Italy

When in Rome… Rome in Italian is called Roma.

The funny looking “urinal” next to the toilet is called a bidet. Europeans use these to clean “hard to reach” areas.

We crossed the famous Tiber River on our way to Vatican City.

A section of Vatican City is surrounded by a medieval wall.

We waited in line to enter a part of the Vatican that is only accessible for those who go through security and have tickets. This section of the Vatican has a large courtyard, endless corridors filled with art, and the Sistine Chapel.

The colossal bronze pine cone was cast in the 1st or 2nd century. Sometime around the 8th Century, it was placed in front of St. Peter’s. In 1608, during the construction of the present basilica, the giant pine cone fountain was dismantled and placed where it is today.

We entered the Vatican’s art gallery, which consists of endless corridors of statues, paintings, mosaics, tapestries, and other amazing works of art. Surrounded by so much beauty, it was no wonder Chris saw “the light.”

The Sistine Chapel The Creation of Adam

The Sistine Chapel was full of tourists, but there was only a low hum of voices. Most people were very reverent and respectful. Art was everywhere. Michelangelo's famous paintings covered every inch of the walls and ceiling. I was extremely surprised that we were allowed to take photographs, even with flashes. So I did take some pictures. However, I didn’t want to spend my entire time looking at this marvelous place through a camera. I also took a video of the room. There was also a small pipe organ that looked out of place among the medieval art. The organ is relatively new, dedicated in January 2003. It’s a Swiss pipe organ that was specially designed so it could be moved out of the chapel to an upstairs room.

I spent so much time looking up that I almost missed the beautiful tiled marble floor.

The Pope has his own private entrance into the chapel. We were told no one enters or exists through these doors unless he is a Pope or is invited to join the Pope into the chambers beyond.

These two pictures were copied from the internet. I did not have a personal picture that would show the scale of the chapel.

The Pope has a private corridor that connects the Sistine Chapel to Saint Peter’s Basilica and then over to his Papal Estate.

The Papal Swiss Guard was founded in 1506. One must be a Swiss citizen trained by the Swiss military with good conduct, have a professional or high school degree, and be a single Catholic male. The recruit must also be at least 5 feet 9 inches tall, between 19 and 30 years of age, and easy on the eyes.

The Basilica is a huge church with alters everywhere you look. It was packed with tourists the day we were visiting. St. Peter’s is open to the public since it is an active church. We saw many people in confession and several services going on in side chapels/alters.

My grandfather, James Herbert Terry, has told me of his time in Italy during World War II. He would often times be stationed to sleep in Italian families’ homes with two other soldiers, one called Ralph and the other called Lewis. Both happened to be Catholic, while my grandfather is Baptist. So when the Italian families would introduce their guests, my grandfather said it was always the same. “Radolpho, buono. Luigi, buono. Giacomo, no buono.”

The large alter that is in the middle of St. Peter’s is thought to be built over Saint Peter’s grave. Regardless, this alter is very gorgeous and a tremendous work of art itself.

Pope John XXIII (Died June 3, 1963)

Outside view of St. Peter’s Basilica

Vatican City is unique. It is its own entity. Italy does not control it. Rome does not control it. The Pope is Vatican City’s ruler and it is considered to be its own country. Saint Peter’s Basilica and the large courtyard outside are open to the public and can be accessed without going through security.

Rome had the most “traffic.” It could be very dangerous crossing city streets. Vehicles of small stature would speed out of nowhere!

Cars were parked in all kinds of ways. Traffic circles were nightmares! I don’t think I could have been paid enough money to even try to drive in Rome.

We toured the Coliseum on New Year’s Eve. There was a concert and huge celebration planned with the Coliseum and Forum used as the background. Our tour guide was highly upset about this event. He told us that the Coliseum and many of the structures in the Forum were crumbling and the vibrations of the music would only cause more damage. We actually saw and heard evidence of the deteriation of these 2000 year old structures. A few stones fell while we were touring. Many sections are fenced off to keep tourists safe from falling debris.

This cross is a memorial to all the Christian martyrs who died in the Coliseum at the hands of the pagan Roman Emperors. However, our guide said that the Christians who were martyred in Rome were not killed inside the Coliseum.

Only the gladiators were given “honored” deaths inside the Coliseum. Prisoners were paraded through and jeered by the crowd, but executed outside the walls of the structure. Here is the gate through which such Christian martyrs would have passed on the way to be executed.

This is one of the gladiator holding cells. The cell in the back held starving animals such as lions, tigers, and bears. (Oh my!) The trough would be filled with blood to make the animals even more eager to feed. The gladiators would be released first so that the hungry beast would follow him into the arena for the crowds to watch the fight.

