Top Five Favorite Things About Italy

1. The language
It is truly beautiful to hear, always sing-songy always romantic.

2. The visual beauty.
The buildings, the monuments, the countryside, the light, the colors.

3. The love of food.
Usually the taste of the food is pretty good too, but even more charming is the way that food is talked about, displayed and loved.

4. The history.
Italy has a fascinating history - from ancient Rome to the rise of the Catholic Church to the fall of fascism, the stories are captivating.

5. The diversity.
Each geographical delineation of place (be it neighborhood, town, region) has its own food, language and customs. A person could never learn everything there is to know about Italy.

La Notte Bianca

Last night we walked down to the centro for Rome's Notte Bianca. Several European cities have begun hosting these "White Night" events that are like a city-wide open house. Museums, monuments, churches, galleries and lots of other cultural organizations stay open through the night and are usually free for admission. There are also concerts, plays, poetry readings and other performance art exhibits taking place throughout the city. One of the best parts about the event is that the center is closed to traffic and the entire zona is pedestrian only.

We had a really nice time exploring places that we hadn't yet taken the opportunity to visit. In addition to the bonus of it all being free, there was something uniquely pleasant about visiting the sights at night. On our way into the city we took a leisurely walk down the hill, stopping for a beer at a tiny bar with a great view of the city. Once down by the river we walked to the Castello de San Angelo - a major tourist attraction where we could enjoy more good views of Rome. From there we strolled along the river where some cocktail bars and a basketball expo(?!) had been set up.

Once we crossed the river we walked through the medieval streets to a museum we hadn't yet visited and explored the rooms of the old palazzo that houses ancient artifacts. There was a poetry reading in the courtyard of the palazzo and though I couldn't understand everything I noted that the word "amore" was peppered liberally throughout the prose.

After the museum we went into a church that holds both a Caravaggio and a Raffaello that we hadn't yet seen. Volunteers were offering lectures and tours throughout the city; it was so neat to see people taking in an art history lesson at midnight in a beautiful old church. After viewing the paintings we walked to a nearby library that Todd wanted to show me. It was like something out of Harry Potter - shelves of elegantly bound books lining walls at least 40 feet high. There were also several little lectures taking place in the library (all in Italian).

The streets were full of people happily wandering about in the car-free night. Once we walked up to some of the major boulevards the crowds were a bit much for us so we tucked back into the quieter alley ways and made our way home. It was a really special and unique evening.

Reflections

The weather went from sunny and in the 90s to overcast and in the 70s in just a few days. The cooler temps remind us that it was nearly a year ago that we arrived in Rome and a short two months before we return to Madison. This has prompted us to reflect on our year here and to take stock of the things we will miss about Italy as well as what we look forward to in the States.

When we got back from dinner last night I found myself feeling a bit sad to leave behind this precious time in my life when I've been a happy newlywed woman exploring a new country.

Pavarotti

We awoke this morning to the most beautiful voice. Our clock radio was playing opera and I wondered who it was it was so lovely. Now we know, it must have been Luciano Pavarotti. I am happy to have heard and loved his voice before knowing the sad news that he has passed away.

The Adriatic

Originally uploaded by jenojenny

Gallipoli Sunset

Originally uploaded by jenojenny

Lovely Miss Jen

Originally uploaded by jenojenny

Hey Romeo

Originally uploaded by jenojenny

Beach Babe

Beach Babe
Originally uploaded by jenojenny

Day Trips!

One of our absolute favorite parts of living in Italy is the diversity of the countryside and the villages and towns that you can visit during what Italians call a “gita,” which basically means “day trip.” We live a short walk from a train station where we can catch a line that goes north of the city to some pretty medieval towns. For the other trips we need to venture out to one of the larger stations. Typically we do the trips on Sunday – getting to our destination around lunchtime to enjoy a nice meal, walk around the town and then head home.

Assisi



This is the home of St. Francis – the monk that talked to birds and generally enjoyed nature (sort of a 12th century hippie). We visited the town on Palm Sunday and were struck by how peaceful and enchanting it was despite the massive tourist presence. It is a beautiful setting on a hill overlooking the Umbrian countryside. The churches in Assisi are absolutely beautiful though simple inside and very different from the ostentatious cherubim found in most of Rome’s churches.

