A Summer in Europe

Summer 2016

The summer of 2016 my family took a trip to Europe to see my grandmother's birth country Croatia, walk through the Holy Doors at the Vatican for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and for AnaClare and I to compete in the I420 World Championship in San Remo, Italy.

We rented a 9 passenger van that was completely packed with my family of 6 (my parents, AnaClare, Camille, Charlie, me) and two sets of grandparents (my paternal grandparents - Mimi and Tito, my maternal grandmother - Honey). We drove from city to city, seeing as much as we could in one day.

In total we visited 6 countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Monaco), and stopped in over 22 cities (Hamburg, Kiel, Berlin, Prague, Salzburg, Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Bari, Naples/Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Caserta, Rome, Greccio, San Damiano, Ermeo delle Carceri, Assisi, Florence, Pisa, San Stefano, Monte Carlo, San Remo).

Below are some pictures and descriptions of what we saw, experienced, and enjoyed!

Kiel, Germany 

After two weeks of sailing in Rhode Island and relaxing in Vermont, AnaClare and I flew to to Hamburg, Germany for Kieler Woche, the largest youth regatta in the world. Although we had a little trouble getting there due to airline issues, after two days of travel we finally made it. In addition to being a regatta, Kieler Woche is the largest summer festival in northern Europe. All the European teams camp out and everyone visits the food and live music tents until quite late because the sun does not set in the northern hemisphere until midnight.  

Berlin, Germany 

From Kiel we drove to Berlin; we took the Autobahn, which has no set speed limit.  In Berlin we saw the Berlin Wall, Palace of Tears, Checkpoint Charlie, Topography of Terror Museum (site of SS and Gestapo HQ), and rode this crazy bike that all six of us pedaled to the Brandenburg Gate. We also went to the Norbahn Ghost Station, Berlin Wall Memorial, and the Pergammonen Museum ( site of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon).  We had fun playing a Live Escape Game based on Eastern German spies.  The next morning on our way out of town, we saw the Holocaust Memorial, packed up our ten passenger Mercedes Van, and headed to Prague. 

Prague, Czech Republic 

We crossed our first boarder in the car into the Czech Republic, but because it was part of the European Union we did not have to go through customs. We arrived in Prague, and drove into “Lesser Town” with tiny cobbled lanes, walled courtyards, countless church spires all in the shadow of the majestic castle. We managed to park the van in a garden of an old monastery and then went on a Castle tour, visited the Infant Jesus of Prague in a Carmelite Church, and took a segway tour. It started pouring down rain on the segways which was fortunate because we needed some down time to eat and enjoy the city. The next morning, we loaded up our van with my grandparents who joined us in Prague and crossed the Charles Bridge over the Vltava River with the City of a Hundred Spires in the background.  We all loved Prague - the Old Town Square, colorful baroque buildings, the medieval Astronomical Clock, statues and sculptures, gold-tipped towers, and church domes.  

Salzburg, Austria

After a five hour drive filled with the Sound of Music soundtrack, we crossed the boarder into Austria.  We arrived in Salzburg at our hotel, Villa Auersperg and had lunch before we took Fräulein Maria's Bicycle Tour.  We rode all through this lovely mountain town and even up to the Benedictine monastery where Maria lived, and where the Von Traps got married.  We had a fun tour guide who gave my sister a speaker and iphone with Sound of Music blaring as we rode through the town. The next morning we loaded up for Croatia!  

Zagreb, Croatia 

It was a long drive to Zagreb through hundreds of tunnels. Zagreb was clearly once a grand city;  we stayed at the Hotel Esplanade which was very close to the train station (a stop on the Orient Express).  A lovely set of shady parks extended from the train station to the city center.  We walked through the parks seeing the Cathedral where Mimi was baptized, the house where she lived, to the Upper Town where we saw the Shrine of Our Lady of the Stone Gate which houses remains of the city walls that once stood around the old town and where people come to light a candle and thank the Lady for protecting them. From here we walked to the Jesuit church where Bakka and Djed (my great grandparents) were married and then through an art park with colorful native art work. We had a small dinner in the hotel (we had a big lunch there earlier) and went to bed early as we were exhausted, and the next morning we wanted to get up very early for breakfast on the terrace before driving to Croatia stop #2.  

Split, Croatia 

We arrived in Split after lunch and checked into the Jupiter Luxury Hotel which was located in the Diocletian Palace just behind the Jupiter Chapel (ancient pagan chapel from the time of Diocletian; Diocletian believed he was Jupiter reincarnated). We did a walking tour of the palace and of the Jestrovic’s sculpture of Gregory of Nin and the golden gates. We had a meal in the harbor (along the Stradud), but as usual the next morning we packed up early and headed out the door. 

Dubrovnik, Croatia 

We drove all day along the coast and through the Dinaric Mountains to Dubrovnik.  We passed the beautiful walled city before arriving at our Villa on the Adriatic.  It was a gorgeous setting with a rock terrace down to the sea where we spent hours jumping into the water.  We took a day trip by boat to many small islands (the Elaphati Islands in Greek and mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey). We left the port of Dubrovnick at 10 pm, and got on a ferry that arrived in Bari, Southern Italy the next morning. After parking our car in cargo we were ushered to our "cabins" which were below deck.  We paid extra so we could all sleep but unfortunately no one slept because we could hear the sloshing of the waterline and kept imagining the ferry sinking!  

Southern Italy (Barri, Pompeii, Caserta) 

After our overnight ferry, we awoke in Bari and drove off the ferry and directly to the Basilica of  St. Nicholas.  Bari is a port town and St. Nicholas is the patron saint of of sailors and special to our family…we celebrate the Feast day of St.Nicholas with peppermint bark every year, so, we prayed at the cathedral (dating back to Norman times) and then took off for Pompeii.  We took the main road out of Bari which was part of the original Roman road, the Appian Way, dating from the second century AD. The Via Appia was one of the earliest and strategically most important ancient Roman roads and was called “queen of the long roads."  We drove past Naples and Mount Vesuvius and arrived in Pompeii in time for lunch (had some Lacryma Christi or "tears of Christ” wine) and a great tour which lasted three hours-- the Coliseum, the Forum, Temple of Apollo, several villas, and store fronts.  Then we drove to Caserta which is a town just north of Naples and like Naples dangerous and decadent.  We stayed in a Villa that had a pool, so we all cooled off from our hot tour of Pompeii and had a nice dinner with lots of laughs; the next morning we were up early to be first in line at the Palace of Caserta which was built for the Bourbon king of Naples. It is the largest royal residence in the world and was inspired by the Palace of Versailles.  We had the entire "piano reale," the King's floor to ourselves and it was magnificent.  We biked up to the top of the baroque garden fountains (12 of them), up to the English gardens which were less formal but equally beautiful, with grottos and niches.

Rome, Italy

It was an easy drive from Caserta to Rome. Our first stop in Rome was the Coloseum, where we saw the basement and top floor not typically open to tourists. For dinner we met up with our grandmother Honey, and reunited with Mimi and Tito for a quick dinner al fresco. The next morning we found a bar near our flat where we were able to get coffee and pastries and were at the Vatican by eight am for a tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.  Because we were there early, we  were able to sit and look at Michaelangelo’s ceiling and altar for as long as we wished.  It was Camille and Charlie’s first time to see it and my 2nd but the effect was same.  We then pilgrimaged through the Holy Doors for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. That night we walked through the Borghese gardens and had dinner in a Villa on the edge of the gardens with beautiful views of Rome and the Vatican.  We then walked to Piazza Popolo and the Spanish steps. 

Tuscany (Greccio, Assisi, Florence), Italy

The next morning we left early for Tuscany, stopping first in Greccio (where St. Francis created the 1st live Nativity), then San Damiano (where  St. Francis received the challenge from Christ to “Go, rebuild My church which is being destroyed!” and where later, St. Clare’s would start the Poor Clares), Ermeo delle Carceri (a cave where Francis would pray and contemplate and where Francis is said to have preached to the birds) and finally Assisi. We had lunch and then walked to San Franceso Basilica & Friary for a tour with a Friar.  Upon leaving the Cathedral and walking back to our hotel for dinner, we went into a wine and Tuscan food shop for some bottles of water and ended up making friends with the owners and sampling everything in the store.  The next day, we went to see the Porziuncula (the birthplace of Franciscan order, where Francis died, and now place of “The Pardon,” for any pilgrim who enters this humble chapel). We drove through the beautiful countryside of Tuscany, and arrived in Florence and much like in Prague, drove through the small cobblestone streets right to our hotel which was next door to the Duomo. We took an artistic pilgrimage to the Branchi Chapel.  We then walked by Piti Palace, crossed over the River Arno on the Ponte Vecchio to  the Academia Gallery and saw Michelangelo’s David. That evening we went to Saturday vigil mass at Duomo (all in Italian), the largest brick dome ever constructed.   Afterwards we went to dinner in a Trattoria that was an old wine cellar of a large palace.  The next morning, we stopped at Pisa on our way to San Remo for the classic tourist picture (holding up the tower!).  

San Remo, Italy

We arrived in San Stefano, a small village about 30 miles East of San Remo on the Italian Riviera, where i420 Worlds was being held.  Unfortunately, our charter boat was not there yet so we took off for Monaco for a sunset dinner at the Champagne Bar at the Fairmont. We took some pictures in front of the casino (not allowed to go in because we were not 18) and enjoyed the views from the terrace of all the yachts coming in and out of the harbor.  The sea was very calm, but the next day a storm blew in on the Mediterranean sea and our “blue flag beach” became a “black flag beach.”  It was blowing 30-40 so no sailing but we had lots of rigging to do and also walked around San Remo (La Pigna or old town, sawall the Belle Époque hotels and casino).  Following a few days of practice, we had the opening ceremonies for the i420 World Championship with 524 sailors from 24 nations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany,Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, USA. This was the largest 420 Worlds ever and the largest group of Team USA sailors ever- 38 sailors/5 coaches. The festivities began with a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Nice/Bastille Day attack and the French team received a warm and enthusiastic welcome as their flag was raised and national anthem played. It was not our best regatta in terms of results, but we had a lot of fun and it was a good learning experience.