New Post from Henry!

Ciao!

It’s Henry! Happy Thanksgiving!!  Today we took a 1 hour flight to Venice. It’s awesome! You get around by riding a boat in the canals or walking. As in most places in Italy they have gelato here to. Gelato is like ice cream but made with milk instead of cream. Also like most Italian food its better than a lot of American food. Many people here have gelato every day (that group includes us). Over the last few days  we have gotten a lot of pictures and Olivia hasn’t had time to post them so enjoy!

Arrivederci,
Henry!





PS it is Olivia's fault this wasn't posted sooner!
--Olivia

Day Dieci! Vacation is Finite :(

Buon Giorno from Roma!

 Dinner and the Trevi Fountain last night were wonderful! We all really enjoyed seeing Sister Gertrude before we headed out.

   It's nice being back in Rome! Yesterday after the train ride we went through a few churches, including Santa Maria della Vittoria. We saw a famous Bernini statue which made me happy :) Our family headed to 2 other churches here that were oval shaped--very interesting!

Well, we're catching the plane in a few hours, so I'll see everyone soon! I'm going to miss Italy...and gelato :(

Arrivederci,
Olivia

Day Nove!

Buena Sera!

   
Today we woke up early L It’s been fun though. We first wandered around looking for the David statue—that didn’t go so well. We found a replica of it outside the museum where the real statue is though. I found it very impressive! There was also an outdoor sculpture gallery of other replicas, which were very pretty!

   Later we went to a church that Sister Gertrude recommended looking around—Santa Maria Novella. There are just so many churches here named after St. Mary! The church was lovely. The art here never ceases to impress me. This particular church had many, many chapels. I still find that interesting—that families used to commission chapels with paintings and other art to be built in honor of a favorite saint for their family. There was also a Michelangelo crucifix in the church. I’m not sure if I’m right, but I believe that it was one of his earlier works, due to the fact that the body wasn’t entirely in proportion. I think that’s interesting because his other works are very anatomically correct. Of course, it was still beautiful! I was bothered that picture taking wasn’t allowed.

   I’m actually on the train back to Rome right now! I’m going to miss Florence. This train ride is very fun though! We’re riding through the more rural parts of Italy, with the mountains and farms and what not. It’s one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen.

  Tonight we’re going to see the Trevi Fountain! I’m excited; I don’t believe we’ve seen anything by Salvi (I think that’s his name) yet! J We’re also going to meet up with Sister Gertrude for dinner, which will be very nice!

I’ll tell you how the evening goes tomorrow. Or not…we’re catching the plane at 11:50am Roma time.

Well, arrivederci! I’ll see everyone pretty soon J

Olivia

Day Otto!

Ciao from Florence J

   I really, really, like it here! We’ve been having a lovely time. Today we went to the Uffizi Gallery of Art. It was incredible. Words aren’t able to describe some of this artwork.

   We were quite lucky to get to the Uffizi early, because the lines became very long not 15 minutes after we’d walked through the gate! Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures of anything there. But I’ll tell you about some of the art works.

    The first few rooms we went through were very gothic in style. Iconography was big at that time (late medieval times I think). One of the coolest things was the layout of the gallery. The art works in the rooms were laid out in a chronological fashion. My family and I found it fascinating how art progressed through time, with the innovative techniques the artists discovered and employed.

   My favorite room was definitely the Botticelli exhibit. It was so exciting to see all the paintings I learned about in history last year. Two of Botticelli’s most famous paintings—La Primavera and The Birth of Venus—were on display. They were gorgeous, unsurprisingly. Leonardo da Vinci paintings as well as Raphael’s were exhibited. So many rooms had so many beautiful pieces of art, I could go on forever about them, but I don’t want to bore you. I’ll just comment that I absolutely adored this museum!

   After the Uffizi, we went to visit a church, Santa Croce. It was really pretty. I still haven’t become used to the great size of the churches around here. Oh, and of course the fact that there must be 15 church per square mile. Not kidding! Anyway, this church was stunning. First, I was amazed that people other than saints could be buried in a church! At Santa Croce, commoners were well, commonly, buried inside the church. It was quite interesting. Some very famous people were buried there also! By famous I mean Michelangelo Buonoratti, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Galileo Galilei! I was completely blown away.

