Trip to Europe

Barcelona

To celebrate our 5th Anniversary Bryce and I went on a Mediterranean cruise. We got up at 5 o'clock in the morning and arrived at 8 o'clock the next day in Spain (which is midnight Salt Lake time). We jumped on a bus to take a tour of downtown Barcelona. We stopped at Montjuic where there is a fortress built in the 17th century that overlooks the whole city of Barcelona and the harbor.

One of the most prominent sites of Barcelona is La Sagrada Familia. The church was originally designed by Antoni Gaudi, a very famous architect, who worked on it for over 40 years during the 1800's. The church has never been finished due to lack of funds and bombings during the Spanish Civil War. The church is scheduled to be completed in 2026, 100 years after Gaudi's death.

Park Guell was originally designed in the 19th century to be a
garden city for the richest families of Barcelona. There were to be 60 lots complete with a gatekeepers house and meeting area. The idea never took off as only 3 lots were ever sold. Bryce and I are sitting on the massive bench in the meeting area completely covered in mosaic tiles.

Malta

After a relaxing day at sea we arrived in Malta. If any of you are like me I didn't even know that Malta was a country. I would have missed this if it was a question on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader." Malta is a small island nation 58 miles south of Sicily. Malta has been considered a crucial strategic location due to its location in the Mediterranean. In order to make the island easier to defend the famous Knights of St. John fortified the majority of the island.

Naples

We spent the next day in Naples where we started out driving down the Italian coast. A small group of us went with our tour guide to find the best pizza for lunch. We were a little late returning to the bus, which we didn't think was a big deal because we were with our guide. I mean we couldn't leave without the guide, right? Some people might not have felt the same way!

After lunch we headed for Pompeii. I am sure you all know the story of Pompeii being buried under 25 feet of ash. What I didn't know was that Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and the city wasn't discovered for nearly 1700 years. Only 2/3 of the city has been uncovered so far. They are having a difficult time excavating the other third as they are also trying to protect what they have already uncovered.

Rome

Our tour of Rome started at the Colosseum. The Colosseum was completed in 80 AD and was in use for approximately 500 years. At full capacity the Colosseum seated around 50,000 spectators and hosted gladiator games, mock sea battles, executions and dramas based on classical mythology.

The colosseum is in pretty bad shape due to earthquakes, the entire marble facade being removed to be used elsewhere when the public spectacles held there were banned, and the steel used to reinforce the structure was removed to make weaponsfountains in Rome.

We stopped for lunch by the Trevi Fountain, one of the largest fountains in Rome. One must toss coins over their left shoulder: one to return to the fountain, two for marriage and three for a divorce. I also heard four for grandchildren, but I didn't know that until after we had left, sorry Mom!


After lunch we went to Vatican City. We walked through the Vatican museum which houses some incredible works of art. We walked through the Sistine Chapel, which had recently been restored. This is the front of the Basilica of St. Peter, the burial site of St. Peter, who according to tradition was the first Bishop of Antioch and later the first Bishop of Rome. St. Peter's Basilica is the largest Christian Church in the world.

Florence

Our first stop of the day was in Pisa, where we took the typical tourist photos! Our tour guide laughed, but who knows if we'll ever be in Pisa again. Plus I'm sure she already has her picture by the leaning tower. The tower of Pisa was began in 1173. By the time the third phase was started in1178 the foundation had already given way by 3 meters. The person responsible for the construction of the tower thus far was never seen again. About 100 years later construction started again. This time the architect made one side of the floor shorter than the other in an effort to straighten the tower. He wasn't entirely successful as the tower is actually curved. After waiting for the tower to fall, the Pisans decided to intervene to save the
tower by reinforcing the structure. Now, after many years, groups of 20 are allowed to climb the 296 stairs to the top of the bell tower every hour.

Later that afternoon we saw the David. The photo is a replica that has been put in the original David's place outside of the Palazzo Vecchio. David was moved to a museum nearby in 1873. Michelangelo was only 26 years old when he started carving the single block of marble that would become the David in just three short years. Michelangelo worked under the premise that the image of David was already in the block of stone he was working on — he simply set him free. The block of marble had previously been rejected by several other artists because they felt there were too many veins and had been waiting to be carved for over 25 years.

Barcelona Again and then Goodbye Europe

After we departed from the ship we hopped on a tour bus and headed to the Spanish countryside. We visited a winery that was founded in 1551 and has passed through 17 generations of the same family. The winery, called Codorniu, has been declared a National Monument. We learned how the wine was made, toured the cellar, and even got to taste their famous Cava (the spanish version of champagne). I believe that at full capacity the winery cellar holds 100 million bottles of wine.

We spent the afternoon at Montserrat, a monastery atop the mountains of Barcelona. The views from atop the mountain was breathtaking. The church at Montserrat houses one of the few black virgin statues in the world, which we waited in line for about an hour to see. Many people who are blind, crippled or otherwise disabled wait in line to see the virgin and pray for a miracle.