Day FOURTEEN: Onward to Rome via Orvieto

Day FOURTEEN-Thursday: Onward to Rome via Orvieto

Happy 4^th of July!

We woke up in Florence, but our heart and soul are in the Palisades!
God Bless America

We may be in en route to Rome, but our heart is in Pacific Palisades.  I wonder how the runners in the 5K and 10K survived without our cheer section?  Will our neighbors ever forgive us for abandoning the 20+ year tradition of donuts and coffee on our front lawn? Who won the best decorated house award? (every year all I get is an Honorable Mention).  And I wonder what the folks on the corner of Drummond and Toyopa were thinking when they saw Sam Lagana’s daughter at the microphone instead of me announcing for the parade?  I expect a lot of feedback on our absence from our neighborhood buddies…samples should be “It wasn’t the same at all without the Simon’s” and “Cindy – there was a clammering to close down the parade since you weren’t there!”.  Something along those lines I’m sure was the main topic of discussion on the 4^th, not Ed Asner as our parade mascot or the Simi Valley marching band or the kids on bikes with the people with dogs close behind.  But I digress…

Onward to Rome!

What a beautiful ride we had, passing by vineyards of course, but also field upon field of sunflowers. 

We made a stop along the way to visit the “ancient Etruscan village of Orvieto”.   Situated way high up on a pedestal of volcanic rock, our tour bus could only drive up part of the way.  Then we exited and entered a funicular to ride up even further, gazing at the expansive views of the countryside and Volscian mountains in the distance.  Then we got on a town bus to take us further up narrow and winding cobblestone streets to the square, where there sat the wonderous Italian Gothic Duomo di Orvieto.  Pope Nicholas IV blessed the first stone in 1290.  Many of the finest artisans in Italy worked on the construction of the Duomo, which took 30 years to build. Honestly, you would think after a while I’d be like, “enough churches…seen one seen them all” but I must admit each one has been more magnificent and stunning in its own way.  I think if I was a teenager and on a school tour, maybe I wouldn’t appreciate the mastery and craftsmanship that has gone into the creation of these European cathedrals, but as an adult I sure do.  

On the day of our visit, there was heavy sound equipment being set up on scaffolding in front of the Duomo.  Turns out a well-known vocalist, accompanied by a full orchestra, would be performing tonight under the stars, and then fireworks!  Because the tech guys were testing the sound, the most beautiful music was playing through the huge speakers the whole time we were there. Very special.

Bill and Willie decided to take a tour of the Orvieto caves.  These caves were man made, having been constructed by the earliest settlers of Orvieto, the Etruscans – who predate the Romans.  The caves were built to tap into deep sources of water, which was a necessity since there were no streams or lakes on top of the high hill.  When I asked Bill afterwards how the tour of the caves was he said, “It was entirely forgettable”.  When I asked Willie he said, “It was great!”

I’ll confess when I heard our tour guide make the suggestion that some of the Go Ahead folks may be interested in taking a tour of the underground caves, I immediately went to work persuading Bill to take Willie, saying this was something Willie would really enjoy!  Bill took the bait and off they went.      OK I admit I had an ulterior motive in sending the boys off to be occupied for the next hour or so, as I had noticed the little village of Orvieto included street upon street of charming shops with local pottery, art, jewelry, and crafts of all kinds.  I even found a cotton house-dress for myself, which the ladies from Dollies know only too well I love to wear while stitching and chit-chatting! 

  

I don't know why, but everywhere in Italy there are Jack Russell doggies!

Someone had had enough sightseeing...

A few hours later and we arrived in Rome.  My first impression was not a good one.  It is a big city with many people that is true, but it’s also such a dirty city, with trash everywhere and graffiti everywhere even in the nicest shopping streets. I know most of the buildings in Rome are VERY old but what I expected to be sparkling fountains had grime on the statues and litter all around it.  NYC is a huge city, yet it seems so much well cared for.  Maybe it’s just a bad first impression – I hope so.

The United States Embassy

We all went out for a group dinner, and our tour guide surprised us by ordering everyone who wanted one, a glass of this lemon drink "Limoncello" which southern Italy is famous for. This liqueor is said to be over 100 years old, and is traditionally served chilled after dinner as a digestive.  It was her toast to us for Happy 4^th of July!  Several members of our tour group are in their 20’s, but most are 40-some parents and then a few grandparents.  Despite the age difference, it was apparent that the Go Ahead folks were ready to PARTY!  This was only the beginning of what turned out to be a MOST festive evening – they all went onward into the night for a tour of Rome under the lights, while Bill, Willie and I headed back to the hotel.  I was up in the lobby working on the blog when they ambled in around midnight, saying Rome was amazingly beautiful at night.  Maybe I’ve got Rome figured wrong…we will see.

