Getting ready. . .

We have two relatively commitment free days for this last weekend in Venice (and, of course, in Italy). The weather is pretty nice today so we wandered from our apartment, towards SS Giovanni & Paolo, then to S. Maria Formosa, then toward the Rialto and then back. . .I had done some grocery shopping (ho fatto la spesa) in our neighborhood, getting a pre-cooked chicken at the local butcher shop (plus 2 hamburger patties. . for which I was warned not to add any salt. . .and some salami. . .just in case). I also got a liter of prosecco for the equivalent of $2.70 at the wine depot. . and some bread with olives baked on top. We enjoyed a meal at the table on the balcony up the stairs from our apartment. Greg is up there now, with his crossword, and I am heading to the bed for una piccola siesta. . .there is a little rio down the calle on that side of our apartment and I can hear boats there and various conversations as people head to their apartments.

This evening (6:00) we go to one of Roberta's concerts at the Casa Goldoni--It's a salute to spring.

Visit to the Accademia

Absolute bliss---less than 5-10 people in any of the rooms. . . .quiet---solitude to study some works that I'm usually to exhausted to absorb---the Carpaccio series on the Martyrdom of Ursula, several works by the Bellini trio, the sinister "La Vecchia".

The best in the house, however, is this one:

Dinner at the House of Levi

There is so much action and light in the work of Veronese. There's still one in the Louvre that should be back in Venice

Wedding at Cana

The question I would ask.. .

How much did all of this cost? You, of course, are way too polite to ask this.

The big expense, of course, is airfare and accommodations. Airfare was 2K and the apartments 3K (remember, we had Marriott points for Rome so that was 'free' (minus the maintenance fee for our time share). The apartments averaged out to 130 a night--if the dollar rate was more favorable it would have been better--however, it was a HUGE savings on: food, internet, laundry---INCREDIBLY cost effective and we will certainly do this in the future.

Since we have been here, we have only spent about 2K---that includes restaurants, groceries, train tickets, museums,the occasional bottle of vino (!) etc.

So the total trip was about 7K. . . not free, by any means, but far less than the 10 I thought it could end up being. We do hope that part of this ends up being deductible--And, we may even get some of it back if I get either of the two grants that I applied for---Long shots, of course.

Another hidden secret of travel is that, although you still have to pay your mortgage, car insurance, utilities, etc. you're not spending other money at home because YOU'RE NOT THERE!!!! Other folks may do better than we do on things like gas for the car and groceries, but that's at least 600 (by my count) that could be applied to the trip. And, I don't know about you, but I can drop 50-70 bucks at the Target. . .not sure what that's all about.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I would love to encourage the people I know to travel---yes, the exchange rate stinks--but it's always worth it. Like education of any kind, travel can broaden your outlook, make you more sympathetic to others, make you grateful for what you have.

Having the apartments has been a revelation--Ours have been typical--larger families may have an additional room or so, but generally you have one common room, a bathroom, kitchen (very small) and the bedroom. We have a modest home by U.S. standards (less than 1800 square feet) which translates as 167 square meters---very large by European standards. Aside from the space, we have realized all the energy consumers we all have. Clothes dryers would be at the top of the list. When did we all stop hanging up our clothes? I certainly don't expect that we'll go back to wash tubs and hand wringers, but drying clothes outside would be a HUGE savings and reduction in energy costs!!

Carpe Diem

Yes, Carpe Diem is overused but it fits our day yesterday. We had originally intended to go to the Accademia, after our morning visit to San Marco. We've learned to go to San Marco in short visits, generally after 11:00 a.m. when they turn on the floodlights. Yesterday's visit was to the loggia, where we could see the four bronze horses and also the view of the Piazza (all the other squares in Venice are called campos). When we stepped outside, it was such a glorious day, we switched gears. It has been rainy and cold for a good bit our time here and we wanted to get lunch where we could sit out and enjoy the day. We took the vaporetto to the south side of Venice, the Zattere, where we knew it would be nice and got a simple lunch in a bar near the San Basilio stop. Again, a bar is an all purpose place in Italy--serving food, coffee, pastries, snacks, in addition to other beverages. Greg had risotto al pesce and I had polpiti (octopus) with potatoes and olives. We lingered in the sun for as long as we could and then walked up the way to the church of San Sebastian. This is a church covered in artwork by Veronese. .or, it usually is. Most of it was either covered by scaffolding or gone altogether, for restoration. We have seen it several times and love this painting, which is normally on the ceiling and looks as though the horses are coming right at you!
We continued up the Calle Lunga di San Barnaba and got the vaporetto at the Ca' Rezzonico stop. We, unbelievably, ran into our friend Roberta on the bus and got off at the Accademia stop to have a coffee with her.

