Author: Randykr10

Tuesday, March 3

Because we had originally planned to go to Venice on the 3rd and 4th, we had purchased tickets for a Vatican/Ancient Rome tour for after the cruise. Once we cancelled Venice it left those days open. The tour director from Cruisebuilders told us that we still had tickets to the Vatican/Ancient Rome through them. We could come with them on Tues, so that’s what we did.

First stop was Vatican City. The Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. We took lots of pictures everywhere except the Sistine Chapel. Cameras were not allowed in there. I had to restrain Rhonda a couple of times from trying to sneak…

What I learned that day was how absolutely brilliant Michelangelo was. There are beautiful sculptures that he did as a young man. The ceiling in the Sistine Chapel was done when he was in his late 30’s, early 40’s and then he came back in his 60’s and painted the Last Judgement on the wall of Sistine. He was an architect and designed important buildings in Florence. He died a few weeks before his 89th birthday. A long and fruitful life for the 16th century.

After our visit to the Vatican, we had a short time to get lunch on our own. I learned that often tour guides may suggest dining locations not solely on their quality.. Our first lunch in Italy was blah. They did have gelato, so our first of many tastes of the Italian dessert was there.

We climbed back in the buses to be transported over to start a walking tour of Ancient Rome. Where our guide through the Vatican had been boring and had a voice that seemed to drone on and push at that button in your brain that is labeled “annoying”, our new walking guide was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and enjoyable. We walked. We went inside the Colosseum. We walked… through the Forum and then through more streets of the centuries old city. We had a bit of free time at Trevi Fountain, so after throwing a coin over our left shoulders for good luck, more gelato. Public restrooms are not easy to find, so the best solution is to go into a small shop and buy something. We ate lots of gelato in our quest to relieve our bladders in the coming days.

We walked to the Pantheon. A massive building completed in 125AD. There is a huge open circle in the middle of the dome. The opening was the only light inside. The floor is sloped to allow rain water to flow to the middle, where there are drains that divert the water to a river. Incredible engineering for 2000 years ago.

After the Roman Empire fell, many of the structures were dismantled by the popes of the following centuries to use the materials for new structures. The Pantheon originally had bronze all across the inside of the dome, which was then removed centuries later to be used elsewhere. It was also turned into a Catholic church.

Night had set in and it was time for the tour group to return to the buses to transfer to a new hotel. The 10 of us.. Rask, Nucci, Mueller, Haggard and Cotten were returning to the same hotel, so we bid goodbye to the others and decided to find a good restaurant to have dinner before finding our way back… a 30 minute drive. We asked our tour guide as he was preparing to head his own way and he offered to take us to a good spot for dinner. A block away from Navona Plaza, he introduced us to Navona Notte, a quaint restaurant. He decided to stay too and his girlfriend met him there. We enjoyed our first real Italian meal of pizza, pasta and bread. I had prawns, which was a single, fully intact prawn, eyeballs and all. The food was delicious and after walking around 15,000 steps, it felt good to rest our feet.

Brad had managed to learn that our hotel had a shuttle that left every other hour from Rome, so after dinner we headed to the bus stop. It was a 20 min walk from the restaurant, but was free. Once again, David, our tour guide walked us to the bus stop and even waited until the bus arrived. He really was a great guy, and made that evening enjoyable and worry free. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep on the bus. I woke up as we pulled up to the hotel, grabbed my backpack and zombied my way to our room.

Wed, Mar 4

After allowing ourselves to sleep in a bit, we hopped on the bus to go explore more of Rome. The Muellers said they would catch up to us later. They did, that night, when we came back to the hotel. We walked a lot again and were able to spend a little more time in areas that we had passed through the previous day. We walked to the Spanish Steps, which were on Rhondas list of things to see. They were completely underwhelming.

We spent some time in shops around Trevi Fountain. We ate more gelato and looked for a place to have lunch. Amy is very good at finding great places to eat, so we let her pick the spot. Via Luigi Petroselli had a tiny little store front on a busy pedestrian pathway. As I looked inside, I wondered how they would seat us all together. After a 15 min wait, they ushered between the bar and one row of tables to the back. Down a steep circular stairway we found a small but adequate dining area. 4 tables had been moved together, so we all squeezed into place. After we had finished and everyone had taken turns at the sole toilette, we made our way upstairs and back out onto the street. From my perspective, Amy had come through and picked a perfect spot. It was one of the best meals of the whole trip.

