Vatican City

Ok, so I'm a little behind on my blogs, so I'm going to attempt to catch up so as to keep from getting even further behind this weekend.

A week ago Friday, my friend Nick and I finally went and explored Vatican City. We had been to Saint Peter's Square on more than one occasion, but had yet to venture inside the basilica or the Vatican Museum. So, after Tuscany, we decided it was time to set aside an entire day and get it done. I had been wanting to go to the Vatican before the parentals came anyway, as it will be a good thing for them to do while I am in class all day. As Nick said, there is so much to see and do there, it's like Catholic Disneyland.

I will admit that we did a bit of a power tour of the museum, but we still spent about 3 hours inside and saw a lot of incredible art. It was huge and incredibly awe inspiring. However, without having been there, it is difficult to put into words, so I'm going to leave you with pictures, which, of course, don't really do any of it justice, but are better than my inadequate attempts to describe it.







































Next, we moved on to Saint Peter's Basilica.

A slight, side note: we had to wait in line in Saint Peter's Square for probably about 10 minutes in order to get in. While we were waiting, it started to rain, a little at first and pretty quickly it was coming down fairly significantly. As I stood there in the warm, almost still summer, rain, I could feel my Washington blood come out as I laughed watching the hundreds of tourists scatter as if they were afraid they would melt at the slightest sign of rain. But, I digress.

We made it inside the basilica and it was amazing. If nothing else, the Catholic Church definitely knows how to get things done. Saint Peter's in an incredibly massive, marble basilica with more altars, confessionals, and statues than a person could possibly imagine. I'd say we spent at least a good hour or two exploring the basilica, including the crypt - hard to find something quite so surreal as being surrounded by numerous Popes.





















Finally, we decided to do the dome climb. I'd heard that the view from the top of the cupola is one of the best views of Rome. The rain had subsided, although it was still rather windy, so we hiked our way (no elevator, thank you) to the top. First stop, the inside of the cupola. Absolutely incredible.











After getting plenty of pictures we trudged on ahead towards the top. Despite the less than stellar weather, the trek was definitly worth it once we finally reached the dome. An unobstructed view of the city and Saint Peter's Square that can be found no where else.















All in all it was a very long, successful day. I'd been looking forward to Vatican City for a long time, so I was very happy to be able to finally explore it a little. A great day of incredible art and history, all lined with intense reflection and gratitude for such an opportunity.

Peace be with you.
Ciao, Ciao!!

In Memoriam

I apologize for the slight diversion from all things fun and Italian, but this weekend brought some heavy news and since I'm so far away this seems like the least I can do.

After 13 years, my dad had to put our beloved Australian Shepard Owen down on Saturday. He was an old dog who had a good life and we were lucky to have had him for as long as we did, especially this past year. Unfortunately that does not make letting go any easier.

He was the dog that I begged and pleaded my parents to let us have and while they may have been on the fence at the time, I know they couldn't possibly imagine him not being a part of our family now. He was neurotic to the core, but we loved him in spite of it. In his prime, he could play frisbee for hours, long after you'd given up, and still go for more. He was insanely smart and intensely loyal. Above all, he was a people loving dog who loved us just as much as we loved him.

I know he is somewhere better with our dog Berry playing endless amounts of frisbee, but I still find myself longing for his annoying yelps, whining for attention, and incesent begging for treats (thanks, Dad!).

You were the best dog we could have ever asked for Owen. I hope you know just how much we all love you and how greatly you will be missed.

A Weekend Under the Tuscan Sun

Last weekend was the SAI inclusive trip to Tuscany and it was incredible!! Because it was a SAI trip there were obviously a lot of people, but it was nice to be able to merely show up.

We left bright and early Friday morning from Piazza Trilussa on two chartered buses for what was approximately a 2-2 1/2 hour ride to Lake Bolsena in northern Lazio (the county that Rome is in). The lake itself is tucked away in the mountains between Lazio and Tuscany and is Italy's largest volcanic lake. We started off with a "light" lunch (bread, salad, & pasta) before heading out on a boat tour of the lake and its two islands, Bisentina and Martana, created by the now dead volcano, Vulsini.