After that, we meandered home, stopping by the grocery and then sat on our balcony, listening to birds and watching the sun set behind the buildings.

Someone recently remarked that it will be hard to leave all this timeless beauty. That brings up an interesting point. . .yes, it will. At the beginning of this trip, I talked about the feeling of anxiety before setting off on a long trip. We really like our home and our lifestyle. It's very comfortable with a pleasant house, cats, good friends. . .but with a major trip, there's a feeling of skydiving and with the metaphorical opening of the 'chute, feeling the world expanding.

There's a different feeling at the end of a trip--I feel it even when we spend a week in Hilton Head! There's a feeling of time slipping away and a bit of melancholy that it will inevitably end. Greg and I talked about this yesterday and will try to do what we always attempt, feel an enormous privilege to have had this opportunity. Yes, we're the ones who had to set the goal and save the money but neither of us anticipated when we were very young that we would have traveled to Venice several times and feel comfortable here.

Who knows what adventures are ahead of us?

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

It was very cold and rainy today, but we did make our way to St. Marks and after a quick lunch, to the 'Frari'. This is my favorite church in Venice because of two magnificent paintings. First,

Titian's Assumption of the Virgin and second, Bellini's Sacred Conversation. They are magnificent works, as perfect as art gets and I will never tire of looking at them and visiting them.

A Quiet Day

I woke up with a bit of a sore throat this morning (mal di gola) so we took it easy. . .well, reasonably so. Preparing for our meal with Roberta, we first went to the Coop grocery store--I bought orrecchiete (pasta shaped like little ears :) and sausage. I got veal for us for tomorrow. While Greg took those back to the apartment, I got green beans, lettuce, tomato and onions at the fruttivedura (green grocer). The stalls still look a bit like this only the seller was a gruff sort of guy instead of the young woman pictured here:

Then, we got a chicken at the macellaio--(butcher); then we went to the vino sfuso negozio--we took in an empty water bottle and he filled it up with pinot rosso for less than 3 Euro (a little over 4 bucks).

I'll make the orrecchiete with pasta as the first course, followed by roast chicken. Nothing fancy but I feel confident of making this turn out well.

Yesterday, when we went to Madonna Dell'Orto, we bought a Chorus pass, which for 10 Euro allows us to get into 16 different churches (3 Euro entrance fee for each)--Today's church of the day was Santa Maria Formosa which is a very nice church in a very large campo, not too far away from our apartment.

On the way, we passed by the deconsecrated church of San Lorenzo and the Questura (police station)--both figure very heavily into the novels of Donna Leon. If you don't know these and you like mysteries, get them immediately!

Here is San Lorenzo:

and here is the Questura:

I know my book club friends will enjoy these :)

We finally ended up at the church:

The favorite piece of art here is the Vivarini triptych:

Art and food and day trips--Thursday and Friday--Or, Gail learns how to make a clickable link on Blogger!

When we came in on the train on Monday, we saw a big advertisement for an exhibit of art of Giorgione--Lots of 500 year anniversaries of artists--My perception is that is has something to do with the plague of that time. . .Within the 2nd day of being here, I made reservations for us to go--it also involved a train ride to Castelfranco Veneto which is an hour away from Venice (very slow train). Giorgione is a very different artist than Caravaggio, but Greg pointed out that he came 100 years before (it's the 400 anniversary of his death).

My favorites were this:

http://www.italica.rai.it/immagini/arte/tiepolo/gr2.jpg

and this:

http://www.griseldaonline.it/percorsi/5allegro_foto21.htm

In the Accademia in Venice (not in the town of Castelfranco di Veneto where the exhibit was) is another that's always startling:

http://www.italica.rai.it/index.php?categoria=arte&scheda=giorgione_1

On the train ride on the way back, we spoke to a man named John from Ghana who was very nice and asked for our email (ostensibly to correspond). He's been here for 7 years and has been out of work for 1---he seemed very sincere (and somewhat lonely).

When we got back to Venice, we walked from the train station to the Rialto--that's not the most poetic part of Venice but it was a nice day.

