After an "at Sea Day" we arrived at Civitavecchia, the port city associated with Rome. So we had a nice ride through the countryside on our way to Rome. This was 30 March and our second day of the cruise. In all our port calls we tried to get a few photos of what the countryside was like and then what the cities themselves looked like by random views up side streets. Here are a few photos of "generic" Rome and vicinity. The other piece of info we liked finding out was the cost of gas in each country. It does vary quite a bit. In Italy it is like 1.28 euros/liter, or $3.65/gal.
First major stop was at the Vatican. One thing we found out was one day just does not do justice to Rome. Because of time constraints and the large number of tourists, even at the beginning of April, most time is spend in the bus or walking quickly around some highlight. For example, in the Vatican apparently 20,000 people pass through on an average each day and given we were coming up on Easter, it made it even worse. We walked through a part of the museum, through the Sistine Chapel, then the Basilica and finally St. Peter's Square. Photos could not be taken inside the Sistine Chapel and so it was a matter of trying to remember the incredible paintings of Michaelangelo, especially the scenes depicting the Creation and then the final judgement. Also, where you could take pictures it is difficult after the fact to recreate what objects were being photographed. One place that we were able to take photos, but not flash because of the sensitivity of the material, was the Gallery of Tapestries. Unfortunately the still photos came out very dark. However, video, without light, yielded excellent results. Here is a video of a tapestry depicting the ascension of Jesus. Here is another video of the ceiling of the Gallery of Tapestries. By the way, the ceiling is a painting and not a three dimensional relief as it appears to be. If you pause the video you can see the detail in the tapestries - totally incredible. By the way, with the sound on you will also get a glimpse of tour guides talking and how noisy it was. Even with all these limitations, it was an amazing experience. The photos we managed of the Vatican are given here. The impression we came away with was, this edifice is so grandiose, which is more important to God, the building and all its trappings and statues or what is in our hearts relative to worshiping Him?
Next was the Coliseum. The first impression was its immense size and the fact that it still survives after 2,000 years. Because of lack of time we couldn't participate in the tour of the interior of the Coliseum. Afterwards we found out that if we walked a little bit further we could have seen more of the Palatine Hill ruins but we didn't know they were there. A suggestion is to do a lot of homework before taking a tour. Our photos of the Coliseum are shown here.
The rest of the Roman ruins we saw were based on trying to snap photos from the tour bus while listening to the tour guide. Turns out to be quite a challenge. But here are the photos of some of the other ruins that we were able to get.
Next Port of Call, Athens, Greece.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Barcelona - Beginning of Cruise
We were in Barcelona for a couple of days prior to the cruise and took a one day tour and also walked around on our own.
As in most of Europe, parts of the city are ancient, with layers of reconstruction after various natural disasters and wars. When we did our homework with Google Earth to see where our hotel was, and so on, we noticed a unique feature of the layout of Barcelona. In the mid-19th Century urban planning they used a strict grid pattern. In the photos you will see that all the blocks are square and the buildings at the intersections are cutoff at an angle. This intrigued us and as we got there not only did we notice the strict grid pattern but that all the buildings are the same height. These photos are shown here with other generic views around Barcelona. Another thing we noticed of Barcelona is its cleanliness. It turns out that prior to the 1992 Olympics all of these buildings, which were black and rusty, were cleaned up and now it looks immaculate. The other noteworthy side issue is the importance of Christopher Columbus to Barcelona. When he returned from his first voyage to America he returned to an island off the Atlantic Coast only to be told the King of Spain was in Barcelona. So Columbus took his boats and all the goods on the boats through the Straights of Gibraltar and into Barcelona where he managed to get funding for his next journey.
A place of particular interest to Nancy was the church Santa Maria del Mar, a church built by the Barcelona Mariners in honor of the Virgin Mary. It was close to our hotel so we walked down to see it. For Nancy it was fascinating because of a book she had read. Unfortunately Walt read the book during the cruise but still, seeing it now made the book very interesting. The book, entitled "Cathedral of the Sea" written by Ildefonso Falcones, gives a snapshot of the history of this area in the 14th Century and is an excellent read. Photos of Santa Maria del Mar can be seen here.