   Once we had toured the church, we stopped for hot chocolate. It was very odd. I thought it tasted like warm brownie mix. That’s how thick it was! It was then that we realized there was a mass at Santa Croce (literally across the street) in 15 minutes.

   We went to mass, but it was hard to pay attention because it was in Italian. It was pretty amusing; the priest smiled the entire mass. It was a nice service.

  After dinner we went back to the apartment, seeing as we were all rather sleepy. 

Tomorrow we’ll wander through more of Firenze, then it’s back to Rome for us! Then we go home L

Arrivederci!

Olivia J

Pictures soon!

Day Sette!

Ciao!

   Today we spent a lot of time outdoors--but it was nice and sunny, which a good change. Florence is a beautiful city, and probably one of my favorite things about this trip! Everything's much more laidback here.
 
 We walked around the city for a little while, and ended up strolling through the Florentine flea market. It is too cool! Some of the venders were pretty amusing, especially the ones who are really intent on selling you something. There were quite a lot of lovely things there to buy, but clothes, jewelry and leather were the most common items on sale. We had a very nice time trying things on and whatnot. Josie and I both found leather jackets, and Josie also found a ring :) My dad wasn't too happy about spending his time in the city shopping. The pizza here is also really delicious (just like the rest of Italy!).
 
 After we went through the shops, the family headed over to the Duomo, designed by Brunelleschi. The dome itself was stunning! Inside the church (Santa Maria del Fiore) was rather barren compared to say the Vatican, but I liked it. I think that the Vatican and the more ornate basilicas/churches/etc. feel more like art work than a religious place. It's preference I suppose. Henry, Josie, and my dad wanted to walk up to the top of the dome, so they did. My mom and I stayed down. The spiral stairs are nauseating! Apparently they had a really stunning view of the city though, and they were able to watch the sunset over Florence. From what my mom and I could see from the ground, the interior part of the dome was covered in pastel frescoes. I thought they were pretty, but the guide book described them as mediocre. Probably just in comparison to the Sistine Chapel.
  
   We (my mom and I) stepped outside for a bit while the others were in the dome. There was a riot going on! I should say protest, but riot seems more fitting. It did appear that the group had police escorts though, which I found interesting. They ran through a small-ish street then they all sat down! Josie, Henry, and my dad said that they even threw a big banner promoting their cause--I'm not sure what that was--off of the dome. The police weren't too happy about that.

   Tomorrow we're going to an art gallery called the Uffizi! I'm very excited :)

Buona sera,

Olivia :)

Again, pictures soon!
  
  

Day Sei!

Ciao!

  It rained again today, and unfortunately it didn't really let up. We tried not to let that get us down though!
  
   We then walked through Venice to Piazza San Marco, to the Basilica there. We wanted to walk around the church in the light--but it was raining, and cloudy. Oh, and it didn't open for another 20 minutes. So, we strolled around Venice for awhile, trying to find rainboots (which I did--yay!) there was 2-5 inches of water covering many streets. Luckily, Venice puts up temporary boardwalks where the flooding is really bad.

  After we found rainboots, we started walking back to Piazza San Marco. That didn't go so well. When I said Venice is  a terrible maze, I really meant it! We did eventually get back to the Piazza, but we had missed our tour of the Doge's Palace. Thankfully, the ticket lady let us go to the next tour. We toured the palace's inner chambers--the offices, the council room, and even the torture chamber. Doge's apparently had a lot of power! It was pretty interesting, except our tour guide was not very nice.

   Then we rushed back to the hotel to get our bags, jumped on a water bus and hurried to the train station. We were headed to Florence! Everyone was happy to be leaving Venice. The train ride was relaxing, especially compared to Venice. I was kind of disappointed it didn't look much like the train in a favorite book of mine. Our family enjoyed it though!

