Down South

Paestum, Pompeii, Naples, Almafi, Isle of Capri:

Sorry this entry is so long, I've waited too long to write! Feel free to just look at pictures if the text becomes overwhelming. Hopefully these descriptions give you ideas to plan your own trip to Italy. Move over Rick Steves, here I come! hehe. 

Paestum: connecting to ancient peoples

This city was a suprise to me! I had never really heard of Paestum before, which is incredible considering the content of the site. The entire complex, probably....maybe the size of the KSU campus perhaps...was filled with the entire bottom half of an ancient city from around 500 A.D.!! There are still beautiful mosaics inside the floors of houses, columns with inscriptions, doorways, and three gigantic temples! (Sorry for all the exclamation points, everything is so amazing, periods just don't seem to be doing it justice). The day we were in Paestum was gorgeous as well, the sky was blue with huge puffy clouds and the suns rays would stream through them. Plus it had rained the day before maybe so everything was lucious and green. It was hard to believe that I was walking on the floors of someones home that lived not hundreds, but over a THOUSAND years ago! The fact that they could build such impressive spaces, especially such tall and monumental temples, just blows my mind! Paestum really brought these people to life for me. 

Mosaic on the floor of an ancient Paestum house

A view of the city of Paestum and the ruins

Pompeii: one day that changed their lives forever

 Now here is a city we have all heard of - the city suddenly completely destroyed when the volcano Vesuvius erupted (note the picture of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background to the left of this text). The city was also incredible! Ruins of houses, streets, shops (including counters and spaces for sliding doors), theatres, all these still exist in here. The story is also fascinating, bringing to life these people even more. The volcano erupted, and the people fled the city, leaving their slaves (about 2,000 slaves were left), to protect their houses and their valuables. It is the slaves, then, that faced their ends at Pompeii. The cloud of dust blown over the city by the wind, fell rapidly enough that as the slaves dug through house walls to find ways to escape, they could not find any way out, and were buried under the ash. I have pictures of the skeletons and molds of the spaces left in the ash after the bodies disintegrated, but I will spare you those scary images. They actually creep me out pretty bad. Anyway, I admit that I actually wondered if the city was destroyed due to wickedness, however, because there were "red light" districts (I think that is the right term) in the town. Reguardless, It was amazing to see the houses and streets and such still intact. 

Streets of Pompeii. Notice the large stones in the bottom right. These are stepping stones that lead across the road. Why? Because, in order to clean the roads, the Pompeiians would flood the street. In order to cross at these times, they stepping stones were used. It is amazing, because in between these stones, you can see the indents made bye the wheels of the wagons used to transport through the city. If you look , you can see them in this picture as well.

This is a set of stairs inside one of the hosues in Pompei. I included this to show how intact the spaces are.

Almafi: is this the meaning of beauty?

Now we leave the world of ancient ruins and enter the world of luxurious Italian beaches. Yes, I am in fact getting school credit to sit on the beach, hehe. Suddenly the long semesters of no sleep seem worth every minute. The water of the sea is the most beautiful part, I think, of all of this. The water is a pure, deep teal, and clear all the way to the sea floor. The sea is backed by the city, which is backed by steep stone cliffs. Our hotel was built directly into the cliff, sticking out from the cliff to below. The view from this vantage point was incredible! We spent the day playing on the rocks, the beach, and touring the local Duomo (every city has a large main church, called the duomo). We told the man inside that we were "Studenti di architectura" and he got very excited to show us everything inside. For one meal, we ate at this amazing pizza restaurant where a performer came in and sang and played the guitar while the restaurant owners, and some guests, sang along. It was really cliche Europe, and I loved it. For the other meal, we decided to save some money and use the kitchen in the hotel. Unfortunately, this kept turning the power off. The meal, of an alfredo-like pasta, was sooo good. We were able to watch the sunset and sunrise in Almafi...both spectacular. 

