Funny for Friday

A New Adventure

We are leaving Rome tomorrow to go to Greece for the last part of this Study Abroad adventure. We will take a 5 hour train ride Saturday afternoon to Brindisi where we will all stay overnight in a hotel. Sunday afternoon we can board the ferry at 3:00 pm and then wait for it to leave at 6:00 pm (because the students only have deck chair reservations, it's important to get on early so they can all be somewhat together). The ferry sails for Greece all night and we land in Igoumenitsa (sp?) at 6:00 am Monday morning. It will probably be a lousy night's sleep for all. Once we get to Greece, we will be met by our tour guide Kosta with a coach to transport us all to a few places on the way to Athens. We will spend Monday night in Delphi, then from Tuesday on we will be at the Ionis Hotel in Athens. Because we aren't sure about internet availability at our hotels for the next week and a half, you may not see any new posts for a while. In fact, because it's late right now, and I'm really tired (plus the battery on the laptop is nearly dead and I can't run the computer on electricity while running the washer--last tiny load), I've only posted titles of things that still need to be written. Consider it a teaser for what's to come.

Castle San Angelo & St. Peter's Dome

Final Update on Gelato Flavors

ACE (has oranges, lemons & carrots—A, C, & E stands for those vitamins)
Mint
Blackberry
White Chocolate
Indian Fig (known to us as prickly pear cactus fruit)
Candied Chestnut
Walnut
Guandia
Biscotti
Lemon Crème
Tropical
Raspberry

Giolitti’s sometimes has fresh whipped cream (unsweetened) to put on top of your cone. Yummy, but heavy duty!

Final count of flavors tried: 47

Forum, Palatine, and Colosseum

Short Version: more ancient Roman stuff
Longer Version: Pretty amazing ancient Roman stuff

What We Will/Won't Miss About Rome

Won’t Miss:
smoking!!
humidity
crowded buses
unpredictable bus schedules
paying for water at restaurants
hanging laundry to dry on the balcony (at least I had a washing machine, though small, it worked)
no carpet ANYWHERE, only tile, laminate, & marble everywhere

Will Miss:
public transportation to take you nearly everywhere you want to go
Roman junk (see my post about this here)
a mix of old and new (sometimes REALLY old)
seeing St. Peter’s lit up at night right through our windows
yummy pizza
cold water running through ancient fountains (it’s good, clean, drinkable water!)
Gelato Every Day!!

St. Paul's Outside the Walls & Protestant Cemetery

We had the chance to see St Peter’s, now it was time to see the church that was built on the spot that Paul was supposedly buried. (It’s outside the old Roman wall, hence the name “outside the walls.”) Before we went in, Dr. Holzapfel gave an excellent lecture on Paul. This church is very different inside from St. Peter’s. I actually liked it better. One guide book we have says that it seems almost severe compared to St. Peter’s. I would say simpler, cleaner, less ornate. We also had the chance to visit the cloister—a small, quiet courtyard where the monks/priests would go to ponder, meditate & study. It has some nice mosaics and lots of flowers.

Afterwards we were able to go to the Protestant Cemetery to see the graves of the poets John Keats and Percy Shelley. It’s a lovely English style cemetery just outside the Roman wall with lots of shade and benches. It’s still in use today, in fact, while in the little bookshop I read all the criteria that must be met to be buried there (actually you have to be cremated and just have your ashes buried). Things like you must be a citizen of Italy or certain European countries, a non-Catholic, and living in Italy at the time of your death. There were age restrictions, spouse restrictions, all kinds of things. Silly me, I just thought you had to be dead and have someone buy you a plot to be buried in a cemetery!

Unusual Pizza

California Pizza Kitchen has nothing on Italy! The other night we had pizza with salmon (Carson), pizza with potatoes and rosemary (AM & Maren), and pizza with mushrooms, sausage, artichokes, anchovies, and an egg (Gary). Aubrey had sausage pizza--boring, but tasty. Today while stopping for pizza by the kilogram (excellent lunch and cheap!), I saw one with vegetables, rocket lettuce and shrimp. Also saw in a shop window one with mussels on it--still in the shell.

I'll never be able to look at Little Caesar's $5 pizza the same way again.

Necropolis Under St. Peter's Basilica

This is another one of the places we visited Tuesday. It is rare for tourists to get to go here, because they limit the tours to 10 per day with only 10-12 people per tour (and you have to book well in advance). I was pretty excited to go here after reading about it in "A Traveller in Rome" (chapter 8, sections 2-4).

First a little history lesson about St. Peter's compliments of Rick Steves' Rome":

"Nearly 2,000 years ago, this area was the site of Nero's Circus--a huge Roman chariot racecourse. . . . The Romans had no marching bands, so for halftime entertainment they killed Christians. . . .One of those killed here, in about A.D. 65, was Peter. . .His remains were buried in a nearby cemetery where, for 250 years, they were quietly and secretly revered. When Christianity was finally legalized in 313, the Christian emperor Constantine built a church on the site of the martyrdom" of Peter.

So this pagan cemetery is under St. Peter's Basilica. Because Morton saw this over 50 years ago and the excavations have undergone significant preservation work in the last 10 years, we had a very different experience. But what we saw was pretty incredible. I especially liked the 1st century mosaics we saw. The only bad part about the tour is now that the necropolis is under such stringent preservations (part of the reason for the few tours available) the humidity is set at 95% with no fresh air really coming in. I thought it would be like the catacombs we had seen the day before with nice cool air. But no. Quite different. So if you go, be sure to bring something to fan yourself with--I never thought I would feel so relieved to come out into the 50 %-90% humidity of Rome!