  When we arrived in Florence, it was considerably warmer (though still cold). It took a really long time to find a taxi, because most only took four people. We eventually found one though! After arriving at and checking into our apartment, we toured the streets of Florence. Apparently the Italians call it Firenze...pronounced fire-n-zay. We found a cute little restaurant to eat at, and it was delicious! Josie and Henry had calzones that were huge. Huge meaning bigger than the average plate. We all cleaned our plates though!

  We found ourselves semi lost trying to get back to the apartment--recurring theme, anyone? But once again, we miraculously arrived where we wanted to be! This was our first day sans gelato :( We still had a really lovely day, though. I think Florence is going to be a lot of fun!

Still missing everyone! Buona sera,

Olivia :)

PS pictures will be up eventually! :)
  

Day Cinque!

Happy Thanksgiving!

  Today we woke up very early to take a cab to the airport. We arrived in Venice (or Venezia as the Italians call it) not too long after the plane landed. I could get used to the really short flights. We then bused over to a water bus, which took us to the islands.

Venetian Airport. It was FREEZING.

   After we dropped off our bags at the hotel, we roamed around the city. Venice’s layout is like a really awful maze. We’ve gotten lost already! It didn’t make it better that the city floods (because of the canals) from about 8am-2pm. All the Venetians wear rain boots, and some of the tourists wear plastic bags with rubber bands around the ankles over their feet. From what we could see, San Marco Square was beautiful.

This is not a swimming pool. This is San Marco Piazza, under water. :(

Tourist with plastic bags over their shoes! :)

   We went to find lunch, and sitting down was great. Later we window shopped and saw lots of people selling blown glass art pieces. Everything in the city is gorgeous, especially the glass.

In addition to glass art, they sold lots of funny masks. I was partial to the duck. :)

   The best part of the day was the gondola ride, hands down. The gondoliers look just like the ones in the movies—straw hats and striped sweaters—but they don’t sing. However, they do know a lot about the city! Our gondolier told us about that there are 411 bridges in Venice, and over 100 islands that make up the city, which is pretty amazing.

Our gondolier! He was pretty cool :)

   After the gondola ride we walked through Saint Mark’s Basilica. The church was gorgeous! The ceilings and walls and even the floor was covered in mosaics. It was definitely a sight to see.

The Basilica was really, really gorgeous--even from the outside! :)

   We ate dinner later, and it was quite yummy. Not at all like a traditional delicious Thanksgiving dinner (hey there to everyone in PA!), but it was very good.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Tomorrow we head to Florence J

Buena Sera!

Olivia

Day Cuatro!

Ciao!

    Today we went to the Vatican…again! J Well, the Vatican City actually. We walked very, very quickly all the way there to have an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. I was under the impression that we were going to a mass given by the pope, but it was more of a blessing in the “Papal Meeting Hall.” We were taken aback that the atmosphere was more like a (good) pep rally rather than a mass. That being said, it was wonderfully exciting!

   Josie and I took a picture with the Swiss Guard! He wasn't too happy with us doing that, but we liked his outfit :)

There were groups from all different countries that had come to see and be blessed by the pope—Americans, Chileans, I think Russians, and especially Italians! Many came in groups, and they were loud with cheers and singing. Oh my goodness, the Italians sang so loudly! One group from Italy had a small band with them. There were tubas, clarinets, guitars, an accordian and a drum. It was so funny to listen to them sing.

The very amusing band:)

  

 When Pope Benedict XVI walked in the room (we were actually pretty close to him…exciting!), the sounds that filled the hall were explosive. We first listened to a different bishop (maybe cardinal?) for each language present there read a passage from Matthew’s Gospel. The focus quote of the reading was “My yoke is easy, my burden light.” I think. Then, the pope welcomed everyone—in each language. Afterwards, each cardinal/bishop read a thank you speech to the pope from each country (in each language, of course). The cardinals always recognized the groups there. When each group had their name called, they would either cheer, or sing—as a few choirs and the band did. It was very amusing, because even the nuns were cheering!

Pope Benedict XVI reading to the audience.