A group of us on the beach

The duomo of Almafi

Movie of the restaurant

Capri: tropical paradise

Capri actually suprised me. I expected extravagant beaches. There were beaches, but the main event was the tropical hike through the island hills. The beauty is that we were able to get lost and just hike for hours, with no concern for time or location. There was green all around us, and there were constant views of the blue/green ocean and the rocky cliffs. We also toured the Villa San Michele, which is a beautiful villa on the hill off Anacapri with gorgeous gardens, sculptures, and an amazing Italian house. I think of all the places I have seen here, Capri is the most beautiful. However, if traveling to Italy, remember that the beauty of the island is spent hiking through the island. 

View of part of the hike

Naples: hmm...

So I will not put much of Naples, because honestly, Naples did not live up to my expectations. I hear that the people are wonderful, but the city was run down and covered in graffiti. I didn't even get pizza...but its all good, there is so much pizza in Italy!

Sunday: a spiritual pick-me-up

Last, but not least, I would like to update on my church experience here in Italy. Actually, Sundays are probably my favorite days. The Urban family, a local family, is so sweet; they travel to pick me up and drive me to church. This Sunday, they brought along their 23 year old daughter who came home from Utah. She goes to a school in Utah, and has not been back to Italy for a long time. She speaks English first and foremost, and has no accent, but also speaks Italian fluently. Anyway, she was soooo sweet and I loved meeting her and spending time with the family again. Since I have not discussed this much yet, I will debrief you on Brother and Sister Urban:

Sister Urban is a nice woman, probably in her early 50's, and she is Italian. Her English is very good, but she does have a very noticable Italian accent, which really makes her all the more cute, hehe. Brother Urban is an American man (now Italian by location), and he is so sweet.  He is so full of smart/funny comments and jokes, he always makes me smile. They treat me just like a daughter, the Urbans, and I feels so at ease. "Are you sure your not Italian, you get along so well with us," Sister Urban said to me, which made me so happy, I felt so loved! 

At church, I am getting to know the members. In the past, I have had people translate for me (one man who translates for me, Emmanuele, reminds me of the guy from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," he and his family are awesome!) during the meetings, but I feel bad because the translation disrupts people around us. Consequently, I decided to forgo the translators today and just feel the spirit of the service. Usually, I can get the main gist of the conversation based on words I know and the scriptures we read, and the spirit is very powerful. 

The Urban's daughter, Narina, and I during our Sunday outing

Anyway, during the meetings, I've met a few people. Paolo is the institute director, and he is wonderful! He always calls to make sure I have the opportunity to attend institute and sets up transportation for me and everything. This Thursday I will finally be able to attend! Marco is an architect who is one of the people in the I Am a Mormon ads. Him and his family are also great people, and, who knew, he is a beekeeper! I also I met a girl, about my age, who is getting baptized on the 10th. She is from the Czec Republic studying languages in Perugia, so her English is good enough that we can communicate and I absolutely love her! I told her that I would go to her baptism, and she gave me a huge hug and was so happy! I immediately wanted to be her friend since she was so kind to me. Her name is Margharita. There are so many more wonderful people, I could go on forever, but I will move on for now.

Speaking of kindness, its funny how happy any kind of interaction at church can make me. The Relief Society president asked me, in Italian, to go get five hymnbooks (cinque libro) to bring upstairs, and I was just so happy that I understood her and that she had enough faith in me to ask this of me, that I was probably over excited to complete the task hehe. Another lady decided to tell me a story from her experiences that week (she did this in English), and she just talked to me so easily, I was thrilled to be let into her life. Italians are very touchy feely too, so she did the common thing of kissing both of my cheeks when she said goodbye afterwards, as do all the Italians once they are comfortable with you. All the Italians put their arms around each other, hug each other, rub each other's arms to express support, etc, even to me right off the bat. We stopped at some friends of the Urban's on the way home and they overwhelmed me with hugs and putting their arms around me, and inviting me to dinner, they are all just so friendly! Meeting them and going to church renews my desire to really learn Italian, since I want to badly to return the sentiment with more than gestures and just a few words. I hope I follow through. 