After our ride around the lake we were taken on a tour of the medieval town of Bolsena. Very small, but we did get a tour of the Basilica di Santa Cristina. The story goes that in the 4th century an 11-year-old girl, Christina, died a martyr during the last persecution of Emperor Diocletian. In the first attempt to kill her a large stone was tied to her feet and she was thrown into Lake Bolsena to drown. Miraculously, as evidenced by the footprints in the stone, she was able to survive by standing on the floating stone. (She was later killed by bow and arrows.) We were able to go into the grotto (to actually see her tomb) and catacombs of St. Christina.











Also contained within the Basilica is the chapel of the miracle. The chapel contains three of the four stones from the eucharistic miracle of 1263 (upon the breaking of the host, blood flowed and stained the stones).




From Bolsena we then loaded back on the buses and headed on to our final destination in Toscana, Residence Terme di Sorano. The resort was absolutely beautiful and peaceful (something you don't get in Rome)! I stayed in a 2-story, 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom Tuscan villa with my roommates and two other girls from the Sienna program. The villa was crazy huge and had a great view!!







Dinner was a delicious four course meal served in La Pieve di Santa Maria dell'Aquila, a 13th century church (that is no longer used for religious purposes). It was a great setting and the food was amazing!! I am still dreaming of the gnocchi!!











To top things off, the resort is known for its thermal waters which are completely natural and originate from volcanic activity deep underground beneath Lake Bolsena. It apparently takes around 80 years from when the rainwater is absorbed into the ground to the moment the water resurges back to the surface as hot thermal springs rich with minerals. We were told that the healing benefits of the thermal waters have been recorded since Etruscan times and Italians today still go there for the healing properties of the water.





Saturday was the day of optional activities and tours of the towns of Maremma (an area comprised of Sovana, Sorano, & Pitigliano). I was in group B with our activity not until 4:30, so we left the resort at 8:30 (more like 8:45-9:00) for our tour. We started in the smallest town of Sovana, only 100 people.







From there we moved on to the Etruscan ruins and Necropolis - very cool, before we finally ended up in the town of Pitigliano. As you can see by the pictures, the town is basically built into the hill - the view of the town wall is breathtaking, so cool!! We got a tour of the town, which has a very, strong Jewish history, and then were given an hour and a half or so to have lunch and wander around before meeting back up for the bus ride back to the resort.











By the time we got back, my group, had about two hours of free time before we had to meet up to go horseback riding, and I was exhausted, so I, along with a few of my roommates I would find out later, made a bee line for our villa and took a well, deserved siesta. Later that afternoon, as I just mentioned, my roommates and I, along with our friends Nick, Nick, and Brian, all went horseback riding through the Tuscan countryside!! Talk about idyllic. I will admit that the ride itself was rather lame (nose to tail at a very slow walk for an hour), but it was fun nonetheless - after all, I was riding through Tuscany, can't really complain!! I will say that the horses were literally so well trained that you didn't really have to do anything, stop them from eating once in awhile, but otherwise you just sit back and enjoy the ride.





After our ride, we all decided that it was time to head down for a nice soak in the thermal pools. Very relaxing!!





Once it got a little over crowded though we headed back up to the villa to pop a bottle of champagne that I brought along (sometimes I have some really good ideas - this was one of them) to celebrate our roommate Jasmine's 22nd birthday. Perfect way to relax and enjoy each other's company before getting ready for dinner!!



Another delicious dinner ensued in the church followed by a late night of celebrations.

Sunday was another early morning, we were all checked out of the resort and loaded on the buses by 8:30 again. We had an hour ride to La Fattoria Le Guardiole, a beautiful, luxury farmhouse immersed in the idyllic landscape of Maremma. The farm itself (definitely not a typical American farm) is dedicated to the authentic traditions of the region and committed to organic farming - here, we got yet another tour. Afterwards we were given a unique (and slightly odd) demonstration of butteri, Italian cowboy, traditions. Apparently the customs of the butteri go back generations, long before American cowboys emerged and made the practices famous. Today there are only five large herds tended to by butteri, as the tradition is slowly disappearing. The butteri are different from other traditional Italian herders as they ride horses, carry a mazzarella (a stick used instead of a lasso), and herd large cattle. And, of course, the tour/show was followed by an incredible lunch!!







After about an hour of relaxing and enjoying the sun we loaded up again and headed home. I have to admit that it felt good to get home, it was a busy weekend, but, once again, SAI came through with an incredible weekend for us!!

Ciao, ciao!!