  Once the “pep rally” was over, we toured St. Peter’s Basilica. That was possibly the singularly most beautiful church I have ever been inside. Everything that I would have sworn was a detailed painting turned out to be an even more detailed mosaic. There was writing in Latin all over the ceiling and sides. A dome was above virtually every chapel (which probably amounted to at least 10). Another incredible sight was the art. Bernini crafted the tabernacle with a chapel, in the shape of a temple. It was stunning. We also saw the Pieta by Michelangelo, which I was incredibly excited to see! I would try and explain better, but art like this is hard to describe. We then went up 320 stairs and an elevator to the top of the Basilica's dome, and had a really great view of the city! We could also see the inside of the dome and look down into the church, which was equally amazing.

The incredible Pieta :)

As we went up the steps to the dome, everything got all twisty! Josie and I are standing up straight.

   We also went down to the tombs of all the popes, which was a very interesting and moving experience.

After that, we were all tired, so we got gelato! I’m convinced gelato is one of the best things on the planet at the moment.

   That adventure took up most of our last day in Rome. Other than getting totally lost a few times, we really have enjoyed our stay here! Now on to Venice…very early in the morning.

Arrivederci!

Olivia J

Day Tre!

Buona Sera!

   Today we explored Ancient Rome, which was incredibly exciting! After eating breakfast... Actually let me tell you about breakfast! I had bread with Nutella, which is not really interesting. BUT the people here are crazy about their Nutella. They even have Nutella flavored gelato (which I will also tell you about). I find it quite amusing!

   Anyway, after eating breakfast we headed off to the Circus Maximus, where chariot races used to be held in ancient times. The place had been eroded and ruined, but it was easy to imagine what the stadium-like complex would have looked like in its glory.

As you can see, the stadium's seating is no longer there, but the grounds are very wonderful.

Behind the Circus Maximus (on the left of the above picture) you can see more anciet ruins.

These are supposedly the private residence of Septimus Severus. I think he had a pretty good view of the races from there.

  Later in the day, we went to the Roman Forum, and Palentine Hill. It was stunning. Everywhere you look, there are arches and columns and other marble remnants on the ground.

This was at the Roman Forum. The whole place looked like this!

I really, really loved this building. I think it is the Temple of Romulus. The bronze doors are original!

After the Forum, we went to the Palentine Hill, which was really neat. The Farnese gardens were exceptionally pretty.

Then, we were off to the Colloseum. Of course, we were all extremely excited about that!

This is actually a view from the Farnese gardens, but I thought the Colloseum looked really cool in the background!

We stopped to eat lunch before the Colloseum. Instead of calzones at little sandwich shops, they just fold a pizza in half! And like most Italian food, it is delicious. :)

Inside the Colloseum, everything was INCREDIBLE. I won't bore everyone with the history, but we did learn so much. I'll just put up some pictures I think.

I'm not entirely sure what the point of this cross was, but I think a pope might have actually put it there. My attempts at translating the Latin probably weren't perfect.

The gladiators and animals that fought were kept beneath the stadium. This platform was built very recently to allow people to get a closer look.

FUN FACTS: Did you know...
-women could also be gladiators?
-some men chose to be gladiators?
-there were simple elevators for the animals even in Roman times?

My mom thought it was funny we were all wearing North Face jackets. The Colloseum looks pretty though!

One more picture!

This was our favorite family picture at the Colloseum. The rain clouds were quite foreboding, but the sun peeking through the clouds hit the building at such an angle that it was perfectly illuminated.

I don't have time to put more pictures up (they take forever to load and it's 11:45 here!), but let me tell you about the Basilica San Giovanni Laterno very quickly! It's the Pope's Church--most people assume that St. Peter's Basilica is--and it is stunning! There must've been 10 different chapels within the Basilica. I have more stories about there for later.

Buona notte!

Olivia :)

Guest Writer: Henry Till (Day Due...Continued)

Ciao!

It’s Henry! Yesterday we went to the Spanish Steps. It was amazing! Here are some of the photos we got while we were there.

Apparently you can drink the water from the fountain because a lot of the people did this lady filled up a bottle full of it.