I found an online article written by someone who had taken this tour last year. She's much more eloquent than I could ever be. So if you're interested in reading more about the necropolis (scavi), read Debi Lander's article here. (I guess this place figures prominently in Angels & Demons --I haven't seen it).

Vatican Gardens

We had the wonderful opportunity to take a tour of the Vatican Gardens on Tuesday morning. It's not always open and they limit the number of visitors/tours per day, so we felt lucky to be able to enjoy these lovely grounds. The picture above is not one I took (because I haven't downloaded this week's pictures yet), but you can see more like it here. These gardens are basically the Pope's private gardens. They've been built up and added to since 1279.

Our guide was excellent. She gave us lots of information--historical, botanical, and cultural (apparently the guide for the other half of the group spent most of her time giving them botanical info). She let us pause to take pictures, she even took one of the entire group at the end of the tour. Many of our students felt this visit was the highlight of their trip here so far. I really enjoyed it too. Especially when we got hit by the sprinklers and got kind of wet--helped cool us all down!

Catacombs of San Callisto

I was really excited to go here. Everyone at book club may remember that this was one of my favorite parts of "A Traveller in Rome" (chapter 5, sections 2-4 if you want to reread it). We were able to visit on Monday afternoon, soon after Aubrey arrived. We weren't allowed to take pictures down in the catacombs, but you can look at this site for information, history and pictures. Our guide was excellent. He was humorous, but not inappropriate, gave us plenty of information,and answered lots of questions. And since it's underground, it was really cool down in the catacombs. Bonus! Maren was a little worried about it being creepy, but it wasn't at all. (Of course, there are no more bones.) One of the students said he felt like ripping a page out of his notebook and making a rubbing, in true Indiana Jones style, but he resisted.

One cool part was St. Cecilia's crypt. She was a young woman who was martryed about 230 AD and is the patron saint of musicians. Another thing we noticed is that the niches where the bodies were placed seemed small, but our guide reminded us that people were smaller back in the first century. The most touching part were the tiny niches we saw all over--those would have been for babies and small children. The infant mortality rate was so high back then. It makes my heart sad for all those mothers who lost their babies and grateful to live in a time with such great medical knowledge.

All in all, this was definitely one of the highlights of this trip.

Saldi (and Thoughts on Fashion)

What does it mean? I see it everywhere--in all the shop windows! Well, it means sale, as in summer sales. They last about 7 weeks and apparently Rome is the last major city in Europe to have theirs. The summer sales here go from July 1 to August 24. There are even rules about how the stores have to display the original price, the percentage marked off, and the sale price. Hmm...I love sales, but this isn't as exciting as it could be for me. Maybe if I was more into fashion I would be more excited about all this.

Actually, I have looked in lots and lots of store windows. We even finally walked down the Via Condotti (where all the big names have their stores--Prada, Armani, Ferragamo, etc.) I've decided that I really don't like most of the women's clothes they sell here. Maybe I'm just getting frumpy. I REALLY like the men's clothes we see in the windows. Wish I could buy my men some of these things! I also like many of the shoes, mens & womens, and the purses have started to catch my eye. However, the ones I like, both shoes and bags, are extremely expensive even on sale. Guess that's one of the reasons I'm not more into fashion.

"Fast" Food

Another post by Gary . . . .

Since Italy is the home of the "slow food" movement, I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that fast food here doesn't really work as expected. Yesterday, we decided to take Aubrey over to the McDonald's by the Spanish Steps to give everyone a little reminder of home and to show him one of the most unusual McDonald's restaurants in the world. When McDonald's first came to Italy, the government required them to build a restaurant that conformed with the local architecture and design. So you have a McDonald's that has vaulted ceilings, marble pillars, an occasional ancient sculpture. It's as if McDonald's had been built in Disney's "Ancient Rome Land."

Here are some reasons it's not really "fast" food here. First of all, the area of the Spanish steps is probably the hardest area to reach from our apartment. We have to take a bus to the metro and then the metro to the Spagna station where there is a brief walk to the Spanish Steps and the McDonald's. The bus was late (and extremely crowded). Then we had to transfer to the train. By the time we got there, it had taken us over an hour. (Aubrey is still getting used to the idea that it can take an hour to go a few miles.) We probably could have walked there in about the same time.

Then there is the typical chaos that comes with trying to stand in line, even at McDonald's. The trademark of McDonald's is that they are the same everywhere. Everyone gets two pickles on their hamburger everywhere in the world. Of course, there are some adaptions for local decor and menu. The McDonald's in Germany serves beer, for example. And the McDonald's in Laie, Hawaii has an island theme and serves taro pies. And everyone at McDonald's is supposed to speak English, and they do, at least the English of the menu. But that doesn't mean you can always communicate. We ended up with diet drinks instead of regular drinks, one extra packet of mayonaisse (which you have to pay for here), and the large meal without asking for it. And then we got short changed 20 cents. We had to wait "three minutes" for two of our sandwiches. I took the trays to the table and came straight back, and they had already forgotten that I was even there. After they tried to charge me again for the sandwiches, I explained that I had already paid. But then they had given away the sandwiches, so I still had to wait "three minutes."

