Photos - Roma

Inside Saint John Lateran.
The Roman Forum.

La Fontana di Trevi!

Hard Rock Cafe.

St. Peter's Basilica.

Inside the cupola of St. Peter's.

On top of the cupola.

Inside St. Peter's.

In St. Peter's Square.

A really cool painting on the ceiling in one of the rooms in

the Vatican Museums.

The Tiber River at night. That's St. Peter's in the background.

Christen, Lenore, me, Michael, Katie, and Erin!

St. Paul outside the Walls.

A Rocking Time in the Eternal City

Roma.

Do you hear the gladiators' swords clashing, the church bells ringing, the people bustling? Yeah, me too.

Oh, where to begin?

One thing that struck me about Rome was how present and visible the Roman ruins are. There are excavation sites right in the middle of everything. You never know when you round that next corner if you'll find an ancient temple. Sometimes the ruins find you, and sometimes you need to know where to look to find them.

San Clemente is one Church among thousands in Rome. However, what sets it apart is its unique history, which is still visible. Underneath the building you enter is another church, and then underneath of that is a ancient Roman house. Talk about old.

The Roman Forum covers the entirety of the Palatine hill, and houses tons and tons of ruins. It's a nice stroll, if you're into rocks and have a vague idea of what things are. Erin and I were fortunate enough to have Michael, the classics major, there to tell us about everything. And sometimes we even listened to what he had to say! Your ticket to the Forum also gets you into the Colosseum, but, alas, it had closed for the day. I'll have to save it for next time.

The Forum continues across the large Via dei Fori Imperiali with Trajan's column, etc. Normally Italians want to save every piece of their long and illustrious past, but then there are others who have no problem with slapping a road down on top of Roman ruins. Thanks, Mussolini.

Friday night found us three Americans in the Hard Rock Cafe. The menu is just about the same as in the US, and burgers and brownies have never tasted so good. We forgot, for a while, that we were in Italy at all. The really loud group of Italian girls having a birthday party next to us brought us back to the reality of the situation, however.

Sometimes places don't live up to all the hype, and sometimes they do. I would put the Spanish Steps in the first category (granted, however, there were no flowers because it was November) and the Trevi Fountain in the second. It is absolutely beautiful, and if you can find a spot to sit down, after getting all your pictures taken and such, I would definitely recommend just pausing for a while to listen to the water and to watch the people and to admire the art.

Rome is filled with piazzas, notable among them Piazza Navona and Piazza del Popolo, which are filled with people. Actually, there isn't much of Rome that isn't filled with people, except maybe churches on Sunday mornings. Speaking of which, let me tell you about all the churches we saw!

Ok, maybe not all of them. That would be a lot. We saw each of the big shots: the Pantheon (yes, it's a church now), Saint Mary Major, Saint John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and, of course, St. Peter's. First of all, the Square is huge. And not a square... After getting through security (tip: get there before 9:00 AM), Erin, Michael, and I went up the dome. It is an opportunity not to miss. However, that being said, prepare yourself, because it's not actually a walk in the park. The stairs become narrower and narrower, and the spiral tighter and tighter as you ascend. The first stop is inside the Basilica, and offers you a stupendous view of the largest Catholic church in the world. Then you keep climbing until at one point you have to lean sideways to account for the curvature of the dome you're inside. And, if you can make it through all of this, you are rewarded with an incredible vista of the vastness and beauty of Rome.

Inside St. Peter's is amazing. As you can imagine, every surface is covered with mosaic, sculpture, painting, colored glass, and gold. It's hard to believe that you're seeing the real Pieta, and that you are standing over St. Peter's grave, the rock on which the Church was built in quite a literal sense. One thing you need to appreciate how well-lit it is, especially compared to the standard dingy-ness of European churches.

Then we explored the Vatican Museums. Fantastic, but pace yourself. It takes a long time (at least three hours) to get through because of all the treasures it contains. Michelangelo's works were stupendous, and I personally enjoyed the hearty collection of Egyptian stuff and the animal room. I am sure I undervalued things because of my ignorance of art, but it was all very pretty! Well, not all of it. Some of those Roman busts were pretty ugly...

One of the most blessed experiences I had the whole weekend was going to the Vatican on Sunday morning for the Angelus. Turns out the Pope wasn't there, but then guess who was? Katie, Christen, and Lenore! Along with the entire group of Franciscan students. Now, if that's not God's grace, I don't know what is: running into three of your best friends in St. Peter's Square on a Sunday at noon. It rocked.