Those last three pictures were of me and my sisters at the fountain at the bottom of the steps. At the edge of the fountain there was a platform that went into the water, that’s where we were standing in the pictures. Once you hiked up all of the steps you could look over a hand rail and see a breathtaking view. There were a lot people up there taking pictures of the view and what they had walked up and then…there was this guy.

In the first picture the man looks normal right? But not in the second picture. I mean who carries there cat in a cage on the back of there bike with a bunch of roses in a wicker basket on the front of the bike. If you look carefully you can tell that the cat is sitting on a piece of carpet in front of an ihome. To top it all off the man was drinking wine with a straw and smoking a cigarette. Later on a man came up to him and took a picture with the cat. As we were walking towards the steps (we walk everywhere) we saw a golden Egyptian “statue” with a can in front of him when you put a Euro in the can he bows and you can take a picture with him. Here is our picture.

I'll write again later!

Ciao ciao,
Henry

Day Due!

Salve!

  Today we walked around a lot more...except it wasn't raining much, so that was wonderful! But I'm going to start with breakfast, because it was very good. My mom and dad got some things from the bakery--salami, bread, and biscotti. I'm fairly postive Italians make the best bread ever!
  Well after breakfast, we headed over to the Vatican City. Actually, we got minorly lost first. But once we got inside the walls (the Vatican City is an independent state), it was very fast going through the line. The tour was really incredible. We all had little audio sets with earbuds, and the tour guide spoke into her audio set so we could hear her even from pretty far away.
 
 (I'm going to put lots of pictures on this post, because I really don't have many words to describe the beauty of these works of art.)

Ok, ok, I know this isn't a work of art (well, that's debatable), but Harry Potter is international! I guess I knew that, but I didn't expect to see it in Italy. Seeing it advertised on the bus was pretty great.

One the way to the Vatican, we could also see Saint Peter's Basilica. It was very ornate from the outisde.

Once we actually were able to go inside the Vatican, our first stop on the tour was a courtyard within the grounds. This pinecone statue was there because pinecones are apparently a symbol of life.

As you can see, we all have our earbuds in. We're in the same courtyard. (Josie decided to jump in the picture at the last second.)

The Vatican had an incredible collection of Roman/Greek statues of gods, goddesses, and heroes. This is the goddess of war--if it's Greek, she's Athena, and if she's Roman, she's Minerva.

From a bit of a distance away, this piece of art looked like a painting. When we got closer, you could tell it's a mosaic! It was amazing how tiny the bits of tile are.

One of the halls (there were lots of those!) I believe named after Pope Clemens (all of the halls were named after a pope) was 120 meters long. The ENTIRE ceiling was painted! Sometimes, the best art was on the ceiling, which was unfortunate for my neck. Somehow, the artists managed to use perspective to create an illusion of architecture and moldings. We were astounded.

This was one of my most favorite works of art in the Vatican: The School of Athens, painted by Raphael. Let me tell you, this painting is even more beautiful in person. AP Euro definitely helped me understand this painting--I was so happy to already know what the guide was going to say!

So this wasn't really a work of art, but it was really fun to walk down!

We weren't allowed to take pictures, but we also went to The Sistine Chapel. It was so wonderful--as I expected, but small--which I didn't expect. The guide said that Michelangelo is considered the only genius of art, as Raphael sort of followed Michelangelo's style rather than creating his own. The colors were delightfully vivid, and the atmosphere was very serene. Maybe serene isn't the right work (security kept telling everyone to be quiet.) But the colors made it seem like it was supposed to be that way. I was surprised to find that Conclave is usually held there!

Wonderful news: I'm having a guest writer write a post for the blog! :) His name is Henry Till. He will be writing about our experience with the Spanish Steps,  a man with a cat, and an Egyptian "statue."

Anway, we had a great day!

Arrivederci,

Olivia

Day Uno!

Ciao!

