Leaning in Pisa

The leaning tower of Pisa was built over 800 years ago and it looks like it was finished this morning.  I imagined it would be a muddled gray color but it was a beautiful creamy marble.  We knew it was going to be leaning but to actually see this massive building completely un-parallel to the church sitting next to it was quite breath-taking.   I always thought the guy who designed it forgot to drink his V-8 but the leaning is due to sinking foundation.

Interesting fact: During World War II, the Allies discovered that the Germans were using the tower as an observation post. A U.S. Army sergeant was briefly entrusted with the fate of the tower and his decision not to call in an artillery strike kept the tower from being destroyed.

It was an enjoyable afternoon walking along the market.  The vendors were one right after the next.  Each selling 90% of the same t-shirts and trinkets but we couldn’t help ourselves we had to go to every single one!

The girls couldn't resist buying some new shades from a vendor.  5 Euros seemed like a good enough deal!

There were a lot of people from Africa walking up and down the streets selling items.  Men selling   watches, another with sunglasses, others with purses.   It’s a little bit scary even in the daylight. I don’t know if it’s because of their height, color, they out number us or that they surrounded us as we were getting in and out of the car or simply because they are strangers.  I believe my heart is color blind but my mind is not.  Good ol’ Raleigh is color, height and stranger blind.  He talks to everyone.  He kept saying Ciao to them and they were laughing and having fun with him.  It lightened the tension.

When we returned from Pisa we still had a little beach time, oh yeah!  As the girls swam in their bikinis people sat on the beach in there pants and coats watching three crazy girls having a good time.

The hotel setting was appreciated by all of us.  Fresh towels, our beds made every morning and a huge  breakfast selection.  God is good to take care of our needs.....and sometimes our wants.

Trusting Him in Tirrenia

I'm writing  this from the crisp, white sheets of a hotel room.  It is such a treat to have fresh towels every morning, our beds made and a huge selection of breakfast choices waiting for us when we get up.

God gave us the courage to follow our gut instinct and walk away from the house we had planned to rent for the coming week.  We left not knowing where we were going but we both felt confident that He would guide us.  We had planned for me to spend the day at an internet cafe looking for lodging while Dennis took the kids to the beach but God had other plans.  When the internet wasn't working at the cafe we stumbled upon a lovely hotel that had wifi. Dennis discovered they had a great off-season rate for an apartment with in the hotel.   It was just the reprieve we needed.

The kids got to witness how to handle conflict in a manner where we remain calm and kind even when the other party didn't do the same.

I will briefly explain that the owners were wanting to charge  us for things that were never mentioned in the emails or in the contract we signed so we felt we simply needed to leave.  If your gut instinct tells you something, it's usually best to listen.

The kids had a great day at the beach and we are so thankful to be where we are.

Day Two in Rome

The second day in Rome we felt so much more comfortable......but we didn't let our guard down.  The girls took the lead on the Metro and got us from point A to point B and back again.  Just when I think no one is listening and then they  proove me wrong.  They absolutely loved the metro.  Learning how to get the tickets and read the subway lines built their confidence so much they said they were moving to NewYork when they're older and wouldn't be needing a car because they like the subway.  It is quite entertaining to watch all the different people getting on and off.

This is the famous track for chariot racing.  It was not well kept.  It was unrecognizable.

Piazza Navona was an art lovers dream.  There were hundreds of artists selling their wares, mostly paintings and sketches.  It was beautiful but a little  chilly. We enjoyed lunch and people watched but moved on too quickly I'm afraid.  We had three things we wanted to get to before they closed so we couldn't spare too much time lounging.  The bus didn't go where we wanted so we had to hoof it. 

It's not easy being fierce with a bird on your head.

This pizza was amazing, I can't wait to duplicate it when I get home.  They cut a big rectangle and then fold it over.  I haven't met a piece of pizza I don't like.  Today we had pizza with thin sliced potato on it...yum!

It was rare to find pizza with sauce and only some had cheese.
Simply olive oil, Roma tomatoes, cayenne pepper and a hint of basil.
I've come to reason that with an excellent crust you can throw anything on top!

The Trevi Fountain in Rome is centered with Neptune, the Greek God of the sea.  It has been the centerpiece of many movies.  The story goes that if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain you will return to Rome.  Dennis did it 30 years ago and he made it back!  The girls also tossed coins.  Every day 3000 Euros ($4500) are tossed into the fountain.  The money goes to a supermarket for the poor.

