Penthouse Letters

So I know I’ve been beating the drum of how awesome it is to be in Europe during the offseason to avoid crowds.  I’ve been in so many museums and churches and had such peaceful times.  It’s not unusual to be the only person in the room, or just have a few companions.  So I thought nothing of it today when I was puttering around the Bargello by my lonesome.  A couple was in the room with me, and she dropped into a chair.  Again, nothing unusual since touristing at this rate can wipe you out.  Then I noticed she was sitting in, shall we say, a somewhat unladylike position.  Then I noticed her male compatriot had out a video camera.  Then OH MY GOD!! 

This museum does have a great collection of Cellini nudes so I can kinda see….no, no, I can’t.  They were very sweet and offered me a role in their film.  Of course they were French.  But I have read Ian McEwan’s ‘The Comfort of Strangers’, so I graciously declined.  And I have no idea what was in that exhibit.  Really blanked my mind.

WWND: What would Niccolo do?  

Tuscany

Antico

You've had a bunch of wordy posts lately.  Picture time!

Me on Palatine Hill.  Please note the absence of company, the upside of the offseason.

The Forum.  Busman's holiday.

I think my selfies are getting better!  And showing the downside of offseason travel - I'm always in the same outfit.  Coat, rain coat....

Well, no.  Not all selfies are better.  I was distracted.  Gelato from the best place in Rome. http://www.giolitti.it/  So good....

Trevi.  Because a coin had to be tossed.

The Vatican

I’m just going to take a moment to rub it in.  Have you been to the Vatican Museums?  Ever been the only person in a room there?  Because I now have.  It’s great!  Really, the only thing that could be called a crowd was in the Sistine Chapel.  There are so few people the guards remember you if you backtrack into their rooms (and just to be honest, the Vatican guards [not the Swiss Guards] are quite attractive).  I’ve even run into fellow tourists who were at the Borghese yesterday.  The same thing happened at the Acropolis.  There are so few of us, we’re a bit of a family.

A few artistic notes:

1.     I am really enjoying the mosaics.  I may need a house of my own at some point just so I can put one in.  

2.     The “Etruscan Collection” was anything but.  But the Greek ceramics were gorgeous.  Unfortunately, all I could think of was Brianna’s cake when looking at them.  B – you’re on tap for that!

3.     If you are an oil painter, avoid a metal “canvas” (copper, bronze).  I have yet to find one that doesn’t look awful.

4.     The ridiculous post-facto fig leafs on the Greek and Roman statuary need to go!

After wandering the Vatican for over five hours, I popped over to St. Peter’s and climbed the dome.  Over 500 steps.  I needed to burn off yesterdays gustatory overload.  Though it was raining this morning, the sun came out in the afternoon and the views are gorgeous.  I just sat in the sun for a half hour on the roof of St. Pete’s.  Then down all the stairs into the church itself.  Since I wanted to rest my feet, I sat through a mass (why not?) which clocked in at a quick 45 minutes.  Good music, not much incense.  Despite being hungry by then, I did not take the cracker.  Antipasto, it’s not.   I do like that rather than the usual gory crucified Jesus, the main motif of the church is the Spiritu Sancto (dove).   

Y'know, views.... 

Selfies are getting better.

More views.

Did you know the Vatican has it's own tennis court?  I suspect this one is used by the Swiss Guard.  Either way, my usual "lava balls" would wind up three stories down.  Dangerous sport, tennis.

Roma

Woke early and accidentally saw Saint Peter’s Square at dawn.  I was navigationally erring.  Wandered back east, over the Tiber, through the Piazza del Popolo and up to the Borghese Gardens.

And suddenly, I can breathe again.  Rome in January is pretty deserted.  No crowds, no smoke, very little graffiti, and plenty of friendly nods and “buon giorno”s.  Perhaps it’s Western prejudice, but I am far more comfortable here.  Even the weather seems better.  50s and drizzling, but green grass and trees.  The umbrella sellers are located every 20 meters and can’t understand why I refuse to buy one.   Pffff!  All the street corners in Rome seem to have clocks, and I have not yet seen one with the correct time. 

The Galleria Borghese Museo has a very strict ticketing reservation system, but I take the risk that no one will be there early on a Sunday and I luck out.  No problems whisking in at the 9am opening.  After wandering the galleries I moved on to the Capuchin Crypt, as recommended by Rick Steves.  I do not recommend it.  The Paris Catacombs are a far better experience.  Then, following a fueling lunch, into the Museo Nazionale Romano.   

While the Borghese is much smaller than the Nazionale, the space itself is a work of art.  The walls, the ceilings, and the floors were all detailed, patterned, tiled, painted, or otherwise adorned.  I wouldn’t call it overwhelming, but perhaps harmoniously busy.  With only 20 rooms, many of them quite small, it is a jewel box museum.  In contrast, the Nazionale is a modern museum, despite the building being historical in the American sense.  Floors, walls, ceilings, and lights are all neutral, allowing the displayed pieces to stand out.  Four floors worth of pieces.  Exhausting.  It’s very illuminating coming here after Athens to see the extent of copying done by the Romans.  The mosaics were my favorites.

[Side note: do not take the elevator in the Nazionale.  Not safe.]

