This 'n That: Rome and Heidelberg

In March, on Samantha's Spring Break, we went to Europe. We spent one day in Rome...only one full day but we made the best of it...then went on for a four-day visit with Pam and John in Heidelberg, Germany.

Our first view of Rome, and a very nice one, was from our hotel room window:

We set off about 10:30 a.m., for the Colosseum. On the way, we saw Smart Cars,

ruins,

a flower shop,

, and - finally - the Colosseum.

We were in Rome on the Monday of Holy Week, so the lines to get into the Colosseum were lengthy. We jumped the line by hiring a guide, at €19 a piece.

We rambled all over this amazing edifice, including negotiating its well-worn staircases.

After lunch in an outdoor cafe, we headed for the Pantheon. On the way there, I realized that we were a few blocks off course and were going to pass the Piazza Argentina. There the ruins of the Teatro Argentina are a refuge for abandoned cats, where they are sheltered, fed, neutered, and found homes.

The Piazza Argentina is only a few blocks from the Pantheon ("All Gods"), which was converted into a church in the 7th C., thus preserving it. If the intention of the architect was to impress, he succeeded. The next two pictures only hint at its dignity.

This is, imo, the most beautiful picture in any of its niches.
From the Pantheon, I wanted to show Samantha my favorite place in Rome, the Piazza Navona. We spent half an hour looking for it even though it was only a block away. We must have circumnavigated it on side streets.

Piazza Navona must be one of the best places in the world to people-watch...and our gelato's weren't bad, either.

The next day we flew to Frankfurt where John picked us up. John and Pam's house.

Their living room.

We were at their house in time to walk into Heidelberg to the main shopping street, the Haupstrasse. As we left their house, we saw:

a church we never got a chance to tour,

the Golden Eagle Inn, with its goose for a symbol (?!),
the River Necker

with its geese,

and a couple of tourists.

The River Necker from the bridge, looking toward Heidelberg.

The Haupstrasse.

A "Free Tibet" rally on the Haupstrasse.

The next day, John and I walked The Philosopher's Walk. (Samantha preferred to stay home with John's laptop and recover from her tour of Rome.)

View of the area from the Philosopher's Walk, looking in the direction of John's neighborhood.

The schloss in Heidelberg from the Philosopher's Walk.

Parts of the Philosopher's Walk are very steep.

The next day we went to Speyer and Schwetzingen. We wanted to see the cathedral in Speyer,

but it was closed to tourists for Holy Thursday.

Playground in Speyer.

We found the medieval Jewish quarter in Speyer,

but the Jewish museum was closed(?).

In Schwetzingen, however, the gardens of the schloss were open.

The gardens are quite extensive, though not at their best in mid-March, but even in March, the 'mosque' an Elector had built is pretty amazing:

A tile roof in the colonnades of the mosque

some tourists

and tourists at play:

.
Pam had off on Good Friday, so she was able to join us when we toured Heidelberg's schloss. Unfortunately for Pam, we had our worst weather of our trip. During our excursion we had heavy rain, hail, snow, and sunshine. I dressed for the weather: