Rome (September 28)

By the weekend of September 28, I had been in Viterbo for 5 weeks (wow, where did the time go?).  It was time for me to take a big step and navigate TrenItalia, the "Amtrak" of Italy.  It was a bit nerve-racking since my Italian was not very good, but I managed to buy tickets from Viterbo to Rome and back for me and my first guest from the States, Mike King (from Atlanta).  :-)

The trip from Viterbo to Rome's main airport, FCO, took about 2 hours. Mike's plane landed on time, he zipped through customs, and picked up his baggage without incident.  All I had to do was walk through the baggage claim doors, about a 5-minute walk from the train station, and there he was waiting for me.  It was nice to see a familiar face from Atlanta, from back home.

Before returning to Viterbo, we spent the day and evening in Rome, making the most of our short visit.  In the morning, we took in several sites:

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (see left and right)
, a towering majestic "church" that would be larger than many of what would be considered cathedrals back in the States.  It's also one of four basilicas in Rome.

The Church of St. Peter in Chains.  I had seen this holy place two years ago on my Running Through History tour with Coach Tribble and the Westminster students and it didn't disappoint the second time around.  It's amazing that this important relic in the Catholic Church (see right)
sits in a very small and unassuming church tucked away from Vatican City.  And yet, that is the reality.

The Colosseum
.  While this fortress goes without saying, both Mike and I had been inside of it, so we were less inclined to enter due to the large volume of people milling about.  However, the outside of the Colosseum will always stop me in my tracks!

Palatine Hill, a very ancient part of the city, dating back to 500 B.C., was the home to Emperors as well as other well-to-do dignitaries of the time.  The picture at the right is what's left of "Stadio," a site for entertainment and recreation of all kinds for the Emperors.

The Roman Forum is the site of government buildings and market places back in ancient times.  The picture at the left is the remains of the Temple of Castor and Palloux, the Gemini "twins" of Zeus and Leda.

Pizza followed by a very cool "neighborhoody" street just of the main beat of the city, filled with local stores, residences, boutique hotels, and restaurants.

Piazza Nuvona.  Oh my goodness.  This place was amazing and ridiculously packed with tourists (see right).  We figured that it wouldn't be so touristy since it was September and kids were back in school.  Boy were we wrong!  Street vendors and people everywhere!  The mime in the picture at the right was incredible.  He stood perfectly still until somebody put money in his tin cup.  So I did and he provided a rare animated shot for me.

The Pantheon.  My colleague, Richard (Latin/Greek teacher), had suggested that we go see this during the day, although it was quite nice at night.  It is one of the best-preserved of all Roman buildings.  It was been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, it had been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs.  The Pantheon is informally known as Santa Maria della Rotonda.  The square you see on the right is the Piazza della Rotonda.  The inside of the Pantheon is very spacious, with the sanctuary taking up only a part of the space.  Below and right is the alter with the crucifix behind it.  On the left is a shot of the Pantheon with the circular part of the building in the distance.

Trevi Fountain.  This was our last stop and also a suggestion by Richard to see at night.  If I thought the Piazza Nuova was packed it didn't hold a candle to the crowd we witnessed at The Trevi Fountain.  The Trevi Fountain was like the scene at a concert.  Mike and I didn't actually get right up to the fountain because there were simply too many people.  Unbelievable!  Nevertheless, what we did see was pretty amazing.  I now see why this "fountain," which is more like a large pool (see right), is on every must-see list of things to do/see in Rome.  The picture to the right was taken by Mike after we left the Trevi Fountain.  He says that he didn't try to make the picture appear have the statue in front of me scratching my chin but I'm not sure if I believe him!

Montecassino (September 20)

On our way home from Terracina, we stopped in Cassino, a town in the province of Latina, Italy (south of Rome).  The "big ticket item" is the Abbey of Montecassino, founded by Saint Benedict in 529.  The picture to the right was taken right outside the front gates of the abbey.

Over the years, the abbey was destroyed several times, ranging from church/state opposition in the 8th and 9th centuries, an earthquake in the 14th centurty, to World War II, where it was between the firing lines between Germany and the allies in 1944.  Each time, the abbey was restored, never losing sight of its original intentions by its founder, St. Benedict.

We had a fantastic guide, Maria Theresa, who offered us views of the newer, rebuilt parts of the abbey, as well as this picture (see right), which shows the only part of the abbey that sustained fire during World War II.  While many perished in the bombing, many were saved in the small area in the bottom floor of the monastery.

Left:  Once the temple for Apollo, St. Benedict made the cloister of the abbey a place of prayer for the monks at the time.  Our guide, Maria Theresa, told us that at one time, there were hundreds of monks who called the abbey their home, serving God through silence and prayer.  At present time, there are but 18 monks who keep the abbey operational.

 Statues of St. Benedict and his twin sister, St. Scolastica, lay in a second cloister, called Bramante, built in the Renaissance period (1595).  While WWII turned the abbey into rubble, the statue of St. Benedict remained virtually untouched. The statue of St. Scolastica was destroyed, so what you see is a replica.  At the base of each statue, there are inscriptions.  Benedict's reads, "Blessed be he who came in the name of the Lord," while Scolastica's reads, "Come my dove, come, and you will be crowned."

Right:  The Bramante Cloister.  At one end  there are breath-taking views of the small villages in the Liri Valley below.  At the other end, where this picture is taken, leads you up a long majestic staircase to a third cloister, which serves as the entryway to the Basilica Cathedral.  The picture at the left shows one of three sets of iron doors that open to the main sanctuary of the cathedral.  The lower panel of the door between the two crosses is certified to have been made in Constantinople in 1066. Wow!