Our formal tour began with a walk through what is known as the Roman City since some of the structures date back to that period, but also includes a lot of Gothic structures of the 14th and 15th Centuries. Of interest here was the main Cathedral of Barcelona, the Jewish Quarters of the 14th and 15th Centuries and the King of Spain's residence where Christopher Columbus came to request additional funds. Photos of this area are shown here.
For the International Exposition of 1929, Barcelona constructed an entire village to show the different architectures throughout all parts of Spain. The village is all facades with empty buildings except for the first floors that have shops and restaurants. The village, Poble Espanyol, is on Montjuic which also is the location of the Stadiums of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Here are a couple of photos of the Poble Espanyol. By the way, our Spanish did little to help us in Barcelona; first of all, we speak Mexican Spanish, not Spain Spanish, and secondly, in Barcelona they speak Catalan. Barcelonians are very proud to point out that they are part of Catalonia. It took us a little while to figure out why we couldn't read the signs....
By far the most interesting aspect of Barcelona was Gaudi's architecture. Without question it is unique. One of his driving factors was to design everything as close to nature as possible, resulting in many interesting architectural features. There are several buildings throughout Barcelona that have his architectural stamp. But of high interest was his Park Güell. Here are various photos of some of Gaudi's work.
Although the buildings we have just shown are very interesting, the one outstanding architectural building associated with Gaudi is El Templo de Sagrada Familia or the Temple of the Sacred Family. Currently it is listed as a temple. Sometime this year the Pope is coming to bless it and it will become cathedral. It is a building dedicated to the Sacred Family, in other words, Jesus, His family and His disciples. Architectural drawings were started sometime prior to 1853. Because of some conflicts with the architect, Gaudi asked to take over the design in 1853. So the building has been under construction for some 125 years. The current architect continues to use some of Guadi's original drawings. It is being built totally through donations. Here are photos of some of the significant features. To show all the intricate details would require significantly more photos. Look on the internet if you are interested in more.
Our last day in Barcelona was Palm Sunday and we didn't need to board the ship until later in the afternoon. So we decided to take a walking tour of La Rambla , a wide avenue with pedestrian traffic in the middle and vehicle traffic in lateral lanes on either side. We didn't know what to expect but needless to say, it was interesting. First of all we witnessed a parade representing Jesus entering into Jerusalem. We were under the impression that this was a joyous occasion. However, here is a video of the parade showing how somber it was. But what was most fascinating in La Rambla were the living statues - people who used makeup and elaborate costume to appear like sculptures. They would sit or stand frozen all the time unless you put money in the buckets they had in front of them Then they would perform in some manner. Here are pictures we took as we strolled along La Rambla.
Finally we had to say goodbye to Barcelona but only for twelve days as we were returning again. Here are a couple of goodbye photos.
Next installment will be Rome.
As in most of Europe, parts of the city are ancient, with layers of reconstruction after various natural disasters and wars. When we did our homework with Google Earth to see where our hotel was, and so on, we noticed a unique feature of the layout of Barcelona. In the mid-19th Century urban planning they used a strict grid pattern. In the photos you will see that all the blocks are square and the buildings at the intersections are cutoff at an angle. This intrigued us and as we got there not only did we notice the strict grid pattern but that all the buildings are the same height. These photos are shown here with other generic views around Barcelona. Another thing we noticed of Barcelona is its cleanliness. It turns out that prior to the 1992 Olympics all of these buildings, which were black and rusty, were cleaned up and now it looks immaculate. The other noteworthy side issue is the importance of Christopher Columbus to Barcelona. When he returned from his first voyage to America he returned to an island off the Atlantic Coast only to be told the King of Spain was in Barcelona. So Columbus took his boats and all the goods on the boats through the Straights of Gibraltar and into Barcelona where he managed to get funding for his next journey.
A place of particular interest to Nancy was the church Santa Maria del Mar, a church built by the Barcelona Mariners in honor of the Virgin Mary. It was close to our hotel so we walked down to see it. For Nancy it was fascinating because of a book she had read. Unfortunately Walt read the book during the cruise but still, seeing it now made the book very interesting. The book, entitled "Cathedral of the Sea" written by Ildefonso Falcones, gives a snapshot of the history of this area in the 14th Century and is an excellent read. Photos of Santa Maria del Mar can be seen here.
