Giorno Sette

I think I slept for a few hours last night.  The events of the previous day topped off with the rush hour drive through the insane traffic of Rome put my adrenals into overdrive.  

We sent Rod and Glenda off to the airport for a flight departing at 11 with a recommended 8am arrival at security.  Based on our last trip out of Rome I would say that is good advice.  Once there they can relax and have, what I recall, a pretty decent cappuccino in the terminal.  



I finally got to see our hotel for the first time this morning.  It is actually spectacular.  Parioli is a upper class residential district north west of the center of the city.  Our hotel is new within the past year.  In stark contrast to the rustic habitation of the last week, this is ultra modern and very comfortable.  The hotel staff are very friendly and best of all there is a bottomless cappuccino available for 3 euros in the morning.  

After sending the Rallo's on their way we walked to the nearest subway stop at Euclide-destination Vatican.  Subway's are pretty much the same in most cities so the basics were pretty familiar.  When we transferred from our first line, we apparently missed the ticket scanning and there was no attendant nearby to ask questions.  When we tried to exit to the street we were stopped by two attendants who tried to make this an international incident.  They took our passports and then proceeded to attempt to scam us out of 100 euros each.  We finally settled on 50 for all four of us and with my ears on fire, we set out for the Vatican.

Vatican city was a mass of humanity and the walk to the museum is a gauntlet of hucksters interspersed with some helpful people who directed us to the entrance for those holding reserved tour tickets.  Once inside, we waited for our tour and chatted with some other pilgrims.  Our tour started more or less promptly at 10:30 with an "English" speaking guide.  We suffered significant "post tour audiologic stress syndrome" after a few hours of explanations of the historic wonders we were observing.  Anything above eye level was beyond hope of seeing since we were in a dense school of fish all trying to swim in the same direction, keeping the guide in sight and squeezing a procession 30 people wide into a doorway wide enough for two.  We all agreed that it was a worthwhile tour but were glad it was over.  

Taking photos in the museum is fruitless unless you want to be trampled.  Photography inside the Sistine Chapel is prohibited-vietata!



 Now we are in the Basilica and photography is consentita.  No work of Michelangelo could be more stirring than the Pieta, below. 
 

 



 
We exited the museum and Sistine chapel into the Basilica of St. Peter, again wall to wall with tourists.  We did get to see the highlights inside and then walked into the square to see the Basilica from the best vantage point.  




 
 


As we were already on the "wrong" side of the river we headed to Trastevere, the town on the west bank of the river "beyond the Tiber".  It has great character with cobbled, narrow, serpentine streets lined by medieval homes converted to pubs and restaurante.  We found a place for pranzo and enjoyed a hearty lunch of bruschetti, salad, ravioli in a truffle sauce and eggplant parmigiano, accompanied by a bottle of "house wine" which was labeled with a picture of the front of the restaurante.  

 


We continued our walk about Trastevere until it was time for the vigil Mass at Santa Maria established in 337 AD.  Before Mass we sat on the steps of the fountain in the middle of the square and watched people.  

Santa Maria in Trastevere

By now we were all pretty beat from walking and decided to forgo the subway and take a cab back to Parioli.  That required a bit more walking but Nace and I were able to remember where we last caught a cab here in 2011.  

The cab ride home was fun as our driver spoke pretty decent English.  Thus we were able to pick up on some of his observations as we drove through the city.  

Back at the Hotel, we washed off the grime of Trastevere and walked about our neighborhood in search of a light evening meal.  Joe spotted an osteria with a smorgasbord selection of authentic Roman antipasti served with a glass of wine.  Nace and I had the calimari stuffed with cheese and capers, Ellen had an eggplant/pasta dish and Joe had a fruit and cheese plate which got lost in the intepretation.  The waiter brought him a selection of cheese wedges and a bowl of intact apples, pears, and oranges more appropriate for a still life than eating?   Nace and Ellen finished with a dolce of artistic pasteries and a blackberry granita.  Back to the hotel we were in bed for the first time before 11 since we started the trip.  



Tomorrow we will head to the Colosseum.  There may also be some shopping on the itinerary.

Buono notti

Giorno Sie

The sub-title to this little saga is- I can't make this stuff up.  

Last night we had our last meal with our adorable Tuscan family.  Barbara, Madalena, Lucciano and Antonio gave us a very wonderful last dinner and we had a little photo session before we hit the hay.  

