Museum Shock

Miscellaneous Ceiling Fresco somewhere in the Vatican Museum

Even the lobby stairs are gorgeous

Nathan & I get overwhelmed by "stuff." Nathan even more so than me, which I suppose is fairly normal. (And I can appreciate this attitude since we do hope to be living on a sailboat in ten years' time.). I face the question of "how much is enough" anew with every visit to the amazing, beautiful, astonishing Vatican Museum. The place is chock-a-block full, including the ceilings, walls, and floors. Just one single room in the Museum could easily hold a day's worth of touring, study, and reflection. Name a famous painter or sculptor of old, and their works are in the Vatican Museum. Look down as you walk through the dozens of salas (rooms/galleries), look up - mosaics, frescoes, paintings, inlaid marble, gilding...just the actual structure of the museum is a treasure. Then there are the sculptures, the artifacts, the paintings. What I don't know, and haven't been able to find out, is just how much of the holdings are not and have never been on display. Museum shock, my term for when one's brain can no longer take in the wonders of art and architecture, happens quickly at the Vatican.

There are 53 salas, not including the Sistine Chapel, and we were on a two hour tour on a day when crowds were quite literally, shoulder to shoulder. Our guide apparently had a nemesis in the Brazilian guide, because she kept saying to us, "Let's move on before the Brazilians catch up." And when they did catch up to us, well, we got to observe Italian facial expressions in action. My two previous visits to the Vatican Museum were not on a guided tour, and I have to say, I much preferred the tour, at least on a day "in season." I would like to return in the dead of winter and take some time to look around with fewer people, but there is no escaping the fact that with so much to see and appreciate, a guide to focus on the best of the best was invaluable. Plus, we got to wear those totally awesome headsets that have become so popular on guided tours.

The Liberation of St. Peter, by Raphael

Miscellaneous Sculpture that looks like she's wearing lipstick

The final stop in a trip through the Vatican Museum is the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is beautiful, and stunning, and does have that famous, Hand of God image. But honestly, gorgeous and amazing frescoes are all over Italy, even here in Naples, and we get to see them without having scary looking bouncers shouting "Silence" and walking around threatening everyone. For me, the most interesting thing about the Sistine Chapel was the information we got about it's restoration and cleaning, done in the 1980s and 1990s. After the cleaning, figures and paintings came to light that no one knew were even there under all that grime. For example, as God reaches his hand out to touch Adam, over his shoulder is a circle in the shape of a brain with a woman and children in it. It represents that God is thinking about Eve and her children before creating them. Wish I could show you a picture, but you'll just have to Google it. Do you know why pictures aren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel? Because the Vatican found a private donor to fund the cleaning and restoration, and the funding agreement included royalties on all Sistine Chapel images. That's why the mere hint of lifting your camera in the Chapel has the bouncer types rushing over and threatening to toss your butt out. And you thought pictures weren't allowed because it's sacred - tsk, tsk, tsk. Visiting the Sistine Chapel is an incredibly moving and holy experience, really.

A little tip for your Vatican tour - sign up for the one that includes the Basilica. Those were already booked, so we missed out. The reason is not for the actual tour portion, which is probably quite nice, but because the few extra euros it costs is well worth the "Secret Door" shortcut in the back of the Sistine Chapel that goes into the Basilica. If you're not one of the people on those tours, then you get to exit on the opposite side of the Sistine Chapel and walk through miles of corridors to the Museum exit, which is located right next to the entrance. Not so bad except that means you're now outside the walls of the Vatican and to get back to the Basilica is about a mile walk around the wall and a potentially long wait in a security line to get back inside. This can easily eat up an extra 1-2 hours, spent solely in needless walking and waiting, which absolutely infuriates the efficient traveler in me. I harped on the that stupid door in the days leading up to our Vatican visit and for the rest of the Rome weekend. I'm still harping over it. No one ever actually said the words to me, "Shut up about the door. It was closed. The end." But I'm pretty sure they were all thinking it. So...The End. I am letting go. After I put together my picket group to hang about outside the walls with signs and chant "Open the Door, Open the Door."

