Gelato Anyone??

We left for Italy on March 11th, at 3 in the morning. We walked through the streets of Oxford, heading for the bus station which took us to the airport. Our trip was wonderful: beautiful architecture, amazingly old history ties, lots of pizza, people, and memory making opportunities. We rented a VBO home for three days in the outskirts of Rome. We travelled by tram, bus, and foot through a town filled with history and various languages. Our first day focused on finding food through various small shops and filling up with pizza - sold everywhere and tasting quite foreign. Then we boarded a tram to head to the heart of Rome - the Vatican city. We crowded into the Vatican museum with hundreds of other people walking the four miles filled with ancient scultures, pictures, and tapestries. The rooms painted by Raphael were amazing with the emphasis on the Bible, including a Biblically themed painting with Raphael himself in it. Finally, after about three hours, we walked into the Sistine Chapel and viewed the various paintings by Michelangelo: the sides of the chapel are filled with scenes of the story of creation that he painted when he was 33 and in the front of the chapel he painted the Last Judgment. This painting brings the message of the final judgment when some will go to heaven and some to hell. The pictures were quite life like in the facial features and the preciseness of the body structures. For those who have read the Bible and Dante's Towering Inferno, you will be able to get a picture of what this older Michelanglo was thinking. The size of the chapel is quite small, but it is so stunning. Police weave in and out of the crowd demanding silence and expecting no flash photography for fear of ruining the painting. Needless to say, we were in awe of the beauty and its significance.

We finished our day by viewing St. Peter's Basilica. It started to rain so we bought several umbrellas from street vendors - they are all over trying to sell any and everything that you can imagine. We had fun waiting in a long line weaving through the square to enter the church: Kelly almost fell as she slipped running to get a picture and many people just take cuts in front of others to get closer to the front. We actually had one family - seven members - just cut in front of us acting as though it never happened. From the outside, the church dominates the city with the huge pillars, a statute of Peter, and various statutes lining the square. Once inside the basilica, we could not believe how big it was - six acres and accommodating 95,000 worshipers. Instead of statues housing famous people as in Westminister Abbey, this church houses statues of past popes focusing mainly on Peter who was supposedly crucified and buried on this location. In the middle of the church is his tomb decored with a 70 foot tall bronze canopy. We could not believe the incredible size of everything inside; we could also not believe how beautiful Michelangelo's Pieta was.

We took in all the other sites on Saturday, trying to make our way to the center of the city by tram. However, the tram just simply did not show up. Many in Italy just accept the way of life where trams, buses, or taxis simply just do not function properly or show up so late that no one waits in line. We did not even buy bus or train passes in Rome because no one checks for them and many do not even know where to buy them. Since our tram did not show up, a college boy studying in Rome from America heard us talking and said that he would love to take us around -of course we had three beautiful girls with us - so we followed him on several other buses through various streets in Rome. He filled us in on the history and took us to the Pantheon, once a temple filled with statues of gods and now a Catholic church. We then travelled to the Trevi Fountain and threw a few coins in; we climbed the Spanish Steps. (The world's largest McDonald's is located across from the steps and we visited this location several times throughout the day!!!) Michelle's favorite location was the Trevi fountain. She remember it from The Lizzie McGuire Movie and enjoyed the beautiful water and sculptures. The streets in downtown Rome were beautiful with outdoor cafes, beautiful shops, and plenty of pizza.

Hannah, Michelle, and I walked the beautiful streets while Rick and Kelly took a train to meet Kelly's friend, Kelsey Davis, who flew in from Abilene. We viewed the Colisseum, shopped at H&M, and ended up in the middle of an Italian street protest. We heard people singing Italian songs, saw masses of people coming our way, and then saw the flags waving with police all over. We viewed street dancers, singers, and beggers throughout the streets. When Rick and Kelly met us with Kelsey, we took her on a trip through Rome in the evening, only to run into Hannah's upcoming college roommate, Madison, in front of the Trevi Fountain. No one could believe it. Madison was travelling with her school on spring break. It was fun to see everyone together just laughing and enjoying the ancient city of Rome.

On Sunday we looked for places to eat breakfast since we checked out of our Rome location and all we could find was pizza again since all the tiny stores, restaurants, and street vendors were closed on Sunday. We were thankful to eat, but pizza again???? We looked forward to our trip to Florence and Kelly was happy to have her sweet friend Kelsey with her. We took the train to Harding's location, ate pizza in town, and had a devotional with all the students from Harding in their Florence villa. We climbed to the top of the Duomo, walked the square, and definately paid for buses - they charge 50 times the price of a ticket if you do not buy your ticket beforehand, much unlike Rome. We wanted to see Michelangelo's David, but the museums were closed on Monday.

On Tuesday, we headed for Cinque Terre and were so thankful to do so. Cinque Terre, five different villages built into the sides of hills and bordering the Mediterrean, offered us a time to hike and head to the water. These five villages lack "modernization" so they are quaint and quite beautiful. Upon arriving in Vernazza, we sought out our room accommodations only to find the man renting the rooms was not in town and his building was closed up. (Talk about a laid back attitude.) The woman at the local store helped us find rooms only to realize that there was no heat, the rooms backed up to the train station, and we heard loudspeakers announcing train destinations all night. Needless to say, we froze through the night and hardly slept so I was ready to find a new place in the morning. I knew all the girls wanted to stay longer, but it was so cold...so I was quite thankful for the storeowners help the next morning. She called a friend and found find beautiful rooms with actual room heaters, so we ended up staying three extra nights. There are no modern hotel accommodations in the town and many simply rent out rooms for visitors.

On Wednesday, we met our sweet friend Sheree Hall in Vernazza and spent the day with her and Cheryl Cunningham hiking between the towns and ending up at Monterosso al Mare. We viewed the sea on the hikes and we had so much fun talking, eating gelato, and looking at the locks throughout the Via Dell'Amour (Love Walk). People bring small locks and attach them throughout this walk signifying their love for one another. The girls walked down to the water and then climbed many large rocks to take fun pictures. Hannah even took pictures of a man fishing with maggots. Sheree pointed it out and we were all grosqued out by the thought of maggots. My favorite town was Monterosso al Mare with the beach and the beautiful old, cobbled streets. Villagers were very helpful and willing to try to accommodate tourists even if it was in Italian. We choose a beautiful time to come since many were just beginning to open their shops for the upcoming tourists and the streets were not crowded. The Tuscany yellows and tangarines colored their buildings throughout the towns and many used clotheslines through the villages. We just loved the atmosphere and regretted having to leave.

On Thursday, Kelly and Kelsey flew back to London and stayed the night with friends from Hardin Simmons. Rick, Hannah, Michelle, and I made our way to Portofino and Santa Margherita. We took the train to Santa Margherita and then a small bus, through windy curves and narrow streets, to Portofino. Many movie stars spend time here in this small seaside village with pastel houses lining the harbor. We climbed the steps to the top of the hillside to view the beautiful water, the church, and the cemetary. In most villages, the church is at the center of the village or at the top of the hill. The crystal green water found in the harbor reminded me of Harbor Springs, only I must say that Harbor Springs is so much more beautiful. In conclusion, Italy represents the congested, hectic, historical beauty found in Rome to the seaside beauty of Tuscany represented in Cinque Terre - We could have done without Florence and Pisa on this short trip. Blessings.