Outside the Coliseum, there were some not so nice “Roman Soldiers.” Tourists were to pay to take pictures of them. I snapped a few shots without paying. Our tour guide was extremely funny about it. He said, “Keep walking. They are not real Roman Soldiers. They only want your money!” Above: The Roman Road

This is an ancient church built on the site of Paul’s house arrest.

We left Rome on January 1, 2009 and traveled to…

Florence Florence in Italian is called Firenze.

I loved Florence! Our hotel was very gorgeous and extremely accommodating. The staff always knew our name and addressed us as soon as we walked into the hotel. I just loved it!

What a view! From our window, a Louis Vuitton was to our left and a pub was straight in front of us. A man would sit outside and sing all night long every night. We were not sure if he was homeless or a drunk.

To our right was a real medieval castle. The ground level was open to the public. The upper floors had been converted into museums and offices.

Our room was right below the flags. The building to the right in this photo is the castle. The arch way is part of a private passage that runs throughout the city. The royal family (Medici) used this passage way to safely travel from their city dwelling to their country estate. For the right price, you can walk the length of the passage. The flip-side… My grandfather traveled through Florence during WW II. Chris and I both recognized that this is the other side of the archway! Papaw took this picture looking toward the spot I would be standing years later. And I took my picture looking toward the spot my grandfather stood to take his picture decades before mine.

The passage way runs a zig-zag through the city and then crosses the Arno River on top of the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval bridge and was the only bridge to escape destruction when the Germans retreated from Florence. Supposedly Hitler ordered it to remain…which may be the only “nice” thing he ever did. This “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree was the main decoration in the middle of the medieval castle across from our hotel.

Bust of Benvenuto Cellini, a famous Florentine sculptor (but otherwise, not a nice man!) It is located on the Ponte Vecchio.

Florence is close enough to the coast that seagulls frequently follow the Arno River inland. I’m not sure how I took this photo…I will probably never take another that looks like a painting.

Known as the Duomo, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore was designed in 1294 with the first brick laid in 1296. However, due to changes in government, architects, expansions, and the plague, the cathedral took 140 years to complete. It was consecrated by Pope Eugene IV on March 25, 1436 (the first day of the year according to the Florentine calendar). The site is even older. An ancient early Christian church had been built on the site and was torn down to accommodate the newer and much larger structure. The outside façade was begun in the 14th century but not completed until 1887.

The Palazzo Vecchio was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. It has been the town hall and site of local government throughout its history. A copy of Michelangelo’s David is flanked by Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus at the front entrance. Both of these statues were being restored while we were visiting Florence. The above picture is from the internet. It shows what the entrance usually looks like to visitors.

This David is a copy that sits atop the hills overlooking Florence. The real David is in a museum. We saw it, but were not allowed to take pictures of it. An interesting tidbit… The hand down by David’s side is not empty. He is holding the stone that will kill Goliath.

Is this Michelangelo’s face? Legend has it…Michelangelo was sitting outside the Palazzo Vecchio waiting for an appointment with the city council. He was kept waiting so long, he became bored. Sitting with his back to the wall, he reached around behind himself and etched out this profile of his face.

This is the Fountain of Neptune by Ammannati.

Savonarola was a cleric who chastised the people of Florence for their love of profit and creature comforts. He held a "Bonfire of the Vanities" in which citizens were urged to burn their combs, mirrors, books, games, wigs, paintings, and other symbols of the sinfully secular. Eventually, his continued attacks on the church in Rome led to his excommunication. Savonarola was then imprisoned in the tower of Palazzo Vecchio overlooking the Piazza della Signoria. Later he was burned at the stake in the piazza. A plaque now marks the spot.

Pegasus Holding Medusa’s Head by Benvenuto Cellini

While in Florence, I called Papaw and told him where we were and what we were seeing there. He asked, “Are there still statues everywhere?” I said, “Oh yes! Everywhere I look there’s a statue.” Without missing a beat, he asked, “Well, are they still naked?” I just laughed and told him I had been blushing the whole trip.