They are in front of the Pantheon. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.  It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda"; the square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza del Rotanda. 

The view from the Spanish steps, the widest steps in Europe.  

The last event was the church of bones called Capuchin Crypt.  Wikipedia helps me to describe it.

When the monks arrived at the church in 1631, they brought 300 cartloads of deceased friars. Fr. Michael of Bergamo oversaw the arrangement of the bones in the burial crypt. The soil in the crypt was brought from Jerusalem, by order of Pope Urban VIII
As monks died during the lifetime of the crypt, the longest-buried monk was exhumed to make room for the newly-deceased who was buried without a coffin, and the newly-reclaimed bones were added to the decorative motifs. Bodies typically spent 30 years decomposing in the soil, before being exhumed.

I would like to come back to Rome someday and bring my mother.  All the history that she's read about could come to life.

Day One in Rome

Coming up the steps from the dim lit subway we are lurched into the city that has a history span of two and half THOUSAND years, Rome.  We are here.  Many people hustling and bustling with defined direction and the six of us from small town Beatrice flow with the crowd until we can get to a meeting point to get our grips and look at a map.

In our research we knew that we wanted to take an open top bus tour to learn more details about the major sites.  They are called hop-on hop-off buses.  They offer earphones to plug in by your seat to hear a recorded voice telling the history of the sites as you drive by.  You can get off and on at designated points for 24 or 48 hours.  After a family discussion the night before we decided a 48-hour pass would be the best investment for us. 

We were approached by one of the many people with pamphlets and advertisements in their hands.  One guy was persistent about his pamphlet. Dennis waved the guy off several times and kept a quick pace.  I could tell it was information about the hoho buses but struggled to hear what he was saying through his thick Indian accent.  We needed his information but Dennis was in defense mode, understandably so as he was responible for the five people following him.  Nobody wants to be that gullible tourist entrapped in a transaction the first 30 seconds off the subway.  To make a long story short this guy had all the info we needed and personally walked us to the office where we purchased our tickets for the green line tours and gave a discount.  Okay, God is good.  Sometimes help comes from the least expected people and places. 

We stood in line for the expected 20 minutes watching the Indians selling cheap hats and beautiful wraps to the people ahead and behind us.  Once on the bus we took in the sites and tried to retain everything we were hearing.  I have to admit I have some pictures with no information.  If you recognize it feel free to shoot me an email at littlerunnergirl@yahoo.com and I will plug the information in. 



The first recognizable site we went by was the Colosseum.  Its true name is Ampitheatre Flavium.  Its construction started in 72 A.D.
by 45,000 Jewish slaves.  It was originally built to entertain 50,000 spectators.  The following information is from Wikipedia: The shows, called munera, were always given by private individuals rather than the state. They had a strong religious element but were also demonstrations of power and family prestige, and were immensely popular with the population. Another popular type of show was the animal hunt, or venatio. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East, and included creatures such as rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, barbary lions, panthers, leopards, bears, caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. Battles and hunts were often staged amid elaborate sets with movable trees and buildings. Such events were occasionally on a huge scale; Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia in 107 with contests involving 11,000 animals and 10,000 gladiators over the course of 123 days.They would drink wine made from grapes, honey and peppers.
We didn't tour it becasue the lines were astronomical.

 

The tour of Saint Peter's Basilica and The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City were voted favorites by all of us.  The tour guide did a supreme job of educating us on Michelangelo.  He and the cardinal who commissioned him to paint the ceiling did not get along at all.  In fact, Michelangelo didn't even like to paint.  He loved to sculpt but not paint.  He became so frustrated in the beginning because the tiny detail he had spent weeks on couldn't even be seen from the floor of the chapel.  He gave up and was on his way back to Florence when the cardinal had him sentenced to come back.  The cardinal locked him in the chapel until he agreed to finish it.  Michelangelo was 79 years old when he started it and painted until the very last day of his life,  three weeks before he turned 89.  When Michelangelo finished the masterpiece the cardinal said he needed to fix some small mistakes before they unveiled it.  The cardinal was displeased with all the nakedness and said if Michelangelo didn't fix it then he would have his apprentices do it.  After much disagreement Michelangelo did the fixing while the cardinal was away.  Michelangelo did cover all the nudity but he also painted the cardinals face on Satan!  There were many entertaining stories the tour guide shared with us and this is just one of them.

