Christmas in Valdosta (and St. Augustine)

In mid December we flew down to Valdosta to spend Christmas with Jennah, Makenna, Shane and son Kevin. Mike was deployed and so was unable to join us. After a week enjoying the grand kids in Valdosta we all headed down to St. Augustine for a week in a beach house we first stayed in a couple of years ago. Made for a great family time, and Mike even got to join us most evenings thanks to the technical wizardry of Skype.

The weather cooperated all week in St Augustine - sunny all day and with a full moon at night that provided some mesmerizing views out the back door.

Jennah & Makenna relaxing.

Shane found a quiet nook where he could stretch out and play with his "computer". Must take after his Grandfather.

Since Kevin now lives in St Augustine he was a terrific tour guide to the city and the local holiday attractions, including this stop at the local Santa's Village.

The kids opened a few presents before we left Valdosta, but saved the rest for Christmas morning in the beach house.

Gotta love Skype. Here's Mike watching the kids opening presents on Christmas morning...live from a NATO base somewhere in Italy.

Makenna was a little waterbug all week, but when she crashed she did so impressively. One second she was reading a book to Grandpa on the sofa, then she leaned forward and rested her head on the armrest and was out like a light. The photo was too cute to pass up.

Nice shot of Jennah and Shane on the deck behind the beach house.

Kevin and Shane chilling on the sofa.

After the rain and cold winter temps of Vancouver a little Florida sun was a welcome change. Every morning brought beautiful sunrises like this one.

Jennah and Makenna in front of the tree.

Opening presents in Valdosta...before the drive down to St Augustine.

Nana and Grandpa got to visit Makenna's school for the Christmas party. 

Makenna posing in the back yard with her Christmas bell.

The two weeks with the family flew by, and before we knew it it was time to return to the rains and cold temperatures of Vancouver... even got about an inch of snow a couple of days after we returned. Thankfully our turnaround time was short before we headed back to PDX for our flight down to Puerto Vallarta....exchanging the 25 degrees of the Pacific Northwest for the 80 degrees of the Mexican Riviera. 

A Long Day's Journey

Made it home earlier this morning at around 0100 local time, at the conclusion of a 30 hour travel day from Germany. The good news is that we made the flight at 0400 from Ramstein to McChord, but the bad news was that there was an intermediate stop along the way at McGuire AFB in New Jersey...about 45 miles from Philadelphia. Was trying to avoid east coast stops and the chance of getting stuck due to the flight backlog there from the hurricane, and sure enough once we arrived at McGuire we found that our hoped-for quick turnaround was instead going to be a 16 hour layover...leading to another 0400 roll call.

Faced with the prospect of a long delay, and with no hope of grabbing any lodging on base, we said the heck with it and booked a cheap commercial flight from Philly back to Portland. Fact is, we were home snug in our bed by the time they even called the roll for the McChord flight in New Jersey, so it worked out great for us.

Today is a recovery day, then tomorrow we'll drive up to McChord to reclaim our car which is still in the long-term lot there. We're pretty tired after two nights of little or no sleep, but glad to be back home...where it's actually warmer than either Ramstein or McGuire, BTW.

No Luck Today

Still waiting.
The chaos on the east coast in the wake of hurricane Sandy has also impacted traffic moving out of Ramstein. Many flights for Baltimore, Charleston, Dover, etc. have been cancelled or rescheduled. Nothing today but for one flight to Birmingham, Alabama, which only took 10 duty passengers. We made the roll call but it was no surprise when we didn't even come close.

The good news is that we then had the rest of the day free, and since it was a sunny autumn day here we opted for a day out to explore some of the local area. Caught a taxi to the nearby town of Landstuhl where there was an old 12th century castle.

Looking up at the ramparts of Schloss Nanstein.

The knight who used to live here is memorialized with this 16th century statue. Note the cross on the front of his tunic, indicating that he was about to embark on a crusade to the holy land. When returning the knights moved the cross to the back of their tunics. 

There was a nice little cafe right next to the castle where we stopped in for lunch. Had Sauerbraten while sitting next to a warming fire and, best of all, a pint of the local brew...which went down REAL easy.

All in all it was a very enjoyable "day out".