As you can imagine, the inside of the cathedral was utterly amazing.  Large and very ornate, the sanctuary offered a solemn atmosphere for the many visitors who came to marvel it and worship.

As a bonus, we happened to enter the cathedral just minutes before the monks began their mid-afternoon Gregorian chants.  Amazing!

Afterwards, we headed back to our buses at the base of the abbey and there we returned to Viterbo.  This was the end of our 3-day retreat.  And while it was enriching in many ways, I think we were all ready to have a day of R-and-R back in Viterbo before returning to the classroom.

Can't wait for the next big one of these, which will be happening in November.  Stay tuned!

Sperlonga (September 19)

 After some rest and a hard-fought 6-4, 6-3 win in tennis verses Santo (archaeology teacher) at our resort in Terracina, we got up the next day and headed to Sperlonga.  The town sits on top of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, with a very picturesque narrow route that twists and turns through 18th century streets and buildings (see below, left) onto a beautiful beach as seen in the picture at the right.  The kids enjoyed the beach for about an hour and then we headed up the hill from the beach to our next excursion.


Sperlonga is home of the Tiberius Museum, which offers many statues of that period of time, including a depiction of the scene where Odysseus gouges the eye of Cyclops in The Iliad (see right).

As part of the experiential learning component of their time here in Italy, the kids took over this part of the museum as Santo (below left), Yvonne, and Richard (below right) all took turns offering historical, archaeological, and literal interpretations of the showdown between Odysseus and Cyclops.  I must stay, the commentary among the three of them was pretty amazing.  On the bus ride over to the museum me and my big mouth thought it might be fun for Brad and me to act out the gouging scene for the kids while Yvonne narrated it in front of the statues.  The acting was terrible but the kids got a kick out of the math and English teacher offering our part to the presentation (lol).

Sperlonga is also home to the famous Grotto, a ruin where the original statues of Odysseus, Cyclops, et. al. lay.  The trail from the museum to the Grotto is very scenic (see left) and The Grotto sits adjacent to the beach, offering some wonderful views of Sperlonga and the beach inside its cavernous walls.

At left:  Yvonne is sitting and retelling the story in the spot where the original statues of Odysseus, Cyclops, et. al. were found centuries ago.  At right: Riley is sitting in a contemplative mood about what he's experienced today.

At left:  Ryan is carrying Jasper up the hill to the museum due to a major cut he sustained on his foot the day before while swimming in the sea back in Terracina.  Two weeks later, he and his three stitches are doing just fine!

Sermoneta (September 18)

As you can see, we did a lot on September 18 but it seemed to flow well.  It didn't hurt that we were being chauffeured around in a double-decker bus all day!  After Ninfa our next stop was Sermoneta, a small hill town not far from Ninfa.  Its two big tourist attractions are a 13th century cathedral, Santa Maria Assunta, and a huge castle (see left) built by the Caetani family (also referenced in the Ninfa blog entry).  Interesting facts of Sermoneta are 1) from the 13th-16th centuries it was also home to a flourishing Jewish community and 2) in 2007 the movie "Silk," starring Keira Knightly was filmed there (info courtesy of Wikipedia).

The weather made it easy to take picturesque photos of the countryside.  Sermoneta is located in the province of Latina, about an hour south of Rome and not far from the Mediterranean coast.







Sermoneta is literally cut right out of the side of a mountain, as evidenced by the steep drop to get to this residence.  On the right, I'm holding Celie, Brad's and Amy's (right behind me) youngest of two daughters.  Apparently she doesn't let too many people hold her, according to Amy.  Perhaps I just caught her on a good day!  Also behind me is Yvonne, Ancient Art History Extraordinaire and my Italian "buddy"!  She rocks!



A couple more snap shots of Sermonta before we left to return to Terracina and relax.

Ninfa (September 18)

Before we settled in at La Palma in Terracina, our double-decker bus stopped in Ninfa, home of the famous garden by the same name.  The garden includes the remains of the ancient city of Ninfa, perhaps founded by the Volscians at the feet of the Monti Lepini (Thanks Wikipedia!).

In 1159, Pope Alexander III was crowned there but later destroyed by order of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, after his enemy Pope Alexander III had taken refuge in the town.

Ninfa was repopulated by its inhabitants, under the seigniory of the Caetani, but in the 16th century remained deserted due to the expansion of the surrounding marshes and the arrival of malaria.  The castle and the area were renewed in the 20th century in the English garden style.






While the tour of the garden was leg by an official guide, Brad offers suggestions to the students of things to look out for while on the tour as possible topics for their next paper.







Here are parts of the remains of the city of Ninfa.  You may notice a slight bluish hue on the side of the 12th century cathedral.  That is due to natural pesticides used to preserve the nearly 1300 deciduous trees and other species over the 8 acres.





Our guide, Guilia (pronounced "Julia"), was fantastic.  Aside from knowing her stuff, her delivery made learning about the garden the ruins of Ninfa interesting.

At the right is a river that runs through the garden.  The water is comes from a natural spring, so clear and clean we were allowed to literally drink right from it.

The bamboo you see was amazingly high.  According to Guilia, it grows about 6 inches a day during the summer.  So they're constantly having to trim it down so that it doesn't overrun the garden.  As for the second bamboo picture, I found it humorous that the groundskeepers felt the need to put up this sign, which reads, "Do not write or engrave on the bamboo canes."  If you zoom in on the right side of the picture, you can see somebody's handywork.

Left: through the windows of the ancient castle at Ninfa.  Right: one of the many varieties of roses in the Ninfa gardens.










Left to right: Jasper, Roman, and Will chillin' on the waterfalls of Ninfa