The Vatican

I went on a tour of the Vatican with a tour company called Romeing Tours and thought the information provided was quite thorough and insightful. We stood in line for around 45 minutes to get in but I made good use of the time by picking the tour guide's brain on Roman combat strategies. The Vatican is around 100 acres and is actually it's own country with approximately 550 citizens. The Vatican City is said to have one of the most reliable postal systems in the world. I mailed a post card to try it out and it successfully reached its destination.

The parts of the Vatican that I saw included some nice architecture, great examples of art which culminated with the Sistine Chapel as well as the magnificent St. Peter's Basilica. Several pope's lie are buried there with a few being embalmed or bronzed for the viewing public.

On Sunday, I went back to the Vatican at noon where the Pope gave a blessing to all in attendance in something like 12 languages. There was a massive number of people there, similar to a crowd at a football or basketball game. I could see the pope but he was but a small spec far off in the window he stood in to address us.

The Vatican is guarded by a group of 100 Swiss guards who are trained to kill with a battle ax and sword. I didn't see the battle ax but they were definitely armed with swords. Swiss guards must be Catholic, single, between the ages of approximately 20 and 30, male, have Swiss citizenship, and be fluent in 5 languages. Their uniforms are a bit court jesteresqe in appearance.


The Pope Giving a Blessing

St. Peter's Square during Pope's blessing

St. Peter's Basilica
Andrew in St. Peters Basilica

Pietra sculpture

Pope Innocent XI

Nero's Bathtub

Vatican Paintings

Swiss Guards

Pope's Throne

St. Peter's Basilica Dome

Rome

Bongiorno. The following entries on Rome, The Vatican, and Florence are the last in the Adventures of Dre on his sojourn in Europe. Never fear, for more adventures are bound to be around the corner.

Rome was one of the highlight places that I was interested in visiting during my journeys. I've been fascinated with the Roman empire for some time including their military might, long lasting dynasty, and extraordinary technology for the time period.

The Coliseum was pretty incredible. It is not in quite the condition it was shown to be in the movie Gladiatorbut was impressive nonetheless. Gladiatorial games were in fact held there. I actually got to go inside and take a look around. There is no longer a floor and one can see the various basement infrastructures where combatants and animals were kept until their time.

Quite a few objects around Rome are labeled with the initials SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus) which mean property of the Senate and people of Rome. For those who have seen the movie Gladiator, Russel Crowe had a tattoo of this on his shoulder and subsequently scraped it off.

Interestingly, the president of Italy resigned from office and then came back all within the time that I was in Rome.

The Circus Maximus was a massive hippodrome which was used most commonly for chariot races. It is an enormous structure but is little more than a massive oval track now.

One fun thing that I did from time to time was simply wander the streets with no particular end goal in mind. This allows a good feel for the city streets and the
musicians, street vendors, and people there. One thing encounter during such an expedition was a wood working shop in the style of Gepetto with Pinnochios and even a life size wooden motorcycle.

I also walked down Via Condotti, the premier shopping street in Rome located just in front of the Spanish Steps. There are fine apparel stores such as Prada, Gucci, Armani, Cartier, Ferragamo, etc.

The food at all times was of high caliber and being a lover of Italian food, I much enjoyed my culinary experiences there. One interesting thing that restaurants/outdoor cafes do is have someone stand by the door or menu and if you slow down to look at the menu they promptly invite you inside and encourage you with very persuasive salesmanship. It is a bit endearing and all a part of the culture.

I partook of an ice-creamlike (but better) substance called Gelato on an almost daily basis. This tasty desert has the consistency of something between ice cream and custard with a smoothie thrown in the mix. If you ever get to go to Italy, you must try some. There are a plethora of Gelaterrias around the streets so ample opportunities avail themselves for consumption.

There were random orange trees in various gardens throughout the city. They looked quite tasty but I resisted the temptation to sample some.

The Pantheon, not to be confused with the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, is an ancient structure built originally for the worship of pagan gods but now utilized as a Christian church. The building is fairly impressive in architecture and contains a nice circular skylight in the roof.

The Roman forum was kind of neat and was basically a set of ruins which much of the nobility lived in during ancient times. When entering it, one felt as though entering a hidden and secret city. The Imperial Forum was another area which competed somewhat with the Roman Forum in majesty.