Also, you're supposed to get a free glass with each combo meal. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. Once we ordered four meals and got two glasses. Another time we ordered four meals and got four glasses. Last night, we got five meals and no glasses (not that we really wanted any). But the person just next to us got glasses. I guess it just depends on whether the person helping you remembers to give you your glasses or not. I haven't seen any pattern yet.

Later that evening, AnneMarie asked for melon gelato (melone) and ended up with candied chestnut (merrone glaces). She made a yucky face because she thought it tasted like dates.

It's frustrating, but there isn't much you can do about it. Italy is just inefficient. This McDonald's also offers WiFi, but I would be more surprised to find that it works than that it doesn't. It's always pleasantly surprising when the ATM/card reader/ticket machine actually works. Rick Steves predicts that only about 2/3 of the public phones in Italy actually work. The Italians often dismiss such things as an "accidente," no one's fault really--these things just happen. And you have to adopt that attitude or these little things would drive you crazy.

And some days, that is a pretty short drive.

Running Tab on Gelato Flavors

We've added a few more flavors to our list:

yogurt
milk cream (sounds weird, but quite refreshing)
watermelon
crema de la Nonna (tasted like lemon meringue pie)
blackberry
limoncello--non-alchoholic

Total number of flavors tried: 35

The Leaning Tower Really Does Lean

It just doesn't look right, but it's really leaning!

We did the touristy thing and took pictures that (sort of) look like we're holding up or pushing down the tower, but hey, we're tourists!

We didn't get a chance to climb the tower, but we did go into the other buildings in the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles)--the Baptistry, the Cemetery, and the Duomo--along with one of the two museums. The Cemetery reminded Gary & me of so many cloisters in the monasteries in England. The Duomo (Cathedral) had a mummified body of a saint in a glass case. It has silver over its feet and head--a little bit creepy, but still interesting. It also has the lamp that caught teenage Galileo's attention one day in church when he started timing the swings. Led him to figure out that whole pendulum constant thing (if you want details, ask a scientist, not me).

The Baptistry has an octagonal font with a statue of John the Baptist in it. Rick Steves' guide mentions "the font contains plenty of space for baptizing adults by immersion (the medieval custom), plus four wells for dunking babies." Hmm, interesting. The building is known for it's acoustics. Every half hour the guard comes out and sings single notes, but because of the echo, it sounds as if he's singing a chord. Pretty cool. You can hear it on this video Carson took (I tried at least 5 times to upload it here and couldn't get it to work--watch it on You Tube). There's not much to see on the video, but just listen.

It was a long train ride into Pisa from Rome, made longer by the fact that the a/c didn't seem to be working. The heat was pretty oppressive once we were there, but we managed (gelato playing a part in that). Here's a picture of Gary waiting for the train to take us home. He just looks hot and tired.

But we all managed to get in some reading, homework (for the students who went with us), and card-playing while on the train home--that deck of cards we bought in the Florence train station has served us well!

Pictures from Pompeii

Here we are in Pompeii at the Forum

Facing Mt. Vesuvius

Plaster casts that were made of the air pockets caused by the bodies covered in ash, then decomposed--so these aren't actual bodies

Looking down one of the streets

One of the frescoes left in place

Mosaics from Pompeii in the National Archeological Museum--notice the details

A relief map of Pompeii in the museum

Taking a Day Off

Today (Thursday) is time for a day off. We all slept in and didn't have anything planned. We did head out to the grocery store, but other than that, we are spending the day at home doing domestic kinds of things--laundry, naps, catching up on email and blogs, and reading. My feet need a break from the constant standing, walking, and being pounded on the hard uneven surfaces everywhere. We will go out this evening after the weather cools a bit to see something (we don't know what yet) and of course, have some gelato. Sometimes you just need a day off.

The Adventure of Naples

The day didn't start out too bad, we had a little bit later train than the one to Florence and all of the students were on it (or accounted for since a few had left a bit earlier). But once we got to Naples, the real adventure began. I had read in the Rick Steves' book "If you like Italy as far south as Rome, go farther south. It gets better. If Italy is getting on your nerves, don't go farther. Italy intensifies as you plunge deeper. Naples is Italy in the extreme." He also calls Naples "Italy's grittiest, most polluted, and most crime-ridden city." Okay. We were on kind of a tight schedule and only one person knew where we were going, so it was important to all stick together. That meant getting 48 people onto an already crowded city bus (I was trying to hold a pizza box too). Put that many people into a bus with at least one pickpocket and we were lucky to only have one victim--Carson. He lost his watch to some "dirtbag" (his word, not mine). He wasn't wearing it on his wrist, it was hanging from his belt loop. Luckily it was an inexpensive WalMart kind of watch, but certainly it still felt like a personal violation, and it was defintely an inconvenience.



