She blinded me with science

Florence has some amazing tributes to the Renaissance men that walked these streets in their smarty pants and changed the world with their math, science, and art. While getting to them, we saw a few Medieval men peddling beads and selfie sticks who clearly didn't hear the news that we’re supposed to be civilized now.

The Galileo museum is stuffed full of the tools that set the stage for the scientific revolution. Galileo also gave everyone the finger. Really, some of his actual fingers are on display. I thought this quite summed him up:

“Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe, which stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot not be understood without first learning to comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles and other geometric figures, without which it is impossible to humanly understand a single word of it.”

There's also a museum where our kids could get their hands on some of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions and practice their backwards and upside down writing in a mirror. They've tried to pass off some schoolwork that appears to have been written the same way.

Playing outside Galileo's museum with a huge sundial in the background 

The finger, appropriately flipped

A pulley system that makes it easy for a 4-year old to haul heavy stuff - we need to install one of these

You have to make a goofy face when making a Renaissance bridge from logs 

I wanna touch it! Why can't I touch this one!?

Peter, Paul and Mary

The Vatican and Pantheon provided the backdrop for discussions about Peter, Paul and Mary. It should be noted that John, Daniel and Dinah know nothing about Peter, Paul and Mary the folk group. They do know something about the apostles and mother of Jesus.

St. Peter’s Basilica is arguably the grandest church in the world. According to tradition, it is built on the exact spot that Peter was crucified – upside down because he felt he was not worthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus. If that's not a big enough deal, that Charlemagne guy was crowned there in the year 800.

While we’re on the topic of the Vatican, it should be noted that seeing Michaelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel in person should be on everyone’s list to do. Absolutely stunning. Raphael was no slouch either. John saw it all while fittingly wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt.

Paul was imprisoned right down the road from the Colosseum and Forum in the Mamertine, which is where he is said to have wrote 2 Timothy.

The Pantheon, built in the 2nd Century, was rededicated as a church to Mary and the martyrs in the 7th Century and rounds out the Peter, Paul and Mary journey through Rome.

Completely unrelated, we’re staying right next to the Parco degli Acquedotti. The engineering of Roman acqueducts is amazing, especially considering these were built in the 1st Century. This park was also in the opening scene of the Fellini movie, La Dolce Vita. If you haven't seen the movie, you should at least watch that scene here.

We also discovered that groups of Italians say “cheese” to get everyone to smile for photos, apparently because saying “formaggio” doesn't quite have the same effect.

So much to look at in this hallway!

Look at the shirt on the guy with the shield, or is that skin? I'm confused by this Raphael

Wait a second, where's Donatello and Leonardo?? 

How it ended for Paul  

A few things have happened in St. Peter's

Spanish Steps, under renovation but still crowded anyway - file under Unappealing Photos of Famous Places 

The Pantheon 

I'd be more impressed with a nap about now

When in Rome…go to the “Pepsi Center of Death” and eat hamburgers

We had some grumpy kids today. Leaving Napoli to Roma by train this morning didn't seem to help. And apparently they’ve already had their fill of pizza and pasta, which is not good given that we have about three weeks left in Italy. After feeding them more pasta, we promised to find them hamburgers after they traipsed around more ruined stuff for miles and miles (with really no idea how we'd deliver on that).

The Forum, where that Julius Caesar guy walked around and was killed by his so-called friends, and the Colosseum were our first stops. You can touch because they're already ruined (though I think the Colosseum is in better shape than Oakland’s). John quickly saw the comparison to the arena he's familiar with, though the sport had a bit more consequence, and dubbed it the Pepsi Center of Death.

On the way to Trevi Fountain, like a gift of manna from God, there's a hamburger place with craft beer right outside the Metro. Nothing satisfies an American family more – promises made, promises kept.

An ussie at a famous place

Daniel is delivering a public service announcement about bears with his shirt

Perfect lighting for the photo - another postcard 

"The bathrooms are clean, he's wearing a tie!" - overheard from a Brit outside the water closet 

"Thank God for hamburgers!" 

You can get an amazing photo of Trevi Fountain if you're tall and aggressive. But here's what it really looks like - file under Unappealing Photos of Famous Places 

Volcano (you don't wanna, you don’t wanna know)

You really don't wanna know about these past two days, especially because I don't want to relive them. But the story is one to tell.

We awoke early yesterday to go to Pompeii. While getting ready, Dinah announced with a panic that she was sick. Not “sick of going to see things every day,” but rather sick as in “I'm going to poop in my pants and throw up on you if you don't help.” Having a sick 4-year-old is never really fun, and being away in another country where you don't really speak the language with a sick 4-year-old has never, ever been on anyone’s to-do list.

