to see the Pope's funeral.
People camped out near the Vatican.
Roman guards blocking the back way into the Vatican and allowing people out who had just seen the body of the Pope.
My first view of the front of the Vatican the day before the Pope's funeral.
Amber and Aaron posing in front of the video cameras set up to capture the Pope's funeral the following day.
This pizza restaurant may not look like much (actually it looks down right dirty) but the Tourist's Book To Rome I bought before we went said it made the best pizza in all of Rome so we traveled down back alleys for about an hour before we found it.
Two of the pizzas we ordered (you can see me cutting mine in the background). *sigh* Sooooo good.
Me posing in Rome just because I was enjoying myself and wanted a picture to remember it by.
Amber and I on the Metro.
Amazing columns that I just had to take a picture of!
The Pantheon!
Me in front of the Pantheon.
The Pantheon wasn't open for tours the day we visited so I got as many pictures as I possibly could. This is the door of the Pantheon.
This is the shot I got through the crack of the door.
And this is a picture of the hole in the ceiling of the Pantheon through the hole in the front door. Basically, the Pantheon was built by Roman Emperor Augustus in 10 B.C. as a temple to "all of the gods". Then the Catholic church made it into a church and the rumor is that when it was christened, all of the demons that had been hiding out in it, flew so fast out of the building that it created the hole that is at the top of the building. The hole is about 30 feet in diameter.
The back of the Pantheon.
Another view of the back of the Pantheon.
A really cool looking building.
A view of the Tiber River with Rome in the background.
Castel Sant-Angelo. You will also hear it mentioned in the book "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. If you haven't read the book, go do that now (it's the prequel to the book "The Da Vinci Code")
View of the Vatican the day of the Pope's Funeral.
A view of the Vatican and one of the giant screens that was set up during the Pope's funeral.
St. Peter's Square after the funeral.
A Pole honoring Pope John Paul II by waving the Polish flag in St. Peter's Square the day of the funeral.
Another view of St. Peter's Square.
Me in St. Peter's Square trying to look somber around the mourning Catholics.
A memorial in the center of the square around the giant obelisk (which is also a sundial).
Funny story. We were waiting at a bus stop for this bus to arrive and we must have been waiting for at least a half hour when the bus we were waiting for finally arrived. Well, it looked like everyone else was waiting for this bus too because when it arrived, not only was it already full, but more people tried to get on. The bus driver was trying to close the door and people would not move or get off, even though there was no room for them. Since the bus was there for about 5 minutes, I had a chance to take this picture. Quite amusing.
My roommate Amber sleeping on the plane ride from Rome to Valencia, Spain.
Aaron sleeping on the plane.
Amber and I's hostel in Valencia. I know, it looks dirty, but it was just old. The room was actually very clean and we had our own balcony.
The other side of our room in the hostel. We never did figure out what that little white porcelain thing was in the left corner. It's not a toilet, it's not a bidet and it's not a urinal. Also, it had a hot and cold water faucet and a drain. The only thing we could think of is that it was a bath tub for a baby. Please tell us if you know what it might be. Thanks.
Lookin' for the train station.
Oceanographic, the indoor aquarium and zoo that we visited in Valencia.
The dolphin show we saw while we were there.
Amber and I at Oceanographic. This place was soooo cool!
The underwater tunnel we passed through in the aquarium.
Aaron and I as we watched "The Mystery of the Nile" in Oceanographic's Imax Theatre. The headsets were so we could hear it in English. Don't we look cool?
The baby flamingoes we saw.
This picture did have potential. It really did. This was supposed to be a solo picture of me standing in front of the Mediterranean Sea. As you can see, someone had to make it a duet. And it isn't even a nice angle...
Amber and I dipping our feet in the (very cold) Mediterranean.
A celebration we witnessed as we walked back to our hostel.
If anyone knows what this celebration was about, please tell me.
Aren't those outfits amazing?
Some of the ancient ruins in the hills of the little town of Sangunto.
A shot capturing the ancient ruins, the town, and the pure magnificence of Spain.
Amber, Aaron and I on a cliff overlooking Sangunto and the Mediterranean Sea.
