We've Been On The Move

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It's been a long time since I last blogged.  I talked about paying for airline seats.  We did take the trip to San Miguel de Allende (Queretaro).  Last post I left off where we refused to purchase seats on the plane.  The trip went well, we visited friends, did some minor things to the house and pretty much loafed around.  Hiking isn't on the agenda much anymore.  Juan has issues with his knees, feet and legs, 50 plus years of dancing.

The heat has been really something.  We should have just stayed put in SMA as it was cool and still is.  I'm sure we'll be going back soon and hoping to go to some towns nearby.  

Last week we flew to San Antonio.  I wish we could afford to fly to all our favorite places all the time but air tickets aren't as inexpensive as they used to be.  The same routine pretty much.  We had reserved the parking at the airport, an Airbnb in San Antonio and a rental car which turned out to be very inexpensive.  We both had concerns about immigration with some of the new checks in place.  I went to the immigration office at the Monterrey airport for my exit stamp in Terminal A and there were no questions.  She stamped my passport and off I went to the ticket counter where Juan was filling out his form for immigration in the U.S.   Again, we hadn't purchased seats and the ticket agent sat us together.

Arriving to San Antonio, we entered immigration and he went one way and I went the other.  In less than two minutes we were out the door.  We headed to the Dollar rental car counter and were hoping to get a better price than what I had booked.  I made an error on the first reservation and didn't realize it until two days before our departure.  It turns out the rental counter where I had booked was 10 miles off the airport property and was a small electric car.  What!  I changed the reservation and the price was outrageous but there was no other choice.  9 p.m. at the Dollar ticket counter and the place was empty.  

The customer service person immediately said as he looked up the reservation, "I can do you much better".  I don't know what he did, it may have been my good looks, but he came back with seven day reservation, mid-sized car, full coverage, for a total of $121.00.  After we left with the car I thought, well, we'll see when we get the final charges and sure enough, that's what it was. 

Knowing San Antonio pretty well, we arrived to the Airbnb (after immigration, car rental and driving to the apartment) exactly one hour after the plane had landed.  That is a record.

We picked a very good location.  Museums, restaurants, and visits with friends all within 15 minute drives.  I think I did pretty well with this one.  Yep, a little on the expensive side but considering it was my birthday, well deserved.

I'll continue this trip soon if you're interested.

Paying For Seats On Airlines

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We had a reservation for the car park on Friday morning.   We left the house at what we thought was a reasonable time.  Having traveled so much for work, we are accustomed to sliding into the gate just as the plane takes off.  That's what happened on this trip with one caveat.  

No longer working, we pay little attention to school calendars.  It was our life guide when it came to doing just about anything; trips and travel, scheduling family gatherings, tuturing students and general activities around the house.  The flight left at 7:45 a.m. and we didn't leave the house until 6:00.  Ouch!  We arrived to the car park and the line was forever long.  The woman came out and said we are overbooked and overwhelmed.  Do you have a reservation?  I told her we had made it two weeks in advance, and she said not to worry.  I left the car at the entrance and gave her the keys.  Now, where was the shuttle?  It did come and the driver, without mentioning, knew the flight times at that early hour and off he went.  

We got to the gate and our slide into the gate came to a brief but abrupt halt.  The girl at the counter asked if we had seats and I told her we didn't.  She had the you know what, to ask me why we didn't buy seats.  I told her we never do and that we purchased tickets that came with a seat.  She said next time they wouldn't let us board.  In terms of price, she gave us two premium seats that were not yet purchased.  We like to fly aisle to aisle and that's what she gave us.  Vivaaerobus has boarding groups, no classes, so it doesn't matter who is first or not.  Afterward, we went to the gate without waiting and they called our group.  We had the last row and entered the plane from the back and into our seats.  First on and first off.  No cost.  The situation had me fuming a bit, but I got out my phone and this is what I found translated into English:

No, you are not required to pay for a seat if you fly with VivaAerobus, but if you don't, you will be randomly assigned one at check-in. 

Seat(s): Viva will randomly assign seats to all passengers on any Fare or Combo they purchase. However, passengers may choose their preferred seat for an additional cost, depending on the available zones or sections within the cabin. These may be:

Priority/VIP Priority: Refers to the first 3 (three) or 6 (six) rows of the passenger cabin (clearly identified on the aircraft and on the seat map), where passengers will also receive priority boarding service at no additional cost.