The siesta is such a good idea when traveling this way!  Not that I actually napped.  I just rested my feet and checked out the internet.  Skype really is handy, isn’t it?  Then off to a proper dinner.  I enjoyed bruschetta, ravioli, wine, dolce toscanella, and lemoncello.  Wow do I feel happy now.

Musings

I have some friends who left Seattle the same month I did, with plans to travel.  But they are following a very different path.  They rid themselves of almost everything in terms of household goods and stuffs, in order to avoid the trap of self storage.  They also are on a true retirement path – I have no idea if they will ever come back to America or Seattle.  In addition to all that, they began their journey with intensive language lessons. 

I really admire their willingness to step off the treadmill.  Learning Spanish while confining your travels (at least initially) to Central and South America is very wise.  But my journey has already taken me through Spanish, French, Flemish, German, Austrian German (really different), Czech, Greek, and Turkish.  Plus some Swedish.  Do I count Scottish?  And today – Italian.  I expect to encounter at least five more languages in the next two months, likely more.  So that would never have worked for me.

Plus, I always saw this as an out-of-time adventure, not a lifestyle.  Now, I am certainly enjoying myself and I could easily see extending my time, but I also miss many things about home.  I always planned to return, although I don’t know precise details of what that will entail.  I would continue this peripatetic lifestyle if I could think of a way, but needs must.  I need to earn a living!  I do have a storage unit and someday I will set up a new nest and enjoy having some (if not all) of that stuff in it.  While most of you know me as being anti-stuff, I do have a sentimental streak.  There are some things in there I enjoy having, that are gifts and reminders and comforts I don’t wish to eschew. 

My Turkish hosts have taken me on several shopping expeditions – the Grand Bazaar, etc, etc.  I have bought nothing.  The realities of carrying everything with me are such that I can’t imagine adding to my burden.  In hindsight I should have packed leaving a little more free space in my bag.  But mostly I packed wisely.  I have shed a bit as I’ve gone on – books, gloves (oops), used up toiletries.  I expect some of the clothing to be worn out and used up pretty soon, so that will be tossed.  While I planned this trip I stopped buying much because I thought I would just wind up storing it and that was wasteful.  Now that I am on the trip I’m not buying because I don’t want to carry it.  All told, I think I am saving a lot of money by traveling light.  I hope to continue the habit for a long time.  It’s interesting to walk through a mall and realize just how little the goods attract me.  It’s a similar process for my waistline.  I am spending so much time walking, and meals are necessarily smaller (where would I put leftovers?), that I am sure I am keeping healthy.  I haven’t been on a scale, but I think I’m doing well.  Avoiding the ‘flu that seems to have hit you all is another bonus.

It’s been said by so many but it is true: travel makes you appreciate home more.  If for no other reason than cigarette smoking is banned in most of the US.  The further east I go, the more I find myself reeking of smoke and covered in ash.  I even feel like I am aging rapidly.  I think my skin is taking a beating from exposure to all the smoke.  Gross. 

For many reasons, I am glad to have seen Istanbul, but I am looking forward to moving on.  While Turkey has not felt the way the UAE did (the only other majority-Islamic country I have visited), it nevertheless is a bit uncomfortable.  I want to be able to look everyone in the eye, smile at passersby, and enjoy those freedoms.  Istanbul isn’t overtly harassing, but as a woman it isn’t friendly.  I mostly went about with Frida and Yassif who protected me from much of it.  The one day I traveled alone on the bus and tram, a man followed me three blocks from the tram, into the Archaeology Museum (he must have had to pay the entrance fee, so this was beyond a whim), through seven galleries, and then tried to speak with me.  I rebuffed him and moved on to another floor.  He found me once again, but was turned down again.  I wasn’t scared – there are guards in every room of the museum.  But his persistence with no encouragement was a bit alarming.

I hadn’t planned to go to Italy until February, after seeing Hilary in Hungary and Croatia, since that would be the most logical movement from East to West.  But it’s a bit like saving my dessert and filling up on everything else.  I want to see Italy: I’m flying to Rome.  I can always see some of it, meet Hilary in Budapest, and come back after she departs.  This trip is a bit of dessert first anyway – I didn’t want to wait until retirement to do all this.  So I might as well live up to that standard.

Turkey

A decided lack of internet service has left this blogging business a bit behind.  I’m in Istanbul!  I’m here visiting Frida, my “niece” (her mother’s stepbrother is married to the sister of my former spouse).  Family’s family!  Istanbul is crazy – I think this may be the largest city I’ve visited to date.  Twenty two million people and they all seem to take the 35 bus.  Even in the non-tourist season it just feels jammed.  One plus to the non-tourist season is I get mistaken for German or Russian, not American.  Always gratifying.

I’ve done the major sights – the Golden Horn, the Galata Tower, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, the Hagia Sofia, the Basilica Cistern, and the Archaeology Museum (natch).  I’ve spent quality time with family and friends.  Time to start thinking about my next location.

With Frida at Topkapi

The Blue Mosque, from Hagia Sofia.

Acropolis

For all of you who asked why the heck I am traveling in Europe in winter, here's the answer:

Seriously.  It's 55 degrees out here, and it's deserted.  I have the whole Acropolis to myself.  I can wander at will.  I'm not sweating up a storm.  It doesn't stink.  This is heavenly.

Oh, and it's completely beautiful.  Did I mention that?

I also got a haircut here in Athens.  Nice not having my bangs everywhere.