The Uffizi Art Gallery is one of the absolute best art museums to visit. Chris and I toured it twice (mainly because we did not know it was on one of our guided tours.) But it was worth seeing and the guided tour rushed us to see only certain pieces and we would have missed all the other great works of art. Here is a list of artists and some of their “works” that were on display: Leonardo di Vinci (The Annunciation, The Adoration of the Magi) Sandro Botticelli (The Birth of Venus) Giotto Titian (Flora, Venus of Urbino) Michelangelo (Doni Tondo) Raphael (Madonna of the Goldfinch, Portrait of Leo X) Cimabue Duiccio Simone Martini Paolo Uccello Piero della Francesca Fra Filippo Lippi Andrea del Verrocchio (The Baptism of Christ) Hugo van der Goes Piero de Cosimo Albrecht Durer Parmigianino (The Madonna of the Long Neck) Caravaggio (The Sacrifice of Isaac) Artemisia Gentileschi Rembrandt Van Rijn (Self Portrait of a Young Man, Self Portrait of an Old Man, Portrait of an Old Man)

This is Flora by Titian. It was my favorite painting at the museum. Chris said the woman in the painting looked like me. The Uffizi is also home to two Roman sculptures: Arrotino- 1st Century BC Two Wrestlers- 3rd Century BC

Michelangelo’s Home Our tour guide lead us to Michelangelo’s home in Florence. She apologized greatly for the graffiti. However, graffiti is EVERYWHERE in Italy. It was really sad to see that these historical places were not respected.

The Tuscan Landscape The hills above Florence are absolutely gorgeous. I wish we had spent more time in the country there. On our train rides, we did get to see farm land and communities. If we ever get the chance to go back, I want to travel through this region of Italy in a car and get to see little villages along the way.

We went exploring the first night we were in Florence. We happened into the Piazza della Signoria and right into an American Indian display! I got so excited! I told Chris, “Americans!!!” So I went over to speak to one. To my great disappointment, he could barely speak English, was from Peru, and most of his buddies were Canadians.

This is where the water reached during the flood in November of 1966. Many of Florence’s historical sites were damaged.

Sadly, our stay in Florence came to an end. We boarded a train and headed northeast to…

Venice Venice in Italian is called Venezia.

Venice is one of those places that I can say, “Been there. Done that. I’ll skip a second time through.” Of course, Venice and I did not start off on the right foot. It was toward the end of our journey. I was tired. We arrived late in the evening. It was freezing! No one in the train station could speak English except one man. Our water taxi did not show up. We finally used the public boat system. We got off at our stop (Rialto) where we were told to cross a “little” bridge. Chris and I crossed the bridge we saw and walked in the direction we were told to go. After a few trips down dark alleys, we retraced our steps and crossed back over the bridge. We found a nice police officer who directed us. Later that evening, I had an allergic reaction. Chris found a pharmacy vending machine. He bought what he thought looked like a box of Benadryl. It was cough drops. The only true joy I had that night was finding out there was a Burger King only 50 feet away from our hotel!

Venice is actually a group of islands. The main area for tourists is San Marco. Chris and I stayed on San Marco, very close to Rialto. There are canals that run throughout Venice. Some are big and some are small. There is only one island that can accommodate vehicles. The rest of the islands only have boats and legs as ways of travel.

The Rialto Bridge was built in 1591. It has lots of stairs. Trust me!!!

The pigeons loved tourists. If you held your hand out, at least a 30 to 40 birds would swarm on and around you. Many more would congregate toward you. However, the police were very strict and asked people not to feed the birds. Apparently locals consider them a menace.

The statue at the top of the bell tower turns every hour on the hour on January 6th. (Day of the Epiphany) This holiday is the only one in which the statue is turned. The bells are very loud! We were in the tower when the bells began to chime.

Saint Mark is supposedly buried in the church. He never actually traveled to Venice while he was alive. However, his body was transported there for safe-keeping and burial after .

Glass Blowing… We visited the island of Murano, where a family of glass artists have been passing down their trade for hundreds of years.

Beautiful Lace… Next, we traveled to Burano, an island famous for its lace, beautiful houses, and the birthplace of musical composer Baldassare Galuppi.

Deserted Island… The island of Torcello was once home to 30,000 Venetians. It is the oldest continuously populated region of Venice. However, the landscape slowly turned into swamps and multiple rounds of malaria took their toll. Now the population is around 20 people. The only evidence of the islands prominent history is the two medieval churches resting there.

Venice does flood from time to time. The first days of December 2008 brought some of the worst flooding in 22 years. The walkways were still out in the street when we visited the city only a month later.

The picture below was taken on December 1st during a Venice flood. My picture is to the right. It was taken on January 5th, only a month later.

Our Italian honeymoon came to an end on January 7, 2009 as we boarded a plane to fly back to the USA.

Reflections… Italy is a country rich in history and culture. I would love to go back someday (especially to the Tuscan region.) The Italian people we met were friendly and helpful. They are close knit in their families and communities. Like most European cultures, nothing gets moving until mid-morning and supper is not served until around 9 p.m. And meals are for socializing…courses are served over a 2-4 hour time period while people visit with each other. So if you ever find yourself in Italy, look around at the wonderful sights, ask questions, eat some Italian food then find a McDonald’s, use the bidet with confidence, buy a souvenir or two, and enjoy the relaxing Italian pace.

Italy

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