Preferred Seats: Refers to the seating area between the VIP Priority and More Space (Space +) sections.

More Space (Space +): Refers to seats located near emergency exits on the aircraft, which offer greater space and comfort for passengers.

Regular Seats: Refers to the rest of the Seats, that is, those that are not described in points 1, 2 and 3 above.

Not paying for a seat doesn't mean you will miss your flight they will simply assign you one at random.  In the past, we have been put on standby but always get on the plane.  We haven't purchased seats on our international travels either.   At this stage in our lives if we get bumped, we look for the benefits package and, if needed, stay another night.  What a rip-off!

Day Trip To Laguna de Sanchez - Journalistic Censorship

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We took a drive last week to the top of the mountains closest to us.  It's the same road that takes you to Cola de Caballo (Horsetail Falls).  The drive is not for the faint at heart.  The road has been in better condition over the years but because of the last two hurricanes, one most recently in May, the roads have deteriorated considerably.  In dry river beds there is no road so we drove over the river rock.  I would never attempt to pull the travel trailer up there although it would make for some fantastic camping.

There isn't much history on the area other than there are 300 inhabitants and sits at an altitude of 1650 meters.  There are many cabins for rent on the road up and during summer months, they are almost always rented out on weekends.  Apart from tourism the locals have fruit orchards and sell apples, peaches, and plums.  They make and sell preserves made from the fruit as well.   

We took our time going up the mountain stopping to take pics.  The road is not only washed out in areas, but so narrow only one car can pass at a time.  The drive is incredible and the mountain views something to see.

This is the lagoon at the top.  It's full after heavy rains and hurricanes.  This particular day there was no water but sunflower fields.  In the past, the locals would grow corn and after the floods came they would have to start over.  Same today but they are coming into the 21st century.  Sunflowers are not native to us here but it has become big business.  They sell the seeds, and make cooking oil and body oils.

We found this restaurant which seems to be one of three.  The other two are very small and not a lot of people actually go all the way to the top.  Most if not all of the land around the lagoon is private so walking around would be difficult without asking permission everytime you crossed a fence.  We asked about security and no one really seemed to want to answer directly.

You can see the preserves and sunflower oils they sell.  

The food we ordered was cooked on leña, or wood fire.  It was delicious especially with flour tortillas.  They had corn, but they were made from Maseca, and we don't care for them.  We like the yellow corn from the south.  Corn tortillas are not as common here in the north.

It was a fun day and even though we've been there several times it was cool to see how little the place has changed.  It was 23 years ago we took my oldest brother and his wife to the lagoon.  There was no place to eat and we asked a kid on the road where to eat.  He said there wasn't any place but we could knock on just about any house and someone would be more than willing to prepare something for us.  We also took our friend Dave (David and Marina) from Perth and his friend Cam to the lagoon.  It had water in it then and it was a beautiful crystal blue.  At that time too, we found a woman to cook for us.  But as I remember, it wasn't very tasty.  

Censured Journalism has come to the Americas or I should say has returned.  Politicians and presidents are filing lawsuits, forbidding journalists from reporting and more.  I'm not sure where this will go but here are a few cases in Mexico.  There are 21 cases of registered censorship.

When the majority rules it's not just in the politial cirle.  It trickles down to everyday society.  

This year we have had 21 journalist censored and some in the worst ways.  I'll give you a couple of examples:

A well-known journalist spoke out against a state governor.  He was fined 2 million pesos and not allowed to publish for two years.

A citizen claimed that a representative of the house obtained her job thanks to a higher up in the majority party.  She was sanctioned with giving a public apology for 30 continuous days.

A lawyer made an off the cuff remark to the president of the senate as he was deboarding a plane in the Mexico City airport.  He was required to appear before the senate and formally apologize to the party.

A Tik Toker was sanctioned and forced to apologize via TikTok for speaking out against a politician.  In addition, she will remain on a sanctions list for one year and six months.

