MikeMoore.org

A short video clip of Susan at Bristol Mountain. Click on the link then select Open with Windows Media Player

I’m back playing around with APRS and working on getting the radios installed more permanently.  The image on the front page shows the most recent position in the APRS database but because the station is powered off with the engine, the map location shows me “almost to work” or “almost home”.  I’m working on leaving the power on for a few minutes after the engine turns off.

I broke my photo server when I uploaded the pictures from Santa’s visit.  I should have a new server online tomorrow but for now. you may view Santa’s visit and the party pictures here

I just uploaded the last of the picture pages.  These may be viewed at my photo album

We got up early Thursday for our flight back home.  I was expecting a lot of traffic and crowded buses but there was none of that.  I guess the Romans aren’t early risers.  We took the #64 bus to the train station and then took a train to the airport.  That was very convenient because the train took us right to our terminal.  There was a long line at passport control and several security stops along the way but we were inside in about an hour.  We had breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the runway and it was neat seeing the different airline liveries.  IranAir landed and parked an A330 right next to us.  Our flight left on time and we turned out right over the Mediteranian.  We crossed over Sardinia then after about 2 hours flying time crossed above the Pyrennees Mountains (I think) then out over the Atlantic.  We landed at JFK early and then connected to Rochester.  We got home around 6:45.  We both agreed it was a great trip!  Our favorite things were David, The Ufizzi Gallery, and Vatican City.  The weather was perfect the whole time with temperatures in the high 50s to high 60s.  The best accomodations were in Venice and the best food was found in Rome.

Wednesday brought more perfect weather!  We took a bus to the Vatican Museum where we had arranged for a tour.   We met our guide and she took us into the museum and the best part was that it was like going somewhere with Laura.  She was very knowlegeble about the museum and art history in general.  She showed us many pieces and pointed out the similarities between paintings and where the figures were taken from some of the earlier paintings and statues.  The Vatican Museum was fantastic!  Sistine Chapel Wow!  We had to make a trade off between seeing the Papal audience and going to the Museum because the museum was operating on Winter hours.  We chose the museum because we were told that the Pope is very far away and difficult to see and understand.  We had lunch in the Vatican City neighborhood then went to see St. Peters Bascilica.  The line was very long so we decided to see the Roman Forum and ancient ruins while we still had daylight.  We took a bus over that way and walked through the ruins.  In many places the archalogical digs and restorations are still going on.   That area closed at 4:30 and we bussed back to St. Peters to check the line.  The line was gone and we walked right in!  The church is incredible.  We walked along the right side on the way in and saw the Pieta and all of the side chapels and the Popes altar.  As we were rounding the back wall and a procession went by and they were starting 5:00 Mass.  Cool, we went to Mass at the Bascilica.  We saw the rest of the inside then went to dinner.  We went to La Carbonara this was in the square right behind our apartment.  Then we turned in early because of our flights the next day.

On Tuesday we got a relatively late start.  We had breakfast in the apartment from the bakery on the street and went to the open air market behind our apartment.  It is a farmers market with some other goods too.  I bought some spices.  We took the 116 electric bus to the Borghese Villa, billed as Rome’s Central Park.  The weather was perfect so we walked around the gardens.  From there we walked back inside the wall then to the Spanish Steps.  We talked to a group with a tour from a washing machine company.   We walked down the steps and had lunch in the same area that we had had dinner the night before.  After lunch we took the subway to the train station to scout out our departure route on Thursday.  The subway took us down to the Colloseum where we took the tour.  When the Colloseum closed we walked back to the Pantheon neighborhood for gellato.  After gellato we walked back to the apartment to dress for dinner.  We headed to the Trevi Fountain area for dinner.  The restaurant that we planned for dinner was empty and that scared us off.  We went back to a place that we had seen on the way and had trouble getting in.  My impression was that it was not a place that catered to tourists but we came back a few times so they finally let us in.  The menu had a lot of things that we weren’t familiar with so we asked the waitress to bring us what she wanted us to have.  The meal was very good and it was interesting to eye the locals!

Around 7pm we took the “Dolce Vita Stroll,” recommended in Rick Steves’ Rome.  That ran right by our apartment.  Our place is immediately above the pizza umbrella.  We walked to through Piazza Navona, past the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, then to the Spanish Steps.  We sought out a restaurant recommended in the Rick Steves book Italy 2006 - Il Gabriello For me, it was the best restaurant so far in the trip.  Sue liked Ristorante Parione best of the trip so far in Florence.

We left Florence this morning for Rome and had a beautiful ride down on the train. The countryside was very pretty with a lot of very nice looking farmland. We took the #64 bus from the train station and got off right at our apartment. We are located a few blocks from the Vatican. Here is a link to our apartment location. This afternoon we had lunch at a restaurant in the market behind our place then we got on a tour bus for a ride around the city. We did that to get a game plan for tomorrow. Tonight, we are going to walk along a mile route which leads from just south of the apartment to the Trevi Fountain. This was recommended in Rick Steves book as a good night time activity and there are supposed to be many very nice restaurants along the fountain. Thanks for the emails and blog comments !!

Florence is a great spot!   We got out early and headed for Uffizi gallery.  It held a great collection of rennaisance art!  We finished at lunch time and dined in the square outside.  We walked up to the Bascilica San Croche and went to Mass then to the Leather School behind the church.   We looked at the leather shops then walked to the river and to Ponte Vecheccio.  From there we walked to the apartment via the Duomo then took a bus to Fiesole which overlooks Florence.  Very nice views of Florence.  We dressed for dinner and walked to Tratoria Gabriello.  Very nice!  Tomorrow, Roma