Strip away the crowds and bouncers and completely over the top opulence - this sculpture, for me, represents what the Christian faith is really about. And, I can eat my words about the "Door" because the sculpture is in an obscure hallway that functions mainly as a pass thru as visitors make their way to the exit after seeing the Sistine Chapel and all the "real treasures" of the museum. We would have missed it completely had we gotten to go straight into the Basilica.

Just Some Stuff About Rome

Nathan loves Rome. To date, I've just been so-so about it. Possibly because I've had the chance to see a little more of Naples, while Nathan spends his time working, or at home, or traveling outside of Naples. For me, Rome is congested (ironic, considering we do live in the densest city in Europe), filled with tourists (while most Neapolitan sites are low traffic, high impact), and not filled with very friendly people. BUT, I may have to take back all my negativity about Rome.

With Nathan's aunt & uncle, we went for a four day weekend. Staying right off the Piazza del Popolo was a new experience for us, and I loved the location. Right next to the Villa Borghese and it's lovely gardens, a short walk down a mostly pedestrian area and/or through pretty back alleys to the Pantheon area (where my favorite gelateria is located - Gelateria Della Palma), another short walk via a different route to the Spanish Steps, and there is a nearby Metro stop. The location made a huge difference as it meant we could walk outside of our hotel and not be immediately thrust into speeding Vespas, crowded streets, and shoulder to shoulder crowds.

We headed up on a Friday with reservations to tour the fabulous Villa Borghese that evening. We did make our reservation time, but I ended up traveling separately due to a couple of last minute issues cropping up. Nathan continued on to go with his aunt/uncle and meet our check-in time (several places we've stayed around Italy require you to provide them with your arrival time at least a day in advance - B&B type places, where the lodging does not have a staffed front desk). I wrapped up our issues and followed on - thank you, Trenitalia, for the EuroStar train that gets us to Rome in just over an hour - for a hefty fee, of course. It actually took me longer to get from my house to the downtown, Naples train station than it did to get to Rome and take the Rome Metro to meet up with Nathan and Fam.

We've taken to always purchasing the Roma Pass when in Rome. For 25euros, we get three days of public transportation (bus & metro), two free entries at our pick of any number of sites, and reduced entry at other sites. Clever Rome, though, has made the Pass good for three days, ending at midnight of your third day of use rather than a strict 72 hour activation. So, hypothetically speaking, if you arrive in Rome around 3pm on a Friday, buy your pass, and use a free entry for, say, the Villa Borghese on that same day, then the pass still expires on Sunday at midnight, so one has essentially "lost" possible use time on Friday. Something to think about for future visits.

The Villa Borghese is absolutely fabulous! And thanks to all those tourists that fill Rome, reservations are required. I hate reservations. For anything - museums, restaurants, etc. Especially on vacation. I like to be on a free and flexible schedule rather than constantly looking at a watch trying to ensure timing of EVERYTHING, from eating to walking to public transportation to time spent at other sites, is working out just so. It just makes me crazy when time is spent watching time rather than enjoying it. But anyway, good news is that since the Villa Borghese limits entry on a reservation only status, one can actually enjoy it's exhibits, such as my two personal favorites: (1) Bernini's sculpture of Apollo and Daphne, which shows Daphne turning into a tree just as Apollo catches her. The marble carving of her fingers turning to leaves is so delicate and light. To think it's sculpted from hard stone is inspiring, and (2) a painting by Raffaello entitled Dama (Lady) con Liocorno. What's a Liocorno you ask? It's a unicorn. And in this painting, a baby unicorn. What's better than a painting of a unicorn? One of a baby unicorn! Love it. Note to self: Get a baby unicorn. The Villa also holds a beautiful, Bernini sculpture he carved at age 11. Eleven! And we think today's kids are growing up fast.