Our formal tour began with a walk through what is known as the Roman City since some of the structures date back to that period, but also includes a lot of Gothic structures of the 14th and 15th Centuries. Of interest here was the main Cathedral of Barcelona, the Jewish Quarters of the 14th and 15th Centuries and the King of Spain's residence where Christopher Columbus came to request additional funds. Photos of this area are shown here.
For the International Exposition of 1929, Barcelona constructed an entire village to show the different architectures throughout all parts of Spain. The village is all facades with empty buildings except for the first floors that have shops and restaurants. The village, Poble Espanyol, is on Montjuic which also is the location of the Stadiums of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Here are a couple of photos of the Poble Espanyol. By the way, our Spanish did little to help us in Barcelona; first of all, we speak Mexican Spanish, not Spain Spanish, and secondly, in Barcelona they speak Catalan. Barcelonians are very proud to point out that they are part of Catalonia. It took us a little while to figure out why we couldn't read the signs....
By far the most interesting aspect of Barcelona was Gaudi's architecture. Without question it is unique. One of his driving factors was to design everything as close to nature as possible, resulting in many interesting architectural features. There are several buildings throughout Barcelona that have his architectural stamp. But of high interest was his Park Güell. Here are various photos of some of Gaudi's work.
Although the buildings we have just shown are very interesting, the one outstanding architectural building associated with Gaudi is El Templo de Sagrada Familia or the Temple of the Sacred Family. Currently it is listed as a temple. Sometime this year the Pope is coming to bless it and it will become cathedral. It is a building dedicated to the Sacred Family, in other words, Jesus, His family and His disciples. Architectural drawings were started sometime prior to 1853. Because of some conflicts with the architect, Gaudi asked to take over the design in 1853. So the building has been under construction for some 125 years. The current architect continues to use some of Guadi's original drawings. It is being built totally through donations. Here are photos of some of the significant features. To show all the intricate details would require significantly more photos. Look on the internet if you are interested in more.
Our last day in Barcelona was Palm Sunday and we didn't need to board the ship until later in the afternoon. So we decided to take a walking tour of La Rambla , a wide avenue with pedestrian traffic in the middle and vehicle traffic in lateral lanes on either side. We didn't know what to expect but needless to say, it was interesting. First of all we witnessed a parade representing Jesus entering into Jerusalem. We were under the impression that this was a joyous occasion. However, here is a video of the parade showing how somber it was. But what was most fascinating in La Rambla were the living statues - people who used makeup and elaborate costume to appear like sculptures. They would sit or stand frozen all the time unless you put money in the buckets they had in front of them Then they would perform in some manner. Here are pictures we took as we strolled along La Rambla.
Finally we had to say goodbye to Barcelona but only for twelve days as we were returning again. Here are a couple of goodbye photos.
Next installment will be Rome.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Our New Grand Daughter
We have a new grand daughter born in Thailand on 15 March. Here are photos of this new gorgeous little Heine.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Construction of Baños has Begun
In our April 4, 2009 blog, seen here, we talked about a church project we wanted to help get going, and several of you generously responded. We received approximately half the funds we needed and they have now begun working on the much needed baños, so that we can meet at the new property. Today´s blog gives a glimpse of the building process as it is beginning. We are still about $12,000 short of the estimate but that doesn't prevent getting underway.
First a few pictures of the property as it is today. They have already built a nice brick entrance to the property. Also with heavy equipment coming in and out, the driveway on the property has become packed down firmly. Here are the pictures of the current property. In support of the work at the church property, a prayer meeting is scheduled every day except Wednesday and Sunday when other meetings are scheduled. Sunday dinner at church also continues each week to help raise funds.
Here are photos of the beginning steps of building the baños. It may not look like much but we are just excited about the fact that it is actually beginning. That is one thing we have learned down here with regard to many things - patience. Mañana does not mean tomorrow, it just means "not today".