Today, we went to the church of Madonna dell'Orto, which is the church of Tinteretto:

I hope this link works as it describes the presentation of Mary at the Temple (by Tinteretto).

We then took the vaporetto back to the Fondamente Nove where we caught the ferry to Burano and lunch at Da Romano---we became inspired for this by the Anthony Bourdain show about Venice

and it was our splurge meal of the trip (always ask how much the fish weighs first :) The risotto (the house speciality) was out of this world. It is made with a broth of small fish and each grain of rice was like a pearl:

After a walk back to the ferry stop (had to wait a half hour, then ride a half hour), we walked along the Fondamente Nove back to our apartment (about 15 minutes).

Exploring our neighborhood

To explain, Venice is divided into six sestrieri each with different names. We are in Castello which is on the eastern side of the city. The principal sites in Castello are the church of St. Giovanni e Paolo (Zanipolo in Venetian) and the Arsenale--the site of Venice's historic naval power.
This morning, we set out for one of the less visited sites--The Scuola Di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni. The walls of this Scuola (a workshop or fraternity of artisans was commonly referred to as a scuola) are covered with pictures by the artist Vittorio Carpaccio. I would go just for the Vision of St. Augustine--in the web site below, the first three frames are devoted to that painting.

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/carpacci/3schiavo/1/index.html

We had a very nice conversation with the custodian--I started by telling him in Italian that the St. Augustine was my favorite and how much I like the dog in the left hand corner---He took out a photocopy of a pencil drawing --the original is stored in the British Museum--where the dog was originally an ermine! He also said that the music in the lower right hand corner was the first depiction of printed music and told us about Petrucci---I tried to explain that Petrucci is the name of the musical font and I think he got it. After leaving the Scuola, we wandered over to St. Giovanni in Bragora.

http://www.savevenice.org/site/pp.asp?c=9eIHKWMHF&b=67637

There are some nice pieces in there but what was interesting to us is that it's the church where Vivaldi was baptized.

We went back to the apartment and hung out our laundry (exciting, I know). The exciting thing will be to see if it ever dries because it's so damp here :)



We'd been smelling seafood all during our walk (it's a plot) so we went to the Osteria across the Calle from our apartment for lunch---very reasonable and we were the only non-Venetians:

This was pappardelle Buranese---Wide pasta with shaved scallops.

Sarde e scampi in saor--(Venetian preparation with onions, vinegar and raisins)

I forgot to take a picture of our plate of Fritto Adriatico--Fried calimari, prawns, scallops, etc. (I guess I got excited!)

I was certainly stuffed after that but I heard the waiter describing una torta con pera e cioccolato. (Torte with pear and chocolate!) I remembered to get a picture before it was all gone.

Needless to say, we took a piccola siesta after that. We got up and had coffee (Italian style made in the Moka machine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_(coffee_pot) and then took a walk over to the Campo S Giovanni e Paolo (about five minutes from our apartment). We were to late to go into the church but we did get to admire the statue of Colleoni

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/v/verocchi/sculptur/colleoni.html

Nothing too eventful, but still spectacular

We were pretty slow going this a.m. but eventually stirred and went to the 2nd recommended grocery store--a bit further away but on the Fondamente Nuove side (north) of Venice. We bought wild boar (cinghiale) and coniglio (rabbit) burgers. . .because they had them. It was about a ten minute walk there and back. Some people take wheeled carts, similar to what I remember my grandmother having, but I expect shopping is an every couple of day thing--also, the refrigerators we have seen are much smaller than what we're used to. I think this is probably a good thing in the long run, because you have to really consider what you're purchasing and probably use things more.

We telephoned our friend Roberta and she suggested we come over to the Giudecca (where she lives) for lunch--there's a worker/student mensa there with good food for relatively good prices. Greg and I each had risotto and vegetables and shared the 2nd course of veal.

We had a nice conversation with Roberta about all sorts of things. Roberta is going to come to our apartment on Saturday for dinner.

After lunch, we took the vaporetto back to the San Zacchariah stop and wondered over to St. Marco--it doesn't matter if the weather is cold and damp--it was still packed.

Transtion to Venice

Yesterday, we had an interview in Ferrara at 10, and then a 12'30 train to Venezia--the ride is only 90 minutes. . .and such a transition, between Emiglia Romana and the Veneto! Our landlord, Luigi, took us to the train station--molto gentile.

