Christine and Carol at L'Auberge de I'Ill

My mom and I also went to Fancy Lunch.  In France.  Because we can.  It is only 90 minutes away.  A lovely drive (when it's not raining).  I found a new for me restaurant to try.  And they are all new for her.  The amuse bouche and dining room:

My main entree (I'm blanking on the meat, but it was delicious and over risotto, which I love--mom do you remember?  Leave in the comments if you do.  Danke er Merci.):

The wonderful lamb my mom ordered (which I wish I had ordered):

We also chose fromage (cheese) from the well stocked fromage cart.  I loved it all.  And tasted 5 options.  My mom tried a couple of them.  I was nice enough to share my choices with her.  (See, I really am nice to share French fromage.)  The large one in the middle was my favorite.  If I have to chose one.

The first mini desserts, which we each received our own (this is with the ipod not such a great photo):

The macaron was the best I have ever had.  I have had a lot.  Many times in France.  I'm not quite an expert, but I'm trying to be one.  I could eat them all if given the chance.

My mom's dessert, mousse:

I had the chocolate choice, gelato, brownie, and more gelato.  I'm sure you all are shocked.  Just shocked.

Christine 

Christine and Carol in Roma, Italia

My mom decided to visit Europe.  So off we went.  To her choice of Roma.  And we saw all the major sites.  First up was the ever impressive Colosseum.  Then we walked by the Roman Forum and up the steps to Capital Hill.  We visited the Christmas Market in Piazza Navona.  (For the record, Christmas Markets all sell junk.  But are fun to see and the smells are yummy.)

We also visited Vatican City (which counts as another country in case you are keeping track).  There we went to mass at St. Peter's Basilica and were blessed by Pope Francis.  Michelangelo was one of the primary architectures of the Basilica.  He also completed the sculpture Pieta, displaced in St. Peter's.    (He has a few sculptures around town.  I took pictures of them for you and will mark them accordingly.)

The alter is 7 story bronze canopy.

Michelangelo's Pieta behind glass.

The Pope's window, where he blessed us from.  

All the people celebrating the Pope's birthday.

On the walk to the Vatican:

The next day we went back to visit the museum and see the magnificent Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms.  The Belvedere Torso (2,000 years old) that inspired Michelangelo's sculptures:

Since I'm a huge fan of sculpture, you get to see both pictures I took.  You are welcome.

Raphael painted the fresco, The School of Athens.  In in, he included Leonardo Di Vinci (top middle), Michelangelo (bottom grayish robe, head down), and included himself (very right side behind man in orange, and he is looking at you).  The drawling for the painting did not include Michelangelo.  Apparently Raphael saw the Sistine chapel ceiling and decided he should be added.  [A fresco is when paint is mixed in with the plaster.  So it does not fade like painting can.]

You are not allowed to talk or take pictures of the Sistine Chapel.  It was an agreement with the restoration company that cleaned up the fresco.  So it makes it really hard to take pictures.  I tried though (turn off the flash people).  My mom kept telling me to stop.  She was afraid I would get into trouble.  I try not to sweat the small stuff.  The Creation is the most famous portion.  But he explains Adam and Eve quite well I think.  The last judgment is the creation behind the alter.  There is a lot going on in it.

Creation

Adam and Eve

Last Judgment

We walked around and saw the Pantheon.  It was closing for the evening, so we moved on to Trivoli fountain.  And then the famous Spanish Steps.  Why are they called the Spanish Steps?  Because the Spanish Embassy is right near the base of them.

I did go back to the Pantheon.  It is the largest dome in Roma.  Michelangelo kept St. Peter's Basilica smaller than it.  It was built in 126 AD.

Pantheon Dome.  They don't let you directly under it.

I also visited the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, with a little known Michelango statue, Christ Bearing the Cross:

No one was around this one.  So if you wanted, you could touch the toe of the sculpture.

The San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains Church) houses Michelangelo's Moses sculpture.  He worked on it for 30 years.  Look closely.  He has horns.  Centuries ago the Hebrew word for rays was not translated correctly.  FYI-a person has to pay a Euro to turn on the lights around the sculptures.  Not cool Italia.

Plus we ate plenty of great food.  I love pizza.  And pasta.  And gelato.  (Especially gelato.)

The chocolate gelato had fudge pieces around it.  So good.  Best ever.

The Borghese Gallery does not allow photographs (or bags of any type to include your camera bag) in the museum.  But it is, by far, the best art I have ever seen.  The sculptures look like they are moving.  And they are marble.  If you are ever in Roma, go.  I would rate this as high as the Sistine Chapel.  That amazing.  We took the guided tour.  I highly recommend it.  I loved Bernini's sculptures.  He did them in his 20s, each taking around a year to complete.  When you sculpt marble, you start from the top and work your way down.  Each was more amazing than the last one.