We all got off the bus and walked to our hotel. That was a bright spot in the day. Very nice, all the rooms were ready, and the A/C was cranked! Then we had to head back to the train station so we could get on our way to Pompeii. That train was really crowded, hot, and SLOW. We finally made it to Pompeii, which was definitely a highlight. It was different than I expected--first of all, I didn't realize how BIG it is. I expected more paintings on the walls and more casts of the bodies found. It also wasn't as hot as I expected it to be. We spent a while walking around and looking at ruins, a few paintings (frescoes), a couple of mosaics, and enjoying the shade in the Triangular Forum. (Thanks to Emily for sharing her crackers so I could keep going.) On our way to the train we stopped for refreshing granita--this time made from fresh squeezed lemon juice (this region is known for its lemons--think Sorrento, Amalfi Coast). The train ride back wasn't nearly as crowded or hot. It also made fewer stops, so it didn't take as long to get back to Naples. We found a pizzeria recommended by the hotel, had some dinner and headed off to bed--it had been a long and draining day. Because the rooms were only for two people, we split up into boys and girls--Gary and Carson in one room and Maren and I in the other room (down the hall). After a long hot shower (hooray! we don't get these in our apartment in Rome) I found the TV had a few English channels. I got to watch CNN for a bit--it was nice to catch up on a little bit of world news in English for once. (It's hard for me to get anything out of the Italian TV news and newspapers.)

After being awakened Wednesday morning by an ambulance outside that didn't seem to go away for at least 10 minutes, we had a nice breakfast at our hotel overlooking the Bay of Naples. That was beautiful, and if you could just sit up that high all the time maybe you could forget the craziness and noise of the traffic below. Maybe. We left as a group to walk up the hill to the National Archeological Museum and experienced more of the crazy, crazy traffic that is in Naples. (If Rome has crazy traffic, then Naples has INSANE traffic!) The musem was great. I'm so glad we could go there and see frescoes and mosaics from Pompeii. I hadn't realized that the reason we didn't see many in Pompeii is because they've taken them from the site and put them in museums. The museum also had a lot of sculptures, but we liked the mosaics and frescoes the best.

All too soon, it was time to head back to our hotel to check out, pick up our stuff, and head back to Rome. (Ask Gary about the argument we saw between two drivers) We got back to Rome about 3:30, just in time to stand in line for more train tickets--we're heading to Pisa on Friday. Or maybe it was just in time to get some more gelato--which we did. Or maybe it was just in time to be able to talk to Aubrey via Skype--which we also did (and since he had the webcam on we could also see him and the dog). We also were able to go to the Jewish ghetto for artichokes--but that's another post for another day.

Everyone's top favorites of Naples:
Maren: Pizza and Pompeii
Carson: Leaving and Pompeii
AnneMarie: Pompeii and National Archeological Museum
Gary: Observing the crazy traffic and mosaics in museum

Everyone's least favorite part of Naples:
M--traffic
C--being pickpocketed
AM--NOISE
G--crowded buses

Vatican Museum & St. Peter's Basilica

Wow! This place was amazing! So many works of art, plus the Sistine Chapel. We had paid for a guided tour for the group and that really helped. I know I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much out of the experience without our guide's instruction. It would have been nice to be able to enjoy the Sistine Chapel with fewer people and a bench to sit down on while looking up and around, but that was not to be. I hadn't realized there were so many paintings on the walls (not painted by Michelangelo, but other prominent artists of the time)--there was so much to take in. But all in all, it was really impressive.

After we left the museum, we went into St. Peter's Basilica. It is HUGE!! St. Paul's in London could fit inside the dome. While there we also saw Michelangelo's Pieta. Unfortunately it has to be behind glass because it was attacked many years ago by a man with a hammer who thought he was Jesus Christ. It was restored and replaced in the Basilica, but behind bullet-proof glass. I think it is a beautiful piece. It seems that Mary has some sadness in her face, but as a mother I was thinking that she should look sadder. Not distraught, because she knew the plan, but certainly sorrow for all that her son had been through in His last few days on this earth. Later when I was reading up on this sculpture, I found this statement on Wikipedia: "Michelangelo's interpretation of the Pieta was far different than those previously created by other artists—he decided to create a youthful, serene and celestial Virgin Mary instead of a broken-hearted and somewhat older woman." When I read this, the word "serene" popped out at me--isn't that what we should all hope for in our sorrow and trials? That we can find serenity and peace? I'm going to take that as my lesson from this beautiful sculpture.

Here's a rare picture of all of us (well except for Aubrey who is still at home)--it's taken outside the Vatican Museum.

Even More Flavors of Gelato

Here are some other flavors of gelato we've tried:

Lime
Mandarin Orange
Green Apple
Pineapple
Stracciatella (Italian version of chocolate chip--but better!)
After Eight (think mint chocolate chip)
Coconut

And here are the unusual ones that Gary tried:
Rice Pudding (a no-brainer for Danish missionary)
Pine Nut --OK, I like pine nuts in savory dishes, but this was too nasty for me! Gary like it though and since it was his gelato, that's what counts, right?

This brings our total number of different flavors tried to 29. We're on the lookout for new flavors every day. You never know what we'll find!

Church in Italy

After being in sacrament meeting only a few minutes, I could totally feel for my nephew who recently arrived in Mexico as a missionary. Not being able to understand much at all makes for a totally different experience at church.

I could only pick out a few words here and there, so there was no context of what was being said. The hymns were really hard to sing because I can't remember all the pronunciation rules. The prayers were really really long. Maybe that's a cultural thing, I don't know. BUT, I could feel the Spirit during the confirmation of a newly baptized member and I could still take the sacrament--and isn't that what's most important anyway?

The bishop was very friendly. He spoke some English and welcomed us so nicely. Carson commented to me the other day that he thinks that bishops everywhere are friendly. I have to agree!

