Wednesday, December 28, 2005
It was great having General West and his wife, Patty, attend this ceremony. They were there when we started this exciting military career - 16 years ago! Back then, General West was the Major and Scott the 2nd Lt!
May I now present Lieutenant Colonel Scott Meier!! Ta-da!
Scott even had the kids get in on the promotion!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
This was a big day for the Meier family - Scott in particular. Why you ask? It's his promotion day! The Army promoted Scott to Lieutenant Colonel effective 1 December 2005. This was his official promotion ceremony with the promoting officer being General Scott G. West. General West and Scott go way back, back to Scott's 2nd Lieutenant days back in the 82nd. As it turns out, General West is now working in Germany about 45 minutes from us. He gave a great talk about Scott and how well deserved this promotion is.
On our walk back to Termini, Amanda and I managed to do some brisk but fun shopping! Scott and Jody were a little stressed since there was only 1 train back to Civitavecchia that afternoon, but of course we made it just fine. Here is a shot of all of our kids after a great day in Rome and a FABULOUS week in the Mediterranean aboard the Costa Magica!
After walking through the catacombs and again by St. Peter, which still blows my mind, we walked around the Basilica. It is just so stunning. Mass was going on in one of the alcoves and the singing was beautiful. We truly felt like we were in the presence of such Holiness today.
Of course, our day didn't end there. As soon as the Pope went in, the rain began again so we found a little pizzeria and had some lunch. From there we wanted to go into St. Peter's Basilica. We saw a sign that said to view John Paul II's tomb, this way, so we went that way. We entered the catacombs from some side entrance and were able to walk passed John Paul II's tomb. The last time we were here, this part of the catacombs was not open to the public. We were thirlled that it was open for us.
Just as quickly as he came out and spoke, he was gone. But that will live in our memories forever. If you click on this link it translates the Pope's message his day:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/angelus/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20051127_en.html
He spoke to the crowd for about 20 minutes. At the end, he addressed people in 6 different languages - Spanish, English, German, Italian, French and Russian or Polish. WOW!!! A BLESSING FROM THE POPE!!!!!
When he spoke, you couldn't hear a sound from the huge gathering of people. WHen he finished there was a thunderous applause and chhers!
Sunday, November 27, 2005
We decided to get to Rome on our own and forego the overpriced bus service that the ship offered. We walked about 5 minutes to catch the next train into Rome. From Termini station in Rome, we then made our way to the metro, caught that and got off at our destination stop - the Vatican. It was raining today - our first rain all week. When we walked into the square we noticed a rather large crowd was gathered. We looked up to the right and under the Pope's window, a huge red tapestry was hanging down. We got so excited! The Pope was going to address the square! At about 2 minutes before noon, the rain stopped and the sun even peeked out. At noon, the window opened and out came the Pope! If we would have timed this to see him, it wouldn't have worked - but by chance we were there!!!!
After a full day in Sicily, it was back on board to set sail for the port of Rome - Civitavecchia. Here's a shot of the happy family heading down to dinner.
In the backgground is Santa Caterina, begun in 1566. In front of the church is Piazza Pretorio with the huge Pretorio Fountain, built in 1544.
This is San Domenico. Earlier we all went inside to look at this church. This church was built in 1640. It had some very ornate bas-reliefs on the inside and it was also painted that celery green color, very different.
Here is one of the fountains form the famous Quattro Fontana - four fountains. They are all on a building on all four sides of an intersection.
The kids and the dads were done shopping for the day so while they stayed on board to do some swimming, Amanda and I got back out for more. Here is the main Catheral in Palermo. It was closed when we tried to go inside. We did manage a quick peek and it was very simple on the inside, painted a light celery color. The beauty is really on the outside.
The market crept along some back alleys and led out to some main shopping areas. We managed to purchase a some trinkets. They have some really nice ceramics in Sicily. We tried to get some pizza for lunch but the Pizzeria/Restaurant only wanted to serve us bigger, pricier meals so we grabbed lunch back on the boat.
We found it! This is the famous Vucciria market! It was the daily seafood and produce market that led down to some shops with treasures. The kids got such a kick out of the seafood market - in particular, the squid and octopus. It was so much fun listening to the people shouting out their wares while strolling along eating delicious cannolli.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Our next port of call - Palermo, Sicily! Behind me in the picture is the opera house. After a tip from one of the waitresses the previous night, we explored Palermo on our own and tried to find their market.
Here is our view from our balcony of the port. We sailed off at sunset and toasted another fabulous day in the Med.
We all had so much fun exploring La Valletta. The view of the harbour while walking back to the ship was beautiful. The island was so different looking. Everything is made from the rock that makes up the island. It is very yellow in color.
Faith was one of Malta's only three operable planes in WWII defending the country against Italy. They fought for 17 days without relief, and Faith is the only survivor.
Inside the forst is a small military museum which of course we visited. The museums houses lots of World War II relics, the most famous of which is Faith, the airplane seen in the picture with Scott and Jody.
We grabbed a quick lunch back on the ship and were off to explore the city of La Valletta. We walked up and into the walled city and found Fort St. Elmo. This fort was built by the MAltese Knights back in the mid 1400s. It has seen continuos use through World War II and the present day.
