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The Pantheon, Rome

Stereoscopic crossview photos of the Pantheon, Rome.

The Pantheon, built about 125 C.E. is one of (if not the) best preserved buildings from ancient Rome. It’s also a very impressive building. Here’s a cutaway of it: 

Note that: “The rotunda measures 43.2 m in diameter which is exactly the maximum height of the dome, itself a perfect hemisphere.” Source here, recommended. 

Full album here: http://imgur.com/a/9f2M2

A few samples:

Please see the full gallery above for more. 

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From my (Nick’s) Stereoscopic Library Tumblr. Here are my 3D photos from the Colosseum Pantheon.  See the sidebar of my blog for how to view.

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Stereoscopic Crossview Photos of the Colosseum

Here’s a gallery of photos from the Colosseum, taken last week (July 18th, 2016): http://imgur.com/a/a89Rq Hope you enjoy. 

Samples:

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From my (Nick’s) Stereoscopic Library Tumblr. Here are my 3D photos from the Colosseum. See the sidebar of my blog for how to view. 

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I'm currently back in Chicago safe and sound. Between the Rome and Chicago airports, I'm surprised I didn't go nuts. So much more waiting than I've ever experienced in an airport. But I got to play Tetris on the plane! Our last day in Rome was tourist-tastic. We went to the Trevi Fountain first (also a Mario is Missing destination!) and it was absulutely swarming. But also ginormous and majestic and everything. Then we went to the Pantheon, which has an amazing dome that was constructed as if they shaped it around a giant ball that sat on the floor...right around the birth/death of Christ. How is that possible? While there, we were serenaded by a group of lovely ladies, whose voices echoed through the huge structure beautifully. Finally, we went to the Forum, which I don't really have much to say about? All of the incredible ruins built before it even seemed possible kind of started to run together. Nick should have some stereoscopic photos of all these things available soon. Possibly the best part was that neither of us contracted heat stroke or got sunburnt to a crisp. I'm pretty exhausted from all the traveling, but am surprised that my body is accepting that it's 5pm. Soon we drive home and back to the land of readily accessible, delicious tap water, widespread air conditioning, and ice-cold coffee to go. See you all soon!

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ROME! Our final destination. That was bad wording. Hopefully we don’t get our heads chopped off by a pane of glass or get smooshed by some logs rolling off the bed of a semi.

We spent our first day–which was just the afternoon, really–seeing the Colisseum. It was colossal. And reminded me that Rome is one of the cities in Mario is Missing, which is my primary source of information about the city. And they say video games rot your brain!

We saw a tourist thing, rode on public transit, and ate a pizza.

Next post will be about our last day!

In the meantime, have some things to say about Vienna, Verona, and Rome that Rick Steves didn’t tell me:

1. Almost everyone speaks English, but how you go about getting them to do so ilicits a wide variety of reactions, from a smile and nod and a what-can-I-do-for-you, to just maintaining a blank stare. I don’t know what it’s like to live in a touristy area, but it doesn’t seem fun.

2. Eating or drinking takes a lot of time, compared to the US. You do not get a quick cup of coffee. Very few places even offer a to-go cup, and when you ask or try to order at the counter, they tell you to have a seat. And when you’re done, you have to ask for the check. They will not ask if you want it. I get that this is probably a cultural pacing thing, so as to let people relax, but as an American, it was just extremely frustrating.

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Made it to Innsbruck! The train is speedy and comfortable, and the Alps are gorgeous. Off to Verona!

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First thing yesterday morning, we took a hike up the spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is awesome for when you want to work out your calves, get dizzy, and develop a fear of falling down stairs all at the same time. We were only able to go about halfway up, but the view was still the best we'd seen. We went inside the actual church then, which was massive and fancy and smelled like Catholicism (don't ask me to explain that). It was also very dim, making for mostly crap pictures. We rented some bikes again and rode around the city and drank coffee. We chatted about how while this is a beautiful and fun place, the experience is always tinged by the language barrier, and a feeling of inconveniencing the locals. We found the Augarten, a big park with lots of walking paths and trees, and a surprise flak tower from WWII that dwarfed everything around it. For dinner, we tried a restaurant around the corner from the hostel and I immediately wished we'd tried it sooner. I got some little ham-and-cheese pies and Nick got some "fried pancakes," which were crepes--also with ham and cheese--rolled up, breaded, and fried. And they came with some kind of cream sauce. It was a dish worthy of an American county fair. Today we're on the train to Verona!