The Jewish Ghetto

The word "ghetto" is actually an Italian word. It may come from the word "getto," which in the Venetian dialect means "slag." This may refer to "La Giudicca" in Venice which was an island for Jewish inhabitants (think The Merchant of Venice) as well as a deposit for slag (some say) or the word "ghetto" may be short for "borghetto," a little village. This second explanation sounds more reasonable.

In the southern part of the ancient city lies the Jewish ghetto, between the Campo dei Fiori and the Largo Argentina. There is a large synagogue here that doubles as a Jewish museum and a number of kosher shops. This place is famous for the "carciofi alla giudia," artichokes that have been deep fried. This place is also famous for fried cod, "filetti di baccala." Carson and I found one place that specializes in fried fish, sort of the Roman version of a British chip shop (but with no "chips"). This place is Dar Filettaro a Santa Barbara--only five euro for two large pieces. This was some of the best fried fish I've ever had (sorry, England), and relatively cheap.







Later, we went back to the ghetto with AnneMarie and Maren and tried another authentic kosher restaurant. This time, we had the fried artichoke, some cod (not quite as good of the first), an artichoke salad with lemon, and suppli di riso. Suppli di riso is a rice ball stuffed with meat or cheese, usually lightly breaded and deep fried. You can usually find these at local bakeries. The fried artichoke was a little surprising. I thought it would be battered and fried, but it was just fried. The leaves were a little like potato chips, and the inside was basically steamed. Since it was fried whole, the "choke" was still inside. It was a little tricky to eat around this.

Meeting the Pope (at a distance)

Byline--Gary Hatch.

July 8th the Pope held his last general audience before going to the Castle Gandolfo for the summer. (My kids thought this was a funny name--"Gandolfo." They imagined the Pope at a sandwich shop.) I had faxed the Vatican about getting tickets but hadn't heard back. We stopped by my office on July 4th to drop some stuff off on the way to my brother's house in Springville and found the return fax with the information for the tickets. So going to see the Pope was the first thing we did as a group on our first full day in Rome.

The meeting began at 10:30, but we had arranged to meet at 9:30. Looking back, we should have met even earlier. But it was difficult enough to get me and Carson out of bed and down to the Vatican offices that early after a poor night's sleep (and jet lagged). I went to the special "bronze doors" that are the entry to the Papal residence to pick up the tickets. The Swiss Guard directed me to an office where a stern-looking official handed me our pack of tickets. Then we got in a pretty long line. I probably should have had the students line up when we first got there and then got the tickets.

The line barely moved at all, so we stood for some time in the hot sun. In their Italian way, people would just walk up to the front of the line or cut in wherever there was a gap. We were surrounded by confused Northern Europeans who just couldn't bring themselves to cutting in line. Then as we got closer to 10:30, the line just turned into a mob of people pushing forward toward the security entrance. So we had to get a little "agressivo." We also learned that there were "blue tickets" like ours and "green tickets" that got people better seats. A combination of all of these elements meant that we were sitting in the back. At first everyone around us was standing on their seats, but then some stern-looking officials got everyone to sit down. The Pope was a small figure dressed in white at the front of the room. (We were in a conference room that probably sat 10,000 people.) But there were TV monitors in the back. He began by reading his statement in Italian. Then a French-speaking priest introduced the French-speaking visitors, and the Pope created them in French. After this, an English-speaking priest introduced the
English-speaking visitors, including us. We were introduced as "pilgrims from Brigham Young University." Then the Pope greeted everyone in English. This continued through German, Spanish, Polish, and Italian. The Spanish group took awhile because of some enthusiatic cheers and songs (usually led by the priest accompanying the group). The Pope ended with his apostolic blessing on the entire group.

Saturday's Nighttime Adventure

Gary had taken the students on a night walk last week to some of the famous places here in Rome. Maren & I wanted to see them at night also, so he took us last night. We started at the Campo di Fiori, then headed to the Piazza Navona. Next up was the Pantheon, followed by a stop at Giolitti for YUMMY gelato. We continued on to the Trevi Fountain and then ended up at the Spanish Steps. It was a beautiful night for walking around Rome. Lynn -- you kept telling me to go to these places at night, so these pictures are for you!

Saturday's Daytime Adventures

Shopping in a foreign country is always an adventure, especially grocery shopping. We needed food, so we planned to go to an open air market in the morning while the weather was nice and then a supermarket Gary had seen from the bus. We chose the Campo de Fiori because Gary & Carson had already been over there and it wasn't too far of a walk from the bus stop. We bought tomatoes, lettuce, and apples (all for less than it costs for a panino and soda at a snack stand). We had a snack of some cut watermelon--very refreshing.

Since the weather was so nice (and I mean extremely pleasant!), we decided to delay our supermarket visit until later in the day and to do a little sightseeing. It was kind of tricky, but we made our way to the Spanish Steps and ate at the McDonald's there. Yes, we did. It's a very fancy McDonald's with marble and sculptures and plants and arches. And to be honest, I just needed an American hamburger and fries. We also saw Babington's Tea Room down the street. For all of my book club friends, you'll remember this from Traveller in Rome as a place for some comfort for the English visitors. That's what McDonald's was for me. Next we checked out the Keats Shelley Museum so Gary could have an idea of what to tell the students to expect when they go there this week on their own (it's very small and can only accommodate about 15-20 people at a time). Also talked about in Traveller in Rome, this is the house where the poet John Keats died and is right next to the Spanish Steps. It was a nice little museum, with a British women who took our entrance money.