Day FIFTEEN: All over Rome

Day FIFTEEN- FRIDAY: All over  Rome

Despite the late night, the Go Ahead group was up, cheerful and in good spirits and ready to go at 8am.  We were all looking forward to our first stop which was a tour of the Colosseum.  This incredible work of engineering is both awesome and beautiful to behold. How in the world did humans build this gigantic structure? 

Willie makes a new friend...

I have to say Willie and I enjoyed roaming around inside and out and didn’t pay much attention to the special tour guide, but Bill did as he eats this history stuff up.

Here’s what he had to say:  The colosseum was constructed in the first century, around 70 AD and took approximately 9 years to complete.  Given the fact that the structure is massive, and seated 50,000 people, this time frame completion must be some ancient world record! The guide was very responsive to all our questions, which included “ Where did the emperor

sit? (answer: Wherever he wanted) “Where did the lions enter? (answer: they were brought in from the street in cages and were housed underneath the floor and then brought out within 2 or 3 days as by that time they were ferocious and ready for battle!).  Speaking of the floor, it was made of wood and had all kinds of rooms underneath.  Because wood can be slippery it was covered with many layers of sand.  The Latin word for sand is arena…and that is why site of sporting events today got the name arena! The colosseum was in active use for well over 200 years and depending upon the period was the home to a broad variety of entertainment, including naval battles, gladiators, and lions eating Christians.

Our delightful Go Ahead tour guide Allesandra

Mama Mia it gets hot in the mid-day.  I loved visiting the Colosseum, but I also really loved returning to our air conditioned bus!  We had a quick lunch of more outstanding pasta (prepared al dente over here) and after some quiet time, we ventured out just the 3 of us – Willie, Bill, and I – to see some more of the sites in Rome.  First stop the Trevi Fountain “Three coins in the fountain…” I can just hear Pat singing the tune.  Good news as this ancient fountain is all clean and bright white, with sparkling water spouting out everywhere!  Very very crowded with masses of people but no big deal as it was such a gorgeous site to behold. 

Willie and now Bill, make a few new friends...

Among other sites we took in in the area included  the store Zara, which is 6 stories high! Bill and Willie were mumbling something like, “What part of Roman history is this place?” but I paid them no mind as up the escalator I went.

Willie was insistent on returning to visit a building we had driven by on the tour bus, so in our quest to do as much of what everyone wanted to do, we taxied over to Palazzo delle Esposizioni.  This memorial was erected in honor of Victor Emanuel who unified Italy in the late 1800’s. Because the building looks like it was constructed in layers, it is nicknamed "The birthday cake".

I had to add this photo ...wish I could have gotten a close up photo - these fellas
were all over Rome. How do they do that?

As we ambled along our way, we happened upon a building which Bill recognized as Collegio Internazionale Del Gesu, or International College of Jesus. It was a poignant moment, as the last time Bill was in Rome was with his father whose foundation, The William E. Simon Foundation, supported and continues to support this College. Their mission is as follows:
International College of Jesus is a house of formation for the Jesuits who come four continents (Asia, Africa, America, European Union). We are gathered in the same vocation inspired by the charism of St. Ignatius Loyola to work together under the banner of Christ.
Everyone in our company works to receive the name of Jesus, serve the Lord alone and the Roman Pontiff His Vicar on earth, assumes a solemn vow of chastity, and is persuaded deeply to be part of a community established for the specific purpose of dealing in the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine, and the propagation of the faith.

Admittedly I was getting a little cranky as I was hot (despite a nice breeze), and now hungry. One of our Go Ahead friends had said a visit to Piazza Novona was an absolute must…apparently when in Rome everyone says, “Let’s get together – I’ll meet you at the Piazza Novona” so that is where we went for dinner.  It is a huge oval city square with three fountains, one at each end of the plaza and one in the middle.  The one in the middle is called The Fountain of Four Rivers, and was built in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Interspersed amongst the square were possibly 50+ artists who had set up their little stands and were busy at work – some sold watercolor paintings, some oil, some photography, some jewelry, and some were “Get your portrait done in charcoal for 10 Euro.” Tempting…maybe tomorrow. It was really fun to browse around all the art work, and some of it was pretty good.  It put me in a better mood, and after my meal of spaghetti bolognese I was in an even better mood.

Tomorrow: The Vatican

God bless, and Good night.