View over Piazza del Popolo from Gardens of Villa Borghese

Next Up

Ireland is over, and we're in the midst of a grand trip with Nathan's aunt and uncle. They've been here a little over a week, and we've fit in a trip to downtown Naples, four days in Rome, and a day on the Amalfi Coast. I'll upload some photos and more details in a few days. We're looking forward to some more exploring and bicycling through Tuscany [as in, the guys will bicycle while the ladies drive around to beautiful, Tuscan villages and leisurely conquer the region without breaking a sweat...unless our current heat wave continues - it is HOT here].

Piazza del Popolo by twilight

And the Winner Is...

We're approaching our one year anniversary of living in Naples. I thought I'd wait until the official year anniversary to announce where I did indeed find the best gelato, but I can't wait. I'm jumping the gun and calling it. I have two favorites, one found yesterday right here in Naples: Casa Infante, Via Toledo 258. This is the place. With a wall of sugar cones lining the back of the restaurant and fluffy, yummy, artisan gelato flavors filling the chilled cases, Casa Infante is officially my favorite gelateria for the year. They even coat the bottom of your sugar cone with a bit of chocolate, so that once all the gelato is gone, you still have a special treat to enjoy at the end. Casa Infante has two locations, but Nathan and I happened upon the Via Toledo on a quiet Sunday in Centro (downtown). As long as you don't want to shop or see any sites, Sunday is a great day to be in downtown Napoli - it's so quiet, some streets become pedestrian zones, and there's enough tranquility to really enjoy the area rather than sneak quick glances at buildings while dodging Vespas, cars, people, trash, and dog poop. Fortunately for us, one of the few businesses open along sleepy Via Toledo (never thought I'd write those three words together) was Casa Infante, and we had a family consensus: best gelato.

I do have to give more than a nod to Rome's Gelateria della Palma at Via della Maddalena 19/23 (a couple of blocks from the Pantheon). I love this place, despite the absolute hordes of customers at all times. The gelateria offers every flavor possible to dream up, and while I've read that others think they offer too much to keep their quality good, I lucked into a favorite flavor the first time around...and went back for the same flavor the next day (honey and pine nut). The high crowds make it difficult to get a good look at all your options and the menu list at the cash register is absolutely horrible at explaining the different cones and prices. Even worse, like any place that has that many customers throughout the day, the service is a "get 'em in and get 'em out" style, so Gelateria della Palma doesn't get the winning vote...but for me, they are a must visit when in Rome.

Roman Finale - For Real This Time

Departing the Roman Forum on aching feet, we walked out the back exit and up a long flight of stairs. Behind the Roman Forum is a museum and large piazza. One of the interesting things about the Coliseum and Roman Forum is that they sit smack in the middle of a living city, busy streets filled with cars and all. Rounding a corner a few blocks away, we could see a church with it's side cut away to reveal the ancient columns beneath the modern plaster. A city built atop a city, and on and on it goes. We'd decided to walk across the Tiber River to the area of Trastevere. I'd heard that this was the place to feel a little more of a local scene, and it's a bit quieter and out of the traffic congestion than much of Rome. On our route there, we happened upon what looked like a miniature version of the Coliseum. Turns out, it's the Teatro di Marcello, once an open air theatre and now, apartments.  Fancy living in one of those! We took a path that circled the base of the theater, and came upon a crush of tumbled down ruins with this fun little column base among them:

How cute is this little guy!