We could have spent hours in this village. It was so peaceful and pretty. We did some shopping along the quay and just enjoyed our day before heading back to the ship for more exploring on our own.
They all have these eys on the front of their boats. Although the island has deep roots in Christianity, they cover their bases I guess - the eyes are supposed to ward off evil spirits and protect the fisherman.
The last stop on our excursion was the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. It was so picturesque with the colorful fishing boats!
After the fun with the hissing cat, we drove to visit the Ghar Dalum cave, where the first traces of life on the island, dating back to around 180,000 years ago, were dscovered. There were fossils from animals that were alive around the ice age inside.
The kids had fun climbing around the rocks. They even found a cat! (not in the picture, stop looking) This cat wasn't very friendly though and the kids couldn't stop laughing at him hissing at everyone.
At this site, we learned that a lot of the detailed and highly decorative parts of the temple are reproductions. The originals are now housed indoors so they can be protected from the elements.
The Temples of Tarxian were first discovered and excavated in the early 1900s. Again, the architects of these structures were extremely advanced, given that these are all at least 1,000 years older than the pyramids.
The temple was fun to explore. From here, we boared the bus and headed off to one of the three temples of Tarsia.
The temples are older than the pyramids of Egypt and the ruins of Stonehenge! This site, Malta's largest temple, dates back to 3,000 B.C. On the left of the picture is the most imposing monolith in the island's history. It is over 7 meters long and weighs around 20 tons. This area sits on top of a hill so how they got that stone up here is amazing!
Friday, November 25, 2005
This sunny morning our shipped pulled into port in the city of La Valletta, Malta. This little Mediterranean island situated between the North African coast and Sicily has so much history. The ancient Greeks claimed the island had divine origins. In Homer's Odyssey, Ulysses landed on Malta. In the Middle Ages, the Crusaders partially fortified the island during their expeditions to the Holy Land, giving rise to the powerful Maltese Knights. The apostle Paul was shipwrecked on the island and remained on Malta for three months. During this time the island was converted to Christianity and today, 99% of the Maltese people are Catholics. It has been invaded by the Turks, the French and even the British. We decided to do one of the ship's excursions today. We chose the Megalithic Temples tour. In the picture behind Jake is our first stop - the archaeological site of Hagar Quim, that means "Sacred Stones".
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Look -she found some friendly cats in Africa too! We really enjoyed Tunisia, it was a great Thanksgiving.
There were towers in all directions calling out prayer. They weren't recordings either. There were men in the towers calling into the megaphones/speakers. The tiles on the building were very colorful. If you enlarge the picture you might be able to see the tiles on this mosque. After we were done soaking in the view we visited a rug dealer and then it was off to the Souk! The souk is the marketplace in Tunis and it was GREAT! Lots of sellers right in your personal space again. It was a huge indoor maze of a market and Ali led us through and out the other side infront of the Casbah. This truly was an unforgettable day!
And this is the view from the top! At the same time that we were all up on the rooftop the Mosques were calling prayer from the towers. It was really cool!
We drove through the city of Tunis and got off the bus in Medina. The building in this photo that has the flag on top was used by General Patton as his headquarters in Africa. General Eisenhower also was at this headquarters. Ali had so much information to share! At the doorway in picture we hung a left and walked through an alley up to the top of a building.
Notice the beautiful door behind us? It was really fun and different shopping here. Scott said it was a very mild version of how he shopped in Afghanistan. The shop owners really don't understand the concept of personal space or what the word no means but it was big fun! We managed to pick up a few treasures before we hopped back on Ali's bus for our next stop.
This is taken in the village of Sidi Bou Said with its typical chalk-white houses, blue doors and balconies and terraces full of flowers. Ali stopped our bus here for about an hour so we could all enjoy its beauty and do a little shopping.
After leaving the American Cemetery we drove through some ancient ruins in Carthage. Yes, the same Carthage from the bible where the Apostle Paul visited. These are some of the ancient Roman ruins.
At this Cemetery, the Tablets of the Missing consist of a 364 feet long wall with the names of 3,724 who were either not identified or lost or buried at sea in the waters surrounding the African continent. The inscription reads: HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF AMERICANS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY AND WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES 1941-1945 INTO THY HANDS O LORD.
The Cemetery site covers 27 acres and part of it lies over the ancient Roman City of Carthage. Here rest 2,841 of our Military, including 240 Unknown Soldiers, who gave their lives in service to our country.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
We docked in the Port of Tunis, Tunisia a little after 1:00 in the afternoon. We all got off the ship and found Ali and his mini-tourbus. The bus held about 25 people and he agreed to take the riders to various stops. Once we got moving, Scott and Jody had a good feeling about Ali and were able to relax. This was the stop that had their ARMY minds a little worried at first. We told Ali that we also wanted to visit the American Cemetery and he said no problem! So the first stop was the American Military Cemetery of North Africa.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Happy Thanksgiving from Africa! We were all sitting on our balcony today watching the coastline of Africa come into view - WOW! It's AFRICA!!!!
After a cab ride back to the port we were back on board and ready to set sail for our next destination - AFRICA!!!!!
