Montserrat

Okay, so the cruise was fabulous and all, but one thing that really annoyed us was that Royal Caribbean told us not to book our flights home before a certain time in the afternoon on the day the cruise returned to Barcelona. We thought that was because we wouldn't be back in time, but really we got in before 7am and they just wanted everyone to sign up for one last tour. We didn't know this ahead of time so our flight wasn't until 8pm so we were suckered into a tour on the last day. I'm sure we would've enjoyed it much more if it hadn't meant that our journey home would be something in the neighborhood of 38 hours.

I'll try to stop whining now and just tell you about our visit to Montserrat. We left the ship and drove through the center of Barcelona and then north through villages and beautiful countryside on our way to the Montserrat Mountain Range. Our guide took us through the Monastery and the 16th century Renaissance Basilica. After waiting in a super duper long line we saw La Moreneta, also known as the Black Madonna. We waited forever (did I already mention that?) and then when we got to the viewing room we weren't even allowed to stop, we just had to walk on through.

Some people believe the statue was carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the church. It's made from wood and dates to about the 12th century. The statue was discovered and apparently the Benedictine monks who tried to move it were unsuccessful, so the monastery was built around it. I was looking online a little bit to try to find out why this Black Madonna is so important and discovered that there are black Madonnas in 13 European countries. I thought there was just one. I guess I'm not up to date on my Catholic studies.

It was nice to enjoy the countryside of Catalunya before returning to the airport for our journey home. The view from atop the mountain was beautiful and offered a different perspective of Spain than we'd had in the cities.

French Riviera

Our last stop before returning to Barcelona was Villefranche, France--the gateway to the French Riviera. We decided to visit Nice and Cannes and although by this time in the trip we were both exhausted and ready to go home, we still had a good time.


We explored the two towns on our own. In Nice we spent a lot of time wandering through the Old City (I love old cities!), looking at the Flower Market, and strolling romantically along the Promenade des Anglais. Well, maybe not romantically, but it was beautiful there and I think Jerel might have tried to hold my hand at one point.

In Cannes we saw the famous red-carpeted entrance to the theater where the film festival is held. We hung around for a while hoping to be discovered and cast in a major movie but that didn't end up happening. The city is situated right on the Mediterranean and we wandered along yet another promenade thinking about how nice it would be to finally be home.

Rome

We started the day with a drive through the Etruscan countryside before arriving at the Roman Colosseum. I've seen pictures of it before but I didn't realize how enormous it really is. In this picture you can see Jerel standing in front of it. The archway he's standing in is just the bottom layer of three rows of arches. The amphitheater was used for gladiators, Christians, and wild animals battled to the death in front of around 50,000 spectators.

One of my favorite places in Rome was St. Peter's Basilica. In Catholic tradition St. Peter's tomb is beneath the altar of the basilica. The basilica is built over an ancient Constantinian basilica and was finished in 1626 after more than 100 years of contruction. I was amazed at the exquisite paintings in the basilica, and even more amazed when our guide explained that they weren't paintings at all but rather mosaics. They had such fine detail and I was quite impressed. We also saw Michelangelo's Pieta--a statue depicting Mary holding the body of Jesus in her lap after the Crucifixion.

I could go on and on about St. Peter's Basilica! There were so many inspiring works of art and so many details of the building that were just amazing. After visiting the Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica, we ran around trying to see the rest of the sites before catching the bus back to the ship. We found the Pantheon and had pizza for lunch there (no Pizza Hut this time) and enjoyed a moment of resting and hydrating before scurrying off to the next site. We managed to see The Forum which was the center of the development of the ancient Roman civilization, Piazza Colonna, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Rome is definitely one of those cities you could spend a full week or more exploring--one day was not enough!

Dubrovnik

Who ever would've thought we'd visit Croatia? Dubrovnik was a great old town to visit. On the drive in we could see the old city with its protective wall and towers as we drove along the Zupa Dubrovaeka Riveria. On the way we stopped at the Restaurant Konavoski Dvori. The restaurant is nestled in with an old mill on the Ljuta River. They tell us it's one of the most beautiful restaurants on the entire Croatian Adriatic Coast. Since it's the only one we visited, I guess we'll just take their word for it.

The waitresses at the restaurant were dressed in beautiful costumes but got really upset if anyone tried to take their picture. I'm not sure why since they clearly cater to tourists, but maybe it was just a bad hair day. Regardless, we snacked on smoked ham, cheese, and homemade bread but opted out of the local wine.

After the restaurant we rode to Pile Square--the western entrance of the old town--where we entered through a crowded gate and walked along the famous main street called Stradun. We saw the Onoforio Fountain which was built in 1438, the 3rd-oldest functioning pharmacy in Europe which has been in business since 1391, and two palaces--Sponza and Rector's.