Signed, the Sengenblogger

P.S. I forgot to mention the freak ten-minute hail storm that occured when we were near the Colosseum, which was followed by the Jonas brothers walking by, five minutes later.

Pictures di padre

Lesser-known fact about Padua: there are canals!
Michael and I in fron of the Basilica of St. Anthony

Dad and I in the botanical garden.

How is that baby even up there?!

Michael, me and Dad inside San Domenico.

Inside of the dome in the Duomo of Florence.

Fall leaves and the Ponte Vecchio, which, I learned,

was the only bridge in Florence left standing after the Second World War.

Dad and I at the Piazzale Michelangelo, with

the Duomo of Florence behind us.

O mio babbino caro...

My Daddy came to visit me in Bologna! While we spent a good deal of time exploring Bologna, the churches, the library, the markets, the parks, we also went on two day trips, to Padua and to Florence.

Padua



Of course, Padua always sticks out in our minds because of St. Anthony, and Michael, Dad, and I did get to explore the Basilica of the saint, but not until after we saw Giotto's masterpiece: the Scrovegni Chapel.


First of all, getting into the chapel is quite the procedure. You need to make reservations at least twenty-four hours in advance for a fifteen-minute stay inside the small building. But then they want you to be there fifteen minutes early for the fifteen minutes you spend watching a video on Giotto and the chapel/having the air santitized, and then they let you in for fifteen minutes, but you'd better get out as soon as the timer goes off!


All of the ladies working at the adjacent art museum are very...passionate about their job, which means in this case that they want you to see all of the art, but in exactly the right way. Every time we would come to the beggining of a new hallway, a lady would approach us, "Have you already seen the chapel? What time's your appointment?" Then, pointing, "Well, you go to this room, then this room, then that room, and then you exit there. Make sure you're at the chapel fifteen minutes before!" And that's great, when it happens once or maybe twice, but try ten times. They would just appear from behind the art, always telling us where to go and how to exit to go to the chapel. Nevertheless, we did make it to Giotto's chapel on time, and saw all of the frescoes of the lives of Joachim and Anne, Mary, and Jesus, concluding in a giant (it took up the whole back wall) rendering of the final judgement.


St. Anthony's Basilica was beautiful, and it was refreshing to be in a church full of people. The basilica was full of colors of all different types: three different marbles, mosaics, frescoes... there was hardly a white space in the whole building! Another interesting part of the church was the chapel of relics. Three giant display cases filled with gold reliquaries containing relics of many saints, but mostly St. Anthony (including his incorrupt tongue).


Padua is a lovely little town, with a big university, idyllic streets, and picturesque canals. The three of us wandered through the open air market in what was once one of the biggest piazzas in Europe and one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world before heading back to Bologna.


Florence

I didn't think Florence would be as great the second time I went, but I was wrong. First of all, the weather was fantastic, with the sun shining on the River Arno and the leaves changing color. Second of all, I was able to see a lot of things I wasn't able to the first time around, like the outdoor leather market and the inside of the Duomo. It, like most major churches here, is filled with very important masterpieces and has a very long and impressive history. Hoever, even without knowing all about that, it is still a wonderful place to be. That's the point, right?

The walls of the Duomo were not as busy as those of the Basilica of Saint Anthoy, rather, they were mostly white, with gray stonework throughout. Nice stained glass, some good statues, but what really took the cake was the inside of the dome: depicted is an amazingly brilliant rendition of the Last Judgement (that seems to be the theme, doesn't it?). The only thing is, you have to crane your neck to look at it, but there's so much to see that you need to take breaks or else dislocate a vertebrae. What I really wanted to do was just lie on the floor to get a more complete view. But I also didn't want to be asked to leave the church, so I restrained myself. Dad and I went to Mass in the baptistery right across from the Duomo, and were pleasantly surprised to find a stunning display of gold-backgrounded mosaics covering the entire ceiling. Hint: normally you have to buy a ticket to see the baptistery, but if you happen to be there in time for the 11:30 Mass, I would recommend that instead.