Then after that visit, the Urbans took me to see another town in Italy which had such beautiful old world charm. We drove through the mountainside and viewed the valley below, from which we could even see where part of the movie "The Gladiator" was filmed. I really enjoy these trips through Italy with the Urbans. 

Anyway, so overall, this trip was incredible. Italy never ceases to amaze me with the sights, smells, stones, and so many experiences. I am thankful to be experiencing a whole new lifestyle from my own, and I hope that I can take from these places and experiences some lessons that will influence me forever. 

Ciao!

Jessica

Firenze and Pisa

This weekend flooded my life with adventure! I cannot wait to share with you all the amazing stories and sites to take in at both Florence and Pisa and all the way inbetween.

Florence aka Firenze:

We arrived by bus in very cold weather. Thankfully, we did enough walking that the temperature was not an issue for too much of the trip.

Brunelleschi's dome - the dome that broke all odds by being the largest dome of its time, a task thought impossible at the time.  It was amazing to gaze up into the inside of the large space, and feel absolutely miniscule as a tiny person below such a large architectural masterpeice. The controversy still stands as to whether the paintings inside the dome take away from the architecture and geometry of the peice, or if, since they are over 200 years old, they are history that cannot be moved. I personally find the frescos to be very beautiful. I can't believe what great detail went into churches of this magnitude; every inch is touched by human hand, carefully designed and molded to invite the worshiper to feel a connection with God. Even today, I am awestruck at the magnitude of the space.

The Church of San Croce - this building will interest those of you non-architects, because within the walls of this church stands the burial tombs for Galileo and Michealangelo! These are funny facts actually, because Galileo was disowned by the church for his radical ideas of the universe, and Michealangelo desired in his will to be buried in Rome. Still, they are such famous symbols of Florence, that the Florentines brought them back anyway after their deaths. There is also a tomb reserved for Dante, the great playwright, despite the fact that during his life, Dante was exiled from Florence for his support of a political ruler that was not the Pope. He is still buried

where he died, away from Florence, despite the Florintines efforts to retreive his body. Wealthy families who donated money to the church is the ancient days, would be buried underneath the ground inside the church too. We walked above them as we viewed the space! Anyway, San Croce  is HUGE, and once again, filled with fantastic detail. The church is of the the order of the Catholic church that began using the cross as a significant symbol of worship. Consequently, the entire church is adorned with images of Christ on the cross. I was overwhelmed by the colors, mosaics, frescos, stonework, and so much more to see. It was impossible to absorb all the detail in memory!

Dante's house - the house where the writer, Dante, grew up before he was exiled for his political opinions. We also viewed the church were he first met his muse, a girl whom he never married but used as his inspiration for his work.

Ponte Veccio - A wonderful bridge on which is lined store after store of jewlery. The wonderful part, however, is the view of the bridge from the outside, where you can see the stores hanging off the bridge like little Italian houses (see the picture below).

Statue of David - I thought it appropriate to include only a picture of me with the statue in the background. Why? Because this statue is a fake. The real statue I will not get to see for another two weeks when I return to Florence. The reason for the copy is that the real statue, origionally located in the piazza, was open to distruction by the elements. Consequently, a copy was made and the origional moved to a museum across town.

Dinner and the Hostel - The last bit of information to include is my first stay in a hostel, and the best dinner I've had in Italy. The hostel, costing us only 11 Euro for the night, was better than I had expected, in fact. We had a group of six, and therefore we were able to attain an entire room to ourselves (often hostels are like giant dorms and one simply rents a bed). The place was clean, right in the center of the action, and had a fantastic view. We spent a lot of time taking fun pictures in a small platform with ancient columns holding up a roof over a platform accross from our hostel. During the day, this location holds an interesting tourist market. How amazing is it that all this occurs around columns hundreds of years old?

