The Castel Sant'Angelo was the mausoleum of emperor Hadrian, built in AD 135-139 along the Tiber river. In the 5th century, it was converted to a fortress with a cylindrical center (living area) inside a square fortification. Below are some of the highlights of the structure and its contents. And, of course, some...

We went to Vatican City to visit the museums. How could you not if you're spending any significant time in Rome? There are many museums, galleries, chapels, and other collections to visit. I recommend getting there early, as it gets crowded; so much so that it takes away from the experience and leaves me in no hurry to...

Of the seven hills of Rome, Palantine Hill is in the middle, surrounded by the others. Archeologists have unearthed items dating back to 1000 BC. Many of the rich and powerful Romans of the Republic (509-44 BC) resided in Pallantium before it was merged into Rome. Augustus built his palace here at the start of the...

When walking around Rome, we would occasionally come upon ancient structures. Many were behind fences and off limits; others were just cool to see but not enough to warrant their own page. This page keeps track of some memories for future reverie. Aurelian Walls - Emperor Aurelian expanded the earlier Servian Wall to...

It'd be hard to visit Rome without going to the Colosseum. Little did we know that getting in would be a challenge. Tickets are sold months in advance and tend to be booked up for weeks, if not months, in advance. Lesson learned. We were thinking of showing up early and waiting in the hopes of being let in, but Melissa...

Our time in the US wouldn't be complete without a visit to Amarillo to see our female offspring unit. The timing was good as she was moving to her new apartment and could use some help. I had planned to hire someone to move her stuff from point A to point B, but as usual, we decided it wasn't that much and we could do...

We imposed on family for an extra week to experience a total eclipse. Brenna wasn't quite ready for us to come to Amarillo to help move her to a new apartment, so we figured why not stick around for the eclipse? Total eclipses don't happen that often and we happened to be in the band that would experience it. Yep,...

We spent way too much time eating out (weight gain), but had a great time catching up with everyone. We even managed a side trip down to see my aunt in Tennessee. Here are some highlights. Spending time with family (also see the total eclipse page) Melissa and our nephew ...and niece ...and sister with new shirts My...

We attended our friends', Gene and Danielle, wedding (Congratulations!). I've known Gene for over 30 years and we've gotten to know Danielle really well over the years, so we wouldn't have missed their big day. The bachelor party Rehearsal dinner The Dr. Phillips house lovely venue ...inside and out The wedding party...

We went to Leu Gardens (Orlando) with the kids. We always enjoy walking the gardens and viewing the wide variety of plants. This time, we were fortunate to experience the "28 works of art with Dalle de Verre glass and steel" created by sculptor, Alex Heveri. Here are some of our favorites.