The theater and ruins are explained in this very helpful sign: "Antique Monument and Archaeological Ruins"

Trastevere was indeed a peaceful area. Unfortunately, by the time we made it there, we all had aching feet. While we tried to enjoy the area, we really just wanted to head to dinner and get off our soles. We'd picked Dar Poeta Pizzeria since Nathan had eaten there and loved it, two guidebooks recommended it, and one podcast I listened to a few weeks ago listed it as the host's favorite pizzeria in Italy. We were lucky to get a table - actually, not lucky, just American. Sure enough, our 6pm arrival netted us a prime table, and when we left around 8pm, about 20 people milled around outside waiting. The pizza was good, I admit, BUT...we live in Naples. I'm currently holding fast to our hometown La Sorbilla as the best pizza in Italy...clearly, this cannot go unchallenged, so we'll be sure to test plenty of pizza in our time here.

Our walk home included a swing by the Pantheon, beautiful at night, and the Trevi Fountain, so we could all throw our coins in again - absolutely necessary to ensure my aunt and uncle's return to Italy.

Buon viaggio e speriamo che tornate!

Roman Finale

The end of our exciting three weeks of visitors, touring, and enjoying time with family and friends ended with a full day of Roman sightseeing. We'd intended to take the train up to our hotel, near the main train station, then take the train to the airport on Saturday morning. And...cue the train strike. All over Italy. Local trains, national trains, all on strike. We were forced to drive, and while our hotel was in a heavily congested area, and it took 30 minutes for my aunt and I to find the parking garage a block from the hotel while my uncle waited with the luggage on the hotel curb (lots and lots of one way streets and traffic!), it wasn't as bad as I'd expected, and we were able to set off on our touring with no stress. Another reason for our excellently located hotel was so we could take the metro to all the sites we planned to visit...and metro is on strike, too. Time to walk. Thankfully, Rome is a beautiful city. The architecture is gorgeous, and if you can take a route off of the main thoroughfares, much more enjoyable for walking. We first hit up our target - the Coliseum and Roman Forum. I thought the last week in March would still be pretty off season, but there were throngs and throngs of people. Bless you, Rick Steves, for your tips on how to avoid long lines! We followed his advice, got our combo ticket, headed back to the Coliseum and sailed past at least an hour's wait in the "buy-your-ticket" line. We'd planned to also use the Rick Steves AudioTour for the Coliseum, but messed up our route early on, and with all the people milling about, decided to just take in the view, stand in the Roman Empire's largest amphitheater, and reflect on the brutal history.

Interestingly, the Coliseum had a scale model that showed how the pulleys and floor openings worked to bring up things like stage sets and wild animals for the exciting and "fun" shows. Gladiators fought against one another and wild animals or animals fought against animals, all with adoring crowds cheering them on. Animals included (but were not limited to) dogs, bears, hippos, elephants, crocodiles, and lions - giraffes came later, too. Some of the "animals" were actually people, brought in from lands outside the Roman empire. That pulley system I mentioned would bring up little, murderous surprises for the gladiator in the ring. And yet, becoming a gladiator was a way for a slave or poor man (or woman) to become a wealthy, celebrity du jour - to overcome his or her beginnings, as in, "Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome" (you know, from the movie "Gladiator").

Whenever I feel a little hopeless about how our society seems to be sinking into more and more evil, I like to think about the horrific barbarism that was completely acceptable and government supported in Roman Empire - for example, upon the Coliseum opening, there was a 100 day celebration - supposedly, 2000 men and 9000 animals were killed in the celebration shows, although these numbers may have been stretched. One source stated only 3500 animals were killed, not 9000, so our delicate sensibilities should take heart. Now not all of the shows were killing, mauling, and maiming - the Coliseum was also home to plays and battle re-enactments. In addition, there were staged hunts, with fancy stage sets, complete with forests and lakes. Some days, those attending the fun (for free - only visitors today have to pay money to get inside) got the triple threat. A staged animal hunt in the morning, gladiator match in the afternoon, and sandwiched in between the two, the ever popular, criminal execution, generally carried out by throwing the criminal, unarmed, into the ring and releasing a wild beast or two. Enough was enough, and we headed across the street to the Roman Forum.