When we got to Venice, we had the Herculean task of obtain the IMOB or Carta Venezia pass---I described the economics of this in a previous post

I couldn't think of a way to get to the ACTV office in Piazzale Roma without us both being there, which entailed dragging the bags--(In retrospect, I wish I had thought of leaving them at baggage deposit and backtracking back to the train station after getting our passes). The bridge that goes between the train station and Piazzale Roma (the last place you can have a car in Venice) is very high, very long. I had Greg's 22" but he was dragging my 24". We took our time, but it was still exhausting.

When we got to the ACTV office (the transit authority of Venice and the region), there was a shaky moment when she told us the IMOB was only for residents--I told her we had an apartment here, but she still shook me off---finally, I said "Carta Venezia?" and that did the trick--we got the expected forms and handed over our passport sized photos and passport copies. A bit of a funny story about the passport photos--I had some with us (there's an iPhone app that takes the appropriate sized photo :) but when I looked at the information about the Venice pass, it seemed they were too big). So, we stopped in the photo booth in the train station and got new ones. Then, all the woman behind the counter at the ACTV office did was scan them! Oh well. )

So, armed with our new IMOB (it does say IMOB on it, after all) passes, we set off for the #51 vaporetto (the 'express'--only stops at the train station (see the note about what we should have done with our bags), the Rialto, the Accademia and St. Zacchariah (our stop) before heading to the Lido. I called the contact for the apartment from the vaporetto and she was there, waiting for us. It was a relief to have some lead us there, but then we had the task of taking the bags over three largish bridges, then turn left into the labyrinth of Venice--2 more smallish bridges and we were at our apartment. There are three keys necessary to get to it--a key through the gate, a key through the door of the apartment building, then the apartment itself.

The apartment is much smaller than the one in Ferrara, but probably more typical and certainly fine for us. There's an entry way, a small kitchen to the right, then a combo dining/living room, a bedroom and bath. Michaela had left all sorts of nice touches: fruit, milk , water, butter, coffee, sugar and a bottle of Prosecco! We appreciate all the staples, because even though we are here for two weeks, it's challenging to use up even small quantities of those sorts of things.

We did set off for the grocery store as soon as we unpacked (and checked out the wireless connection!) We had to exit the gate, turn left, then right then left, then left, then right and then walk over a small bridge over a canal, and there was the grocery store! (tucked into an ancient building). All sorts of choices, a cheese counter, a butcher, some fruit and vegetables. Michaela showed us another on the map, further away but cheaper that we may check out today, but this will work for most things. We also bought an igniter for the stove (the one that was in the apartment was out of fuel)--It's completely gas, no electric ignition and we had quite an adventure getting that to work. We went downstairs, where Michaela works in a glassworks shop with her mother and father--they figured it out and brought it up to us.

Our dinner was a motley of gorgonzola stuff gnocchi and wurst and salad. It didn't matter--it tasted good and we were happy to have it. Today, we hope to meet up with our friend Roberta who works at the Conservatory here--She served as translator when we led the USC tour a couple of years ago and then invited us to celebrate the Feast of the Redentore with her when we came back for the ISME in Bologna.

The weather is very damp (funny about that) and very foggy (nebbioso). Tomorrow is supposed to be sunnier and reach 57.

Last evening in Ferrara

After our siesta, we took another walk around town. The streets were packed! This is something we adore about Europe--the evening passaggiata--evening stroll. Just aimless walking, sometimes stopping for a drink or an ice cream (lines coming out of the gelato stores!) but mostly just having a walk and chatting. The stores were mostly open (I guess shopkeepers have figured this one out :) and Greg bought a new belt and I got an inexpensive top to replace a turtleneck that has seen better days. After about an hour and a half of strolling we stopped for a beverage---couldn't find a table in the three cafes on the street next to the castle, but got one at the cafe in the castle square. You can see in the picture of the 'beverage' that a generous plate of snacks is served with it. If we had ordered coffee or cocoa, it would have been a plate of cookies! How do people stay thin here? Ferrara is the city of bicycles--even on cold days, you see all kinds of people riding their bikes--and taking their children to daycare (With little wind screens to protect their faces).

Ca D'Frara

We did decide to have our restaurant meal at lunch, after all. The Ca D'Frara is only a 3 minute walk from our apartment and it was easy enough to say that we had reserved for the evening but preferred to eat now. (Tutto in Italiano, naturalmente!) I had capallaci di Zucca--sort of a tortolini, but big, stuffed with pureed pumpkin and served with a cream and butter sauce and sage. Delizioso! Greg had the salami platter (cured meats are big here). For the second course, we shared a platter of grilled meat and vegetables--several around us were eating seafood and they looked happy, too.

