I'll Have What She's Having. Paprikash and Pecan Pie.

Hello!

Have you ever seen When Harry Met Sally?  Billy Crystal and Megan Ryan?  Harry and Sally meet (I think that's where they got the title...?) and don't really hit it off.  At first they really don't like each other but then they become really good friends that drive each other crazy.  At the climax of the movie, Harry/Billy tells Sally/Meg that he loves her--he loves that she gets cold when it's 70 degrees out (which I don't think is that crazy....I can relate, Sally...), he loves that she takes an hour and a half to order a sandwich, he loves the crinkle she gets on her forehead when she thinks he's being crazy.  This is the relationship that I have developed with Rome.  I love that the sidewalks along the river are positively treacherous because the tree roots have mangled them and they haven't been fixed.  I love that I'm always tripping because the cobblestones are ridiculous.  I love that there are no rules of the road and people park on the sidewalk or double park each other in.  I love that all of the buildings are old and sometimes each level of a building will have a different style because they just keep building on top of it.  I love that the citizens hate Berlusconi and don't particularly care about government, but love being Italian so much that they weep with drunken joy on the 150th birthday of the unified country.  I love that it's not America.

The next few weeks for me are going to be crazy--midterms this week and good friends visiting, then spring break, a visit from my beautiful mom, and then a weekend long field trip.  Since I had nothing going on Friday, I took a day for myself and wandered around Rome and it was one of the best days I've ever had.  

One of the professors that I am well acquainted with at Hope proposed to his wife in Rome and he asked me if I could take some pictures of it if I had some spare time.  So, I ventured out with the address and a map.  The sun was shining and I was wearing a new pair of jeans and had "Windy" by The Association stuck in my head.

I hope that driver was planning on spending the afternoon parked there....

I'm in love.

Yeah.  I have no idea either.

To the right there was a man playing the accordion.  So Italian!

Apparently the caffetteria (yes, I spelled that correctly) was featured in a movie.

My favorite Harry Potter book with an Italian cover.

Who's tripping down the streets of the city?

This means Obama is an a**hole in Italian.  I laughed.

The highlight of my day:

I stumbled across a bookstore that advertised books in English, so I stopped in (see the Harry Potter cover above) and as I was browsing, I came across a book of Italian folklore that had been translated into English; it was kind of expensive, but I know I will treasure it and am already planning on reading it to i miei bambini (my kids), many years from now.  So, I sat on the steps of the Vatican and read about curses, kidnapped princesses, talking rats, bodies without souls, and magic dancing apples. 

I hope you are all healthy, happy, and can feel the spring coming.  Love you!

If You're Going to San Francesco...

Hello!

My dad likes to say that he walked to school uphill both ways (original, right?).  I walked uphill on Friday.  I walked uphill all day on Friday.  The Italians love to put places worth seeing on top of huge hills.

 

Yesterday (Friday), Gemma, another friend Danielle, and I took an early train--and I do mean early--to Assisi, which is about two and a half hours northeast of Roma.  We arrived around 10:30 and started our trek into the town as the train doesn't run up the plateau.  We were blessed with beautiful weather again; it was sunny and in the low sixties. 

The quasi-mountain we faced.  Daunting, no?

We decided to see the Basilica di San Francesco (St. Francis of Assisi) first.  For some reason, there is a lower basilica and an upper basilica.  The lower basilica is far darker and ornate than the upper, which has higher ceilings, brighter colors, and frescoes.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of course, but I got to see the tomb of San Francesco and things like his robe, his cord, and the vessels he used for communion.  Here are some pictures of the outside:

La Basilica di San Francesco and the Umbrian countryside.

The view from a different area of Assisi.

A bit closer.

After we toured the basilica, we wandered around Assisi and looked for the restaurant that had been recommended by the guidebook.  We had no knowledge of the layout of the streets, so Gemma walked up to a short, hefty nun and politely asked in Italian where the street was.  The nun looked at her, shrugged, and in a deep voice said, "Deutsche."  Apparently we weren't the only tourists there.  

Eventually, we wandered into a shop that was stuffed with rosaries and painted ceramic bowls, and again, Gemma asked the woman working where the restaurant was.  The woman told us she knew where it was, but the food wasn't good and it was expensive, and sent us to a different place.  She told us to tell the staff Fulvia sent us and they would give us more food.  So we did.  I had pasta with a tomato sauce and chickpeas.  It was delicious.

Lunch.