We also stopped at Croata to buy a tie for Jerel. Croatia is apparently the birthplace of the necktie. The story goes that when the men were sent off for military service, the women would give them a red piece of cloth to wear to remember them. It quickly became a trend and later developed into the choking neckties men wear today. In the end we didn't buy a tie at all because the least expensive ones were several hundred dollars and neither of us could fathom spending that much just for the sake of tradition.

Venice

Venice was one of my favorite stops in Italy. My hometown is situated on a peninsula and you can see water from just about every location in the city so I felt a little bit at home in Venice which stretches across 118 small islands. Lots of water everywhere!

We had two days to explore Venice. Since Jerel has been there before, we skipped out on doing a guided tour and just discovered the city on our own. The picture here is a view from our cruise ship of Piazza San Marco. It was so crowded there! We visited St. Mark's Basilica and the famous bell and clock towers.

I found Venice to be a great city for window shopping. We saw beautiful Venetian masks which have been hand crafted in the city for centuries. They are worn during the Carnival of Venice (which the rest of us refer to as Mardi Gras). We also saw lots of lovely jewelry featuring Ventian glass. A lot of it comes from Murano and all of it is gorgeous! I bought a couple of necklaces there and am complimented on them all the time. I love to smile and say "Oh, this old thing? I just picked it up last time I was in Venice..."

Pompeii

Pompeii was one of my favorite sites in Europe. When we were in Israel we visited tons of tels, which are basically the ruins of ancient towns on top of hills. I thought Pompeii would be really similar but it wasn't. It was a huge sprawling metropolis compared to the sites we'd seen. It was so interesting to see how the town was laid out and to walk on the ancient streets.

Pompeii is 14 miles east of Naples and was buried in 79 AD by the eruption of Vesuvius. There have been lots of excavations and it is so well-preserved that you can really get a feel for how the town looked. We saw lots of public buildings, temples, shops, and public baths--all from about 2000 years ago!

The gate at the entrance to the town had two arches--a large one for chariots and such which was closed at night and a smaller one for pedestrians which was kept open (but guarded) through the night. In this picture Jerel and I are standing in the Forum. It's like a main street square kind of area with all the important civic buildings around it and the temple at one end.

When the town was buried by ash and pumice more than 2,000 people perished. Fascinating (but probably gruesome) plaster casts were made of some of the bodies. When the debris from the two-day volcanic eruption came through Pompeii it of course didn't fill in the spaces where people were. During the excavations they discovered many of these holes in the shapes of people. Some of them were filled with plaster and then removed so that you have a cast of what the person looked like. We saw one that was a man sitting with his hands over his face. Another was a young woman who was pregnant and probably a slave, laying face down. A third one was a dog curled up. It really made you think of what it would be like to face death. I mean I guess I've thought about it before, but I've never considered how I would be sitting or what my facial expression might be. Sorry if this is morbid to you, I just found it so intriguing.

Some day I'll get around to labeling all of the pictures on flickr and you can see lots of cool pictures from Pompeii.

Sorrento

When we stopped in Naples we'd selected the tour called "Taste of Sorrento and Pompeii." When we picked the tours ahead of time, I picked all the ones that started with "taste of" because I thought that meant there would be food. Boy was I disappointed!

I am always fascinated with how things are made. I can remember watching Mr. Rogers as a kid and seeing how they made crayons. I just knew if I was really good I'd be able to work in a factory someday. Anyway, I was really excited because in Sorrento we got to watch a woman making mozzarella cheese! We left the boat and drove along a coastal highway that was, I am pretty sure, narrower than our tour bus. The view was absolutely amazing. When we arrived in Sorrento we went to a local farmhouse in the hills. It was a small family-owned farm that produces mozzarella, vegetables, olives, and lemons. They used to do olive oil so we got to look at the old presses. Of course since we'd just been in Israel we were already experts on olive presses, but it was still interesting.

I took really good notes on how to make the mozzarella, but now that I'm reading through them they don't really make sense. Here goes. First they separate the curds (solids) from the whey (liquid). Then they mix it with hot water. A cream develops on the top of the water and that is skimmed off. Then they do a little stir, stir kind of thing and voila, mozzarella. Okay, so maybe my notes weren't as thorough as I thought. Anyway, she showed us a few shapes they make it in--this picture shows the donut shape which is my favorite because I like donuts.

The best part was that this lady spoke no English at all. Our guide narrated what she was doing as she made the mozzarella. Then when she was done and everyone wanted to take pictures she explained that the woman did know one word in English and right on cue she smiled and said "cheese." It was funny, even if she has made the same joke a million times before.

