When in Rome...

Day 9. (for those few counting along and totally confused...we're counting Aug. 6th as Day 1.) (oh, and every keyboard I've used so far has been different, talk about aggitating. This one for instance, most of the letters are worn off...good thing i know how to type!) So the last four days have been pretty action-packed.

Dachau, Germany (concentration camp). Woah. It's really hard for me to describe what I felt as I walked through the Dachau Concentration Camp, I think paritially because I went numb. With audio guide thingamajigs in hand, Drew and I stepped into what would be the most breathtaking thing for me thus far. I ended up walking through pretty much all of it alone, because in the midst of listening to my audio guide and taking pictures, I lost sight of Drew (actually has happened a lot). It was pretty mindblowing actually seeing what they were forced to endure in this camp. When I get the chance, I will upload some pictures of the camp, though they will certainly not do it justice. The way the bunks were laid out changed from year to year, and only got worse. The medical experiments peformed were unbearable to hear about. And certainly the most horrid thing for me was the crematorium. As I walked through the gas chamber (which they told the prisoners were showers) and stepped into the furnace room, my heart fell. There were several different religious monuments and chapels, which I thought was interesting. I still don't really know how to react to that experience.

Salzburg, Austria. From hell on earth to heaven on earth! Salzburg was absolutely beautiful! The mountains were breathtaking, and all of the buildings were of the brightest colors. And of course the castle/fortress (which of course I forget its name right now), which is the most preserved castle/fortress in Europe, was incredible. Drew, instantly set us on a course to fullfill his lifelong dream of visiting the sights of The Sound of Music. It was really cool getting stand and take pictures at a couple of the locations, but Drew was a little disappointed with Nonnburg Abbey, because we only got to the back, and the movie shot scenes from the front...i still thought it was cool though. My favorite part about Salzburg though was getting to see Mozart's birthplace, now that was legit. His house has been turned into a museum full of his early compositions and some letters he wrote to members of his family. Overall, Salzburg got an A+.

More train stories, hooray! So super long night train to Rome...which came with a super long night. We reserved seats early this time (didn't want to make that mistake again!), but we didn't get sleepers, because it was sooo much more expensive. Bad call. Our seatmates were really cool, and all spoke English, so we got to talk with them for awhile. By the time we were going to bed there were only 4 of us in our little coach, so we could all lay down and it was perfect. Then in the middle of the night, one of the official ladies burst into our coach telling us to sit up and shoved 2 more girls into the coach, who had been standing outside since the previous stop (at least half an hour). So anyway, out of the 6 seats, there now sat 6 people...boo. No place to rest a head (except for Drew, who laid on the floor under the seats), it is needless to say neither of us got much sleep.

Rome, Italy.
Day 1. After our long painful ride to Rome, we instantly set off for the Vatican. Being suckered into a tour, which actually was pretty good and offered a lot of information we didn't know, we explored St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. We were also pointed out where the Pope lives, but apparently he lives out of the country during the summer, figures. Regardless, it was gorgeous. Everything was beautiful. Oh, and we saw a couple mummies! When the Pope dies, he is mummified (aka perfectly preserved) and put on display in St. Peter's Basilica. Crazy gross, yet strangely cool. Interesting thing we learned about the Basilica was that there was only 1 painting in the entire building. Everything else were mosaics...couldn't even tell until the tour guide pointed it out! The Museum and Sistine Chapel were awesome too. They changed tour guides on us, and this guy seemed to know a lot more stuff, and was full of dry humor. The Sistine Chapel was a little different than I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be a little longer, I guess...but it was still absolutely incredible. It was the only thing we couldn't take pictures of though, because this chinese organization restored/cleaned a lot of the paintings up and when they had finished they had spent 100 million dollars! The Vatican sold them the copyright to the images in the Sistine Chapel for 200 years rather than paying, crazy huh? But it was pretty awesome, regardless. One interesting thing I didn't know was that the crazy famous one with God reaching out to Adam is that the red cloak surrounding him enclosing Eve and the children behind God, is actually in the shape of the cross'-section of a brain! (sorry for that long run-on sentence). Michelangelo, apparently was inspired by the human anatomy, so that panel is showing that God always had Eve and the future generations in mind...cool!

Day 2. So we woke up a little later, after having gone to bed early the previous night, trying to make up for that crazy night train. And we set off for Ancient Rome. Spending the whole day there, we took our time visiting the entirety of Ancient Rome. How grand must it have been back in the day! Probably the coolest place I have seen thus far. Chariot races, forums, stadiums, temples, basilicas, arches, and most certainly the Colosseum, it was all fantastic. Not to mention, Rome's current capital building blows ours out of the water...just saying...In some places it was hard to imagine how it must have been like, but in other places, it seemed to pop right out. I realize none of this is actually very descriptive, but you will see pictures eventually ;). For the moment, you will just have to deal with my outburst of amazement. The Colosseum was pretty incredible, and certainly lived up if not surpassed Hollywood's protrayel of it through Gladiator. Though I can't tell you how much I want to see that movie right now. On a side note, since this day was fairly relaxed, just walking through Ancient Rome and all, there was plenty of time for thinking and discussing for Drew and I. Discussions such as good vs. evil and such, all very beneficial and probably life-changing. Something I hope will continue throughout our travels together.

Also, I guess it finally occured to me today that I am going to be gone for a really long time. Drew and I had been talking the other day about how it would be weird taking this Europe excursion and then not seeing friends and family before living in Uganda for a few months. This kinda hit me today. I really do love you guys and wish I could watch each of you grow these next few months, but I am very excited to see what God has already started to stir up and is going to do in my heart and life. Reading Crazy Love in my free time has been very helpful in this transition actually, and would suggest that others read it. So far it hasn't really said anything new per se, but it clearly defines what your heart is trying to pour out, and uses a lot of scripture to back it up!

Two more days in Rome, than off to Florence on Drew's 20th birthday!!!

Love,
Joshua