Looks like they're going to try to dig into the backlog of flights starting tomorrow, but unfortunately there's nothing for us on the board until Friday morning. The good news is that there are several flights that day, including two to McChord (wouldn't that be nice), but right now it's way too early to have any idea how many seats may be available. So...planning to get up early and check the schedule in the AM, then probably walk into Ramstein village to check it out and maybe grab some lunch before heading back to the hotel. First roll call Friday morning is 0400, so the plan is to bank some sleep in anticipation of a loooong day that day.

A Near Miss

...but we're still in Ramstein.

Made the 1255 roll call for the flight to Charleston, but didn't make the initial cut. They were showing 30 seats available and there was a long pause after they called the first 30 names while the selectees were being processed. Turned out that there were 4 no-shows, so they called out 4 more names, two of whom were us,  and so we thought we were on our way. Got processed thru, checked the bags, claimed our boarding passes and boarded the bus to take us out to the airplane. As we approached the A/C I noted that it was a McChord based C-17...so thoughts of just staying with it and continuing on to Washington state after we finished our business in Charleston were dancing thru my head, when we were informed that because of some late-arriving priority cargo they could now take only 7 pax instead of the promised 30. So...23 disappointed people had to reclaim their bags and reverse the process we'd just completed. No more flights for the day either - everything for BWI and Dover was cancelled due to the storm on the east coast. Such is the nature (and the adventure) of Space-A travel.

So...here we sit for one more day. The good news is that we got to keep our room in the General Cannon hotel on base, and if you have to wait it out somewhere this is as good a place as any. The Cannon is Ramstein's Distinguished Visitor hotel...for active duty and retired O-6's and above. We're in a very nice suite, and they serve a great continental breakfast in the wardroom every morning. Plus, we have access to an on-demand shuttle bus that will pretty much take us anywhere on base we care to go, so life really isn't too bad at all.

They're showing 3 flights to the USA tomorrow - all around midday - so we can even sleep in a little before starting out fresh in the morning.

Waiting in Ramstein

 Well, the good news is that we made it to Vicenza with no problem, spent the night there, and caught the bus to Ramstein yesterday morning...arriving here last night around 7 PM local time. Thought we had walked into an incredible bit of luck when we saw a flight to BWI on the board for a 2200 departure, but when I spoke with the passenger terminal rep I was told that the incoming flight wouldn't be getting in from the UAE until after 0100 the next morning, meaning that the revised departure time would be about 0300, so we said the heck with it and just checked into base lodging to get a good night's sleep under our belts before trying again today.

Pretty bus ride yesterday thru the Alps. Some photos:

Not too bad as we left Vicenza. Sunny and cool - but dry.

The scene from our first pit stop near Innsbruck. The forecast had been for snow and boy were they getting it. First big storm of the season apparently . It was coming down pretty heavily as we went thru Brenner Pass - in fact I was a little worried about getting thru at all - but the Austrians are old pro's at winter road clearing and we barely slowed down.

 The sun reappeared as we descended out of the mountains, but it was REALLY cold, and with enough of a breeze to have us scurrying inside.

After checking in at at the Pax Terminal we got checked into quarters. So...here we sit, waiting. First roll call for a USA bound flight is 1255 today to Charleston, SC, far enough south of Hurricane Sandy's track that it shouldn't be affected by the recent excitement  along the east coast. Supposed to be 30 seats available, so we're hoping.

Meant to say that there was a bit of drama in Rome the other day when we arrived to board our train to Vicenza. I had forgotten about daylight savings time and moving the clocks back an hour that night (Saturday). Lucky for us we showed up at the train station an hour early rather than an hour late. Just gave us a little extra time to relax with a cup of coffee before hopping on the train, but might have been really exciting otherwise.

The flight line at Ramstein. Hoping to be on one of those C-17's later this afternoon.

The Journey Home

The Basilica of St. Peter's, cleverly cropped to exclude the approximately 1.5 million people who were swarming all over the square.