House of the Vestal Virgins

Just fascinating. For Americans, if you've visited the National Mall or downtown D.C., imagine it in 2000 years. That's about what the Roman forum is. There are some temples (National Cathedral), the government building where the Senate met (hello, Capitol building), some interesting arches that were monuments (Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc.), and the Temple of the Vestal Virgins (...ummm...I'll leave that one alone). The VVs are a big deal because their house just reopened to tourists after being closed for years. They served the goddess, Vesta, and had to keep the home fires burning - really, just one fire, and that's where all the other households could come to get fire. The Vestal Virgins were a major deal - they were chosen in pre-puberty and gave a vow of chastity for 30 years. Braking that vow meant death by live burial. For their sacrifice, they were the most revered women in the Empire, with enormous power. They could own property, vote, commute a criminal's sentence, and handle legal issues, such as wills. They lived in luxury, and at the end of their 30 years of service, they could choose to marry - but most decided to keep their life of luxury and prestige. Walking around the Roman Forum is walking around a pile of rubble, but how amazing to stop and think about what that rubble was. There is even a little memorial, complete with fresh flowers, on the spot where Julius Caesar's body was burned all those centuries ago. I highly recommend some type of detailed guidebook or actual guide. We used the Rick Steves AudioTour, successfully this time, and we appreciated the extra insight in explaining what we were seeing.

Break time at the Forum; And where do visitors take a load off? Atop some old, marble columns just lying about.

More Rome pictures

Some more Rome photos to go with below post:

Oculus of the Pantheon's dome

Hallway in the Vatican Museum - a feast for the eyes, and we walked away well gorged

Mosaic floor in the Vatican Museum

Head of the Apollo Belvedere statue, a Roman copy of an earlier Greek bronze - when this statue was rediscovered during the Renaissance, it was thought of as the greatest, ancient sculpture and the ideal form of beauty

Closeup of lambs in Peter Wenzel's amazing painting, "Adam & Eve in Earthly Paradise," one of my favorites

The Big V

With Paige and Julia on their way home, I turned my attention to my aunt and uncle, and we started off two weeks of big adventures, from running to the Vatican Museum for our appointment time to exploring Naples to an overnight flight up to Venice. We also spent some time relaxing at home and enjoying the view. We'd scheduled a timed entry to the Vatican Museum prior to our drive home to Naples on Paige and Julia's departure day. I'd been extremely nervous about driving our station wagon into downtown Rome, so we'd booked a hotel on the outskirts that had a car service to the airport for Paige and Julia, but was also near the Metro for Mike and Katrina. Taking the Metro into the center of Rome, we walked to the Trevi Fountain, a Baroque flight of fancy marking the end of one of Rome's ancient aqueducts. The aqueduct was used in the Roman times for about 400 years. Reopened in the 1400s, Trevi Fountain was built in the mid-1700s to mark the aqueduct's end. Throwing a coin into the fountain is said to ensure one's return to Rome - a handy bit of marketing for the city of Rome, since an average of 3000euros per day is thrown into the fountain. We did our bit for the city coffers as well.

Pantheon

From there we walked over to the Pantheon, stopping on the way at a walk-up pizza/focaccia window and found ourselves eating a delicious, take-away lunch. This scenario repeated itself over and over - any time we just stopped in somewhere, we had delicious food. And yes, it is possible to get bad food in Italy, but I do admit that it's a rare event. A quick pop-in to the Pantheon and some gazing at the dome that inspired the domes of the Florentine Duomo, St. Peter's Basilica, and the U.S. Capitol building, among others, and then we set off for our Vatican Museum timed entry. I'd allowed 30 minutes for the walk, and as we approached 12:15 and were still nowhere near the Vatican, our steps turned into fast walking, then really fast walking, until at 12:25, we were at an all out sprint to make our 12:30 entry time. Thankfully, there was no line for security, but we were still almost 20 minutes late, flushed, faint, and dehydrated. Getting our entry tickets (thank you, kind entry ticket giver-outer for allowing us in), we collapsed on a nearby bench for awhile. Having walked/run what felt like miles already, now we prepared to stroll through miles of overstimulation for our eyes.