The dinner, at a restaurant called Tavernetta Della Signoria, served three course meals for quite decent prices. I ordered the meal combination including a lasagne course, a roast beef with arugula salad course, and a desert of a slice of cheesecake. The food was excellent, and the service was even better. Our waitress was kind and friendly, and even patient when we tried to figure out how to split the bill. We probably stayed in the restaurant for two hours! Italians eat much slower than Americans.

Pisa:

Suprisingly, despite all the fantastic culture in Florence, Pisa takes the cake of the trip. The girls staying in the room next to us in the hostel (students from Brazil studying in Paris) gave us sceptical reviews of Pisa, saying that the tower was smaller than expected and that there was very little to do in the town. We, however, found the town to be amazing, and the tower, along with the baptistry and basilica, to exceed our expectations! We arrived on the train and began walking accross town to get to the leaning tower and its counterparts. Perhaps because it was Saturday and nice weather, the city was very alive with markets and vendors and outdoor cafes. There was so much to see! Also, as we walked, churches would appear along the street. On the outside, they appear simple, but when we would step into the space, the power and awe of each ornate building was astounding!

Anyway, finally we arrived at the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, along with the Basilica of Pisa, the Baptistry, and the Cemetary.

Leaning Tower of Pisa - First, we were eager to climb the tower, so we paid the 15 Euro and proceeded to walk sideways up the winding stairs to the top. The view from the top was incredible! Mountains to one side, Italian rooftops on others, and then the view of the Basilica and the tourist shops. I could take in the view forever. Its odd to walk around the exterior of the top of the tower, realizing that you are leaning! Once back safely on the ground, we were able to get into the Basilica.

Basilica - This is quite possibly the most beautiful church I have witnessed to far! The detail, once again, is fantastic, and each column is unique. We spent quite a few minutes running our hands up and down each column, feeling the texture.

Cemetary - The cemetary, still in use, is made up of tombs buried once again within the ground on which guests walk underneath a covered loggia. There are tombs from the 1500's, and tombs from 2009. The sculpture is fantastic.

Baptistry - The baptistry is really special - here is why. At first, it seems just a simple, circular building meant for ornate and elaborate baptisimal cermonies. Then, something amazing happened. We had ascended the stairs to be level with the dome, when a woman who worked at the site stepped into the center of the space. She paused, and then we heard one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. She let out a note (ooooo), and the magical musical sound reverberated clearly and melodically through the whole space, encapsulated by the shape of the dome. Then she let out another note (aaaaaa), which overlayed itself over the previous note, still ringing, to form a sort of harmonal choir with each other. A third note, a fourth, the music was ethereal and enchanting; the space was perfectly designed to reflect and echo sound, creating a one person choir. Imagine this same effect occuring when an actual baptism was taking place. The sound of the person lowered, immersed in the water, would echo throughout the entire space, allowing all the veiwers to feel intertwined with the experience. The symbolism is fantastic. A baptism is meant to unite one follower of God with others, as part of a congregation, a church, as well as unite this follower with God. The sound, in this case, further supports the symbolism, uniting all members present in an envelope of sound. Really, it was magnificent.

Following this experience we walked the tourist street alongside the attractions, and of course, took the cliche pictures holding up the tower. It feels incredible that I am so lucky as to have one of these pictures myself, hehe. Can't help that it is so cliche, I still love it.

This pretty much concludes the visit to Florence and Pisa. One more experience happened that I will share, and then you can hopefully look forward to next week, when I will visit Pompeii, Paestum, Naples, the Almafi Coast, and the Isle of Capri!

