Mom's 92nd Birthday Party

Sister Mary Ila and brothers Mark, Larry, Rob, and Joe got together with spouses to celebrate Mom's 92nd birthday.  A pretty big deal!

Note:  Click the clip to view the embedded video on Google photos.  Individual pictures have also been uploaded and can be viewed or downloaded from:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105939168280180791187/MomAt92

John Bernhardt Interview - Part 1

Mary Ila interviewed Dad a couple of years ago.  Thought it might be fun to put the interview together with some of his photos.  Bob Klauer assembled some history documents and I "borrowed" some of his pictures that kind of match Dad's narrative.  Otherwise, the photos a mainly from Dad's 35mm slides that have been converted to digital.  I started adding captions but found it was taking a lot of time so decided to publish and maybe at some point go back and identify some of the players.

Hope you enjoy it!  And feel free to comment, especially if you recognize some of the people.

Italy 2014 - Rome

Note:  Though this might or might not be of interest to others, I'm documenting this trip because I want to remember it, which gets harder as the years go by.  Clicking the title line to view a slideshow or the pictures for a larger version of the photos.

Part 3 - Rome

The Coliseum:

Not under reconstruction.  But if it were, would they start "The Games" again?

 Church of Immaculate Conception:

A rather creepy display of bone art.  Pretty much have to agree with Ricardo, our tour guide while in Rome.  The monks were drinking too much wine one night while discussing what to do with all the human bones they had laying around.  "Hey, let's turn them into art!"  So now Rome has a church with rooms decorated with bones. No pictures allowed so lifted these from the web.

Talk about being in a fog.  After paying the admission and touring the crypt, didn't even think this site was connected to an actual church.  Would have been refreshing after viewing the bones.

Trevi Fountain:

We continued on down the hill to see the fountain.  (You remember the fountain from movies.  Right?)  Well, it didn't look the same the day we visited.  It's under reconstruction and will be magnificent again some day.  But we had to use our imagination.  So Eva threw three imaginary coins over her shoulder to insure that we would return some day.  Imaginary coins = imaginary trip.

Here's how it used to look and will look again some day.

And of course there are still fountains around the city that still work.

Spanish Steps:

The steps were open but, as you can see, the buildings at the top were under reconstruction.










A "rose guy" (one of those guys who give roses to the ladies as "a gift" and then hit up the their guy for 5 or 10 euros) told me I had a nasty temper when, after he ignored me when I tried to wave him off, I stepped between him and Eva told him to "get lost".  (Maybe I used some harsher language.  Don't remember for sure.)  He told me that I had a bad temper and tried to shame me into buying a rose for Eva.  Fat chance of that after he threw out the insult.

The Vatican:

Unfortunately Pope Francis wasn't in but we made ourselves at home anyway.

The expression on my face probably says it all:

"Yeah, now this is an impressive church!"

 

The Pieta - reconstructed unfortunately.  Several years ago a deranged guy smashed parts of this statue with a hammer before he could be stopped.  Repairs were made but Plexiglas now separates it from the masses. 





The Sistine Chapel:

Probably the high point of the trip.  Our group had an after hours tour of the Sistine Chapel so instead of thousands there were maybe one hundred or one hundred and fifty people.  And instead of no cameras, photos were OK as long as we didn't use the flash.  (Of course, my little camera was no match for the space - it's huge.)

Even the hallways to the chapel were grand.

Upon entering the chapel, everyone was pretty much awe struck.  Our guide, Ricardo, gave us a lot of the back story and pointed out much of the details about how the perspective and technique made the work such a masterpiece.  Of course I've forgotten most of it but will never forget the experience.

Time To Go Home:

As I said earlier, being in Italy was worth the trip but the trip home was long and arduous - we had been up and on the move for over 25 hours when we checked into a room in Rockford.  Luggage finally arrived here in Moline a day later at about 10 PM.  Think we might make it a road trip the next time we want to get out of town for awhile. 

Italy 2014 - Florence

Note:  Though this might or might not be of interest to others, I'm documenting this trip because I want to remember it, which gets harder as the years go by.   Clicking the title line to view a slideshow or the pictures for a larger version of the photos.

Part 2 - Florence

Eva had what seemed to be food poisoning.  Think she might have picked it up from a mushroom dish - last dinner in Venice.  She was a bit "green around the gills" on the train and whatever it was hit her hard at lunch.  We tried to go on the tour to see "The David" but had to drop out after a couple of blocks.  She spent the afternoon in the hotel and while she slept I explored a bit on my own and then found a grocery and picked up dinner - cheese and crackers.

Duomo and The Dome:

Eva was still rocky the next morning so I attended the presentation by an art historian (from Milwaukee, Wi. no less) and then again headed out on my own.

Stood in line at the Duomo for an hour.  Expected to be able to look around when I got in but nooo,  Once inside the door, there was no way to go but up the stairs.  So up I went.

1st balcony:  Plexiglas about 8 feet high prevented me from getting good photos (and kept me from jumping / falling) but the view was pretty impressive as well as dizzying.

2nd balcony:
A similar arrangement but now I'm even more winded from the climb and rather light headed.

Cupola:
OK, made it. 

But where's the protective Plexiglas and is that iron railing like about 4 feet high?  So I'm thinking "what the hell am I doing?

I don't even dare to get on the roof to clean the gutters anymore."

But still, quite the views.  