In our wandering through this fair city, we stumbled upon one of the florentine specialties: the outdoor leather market. Florence is in a textile region, and you can tell. Coats, purses, shoes, gloves, everything you could want made out of leather and more is there in an extensive network of booths covering several streets. Adjacent is a gigantic fresh food market, inside a large, warehouse-type building. It's amazing the things you find when you aren't looking for them, like how we found the best view of Florence ever.

We were walking along the Arno, when we looked to our right and saw some steps going up a hill. Reaching the top of those, we found another set, then another, and another, until finally we saw where they led: a large piazza and a fantastic opportunity to look down on the city of Florence from above. It's called the Piazzale Michelangelo, and you should write that don on your list of things to see, if, in fact, you happen to have a list of things to see...

Signed, the Sengenblogger

Pictures - Austria

Ten-thirty at night? Let's go to the airport and rent a car!The ladies, still lovely after driving all night.

I have confidence!

So I tried to make it the mush-iest picture ever. How'd I do?

The Leopoldskron-Palace, where they filmed the boat scene, etc.

On our tour, we drove out into the lake district near Salzburg.

Good decision: we also sang songs along the way.

Apple streudel!

(Around the table from the left: Michael, me, Alex,

Michelle, Clare, Rodolfo, and Allegra!)

That red tower on the right is the convent where the real

and fictional Maria von Trapp lived as a novice.

Do-Re-Maria!

Salzburg at night.

Amazing view from the top of the Untersberg mountain!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Once upon a time, Maria got the crazy idea of roadtripping through Austria. The idea gathered steam with her friends, and off they went in late October, seven friends, two cars, three days.

The voyage began with an all-night drive from Bologna to Vienna. Somehow they managed to make it through the long, dark hours on the highways and the busy, virtually nameless streets of rush-hour Vienna the next morning. They found a parking garage, and, not quite understanding how the tram system worked (a.k.a. how to buy a ticket) decided to trust their luck and ride it for free, which actually worked quite well.

Our seven young travellers found an ample breakfast in one of the charming Viennese Kaffeehausen, and then, charged up with coffee, they set off to enjoy the beauties of the former seat of the Hapsburg empire. White marble, green bronze, and gold paint covered each of the magnificent buildings in the historical section of town, and they stumbled upon an army festival, complete with pretzel stands and tours of helicopters. Michael and Rodolfo being vastly outnumbered by the five girls, the group chose to go on a tour of the Kaiserapparments, which included a large (which is hardly a large enough word to describe it) collection of flatware, an exhibition on the Empress Sisi, and a walk through the imperial appartments. Lots of gold, everywhere. For dinner the troop descended upon an unsuspecting little restaurant and ordered six weiner schnitzels. (Clare had to be unique.) Then it was back to the cars for a short little jaunt (three hours) over to Salzburg.

Our seven Americans were immediately taken with the city of Salzburg, starting with the hostel (it's called Jufa Hostel). Free breakfasts are priceless. Quite literally. Whereas Vienna was grand and impressive, Salzburg had more of a charming, lived-in feel.

The highlight of their Saturday was, of course, going on the Sound of Music tour with the lovely tour guide Sue, who led the bus in singing...well, maybe not. But they did see almost all of the places in which the classic film was shot, like the Mirabellgarten and the gazebo (which unfortunately was locked due to an eighty-year-old woman pretending she was Liesel and a broken hip)! And ate apple streusel. And learned interesting facts about the movie and Austria, such as: every third wall in Austria is yellow, and Gretel almost drowned in the boat scene. Next time you watch the movie, look for her, floundering in the middle of the screen.

That night they stumbled upon one a classic Austrian restaurant, and ate lots of bratwurst and other types of sausages. And Clare finally got weiner schnitzel. For dessert, a few brave souls tried the Sachertorte, a very compact chocolate cake.

Sunday morning, Michael and Maria woke up earlier than the rest of the group to "climb every mountain." They ended up on a ski lift that took them to the very top of the snowy Untersberg mountain, with breathtaking panoramic views of the countryside, dotted with quaint little towns. On the way down, they spied, high on the hill, a lonely goat. Julie Andrews would be proud.

Alas, the time had come to say so long, farewell, auf wiedershen, and goodbye to the lovely country of Austria. Back into the cars, trying to dechiper how the directions, written in Italian, drenched in crazy German street names, cooresponded to the poorly-marked road signs. They made it back to Bologna, and all lived happily ever after. Up until now, that is. The End.

Signed,

the Sengenblogger