Here is the law that is supposed to protect those listed above:

The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States guarantees freedom of expression in Articles 6 and 7. Article 6 establishes the inviolability of freedom of expression and the right to seek, receive, and disseminate information and ideas of any kind through any medium. Article 7 prohibits prior censorship and establishes that the freedom to write and publish on any subject is inviolable.

What's next for the Americas?  

Are We In A Quagmire?

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The last few months have been brutal to democracy.  On June 1st, there was a public vote for 800 district and Supreme court judges.  Do you know how many countries have a public vote for Supreme Court judges?  None. The candidates were chosen from a tombola.  The requirements were minimum to say the least; a law degree, five years of practice, and a minimum GPA of 8.  To ensure that a certain party won all the slots, accordions were passed out the week before telling people who to vote for in their district along with the Supreme Court justices.  An accordion is a cheat sheet.  

80% of the vote matched the cheat sheets, ballots were not folded, indicating that they were not true votes and never inserted into the urns, ballots were marked with the same handwriting, voting polls with 100% or more participation, voting polls that were open for up to 29 hours versus eight hours.  Since then, 29 of the winning judges have had their votes nullified for corruption, extortion, or involvement with the drug trade.  So much for the judicial system. 

There has been talk of militarization.  It has already begun. For example, the armed forces are now in charge of distributing vaccines and school textbooks, building publicly owned hospitals, banks, highways, stadiums, and hotels, as well as infrastructure projects that are key for administration, including Mexico City’s new airport and a tourist train in the south. The military is also responsible for administering the new publicly owned airline (which still only has five aircraft and many flights have only had one passenger. These are 737-800 aircraft) and for policing airports and customs areas. The army’s budget has doubled since 2018 and is now more than three times that of the Health Ministry.

The worst news became public last Friday.  Happy 4th of July!  Many of you are temporary or permanent residents and, like all Mexicans much have a Clave Unica de Registro de Poblacion.  It is a requirement for all Mexican residents.  BTW, you need to have the latest printed and on hand at all times, signed by the Secretaria de Gobernacion.  That position has had a personnel chang three times in the last seven years.  If it doesn't have the latest Secretria name on it, it is not valid.

Anyway, the constitution was changed last week to require that the above document be digitalized.  That means we will all now be part of a biometric system that includes facial recognition, fingerprints and more.  Here is the list:

Personal Information:

Full name (first and last name)

Date of birth

Place of birth (state)

Sex or gender

Nationality

Biometric data:

Digital photograph

Fingerprints

Iris scan (possibly)

Security features:

Electronic signature

Barcode or QR code

Security features to validate authenticity

The law was passed, and then an important clause was changed after voting.  Before the vote, a judge would be required to authorize the use of the information before an investigation or arrest was made.  This could be for many violations, including those at a highway checkpoint, immigration and more.  That clause was removed after the vote and now no authorization is required.   This is a serious change.  So seriously, that I booked a couple of flights for next month on VivaAerobus to Queretaro and San Antonio, TX.  I received an email after booking asking me if I wanted to use facial recognition to avoid an in-person check-in. 

Some good news on the border front.  Arrests by the U.S. Border Patrol have been reduced by 93% because of action taken by the U.S. There are no more caravans traveling through Mexico.  Those caravans were filled with a variety of undesirable people, including criminals, people who have obtained legal residency in other countries but were looking for a free ride to the U.S. 

The border is still very dangerous, and Nuevo León has created a workaround to help avoid some of the cartel trouble via the Colombia Bridge.  They have created a connection from the Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo highway to what is now called La Gloria.  A bypass which will avoid the necessity to use Hwy 2 from Colombia back to Nuevo Laredo and then to the autopista Monterrey/Saltillo.  

Military and Guardia Nacional checkpoints have become very spotty.  They are now going through personal belongings, including wallets and purses, asking for the amount of money one is carrying and in many cases stealing money or items from vehicles.  The most recent atrocity was a guy who had a U.S. prescription for Viagra along with the pills.  The prescription means nothing here and is considered a federal crime.  The military threatened to jail the man in Mexico City if he didn't pay 1 million pesos.  He resisted for hours, and finally they gave up taking what money he had in his wallet.  Oh, and the confiscated Viagra was thrown back into the owner's car.  

Abrazos no balazos and primero los pobres.  

