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| Leaving Davos - headed to Train Station |
On December 28, Ray, Christine and I packed our bags departed for an Italian Adventure!
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| Davos Train Station |
We took the train from Davos to Zurich where we caught a plane to Rome.
We love to travel. One of the aspects of visiting other cultures that we look forward to is their cuisine, so I'm giving you a heads up now...there will be pictures of food. Not only do we love to eat it, we enjoy every aspect of it - how different it is from what we are accustom to, how it looks and smells and most of all--how delicious it is. Soooo...our first stop after we landed in Rome was....a favorite restaurant!
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| First Meal in Rome |
What you see to the left are the remains of our first dinner. The empty bowl had mussels - the most delicious mussels ever cooked in a garlicky broth that you soaked your break in. Yum. After the mussels, I had a pasta dish called Carbonara. Carbonara is a pasta dish that has a slightly cooked egg placed on top of the pasta. When the dish is delivered to the table, you break the yolk and allow the yellow creaminess to drench the pasta. I have ordered Carbonara in the States, it arrives looking and tasting dry-with no yolk to break. When my Roman Carbonara came to the table, I knew it would be great. There was the yolk. This is what Carbonara is all about. It was creamy and delicious and I savored every bite.
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| The Pope speaking to the people at St. Peter's Square |
But Rome has so much else to offer, so the next day-a Sunday, we ventured to St. Peters Square and the home of the Pope.
Each Sunday, Il Papa (the Pope) delivers a message to the people who gather in St. Peters Square. There he is! Do you see him? The little man dressed in white in the window with the banner of the papacy draped on the window ledge. On this Sunday, he spoke about the importance of family.
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| MB & Christine holding up St Peters Basilica |
Lunch in Rome
After our holy time at St. Peter's Square we headed to a part of Rome called Trastevere. OMG...the best pizza ever!
The one on the right is a 3 meat pizza and the one below is a sausage. Delish!
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| Walking through Trastevere After Pizza! |
After our great pizza, we went for a walk through Trastevere and headed toward the Pantheon.
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| Ray at the Pantheon |
Ancient Structures
The Pantheon in one of the ancient structures in Rome. See Ray standing in front of the door? These buildings are so big, it's hard to appreciate how huge they are from photos. The Pantheon was build in 126 A.D. as a temple to ancient gods. Now it is a Roman Catholic Church!!! There is an altar inside the round building with pews.
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| Pantheon at night |
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| Rome Streets at Night |
Christmas Lights in Rome
While Rome is a 'modern' city, many of the streets were constructed for Roman chariots so they are very narrow! Cars are permitted to drive on most of the streets, but large vehicles have a hard time navigating the narrow (I mean really narrow) streets. During the Christmas holidays, the streets are lined with lights. Each street has a different lighting decoration.
Italian Hospitality
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| Morolo |
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| Morolo |
We were invited to stay at one of Ray's colleagues while we were in Rome, so we rented a car, and traveled an hour and a half to Morolo to visit Elisa and her family! There we were treated to an authentic Italian family meal!! What does that mean? Well, the first course was homemade lasagne. It was delicious and I thought we were finished, but no, then came crepes, then when that was cleared, there was sliced pork with peas and a salad, then a cheese platter and finally dessert. The food kept coming and interestingly enough, we kept eating it!
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| Facade of the Church at Monte Cassino |
Monte Cassino
After lunch, Elisa and her Mom and Dad took us to visit a monastery, Monte Cassino about 45 minutes from their home. Monte Cassino was built in 529. Because it is located on top of a mountain, it has been raided over the centuries in times of war as it was wanted as a strategic observation point.
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| Polish Cemetery at Monte Cassino |
The monastery was bombed by allied planes during WWII as it was thought there were Germans hiding there. Unfortunately the only people seeking refuge were people from the villages below. Monte Cassino was completely destroyed during those bombing and then became a good location for the Germans to hide! Monte Cassino was liberated by the New Zealanders, British Indian division and Polish corps. The Polish flag was raised indicating Monte Cassino's liberation. In honor of the Poles who lost their lives liberating Monte Cassino a cemetery dedicated to the Polish soldiers who lost their lives was created.
Returning to ROME
We spent one delightful night with Elisa family and on New Years Eve headed back to Rome for a Roman Celebration!