 Vatican City is where the Pope resides.  It is it's own country.  St. Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world.  There is a statue of St. Peter outside of the church in the square.  He is holding two keys, one silver and one gold.  The silver represents Christ giving him the key to the Earth and the gold represents the key to heaven.  Along the top of the church are the 11 apostles which are saints and along the edges are semi-saints.  Sainthood is given only if 3 miracles occur during the person's life or shortly thereafter or if they died a martyr for Christ. If you only had one or two miracles then you were proclaimed a semi-saint.

Statue of Peter

In front of St. Peters Basilica

This was a long hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel, we're guessing it was about 75 to 100 yards. The ceiling appeared to be 3-D but it was completely flat.  The method used on most art in those days was called fresco, meaning fresh.  The artist would spread the wet composition on the surface he wanted to paint and would have 24 hours to finish the area.  It dried the paint right into the surface allowing it to last thousands of years!  The walkway was lined with hundreds of beautiful sculptures of men but they had their manhood broken off per the Pope at the time.  I wonder if there are boxes of parts lying in a basement somewhere?  The reason women sculptures are so robust is because they weren't allowed to pose.  So the sculptors used men and added and subtracted the essentials.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica



The Pope's window was open which is a signal to all the people that he is in  Vatican City. We were also able to look down on the courtyard and see the preparations for an event.  There was an ordination happening at the church while we were there so perhaps the two were connected. 

This is the burial vault of Constantine's mother.  It is made of red marble.

This is the front of Saint Peter's.  You can see the apostles across the top.  The statues of saints that were martyrs always held the weapon that they died by.

Raleigh in front of St. Peter's Basilica doors

Amazing Rome

Survived Rome! Vatican City was Amazing. Much to share. Going back to Rome again tomorrow. I will blog another day. It is after midnight and I am too exhausted to continue.

Thank you for your wonderful comments and encouragement!

Leaving for Rome

We always have lofty plans of leaving early when we have an adventurous day planned but it never quite works out that way.  I stand in the shower trying to inhale the calmness and contentment that I am forever chasing.  No matter how early I get up I always wish I would have gotten up 90 minutes earlier.

I know I need to sit quietly in His presence. Does standing in the shower count?

I know I need to trust in Him.  With everything?
I know I need to thank Him.  Even for a whining 22 month old that needs constant help in correcting his strong willed behavior?
I know I need to rest in Him.  How can I make more time for this?

I sound fussy I know.  I continue to have the same struggles here as I did back home.  God has taken me thousands of miles away from my comfort zone and I am learning to lean on him every moment instead of every day.  It has been good, I am growing closer to him and that is better than any sight seeing tour I could take.

A verse I have painted on Raleigh's bedroom wall and sing to him every morning is "This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24  I believe this verse applies to me to.  I'm ashamed to admit that I need an attitude check.

Okay, everyone is now dressed, hair is done, tummies are full (for the next 30 min), money is zipped away in pockets, lunches are packed.  Look out Rome, here we come!

Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest,  Matthew 11:28 

Sounds good to me. 

Villa d' Este in Tivoli

We moved to a country home just north of Rome 45 minutes.  The estate is gated with the drive lined by olive trees.  The girls were excited to have an upstairs and I was thankful for lots of windows and two bathrooms. 

Our first adventure was to Villa d' Este in Tivoli which is a garden of 500 fountains.  It was built in the 16th century and was the first model for European gardens.  Many of the sculptures were of Greek Gods.

This is the Organ Fountain and it played an organ every couple of hours and we just happend to be there when it started playing.

 Raleigh admiring another man.  He kept saying, "Hello." and waiting for a response!

We went into the church connected with the garden and it was small but beautiful.  This saint is noted for his dedication to the poor.

Local Winery

Grapes hung plentiful on vines throughout the country.  We enjoyed a visit to a family owned winery that was in its 4th generation.  It is currently owned by 22 year old Roberto and his father.  They employ only two other people. 