After watching the demonstration we went up to this outdoor seating area and ate fresh mozzarella with tomatoes and salami. Yum!

Florence & Pisa

Florence and Pisa developed as Roman military trading towns. Florence and Pisa are both along the River Arno and date back to 800 BC. The famous leaning tower was begun in 1172. After only 3 of the 6 planned stories were built the project was abandoned because it was leaning. It was completed in the mid-14th century and stands 180 feet high. It leans a total of 14 feet and moves another 1/4" each year.

We left the boat early in the morning and drove through the picturesque Tuscan countryside to Pisa. We had a bit of time to wander around the tower and look at the adjacent baptistry. There were lots of little shops set up but after a couple of them I remembered we were in Europe and they like to print naked people on everything. Not in a tasteful way, but in a tacky way. Fortunately the stop wasn't too long and we continued on to Florence.

I told Jerel I was very excited to visit Florence. When I was in band in junior high we always had this super old man as our substitute when the real teacher was gone. He gave everyone old-fashioned names and mine was always Florence, so I felt a real connection. Jerel didn't seem to see the importance of it, which is what tends to happen when my stories start with "One time, when I was in band..."

Anyway, in Florence we visited the Piazza del Duomo (if you prefer to speak English you can call it Cathedral Square) where the Cathedral, Bell Tower, and Baptistry are. I don't know a thing about architecture but I sure enjoyed seeing the magnificent buildings.

Barcelona

After being entirely worn out by Israel we spent a couple of days in Barcelona before the cruise started. It was such a long trip that we really hadn't done any planning in advance for these couple of days, other than to book a hotel room. (That was really all I needed since I just wanted to shower and sleep). We ended up taking a couple of walking tours of the city and had a good time, particularly after we found the much-searched-for laundromat!

One of our walks took us up to the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics. I've included a picture of the stadium here, not because it's so cool but because it's where I first learned how to use the panoramic setting on my camera. From the top of the hill where the stadium is we could see the distant Montserrat which we visited later on the last day of our cruise.

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We also walked around in the Mercat Boqueria in Barcelona. That was quite an experience! It's a huge market and they sell all sorts of things--tongue, dead chickens with their heads still attached, and lots of things I couldn't even identify. I found it fascinating and could've stayed there all day. They also had normal things like fruits and vegetables, but I admit to being drawn to the strange products.

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Another walk took us to a few Gaudi places. Jerel tells me this Gaudi fellow is famous, but of course I've never heard of him. I'm just not that cultured I guess.

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The most important thing we found in Barcelona (besides the laundromat) was just a few block from our hotel. Pizza Hut. Jerel is a bit of a picky eater. I would say extremely picky, but then that would start an argument, so I'll just say a little picky. Although I'm more into trying local foods and can find something to eat just about anywhere, the sight of the Red Roof was such a relief because then I knew Jerel would not starve to death on our trip after all. (Similarly, we ate at Pizza Hut last year in France and in England.) I think we ate at this one 2 or 3 times in our day and a half in Barcelona. It was pretty similar to the pizza at home but I was jealous because they had a much more extensive dessert menu than I've ever seen in the States.

The Garden Tomb

This is my last post about the Israel portion of our trip. I hesitate to even write it. There is such peace in the Garden Tomb and I know that can't be portrayed in a blog.

There is no way of knowing if the site we visited is where Jesus actually laid while awaiting resurrection, but it is the site traditionally used and photographed among Latter-day Saints.

The tomb itself has a wooden door (obviously added later) with a sign reading "He is not here, for He is risen." You can enter the tomb and last time I was there we went in the tomb and sang some Easter hymns. This group was not as prone to bursting into song, but I will always remember siging of his resurrection in that empty tomb. The entrance to the tomb would have been much smaller at the time of Christ's burial but it has been extended over the years to make it more accessible.

The tomb was left empty and because of that our hearts and lives are filled.

Shepherd's Field

There is no way of knowing exactly where in the Bethlehem area those "shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" were. There are a couple of spots that are said to be the "exact field" and churches have been built in those places. We visited a little hillside and saw lots of sheep. We also saw several natural caves where the sheep would have been gathered at night to make them easier to protect.

Soon after we arrived and began reading scripture and discussing that night long ago two real-life shepherds came. They were children--maybe around 10 years old--and sadly weren't dressed in brown bathrobes, nor did they carry long canes with hooks on the end. Yet another disappointment when comparing my own little visions of the Christmas story with reality! They herded the sheep right into our group and were more than willing to pose for pictures...for a price. Daniel warned us that if we wanted the sheep to stick around we'd better hold off on paying them. Sure enough, as soon as they received their dollar bills from many members of the group, they were off again herding the sheep back across a busy highway to where they camp with their Bedouin families. Smart kids--they must've made at least $50 for their little 30-minutes of shepherding! Daniel takes a tour group nearly ever week of the year and I'm almost positive these kids make much more from their brief outings across the freeway than from whatever real shepherding they do.

Mount of Transfiguration

In the Jezreel Valley a round peak rises up 1,840 feet as Mount Tabor. This is the place where Deborah and her general gathered the Israelite troops to do battle against the Canaanites. From the top of the mountain you can see the hills of lower Galilee and Nazareth to the west and Mount Moreh to the south. But the little battle in the book of Judges is not what attracts so many visitors to this mountain.

There are two churches atop the mountain--one Greek Orthodox and one Franciscan Catholic. After a frightening ride up a very narrow switchback road we visited the Catholic church. It is called the Church of the Transfiguration because of the Byzantine tradition that Mount Tabor was the site of the transfiguration of Jesus, Peter, James, and John (Matt 17). The church is built over the ruins of Byzantine and Crusader churches and has 3 separate chapels. The central chapel is in honor of Jesus and the two smaller chapels honor Moses and Elijah. (The picture here is of the chapel of Moses.) This corresponds nicely to Peter's words in Matthew 17 about building three tabernacles--one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

All that said, there is still debate about whether Mount Tabor is really the Mount of Transfiguration. A more geographically logical site would be Mount Hermon and LDS opinion remains divided--Spencer W. Kimball preferred Mount Tabor whereas Bruce R. McConkie favored Mount Hermon. Since we didn't visit Hermon, I'm assuming Daniel Rona prefers Tabor as well. I think Jerel agreed with that, although I prefer to remain undecided. Regardless of where it happened, we had a touching devotional atop the mountain and were able to feel a little of the spirit of that truly glorious event.

Gethsemane

Gethsemane is on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. The Mount has become a symbol of hope for a future redemption and because of that it is the site of many, many Jewish graves. Some of these date back almost 3,000 years! Daniel explained to us that throughout the world most Jewish graves point with their feet toward Israel; in Israel the graves point toward Jerusalem; in Jerusalem the graves point toward the Temple Mount.

A lot of historic sites in Jerusalem seem to have lost the sense of peace that you would expect. Many have been commercialized or overrun by competing churches. I understand the desire to build churches at these sacred spots, and in some cases it is very well done, but other times it just leaves the place feeling overcrowded and busy. There are seven churches built around Gethsemane, but fortunately the Mount of Olives is big enough that you can still find a quiet place among the olive trees to ponder on that great sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

One of the insights Daniel shared with us is related to the biblical accounts of the sacrificing of a red-haired, unblemished firstborn calf on the Mount of Olives. (He mentioned it as if this red calf sacrifice was something we were all intimately familiar with, so I played along and then read it in the bible later. Guess I need to study more). Anyway, in ancient times the ashes of the red-haired calf were used in immersions performed of those needing remission of sins. Daniel suggested that since Christ sweat great drops of blood his clothing must have been stained red and perhaps this red calf sacrifice is a symbol of that suffering. (A side note: the "lilies of the field" mentioned in the bible are actually red. I always imagined them as white and was disappointed to hear they were red until I was able to connect it with the Mount of Olives and all that has, and will, happen there.)

When Christ comes again he will come to the Mount of Olives clothed in a red robe. In that way his visit will be similar to that time in Gethsemane, but in most ways it will be so different. I imagine how joyful it will be and I wonder how it would feel for Him to return and remember that long-ago suffering and see the good it has brought to the world.

The Model City

Early on in our trip we visited this accurate miniature of what the ancient city of Jerusalem looked like about 2,000 years ago. In this picture you are facing west and can see the Temple Mount in the front. The model city was built as a memorial for a father's son who was killed in the War of Independence. They constantly update the model when new archaeological discoveries reveal better information.

The idea behind visiting the model is that it gives you an understanding of where things were in relation to each other. Then during the rest of the touring a normal person would have a great perspective of where they were. Unfortunately I'm not in that category of normal people. I have no sense of direction. I still get lost occasionally in Hillsboro and I've lived here for 5 years now!

Fortunately Jerel doesn't suffer from this same condition and he really enjoyed this visit. I think he said that in the model you have to remember that the scale is that a person would be like the size of a thumb. You can see some people in the background and hopefully get a feeling for how big the Temple Mount is. If you want to know anything else you'll have to check with Jerel.