Happy 4th of
July!
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| 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 4th, 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!
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| I don't know why, but everywhere in Italy there are Jack Russell doggies! |
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| 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.
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| 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 4th
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.
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