Song of the Week

The song of the week has turned into a song of the month but I'll try to get a little more consistent. This is Griffin House. He's a folky rhythm guitarist with what sounds like Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan influences. This song is called Only Love Remainsand is simple in it's progressions but attractively smooth and easy on the ears. Check him out. He's got a number of good albums.

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Purrr

Today my Mom went home after a 2 week visit. It was really nice having her stay with us as we had been accustomed to being able to see her on a regular basis. We got to do a bit of traveling, show her around Dublin, hang out around the house and eat...a lot! She also brought us the best gift...our purrrrrs! They are back to normal after the long trip and I think they did remarkably well. Now we are sharing our bed again with a couple of bed-hogs!

West Side!

This weekend we took our first road trip in Ireland. After a couple of hours you really get used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road. We headed West through several small towns and villages stopping at the Rock of Cashel (an old 4th century castle) along the way. Or final destination was Killarney where we stopped at the Muckross House and saw the house and gardens. From there we tackled the Ring of Kerry which is about 100miles of spectacular scenery. We started off up through the mountains in the Kerry National Park and then went around the peninsula before cutting back across to Dublin. These pictures are just a few of the countryside and coastline. Dana will probably be posting some of the castle and house fairly soon. It was great to get out of Dublin and see "proper" Ireland. It really is as beautiful as everyone says. Truly breathtaking.

One more from Rome

Here is one last show from Roma from me. We saw many spectacular fountains during our stay and took some pictures of a few of them. There are several shots from the famous Trevi fountains among others. Enjoy!

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum, or Forum Romanum, was the center of Roman antiquity. Commercial, political, religious and legal proceedings all took place in the small valley at the foot of the Palatine Hill. The Senate building is directly across from the forum which held shops and markets. The area held temples to Saturn, Jupiter, Agustus and Julius Caesar among others. The main street connecting the Flavian Amphitheater to the Capitol was called the Via Secra or Sacred Road. At each end of the road is a large arch way one of which was erected to celebrate Emporer Titus' victory over Jerusalem. The Temple of Vesta was considered one of the most important because it was dedicated to the goddess Vesta who was the protectress of family. It held the Vestal Virgins who guarded the eternal flame which was to represent the eternal life of Rome. The virgins were chosen by the Pontifex Maximus between the ages of 6 and 10 and had fulfill 30 years of chastity and vigilance over the flame. They were held in the highest esteem and were given a huge dowry by the Senate; however, if they failed their punishment was harsh. If the flame went out or they were untrue to their vow of chastity they were buried alive with a loaf of bread and a lamp.

After Constantine many of the buildings were taken down or converted to churches and even today a few of them still stand.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum is one of the great remaining historical artifacts and sits literally in the center of a bustling modern city. It stands as the embodiment of ancient Roman culture. Construction started in 70 A.D. on the site of Nero's imperial gardens and originally carried the name Flavian Amphitheater after the family that built it. In front stood a 30 meter tall statue of Nero made from bronze and gold that was called the Colossus of Nero and is what eventually led to the nickname Colosseum. Each person was issued a clay "ticket" and each entrance was numbered leading to a section that had numbered seats that each entrant was assigned to. The entire outer face was constructed of marble with marble statues filling each outlook from the upper levels. Canals were in place to fill the floor with water for naval battles (which didn't work very well) after which the floor was reconstructed to have a sand covered wooden floor over a series of passageways and rooms to bring gladiators and animals out through elevators and various trap doors. The sophistication and beauty of the Colosseum is breathtaking and demonstrates the advances the Romans had achieved. The other side of Roman culture is also evident. Upon its opening there were 100 days of "games" where 5000 animals were killed. Slaves would fight trained gladiators and be slaughtered. Rebels who wouldn't join the army and martyrs were led out to be devoured by lions and all to a raucous crowd. It is eerie to look and know that the floor was covered with sand to absorb the blood so it didn't rot the wood. Rome was certainly something to behold.