San Gimignano

On Saturday we went to a walled medieval town called San Gimignano.  It was a beautiful day, and the town was really nice.  In medieval times, in many cities (Forence is one of them), people built tower houses for safety.  I guess there was a lot of thievery and fighting going on and living in towers kept people safe.  It would be a lot harder to break into a tower than a house.  Anyway, San Gimignano still has 15 of its original 72 towers.  

On the day we were there, we heard a free outdoor concert by a Canadian high school brass band.  At the same time, there was a special festival going on with all the artisans from the city showcasing their art and even performing art for us.  Opa bought a leather belt from a leather crafter and we watched a man create things out of alabaster, and Maggie was given a small bud vase.  There was a potter who created a beautiful hand made vase in only 10 minutes.  When you watch them, they make it look so easy!  There were some people preparing a temporary wood-burning kiln for firing the pottery.  

We saw a castle ruin and we had a glass of wine at a "wine museum" and then we walked around the old wall that bordered the city.

Michelangelo's David

We went to the Academia today and saw the famous statue of David.  Stunning.

The Character of Italy

I recently read that it is an 'insult' to an Italian's intelligence to comply with a regulation.  The following is the explanation, which pretty well summarizes Italian culture. 

"Do you see that red light?  It looks the same as any other red light anywhere in the world, but it's an Italian invention.  It's not an order, as you might naively think.  Nor is it a warning, as a superficial glance might suggest.  It is actually an opportunity to reflect. . . .  

"When many Italians see a stoplight, their brain perceives no prohibition (Red! Stop! Do not pass!).  Instead, they see a stimulus.  OK, then.  What kind of red is it?  A pedestrian red?  But it's seven in the morning.  There are no pedestrians about this early.  That means it is a negotiable red; it's a 'not-quite-red.'  So we can go.  Or is it a red at an intersection?  What kind of  intersection?  You can see what is coming here, and the road is clear.  So it's not a red, it's an 'almost red,' a 'relative red.'  What do we do?  We think about it for a bit, then we go."  

On another note, in America we have the old proverb:  "You can't have your cake and eat it too"  (Of course, as I've always said, you can have your cake and eat it, but you can't eat your cake and have it."  But that is beside the point.  The Italian version is much, much better.  

To get the same point across, the Italians have the following proverb:  "You can't have your bottle full and your wife drunk."  

Cinque Terra

Dad arrived yesterday after a mostly uneventful flight.  Only a short 4-hour delay in Boston.  We are glad to see him again and he was very happy to be here with us!

Today's title is Cinque Terra, but we only made it to Una Terra.  We took a couple of wrong turns and only reached RioMaggiore, the first of the 5 cities, it was 1pm, then we had to find a parking spot, that took 30 minutes, then we had to walk into town from the parking spot and that took another hour, so by the time we got there, it was 2:30 or 3:00 and then the water of the Mediterranean lured us to itself.  We started by putting our toes in, but the waves were big and we all got wet.  So we sat in the sun to dry off.  Then another hike to get off the beach, stopped for gelato, walked a little further, realized Maggie's sweatshirt got left behind, went back to get it, and got sidetracked when we stopped to watch the dolphins jumping in the sea.  That was pretty cool.  By then we were all too tired to go to the second terra.  Quite an adventure.  It was made even more interesting by squeezing 6 of us into a 5-seater car!   But the one we saw was very beautiful and I hope you can see some of the beauty by the small pictures attached. 

Florentine Art

Another week in Italy, another adventure.  Friday was Holly's birthday, and she was a trooper to have to spend the first half of it in an art museum.  We went to the Uffizi with our class to see up close the many pieces of artwork that we have all seen so many times:  Lippi's Madonna and Child, Michelangelo's Holy Family and Botticelli's Birth of Venus.  These are the three pictures above.    Learning about these famous artists and then seeing their work in person is very exciting.  It's also exciting to know that Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli, Giotto, Fra Angelico, Donatello, Cimabue and many other great artists were either born or trained in Florence.  Go to www.uffizi.com to see more info.

We're also working on a couple of projects in art class, one being to represent a piece of art.  Mine is San Lorenzo church, which is an amazing church, and famous world-wide for being the first church built in Florence, then the first church to be rebuilt in the renaissance style.  It houses some very famous works of art that are just awesome to see. 

A Day in Rome

Today we spent the day driving to Rome, visiting St. Peter's and driving home.  What a beautiful day.   St. Peter's was amazingly beautiful and overwhelming.  The size of the church was just incredible.  We walked around looking at everything, spent some time praying, and then went downstairs to the tombs.  We prayed for all of you in front of Pope John Paul II's tomb, and I found that very moving.  I hope that when we come back in November we will be able to see Pope Benedict XVI in the flesh.

Only a couple of construction setbacks and a little bit of traffic and it took us 4 hours to drive to Rome.  For those of you in the U.S., you probably wouldn't believe the cost of the highways here.  The main highways are tollways, and when we drive for about 2 1/2 hours, the cost was 13.80 euro.  That is about $20 for a one-way trip to Rome.  Or $40 for the day trip.  And I wouldn't say that the roads are always worth the price, either.  Then we needed a litre of oil for the engine.  Lloyd paid 11 euros for one litre!  That is about $17!!!  Not to mention the parking garage (25 euro for the whole day).  But despite the cost, and including gas (and oil) it was still cheaper to drive to Rome than to take the train.  It may have been a bit less stressful, however.  We left the house this morning at around 8am and got back just before 8pm, and in fact, just in time for a very delicious Italian barbecue at the Villa!  A nice change from pasta!

The Feast of St. Francis -- Oct 4

This weekend was the Fall break for the students.  They all went away and we had plans to visit some friends in Rome.  Our plans didn't work out as we had hoped, so we stayed at the Villa and had a quiet weekend.  On Saturday we went into Florence to enjoy the city again.  We found an Oktoberfest market in the piazza in front of Santa Croce.  There were lots of brats, beer and crafts from Germany.  We went to the Saturday vigil Mass at Santa Croce.  It was the feast of St. Francis, and Santa Croce is a Franciscan church, so there were special festivities there.  The Cardinal Archbishop did the Mass and the Florence City Council attended.  There was a procession, which I tried to get a picture of, and failed.  They had special Florentine costumes on, they held banners with the Florence flags and they blew trumpets and carried flowers.  It was all very unique and special.

Tomorrow we leave early for our Rome trip to see our friends, Father Hart and Mrs. Hart from Fort Worth.  Maggie will be receiving the sacrament of Confession from Fr. Hart.  

Today we decided that it is time to come back home.  So we changed our tickets and are making arrangements to leave when the semester is over here.  We will be flying on Ryan air into Frankfurt and flying from Frankfurt back to Kansas City.  We should be arriving home on November 20 in the evening.  The semester will be ending with ten days spent in Rome with the students.  

Perugia and Assisi

On Saturday, September 27, we got on a bus with all the students and headed toward Assisi and Perugia.  It was a 2-hour drive.  We had a private tour guide who was born and raised in Perugia and who specializes in giving tours in Perugia and Assisi.  He was fabulous and gave us some great information that made the trip really worthwhile.  Now that we have started taking a class on Florentine Art History, I am familiar with the Florentine Renaissance artists.  So I looked at the frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue in the Basilica of St. Francis with a new eye.  The students enjoyed the trip too, but I think they enjoyed the wine and chocolate more than the artwork.  On the way home, we stopped at an old castle and explored.  That was pretty cool!