Summer Activities - A Lot Going On

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Recovered from our month-long trip and visitors in May, we have been just as busy now that we are back home.  On my part, I've done some minor repairs and painting.  Like any house, ours moves with the temperatures.  Concrete and cement block aren't quite as forgiving.  

The wall in the hallway developed a nice crack that started about 40 centimeters up from the floor and ran for about a meter and a half.  I chiseled it out and attempted to spackle and paint it.  The paint matches perfectly but the two spackles I used were less than perfect.  Ond small area was pretty deep, so the spackle had to be applied in layers.  In the end, it required some sanding to get it 90% smooth, but it will do for now.  I now want to take a class on how to mix and spread plaster.  It's an art for sure.  

We are planning on having one of the bedrooms semi-remodeled.  That will include moving some outlets around and using some with USB connections.  The flat screen has a canal strip to hide the cord.  It was originally used to bring the cable down from the dish years ago.  We haven't had cable tv for over 15 years.  For me, it was just a waste of time, all that clicking with no satisfying results.  YouTube and Netflix work fine for us, and we watch live television on YouTube as well.  Also, replacing the closet.  When we bought the place back in 2001, we were tight on cash and installed cheap. So every closet has sliding mirror doors.  Enough with the mirrors!  I'm so old now I don't care to look at myself.  Especially getting dressed, uff!

I don't want to jinx myself, but we may have a buyer for the travel trailer.  While we were gone during the month of May, I took the ad down from Facebook Marketplace.  It's back on, but a lot of squirrelly people contact me.  One guy was a bit mysterious at first.  It turns out he is in the Frozen On Ice show that travels around Mexico and Central America.  He is looking for a small trailer for his son, who is in the troupe as he is getting married.  They need their own pad.  Hopefully, it will come through.  I wasn't going to post anything, but I couldn't hold back.

Hurricane Erick was supposed to strike with vengeance, but it has petered out.  Today is the last forecasted day of rain.  We had two short showers last week, and it gave us a slight sprinkling while I was out for my exercise yesterday.  Every little bit helps though, and the grass remains green considering the heat has been pretty intense.

A family party yesterday.  Juan's nieces and nephews from his oldest sister came along with their kids and grandkids, as well as his little brother and two of their kids.  Makes for quite a bunch.  They made discada, which is a combination of chorizo, salchicha, shrimp, bacon, beef, bell peppers and onions cooked on a shallow wok-type disk, hence the name discada.  Everyone brought something.  We also had hamburgers and hotdogs for the kids.  They get tired of carne asada.  Turns out, the adults wanted my delicious homemade hamburgers, and the chili I made for the hot dogs.  Go figure!  Pool time and lots of conversation.  

Juan with one of his great-great nieces.

The cardiologist is still trying to figure out what is up with my non-existent heart (yes, I don't have one!).  I don't know if I told you about my hospitalization event before we went to Italy.  That passed and we took the trip.  Back home, there was a stress test and then last week an angiogram.  That was something new.  I get those results on the 3rd of July.  Heart disease is in my family history.  With ten siblings, three have had the bypass, and my oldest brother, who is 85, just had his fourth stent inserted.  Still going strong after that and his shoulder replacement surgery.  He's back to gardening and driving around with his girlfriend.  

Mexico news will be in another post. We're going downhill fast.  I have also written a post on deportations, both legal and illegal, but it seems too controversial to post at this time.  

Just Tell The Truth

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It's been quite a couple of weeks.  We had guests for two weeks and I can say I have lived the famous saying, "guests are like fish, after three days they start to stink".  Imagine after two weeks.   It was not a good visit in San MIguel de Allende but prior to the visit we did get some big jobs done one of which were the window screens ordered and installed.  You really don't need them but visitors may have an issue.  The stackable washer/dryer we bought used need a new transmission and we had that done.  Nice to have that available and we took advantage of it.  Having your laundry done by someone is nice but then you have to take it and pick it up and that can be a bother.  