We just woke up from our post-prandial siesta (how often do we get to use that expression?) and are going to take another walk soon. I've got soup in the refrigerator if we ever decide we're hungry again :)

Living here. . .kind of

We have loved having an apartment here-(I tried to post video but can't get blogger to upload it)--so great to live on our own schedule! The restaurants generally don't open until 7'30 in the evening, so in Rome, we had to calculate whether we would be hungry again after our lunch--so big lunch, nibble on crackers in the evening? smallish, early lunch, go out for dinner? We were lucky to discover Il Pomodorino in Rome, where there was never any pressure to order more than we needed to.
In Ferrara, we did our grocery shopping at the ReadyMarket--in the historic center. Very convenient and the prices seemed comparable to what we would spend at home. The butcher was out of central casting (round face, cheerful) and I would gladly shop from him for the rest of my days! The other day, I ordered a cooked chicken--he asked if I wanted to 'riscaldire' (re-heat) and I replied, "Non grazie, facciamo a casa" (no, thanks, we'll do it at home)---so much fun! Then, I wanted patate al forno (oven roasted potatoes) and was prepared to say "abbastanza per due personne" (enough for 2 people) but he got out a container and filled it with enough. . .for 2 people!) Then, at the conclusion of the transaction, he says "Grazie, Signora, buon pranzo" (thanks-and have a nice lunch!)
This morning, we have been spending some time preparing for the transition to Venice. I emailed the rental agent of the apartment there and also the owner to let them know the train we're expecting to take and that I would phone from the vaporetto (the water bus). Once we're in Venice, we plan to purchase a long-term pass for the vaporetto called the IMOB--40 Euro each ($55), which entitles us to purchase a carnet of 10 tickets for 10 Euro (13.60). Otherwise, each ticket is 8.84!! It will take some doing, but IMOB is good for 3 years and is renewable.
In celebration of our last night in Ferrara, we plan to eat at the restaurant, but may change our mind and have a lunch outside if the weather is good enough-
http://www.ristorantecadfrara.it/

Walking in Ferrara, plus. . .is my Italian improving?

We were finally able to get out for a bit today-The weather, by no means balmy, made it very pleasant to walk about the town.
We thought you would like the reflection of the cathedral in the McD's window.



Sidestreet.





My cousin asked if I was able to improve my Italian---an Italian friend asked me the same thing this morning and here is my risposta:

Sono un po' scoraggiata con il mio italiano---pensavo che fosse migliore che sembra qui--Tutti a Roma mi hanno risposta in inglese. So che la gente li e sempre in fretta. . .in Ferrara, poteva capire piu, ma quando ho parlato, mi sono sbagliata frequentamente.

Or, in other words:

I'm a little discouraged. I thought I was doing better than it seems here. In Rome, everyone responded in English--I know that people there are always in a hurry. In Ferrara, I could understand more, but when I spoke, I frequently made mistakes. I'm letting myself off the hook a little bit--it's challenging to learn a new language at age . . .and I didn't work on it as consistently as I might have (something about working). I do need to get more practice speaking and will try to venture into un scambio di lingua via Skype (language exchange) when I get home.
I am able to understand much more on television (a mixed blessing) and was able to follow most of the interview responses.

A presto (see you soon!)

La neve!

View of the church





View of the courtyard ((other side of our living room)

Transition to Ferrara---My project and the town

One of the good things about keeping this blog is that it helps us remember what we've done--with such an extensive trip, I knew it would be hard to remember details, once we get home. We've been saving for this for about two years, ever since I knew that a sabbatic leave might be possible. I also started laying the ground work almost four years ago, when I started seriously studying Italian. Two and a half years ago, I received a travel planning grant from the Honors College that I used to establish collaborations with various Italian conservatories--a year and a half ago, Greg and I led a tour of USC students (many from the Honors College) on a tour of the conservatories and also of some other sights (including performances at La Scala and La Fenice). So, here we are!
The principle project is to compare student attitudes toward music and their perception of their home musical environment--the two variables are country and current status---Italy, Brazil and the US and current and past. So we are in Ferrara where I am working with two professors from the conservatory here. They helped me refine the Italian version of the survey instrument which is a combination of the Zdzinski instrument on students' perceptions of their parental involvement and their home musical involvement and the Fortney Attitudes toward Instrumental Music. The director of the conservatory helped by writing a letter of introduction which I attached to the email I've sent to as many of the students we could find. This week consists of trying to get as many of those responses as we can and also interview at least five students from each group. The latter will provide a qualitative element to the survey which I have found very useful in giving more depth and context to the findings. I will also video my collaborators here so that their thoughts about their system of music education will be presented in Beijing at our presentation at the International Society of Music Education conference.

