National Holiday!!! (And a city destroyed by a volcano!)

I have all sorts of fun things to talk about today, the first being that I did not have school today! My students and I got a day off because of Prince William's wedding. Instead of going to London where all the craziness is, I stayed at my house and watched it on the telly.  We had tea and scones and party-poppers for the kiss on the balcony. It was so exciting...and in case you haven't seen one yet, here is a picture of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and her husband, Prince William (who became Duke of Cambridge this morning at around 8:00).

Now then, I also mentioned a city destroyed by a volcano.  Not here in England--in Italy!  Some of you may heard of Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius.  While we were in Italy, we visited the ruins of Pompeii.

One of the most amazing things is that Pompeii was a port city, meaning it was on the sea.  As you can see from this picture, there is no water anywhere near the ruins. That is because after the volcano erupted, the sea receded.

In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius literally blew its top.  Volcanic ash and rock fell on to the city of Pompeii and completely covered it, killing over 5,000 people.  The reason everything is in such good shape today is because of the layer of ash that fell onto the city. 

The buildings were completely preserved.  There are large storehouses of pottery and tools and other such things that were unharmed in the volcano's eruption.  Because of all this amazing preservation, scientists can really see what life was like in Pompeii and can make conclusions about what it was like all over Italy during that time. 

Yes, this is a person from Pompeii.  It does require a bit of explanation.  You see, when scientists and archeologists started to excavate the city, they kept finding all these empty pockets in the ash.  Someone noticed that these pockets had bones in them and realized that they were where people had been when the volcano erupted.  They quickly filled some of the pockets with plaster, and now they can see the position that the people were in when they died.  Kind of gruesome, but it goes to show how much of a shock this was for the people of Pompeii. They found people sitting at tables or cooking, just going about their daily lives.  Little did they know that sleeping mountain behind them was going to explode!

This is a very famous statue called "The Dancing Faun."  A faun was a mythological creature.  Historians do not know who lived in this house, but they know that this person was extremely wealthy and had good taste.  The house is massive, has two gardens inside the walls, and very few decorations.  They have never been able to find any sort of record of who might have lived there.  This would be like if some millionaire had a mansion, abandoned it, and left no trace as to who they really were.

Going to Pompeii was strange.  It was hard to look at the ruins and imagine them as a city.  People would have walked on the streets and lived in the houses. There are several places they have identified as bakeries based on the kind of things in the house. People just lived their lives here! Now it is hard to imagine that.

Tomorrow, I will show you the other key part of the Pompeii story. I hope you enjoyed learning about Pompeii!

The Island of Capri

Some of you may have seen pictures of Italy in movies or on t.v., maybe in a magazine article about tourism.  Generally when you see Italy in such places, it is a lot of beaches and clear blue water and whitewashed buildings with terra-cotta roofs.  When I went to Rome and later the town of Naples, I thought that maybe this Italy did not exist. After all, the cities were kind of dirty and nowhere near the water.

And then I went to the Island of Capri.

Capri was like a tropical paradise! The island is only 4 miles long and 2 miles wide, rather small.  We took a boat tour around it and got to see all these amazing white cliffs.

There is a place there called the Blue Grotto.  A grotto is like an underwater cave.  You can take a row boat into the grotto, rowed by an Italian man who sings to you. The entrance to the grotto is so small that you have to lay down in the boat to get in, but once you're in...

The light shines in through the grotto opening and looks like it shines from underneath--like there was a lightbulb down there.  This is also a place where some jellyfish hibernate, hence all the jellyfish. Our sailor pulled one out of the water!

We rode a chairlift up the mountain on the island and got an amazing view.  The water here was bluer than anything I have ever seen--bluer than the sky even.

I don't think I can really say anything else about Capri. I'll let the pictures talk for themselves--after all, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Ciao, Roma!

Our third and final day in Rome was very relaxed.  One of the first things we did was stop by this lovely fountain.