As with almost anywhere you will go in the world, there is poverty. For 2 weeks, in every location we went we experienced it. Most often, especially in high tourist areas, people were selling things on the street. By far, the thing we saw most was the selfie stick. Every single location had droves of men selling selfie sticks. The vast majority of them were very dark skinned Africans. Obvious transplants trying to make a life. Next to the Eiffel Tower or on a beach in Barcelona, it was always the same scene. Some were very pushy and obnoxious, but most of them moved on to another potential customer as soon as they realized we weren’t interested.

It’s important to always be aware of your surroundings when you are in an unfamiliar place. I am a people person watcher to begin with, so my eyes were always scanning our surroundings looking for potential problems. Pick pockets are a known issue in lots of tourist areas of Europe. We experienced a couple of possible incidents, but being in a group with multiple sets of eyes proved to be a valuable asset as we enjoyed the views of our surroundings during our trip.

When we had dinner on Tues night at Navona Notte, David had pointed out that the Navona Piazza (plaza) was actually built on top of a Roman stadium. He showed us a spot where there was an underground tour of the stadium. After our Amy inspired lunch, we decided to go see the Stadio di Domiziano. The open area in the plaza sits directly above what used to be field and the buildings surrounding sit on top of the structure. The stadium could seat 35,000 and was used mostly for athletics, probably running because of the size. Circo Maximus, which is completely gone except for footings, was used for chariot races and large events. It could seat 250,000. Amazing feats of architecture and building! On the underground tour were a few of the arches and seating areas that had been excavated in the past. Absolutely intriguing to see how the past had been built on top of the ancient..

After more gelato and walking, we headed towards the bus stop, with a detour to see the Mouth of Truth, a sculpture with an open mouth. The legend is that once your hand was inside, if you told a lie, your hand would be severed. We arrived 5 minutes too late to test the veracity.. Once it was determined that our appendages were going to stay intact, we headed to the bus stop for our ride back to the hotel.

With sore feet and aching backs, we met up with Clint and Melinda in hotel restaurant and shared the days experiences. Tomorrow would be new adventure as we were transferring to the Costa Smerelda, our home for the coming week…

Early in 2019, Rhonda and I started to see ads pop up on Facebook for a trip to Rome with a Mediterranean cruise. Those that know us, know that we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Our church builds Temples in all parts of the world. Temples are special buildings, different than the normal meeting houses we attend on a weekly basis. We typically plan our vacations so that we can visit a temple while we are gone. The church recently opened a temple in Rome. That’s a big deal considering how “Catholic” Rome is. The travel agency that put the trip together caters to members of our church and a highlight of this trip is a visit to the Rome Temple.

As we started to get serious about going, we thought it would be fun to invite another couple to join us. Joe and Amy Haggard have become good friends over the past few years and live in our ward (A ward is a congregation with a geographical boundary that members are a part of). As Amy and Joe got excited about going, we started to throw out names of other couples that would maybe like to join in. We decided to to go the first part of March, 2020. By the time the dust had cleared, we had 6 couples… Us, the Haggards, Brett & Julia Cotten, Clint & Melinda Mueller, Brent and Janet Larson, Brad & Sandra Nucci, Eunice Ensign and her sister in law, and then my sister RoAnn and my mother joined in a few months later.

When we chose the dates for the trip, we picked an itinerary that had a couple more days than other ones. Because we were going to be in Italy for 2 1/2 days before boarding the cruise ship, most of us decided that we wanted to see Venice, even if just for a day. We also decided to extend a day longer so that we could visit the temple outside of the tour group of 100 plus people. We let the tour company know of our plans, which completely overwhelmed them, and they proceeded to mess up everything they did from then on.. but that is a story for another time..

We made our payments, booked our flights, hotels and train tickets to Venice outside of the tour and let the anticipation keep us excited for this trip of a lifetime.

Covid-19… aka Coronavirus

In the weeks leading up to our departure, a new virus erupted in China and then quickly moved to Iran and Italy. Of all places… Italy. In the days before our departure, we were assured by the tour company that the trip was going on as scheduled. The outbreak in Italy was contained to a northern section of the country. Rome and our port cities had no cases. Venice was up in the air.. We were all going.