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Hi. Third time rewriting this post because the Tumblr app sucks. Grrrrr.

So, after breakfast yesterday, we headed through the Naschmarkt to grab some rental bikes. It’s this excellent market with lots of open-air stalls, shops, and restaurants. There are so many delicious treats and trinkets to be had; we got some dark chocolate and moved on.

We decided to see some touristy sights, starting with the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where we saw their collections of historic musical instruments, arms and armor, and Greek and Roman antiquities. I didn’t get many good photos of the arms and armor, but rest assured, there were some badass things there, such as the expanding knife thingy (which turns your attack from stabby to slitty), and the lantern shield, which was what happened when an armorer asked a five-year-old what he should make next, to which he responded, “A shield! With a lantern on it! And a gauntlet…with knives coming out of the knuckles! And a sword!! And probably a spike coming out of the middle of the shield. Yeahhhhh!” And who was the armorer to say no?

We had lunch at an Austro-Hungarian restaurant, which served the type of cuisine that is mostly meat and calories, and makes you really sleepy. Fortunately, we ordered coffee, too. A note about the coffee here: it’s almost always espresso, and is served in a cute little cup with a saucer. This one even had a matching creamer! Awweeeeee!

I had something called Bácska-style risotto, which left me feeling confused, because I’m pretty sure risotto is Italian and it reminded me of a dish my mom used to make called La Hacienda.

After we ate, we went to the Imperial Treasury, which houses a bunch of fancy costumes and accessories people used to wear to show off how much god liked them and wanted them to be in power. Pictured is an “imperial crown” (thanks for the specific info, museum tag) from the early 1000s.

We rested a bit after this, then headed to a bike shop/café/bar (called Radlager, heh), where I wigged the server by asking for a beer with a shot of liquor in it.

Today we go see -THE CHURCH- and hopefully climb its spire! I hope I don’t pass out and tumble down all the stairs!

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So, we're not dead via plane crash or exhaustion or the resulting possibility of ripping each other apart because of it. (Having an intense rivalry over the Nuts on Clark gym at O'Hare helped.) Instead we arrived safely in Vienna, well on our way to adjusting to the time zone. We walked around and saw some of the many, many sculptures and gorgeous buildings in the city center, noting them to come back to the next day (which is today!). Apparently the Black Plague was a big deal. We've just taken in our amazing breakfast (wtf does one do with egg-in-cup?) and are about to borrow some bikes and see the city! Auf Wiedersehen!

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EUROPEBOUND. It's 5:40 and I've already been up for almost 2 hours now because Nick and I are headed to Vienna today! The time difference is 7 hours, so we've been good little travelers and adjusting our sleep schedules. Which is fine by me, because I'm the morning person of the two of us. :D Still, 4am is a ridiculous hour to be awake. From Vienna we go to Verona via Innsbruck, then down to Rome for a couple of days. Stay tuned for updates, which will likely include me not understanding things, being jet lagged, eating good food, and drinking a lot!

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Kayaking Copper Harbor

On our last evening we went on a sunset kayak tour Copper Harbor, with the Keweenaw Adventure company. Andrea posted about how we had a great time and a great guide below, and I don’t have anything to add to that, so I’m just added some photos. 

Andrea in her kayak shortly after leaving. 

After paddling around the harbor we went onto the other side of the Porter’s Island, to actual Lake Superior. This is looking out over the lake. 

Taken by our guide. 

Cu Harbor conglomerate rocks on Porter’s Island. Note how the vegetation starts far back on the island. This is because of the waves they get sometime. 

We stopped on the island for the sunset. It was an absolutely beautiful day. We were told many times this was the best weather yet so far this year:

Great colors:

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Mountain Biking Copper Harbor

As I think Andrea mentioned, the main reason we went to Copper Harbor was mountain biking. This post is all about MTBing. Copper Harbor is, in my own opinion, the best summer MTBing destination in the country (at least for people who like camping), and one of the best overall. I say this for a few reasons:

-First off, fun excellent great trail system. Both “The Flow” and “The Red Trail” are some of my favorites anywhere. The trails also drain quickly to the extent that if it rains one day you can ride as soon as you feel comfortable with the slipperiness. 

