Blog Archives

Toni Basil and "Hey Mickey" don't belong in my head…incescently repeating…throbbing…with images of pom poms…when I"m trying to fall asleep 🙁

So, we arrive home last night to find a dried, flattened squirrel carcass lying on top of Jeff’s car. Two immediate thoughts came to mind:

1. Clearly, the squirrel clearly didn’t jump onto Jeff’s car, kill itself, and dry quickly to the consistency of beef jerky.
2. Who the hell picks up roadkill and puts it on someone’s car? Ick!

No…we did not make lemonade…or squirrel jerky. However, we have started wishing a pox of dead squirrels on stupid people who cut us off in traffic 🙂

I can report that both Jeff and I have at least DOWNLOADED our Europe photos…I’m going to guess nearly 3000 between the two of us. Since Jeff’s photos are on his laptop, he has actually looked at all of his, but I can’t report that much progress 🙂

One happy diversion from sorting photos was an all-too-brief visit from my Aunt Teela and Uncle Jim. They arrived mid-week from Virginia and spent a couple of nights in Yosemite before staying with us for the weekend. It was wonderful to see them and spend a couple of quiet evenings at home…including several rounds of Mexican Train.

On Saturday, we drove up to the Marin Headlands and walked out to the picturesque Point Bonita lighthouse. Along the way, we were joined by chatty park volunteer Tom…who eagerly pointed out breeding Harbor Seals, hundreds of floating Western Grebes, and all the poisonous plants along the path. He also introduced us to a wild cabbage plant who’s flower (the yellow one below) tastes like coleslaw…not sure if there is enough separation between the edibles and the poisonous plants for MY liking. We also spotted nesting gulls–perched on treacherous outcroppings–and swallows–tucked into every nook. Vultures and pelicans rounded out the wildlife. Matthew did tricks for the camera 🙂

After lunch at one of our favorite spots–Paradise Bay on the Sausalito marina–we took a winding scenic drive along the City coast, including a stop into the re-opened Fort Point historic Civil War-era fortress. The newly repainted and seismically upgraded underbelly of the Golden Gate Bridge’s was as bright orange as I’ve ever seen it. Brilliant.

On Sunday morning, Teela and Jim headed north towards the redwoods, Mt. Shasta, and Crater Lake. We worked in the garden a bit…and found a pleasant surprise. One of our grassy plants decided to bloom this year…small, beautiful flowers…we didn’t know it produced these 🙂

A too-early wake up call got the ball rolling this morning. Shower. Breakfast. Time to fly home. The military and its marching band was reassembling on the closed road in front of the hotel…today is a national holiday…La Festa della Repubblica. Bonus…an easy 30min drive to the airport…FCO…Leonardo da Vinci International.

Quick check in through Lufthansa. Confirmed our upgrade from Frankfurt to SFO…both of us.

Time to kill.

Left Rome in the light rain. A couple of hour later, descended through scattered puffy clouds into Frankfurt…by one measure a very predictable, efficient airport…marred by inexplicable irritants.

Boarded our on-time 747 bound for San Francisco. Champagne for Jeff and red wine for me. I do love business class.

Followed a familiar route over Iceland and Greenland and down over Canada. The US leg involved wonderful views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Shasta. The San Francisco Bay was beautifully lit…a welcome sight.

Awoke to another sunny day in Rome…forecast to be the warmest of our visit. Another filling breakfast…yesterday's held us over till dinner…Italy has enough of our money. Filled our water bottle…Rome has countless, free-flowing water fountains all over the city for cool, fresh refills.

Headed a short distance to the three-building Musei Capitolini high atop Capitol Hill…the seat of ancient Roman temples and even pre-historic settlements back to the Iron Age. The museum has an amazing sculpture collection. We finished our visit in the open-air section of the museum that overlooks the Forum. This section is the Roman temple of Jupiter.

Another long afternoon walk, starting with a daytime stop at the Pantheon…free, easy entrance into this impressive architectural wonder…originally a Roman temple…now a church. Next stop, the controversial modern building on the Tiber constructed to showcase (and protect) the ancient Altar of Peace…a huge, gleaming-wite marble "box"…carved with intricate figures. We viewed the Altar from the outside for free 🙂

Across the street, the simple church of San Rocco…in Rome, even the small churches are gems. Hit a couple of tourist meccas on our walk back to the hotel: viewed the famed Spanish Steps from afar…across the heads of a gazillion people. Popped by the Trevi Fountain…a brilliant fountain, buried under the weight of popularity.

Took a long winding path back to the hotel…past the gleaming monument to Italian unification; past the Forum; past the Colloseum; past the Circus Maximus. Dinner one last time in the Travestere…pizzas and wine from a recommended spot. The Travestere was full of Italians…in town for the three-day holiday weekend. Had one last wonderful gelato. Saw our angry mime again.

Fell asleep tired, but knowing we had wrung every last drop from the Eternal City.