Map Gallery

I have never seen anything like the Vatican Museum. Whereas most museums have displays and exhibits, the Vatican Museum itself is  one of the exhibits. There is not a single, restful surface to lay your eyes. Every room is filled with glories, from the actual artwork on display to the mosaic or inlaid marble floors to the frescoed ceilings to the intricately carved paneling. We were following a tour out of our guidebook (Rick Steves), and while his tour is wonderful and focuses on the highlights, I can definitely see the value of a guided tour (although we would have missed that completely given my underestimation of walking time to the Big V.). We were trying so hard to focus, but there is so very, very much. I shivered to think that of all we were seeing, as overwhelming as it all was, these things represented only a small portion of the museum's holdings.

We saw breathtaking paintings, intricate tapestries, statues upon statues upon statues, carved sarcophagi, brilliantly frescoed ceilings, a 1/4 mile long hallway painted with 16th century map (see pic above), writing tablets dating back to the time when writing was invented, and finally, the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's crowning glory and the commission he didn't want to take because he claimed to be a sculptor, not a painter. And yet, he painted the hand of God touching the hand of Adam, those two hands with outstretched fingers about to connect forming one of the most reproduced images in the modern world. I wish seeing the Sistine Chapel in person was a spiritual experience, but it's just not. Hundreds of other people are herded into the room with you, the noise level slowly building until the frowning guards start shouting out something that means, "Quiet," or making their way through the crowds to menace over those who ignored the "No Photography" signs, growling all the while. I can't say I blame them since they're given charge of enforcing hundreds of crowded together people to follow rules, but all in all, seeing the Sistine Chapel in person is much like going to St. Peter's Basilica for Christmas Eve mass and getting shoved aside by determined nuns on a hunt for their view of Il Papa.

Another big plus for paying for a guided tour...there's a shortcut exit from the Sistine Chapel that spits a body out right at the next stop: St. Peter's Basilica. Currently, this little door is open only to guided tours. So...although all we wanted to do was see the Basilica and then get to the Metro to get off our aching feet, instead we had to go all the way back to the entrance then around the outer walls of the Vatican to the Basilica, approximately a mile walk and and an extra, needless 30 minutes. But...it's all worth it to see Michelangelo's Pieta (Mary holding the body of Jesus just off the cross), sculpted when he was only 24 years old and as his first big commission. St. Peter's was built on the spot where Peter was crucified back in 67 AD or so. The Basilica is magnificent, and it's reconstruction into the grandiose church we see today sparked the Protestant Reformation.

It happened like this: When the Pope sent a monk to Germany to sell indulgences in order to raise money for the building the Basilica, a virtually unknown, German monk and theology professor wrote to his bishop a letter of protest against selling indulgences. The letter later became known as Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses, one of which asked why the rich pope was using the money of poor believers to build the Basilica rather than using his own. Luther believed only God could forgive, so the church was wrong in trying to sell forgiveness. Luther's letter was never posted on church doors in a grandiose gesture, as Protestant legend has us believe. Rather, Luther's friends translated his letter into German (it had been written in Latin), copied it off using that newfangled printing press, distributed it, and it made the rounds throughout Europe with great speed. The Reformation has a great deal more history behind it, but how interesting that the very church building which was supposed to symbolize the verse Matthew 16:18, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" became the same building that sparked one of Christianity's greatest divides. For the want of money.

When in Rome

How on Earth...