 

Madelena-"Mama"

Barbara, Madalena and Antonio

Barbara, Madelena, Antonio and Lucciano

 

 It was also apparent that Glenda was still not feeling quite up to par.   By morning it was obvious that things had gone in the wrong direction for her health as we met Rod in the courtyard with a look of concern.  We decided that the best option was to take Glenda to the hospital and this was the first evidence of guardian angel intervention.  Lucciano, father of Barbara, father in law of Francesco, advised that we head to the ospitale in Siena, roughly 15 miles away.  We made our way in the midst of the AM rush hour traffic and Siena is clearly not a small city.  By the time we got to the ER Glenda was in pretty bad shape but still managed to apologize for her appearance.  We carried her into the ER and within a few seconds it was obvious that we were expected. It turns out that Francesco, husband of Barbara, son in law of Lucciano, is a Radiologist at the Siena ospitale.  Luciano had called to advise of our arrival and we got very quick attention.  It also appears this is not a typical local community hospital, as the building was immense.  Glenda was now under the care of a full blown university medical center. 
 

The machine cappuccino was actually quite good and only 45 c.

Ellen and I hung out in the waiting room and within a few hours Glenda finally got a definitive diagnosis, cacoli renali, kidney stones!   Most amazing was how far off our guesses were regarding the cost of the ospitale visit.  I would have expected something in the four digit area but none of us was even close.  ZERO!  Amazing.

We left the hospital with some prescriptions but, of course, it was now mid-day and the pharmacies were closed for their 2 hour break time.  So we headed back to Scannano, ate a quick lunch and packed the car and headed to Rome after a tearful good-bye to our Italian family and Fiona.  We decided to stop on the way in Rapalano, got lost and asked a local guy where the pharmacy was.  He spoke better English than I, with a Brittish accent and proceeded to call his friend the pharmacist and tell him we were waiting for him to open up, pronto.  Meds in hand we hit the road to Rome.  

By the time we took the entrance ramp to the A1 autostrada, both Rod and Glenda were fast asleep in the back of the van so we drove almost to Rome before stopping for fuel and a snack.  

Soon you will understand the true meaning of the sub-title.  I proceeded to re-fuel the Mercedes diesel.  Of course I selected the GREEN pump handle.  Everyone in America knows that Green is for diesel, right.  Sbagliato! (wrong) in Italian.  Green is "benzine" i.e. gasoline.  The station attendant did not point this out until I had pumped 45 litres into the tank (88 euros worth).  Of course you cannot run a diesel on gasoline and thankfully I did not start the thing or we would have been in even worse shape than we were already.  I went inside to pay and asked how to contact someone to drain the tank so we could start over.  Within 20 minutes a Ferrari mechanic, Danielle,  comes to our rescue at the behest of the station attendant.  

We pushed the car to the parking lot and he proceeds to remove much of the top elements of the engine to gain access to the fuel pump.  Next he produced a pump and hose and drained the fuel at the rate of ~18 litres per hour.  Thus we were not going anywhere for a while.  We engaged in conversation, he in Italian me in English to pass the time and finally the tank was emptied of all gasoline and he reassembled the car, pushed us back to the pump and we re-fueled with another 100+ euros of diesel.  The car started and he hung around to make sure it would run and then we went in to pay for the gas plus his little fee of 200 euros for the repair work.  So this little fill up cost me about 400 euros, which is somewhat north of $500 US.  

By now it is nearly 5 pm and we are back underway to Rome.  The plan was to drop off the luggage at our hotel and then I was going to return the car to the airport and take all manner of transportation back to the hotel.  Joe was kind enough to come along and we picked our way around Rome in the Friday evening rush hour.  We dropped off the van and headed to the terminal to catch a train into Rome.  We found the train, bought two tickets and waited about 20 minutes for the train to Termini.  

Again, keep in mind the sub-title.  We were barely one stop of 8 or 9 into the journey when the train stops in between stations and we are instructed to exit, cross under the platform and board the train on the next platform.  There is a massive crowd standing outside of the alternative train, all smoking and gabbing since this train is also not going anywhere soon.  We were fortunate to meet a young man who appreciated our confusion and gave us some helpful information.  We decided to sit on the train rather than wait for the mass rush to the doors and perhaps find ourselves stranded.  After at least a thirty minute wait, we finally started to move.  Joe and I were still oblivious to the fact that this train was NOT going to Termini but would end up 30 km outside of Rome!  Again, our guardian angel sought us out and advised that we should exit at the next stop and catch the Blue line of the Metro subway to complete our journey to the Termini train station.  We took the subway for three stops, got to the train station and returned to the surface for the final leg of our journey by cab to the hotel.  

