Rome

Darcy and I toured the Colliseum this morning; in the afternoon we were at St. Peters Cathedral and then the Vatican Museum. Tomorrow we head to Florence. We'll be dining with an Italian friend of Darcy's from BYU.

Naples

Thanks to Cedric, I had a great flight over from Atlanta to Rome. At the airport in Rome, I asked and found where the train tickets were sold; and I was able to buy a ticket to Naples, with a change of trains in Rome. The layover in Rome was about an hour, and that gave me time to find the hostel where we will be staying Saturday night (B-B Turin or something like that) The following photo is the train I took from Rome to Naples. It was a very comfortable ride - there were no breaks in the tracks so you did not hear or feel the clickety clack of older trains. It reminded me of the bullet train (Shinkansen) in Japan.



As is evidenced by the photo, I have met up with Darcy in Naples. This picture is at the rooftop of her hotel (Hotel Executive). We will have breakfast there tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning.
On the train ride down from Rome, I had time to read through the guide book and find a hostel. I am at the Hotel Duomo, Napoli. The address is Via Duomo 228. It is just down the street from an important cathedral called Il Duomo. Maybe we will visit it tomorrow. I walked past it on my way to the hairstylist. Yes, I got an Italian haircut. Now I look even more like those guys on the covers of Il Divo CDs.
It is quite warm and humid, but the breeze really helps... when you out doors. We have not decided what is going to happen tomorrow. One interesting ideas is to rent a boat and cruise out to a couple of small islands just off the cost. Adventure!!

Wildflowers, cont. in blue

We've meandered a little bit away from Relia's Garden in North Carolina. Now we are in the North Georgia mountains at B.S.A. Camp Woodruff. The year this picture was taken, we were assigned to one of the most remote campsites. This little gem was helping to make the long walk from our campsite a little more pleasant.

Wildflower theme continued...

I'm facinated by the shape of the petals on this flower: straight, parallel sides with saw-toothed ends. Is there anything else like this in nature?

Let there be music!

Inspired by my cousin Elaine and her husband Gordon, I've decided to add music to my blog. If it bothers you, simply click on the "pause" above the name of the tune that's playing.

Saturday

Following Craig & Jaclyn's lead, I've posted a photo history of what we did on Saturday. I think the best way to view these pictures is to click on the image (not the arrow), in the new window, find the icon to view the album (upper left corner), and then select "slide show" (in the same area). That way you can pause if necessary to read the longer captions.

Pink Explosion

This one is also from Relia's Garden. It's interesting to see the transition from closed in the middle to open on the outside. This next image is not from the same photo session, put it's an interesting perspective of the same kind of blossom.

Yellow Detail of Relia's Garden

Not everything is as it seems from a distance. It's not until you click on the image to enlarge it, that you notice the insect on the flower.

Welcome Mamallama

I've just added a link to BlogLor, home of the Mamallama. While the site is sparse today, soon I hope there will be plenty of llamita images and thoughtful commentary from La Mama.

Details of Relia's Garden

Please read more about Relia's Garden further down. This picture is a detail from the garden mosaic. The BOLD color that you see here is incomplete. These electronic devices cannot give the color its due. This dilemma helps illustrate the point that many things in life are not enjoyed to their fullest extent. It's possible, perhaps even likely that there are more colors to this flower than what we can see; and more scents than we can smell. What if this flower makes music that we can't hear? What do you think it would sound like?

Relia's Garden

This picture was taken at my favorite restaurant in the world, Relia's Garden, nestled in the pine trees between an Appalachian mountain and the Nantahala river. It's a very peaceful ambiance and the food is as good as I've ever had. Bob Kassow introduced me to this place after my first hike with him up Mt. LeConte. This picture was taken on the occasion of our 21st anniversary. This photo session was my introduction to what has grown into a wonderful passtime.