During the last few months we ran into a hiccup with regard to the new church. In January, while we were in Thailand, a major windstorm came through the area here and did quite a bit of damage. The damage we sustained at the new church property was that the original (used) tarp was torn off and destroyed. Pictures before and after can be seen here. The cost of a new and more durable tarp is on the order of $2,500. If any group or individual would like to sponsor a nice little project, here you go!
First a few pictures of the property as it is today. They have already built a nice brick entrance to the property. Also with heavy equipment coming in and out, the driveway on the property has become packed down firmly. Here are the pictures of the current property. In support of the work at the church property, a prayer meeting is scheduled every day except Wednesday and Sunday when other meetings are scheduled. Sunday dinner at church also continues each week to help raise funds.
Here are photos of the beginning steps of building the baños. It may not look like much but we are just excited about the fact that it is actually beginning. That is one thing we have learned down here with regard to many things - patience. Mañana does not mean tomorrow, it just means "not today".
During the last few months we ran into a hiccup with regard to the new church. In January, while we were in Thailand, a major windstorm came through the area here and did quite a bit of damage. The damage we sustained at the new church property was that the original (used) tarp was torn off and destroyed. Pictures before and after can be seen here. The cost of a new and more durable tarp is on the order of $2,500. If any group or individual would like to sponsor a nice little project, here you go!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thailand 2010
This blog will mostly consist of pictures of our annual trip to Thailand. This year we spent a whole three weeks there and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We did not take as many pictures as we would have liked but here are some to give a flavor of what we did.
The first Saturday that we were there was "kid's day" in Thailand. There are all sorts of festivities, free air shows, free rides at various places and many other things. When we arrived at the place where they had rides we not only enjoyed the rides but to see Thailand in true form again. Here are some pictures of what we saw. You will notice some of the things like plastic oil cans used for fuel for the various motors as well as electrical cords all over the place lying on the ground and no guard rails or fences anywhere. One picture we didn't take was of a redundant gas engine sitting next to the one being used just in case. However, the kids enjoyed all the rides and no one was hurt. Here is a video of Isaac "driving" the train. Notice he is steering, an engineer the whole way, must be in his genes. Here is another video but of him waving this time.
Talking about the Thai way of doing things, here is a picture of bamboo scaffolding lashed together with rope. This was a house being built in the development that Adam and Cindy live in.
Cindy has been running three dance classes per week, all different ages. A week after we got there Cindy had a recital for her students. Here are photos of the recital and her classes.
Emmett Blue, a friend of Adam and Cindy's from San Diego, was staying at their house while we were there. However, he was on his way to Africa so we went with the boys to see Emmett off on the train to Bangkok. For $15 USD he took the train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, an eight hour train ride. Here are photos of Emmett getting on the train and then his train leaving the station.
Our two little three year old grandsons are now attending preschool in a co-op. Here are photos of the school and the boys in the school. They absolutely love it. Speaking of school, Cindy home schools the boys and Sean and Prang's two year old daughter each day. Here is a video clip of Cindy teaching the kids.
One day we took the boys to the elephant farm to see the show and to ride elephants. Here are some photos of that adventure. Here is also a photo of a proud nana and her grandsons at Adam and Cindy's house. Here is a video of our boys feeding an elephant.
Adam and Cindy are in the process of trying adopt a new little girl. She is two years old and was born premature. As a result a couple of months ago she had just begun sitting up and apparently is blind because of being in an oxygen tent too long. Believe it or not, her Thai nickname is Pancake. Here are a couple of photos of Pancake. From watching her, we would say she can see something because she was reaching out directly and grabbing things and was not just responding to noise. She has started standing with help. Here is a video of her actually walking as she pushes a chair around.
One of the last nights that we were there, we went to the Christian Communications Institute, CCI. They had a display of various dances from Northern and Southern Thailand. Here is a video of part of the program. There is narration along with this video in English. It is about five minutes long but it is interesting to see the Thai culture through dance.
The first Saturday that we were there was "kid's day" in Thailand. There are all sorts of festivities, free air shows, free rides at various places and many other things. When we arrived at the place where they had rides we not only enjoyed the rides but to see Thailand in true form again. Here are some pictures of what we saw. You will notice some of the things like plastic oil cans used for fuel for the various motors as well as electrical cords all over the place lying on the ground and no guard rails or fences anywhere. One picture we didn't take was of a redundant gas engine sitting next to the one being used just in case. However, the kids enjoyed all the rides and no one was hurt. Here is a video of Isaac "driving" the train. Notice he is steering, an engineer the whole way, must be in his genes. Here is another video but of him waving this time.
Talking about the Thai way of doing things, here is a picture of bamboo scaffolding lashed together with rope. This was a house being built in the development that Adam and Cindy live in.
Cindy has been running three dance classes per week, all different ages. A week after we got there Cindy had a recital for her students. Here are photos of the recital and her classes.
Emmett Blue, a friend of Adam and Cindy's from San Diego, was staying at their house while we were there. However, he was on his way to Africa so we went with the boys to see Emmett off on the train to Bangkok. For $15 USD he took the train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, an eight hour train ride. Here are photos of Emmett getting on the train and then his train leaving the station.
Our two little three year old grandsons are now attending preschool in a co-op. Here are photos of the school and the boys in the school. They absolutely love it. Speaking of school, Cindy home schools the boys and Sean and Prang's two year old daughter each day. Here is a video clip of Cindy teaching the kids.
One day we took the boys to the elephant farm to see the show and to ride elephants. Here are some photos of that adventure. Here is also a photo of a proud nana and her grandsons at Adam and Cindy's house. Here is a video of our boys feeding an elephant.
Adam and Cindy are in the process of trying adopt a new little girl. She is two years old and was born premature. As a result a couple of months ago she had just begun sitting up and apparently is blind because of being in an oxygen tent too long. Believe it or not, her Thai nickname is Pancake. Here are a couple of photos of Pancake. From watching her, we would say she can see something because she was reaching out directly and grabbing things and was not just responding to noise. She has started standing with help. Here is a video of her actually walking as she pushes a chair around.
One of the last nights that we were there, we went to the Christian Communications Institute, CCI. They had a display of various dances from Northern and Southern Thailand. Here is a video of part of the program. There is narration along with this video in English. It is about five minutes long but it is interesting to see the Thai culture through dance.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Remodeled kitchen
The kitchen in the boy's home was designed to feed a family at the most of five or six. With twenty-five boys and six or seven staff it was barely functional for cooking or storing food. After speaking with the director as well as the ladies who do the cooking, Walt first built new bookshelves and a desk in the living room, which enabled them to move books from shelves in the eating area. This allowed the kitchen to expand into the old eating area, using the old library shelves as a new pantry and building a service counter, to separate it from the living room, and then moving one of the two refrigerators out from a small alcove and building additional shelves in that alcove for a new pantry. This whole remodel is shown, as best as possible, in these pictures. We were actually able to complete it all before Christmas. Now we need to purchase a new stove to go in the expanded kitchen area - next item on the remodel list. So we just keep on plugging away. In January we are going to Thailand again to visit the family there.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Amateur Carpenter's Dream
We had a pleasant surprise this last month. We had heard that a donor was building a workshop for the boys at Casa Hogar "Mi Esperanza". When we saw a picture of the completed building we were amazed at the size. There is a large workshop on the first floor, and four small apartments above. So we went up to see it in person and found out that the Rotary Club of Langley, BC was donating funds for a new Toyota Commuter Van and for wood working tools for the workshop. Here is a photo of Rodney Dutro, Director of Casa Hogar, a part of Shepherd's Hearts Ministry - a local missions outreach, officially receiving the check for both the van and the tools, from David, president of Rotary Club Langley, BC. Since Walt was raised in Langley he had much to talk about with David. Here are photos of the van and some of the people associated with the project.