 After lunch we headed over to Chiesa de San Chiara (Church of Saint Clare), who was inspired by St. Francis and started her own order.  There were also cool things in her church; a robe she hand stitched, San Francesco's other robe, the grate through which she took communion, a stocking Francesco used to cover his stigmata, and some locks of hair.  The last thing was really gross.  Being Lutheran and not Catholic, the relics didn't have the same weight to them, but as a history/religion double major, it was really cool.

The view from the piazza outside of La Chiesa di San Chiara was a pretty nice one. Don't you agree?

There was also this unique nativity scene.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

La chiesa (the church).

The Italians are so fond of St. Clare they wrote a musical about her.

Maybe I should write a musical about Luther?

A few more random treats from the day included:

He is correct-I wouldn't have wanted to walk back up.

Who is his marketing person?  He/she deserves a raise!

We stumbled across "The Chapel of Mary over Minerva." So take that Roman goddesses.

I had never seen Mary holding a crucified Jesus quite like this before.

A dove!  How appropriate! You don't want to know how long we stalked it.

 We also found the church that Gemma sang at when she was nine; she was delighted.  Originally, we had considered spending a night in Assisi, but a day trip was the perfect amount of time.  Next week I have my Italian midterm and then we get Thursday off of school for the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy--I am so excited to be here for the celebration!

Miss you!

I Tried to Think of a Good Pun

Happy March!  I have officially been here for a month and am still in one piece!

On Friday, I had an all day field trip (the only official day trip that I'll have) to Tarquinia and Cerveteri to see some Etruscan tombs. Both sections of my class had to meet at the IES Center at 9:00 am sharp, where we got on a bus at 9:30 (yeah, I know).  We all filed onto a coach-like bus and settled in for the hour long ride.  Tarquinia is a little town on a plateau, so it was a bit like driving up the side of a mountain (anyone who's driven up the side of a mountain knows what I mean).  The roads were narrow, in true Italian fashion, and there were a lot of apartments buildings with a lot of lemon trees.  Suddenly, our bus slowed to a stop, which surprised me--the street that we were on looked pretty residential and I began mentally gearing up for a hike to the tombs.  Then, the bus started backing up.  And kept backing up.  For a mile.  On the side of a plateau.  I was so impressed!  This driver went well over a mile, in a bus, on narrow roads, and didn't make a mistake!  Then I made some comment about how baseball stars get paid millions and this guy was probably making jack, but had way more talent.  Anyways.....

So, the first set of tombs was set up on a hill that overlooked some farmland and a few vineyards.  The shacks that you see were built over the tombs later for protection.  The tombs themselves were, of course, underground.  We had to walk down a flight of stairs to a glass door and hit a light switch, which illuminated the inside of the tombs.  As with most ancient burials, Etruscans were buried with their families, pets, food, tools, and riches.  Sometimes beloved servants were killed so that they could serve the family in the afterlife.  Mrs. Brady so would have had Alice killed.  

Sorry.

A tomb shed.

Paintings in tombs could be anything from an everyday scene to depictions of debauchery.

Overlooking.

A mailbox perhaps?

The second site that we visited, Cerveteri, was far more lush than Tarquinia.  It had been raining earlier in the day, so everything was much more vivid; it was beautiful.  Here we actually got to go inside some of the tombs, which was really cool.  After our professor lectured for a bit, she gave us half an hour to wander about, so we did some climbing around and a lot of "This is so cool!"-ing.  

They kind of looked like hobbit holes.

It was beautiful and so green.

Corinthian column heads were modeled after these plants.

Oh, you know, in a tomb.

Standing on top of a tomb.  Do you like the umbrella peeking out of my pocket?

I always feel safer in a cemetery when I know where the nearest fire fighting jet is.

It's supposed to start getting up into the the 60's this week, so finally I will be able to enjoy some Mediterranean weather.  Hope all is well with you!

There's One in Every Country

Ciao!

On Friday, Gemma, Patrice, and I went to Ostia Antica for a field trip that we were to do on our own time.  "Ostia" means "mouth" and this was a harbor settlement at the mouth of the Tiber River.  It's comprised of a fair amount of ruins and ends in the remnants of a synagogue.  (You can read more about it online, if you want.)  We had a beautiful sunny day and enjoyed exploring (and maybe a little climbing.)

Mosaics on the floor of a bath house.  You can see the drain in the middle.

The amphitheater.

The synagogue.

Restored 1962.  I've seen better restoration jobs....

In the synagogue.  You know.

Gemma and me standing on the wall of the synagogue ruins.

I had to include this crazy tree I saw on the way back.  It reminds me of a cartoon character's hands.

On Friday, I am taking an all day field trip with my ancient Rome class to Cerveteri and Tarquinia to see some ancient tombs.  Looking forward to it!