This is Trevi Fountain, and it is huge! There is a large sculpture/building behind it, as you can see in this picture.

Here is the actual fountain.  Not only is it huge, but it is very pretty. We ate our lunch sitting on the side.

As did a lot of people. There were people everywhere, just chilling by the fountain. Climbing on the fountain. Throwing coins into the fountain. I've learned some interesting things about coins over here--I'll bring back some Euro-cents and pence to show you. (I made a wish, too, and tossed in a 5-Euro-cent coin). 

Rome was nice for the most part. It is hard going to a country that doesn't speak English. We learned some phrases, such as "thank you," "do you speak English," and "where do I buy tickets?" Not always easy to remember, but we made it through.

Tomorrow we will still be in Italy, but no longer in Rome. Get ready for some awesome Italian history/geography!

Rome, Day 2

On our second day in Rome, Italy, we technically visited another country. This country is very small--only 0.17 square miles.  We didn't even need to show our passport to enter.

This is Vatican City. If you are Catholic, then you will know that a very important person lives here--the Pope.  The pope did not come out to where we were, though, so we didn't get to see him.  But we did get to see this amazing church.

This is St. Peter's Basilica.  It was designed by Michelangelo and built over the site where St. Peter was buried.  It is said that his bones and coffin are in the catacombs beneath the church, but we weren't able to go down there and look.

This is The Pieta. It was sculpted by Michelangelo and one of the few pieces of artwork this famous painter actually signed.  The sculpture sits behind bullet-proof glass because in the 1970s, a very angry person hit the statue with a hammer and damaged it.
You may have heard of Michelangelo.  He is the fellow who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Guess where the Sistine Chapel is?  That's right--in Vatican City!  We were able to go in, but we could not take any pictures. I found these online so that you can see what I got to see. It was amazing! 

I don't know if you noticed the columns in the first picture. There is something very special about them.  You can see in the first picture that the columns go around the piazza, or plaza, and that there are rows behind the first row. Well, the architect who designed it did something really cool. There is a certain spot where you can stand.  When you stand there and look at the arc of columns in front of you, you notice something cool.

They are all perfectly in line! Isn't that crazy? What a smart guy!
Tomorrow is our last day in Rome...I wonder what we'll see!

Rome, Day 2

On our second day in Rome, Italy, we technically went into another country. This country is very small, only about 0.17 square miles.  We didn't even need to show our passports to get in!

This is Vatican City.  The Vatican is very important in the Catholic religion, as it is the home of the Pope!  The pope wasn't out while we were there, though.

The main feature of the Vatican is St. Peter's Basilica.  It is a huge church designed by Michelangelo and was built over the place were St. Peter was buried. (They say that his bones are kept in the basement in a special tomb, but we weren't allowed to go down and look).

You may have heard of Michelangelo before. He is a very famous Italian painter/sculptor/architect who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Guess where the Sistine Chapel is?  That's right--in Vatican City!

This is another very famous piece by Michelangelo. It is called The Pieta. It sits behind bullet-proof glass because, in the 1970s, a very angry person hit the sculpture with a hammer! Now The

I'm back!

It is so nice to be back in England. I have really missed it during my two-week travels. But I have gotten to see some awesome things, which I am going to share with you! 

 First, however, let me recap where I have been.

 This map shows where I started and ended my trip. As you can see, I have been in a lot of different countries! In Europe, the countries are very close together, kind of like our states. The red dots show where I stopped and spent time, and the purple arrows show the direction of my route.

My first stop outside of England was Rome, Italy. Gordon and I hung out at the Colosseum for a while. It was so very neat to see this, as it is a structure you see  a lot in movies (or even on pizza boxes!) And it's really old! Construction began in 72 AD, which means it is just less than 2000 years old!

 As you can imagine, a building that old can't be in very good shape. The outside of the Colosseum is still standing, but parts of the inside are really in ruins.

 The Colosseum was essentially the very first sports arena...only they weren't watching football or hockey here! The Romans used the Colosseum for theatrical performances. They would flood the center of the arena and re-enact sea battles or stories from mythology. Of course, we cannot forget the "main events":  gladiator battles. 

 The Roman emperors used the Colosseum as a way to keep control of their government. Seats in the arena were very cheap, so the poor could afford to come. The emperors felt that if the streets were free of poor and homeless people wandering around during the day, then the crime rate would be lower. They were right.

 The Colosseum is just one of many places to see in Rome--a lot of which are in ruins, too! Remember, the Romans essentially ruled the world for almost 1000 years. They were a very powerful people with lots of important leaders and thinkers--a lot of what we have today can be traced back to Roman life. The Romans even had running water, which is truly a remarkable thing considering that even in the early 1900s, people in America were living without running water.

 That is it for the Colosseum. I hope you all had a nice Easter! I am so happy to be able to post again, so I will have another post ready for you tomorrow. Ciao!

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For!

At least, I'm going to assume you've been waiting to see this...maybe it hasn't even crossed your mind. The Palace of Versailles was a home for the king. Raise your hand if you want to see a picture of the king's bedrooms!  That's what I thought.

But we must follow procedure. We can't just go barging into the king's bedroom at all hours of the day--he might be napping! Before one could enter the king's bedroom, you would have to wait in the Bull's Eye Salon.  There would have been a guard at the door, just to make sure you didn't get too antsy and enter before permission was given.

We're in! Check out that bed--and just the king slept here! The queen had a separate bedchamber, which we will see in a minute.

No big deal--just some feathers on the posts of the bed. Don't your beds have feathers on the posts?

Look at that bedspread--a lot of embroidery detail, and some in gold! Like a king could sleep anywhere else.

And now to the queen's bedchamber. Lovely flowers all over the walls, and a bedspread made for...well, a queen!

What bedroom would be complete without a statue of yourself on the mantel? That is Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI and the last queen of France. Let's just say Marie and Louis were not very good at being king and queen, and so the French did the same thing the Americans did--had a revolution. Now there is a president in France.

I have more to show you, so I will try and post something tomorrow. However, I will not post again until Easter. You see, the English students go year-round, so they have two-week "holidays" every 9 weeks or so.  Today was the last day of this term, and so we have a two-week break from teaching. I am going to be doing some major traveling--which means get ready for loads of posts when I get home from those travels! But I will not be able to carry my computer with me, so I will not be able to post. Sorry!

Have a lovely day!  See you in two weeks!

The Hall of Mirrors

The Palace of Versailles has many magnificent rooms--the Venus Drawing-Room, the War drawing room, the Peace drawing room...lots of drawing rooms, not to mention the chambers of the king and queen. But perhaps the most famous of any rooms in the Palace is the Hall of Mirrors.

It is exactly what it sounds like...a long room with loads of mirrors! And it is, as you can see, every bit as pretty as one might think it would be.

I showed you several ceiling paintings yesterday. Just to give you an idea, the painting on the ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors was started in 1661 and finished in 1678. 

The king would pass through the Hall of Mirrors every day on his way to the chapel. It was said that the mirrors were built to reflect the gardens, which can be seen through the windows running the opposite side of the Hall.

The Hall was used for many things--large receptions, presentations by the king (they would move the throne in here for those), and of course, royal weddings! Wouldn't that be just beautiful?

All along the Hall are light fixtures like these. Today they have electric lights in them, but back in the days of King Louis XIV and his grandson, King Louis XVI, they would have held candles. All that candlelight, bouncing off the mirrors...lovely!

And of course, there are statues everywhere. Don't really know who this is supposed to be--all we know is that it is a woman with a deer and a bow-and-arrow. Knowing King Louis, she is probably a figure from mythology.

I think that the magnificence of the Palace of Versailles can truly be seen in the Hall of Mirrors. It truly is something out of a fairy tale--something fit for a king!