So--this is not just for pleasure :)

We were planning to take the 10:15 train from Rome to Ferrara, but actually got to the station in time to take the 9:40 (how incredible to live in a place where you can get a train from one point to another---every half hour!) This was the Frecciarosa (or Frecciaargento) which are the fastest trains in Italy--we got from Rome to Florence in less than 90 minutes! When we changed trains in Bologna to get to Ferrara, I called our landlord, Luigi, and let me him know we would be there by 12;30--he had previously offered to pick us up from the station). We found the apartment on HomeAway.com---also where we found our apartment in Venice,

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p170226

It is about the same price as a hotel (not inexpensive, because of the value of our dollar), but it does have a kitchen, laundry and internet---very important things when we travel. We spent less at the grocery store today on food for a couple of breakfasts, lunches and one dinner than we would have in one meal in Rome.

The apartment has tall ceilings--in the 'great' room (living-kitchen combo) there are beamed ceilings and a skylight. Beamed ceilings also in the main bedroom, A smaller bedroom (twin bed) serves as the study. The washing machine is in the bathroom--there are rarely dryers in European apartments, but there is a very large drying rack--we have to wash our clothes on the installment plan---wait until the first load is dry before we surrender clothes we may need.

Downside---it is freezing here and I really don't have the right outerwear---I brought an unlined raincoat with lots of layers because we are hoping it will get warmer but right now there are not enough layers in the world to keep me warm! Luckily, the heat works well in the apartment and we are (get this) right next door to the conservatory.

The main thing about Ferrara is that it was the site of the Este family court---one of the powerful families in Italy in the 15th and 16th century. There is more information than you may be interested in here, but you can see the castle that's thirty steps away from our apartment :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrara

Sigh_The Last Day in Rome

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day in Rome. We took our time getting going, after such a hard day on the feet yesterday. We walked carefully (map in hand, to not make any mis-steps) to San Agostino and St Luigi dei Francesi to see more paintings by Caravaggio

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/caravagg/07/42loreto.html

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contarelli_Chapel

Afterwards, we walked almost to the Piazza Navona and got a bite (tagliatelle and salad). I finally got a compliment about my Italian (whew! and I thought I'd been spinning my wheels for the last four years!). It's been very difficult to speak much Italian because so many people speak English, at least in the tourist areas of Rome--I haven't always been that great at it either because I've been tired and stumble on my words.

After a stroll through the Piazza, we caught a bus to get closer to the Colosseum, where we had a date to meet one of my Facebook pen friends, Serena. The walk from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum was incredible. They close off the road on Sunday and we were walking on the road, in between Trajan's Forum and the Foro Romano, looking up to the Palatine Hill, where we had been a couple of days ago---Spectacular!

We had a very pleasant conversation with Serena, who had taken a bus and Metro an hour to meet us. She is fluent in English, German and Japanese and is now learning Chinese! Afterward, we headed back to the hotel, where I did a follow-up email for my research project. Tomorrow, we take the train to Ferrara and get settled in our apartment there--The rest of the week, I will be working very hard, trying to complete as much of this project as I can.

Ciao a tutti!

Ancient Rome

Today's destination was ancient Rome. We hadn't been inside the Colosseum since 1983 (!) and decided it was time for a revisit. It was a very easy trip from the Piazza Barberini (our nearest Metro stop) to Termini, transferring to another line and getting out at the Colosseo metro stop. Once there, we were approached by young women trying to sell us a tour--the entrance to the Colosseo is 12 Euro, and they wanted to sell us a tour for 20 Euro that would include both that and the Palatine Hill. I was willing to go for it; Greg was more reluctant. We finally 'bit' and waited with a bit of trepidation. . .finally, we did meet with our guide, who was a real pro (in the best possible way). We learned about the historical perspective (the Colosseum was actually built after Nero) and the culture of the gladiators. After a very enjoyable tour and 45 minutes or so of wandering around, we met with David, the 2nd guide, who took us to the Palatine Hill, the birthplace of Rome. The highlight of this was the overlook of the Foro Romano.


