Tales of a Wanderer

I am now in Ravenna. In 402, the Emperor Honorius moved the capital of the western Roman empire from Rome to Ravenna. At the time, Ravenna was strategically better because it was farther north, situated on the Adriatic sea in good trade routes, surrounded by marshes for defense and all around just better than Rome.

The barbarian kings took over the Western Roman Empire during that time...see Peter Heathers book "the Fall of the Roman Empire" to explain the causes. The barbarian kings ruled the Western Empire from here in Ravenna. In the 500s, Emperor Justinian came from Constantinople and retook Ravenna and most of Italy back in the name of the Roman Empire. Confused yet? Well, all this to say that, there are the best preserved Byzantine mosaics in the world in this city...next time Ill upload a few of the shots. The churches and their mosaics are simply some of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen.

Ravenna reminds me of where i went to school, UCDavis. Everyone rides their bikes around and they let tourists rent a bike for free! I have my sporty yellow bike and I am riding around in style. I met a great French couple today, Joelle and Eric and they bought me a cappucino and we talked Bush, politics and life. They asked a lot of questions about Americans and they say that French media does not think Americans to be very smart. I was trying to help out the team a bit.

Ciao for now! Check out some of these pics...

Me at St Peters Basilica, Rome

I was fortunate to get a nice shot (I did not flash, even though everyone was using their flash...)

South of Naples in Sorrento...everyone uses scooters here

a statue in Sorrento

I met Antonio feeding pigeons in Sorrento

A courtyard suriving from 70 AD! in Herculaneum

not a bad spot to spend the afternoon, i took a bus from Sorrento (crowded place) to a small little harbor called Nerano

you can see why some of the emperors used to come here...

frescoe of Alexander the Great found in Pompeii dating back to 70AD

Samuel from Ghana, the guy I met in the Naples McDonalds...

Buon giorno from L'Italia!

I just saw 5 lightning strikes in Rome this evening!! A train strike is happening in Italy that almost prevented me from coming to Rome.
I forgot to mention in my last blog that I met a great guy in Ancona named Simone...he was here on business from Milan (clinical research). I was asking him about something and we ended up hanging out the rest of the night and going to a hole in the wall Italian restaurant. He taught me a bunch of Italian words, helped me to interact with the waitress and ordered a great bottle of red wine on his company card! We talked women, politics and life. Vive L'Italia!

At some point Im going to have to slow down just a bit. I am about 3 days ahead of schedule, but my feet are starting to hurt a lot from all of the walking. Rome is my favorite city so far - it is so beautiful and so amazing, and I finally can get around without a map. I took a tour of the Circus Maximus, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Forum, Pantheon, St Peters and the Vatican Museum. I feel like I can walk around here safely and confidently...Im starting to get the hang of this travelling thing...I find the Italians a lot friendlier than the Greeks. I dont get cold stares or looks like Im invisble.

I cant stay here much longer because the hostel I stayed at the first night blew a hole in my budget the size of the iceberg in the Titanic. This ship aint sinking though! After 3 hours of wandering around Rome from 6pm to 9pm, talking to several Italians and covering a third of the city, I found the hostel I was looking for. It didnt help that it started raining when I was walking around. Iàm really starting to realize how dependent we are upon other people for information and hospitality, and it puts a different perspective on tourists I see back in the Bay Area.

I have met a lot of friends here, I ate with Samuel from Ghana in the Naples McDonalds (yes I broke down and finally had McDonalds!) It costs six Euro for a Bic Mac meal which is about $9 American = Big Whack.
I met a couple from Seattle, Bill and Janice who bought me pizza in Naples, Matt and Sue from Pennsylvannia who I met at Trevi Fountain here in Rome, Tim and Kelly from South Carolina, I met John and Shelly from Boston today and helped them find their way to the Metro, talked to Sean from Ventura, Mike and Jill from Toronto and many others.

The world is truly becoming globalized. There is an ethnically Chinese Australian named Eugene working in my hostel, musicians from the Andes are playing on the main street in Rome to the tune of Gladiator music, Indians and Pakistanis selling street wares from umbrellas to dancing mickey and minnie trinkets, Brasilians, Mexicans, French, Swedish, Japanese, theyre all here... Almost everyone speaks English...and almost everyone dislikes America.

In a way, its all quite overwhelming...so much going on, so much to see, so much to do. I sat on the Spanish Steps for a long time last night just people watching resting my sore feet.

When I left off from Assisi, I was headed down to Napoli, to the land of Mt Vesuvius, Pompei and Herculeneum. My base for two days was in Sorrento, the retreat of many Roman emperors and senators starting with Caesar Augustus.
I saw the ruins of Herculanum, left from the eruption of Vesuvius in 70AD and saw the frescoes and sculptures saved from Vesuvius in the Naples National Museum.

Im having my laundry professionally done today for the first time after sink washing for a while. Washing your laundry in the sink only takes about 50% of the smell and grime out of your clothes.

Im starting to miss home at points now. I realize how important community is, and how being alone can remind you of your great need before God and others. I am learning a lot about the world, the problems we face and Im trying to figure out more solutions. Robert (my Polish friend I met in Assisi) told me he thinks industry is one of the biggest threats to the world in our time. But he said "we have hope because we have God" and showed me his cross.

Steve in front of Agammemnon's Fortress

Me
Me in Front of Lions Gate at Agammemnon's Fortress
in front of Agammemnon's Cistern

inside Agammemnon's Cistern
Breakfast in Greece...cant get enough Nescafe...
God rays
At the top...you cant see the 999 literal stairs or the back i brought up...
Steveo with defo

1500 ft of cliffe behind me...I love those Venetian imperialists building castles all over Greece...

more sexy poses
a third of the 999 steps
sunset at Ancona
more sunset...
old German i met in Assisi
Assisi behind me
an Assisi sunset...while i was eating
nun talking to bird

polish friend Robert studying engineering in Rome...also a brother in Christ
a Mycenean tomb (maybe Agammemnon's grandfather)
Mars Hill in Athens, where St Paul spoke
my mug in front of the Parthenon
the Great Metropolitan Church in Athens where I past the guards on Good Friday...they kicked me out shortly after...
friends on the train...from left to right...Dylan, Amy, Whitney, Crissy, Nick, Evan and Steve
Corinth was a thriving city in the past...

at the top of Corinth, going through the fortress and up to the temple of Aphrodite
the view from the top
every good fortress needs a white tree...

The view and the sunset were spectacular. I ate my picnic dinner of fontana cheese, crackers, a pear and ritter chocolate in the main town square as the sun went down. The town is full of Pax y Bene = peace and goodwill. On the way out I heard a rousing version of We Are Going to See the King coming from a cathedral. It was some of the most stirring music I have ever heard. An African woman also heard it and followed me in. In the Catholic church, a protestant American choir was belting away beatiful melodies in Assisi. As soon as I sat down it was over, but it was beatiful. The choir director said, thats all even though people kept applauding and wanting more.

I took a superfast train from Roma to Naples today (186mph) and then took a bus to Sorrento. Im staying in a pretty freaky hostel tonigt (La Serene) Siren of the Sea and one of my roommates is a guy named Chris from Missouri.

I miss you all...i am trying to

Not that the Greeks are perfect. In fact, I've had some unpleasant exchanges with some of the locals today. The Greek army was out in force today for the Good Friday service. The Metropolitan bishop was there, the king? of Greece and other important folk. Before any politicians arrived, I tried to enter the church in spite of a wall of soldiers blocking the steps. One of them asked me what I was doing. I told him I was going into church and he said no, it's too full. He then changed his mind and said I could look for a minute. Yup, it was a Greek orthodox service.

I met up the next day with a Brit named Steve and a Moldovan Peace Corps worker named Evan who is from LA. We ended up heading down to Corinth together and exploring the ancient ruins at the bottom. A local Brit and his Bostonian wife gave us a ride to the tope of Akro Corinth, a huge mountain fortress which once housed the temple of Aphrodite with 1000 prostitutes. The view from the top was amazing. you could seen the water on the Adriatic and Aegean seas and the very point where Greece connects with the lower Peloponnese peninsula, the very small 6 km stretch of land that has seen the Spartans march through as well as thousands of others through history.

At the top I met a Baptist pastor named Adam from Missouri. He's got a Baptist church in Athens of all places. Not quite orthodox.

Steve, Evan and I hiked, hitched, bussed and made our way to Mykenae where the ancient ruins of the palace of Agammemnon lay. Agammenmon's and his brother went to Troy to rescue Helen. Turns out in this very palace that Agammenmom's wife through a net on him when he returned and bludgeoned him to death. Their son Orestes fled out the back gate of the palace and returned to bring justice upon his mother and new lover. Ah, the birthplace of Greek tragedy. We explored the Tholos tomb, a huge honeycombed shaped hive of burial goodness. (We actually hopped the fence on this one because it was closed Easter Sunday and we really want to get in).

Steve and I headed to Nafplion where we hiked a 999 staircase to a 500 year old Venetian fortress on the water! We did it all with our backpacks on - people were giving us the strangest of looks.

I rushed back down to Corinth and took a train to Patras, and made it to the ferry station and got a 10 euro ticket on a super fast overnight ferry to Ancona, Italy! I feel like I'm on the Titanic. There's 50 men's dorm beds, and I'm the only one in there so I have a gloriously large bathroom to myself. This morning I woke up looking at the blue Adriatic, went down to eat breakfast and saw dolphins jumping next to the boat!!!

Some funny cultural moments - Greek taxi driver -total Euro music blaring and Euro glasses corrects Evan on his pronunciation - it's fiCCHHuuutio, not fitio. he did that 10 times. (the same taxi driver tried to charge us 3 times as much by taking us in a circle so when had to call him on that.)
I approached three old greeks playing backgammon at a bus station and said "anesti" (which is short for Christ has risen). They all looked at me and mumbled christos anesti and smiled.
Ordering an Ouzo beverage at the local Greek restaurant and getting a shot of hardcore licorice tasting goodness.

Okay pictures soon, I promise, I am in Italy soon!!