Onward and Southward: September-November 2001

Subject: Hey guys
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001

Hey- sorry I didn’t get to talk to you today but glad to hear that you are still having fun. Dad says you sound good. Cannot believe October is almost here- full moon tonight. Also means we have less than a month before we take off and I know it is going to go quickly. Steve says he will get us fixed up with an email account so we can still be in touch with you all. That is the worst part for me- feeling cut off from everyone. Hear lots of stuff on the news- NPR about “pockets” of these crazy folks everywhere- in Europe, etc. So I will sure be glad when you are back- but where is safe?? Seems like days fly by. Cool now- like the north- we are not ready for it! But it does feel invigorating. Will try to get off a more newsy note tomorrow. Love you- Mom


Subject: Re: Hey guys
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001

Hi- sorry we missed you, too- took a night train to Venice, and now headed south to some other Italian villages- good luck with your trip planning, you know after you leave, all those little details don’t seem to mean that much anymore…


Subject: Rome
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001

Our road has led to Rome, but we didn't get here in a day. We've been touring the countryside in another rental car seeing the amazing sights that Italy has to offer, such as medieval hilltop towns, Renaissance masterpieces, cathedrals- gothic and romanesque, vineyards, ruins, erotic Etruscan tomb paintings, and Switzerland. We liked the Alps. Difficult to name the highlights of your tour when you can see Michelanglo's David, Leonardo's hometown-actually called 'Vinci'- and the Leaning Tower of Pisa on the same day, but I have to admit one of my personal favorites was the gondola ride to the top of the Schilthorn, a Swiss mountaintop lookout used as Blofeld's alpine retreat in the James Bond film 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' (1969). Also enjoyable was the battlefield tour on Lake Trasimeno, where Hannibal, after bringing an army of 50,000 men and 37 elephants across the Alps demolished a Roman force in 217 BC. We have discovered that everything in Italy closes between say...10 in the morning to about 3 or 4 in the afternoon- including ancient battlefields. The coffee cups are tiny. I guess I knew that about Italy beforehand, but it's difficult to understand when you've been brought up with 32oz super-big-gulp portions. We'll be here in the Eternal City for another week, so stay tuned...dan




Subject: Athens
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2001

Last night I watched the moon rise over the Acropolis. Like peeling another layer off the onion of Western civilization, or counting back another ring on the great tree trunk of history, we have arrived in Greece. It was a bumpy ride though, as Greek trains are quite similar to the one that circumnavigates Zilker Park. The "Zilker Zephyr", I believe. Being in a gentlemanly mood, I gave my seat to an old woman travelling with large-headed child. That was before I realized the trip would take 4 and a half hours and wind along the Wild Goat Paths of the Pelopennese. Next time, grandma can stand. But now lets go back to Italy ...

Caesar Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, looking at the City of Rome near the end of his long life boasted that he had found the city built of bricks, and left it in marble. Well, the Popes took it right back to brick. If you go to Rome you are sure to see the amazing splendor of the Vatican glistening in the sunlight, but you'll have to use a great deal of imagination to conjure up some of the awesome sights of the Roman era. Roman engineering utilized brick and concrete, faced with marble slabs. As the pagan world gave way to 'barbarians', and then the Renaissance of Christendom, the marble was recycled into new churches and cathedrals and palaces and fountains and the bricks were left naked. As they say, if you want to see the Coliseum, go to St. Peter's. But that's the nature of 'ruins'. They're ruined. But, if you walk to the center of the floor of the Coliseum, and close your eyes, and breath the air of gladiators, and feel the pulses of 50,000 bloodthirsty spectators- you can conjure up the great Empire of the past. Or rent the movie- the CG was amazingly accurate, according to historians. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the incredibly vast amount of artwork held in the Vatican museums. Sistine chapel, Raphael rooms, Greek and Roman sculpture, etc. They say that if you spent a minute in front of each piece, you would spent 13 years there. That's two more years than the Louvre, apparently. What we didn't like was paying 9 bucks to see it. Among European museums (and I’ve seen a few lately) that's a lot. Especially for a charity organization that has spent the last 500 years keeping all these priceless works of art as 'home furnishings'. From Rome we went to Naples, where nearby Pompeii was flattened by lava from Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. A city frozen in time- locked in volcanic ash. It was cool. From there a ferry to Greece and now you're caught up.

Now, looking for as many of the 7 wonders of the world as I can find.


Subject: reef, etc
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001

>Hey everybody- we have just returned from our second experience with snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef- beautiful- great weather- we are in a very nice hotel now in Port Douglas- Bill Clinton hangout- he was here on 9/11- it is lovely. Did more of the rain forest yesterday with a tour on the Daintree River for bird watching- Dad and I are still hoping for things that crawl or run- the flying stuff is beautiful too- lots of variety. Tomorrow we fly most of the day. Got some shopping in today- late dinners and too much food- Sarah- hope that wedding is not too soon- Dad and I have a few MORE pounds to lose! Tell Olivia that we say hi- everyone on the bus has seen her pictures- and of course we are not the only grandparents on board- but she is special. Love to all and stay safe- and if anyone hears from Steve, let me know- will be interesting to see what goes in the truck! Love you all- Mom and Dad
Dad has a few kangaroos picked out for the farm!


Subject: Re: reef, etc
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001

hi everybody- sounds like things are great on your trip- I’ll be surprised if customs doesn’t confiscate a koala or two out of your carry-on on the way home… I’m renting a car and driving around the greek mainland for a week. So I'm still planning on coming back in December- unless, of course, I find a job teaching at some exclusive private school on some greek island- we’ll see. Hope all is well with everyone- and no, I haven’t been in touch with steven either… dan