In addition, I have been fired upon for simply telling the truth.  As I always say, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, but I can see that some of the bullshit from both sides is just outright hysteria, lies, and mistruths.  I'm not sure why so many people are offended when I challenge their false or unsubstantiated claims.  You would think they would either research claims before stating them or accept the truth once it has been presented.  As I stated in a previous post, some of the actions taken by the current U.S. president have benefited Mexico.  I don't remember ever having lived in the United States when illegals were welcomed and given such accommodation.   It's also against the law to be in Mexico illegally.  Those that were coming through Guatemala were given six-month passes and some change to make their way to the U.S.  Americans and Canadians are deported regularly, mostly for attempting to live here with a tourist visa or over extending their stay.

Here are a few things that I have found to counter some of the false information that is being sent around the world:

Turns out ole Billy Boy did his share of cuts as well.  It's part of the job.  In all administrations many federal workers receive buyouts or are reinstated over time.

• Trump, as of today, has laid off or given buy-outs to 130,000

• Clinton fired 400,000 federal employees over an eight-year period.

• Obama cut Medicare by 716 billion dollars to pay for Obamacare.

• Trump to cut 800 billion dollars from Medicaid, which is not Medicare.

Basic Medicare, also known as Original Medicare, covers hospital stays (Part A) and doctor visits. It provides a foundation of coverage for medical expenses, but doesn't cover everything.   Below are parts that people pay for and think they are getting a real bargain.  Average prices for private full-coverage medical are in the range of $600 per month.  

Part B averages $185 per month

Part C averages $17 to $200 per month.

 

Part D starts at $46.50 per month.

Part F supplements Part A & B $199

Part G fills gaps for $100 to $299 per month.

Wow, what a nightmare trying to figure your way through that laberynith. Medicare was never free.  For free you can get your vitals checked and a consultation and that's about it.  

Medicaid is free to those who qualify, but it covers very little.  There is a huge laundry list of exclusions.  

Since all of this has happened, Medicaid may now be on the chopping block.  It's not the programs that are a problem, but the fraud that sucks up all the money.  Doctors overcharge, doctoring bill submissions for payment, and quite a few that are on Medicaid disability that maybe should have gone back to work years ago.  You've seen the videos of those that receive disability benefits but are recorded working, climbing on rooftops, etc.  Cut out the fraud, not those that deserve it.

One of the things that have come out of this are those that say, "Well, we won't go to the United States".  That's good and nothing wrong with that.  You don't agree with the administration, and it is a good way to protest.  But do yourselves a favor and don't visit Cuba.  It's a communist regime and the people are literally starving to death.  Mexico is paying 100,000 pesos per  month for each Cuban doctor they send to Mexico. That's for transportation, food, lodging and personal medical equipment.  The Cuban doctors receive 27,000 per month. Mexico doesn't need more doctors.  We have plenty of our own who don't make 27,000 pesos.  The average pay for a Mexican doctor is 17,000 pesos per month. The money that Mexico pays Cuba for doctors goes to the Cuban government and not to the doctors.  

The same goes for Mexico.  Headed for an authoritarian regime no one from the U.S. or Canada is complaining.  June 1st marked the first public election ever in the world for Supreme court justices.  Mexico ranks as the fifth most dangerous country in the world with over 240,000 murders in the last six years.  Let's not mention the constant assaults and highway robberies, disappearances (100,000 to date), extortion, and cobro de piso (paying the bad guys just to stay in business) and now they are charging people to live in their houses.  Nice place to visit but I'm sure it's their policy not yours.

The most common statement from many people we know in the U.S. and Canada is, "Well, we are just visiting, and we can't do anything about it".  If you can boycott the U.S. you can boycott Cuba, Haiti, China, and more.  Think about us.  There are 64 countries Juan and I can't visit for fear they will capture us and bury us up to our necks and then stone us or even worse, cut off our heads or lifetime imprisonment.  Yet, people go there and accept the terms even though others may be persecuted.  People say, "the food is great and inexpensive so it's their policy, not mine".

This isn't over yet but it will pass.  Most of what Trump did in his first term was easily reversed or repaied and the same will happen again.  Funny that Musk is talking about creating a third party.  I've said that for years here on the blog.  A two-party system doesn't work.  Not the right person for the job, but the idea is a good one and hopefully someone else will come through with it.