I Cautiously walked around cupola taking pictures and headed back down.

Duomo and The Baptistry:

Eva felt a bit better by noon so we decided to explore just a little bit.  The Duomo and Baptistry were only two blocks from our hotel so that was the goal for the day.

The exterior of the Baptistry was under construction.  A small disappointment but the interior soon made that irrelevant.  Eva and I had recently read The Inferno by Dan Brown which made the Duomo,  Ponte Vecchio Bridge (Vasari's Corridor), and other sites in Florence all the more interesting.

We visited the church of the Duomo next.  Quite impressive and the view of the dome from the floor made my earlier trek to the top even more special.

That was about all that Eva could handle for the day so we had a late lunch / early supper at The Hard Rock (comfort food for a tender stomach) and of course we had to pick up a shooter to add to Eva's collection.  (Forgot to mention that we also found a Hard Rock in Venice at the foot of the Rialto Bridge.  Getting quite a worldwide collection of those shooters.)

City Hall:

The next morning we took off with the tour group to visit the Uffizi gallery.  The city hall of Florence is right next door with statuary out front.  So although we missed "The David" (the original statue) there was a pretty good copy outside the front door of city hall along with some other impressive statues.

Uffizi Museum:

Are all buildings in Italy huge?  Seems so and the Uffizi Museum was no exception.  Not only big but such high ceilings; four flights of stairs to get to the second floor.  So Eva (and I) were winded before the start of the tour.  And the crowds early on a Sunday morning made it pretty difficult to enjoy a leisurely walk through the museum.

Patience!  The building and art were impressive and worth the crush of people. 

 Really, did we expect to be alone?  The hallway below indicates that we were but of course the artwork wasn't in the hall.

Ponte Vecchio Bridge (Vasari's Corridor):

The "gold bridge" was an experience.  There was a marathon going on and part of the route was across the bridge so we were in the middle of a crowd of tourists like us and the runners / walkers / dogs / etc.  That was OK as we were not planning to buy gold and besides we were advised that the shops on the bridge might appear to have decent prices but the gold is often 18 karat rather than the preferred 24 karat.  Still it was exciting being on the bridge and under the corridor (again, the Robert Langdon connection).

Pitti Palace:

Wasn't hard to find this place on the other side of the bridge - again with the massive structures.

Stood in line for tickets and bought the "full boat" to insure that we saw it all.  Flights of steps and room after room of beautiful artwork but must admit that after awhile it all becomes a fog.

Disappointed:

Really interested in seeing the gardens that we had glimpsed through a window but after touring the palace and asking how to get to the gardens, we were advised that they were closed to visitors due to downed trees and damage from a hail storm the went through the previous week.  Would have been nice to know before we bought the full price tickets.  Found later that our tour guide had advised during one of the sessions we missed while Eva was recuperating that the gardens were closed.  Oh well, on to Rome.

Italy 2014 - Venice

Note:  Though this might or might not be of interest to others, I'm documenting this trip because I want to remember it and remembering gets harder as the years go by.   Clicking the title line to view a slideshow or the pictures for a larger version of the photos.

Part I - Venice

We had a great time but it should be noted that you don't go for the food.  Eva now thinks that the Olive Garden is pretty good in comparison.  And getting there (and back) is not half the fun.  The fun is the experience of being there.

Lots of walking involved in the trip and, in Venice, a stepped bridge is around every corner.

San Marco Piazza & Basilica:

The San Marco Piazza is probably the most recognizable site in Venice and is pretty grand.  On the other hand, The Cathedral is also pretty crowded even in late September when the number of tourists supposedly declines.

So is it a Basilica or a Cathedral and what's the difference?

Doge's Palace:

The tour of the Doge's Palace was really interesting and informative but as usual I've forgotten most of the history presented.  I do seem to recall that the Doge form of government with representatives for the different parts of Italy worked well until those holding power turned the system into an oligarchy.  When a Doge tried to revert the system back to the original, democratic form, he was killed.  Very interesting.

Rialto Bridge:

The bridge crosses the Grand Canal and was really crowded - when looking at the view you can see why.  Oh, and the shopping.

Accademia Bridge:


Lost several times and ending up at this bridge you would think I would have taken at least one picture but no, I guess not.  So why not another picture of the Rialto?




Oh, found the picture.  If you squint you can see the bridge in the background,  Also crowded.  Not as much shopping but this bridge and the Rialto are the only two that cross the Grand Canal.






Ca D'Oro (Golden House):

Took our tour guide Jennifer's suggestion and visited this grand old house.  Huge!  Can't imagine anyone living there.  Eva and I could go a month without bumping into each other.  And how do you heat the place?  Oh well, it was interesting and fun to visit.

City Canals Via Gondola:

Possibly the highlight of the tour.  Eva had been nervous of this event ever since committing to the tour.  She was concerned that she wouldn't have the courage to board one of those tipsy little boats.  She did and loved it as did I.

Harry's Bar:

Yes, as the photo indicates, a rather nondescript bar.  And they don't allow pictures when inside "to respect the privacy of the patrons".  (Restriction might also be to keep the bland interior and small but expensive drinks from getting too much exposure.)


Dining:

Yes, I did say that the food was not the high point of the trip but the dining atmosphere is something to be remembered.

Disappointed:

Had to give our regrets to Mr. & Mrs. George C. since we wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony - Florence awaits.