Vatican City

At the Vatican with the family, 2017.

Jim’s Perspectives:

Traveling with the family has been the biggest highlight! After 100s of solo journeys around the world it was fun to play tour guide in Germany, Switzerland and Italy and Vatican City.

Took sightseeing tours of all the sights and wandered extensively through the streets on multiple shopping tours in Italy. Had a wonderful time on a half-day tour of the Vatican, which is the headquarters of the Catholic Church and its government.

Vatican City originated with the construction of a basilica over St. Peter’s grave in Rome in the 4th century A.D. It became a place where Christians would come to worship, and an important commercial district. In the 1300s-1400s the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica were built within the city limits. Vatican City was established in its current form as a sovereign country in 1929.

It is THE smallest country in the world, essentially a two-mile circle bordered by Rome. If you’ve run through Central Park, it’s about the size of the lake there. However, it’s likely the wealthiest country in the world as well.

Uzbekistan

"We travel not for trafficking alone. By better winds our fiery hearts are fanned. For lust of knowing what should not be known We take the Gold Road to Samarkand." These are the final 4 lines of poet James Elroy Flecker’s The Golden Journey to Samarkand. Ok, so I...

Grenada

Country Information: Grenada is twice the size of Washington D.C and the capital of the country is Saint George’s. There are approximately 115,000 people living here. The official language of Grenada is English with a majority of Grenadians also speaking French...

Czech Republic

Jim looking at the Astronomical clock in Prague, Czech Republic Country Information: Czech Republic, which gained independence in 1993. The capital is Prague and the official language is Czech. About 10.5 million people live here. The country used to be primarily...