Sightseeing In Naples

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I want to preface this post with a short commentary.  Over the last six years I have been criticized and called out by many people who read my blog and Facebook page for talking about politics in Mexico and how the situation has become critical.  Daily, tourists, rvers, and transport are being held up on Mexican highways by organized crime and police at all levels.  I know many people who have been robbed along the border and on toll highways as well as threatened with kidnapping or worse.  However, most people are embarrassed to talk about it openly for some unknown reason other than the adage "I told you so" by friends and fellow travelers.

Now the shoe is on the other foot.  Americans and Canadians are up in arms over the U.S. administration.  Keep in mind, be it good or bad, 77,000,000 Americans voted for Trump.  Of that number, 54% of the Hispanic vote went to the Trump side.  

I will say, with the bad comes the good.  Since the demands were placed on Mexico by the U.S. administration, there are no illegals gathering along the border, Mexico has extradited 29 cartel leaders, putting 10,000 Mexican soldiers along the border, shutting down 289 meth/fentonyl labs, confiscated millions of dollars in illegally imported Chinese goods, and exposed the illegal importation of fuels to and from the U.S. 

On our way to Naples we stopped in the town of Atri, not far from the Adriatic Sea.  It was founded in 282 BCE and is famous for copper coins and pottery.  

A small town and very quiet.  It seems like we never find many people around when we visit these towns or villages.  This is the town square.  Some nice shops, a cathedral and small grocery stores where people pick up items on a daily basis. 

A simple but beautiful cathedral Assumption of the Virgin Mary, with a long history.  It dates back to 1225 and was built over an existing church.  

The palace in Atri now houses the Carbinieri police and their offices.  It has a beautiful courtyard. 

Rodolfo Acquaviva was an Italian Jesuit missionary who served in India in the 1500s.  He was the son of the 10th duke of Atri. He served under Akbar the Great who conquered and ruled the northern territories of India.  Akbar didn't believe in monogamy and that didn't sit well with the Jesuit.  He later tried his hand at converting Indians in Goa but had his throat slit while he was in prayer.  Rough place to be.  The statue of Rodolfo sits in the courtyard.

For starters, we arrived home last Wednesday.  It was a long trip.  12 hours waiting in the Rome airport and a 12 hour flight to Mexico City.  After, we were able to get an earlier flight to Monterrey where we took a tour bus into town and a taxi from there.  Ubers are no longer allowed in Mexican airports although you can walk outside the airport but there is still a risk the driver will get harassed.   It wasn't the best trip coming home.  I can usually sleep in the airport and on the plane but it never happened.  I think I had Mexican food on my mind!

In Naples the Airbnb owner was a dweeb.  He promised us a parking spot under the building and as time went on it no longer existed.  I text battled with him for two hours and then just shut him off.  I didn't give him a review either and he sent an evaluation on us which I haven't read.  He even had the huevos to ask us to give him five stars to help his business.  If I already covered this, sorry about that but it is a bone of contention.

Walking toward the Duomo de Napoli, Cathedral Assumption of Mary.

The city is very nice and we were in a great location.  The Duomo de Naples was four blocks away as well as the metro station.    It was difficult to take a picture of the front as the street is very narrow and there was road work happening.

The cathedral was built in the latter part of the 1200s.  It was commissioned by King Charles I of Anjou the younger brother of Louis IX. That's another interesting history study.  The ancestary of all the European royalty and the relationships between them.

The famous Duomo en Milan has a fee of $30 just to walk through.  In Naples there is no charge and the cathedral is phenomenal.  

As in most cathedrals, each bishop or cardinal had built their own nave.  In this cathedral, there is a nave dedicated to the monstrances used to transport the consecrated host or in this case house the relic of saints and hierarchy of the church.  

The altar is majestic in all senses of the word.  It appears as though it was made for kings and queens.  It is difficult to imagine that this is the same altar that mass has been said for over 700 years.  As I get older, the thought of religion seems to escape me.

Underneath this altar lies the remains of the patron saint of Naples.  Saint Januarius, the patron saint of blood banks.  I'm holding back but I remember a day in high school that I was invited to a spelling bee.  The sisters of my Catholic school took us in a van to another school for the event.  After we had boarded the van,  the nun who was driving had us pause and say a prayer to St. Patrick so that we would have green lights all the way.  Sorry if I'm being sacrilegious.  