We learned that they don't grow the grapes, they buy them from 50 local farmers and make the wine.  It is purchased by individuals as well as restaurants.  Roberto said they do not deliver.  "If you want our wine you come get it."  We asked for a quick tour and he was so kind to oblige.  His English was good.

While we were there a grape farmer came and unloaded his grapes.

The grapes were dumped into a chute where they were then pressed and turned through a process that shot the stems into a waste area.  Leaving the skins on the grapes is what makes the difference between red and white wine.  When removing the skins to make white wine they later have to add yeast for the delicate fermentation process because the skins are what contain the yeast.

Roberto rinsing our glasses for a tasting

These are the remains after all the juice is pressed out.  They sell it to a distillery that makes grappa from it which is 50% alcohol!

Dennis bought two jugs of young red wine for us and Dave and Amanda

Gola dell' Infernaccio (Hell's Gorge)

We started most days in Comunanza.  We were intrigued at all the groups of Italian men that are standing in the middle of the street, on the sidewalks and in cafes talking.  The hand gestures were big and they were loud.  I could have taken a hundred pictures of these guys.  These two men were there in the morning and still there when we came back in the evening.
 It made us wonder what people do all day?  They were probably wondering the same about us.  We'd have croissants nearly every morning and gelato almost every afternoon or evening.  Who was this red-headed family?

Our favorite stop is bright and clean.  They sell bread and other baked goods, coffees and gelato.  They are friendly and willing to put up with our fumbling Italian.  Most people here seem very stern and watch us with a ridiculing eye but as soon as I smile and say "ciao" the ice on their face melts and they return a warm response.  I enjoy slathering people with kindness until they have no choice but to smile. 

Our favorite spot in the center of town for baked sweets and gelato.

We took the unfamiliar road to the hike and I prayed for something fun and interesting for our day that would create a great memory.  Little did I expect it would come in the form of  a dusty old burro walking straight towards us in the middle of the road.  He was quite friendly and his kindly aggressions made us slightly nervous at first.

He was eager for some loving and that's our specialty.  The girls and I got out and cautiously approached him and he nuzzled right in.

The girls fed him a plum, orange and apple and then Indi tries to ride him.....yeah right.  We named him Bruno after the main character in a book we had just finished reading, The Boy in Striped Pajamas. We considered taking him with us, he was so cute but he did need a good brushing.  I imagined him roaming around the backyard and then cleaning up his burro waste and decided I would be okay leaving him behind.

He did create a great start to our day.  Who knew a burrow could make us so giggly and happy and we were now energized for our hike into the unknown.

Indi, Bruno, Ireland and Annie

We took a half mile hike down the road towards the gulch.  Looking up we could see a tiny white square on top of the cliff edge.  The girls laughed at the thought of going all the way to the top and I knew from my hiking experience as a child that the dot at the top is usually where we ended up.  I was thankful my pack was loaded with lunch.

The first 2 miles up we listened to the gurgling creek flushing over the smooth rocks and felt the cool air circulate around us.  Dennis kept hoping we would see other hikers because of his conservative and safe nature but none were there as we went in deeper and deeper. 

It was about lunch time when we took this picture and you can see how dark it is.                                   

The last half mile up we questioned whether we should continue.  We didn't know how much further to the top and the sun was beating down on us.  We decided to hike 15 more minutes.  We started to see people and Dennis was put at ease.  The last bit was steep.  I knew that one slow step at a time would get me there eventually, like many things in life.  We rounded the corner and approached flat ground and saw a church with people lying around in the grass. We had made it to the little white square on top of the cliff!

Dennis led us in a devotion on kindness which was quite timely because it's not always easy to be kind when you're exhausted.  Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate and forgive others as Christ forgave you.

Funny how comfortable lying on bumpy ground, rocks and shoes can be when you are pooped.  Everything is relative.  We all slept while Dennis was supposed to be on Raleigh duty, he looked away for a moment and he was gone.  We all panicked.  He had made his way back to the church 50 yards away and was busy exploring inside.  Rest time was over.

Back down we went.  The girls found a bouncy tree limb that entertained us for quite some time.

My poor Daisy Doll (Annabelle) took quite a tumble on the way down.  But she braved the rest of the steep hike with the courage of a gladiator!

We got her all fixed up when we made it back to the car.  It was 5 miles round trip but felt like 10. But when we turned around and looked where we had been we felt great!