Our little run to the airport and back took a mere 5 hours.  

While we were away, Rod and Glenda re-booked flights departing for the US tomorrow. We are truly grieved about the interruption of their trip but understand.

Nace and Ellen enjoyed our fabulous new hotel, ordered pizza and drank the last bottle of wine from our Tuscan adventure.

Tomorrow, Rome awaits with a 10:30 tour of the Vatican.  
Ciao

Giorno Cinque

This is our last day to enjoy the idyllic Tuscan countryside and we are already dreading saying goodbye to our wonderful hosts Barbara, Madalena and Lucianno.   We had infirm plans to drive to Florence today but after hearing Fiona’s description of Assisi we decided to abandon Florence in favor of a pilgrimage.  Fiona had been to Assisi a few days ago and wanted to return.  We were pleased to have her join us and provide her great intuition and companionship.   

Unfortunately, we had to abandon Rod and Glenda at Scannano due to a colonic catastrophe.  We took a quick trip to the Rapalano pharmacy to provide Glenda with some “motivation” and our depleted band of five set off for Assisi.  The drive was almost entirely autostrada and we can now include Umbria in our travel history.  After passing through several mountain tunnels we came into a vast flat valley and drove past Lake Trasimeno.  We also passed the city of Perugia and in just over an hour we were climbing toward the ancient mountaintop town of Assisi. 

By pure divine coincidence we were getting to see Assisi at a perfect time.  Pope Francis, who chose St. Francis as his namesake, will be visiting next week in commemoration of the Feast of St. Francis on October 4^th.  Thus Assisi was clean and tidy in preparation for the papal visitation. 

The approach to Assisi is quite spectacular.  Unfortunately, I am having technical issues with the camera I bought specifically for this trip, which will be evident in the photos. 

Our stroll through Assisi was interrupted by two devotional stops.  The first is a basilica dedicated to St. Clare who followed the example of St. Francis and abandoned her families' fortune to serve the poor.  The church serves as the site of enshrinement for the crucifix that is believed to be the inspiration for St. Francis’ vision of God asking him to “build his church”. 

We were told that the tour office at the basilica de Francesco would reopen at 2pm so took the opportunity to find a place for lunch.  Again, at Fiona’s recommendation, we enjoyed a restful pranzo at a ristorante that overlooked the vast Umbrian valley below.  Lunch was exceptional with salads and homemade dishes of ravioli, gorgonzola pasta and tagliatelle with cingale (wild boar).  We washed it down with an Umbrian vino rosso. 

Walking to the end of Assisi brought us to the Basilica of St. Francis.  Sadly we were unable to procure a guided tour of the Basilica, however Fiona was again most helpful in pointing out the high points which included a descent to the tomb of St. Francis.  It was quite moving to witness the devotion and reverence of the hundreds of pilgrims from all over the world. 

Back up in the main Basilica we saw a private Mass given for a group of Polish pilgrims.  I was again reminded that no matter where you travel in the world, you can appreciate exactly what is going on in the Mass regardless of the language and I caught myself reciting the prayers, in English, of course.

We hiked back to the parking lot with the obligatory stop for gelato.

Our drive back to Scannano was interrupted by a few GPS miscues and we received the answer to our prayers in Assisi-Habemus Poopum was declared by Glenda.

We are now sitting on the Scannano patio watching another magnificent sunset while sipping vino rosso and recounting the events of our last day in the Tuscan countryside. 

Apologies for the late blog postings.  Our internet service is better than anticipated but my time to edit and upload photos and attempt to write something intelligent has been seriously compromised by too much Tuscan sun, fun, food and wine and lack of sleep.

Basilica di Santa Chiara (St. Clare)

Dedicated to the founder of the order of the Poor Clares, this Umbrian Gothic church is simple, in keeping with the nuns' dedication to a life of contemplation. 

Clare, St. Francis' partner in poverty, founded the Order of the Poor Clares. Catholicism's purest example of simplicity is now glorified in Assisi's beautiful churches. In 1939 Italy made Francis and Clare its patron saints.

Basilica di Santa Francesco

Pranzo atop Assisi

Especially for Bill Volmer-I have not yet spied another Steeler fan but here is a Assisi native sporting colors of his favorite team

St Francis "statue"

Fiona witnessing St. Francis coming alive!

Preparations underway for the visit of il Papa

Rocca Maggiore-ancient refuge atop Assisi