The miracle of Saint Januarius is celebrated three times a year.  A vial containing his blood is brought out on display along with a procession and mass.  If the blood liquifies, things will be good for Naples.  If it doesn't, expect major problems such as volcanic eruptions.  

The blood does liquify at some of the events.  The liquefaction is not a miracle.  The process uses a thixotropic gel which was made with materials well-known to medieval chemists back in the day.

I still have more to share but I have been busy with family events and parties since we've been home.  We will be heading to San Miguel de Allende for the month of May entertaining friends from Arkansas.  I took a couple of videos I need to upload to YouTube and hope to get that done in the next week or two.  

Last Day In Italy - A Walk Along The Tiber River

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Although we have been quite busy the last few days here in Rome there was just one more historical item we wanted to check off the list, a walk along the Tiber River.  The Tiber River runs through the city and is crossed by many bridges.  The last one we would cross on this walk was built in 62 BCE and is still in use today.

The Tiber (Tibur or today Tivoli) is the third longest river and it flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea.  It was used as far back as the 5th century BC.  Ships would sail up the river as far as 100 km carrying grain and later timber and stone.  Homes for the wealthy were built on its banks as well.  Now that we have been to Pompeii we can imagine what the banks of the Tiber looked like in the 1st century.

There are also restaurants, bars, and some pretty good sized homes floating on the Tiber or docked alongside.  I checked the requirements for houseboats and they are very extensive and the permits cost quite a bit.

Of course, popes were involved in the improvements over the 17th and 18th centuries.  Silt build up kept it from maintaining its usefulness.  Under the supervision of the popes, dredging and shoring up embankments took place.

Romans were responsible for creating sewage connections to the river and also bringing water into the center of Rome.  (I see some conflict of interest there, yuck!).

Today the river is used for tourism.  Boats with bars, kayakers, and even homes are docked along the sides of the Tiber.  Some of the homes are quite impressive.  I did a search to see what was required to have a home on the water.  A long list of building restrictions, permits, and authorizations are needed not to mention lots of money.

This bridge goes to the Castle Sant Angelo.  It was originally built for the emperor Hadrian.  He planned it as a mausoleum for his family.  Later the popes took over and used it as a castle and fortress.

 

You can see Saint Peter's Basilica around the bend.

Flooding was very common and many times changes were made to the river and its banks to reduce the damage.  In the mid-1800s, major public works took place to create the walls which line the banks of the river today.  While we were there we saw crews in different areas doing maintenance to the walls and in some places where the very wide walkways were caving due to the heavy floods that took place from the north the weeks we were on the road.  

You can see that graffiti artists will go to any length to leave their mark.  Around the center tower below, they have found a way to crawl down and do their dirty work.

The graffiti in all the major Italian cities is some of the worst we have ever seen.  It doesn't seem to matter whether or not it is an historic building, monument, well to do neighborhood or not.  In the areas around Caesar's Forum, the Colosseum, cathedrals there are signs posted with fines ranging up to 15,000 Euros for anyone caught defacing those areas.  We even saw cars, work vans and delivery trucks completely covered in graffiti.  Here you can see crews down along the river attempting to remove it.

We passed the Sacred Heart of Suffrage (Sacro Cuore del Suffragio) across the river.  Finished in 1917.  I had to stop and do a Google search.  It looked just like the parish church of Guardian Angels where I grew up and went to school.  My grandparents were one of the fifty German/Austrian couples who started the church.  The masses were held in an empty grocery store until the basement was finished.  Construction started in 1910.  

Guardian Angels Church

After three hours we reached the first bridge built across the Tiber River.  Quite amazing to cross it on foot just as they did 1963 years ago.  How many people, carts and oxen, merchandise, thieves and soldiers made their way through here.  

As they say, all roads lead to Rome.  We ended up at the colosseum as we did just about every day.  Thousands of tourist on vacation.  The number of  languages you hear as you walk down the streets, and all the scam artists just waiting to point to your shoes and say, "oh, those are nice shoes".

Again, we ended up at the Colosseum and Caesar's gardens.  As they say, all roads lead to Rome!  We took the metro from here to the apartment.  Once home, a nice nap and then our final dinner out to celebrate the close of our trip.  There is still more to come.  Now that we're home I can post some more pics of places we've been.

Juan really enjoyed the gelato stops we made around Italy!