BOOM!
Romans love
fireworks! They are sold on street corners all over Rome in preparation
for the New Years Eve celebrations. There are open area called piazzas
throughout the city. Restaurants line the piazzas, most with outdoor
seating. After we ate dinner, we began to walk around looking for a
piazza where we would find a restaurant and have a glass of wine while we
waited for the count-down to 2014. Then, as we got closer to midnight,
people began throwing firecrackers into the center of the piazza!!! This
would be totally illegal in the states. There was no official
organization controlling the fireworks, oh no. You could see them being
tossed and people scurrying away. Soon the perimeter of the piazza was
lined with people as the firecrackers were being tossed and exploding in every
direction!!! We are sitting at a cafe, behind a glass wall. There movable walls are used to keep the heat of the propane heaters around the patrons. So, can you imagine - propane, right there where they are throwing firecrackers.  |
| A selfie Happy New Year! |
The next morning we headed to one of our favorite cities, Florence. This was my third visit to Florence and it is the city that Christine came to live and learn Italian 3 years ago.
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| Everything made of leather! |
Leather, Food, Art & Gold
The outdoor leather market in Florence is world known. There are streets and streets lined with leather vendors selling everything you can think of that could be made from leather.
The meat is very fresh and when you buy a chicken-you buy the entire bird, including the head and feet!
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| David |
The amount of historical art is amazing. This is the home of Michelangelo's David. Michelangelo studied human anatomy in order to be able to sculpt the muscles and veins of David. We learned that studying human anatomy was banned by the Church. Michelangelo had to sneak into morgues to study dead bodies. What one does for their passion! Davids hands are huge. There is speculation as to whether David is contemplating his attack on Goliath or he has just finished his attack. Any ideas?
Il Duomo di Firenza
The Cathedral in Florence is called Il Duomo di Firenza. It is huge! Construction began in 1296, and was completed in 1436 - no small undertaking.
The details on the outside are amazing. It is all Italian marble and hand carved. Do you see me standing in front of the door? There is just no way to be able to appreciate how huge this building is without standing there.
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| Gnocchi |
Florence Cuisine
Did I mention food? OMG...there is a restaurant that
Christine found when she lived there that made the most amazing gnocchi dish, so we had to find it and enjoy this dish. It was the best, creamiest and tastiest gnocchi I have ever had.
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| Chocolate Dessert |
Did I say 'Dessert'? This chocolate molten dessert was soooo good.
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| Ponte Vecchio from the outside |
That Shiny Stuff
There is a magical place in Florence: Ponte Vecchio. What is so special about Ponte Vecchio? Gold. Yes, gold. Ponte Vecchio is a bridge over the Arno River. When you walk across this 'bridge' you don't realize you are over water as both sides of the bridge are lined with stores that sell only one thing-jewelry-gold jewelry that is.
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| All that Glitters here IS Gold! |
On the left is the bridge! See all the windows lit? Those are gold shops. And yes, there are three stories. Above the stores (remember this is an ancient bridge) was originally a private walkway for the Medici Family who ruled Florence beginning in 1296. There were private walkways all over Florence for the Medici Family as they weren't liked very much and people wanted to 'take them out!' Now they are offices.
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| Ponte Vecchio at Night |
Superstitions In Italy?
There are so many more pictures I could share. They are all amazing. We took a high speed train to Bologna for a day-trip. Did you know that the University of Bologna is the oldest the world? We never stop learning things. Well at the University of Bologna they performed the first 'approved' human dissections. It was thought to be against the will of God to perform human dissections b/c people had souls and they would leak out so, a priest watched from a balcony window to make sure nothing 'weird' happened (?) The first human dissections were on criminals and actors b/c it was believed they didn't have a soul!!!!! Yep, criminals and actors. Did you know that Shakespeare is not buried in a church cemetery because it was believed he didn't have a soul!!! Now we worship actors!! The world has certainly 'come around'!
Makes me wonder: what strongly held beliefs, that don't look like beliefs-they look like appropriate customs do we partake in today that future generations will giggle or out right laugh at?
Ok, my friends. gotta go! Now remember the question: what does one do with a Christmas Tree when you are ready to dispose of it and you live on the 9th floor of an apartment building???
Bis folgendes Mal!
Marybeth
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