-Secondly, good summer weather for MTBing. Highs in the 60s/70s in June? Much more pleasant than hot humid Illinois / Indiana or even hotter (albeit dryer) Moab. The trails are mostly shaded as well, so the sun isn’t beating down on you. The very long days mean you can easily ride in both the morning and afternoon / evening while leaving plenty of time for hiking / driving around / etc as well. 

-Third, the campground is only a mile or so from the trailhead. You can easily ride as much or as little of the trails as you want without needing to drive. Compare this to Moab where camping along the Colorado (which I had the pleasure of doing in March) might mean a 15 minute drive to the closest trail system. Not horrible, but not needing to drive is nice. Bonus: the campground is more-or-less level with Cu Harbor and the trailheads. You ride up, have your fun riding down, and either do it again or ride back without another long climb. Another bonus: campground has showers.  

Here are some photos I took:

Riding into the trail system (on the ridge) from town:

On the Red Trail:

One of the bridges on the Red Trail. Go down steep rock. Go over bridge. Climb rock. Don’t mess up. One of my favorite sections. 

View of bridge approach:

Shortly thereafter on the trail: more rocks! 

On a different trail, overlooking the campground / Fort Wilkins State Park (Andrea may have uploaded a similar photo?)

This on the flow trail. There are a lot of parts that look like this: Super fun. 

On the Flow Trail again. This little alternate part (Daisy Dukes) is super fun and amazing. You get to go fast and fly. 

I got to ride this more than I otherwise would have (or at least with more energy) because Andrea gave me a ride up to the beginning a couple times after I had been riding the Red Trail and met up with her. Thank you again, dear. 

On a different “trail.” This is an optional offshoot from one of the trails. Riding down this was gnarly. 

I didn’t do everything. This is the entrance to one of the more advanced trails that still scare me (and they get crazier than this). I’ve found this ramp is basically an automatic braking device for my brain. When I ride towards it I always end up braking before I go over it. Maybe some day. Maybe. 

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Wildflowers of the Keweenaw Peninsula

Here by popular (read: absolutely zero) request, a wildflower post!

I found several wildflowers I’d never encountered, and a few I had. Here’s a sampling. (Please forgive blurry or poorly posed flowers. I originally took them for help with identification, then decided to actually post them later.)

Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris). Quincy Mine, Hancock, MI (47.136, -88.574).

Cow vetch (Vicia cracca). Fort Wilkins Campground, Copper Harbor, MI (47.466, -87.869).

Meadow hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum). Fort Wilkins Campground, Copper Harbor, MI (47.466, -87.869).

Tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris). Fort Wilkins Campground, Copper Harbor, MI (47.466, -87.869).

Prairie rose (Rosa arkansana). Lake Fanny Hooe, Copper Harbor, MI (47.462, -87.861).

Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). Fort Wilkins Campground, Copper Harbor, MI (47.466, -87.868).

Twinflower (Linnaea borealis). Lake Fanny Hooe, Copper Harbor, MI (47.462, -87.861).

Gaywings (Polygala paucifolia). Lake Fanny Hooe, Copper Harbor, MI (47.462, -87.861).

Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus). Fort Wilkins Campground, Copper Harbor, MI (47.466, -87.868).

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis). Lake Fanny Hooe, Copper Harbor, MI (47.462, -87.861).

Found but not pictured:

-Orange hawkweed (Pilosella aurantiaca).

-Canadian lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis).

h/t to scratchinganitch and treerabbit over at r/whatsthisplant for help with identification.

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Photos from Kentucky

A few photos from Kentucky.

First, at the underground MTB park:

Then onto the graveyard. Here’s where we parked in the complete middle of nowhere:

Andrea photographing the tombstones:

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Photos from Camping in Shawnee

Hello,

Here are some photos I have to add from when we camped in Shawnee. 

Andrea found a rock she liked:

In the Garden of the Gods:

Sun came out at the perfect time:

The next day, exploring around the campsite:

In the Pounds Hollow area:

Bonus: Andrea in a hammock

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SATURDAY: It felt like a storm was a-brewin’, and we zipped up camp just moments before a storm moved in. Many high fives were had to celebrate our impeccable timing.