The amount set aside for the tools was $20,000 USD. Rodney had been serving as the sole leader of the workshop and since Walt has more carpentry experience, was this God saying that we should take a more substantial role? We thought yes, and so Walt helped list tools to be purchased - clearly all would be professional grade to come up to the amount. Nancy was not left out of this new call for us. She used to do wood carving, and half way looking through the empty shop and the prospects of the new tools, the thought of teaching the boys wood carving in conjunction with the woodworking projects came to her mind. She has ordered new wood carving tools for herself and for the boys. Are we ready to take on the responsibility of teaching carpentry and wood carving? We haven't heard "no" yet, and are looking forward to it. As far as the new shop tools, a week or two after specifying what would be desired, we received a call that the tools had arrived so we went and set them all up. A week later David, the Rotary Club of Langley president, showed up and was able to see them set up. They are shown in these photos. These are some serious tools! Each weighs from 235 kg to 365 kg, yeah that is like 500 to almost 800 pounds. The surfaces, legs and supports are all cast iron! We couldn't take them out of the crates, we had to de-construct the crates around the tools. Talk about drooling..... If anyone feels a twinge of jealousy because of all this cool equipment, we sure could use any help in planning an instruction program as well as putting such a program into effect.
When David explained how he found out about this project and it came to fruition, we just looked at each other and said, "God Thing". Apparently David came down to learn more about this area. He attended a week long series of seminars presented by Focus on Mexico, which we had also attended a couple of years ago. Another one of our local missionaries, Meme Thorpe, gives a presentation on local volunteer opportunities and as part of that talks about Casa Hogar. David heard the need and knew his local Rotary chapter had some funds. So he went back and presented it to the local district who said they would match his funds. Then it went up to the zone level and again was matched, resulting in a sizable final amount. So clearly God had big plans for the boy's home and we are excited to be a part of it.
As a quick update on another project that we have been working on, we sent out a request several months ago for donations to help build the bathrooms of our new church so that we could finally move services from the mud in the current place to a concrete floor - especially before the rains begin again next June. Well, we are about halfway to receiving all the funds needed. They announced in church last Sunday that they are planning to begin construction of the bathrooms this week. Of course room remains for additional support if anyone is feeling called!
The amount set aside for the tools was $20,000 USD. Rodney had been serving as the sole leader of the workshop and since Walt has more carpentry experience, was this God saying that we should take a more substantial role? We thought yes, and so Walt helped list tools to be purchased - clearly all would be professional grade to come up to the amount. Nancy was not left out of this new call for us. She used to do wood carving, and half way looking through the empty shop and the prospects of the new tools, the thought of teaching the boys wood carving in conjunction with the woodworking projects came to her mind. She has ordered new wood carving tools for herself and for the boys. Are we ready to take on the responsibility of teaching carpentry and wood carving? We haven't heard "no" yet, and are looking forward to it. As far as the new shop tools, a week or two after specifying what would be desired, we received a call that the tools had arrived so we went and set them all up. A week later David, the Rotary Club of Langley president, showed up and was able to see them set up. They are shown in these photos. These are some serious tools! Each weighs from 235 kg to 365 kg, yeah that is like 500 to almost 800 pounds. The surfaces, legs and supports are all cast iron! We couldn't take them out of the crates, we had to de-construct the crates around the tools. Talk about drooling..... If anyone feels a twinge of jealousy because of all this cool equipment, we sure could use any help in planning an instruction program as well as putting such a program into effect.
When David explained how he found out about this project and it came to fruition, we just looked at each other and said, "God Thing". Apparently David came down to learn more about this area. He attended a week long series of seminars presented by Focus on Mexico, which we had also attended a couple of years ago. Another one of our local missionaries, Meme Thorpe, gives a presentation on local volunteer opportunities and as part of that talks about Casa Hogar. David heard the need and knew his local Rotary chapter had some funds. So he went back and presented it to the local district who said they would match his funds. Then it went up to the zone level and again was matched, resulting in a sizable final amount. So clearly God had big plans for the boy's home and we are excited to be a part of it.
As a quick update on another project that we have been working on, we sent out a request several months ago for donations to help build the bathrooms of our new church so that we could finally move services from the mud in the current place to a concrete floor - especially before the rains begin again next June. Well, we are about halfway to receiving all the funds needed. They announced in church last Sunday that they are planning to begin construction of the bathrooms this week. Of course room remains for additional support if anyone is feeling called!
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