Sunday, March 1

Our international flight was from LAX, and all of us had different plans on how to get there. Brad is a frequent Delta flyer so he actually booked his own flight to and from Italy months earlier. The Haggards and us had booked a Southwest Airlines flight for that morning to LAX. At the same time as we were all making our way to LAX, we decided to cancel our Venice trip. The virus had expanded closer to Venice and we didn’t want to chance it. We would find something else to do in Rome for 2 days. We all finally met up at the gate in LAX for our 11 hour flight to Rome. 12 of us were on the same flight. One of the snafus of Cruisebuilders was that they never got Mom and RoAnn integrated into our group, so their flight was a few hours later, connecting through Zurich. Our trip was going through Paris.

The flight to Paris was full. One drawback of booking a trip through a tour group is that they buy the tickets in groups at cut rates. Good for them, but not good for us if we want to try to upgrade our seats. 8 of us.. Rask, Mueller, Cotten, Haggard were all on the same confirmation number. I had managed to get our seat assignments soon after receiving the flight plans, and I made sure that we were all grouped together as couples with aisle seats.

3:25pm was departure time. After an Air France safety demonstration, we were wheels up and on our way. A small meal and shot glass sized drink (Europeans don’t drink much water or soda with their meals), and we tried to settle in for as much rest as possible. Trying to do the math on departure city time, flight time and arrival city time is enough to make my brain hurt. I set my watch to Rome time (8 hours ahead) and hoped for the best.

Rhonda has trouble sleeping at home in her own bed, so she did everything she could think of to try to help with that on the plane. In the months leading up to the trip, she bought compression socks, eye covers, Melatonin, neck braces, blow up face pillows, Benedryl, slippers and even got a prescription of Xanax from her doctor. She looked like a walking CVS. After we landed in Paris, it was disclosed that she had taken a Melatonin and then a Xanax. Then another Xanax. Then another Xanax. And I wondered why she kept falling off her face pillow into my seat…

I watched a couple of movies, listened to music and tried to doze as much as possible. I got a couple hours of sleep. We finally landed at Charles de Gaulle airport at 11:15am on Monday, March 2.

We had to go through customs in Paris. Our passports were stamped and we made our way through the expansive airport to another terminal where our connecting flight to Rome would leave. When we entered the huge terminal, there was a piano in the middle of the oversized passageway. As we passed by, a man was sitting there haphazardly plucking out some kind of tune. I saw Joes eyes light up and I knew that he would be back over here at some point. Our layover was almost 3 hours so there was plenty of time.

Joe Haggard is a chiropractor by trade, in business with his father. He should be a concert pianist. He is one of the few people I have met in my life that can make a piano sing. He doesn’t just play it, he brings it to life. A small group of us walked back across the terminal to the white upright and Joe sat down. Interlacing and stretching his fingers, he smiled as he looked down at the keyboard. This is his element. As his fingertips touched the keys, the whole terminal was filled with beautiful music. Joe doesn’t play timidly. He plays with force, with passion and with the conviction of a master. He played a piece from Star Wars, Disney and a hymn from our church. People walking by would stop and smile. When he was finished, claps could be heard from across the terminal. It was a beautiful moment in the hussle of an international airport.

At 2:35pm our 2 hour flight to Rome took off. Upon landing at Rome and gathering our baggage, I was surprised that we didn’t have to go through customs again. I was actually looking forward to having my passport stamped by Italy. I didn’t realize that the European Union was just that. Come in through one country and pass easily between them. I should have known, based on the wad of €Euros in my pocket that would be valid in any country we were to visit. Guides from Cruisebuilders were in the terminal to take us to the hotel. The trip consisted of a 10 minute walk through covered passageways right to the Hilton Rome Airport. After checking in, we met in the restaurant to stuff our hungry bellies.

Because we had decided to cancel the Venice trip, we still had valid one way train tickets back to Rome for Wed. We learned that there was a train terminal adjacent to the airport, so the 4 guys headed over to inquire about a refund. As we entered the passageway, I saw the unmistakable silhouette of my mother walking towards us in a group of people. Their flight had landed around 7. We hugged.. the last time I had seen her was last June at her house in Utah. It was odd to travel halfway around the world to see her again. RoAnn was pushing/riding a scooter with her knee on it. Her car accident of 6 years ago manifests itself every day in her life. 45 minutes later we had filled out all the appropriate paperwork asking for a refund of our train tickets. We were told 4 weeks for a refund. We shall see…

…stay tuned for chapter 2…

I’m going in deep right out of the gate. I’ve had thoughts about doing this for some time now, and just never to took action to make it a reality. Today is the day.