Before we left the Keweenaw, we wanted to see the Quincy mine, which didn’t disappoint in terms of exemplary mine-ness. I was pretty grumpy though, so the whole tour was filtered through Grump-O-Vision, which I will simulate in my approximate stream of consciousness below.

GRUMP-O-VISION ON

Ugh. This tour guide is annoyingly cheery. He looks really young. He doesn’t know how hard life is yet. This tram is like the dumbest, slowest, most boring roller coaster ever. This cave is really creepy. And dark and wet. Gross. I wonder if I can just crawl into a corner and nobody will notice I’m gone. This is just a bunch of rocks. What kind of an idiot blasts rocks to get to metal. It’s so dangerous and scary. I can’t believe they tricked all those Cornish people into coming to this god-forsaken snow-ninsula to dig holes in rocks.

GRUMP-O-VISION OFF

Yeah, I think that’s enough. It was neat, even though I couldn’t tell at the time. The grounds had a lot of old equipment to explore, and it was clearly a massive and expensive production. Last photo is Sneaky Nick pretending he’s an old-timey conductor.

Well, we stayed in Milwaukee–home of the Squawking Parking Lot Seagulls–and are nearly home now. I feel fortunate to have been blessed with mostly excellent weather and a partner that provides freshly cooked protein. Stay tuned next month for our first European excursion together!

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THURSDAY: We ended up only having time for the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, because we couldn’t stop looking at pretty rocks and metals. They had a pretty impressive collection (including many chunks of copper and lovely crystals more exciting and rare than the pictured calcite), including a fluorescent display. (Calcite and willemite make bright red and green, respectively.)

On the way to drop Nick off at a trailhead, we stopped by an overlook that provides a stunning view of the Copper Harbor Bay and Lake Fanny Hooe. It’s been calm and sunny so the view was quite picturesque, and makes it hard to believe this whole place is covered in snow all winter. Dinner was the usual burgers en flambé (ok, not really flambé in the traditional sense, where alcohol is added to the pan, but the burgers did catch on fire, and we were applying alcohol elsewhere).

FRIDAY: We drove around on some “roads” that we probably weren’t supposed to be on. And Nick found more rocks! (I actually found some too.) Including a big chunk of calcite with some unidentified metal attached. It’s not pictured because, well, I didn’t take a picture of it. Because it’s a rock. Anyway, in case you haven’t gotten it by now, this being an area with deep (ha) mining roots, there’s a lot of focus on rocks, minerals, and metals. Pretty much every gift shop has copper in raw form (which is broken down into yet more forms, depending on where it came from), jewelry form, other art forms, ingot form, and other household items form. In addition, there are other minerals, agates, and pretty polished rocks.

Thursday night we went on a sunset sea kayak tour and not only had an amazing, knowledgeable, and friendly guide, but were alone on the tour, and had the most incredible sunset and calm waters. We stopped on the beach on Porters Island (which looked significantly different from the current satellite images on Google Maps) to watch the sun go down, giving off a purpley hue, then paddled home.

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TUESDAY: I walked all the way around Lake Fanny Hooe, which is what makes the area where I’m camping an isthmus (with Lake Superior). It was about 8 miles, and just darling. I tried scouting some places to fish for the next day, but didn’t find a whole lot. Many of the candidate streams are either nearby people, very steep, too big, too small, or too muddy. See the elevated walk/bikeway, which made a path around something you probably could have guessed was called Mud Lake.

WEDNESDAY: I headed out to fish after having some typical picturesque lunch (brought to you by Nick’s Camping Sous Vide Services), but had bad luck. Or rather, I had pretty good luck, but only for small fries like the pictured lil rainbow. I don’t think I caught anything over 5 inches, so I gave up on the spot, possibly to try one or two others later in the week.

Oh, and this whole time, Nick was mountain biking, of course. There’s a decent possibility of a purely wildflower post in the near future. So if you don’t like mountain biking, flowers, fishing or camping, well, I’m not sure what you’re doing here. But I invite you to read on!

THURSDAY: Today we’re restocking and visiting the Quincy Mine and a mineral museum in Houghton/Hancock. Being back in civilization again is a touch scary, but it has allowed me to acquire a cold brew coffee, so I’m not gonna complain.