We had a quick bite (sandwich from a truck) after the Colosseum tour, so we felt brave enough to trudge on to St. John Lateran, one of the major churches of Rome--there was a bus stop outside the Colosseum and we were there in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, the weather turned threatening at that point and by the time we finished there and caught the subway back to Barberini, it was pouring down rain. A little bit of rest, a little bit of internet, and tonight, we go out for a good meal.

Tomorrow, if the weather is still this yucky, we may opt for the Vatican tour with our 2nd guide, David (who is Australian, but speaks good Italian!)

Trastevere

Today's mission was to explore the Trastevere region of Rome. Trastevere is literally across the Tiber and is considered one of the places you can see medieval Rome (Rome has many layers-ancient, medieval, renaissance, modern).

We walked (in some considerable rain) to the main train station (Termini) and took the H bus. We wanted to go to the Janiculum Hill (fans of Pines of Rome will understand) and were guessing at the stop--we guessed wrong and ended up somewhere outside the region of our map. We got on a different bus and guessed (wrong) again. Third time was a charm and we ended up at a church with a lovely view (San_Pietro_in_Montorio), although the best one is at Garibaldi plaza (we found it by accident 24 years ago). We walked down the hill toward St. Maria in Trastevere

This was well worth our bus adventure. As a side note, in order to facilitate our bus hopping, we bought a giornaliero for 4 euro at a tobacconist shop (you can buy them there or at news stands)/

March 3--2nd day in Rome

Actually, I'll start with dinner last night. We found a restaurant called Pomodorino about one minute from our restaurant http://www.ilpomodorino.org

It wasn't open until 7 so we spent the half hour beforehand at a bar down the street. Most "bars' in Italy also are coffee shops and sell food and pastry also. I asked for 'due spumanti'--served in a champagne class and the barista also gave us two tramezzini---white bread sandwich, cut on the diagonal, filled with egg, tomato and mayonaise. He tried to give us another one, but then we wouldn't have eaten dinner!

Il Pomodorino was excellent food at reasonable prices! I had slices of veal cooked with artichoke, served with mashed potatoes and salad; Greg had polenta with sausage and tomato sauce--they have an on-site butcher who cuts the meat at the time it's ordered. Our waiter, Antonello, was quite charming and we had a conversation about Carolina basketball. . .in Italian! I had to explain that President Obama was a fan (un tifoso--from the word for typhoid!) of North Carolina basketball, not Carolina del Sud. . .

Today, we thought we were going to go the Trastevere neighborhood, but it was kind of drizzly, so we decided to go the Caravaggio exhibit instead. It shouldn't have been that long of a walk, but it was. . .and then it was a 45 minute wait to get in, but it was a nice day (of course, it stopped looking threatening once we changed plans!). The exhibition was incredible , the biggest display of Caravaggio that anyone will see in one place.

My favorites were the Card Sharps: (notice the expression of the guy in the center)
and the Judith and Holofernes


Notice the expression of the servant on the right.

After that, we had some tired piedis (feet) and got ourselves to the nearest non-touristy restaurant---I had spaghetti with artichokes (notice a theme---all the fruit and vegetable markets have them and they look incredible--smallish, with really tight leaves); Greg had a kind of carbonara but it had some funny name. There were several Italian businessmen eating there so we think we got a winner. . Generally we have pretty good restaurant instincts. Again, pretty reasonable, but our dollar is buying a bit more than in past years--still not great.

After that, we walked about five minutes over to the Pantheon (featured most recently in Angels and Demons)

You can read more about the Pantheon here:

We took a bus back, because our piedis were tired by that time. Dinner will be light tonight--most likely, a sandwich at the 'bar' around the corner. We discovered this bar during our last visit, five years ago--a very friendly place. This morning, the barista (I don't know what they're really called in Italy) put some chocolate on top of our cappucino for a treat.

The first gelato! Tiramisu and stracciatella (the latter is the Italian version of chocolate chip).

Assorted pictures around the Spanish steps, including the church at the top of the stairs--our hotel is actually only a few blocks from the top of the stairs.

We're here!

It's a gorgeous, sunny day in Rome (e una bella giornata a Roma!) Going to get lunch soon and force ourselves to stay awake because the weather will be the best it will be today!

Departure date

We're off! We do have a stay of several hours in Dulles, but elected for that rather than cutting it too close. . .Next stop, the Eternal City!