The story of the train - So, during our time in Pisa, it snowed nearly a foot in Orvieto! Because of this, our train was delayed for 10 minutes. Not a big deal. However, when the train arrived, we went to validate our tickets. We stuck our tickets in, and to our shock, the machine was not stamping the ticket! We ran from machine to machine trying to get a stamp (having an unvalidated ticket results in a 100 euro fine!), but none of the machines would work! Finally we decided the hole punch from the machine would be enough and ran to catch the train before it began to pull away. Close call! That is not the most exciting part however. After finding the warmest car, we rode until we came to Orvieto. Looking out the window at the snowcovered station, we saw the sign for Orvieto and got up to leave. We proceeded to the train doors only to discover that they had not opened. This initiated our first panic. We ran to the next set of doors, hoping to escape the train, only to find that they too remained shut! Down the car we raced, door to door, "we have to get off, we have to get off!" we kept calling! No luck, and to our horror, the train began to move! If the train left, we would arrive in an unknown city after 10 pm, allowing us no hope of finding lodging and causing us to spend even more money if we could find a place to stay as well as paying for a ticket home in the morning. We were instantly in a panic. "We have to get off, we have to get off!" our cries increased. Finally, we spotted a red emergency pulley. "Pull it!" one of us yelled, and that is exactly what happened! The train screeched to a halt, and we stood there in shock. A worker came frantically over to us, we had stopped an entire train! He spoke broken English, but could understand our cries and our panicked faces. We pried a door open and he began to wave his hands furiously, "No, no!" We had opened the door onto the other track! Then he pulled and pulled at the correct exit. The reason it had not opened became apparent, all the doors were frozen shut. He called another worker over and finally the doors came lose and we were free!

Anyway, I am happy to report that we made it safely home, on time, and, after a long and eventful weekend, enojoyed the night safe in our own beds :)

Ciao for now!

Jess

Week 3

* Cold, cold, and more cold *

This week, Orvieto experienced something very rare to the area: SNOW! Plenty of snow too. Each night over the weekend, without fail, a steady wave of snow fell from the sky, coating the ground...and canceling our trip to Assisi! The result: a long weekend spent primarily indoors watercoloring and staying warm.

Really, therefore, there are only two things to talk about. Number one, watercolors, and number two, how absolutely beautiful Orvieto is covered in a layer of snow.

Watercoloring has been much more exciting since Rome! There are many sources of inspiration, including those seen here, the Parthenon, the Triumphal Arch, and the Colloseum. So far, I am caught up to one watercolor per day. I was sick last week, but most days I have indeed been able to get up early in the morning to paint. However, now that it is cold, most of these watercolors occur from pictures while I am indoors.

The next exciting thing is Orvieto in the snow. Samantha, Will, and I spent some time outdoors taking snow pictures until our fingers froze and making an adorable, opera-singing snowman.

Then we found a cafe and unsuccessfully tried to indulge in cake and hot chocolate. We accidentally ordered one extra cake and one extra hot chocolate than we intended, and, unfortunately, the cake was mediocre and hot chocolate in Italy is just a cup of melted chocolate, too rich to really drink; quite the adventure, however!

The next day, Samantha and I took a trip up into the tallest tower in Orvieto. From here, we could see the entire expanse of the city as well as miles and miles of rolling Italian hills. What a breathtaking site! The snow covered the Italian rooftops and the Duomo stood like a giant monument amidst the buildings. Sam and I jumped so high when the bell at the top of the tower (conveniently right next to us) started to loudly toll the hour! After we got down from the tower, we were able to stop at a church and some local shops to supplement our winter tour of the town. The neat thing is, churches are tucked in everywhere! The outsides will seem inconspicuous, but then, as you enter, a whole new world of color and ornate design comes to life. It is like entering a secret garden! It is incredible to think that many of them are older than the United States itself.

Anyway, that pretty much concludes this week. The market was cancelled due to the snow, so we had to spend a little extra money to buy groceries in the supermarche this week, but we eat well here. Lots of pasta and pizza, and then some ratitoulli and vegitable dishes, and Sam makes this killer cooked cabbage salad. Plus, a couple nights we spent at our local favorite restaurant, Zepplin, where the guy in charge, Vito Paolo, is very nice, and always gives lots of free goodies to us (mostly loading my classmates up with Italian wine), probably since we are good business!

Well, hopefully next week is more exciting as we travel to Florence!!

Ciao,

Jess