Our week in Rome has gone by too quickly and we'll be heading home - or at least as far as Vicenza - tomorrow. Our last couple of days have been spent walking around the historic center and taking in some of the sites. Helps to have semi-mastered the local metro and bus systems - saved a lot of wear and tear on these old legs to be able to hop on and hop off the various forms of public transportation...something most of the tourists don't seem to take advantage of. On our rides around the city on the local buses we seemed to be the only non-locals...a pretty good sign actually

Anyway, here's the photo documentation of the last couple of days;

The Pantheon - originally built in 26 BC by Marcus Agrippa and later rebuilt in around 176 AD by the Emperor Hadrian using the original blueprints. The inscription on the facade means "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, built this during his third consulship". He actually built it to commemorate his victory over Marc Antony & Cleopatra at Actium in 30 BC - the sea battle that sealed primacy over the Roman empire for his friend and mentor, Augustus. 

The monument to Victor Emmanuel in Piazza Venezia...the man who united Italy in the 19th century. It's even more spectacular at night.

And the Trevi Fountain - still beautiful (and a tourist magnet) after several hundred years.


We spent yesterday evening at the Vatican Museums - surely one of the most amazing things you will ever see - capped off with a 30 minute stop in the Sistine Chapel to gawk at Michelangelo's ceiling and the frescoes above the altar. The place really is overwhelming, with one delight after another assaulting your senses as you work your way thru the various buildings and chapels. Entire rooms painted by Raffael are just a prelude for the time spent in the main chapel. It was nice, too, to have been able to do it as part of their special night program - something they only offer on Friday evenings during the Autumn season. Not very crowded at all, especially after we high-stepped it at the entrance at opening time to get ahead of the main body of tourists who had queued up for the night exhibit. 

The title of this blog posting is "The Journey Home". We hope it doesn't need to be updated later to "The Ordeal Trying to Get Home". This Space A thing is great when it clicks, but there's always the possibility of unforeseen circumstances that can result in long delays trying to catch a hop home. Even getting to Ramstein on Monday (after a night in Vicenza) may be a challenge. The forecast for Innsbruck - one of the stops the shuttle bus makes along the way as it crosses thru the Alps, is for snow starting today and continuing thru late Monday...just the time we'd be passing thru. So...we're staying flexible and will just take it as it comes. If we get stuck in Vicenza for a few days, well ... there are worse fates. The good news is that Cat 6 traffic (ie retirees like us) has been moving pretty well out of Ramstein back to the US. We hope to snag a flight that goes all the way to McChord, but will certainly settle for one going to Dover, BWI, or Charleston (the more likely stops), since from any of those we can catch a reasonably cheap flight to Seattle. At any rate, this is where the "adventure" part of Space A travel really begins... so stay tuned.

Roman Holiday

View of the Eternal City from the Pincio - an overlook near the Borghese Gardens.


Been blessed with warm, sunny weather so far this week for our stay here in Rome. Rita has been trying to shake a nagging cold but we've still been able to get out and about...we usually try to be out the door early to get our sightseeing in during the cooler morning hours, and before the tourist hordes invade the inner city.
Some photos of our week so far:

Piazza del Popolo (People's Square), still looking down from the Pincio. The obelisk in the center is Egyptian from the reign of Ramses II (the Pharaoh from Exodus)  and was originally brought to the city by the Emperor Augustus in 30BC. It originally stood in the center of Circus Maximus.

Spent one whole day wandering around the Villa Borghese area - basically a large parkland dotted with museums and galleries as well as the Zoo. Was really nice to step out of the frenetic pace of the city for a few hours and spend time exploring one of the prettiest parts of the city, yet one that doesn't see the crowds that some of the better known attractions experience.

 Hopped on the subway one morning for a trip to the city center. Here's the Arch of Constantine with the Colosseum in the background. Since this area tends to be a people magnet we opted to go up the street and explore Palatine Hill and the Forum.

Nice look at Palatine Hill on the left, and the Forum on the right. When the lady at the ticket booth told me I had to return the audio guide I'd rented within 3 hours I thought she was kidding - couldn't possibly take that long, right? Turned out that it wasn't nearly enough time to see and explore everything we wanted to see. Could spend a week here and still not cover everything if you're a true history buff. For example, the area on the distant right of the photo are the ruins of the Temple of the Divine Julius (Caesar), erected by his adopted son Octavian (later Augustus) after Caesar's murder on the Ides of March. The temple was built at the site of his funeral pyre. The house where Caesar lived when he was Pontifus Maximus is just to the left across the forum. The place is full of historical locations like that...or at least what's left of them.

My Italian is pretty rusty. Couldn't quite make out whether these are the ruins of the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, or the first service station along the Appian Way.

The Curia is one of the oldest structures in the Forum, and was the meeting place of the Senate (although this isn't the place where Caesar was killed). The Romans were big into a creation myth which claimed that the founders of the Republic were actually escapees from Troy after the city was sacked and burned by the Greeks. These frescoes depict in graphic detail some scenes in the aftermath of the whole Trojan Horse thing. The idea being, I suppose, that the Senators would have constant reminders of their noble origins in antiquity.

For something completely different we wandered into the Bioparco, or zoo, while we were ambling around the Villa Borghese one day. Happened to be a Wednesday and, since the price for senior citizens on that particular day was only 4 Euros (as opposed to full freight of 13 Euros) we decided to give it a look. Turned out to be a very pleasant diversion for a couple of hours. Although it was quite small for a major capitol city, it was well done and had an assortment of creatures great and small. Decided to post this photo of an Australian Cassowary - probably the most dangerous bird on earth (hey, it's from Australia!) because it's notoriously ill-tempered and, if provoked, will slice you open from crotch to collarbone with a razor-sharp claw that it has on each foot. One of the few Aussie creatures we didn't see during our visit earlier this year...had to come to Italy to see one (go figure).

Rita was feeling well-enough today for a short excursion outside the city, via metro and bus, to Appia Antica, or the old Appian Way -  the first major road constructed by the Romans in 300 BC to facilitate quick movement of the legions to hotspots around the empire. There's a section of it that's been preserved and enclosed by a park. Really well done and with not too many people around. It's a little difficult to get to so most people give it a miss I guess. Too bad - it was one of our favorite things to see while we were here.

Near the beginning of the road was the Quo Vadis Church. Legend has it that St. Peter, while fleeing persecution in the city one day,  met the reincarnated figure of Jesus Christ heading in the opposite direction. Upon seeing him Peter supposedly asked "Quo Vadis, Domine" (where are you going, Lord?) to which Christ replied that he was going into Rome to be crucified a second time for the love of his church. A shamed Peter then reversed his steps and returned to the city - eventually to face his own martyrdom. This church supposed marks the spot where they met.. and has the footprints to prove it. These are supposed to be the footprints of Christ himself - left behind from his meeting with Saint Peter all those years ago.

There were evocative scenes all along the road, including the Circus of Maxentius shown here, dating from the 1st century BC. He apparently built all of this to stage funereal games in honor of his dead son Romulus (no, not that one).  The games included chariot races and gladitorial combat, as well as Olympic-style athletic contests, and were attended by the Emperor himself.

The funeral monument and tomb of Cecelia Mettela, who was a family friend of a young Julius Caesar.

Long sections of the road still displayed the original paving stones laid down 2300 years ago...complete with ruts formed by the passing of a couple of thousand years worth of chariots, wagons, and carts.

Rita dressing up one of the structures along the ancient route.

The park has about 6 miles of the old road preserved, and it all looks pretty much like this. Lots and lots of history unfolded along the Appian Way. In 71 BC, for example, Spartacus and 6,000 members of his slave army were crucified along this stretch of road...Kirk Douglas just to the left, and Tony Curtis just to the right...

General notes: For those of you complaining about the cost of gasoline back in the US listen to this. The price of gas here in Rome is 1.95 Euros per liter which, after you do the conversions from liters to gallons and from Euros to dollars, comes out to be $9.63 per gallon. Yikes! Small wonder that most of the vehicles you see on the roads here are those tiny little "Smart Cars" that get about 60 mpg.

Other than that the prices here aren't too terribly out of line with the US - things are generally more expensive, yes, but not as outrageously so as gasoline.

Supposed to start raining tonight, so we've planned some museum tours for the wet weather over the next couple of days. Found a special deal online for night tours at the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel so we're signed up to do that tomorrow night.

Two more days here before we board a train back up to Vicenza on Sunday morning. After one night there we hope to catch the same free shuttlebus we rode before but this time back to Ramstein for a flight home (we hope). The same weather front that will dump rain on us here for the next few days is forecast to send temperatures plummeting in Germany - forecast for our arrival on Monday evening is for a nippy overnight low of 24 degrees. Time to dig out the cold weather gear from the bottom of our suitcases...