First up was the Pluto and Proserpina sculpture.  There is much texture on it.   Her hair is blowing in the wind.  She has a tear coming from her eye.  And you can see his hand on her thigh.  Plus you can see the dog's fur.  http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/eproserp.htm

Then I loved Apollo and Daphne sculpture.  He is love struck and chasing her.  But she asks the gods to help her get away.  So they turn her into a tree as he catches her.  You see it even in the littlest details, like her toe growing roots.  The marble is translucent in some places (the cloth around his waist).
http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edafne.htm

My favorite was David.  The marble is showing him moving.  It is the second he is about to cast the stone.  Bernini used his own face for this sculpture.
http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edavid.htm

My words don't do the works justice.  I just loved them.  And am so grateful my mom chose to visit here.  (Though it is listed in the to 10 in all the guide books for Roma.)

Christine

Skiing in Zermatt

One of my friends, Martin, has a Go Pro and made a video about our ski group.  He gave me permission to share it here.  Enjoy!

A link to video in case it doesn't work:
http://vimeo.com/80939734

Christine

Christine in Zermatt, Switzerland

It's that wonderful time of year again--ski season!  And I finally saw the Matterhorn.  It is the mountain summit between Switzerland and Italia, at 4,478 meters (14,691 feet).  It is one of the highest peaks in the Alps.  The Matterhorn has a pyramid shape to it.  You may be familiar with it because it is on the Toblerone candy.  Yes, it is on the wrapper.  It is breathtakingly beautiful.  There is a Klein Matterhorn  across from the Matterhorn, but I didn't take a picture of it.  (I am working on my photography skills.  This is with my point and shoot camera not the fancy one.)

Matterhorn from Zermatt, Switzerland.

Matterhorn from the Italia side.

Matterhorn from the slopes, Switzerland.

You ski on a glacier.  And can visit both the Swiss and Italian Alps.  I recommend eating on the Italian side.  Not only is the food amazing, but it is cheaper.  The runs are fun and there are cable cars to connect both sides.  Though if the winds are too much, there is a T-bar from the Swiss side to the Italian side.  It is a long ride.  Ask me how I know.  But worth it.

What better way to spend Thanksgiving then on the slopes.  The Europeans try to do an American Thanksgiving.  But it is just not the same.  Something is always a little off.  Not bad, but not like home. Overall, the food at the hotel was quite good.  (You eat your breakfast and dinner at the hotel and lunch on the mountain.)  And the hotel was like 20 feet from the gondola.  Can't beat that.  At all.  Wake up, eat, and then a simple commute.

 And Switzerland has wonderful fondue.  You have to eat fondue if you visit.  I went with the group I skied with for lunch one day.

Zermatt is a wonderful town.  That you take a train to get too.  Since they do not allow gas vehicles of any time up there.  Only electric cars.  Kinda like golf carts on steroids.

And the church, with a unique fountain in the foreground:

Christine

Christine in Djibouti City, Djibouti

Work was kind enough to pay for one of my adventures.  I finally made it to the continent of Africa.  Visiting Djibouti.  Interestingly, Africa, well Djibouti, is exactly what we all thought it would be.  It was for me anyway.  During my visiting at the end of October and early November 2013 (yes I am super way behind and I apologize to you all) the high was in the 90s and it was SUNNY.  All.The.Time.  I loved this.  Hot weather.  (They told me in the summer it is in the 120s/130s and feels like a hair dryer blowing in your face all the time.)  The opposite of Germany at this time of the year.  It is also brown and dusty.

This is the best picture in Djibouti that I took.  At the airport.  After getting off the plane.

I worked the 10 days straight.  There really is nothing else to do.  The base commander was/is not allowing anyone to leave the base.  I did get some pictures from the car though.  And I didn't get to try the local food either.  So no food pictures.

Christine

Neuschwanstein Castle, Fall

Yes, snow in my fall shot.

As you may recall, this castle has graced my blog before.  But I wanted to try to get some pictures with the changing leaves.  Lots of vibrant color.  I may have been a bit early.  But the snow was earlier than me.  So I did have a small window to try with.  This is the first trip where I managed to make it before they closed the trails to Marian's Bridge.  This bridge gives you a great shot of the Neuschwanstein Castle.  But you can take ever better pictures of the castle if you hike past the bridge.  You do have to cross a bent fence to get to the better pictures.

Marian Bridge from below

Starting my climb to get the 3rd picture above.

Interestingly, I was ok crossing this bridge.  There were tons of tourist on it, but I didn't get anxiety like I normally do high up.  Which I figured I would.  Especially since it was 3 people deep the whole way across.  Not sure what changed, but I like it.
The mountain I climbed to get some of the beautiful pictures above:

I did not climb to the peak.  I made it to the little ridge near the peak.  But it was fairly high up there.  This concludes the behind the scenes tour of how I get the pictures.

Christine