We headed off to the supermarket (much smaller than American ones), where everything was surprisingly easy to find and reasonably priced--for Italy, that is. We were able to fit it all in 5 bags (which you have to buy in advance) and walk home (pretty close to our apartment) and get everything put away so I could make dinner. This is the first meal I've really tried to prepare here--everything else we've eaten has just been snacks, cereal, or eating out. For such a simple dinner (caprese salad, garlic bread, and grapes) it sure took a long time! The kitchen in the apartment is limited in it's utensils, dishes, and staples. That's OK, I figured it out and we eventually had dinner.

Venice

After a great Wednesday night's sleep, some hot showers (something that doesn't happen at our apartment in Rome), and a full breakfast buffet, we set off on the train to Venice. Gary had never been to Venice, so this was truly an adventure (OK, everything is an adventure here, but Gary's been to many of the places we've gone to about 15 years ago). In the train station we got ourselves a map, our 24 hour transport passes and some lunch and we were ready to hit the city. We decided to take the #1 water bus along the Grand Canal which would then take us out to the island of Lido where our hotel was. The #1 stops at each landing, so it's slow and scenic. And also extremely hot in the middle of the afternoon when we were riding it.

As someone who grew up in the dry Arizona heat and has only lived there and in dry Utah, I don't have words to describe the unbearable nature of the hot humidity we experienced in Venice. I think I would have fonder memories of this city if I came back in a different season. Not that I didn't like it, I did. It was just really uncomfortable during the daylight hours. Luckily, it was bearable at night and our a/c in the hotel worked great.

After checking in and cooling down a bit, we rode the water bus back to the Piazza San Marco and began to wander around the city. Walking through the winding narrow roads, lots of shops and gelateria beckoned us, but we actually only went into a few. I loved looking at all the window displays with Murano glass for sale. There were so many beautiful pieces, but we only bought one small flower to display in our shelves at home. (And some beads to share with a few friends.) I wish we had been there early enough to have gone to one of the glass blowing demonstrations, but that's ok--next time (in the spring or fall!) It was here we discovered granita (slushes)--very refreshing! We didn't take a gondolier ride, it would have cost quite a bit (at least 100 euro, about $145) but some of the students who went pooled their money and were able to split it 6 ways. Maren actually loved this city the most--I think if we had been able to spend a week here, she would have been delighted.

It was pretty late by the time we rode the water bus back to Lido, but the views looking back at the city were lovely. That was probably one of the best things we saw. Only rivaled by the view the next morning from the breakfast room in our hotel. The Villa Laguna sits right on the edge of the water, with the restaurant along the windows looking towards the heart of the city (and it was air conditioned). We only had enough time to take a short walk to look at the beach before we had to head to the train station. While walking to the beach, we had to be careful to not be hit by the buses and cars (there are cars and buses on the island of Lido)--how embarrassing to say you got hit by a car in Venice!

top favorites of Venice: Gary--water bus at night and the city view at night AnneMarie--Murano glass and the city view at night Carson--being on a boat and the lack of cars Maren--Murano glass and the gondoliers who were on their cell phones while paddling

Arriving in Rome--the hard stuff

OK, Gary here. I finally figured out how to add my own contributions to the blog. I have to confess that when we first arrived I started to wonder what we had got ourselves into. I started to get a sense that things would be harder than expected when I got a couple of calls from Richard Holzapfel, my colleague from Religious Ed at BYU, who had come over several days earlier to set up. We didn't realize that BYU Study Abroad hadn't paid the full amounts on the apartments--just the deposits. It was too late to do electronic transfers, so we had to bring cash. Richard, his wife, and his grown daughter divided $30,000 among the three of them. I had to bring $15,000. This presented a few problems. First, it's hard to find a bank in Provo that will give you that much cash with a day or two notice. Second, it's hard to find a bank here in Rome that will exchange that much cash. I did find a currency exchange down by the Vatican that didn't even blink when I asked if I could exchange that much money. And they actually had a pretty good rate. Apparently, the American Express bank by the Spanish Steps is another place. Let's just say that we were happy to finally get all the cash into the hands of the apartment owners (and not be carrying it around Rome).

But this itself wasn't as easy as it would seem. Richard had to meet each of them personally. And like the cable guy, the owners wanted a narrow window for you and a broad window for them. They wanted to show up some time, say, between 2 pm and 8 pm, but they wanted you to commit to a specific time. But when you did, they often showed up 30-60 minutes late. Just more of the local culture. And the apartments are further apart than they seem on the map. In some cases they are separated by hills, motorways, and railways. When the students arrived, they came at various times during the day. We had them meet intially at the Holzapfel's apartment, and then poor Richard had to walk them to their apartments. Sometimes he walked to the same apartment several times during the same day.

Fortunately, for me, Richard did most of this in advance, but we were pretty cash poor for the first few days. You can only withdraw $500 a day from the ATM, and we were caught off guard by how many things were cash only that we expected to pay by credit card. Even major museums here don't take credit cards. Only a few restaurants do. It seems like all we did the first few days was visit sites with students, try to get money, resolve problems with apartments, and sleep. Fortunately, the grocery stores take credit cards. And even though we had called all the credit card companies before we left, we still had problems with the fraud alert people. I'm actually glad that AnneMarie and Maren arrived after all this had settled down.

Here's what we learned. We should have paid for everything we could in advance--and checked more carefully to ensure that the Study Abroad office actually did this. We should have checked everyone into a hotel the first night and then moved them all to their apartments the next day. We should have ordered some euros several weeks before leaving so that we didn't have to deal with the problem of currency exchange and ATM restrictions during our first few days.

Florence

Last Wednesday we took the train to Florence. We arrived and in a timely fashion (interpret: quickly, but not too rushed) found and checked into our hotel. Gary had booked our family into a very nice hotel close to the train station. It was pretty expensive, but SO worth it. Next we met up with the students outside the Uffizi Gallery to give them their entrance tickets. One group never made it to the museum, but they called us to let us know they were in Florence, but had gotten on the wrong bus. The gallery was pretty cool. As Maren put it, lots of paintings. One of the more famous ones, The Birth of Venus, was on a bigger canvas than I expected. Definitely worth seeing. The view over the river Arno was also not to be missed.

We were to meet the students at the Accademia at 2:45, so off we went. This is the museum with Michelangelo's David. I never knew this sculpture was of David when he was about to go fight Goliath. Maybe it's obvious to everyone else, but it was something new I learned that day. It's a pretty impressive sculpture. When you come into the museum and turn to the left, you enter a long darkened room with the 14 foot tall sculpture at the end where it's all lit up. Kind of took my breath away. I sat at the end farthest from the statue for a long time (at first to just cool down and chat with various students as they came along, then to appreciate the beauty of the sculpture). Finally I was ready to go up close. Wow! It was amazing! Up close you can see the veins in his feet and hands and the look on his face. (We won't talk about the lower middle part of his body because I am not an artist.) I wish we could have taken pictures, but it's not allowed. I'll just have to treasure the memory in my mind. We also looked at the unfinished sculptures, Prisoners, and some musical instruments on display.

After the museum, we wandered the streets for awhile before heading back for a little rest at the hotel. We came upon a market area with tons of leather goods--something we hadn't really seen in Rome. Gary said it's because it's more northern. Maren ended up with a few braided leather bracelets, and I bought a fun red purse. I don't know if it's a knock-off of some famous brand, but I sure like it and figure I'll use it all winter long to remind me of the hot, hot day I spent in Florence.

Everyone's top two favorites in Florence:
Gary--Uffizi Gallery and dinner at Ciro & Sons (second two favorites: hot shower and full breakfast)
AnneMarie--David sculpture and dinner at Ciro & Sons
Carson--David sculpture and breakfast buffet (second two favorites: Birth of Venus and dinner)
Maren--David sculpture

More Gelato

Last night we went to Giolitti for gelato. The boys had been building this place up with phrases like "food nirvana" and "explosions of flavor" and I wasn't sure it was going to live up to their praise. Well, it did. The flavors were so intense and the texture so creamy, I have to admit it was the yummiest so far. I've had a few comments about my gelato posts, so let me answer a couple of questions. We have tried so many flavors because each time you order you get to have 2 kinds. Multiply that times the 4 of us and that's how we get to try so many. As for favorites, here's a quick rundown:
Gary--pink grapefruit and lemon
AnneMarie--mango and melon (cantalope)
Carson--strawberry and banana
Maren is asleep right now, so I'll have to add hers later.

New flavors tried last night--fig and kiwi

total different flavors tried so far: 20

In Search of a Queue...

I can't help but compare this Study Abroad experience with the one we had in London. There are so many differences, yet some things remain the same. One of the biggest differences we noticed right away is cultural--standing in lines. Nobody manages a queue better than the British. Italians don't have the same concept of standing in line that we are used to. Gary & Carson had this pointed out to them in several times the first few days. The first time was in the London airport when an Italian woman cut in front of them at security and then again at customs. Another time was when they went to the Vatican. Gary had arranged for the students to attend an audience with the Pope--along with about 10,000 other people. They had arrived to pick up the tickets for the group and got everyone together in a general idea of a line, but as the time for the meeting to begin, more and more people crowded in front of them. Needless to say, when the doors opened, the crowds just surged around them (I guess this happens at home too). Last night at the gelato shop (a pretty famous and very busy one, I might add), we were waiting to be served when a man just crowds right in front of all of us and starts waving his ticket at the men scooping. Gary was waving his ticket too (you pay first at the cashier, then show your receipt to the scoopers), but I guess he didn't look Italian enough because the other guy got served first (and he had like 8 people with him). Whatever. It all worked out, we got our gelato and it was yummy. I have found myself longing for London when everyone just pushes their way onto the bus, instead of lining up nice and orderly in a lovely British queue.

Gelato Update

More flavors tried:

Plum
Apricot
Wild Berry
Peach
Melon
Almond
Cherries & Cream
Vanilla

And something new we tried today--granite. No, not the rock. It's pronounced gra-nit-a, but it's not like the granita I've seen made on the food network. It's just a slush. They were selling them all over Florence and Venice. It's a good thing on a hot day. We tried aranciata (orange), menthe (mint), and limone (lemon). Lemon was definitely the best. Don't get the mint.

The Three P's

Pizza, Pasta & Panini

Yep, that's what we eat for nearly every lunch and dinner--well, actually, that IS all I've eaten for lunch and dinner since I got here. Gary & Carson did have fried fish one night before Maren & I came, but pretty much everything else is one of the three p's. It's because they are so available (and cheaper than everything else, to be honest). And they taste good, too. Italian pizza is generally very thin crust with few toppings, baked in a wood fired oven, so it's not as filling or heavy as American pizza. They do have thick crust pizza in some places--G & C did notice they couldn't eat as much of it. Panini are a quick cheap bite to eat on the run (they usually aren't grilled) and are sold at several places around the tourist areas for that very reason. As for pasta--there are just so many choices! We have also eaten fruit, just not too many vegetables, unless you count tomatoes as a veggie instead of fruit.