We made the most of it. The kids likely all needed a quiet day (a real quiet day, not like this trick quiet day). And Jess and I each separately  got to take a stroll around the neighborhood to explore a
bit, something we tend not to do as a pack of five. While this trip is being made up as we go along, we do at least have a bit of a plan by the time we walk out the door each morning.

This morning was more interesting. Since Dinah was feeling better, we were going to get up early to go to Pompeii (sound familiar?). Dinah was the first to hit the brakes again with this exclamation: “What the heck!? There's water on the floor!”

Not good. In fact, there was about two inches of water on the floor…the ENTIRE first floor of the apartment. Apparently, there was a pipe that burst in the bathroom early in the morning that flooded the house. Because our windows were open, and Napoli is always loud, no one thought the sound was anything concerning in their half-awake state.

Complete chaos ensued. Trying to save our bags, find the leak, figure out how to turn off the water, tell the owner of the flat to bring life preservers, try to keep kids from floating away - stuff like that. Eventually, a plumber came. He didn't speak English, so the first words we heard were “Oh, mama mia!” I think I may have used some words that shouldn't be put in here.

It was really quite a miracle that everything got fixed and dried out, nothing was damaged, and the flat is back to normal tonight (the floor is really clean now!). To top it all off, we made the trip to Pompeii.

Could 20,000 people still fit in this colosseum with broken seats and all these weeds?  

Vesuvius is looming over this picture. Note, the boys can't stop laughing at the giant penis. 

This table was owned by Servilius Casca, one of the conspirators in the assassination of Julius Caeser (and a character in a Shakespeare play) 

2,000 years ago, these folks had a worse day than we did

Going Coastal

What is there to say about a trip to the Amalfi Coast? It's absolutely breathtaking, the food in Positano was perfect, the kids got to go crazy playing on the beach, and we didn't have to do the driving on those treacherous roads. A perfect day is hard to come by, but this one came close.

Positively Positano 

Pebble beach? Who cares, there's WATER!!

Calamari, quite possibly the best I've ever had

No words needed

Napoli hits your eye like a big pizza pie

Wow, Napoli just comes right at you in a big way. This includes everyone’s large hand gestures. And cars and scooters. The streets are narrow, and the drivers go fast with their hand on the horn, and they have no patience for timid pedestrians – we learned quickly that you either walk boldly or you die (thankfully no one was killed to get this lesson).

Daniel brought Cotton Candy Bear on our day. As you'll recall, that bear has always wanted to come to Italy. We promised the kids a light day, and then walked about 10 miles (it is April Fools day after all). It was action packed, and they didn't complain until the end when our feet felt like, well, like we walked 10 miles. The pizza and gelato probably helped keep them focused on other things.

Along with a number of sights, we toured Napoli Sotterranea, which is a series of Greek and Roman aqueducts built under the city. It goes back thousands of years. Dinah loved our tour guide, who apparently speaks every major world language and is going to move to Mexico. He wasn't terribly good at tours, since a woman lost her husband deep in the aqueduct. When she asked if anyone can get lost down there, I really doubt his answer “No, it’s impossible” is correct. We didn't see the husband again, and can only hope they found him eventually. Fortunately, we all emerged safely, including Cotton Candy Bear. 

Plowing through some pizza. I don't think the bear helped much (the dad did though)

History and water - looks like a Campbell vacation destination

Piazza del Plebiscito, Part 1

Piazza del Plebiscito, Part II. Cotton Candy Bear's dream come true!

Roman aqueduct by candlelight

"Mom gave us gelato, we can't complain for 10 minutes!!"

There are better ceilings in the world than the Duomo, but not many...

Galleria Umberto I, under renovation. File under Unappealing Photos of Famous Places.

Mad About Castles

There was a lot of sightseeing the last few days, which included the BMW museum, the Marienplatz, and return visits to the castles Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. This warrants a photo update before we venture to Italy tomorrow.

"I wanna touch it! Why can't I touch it!?"

An amazing castle is behind us - look at that and not how bad Jess' bangs are without a hair dryer

Almost a smile with those Alps behind her 

Daniel's zombie, Giggles, tagged along today. He smiles for photos.

Giggles loves him some castles

Almost a smile from Daniel 

John is not sure how to smile for photos

Spaghettieis!!!!!

 Neues Rathaus in Munich. This photo could be a postcard.