As I believe I've written several times, this blog is as much a diary for me as it is a mass email to our family and friends. And so, when I have three weeks of exciting touring and have neglected writing any updates, I'm just not able to do one big update. I want more for myself, whether anyone else wants to read about it or not. So how on earth do I get caught up (shame on me for procrastination!). Having the chance to share my new home region with friends and family has been so exciting as I have gotten to either do new things or look at this life with fresh eyes. It's easy at times to let homesickness and loneliness take over. But for today, I'm sitting in our Glass House overlooking the sea and reflecting back on the last few weeks and the sheer diversity of our sightseeing (and looking at a huge column of smoke nearby, too big for a pile of burning rubbish, and wondering if I should walk down the street to check it out - insert here the very Italian, whole body gesture of a shoulder shrug, upturned hands, downturned mouth, and grunt).

 

Our excitement began with the agriturismo (from Agriturismo post)  in Tivoli (near Rome). I still cannot get over how relaxing and beautiful it was.

 With our friend, Paige, on her first day here, we visited the Villa d'Este and it's stunning gardens and water fountains, then drove on to Hadrian's Villa. But Villa d'Este was our main goal. All we knew about it was that one visits for the gardens. As it turns out, Villa d'Este is an actual villa, built about 800 years ago, then reconstructed in the mid 1500s. It's now devoid of all furniture, but oh my, the frescoes. Room after room after room of incredible walls and ceiling frescoes. Whereas the super-rich of today might have some nice artwork hanging here and there on a wall, the super-rich of several hundred years ago surrounded themselves with art. Quite literally, every single surface is a sight to behold, from paintings covering the walls and ceiling (no inch left unpainted) to intricate, marble patterned floors. Leaving the villa behind, we entered a fantasy land of water fountains. These were installed by the cardinal who was gifted the property about 1550.  There is a handy little map with a suggested route we followed in order to not miss a single one of the more than 20 water fountains. The fountains were a wonder for the time period and sparked landscaping inspiration all across Europe.

We enjoyed this fun fresco

I'd read that the other main sight in the area was Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa), but on this, we really knew nothing. Not a clue what it was, where it was (thank you, GPS), or why we should visit it...yet off we went. With only a couple of hours before closing and aching feet, we decided to give it a quick look anyway. Walking through the entrance, we began walking up a path...and walking...and walking. We had no idea it was so big. Finally reaching a huge stone wall that seemed to be some type of fortress wall, we followed it to another entrance, where we entered a land full of half buildings and huge complexes lying in ruins.

With all the activity and such going on, today is the first chance I've had to even read up on Villa Adriana. As it turns out, that area was as big as it looked, covering over 250 acres (much of it unexcavated - what wonders must exist under the dirt and grass!). Emperor Hadrian built it in the 2nd century A.D. as a retreat from Rome, and my favorite spot among the ruins is thought to have been yet another retreat. As Emperor Hadrian spent more and more time there, much of the court moved to the complex. A beautiful, circular ruin, arbitrarily called the Maritime Theatre, has an exterior portico surrounding a circular pool of water. In the center is an island holding a small house - this is thought to have been Hadrian's retreat...from his retreat. Quite interestingly, the Cardinal who reconstructed Villa d'Este (and installed it's gardens and fountains) stole/repurposed much of the marble and statues he used from the Villa Adriana, lying in ruins by that time. Among it's other wonders, Villa Adriana hosts a large bath complex, with the structures modeled after the Pantheon (which Emperor Hadrian also built) and a large, rectangular pool that was once lined with statues on three sides. The fourth held a covered dining area and a water feature in which diners sat behind a cascade of water falling into the pool. We quickly realized that we had neither proper information nor proper footwear to do this place justice and headed back to our car and the peaceful agriturismo.

The peace lasted until dinner time, when we couldn't find the restaurant we'd wanted to visit and instead had to take to the car and drive around town in search of a table. The town was tiny, hilly, and full of parked cars. In our attempts to drive through town, we made the mistake of following a larger van in hopes that he knew where he was going - hah! That driver was parking at the very top of this town, on an alley the width of a Smart Car that also had a row of parked cars along the side - and it was a dead end with no place to turn around. So, Nathan had to reverse down a cobblestone alley, in the dark, with stairs down the hills dropping off at points (no rails or curbs to stop our tires from going over these edges) and navigating a ninety degree turn with cars parked in the actual turn. He did it, we found a restaurant, Paige got a good meal at last, and Nathan had me drive home (the easy drive) so he could recuperate.