Water Menu

While in Florence, we found a nice little restaurant to eat dinner--Ciro & Sons—we highly recommend it (found out later that it got 4.5 out of 5 stars on TripAdvisor with #12 out of 544 popularity). Yummy food, reasonably priced pasta (for Italy), nice atmosphere, good service, family-run business—all in all, a good experience. The most remarkable thing to Gary & me, however, was the two full pages of water choices—just like a wine list! There were 10 choices, 4 naturale (non-fizzy) and 6 frizzante (fizzy), each with a picture of the bottle, a description, and the bottle size listed. Who knew?

By the way, there’s no such thing as ordering tap water around here. If you want water, you have to pay for it, and the prices start at 1 euro (about $1.50) at a snack stand for 500 ml. In restaurants, bottled water starts at around 3 euro, and the sizes vary. We had a 1.5 liter bottle that cost 2.80 euro at Ciro, served ice cold, no less. And for 3 euro at a restaurant in Venice we got a small, barely cool, 500ml bottle. The most expensive water at Ciro was 10 euro for 750 ml. Gary said we should have asked for a water tasting.

The Italy Diet

I was noticing how much Carson has been eating since I got here. I mentioned to him that he was eating more than I’d ever seen him eat. He said it’s because he’s been walking so much more than he ever has before. I told him it’s a good thing. Gary said he’s been eating less than he does at home and that was also a good thing. He called it the “Italy Diet” – every time you go to the cupboard for a snack you have to pay $5. Should cut down on between-meal eats!

There Ought to be a Law

Or there probably already is--helmets. Everybody on a scooter (and the rare motorcycle) wears a helmet. At first I thought how conscientious they all are. But then it occurred to me that no one on a bike wears a helmet, but everybody on the scooters do. Must be a law that gets enforced (as opposed to ones that don't get enforced, like smoking in the train station).

On the subject of scooters, Maren finds it funny to see women in high heels riding them. I love the men in business suits with their ties flapping in the wind. They are all crazy drivers though--I've even seen them drive up on the sidewalk. Carson says you take your life in your hands to cross the streets. I say that applies to the sidewalks as well!

Thoughts During the Ride

It was hard to concentrate, but some of my first thoughts while riding in a taxi from the airport outside the city to our apartment include:

*Lots of oleander bushes in bloom. I remember these from my childhood in Arizona, but these are much bigger and have LOTS more flowers.

*I wasn’t expecting to see palm trees, but there are some here.

*Hay fields full of bales ready to be loaded up—just like at home. Except outside of Rome the fields aren’t flat, they are more rolling, like in the Midwest.

*All the cars are really small. Even the delivery trucks are smaller than American ones. After a few days I’ve still only seen a couple of cars that look like the size we have at home. Carson said he did see a Hummer before I got here, but even that was an H3.

*Humidity!

Gelato

Flavors tried so far:
strawberry
hazelnut
nutella
panna cotta
banana
mango
pink grapefruit
lemon
pistachio
cream
chocolate

It's All About Survival

After all the hype about giving everyone the address of this blog, it's been disappointly lacking in posts. That's because it's all been about surviving day to day(often hour to hour!). Gary & Carson have been working hard every day to get so much done for the program and for themselves (you know, basics, like toilet paper and food) that there has been NO time left for silly little things like blogging. I thought that would all change now that I'm here and can take over some of the duties. Well, maybe, maybe not. Serious jet lag, heat, and computer problems are all contributing to my less than enthusiastic introduction to Rome. I'm sure that a couple more days (and some sleep)will bring greater perspective and a happier AnneMarie who will be able to post wonderful insights and photos, but for now, it's all about survival.

The Adventure Begins

BYU Study Abroad in Rome & Greece, Summer Term 2009

Gary and Carson left Salt Lake City at 3:00 pm on Monday July 6 and arrived in Rome 19 hours later (Tuesday evening Rome time). Unfortunately, Gary's luggage didn't arrive with him. Some of the students had the same problem, but I suppose with this many people it's bound to happen (40 students, 2 faculty plus family members).

First thing Wednesday morning they were able to attend a general audience with the pope. It was a ticketed event, so they were expecting the size of maybe a stake conference, but were surprised to find themselves numbered among about 10,000 other people. (They will have to post about the experience since they were there and I wasn't.) On the bright side, Gary's luggage arrived, the A/C works in the apartment, and they've already had pizza and gelato.

Roller Coaster Ride

Not at an amusement park this time (see my previous post), just the roller coaster of life. Trying to get everyone ready to leave for various trips combined with PMS isn't a good thing. I've been crabby, teary-eyed, angry, excited, and above all TIRED! But as of 7:50 am on Monday July 6, Maren is at the stake center waiting for the bus ride to girls' camp, Aubrey is finishing up in the shower so he can be at the church in ten minutes for the "Amazing Race"-Venturer style (4 days in Moab), and Gary & Carson are all packed and ready (I think) to leave for the airport in a few hours to begin the Italian adventure. Me? I think I will take a nap this afternoon before tackling the destruction left in the wake of all this travel preparation...