I'm convinced that hitting pedestrians is a competitive sport in Rome and Italy in general. Italian drivers drive with fairly aggressive tendencies and don't tend to yield to the poor souls who travel on foot. In his book The Broker, John Grisham noted the seeming paradox in the culture, and I concur, of enjoying a leisurely meal of several hours then jumping in the car and driving at break neck speeds. Pedestrians are advised to bring their running shoes and a healthy dose of bravery when crossing streets.

Check out the Bath entry for previous Roman information.


Coliseum

Roman Soldier

Arch by Coliseum

Andrew at Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

The Pantheon at Night

Inside the Pantheon

The Italian President's House

Roman Road

Trevi Fountain

Gepetto's Motorcycle

Orange Trees

Roman Forum

Roman Forum Fountain

Roman Forum 2

Rome

Chamonix Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the beautiful French Alps. See here for the original commentary.

Geneva, Switzerland Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Geneva, Switzerland. See here for the original commentary. To see a larger version of the picture, simply click on it.

Geneva Flower Clock

I'm pretty sure this says something to the effect of the Red Cross was started here. If there are any French scholars out there, feel free to post a translation.

Gulls at lake in Geneva

Jet d'Eau

Return of the Jet d'Eau

Andrew with Jet d' Eau in background

Some cool looking trees by the lake side

There were quite a few of these massive chess sets in a park in Geneva

Island where Rousseau hung out

Place where Calvin lived

Place where Calvin sat

Place where Calvin preached

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell

Uhtred is a warrior during the 900 AD time frame who fights mainly for Alfred The Great. Interestingly, he was raised by Danes and still holds some loyalties to them though they are the enemy of Wessex. Through a variety of battles and tremendous craftiness, strategy, and a bit of luck, Uhtred and his fellow Saxons drive the Danes from their land, which eventually becomes England. It is written in the genre of historical fiction. I've found that I enjoy these types of books. One can get a feel for the time period, pick up some history, as well as read a good warrior story. I seem to identify with the warrior mindset as I'm guessing many fellows do.

The Testament

The Testament by John Grisham

When a wealthy billionaire dies and leaves a controversial will, it has his six known children in an uproar. These progeny are fairly useless members of society who were spoiled throughout their lives and would likely squander the fortune. The will indicates that the vast sum of his estate should go to a previously unknown child who happens to be a Christian missionary in the jungles of Brazil. The executor of the will dispatches one of his lawyers to find this heir. The lawyer goes through adventures flying in small planes, going down little known tributaries of rivers in Brazil, and interacting with native Indians there. He eventually finds her but she is uninterested in the inheritance having come to peace with living with the indigenous people there and sharing Jesus with them.

Grisham succeeds in making her a sympathetic character whom the reader might like to meet in real life. The lawyer goes through a process of re-evaluating priorities in life and healing from past addictions and mistakes. One would consider him to have become a born again Christian. This is evidenced in his change in attitude and interests in helping a neighbor pastor and talking with God as well as reconnecting with his broken family. I'll not give away the ending but recommend the book as good fiction in addition to being a good way to examine priorities in life.

How To Make Money with Digital Photography

How To Make Money with Digital Photography by Dan Heller

Being a photography hobbyist, I wouldn't mind some day picking up a little extra dinero with pictures someday and so took a look at this book. (note internal rhyme, unintentional) It provides a good high level view of the various components of professional photography and gives warnings as to the challenges as well as tips on how to be successful. It doesn't necessarily give step by step instructions for every element of the business but focuses more on the strategy and how one should approach things and define their purposes.

The Broker

The Broker by John Grisham

This story is that of a man who was once a powerful lawyer/solicitor in Washington D.C. but then got caught up with power and greed and consequently got in some major trouble with both the US government as well as those of several other countries. He went to jail for many years then as a president was going out of office, received an unexpected pardon. The CIA sent him to Italy to find out who would try to kill him to help them know more information about what he was originally involved in. (He of course does not know this part)

He then proceeds to become immersed in the Italian culture and begins learning Italian. The CIA leaks his whereabouts and it is a race to escape. Through a series of spy like maneuvers, he eventually makes his way back to the US using someone else's passport. The book proceeds in thriller fashion with a decent amount of Italian culture incorporated. I read it just before going to Italy so it provided a nice primer to the culture. A blog entry on Rome and Florence will be forthcoming.

Dans Le Noir

I went to a restaurant called Dans Le Noir (French for In the Dark) in London with some colleagues whose basic premise is that everything is in the dark. Guests are walked into the dining room by a blind guide and enter pitch black darkness. You are then seated at your table with a plate, fork, knife, and glasses in front. Prior to entering, a dinner selection is made such as Meat, fish, or vegetable but you do not know what it will be. This helps to increase the experience of utilizing senses other than sight to taste and smell the food. Conversation is also a bit different since you cannot see anyone else and base everything on the sound of co-dinners voices. It really heightens your sense of hearing as well as taste and smell. I ended up having a lamb and potato dinner followed by some kind of wildberry pudding. (learned this following the meal) It was a unique experience which I recommend. Alternatively, one could blind fold themself to get a similar experience.

Science Experiment

What happens to a potato left undisturbed in a dark cupboard for 6 months? This is a question, we'll try to answer by pointing to evidence compiled through intensive investigation. On the first weekend of my stay in London, I purchased a couple potatoes from the grocery store, placed them in a cupboard, and promptly forgot about them. Later in the term, they were discovered anew and for the good of science were preserved to assist in this agricultural experiement. Though still recognizable as potatoes, they've got some spikeyness such as that seen sometimes in the creature known as the teenacus agerus.

Football (soccer)

I went to my first Premiership Football game on Sunday. The two teams playing were West Ham United and Tottenham. The British take football very seriously and are rabid supporters of their teams. My seat ended up being right in the lower section on the corner between West Ham and Tottenham fans. They really went at it at times. In order to maintain the peace, there was a large quantity of police and security personnel stationed especially in this section. Any time a goal was scored, everyone went nuts jumping around and began chanting, singing, and taunting the other team's fans. It was a really neat experience that I'd recommend to anyone who is remotely interested in sports.

Wales

On Saturday, I forayed into the arena of driving on the left side of the road and went to Wales with my brave friend Faith. I'm pretty sure that we followed most of the traffic rules and only got honked at twice. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive west of London and the English countryside on the way there was quite nice. Once there, we saw a 900 year old abbey called Tinturn Abbey as well as a castle, daffodils, green grass, and lots of sheep. Some of the towns we made brief stops in were Chepstow, Monmouth, and Abergavenny. They had kind of a feel of York or Bath but on a small scale. As a side note, St. David's day was on March 1st and is the Welsh equivalent of St. Patrick's day for the Irish. Woe be it, I'm told, to the gardener whose daffodils are not blooming on March 1st. A famous person you may know of who is from Wales is Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Welsh is actually a completely seperate language from English and while most people in Wales speak English, there is a strong culturual pride in maintaining things in both languages. It is similar to Barcelona in Spain with the main language of Catalon spoken but Spanish being the language spoken by the rest of the country. In case there is any confusion, Wales is definitely still a part of the United Kingdom.

Welcome to Wales

Driving on the other side

Welsh Sign

Rules/Relationship

I thought this video was quite insightful on the subject of rules vs. relationship done in the style of Mac vs. PC commercials. Plus it was produced by the University of Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministries and you know that means it's going to be good.

Homeward Bound and Happy Birthday

"I'm sittin' in the railway station
Got a ticket for my destination
My suitcases and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one man band

Homeward bound
You know I am
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Homeward bound"
-by Simon and Garfunkel with slight modifications by Andrew Allen

I am homeward bound and will be returning to Kansas City on March 9th after 6 months (+ some change) in London and various other parts of the UK and Europe. My new project management role will be similar to that which I've been doing in London. Overall, I've really enjoyed my time here. The opportunities to experience living in another country and travel around to the many places in Europe were quite enjoyable. God definitely showed me my need for community no matter where I'm at in life. Being a lone ranger can be just that at times, lonely. As a whole, I'm very happy I took this opportunity.

We'd also like to pause for a moment and celebrate the 1st birthday of The Wisdom of Dre's home on Blogspot which occurred on February 28th. TWOD existed in a past life at http://www.xanga.com/aallen820. This is additionally the 100th edition of TWOD. We've had fun, wisdom, musings, and engaged in miscellaneous other pursuits during this time. We look forward to the future and what lies ahead in the ever after. Keep tuning in for more of the same quality programming.

Metropolitan Tabernacle

This evening, I went to a prayer meeting at Metropolitan Tabernacle which Charles Spurgeon once pastored back in the mid 1800s. The church is alive and well today and the prayer meeting was especially powerful. One could really sense the Holy Spirit and God's power through the prayers of the people there.


"The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time but using every hour for the highest ends. So be it this day." -Charles Spurgeon