I'll spare everyone the details of our flight--it was rather uneventful, but very long. Once we arrived in Italy though, everything was incredible!
   Riding home from the airport via taxi, the first thing I noticed as different was the driving. The pedestrians here don't blink an eye when a car whizzes by them not 5 inches away! It's so scary! And the drivers...they take risks all the time. I admit my eyes were closed a couple of times on the way to the apartment.
   After we settled in at the apartment, we heard some really peculiar buzzing noises. We had no idea what they were, so we decided to go explore Campo de Fiori, the piazza right next to us. When we walked out the door though, we discovered a Post-It note with Sister Gertrude's name and phone number on it! Sister Gertrude (previously called Sally) is my mom's friend from college. We ran out into the piazza to look for her, but we couldn't find her. Long story short, we decided to go to church and meet her there. The church is directly across the street from us, and it is beautiful! I  was amazed that such a small little church--there must have been 15 people in mass with us--could be so ornate. That's the other thing I noticed: there is at least one Catholic Church around every single corner. Their way of attending mass is different than ours also.
   Once the 30 minute mass had ended, we finally met Sister Gertrude! We showed her around the apartment, and listened to some of her stories. Her way of life here is very interesting, as a Benedictine sister. Later, we went to lunch at a restaraunt called Baccanale. Guess what--the spaghetti is good here! Unsurprising, I know. While at the restaurant, a downpour began. Thankfully, most of our party had umbrellas. Every time it rains here, 5 or more venders run out into the piazza and sell umbrellas. It's pretty funny.
   We then began our trek to the Pantheon--through the rain, no less. We stopped at one little church to look at our map. A lady talked to my mom to find out if we spoke English, and said she wanted to show us a cemetery in the church. My mom, Josie, and I were very confused, but we followed her anyway.

OK: This blog is already really long, so I'm going to put some pictures with captions instead of describing everything. If you're curious about something, ask me and I (or more likely a guidebook) has more information about it! :)

This is a cross in the chapel of church we visited. It was called Santa Maria  dell'orazione Morta. The chapel is dedicated to everyone who has died, and especially those who died unknown. I think it was built around the 1600s. The church was very morbid.

This is the same church. As you can see, it's kind of creepy. The big motif here is bones. If you look closely, even the chandeliers were made out of bones.

This just above the cross made of skulls. The writing is in Latin (like virtually everything else in the churches here! ). It says "EGO SUM RESURRECTO ET VTIA",  meaning "I am the Resurrection and the Life"

After that church, we went to see some Bernini fountains on the way to the Pantheon. I have no idea what this particular fountain is called, but it is stunning.

This is in the Pantheon, which was originally a Pagan temple, but is now a Catholic Church. The massive opening in the ceiling lets rain in...and we experienced quite a bit of rain. Some of Italy's earlier royalty is buried here, along with Raphael (whom the Italians call Raffaelo).

Once the rain fell, it landed on the floor. We were pretty surprised there was no basin to catch it, but this was neat.


One more little story: After the Pantheon, we ventured out to yet another church, it was a Dominican one named for St. Catherine of Sienna (one of the three female doctors of the church). We saw her tomb there, and I believe some Caravaggio paintings (incredible!). I wandered into a room with some pretty statues, and a Dominican monk was there. He started talking to me in Italian, and I tried speaking back (it went quite well, surprisingly). Anyway, he opened a gate to another little chapel within the huge church for me. He explained that two Conclaves had gone on in that room! Pope Nicholas and another pope were both elected there. Then he showed me a shrine/chapel dedicated to St. Catherine of Sienna. It was very small (probably not 8 feet wide or long), but also very pretty. I explained to my mom, and she was thrilled. My father was appalled that I went off alone with a stranger. He was fine after he realized it was a monk.

That's all for this day, though I could tell lots more! Also, sorry for putting this up late--the internet connection here is a bit iffy.

I miss everyone already!

Olivia :)

Getting Ready to Go!

Hey there! My family is gearing up for the trip right now. :) This is my first time blogging, so I'm still getting the hang of it. I'll try and update with posts and pictures as much as possible, depending on the places with internet access in Italy. I hope this is semi-enjoyable to read. We leave Saturday, just 2 (ish) more days!