I’m a 55 year old contractor/drummer/husband/father/grandfather. This past weekend I cried harder than I have for 14 years. That occasion was the death of my father in law. This time it was for a person that I had never personally met. How does that happen?

In the winter of 1980, I was a sophomore in high school in Covina, Ca. Charter Oak High School. I had played snare drum with the Marching Band in the fall and was now getting my first taste of playing in the Jazz Band. Drum set! My parents rented a 5 piece Royce kit for $25 a month so I could practice at home.

I don’t remember the exact moment it happened… Whether a friend played it for me or if I heard it on the radio, but the song blew me away. “Spirit of the Radio”by Rush. The drumming was frantic and over the top. I was immediately hooked. I bought the album (cassette) Permanent Waves and played it incessantly. Then I bought the previous albums and proceeded to wear them out.

My teen age and young adult years were spent listening to this band. I’m the oldest of 6 children and my siblings listened to Rush. My mother listened to Rush. My father… not so much. My drums were set up in my room and I would play for hours.. until dad got home. He would suffer through it for a short time, then bang on the door.. “Ok! That’s enough!” Mom was never that way. Honestly I don’t know how she did it. I guess that is one of the virtues of a mother. Patience.

As a teenager, when I listened to the songs, I focused on the drums, paying no real attention to the lyrics. At some point early on, I read in the liner notes that Neil Peart wrote the lyrics. At that point I actually thought he sang too! Back then we didn’t have the ability to push a couple of buttons on a hand held device and watch a video, so until I was corrected I figured him as the vocalist. It’s funny how a young mind, with no experience, works.

For the next 32 years, I purchased every Rush album as soon as it came out. I became intimately familiar with all of their music. As I matured, I started to really listen to the lyrics. My love for the band expanded as I realized that it wasn’t just Rock n Roll. There was something with substance in there. Philosophy, love, family, history, tragedy… all penned with precision by a drummer from Toronto. At a recent gig of mine, as we were tearing down our equipment, a DJ rolled his equipment in and immediately the bass thumping began. Almost every song had the same subject. Genitalia, sex acts and an incessant use of the N word. It is a shame that much of the youngest generation are so deprived…

My children grew up listening to Rush. I vividly remember my son, probably around 10 years old, singing to “Speed of Love”. That is what they heard if they were with dad. When my two daughters got married and we had our father/daughter dance, both of them arranged to have the DJ cut to a Rush song part way through.

Rush has been the soundtrack to my life for the past 40 years. I own 5 replica snare drums from the last 15 years of Neil’s career. Rush is a part of me.

Last Friday afternoon at 2:11, I was loading my drums up to go to a gig. My phone chirped with a message from a friend in Canada. “Dude” “What the F@#K?” I asked what was wrong. “Neil’s dead”. “No way” I typed. I hit the google search and found nothing. I ran into the house, sat down at the computer and tried again. There it was.. Articles were coming in from different sources. He had passed the previous Tues, Jan 7. He had been fighting brain cancer. I walked out to the living room, sat on the couch and just stared at the blank tv screen on the wall.

If it would have been a family member or dear friend, I don’t think it would have hit me any harder. The gig that night was difficult at times. I decided to play the one snare that I had never played. R40. The replica of the drum from the bands final tour.

It’s been a tough weekend. There were times when the reality hit me and I would lose control for a few moments. My Facebook feed is full of drumming friends, which turns into hundreds of posts about Neil. That has actually been very therapeutic. Reading others thoughts, that mimic mine is soothing. Bits of information are coming in from his small circle of friends. He was an intensely private man. He did not like the Limelight at all… He did not think of himself as anyone important. He was, indeed, important to hundreds of thousands of drummers and other musicians though.

I know that in the coming days more and more information will come out from those that were a close part of his life. One positive out of this tragedy, is that there is so much that he left for us to remember him by.

I am so grateful that as a 15 year old boy, I heard “Spirit of the Radio”. I am grateful to have had this mentor whom I never met be such a strong force in my life for 40 years.

A line from my favorite Rush song called “The Garden” Ironically it is the last song on the last album the band recorded. An absolute musical tour de force.

“The treasure of a life is a measure of love and respect.. the way you live, the gifts that you give… In the fullness of time.. it’s the only return that you expect. The future disappears into memory… With only a moment between… Forever dwells in that moment… Hope is what remains to be seen…”

Neil Peart… The way you lived your life has earned you enough love and respect for 100 life times.