Nice Girls in Italy...

Here are some shots from our visits to Siena and the Cinque Terre region. Siena is in Tuscany so we enjoyed vineyards, olive groves, a drive through the countryside with views of castles and hills, and the lovely ambiance of the town itself. This included lots of stair climbing (as illustrated by Monica and Esie) and fence climbing (as illustrated by Emily). Behind Monica and Esie are some Sienese bricks and Sienese trees. Behind Emily are San Domenico Church and typical Sienese houses.

Cinque Terre is a group of five small villages (from South to North: Riomaggiore, Manorola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso) on the Italian Riviera. We stayed in the town of Riomaggiore (we happen to think this is the best of the five) and enjoyed the sound of the ocean, the sound of church bells, and the sound and sight of our yummy dinner being cooked in garlic by a very fine chef. Please view the above photo of us with many varieties of fried and baked sealife. Yum! The sunset photo was taken at the end of our 90 minute hike from Corniglia to Vernazza. One of many spectacular photo opportunities along the way. We hiked our way through all five of the towns, except for the stretch between Manorola and Corniglia which was closed due to a "landslade" from the previous night's heavy rain. We figure if we had stayed maybe another month or so, could work up some calves of steel like the 75-year-old ladies in Riomaggiore.

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A cold night in Vernazza (Cinque Terre). Inspired by the land of great art (Italy), the girls contemplate the meaning of life...namely, how much longer until the restaurants open for the dinner hour?



After an afternoon of wine and olive oil tasting, the ladies decide it would be a good idea to hit the Irish Pub in Siena. Hilarity ensues.



Uh...following a climb up 400 stairs in the Cinque Terre, Esie demonstrates her ability to remove her bottom layer of clothing without scandalizing the villagers. We can't post what Em did.

And Now A Brief Synopsis For Your Viewing Pleasure

Es.











Em.











Mon.







Here's what we've been doing...


Here's what we've been seeing...

(Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy)

More pictures to come as soon as we figure out how to get them off of Esie's camera and onto Monica's computer. In the meantime: woohoo! Still having a good time and doin fine. Word to all of our peeps back home. Ciao for now!

Still Alive (and in Italy)

Hi friends!
Well, the internet situation has been a bit precarious lately so the blog has taken a beating. Also, I've been jetting around central Italy with my two friends (and current traveling companions) Esie and Emily. We took in a couple days in Rome, hit Sienna for two nights, and are now living the dolce vita in the Cinque Terre.
We just finished a hike through four of the five villages in the Cinque Terre that included plenty of great scenery, stairs, gelato, and cats. In fact, we are in the company of an internet cafe kitty named Emma as we speak (Emily warns that she is being clawed to death).
So far we are having a great time (Esie proclaims this is definitely going to continue to be the case). We are trying (rather successfully) to eat our way through Italy's gelato supply. Yum, yum! Also, yesterday we had some great fresh seafood (and by fresh we mean the dipped a hand in the ocean, pulled out some critters, cooked them in garlic, and sent them our way by way of a very nice looking Italian cook). Hi to all the moms and dads out there. No worries, we are all fine, wearing sunscreen, taking our vitamins, drinking lots of water, avoiding frisky Italian men, and getting plenty of rest.
Ciao!
Monica, Esie, and Emily (and Emma the cat)

Feed the Birds

Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

Dad to son in St. Peter's Square: "I think those pigeons like you."

There's No Place Like Rome

Well, I'm in the middle of a little siesta in Rome-taking a little break from the nomadic life for a couple weeks in order to soak up one of my favorite cities, and do some research into the fine art of sloth.
When I was planning this trip, one of my pie-in-the-sky goals was to spend a long period of time in Rome and go to St. Peter's every day. I was here for the first time about five years ago, and I've been waiting to go back ever since. Lots of fond, vivid memories. So far, I've been at least to St. Peter's square every day, and have gone into the basilica 6 or 7 times. Nope, I'm not bored with it yet. I absolutely love this place. It's just incredible. Above are some of my encounters with the outside of St. Peter's. More about the inside later...


And now, folks, allow me to get introspective and personal for a few minutes. There has been another force, almost as powerful as the Vatican, drawing me to the Eternal City. A spiritual experience known to throngs of devoted followers as...(chorous of angels)...gelato. That's right, y'all, I'm talking about some serious food here, and the place to go for it is Giolitti's gelateria. Five years ago one scoop of strawberry and one scoop of champagne caused the location of Giolitti's to be forever burned into my brain. Since arriving in Rome I have devoted myself to researching the best combinations of gelato flavors:
Chocolate and Cantaloupe (yum)
Green Apple and Rice (don't cringe, it was tastey!)
Champagne and Chocolate (a classic)
and, my personal favorite, Blueberry and Green Tea

And now, a moment of silence to reflect on the radiance below:

In more recent news: Rome. All Saints' Day

Looks like they all showed up...



St. Peter watches the Pope on the big screen.




Pope in the window (see the window with the red banner in front of it?) addressing and blessing the masses in Vatican Square.

Art (yes, this is still about Florence)

Some of my favorites:

Pieta by Michelangelo. Mary Magdalene (left), the Virgin Mary (right), and Nicodemus holding the crucified Christ. Michelangelo intended this sculpture for his tomb and made Nicodemus his self portrait. It's unfinished-you can see the Virgin's face is still just blocked out. Really beautiful. Really.



Donatello's wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene dressed in her own matted hair. Pretty boogley from the front, but look at it from the back! Hats off to whomever arranged the display in this room.


Bronze panel from Ghiberti's Doors of Paradise: King Solomon meets the Queen of Sheba.

Florence!!!

Looking down on the nave of Santa Maria del Fiore: they all look so helpless and innocent from up here...

This is what the fresco on the ceiling of the dome looks like up close.



Last year I rented a PBS documentary about the Medici Family (a couple times, actually, it was a thriller!). It included a section about Brunelleschi and the fantastic dome he built for the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence. Why is it so special? Well, for one thing, it's huge! For another, it was a huge moment in Renaissance architecture since, apparently, the technique for building a self-supporting dome got lost during the Middle Ages. Yep. Way to go, Western Society. So poor Brunelleschi had to reinvent the wheel so to speak.
Now, tourists can climb to the top of the dome, which means you get to climb in between the outer and inner shells of the dome just like Brunelleschi's construction crew did. Cool!

Incidentally, I now own a copy of the Medici documentary, thanks to a snaffu with Netflix. So when I get back home, you can all come over and watch it with me! We'll have popcorn, Vanilla Coke, and waffles with peanut butter. Yippee!

above left: stairs inside the dome; right: herringbone brick pattern-nifty!

Florence!!

More faces of the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiori cathedral): Fresco inside the dome of The Last Judgement by Vasari; view from on top of the dome; view from the square of the Baptistery and Duomo (the Baptistery is the smaller building in the foreground).