Tenuta Colfiorito-Agriturismo where we're staying

Felice Anno Nuovo

Happy New Year! We have readied the house and yard for a festa tonight, which mostly involved stocking the fridge with Prosecco and picking up pieces of a dismembered gorilla (toy) that have migrated to every corner of the yard and terraces. For a small dog toy, Scully and his BFF sure managed to shred and spread it. The Glass House got an update with our all day trip to Ikea, which was as awful an experience as it sounds. Hours upon hours walking the aisles to decide on lamps and pillows and bookshelves and wardrobes! But we're now ready for the fireworks viewing. Italians LOVE fireworks. There are some for every festival and event. Every night, local teenagers light off firecrackers in the piazza up the street. It's now 2:40 in the afternoon, and we already have such heavy booming nearby that the dog is quivering on the sofa. He's going to have a long afternoon and evening.

Back to our previous two weeks though:
Nathan's Aunt B. and Uncle J. made the long trip across the pond for Christmas. After Nathan showed them Rome, Orvieto, and Assisi, I took over for a couple of local days. We visited Herculaneum, a place I've already blogged about. I did take some new pics this time, though:

The next day, we explored Centro Napoli, focusing on some of the beautiful churches there, as well as a walk down Christmas Alley. Napoli is famous for presepios (nativities), made of bark and moss, as well as many handmade figures to go into them. Christmas Alley is the place to go for these things. I didn't take many pics while down there, but I did get one that is so typical of Centro:

A gorgeous church, kids playing soccer in a piazza, and a humongous pile of trash.

Nathan had the Thursday before Christmas off, so we did an Aunt/Uncle split. Nathan and Uncle J. headed off to Benevento (a nice, mountain town) and then on to Pompeii, while Aunt B. and I headed to Vietri, yet another town I've already blogged about. Vietri is a small town on the Amalfi Coast and home to gorgeous ceramics shops and artist studios. Aunt B. cleaned up with some great finds that all made it safely back home in her carry-on luggage.

Christmas Eve found us on a train up to Rome, checking into the adorable M.D.M. Luxury Rooms next to the Vatican. I'd booked them online, and while the reviews were great, the name brought to mind a Vegas brothel. Thankfully, the hotel ran a beautiful, clean establishment. We stayed so close to the Vatican because the Aunt/Uncle combo had managed to secure tickets to the Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican. Despite a torrential rain all afternoon, the weather cleared just in time for our two hour wait in line in the square outside St. Peter's Basilica. Church doors opened at 8:30pm for the 10pm Mass, and we only had to elbow one group of nuns out of our way to get in. The others beat our elbows to the punch. Once inside, the dilemma was whether to try to sit closer to the front, but in the middle of the row, or further back and practically right on the aisle. We picked the latter, and if I'd transferred the photos of my iPhone, I could show you how this worked out! As they say in Italy, "Domani, domani" (tomorrow, tomorrow). Following a Christmas morning of sleeping in, we headed back down to St. Peter's Square for the Pope's noon blessing of the city and the world before running back to the Metro, and just making it before public transportation stopped running at 1pm. We headed home to Napoli and a nice Christmas dinner with friends.

The day after Christmas, we drove down to Paestum, an area that contains some of the most complete Greek ruins outside of Greece. There are three, standing temples that are just gorgeous. Unfortunately, we arrived 15 minutes after the ticket office closed, so we had to content ourselves with gazing at them over the fence line.

After another day of some local sightseeing right around our house, we said Arrivederci to Aunt B. and Uncle J. We had such a great time spending time with family and showing them a part of our new life here. And they'll definitely be back since they followed the time honored tradition of ensuring one's return to Italy: