Ladee's Travels

I found this protest process very interesting. As we moved further from the apartment and closer to the Colisseum, the crowd (and  barracades) changed.  I also find it interesting that our curiosity took us closer and closer to the hub. The day started when Kalen came to the dining table and said that he looked out the window and police were stopping cars from entering the city.  The cars and bus on the right side of the photo are leaving the city.  The left side lane is the incoming, or lack of incoming, traffic.  This lane has been full every morning.  Not today. Something is happening!

The Pantheon was an amazing building and breathtaking to see.  We were there on a rainy night, which adds to the mystique of the building. And, yes, the circular hole in the ceiling is open to the weather.  The rain was in a puddle on the floor. The front is being refurbished, which is better than seeing it in disrepair.  The inside is marble from end to end.

Here was the plan for the day:  take the bus from right outside the apartment to the Colosseum, visit the Forum, visit a museum or two, and finish with the Pantheon.  Quite an enjoyable day. BUT, the day started when Kalen noticed that the traffic was blocked off. He was watching people argue with the police as they told them that they couldn't go on the main street into the middle of the city.  We dressed and headed "to the bus stop" and noticed that no buses were running.  Traffic was very light and soon we came to a police barracade.  We turned to the right and went in another direction, guided by the expert map readers.  Noticing that the traffic was very light and the policy were standing around in riot gear (how we were we supposed to know that it wasn't like this all the time???), we commented that Tuesday was a very good day to pick to go to the Colosseum because it was clear of all of the usual obstructions.  (Note that the woman with a...

Espresso and Panettone Milanese Yea!! The “Espresso Master” is making the best home brew. Three espresso pots were found and we can make espresso faster than we can consume. The Panettone purchased last night was thought to last for a week, but we have revised our estimate since we ate half of it this morning. And the guess that “burro traditionale” was butter, was right on. Yummy stuff. Wow, today was the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. We left the apartment as scheduled at 8:30 and started our Monday tour, down two flights of stairs at the apartment, and turned left on Corso Emmanuale Vittorio.  We crossed the bridge, watching for traffic.  The police control the traffic signals and it was fun to watch all of the motorcycles filter to the front of the group of cars stopped for the light.  When the light changes to green, the cycles take off!  We walked the cobblestoned streets and gasped when we saw St. Peter's Square.  It is r...

I had a solid 8 hours sleep and woke at 2AM. I've been charging all of my devices, and added a little more content to yesterday's blog post. Thanks for the comments!! It's a joy to know that someone is reading them.  Kalen is awake too, although he got a few more hours of sleep because he crashed on the couch.

Great and smooth flight.  I didn't sleep much and watched three movies (Salt, Letters from Julia, Avatar).  US Airways gave us a cup of coffee and a little croissant.  The flight was smooth, and the pilot came on to tell us that we were going to begin our descent in to Rome.  Five minutes later, he said that we were cleared for land and swoosh, we were coming down fast. The crew didn't even get to my seat to take my coffee cup.  But the landing was good and we pulled our big plane up to one of the terminals. They wheeled a stair case up to the plane (WOW!) and we had to drag the luggage down the steps. We were all pretty cool with our carry-on luggage, but Sara wins for having the least. We walked past the luggage belts and out of the international doors. There were several drivers with name cards so we knew that we were in the right place.  Yea!  We looked around and finally found a young girl with "Ledee K Rickard" on a card.  Close enough....

Just a fast note to say that we had an incredibly smooth flight and a responsible driver from the airport to the apartment.  We are in the apartment and ready to go out in search of food!  More later.

Great dinner cooked by Kalen and his Sigma Nu buddy Ryan. Shared with family and friends.

Tonight's sunset was incredible.

Happy 50th Birthday to Good Neighbor Kelley!! Thank you to her wonderful friends for creating an exciting day.

I'm attending a two day class at ASU about social media in the non-profit sector. I except to leave with great plans on combining the tools to meet a strategy.