Bracciano



This is where TomKat (Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes) were married during their circus wedding last November. We’d underestimated how charming the town would be. The main feature is a castle (where the wedding took place) that overlooks Lake Bracciano – a volcanic lake that provides much of Rome’s municipal water. After a very tasty lunch of steak with rosemary and olive oil we walked down the hill to the lake then took a bus back up to the town.

Appia Antica

Although this site is actually in Rome, it takes a day to visit it properly and we had a really great time exploring this old Roman road. The road starts quite close to the city center and quickly turns into a beautiful green belt with fields, trees and gorgeous Italian villas. It felt like we had traveled to a different part of the country. There are also many ruins and catacombs along the road, though we mostly just sauntered along and enjoyed the great weather. We were surprised on the latter half of our trip when we ended up in a huge park filled with families, horses and even a farm. We walked through woods, over a stream and even came across a beautiful temple along the way.

Alatri, Cori, Nemi and Castello Gandolfo

When Todd’s dad came for a visit we rented a car for a day and explored some of the areas south of Rome. This part of Italy seems to get short shrift because it is so beautiful and interesting but it isn’t part of the major tourist route. After driving through pretty green countryside and vineyards we arrived at Nemi which is a beautiful town nestled in a volcanic crater overlooking a lake. The steep sides of the crater and the green of the forest reminded me of Hawaii. We had lunch at a restaurant perched on the cliff overlooking the little lake. From there we went on to Castello Gandolfo which is also on a crater lake and is the pope’s summer residence.

Napoli (Naples)

Although I’ve heard more than a few negative things about Naples, many people will say it is a must-see city – there’s even a saying "vedi napoli e poi mori" (see Naples and then die) which sounds morbid but I think it is supposed to be romantic.



We had a fantastic day there and were fortunate to get almost all of the positive experiences you can have there and only a few of the negative. It was much more tranquil than I’d expected and we had an easy time exploring the streets and looking at the shops. We ate some of the famous Neapolitan pizza (hand-tossed, wood fired oven, fresh sauce and mozzarella di bufala) and then went on to the National Archaeological museum.



The museum was fantastic – with amazing huge ancient statues and wonderful displays of the objects that were discovered in Pompeii. The experience was definitely made better by the fact that we’d visited Pompeii before going there. We were blown away by how much the household objects they had 2000 years ago look like the things we use today. Especially beautiful was a pair of picture frames that held small portraits painted on glass – they look like photos in frames. And ladies – you’ll recognize the medical implements in the picture, some things truly never change…



The most bizarre part of the museum is the “Gabinetto Segretto” which holds all of the “Rated XXX” artifacts. The ancients were much less modest than we are these days and sexually themed decorations were common in their homes and shops. I doubt Brittany Spears would have been nearly as interesting to the ancient romans.



After the museum we took a walk through the city and explored the “urban canyons” of the straight, narrow streets with laundry fluttering overhead. There was a vibrant energy there that Rome does not seem to have. Napoli’s reputation for trouble is also its reputation for being a place apart – its lively streets filled with people.





It was a really special day and one of our better trips we’ve taken while in Italy.

Easter at Vatican City

On Easter Sunday Todd and I headed down to Vatican City to see if we could get a glimpse of the pope. He was a bit off in the distance and there was quite a crowd, but we did manage to catch site of His Excellence. He's the little guy in the gold robes toward the end of the video...

Pasquetta

The Monday following Easter is called Pasquetta and is a special holiday in Italy, presumably to let everyone recover from the grand events of the day before (in some respects Easter is a more significant holiday for Italians than Christmas). Families traditionally venture out to the parks and countryside to enjoy the new spring sunshine. We acted the part and spent the day with Jen and Santino at the gorgeous and huge Doria Pamphili – which is just 10 min walk from our home. Watch the video to see how we spent our time…

Carnevale di Venezia

Todd, Jen and I went to Venice the weekend before Carnevale (Venetian Mardi Gras) to visit Marta and Giulio whom Todd and his family have known since he was a little boy. They are generous hosts and true Venetians. They treated us to a really nice weekend, putting us up in an apartment that they rent to tourists. Since Carnevale was not yet in full swing we didn't see it in all of its splendor, but had a great time anyway and saw several amazing costumes.

Marta said that for the most part Venetians do not participate in Carnevale at all and that it is much more of a tourist spectacle. That didn't deter us from wishing that we had come with full costume regalia and hoping that one day in the future we can return better prepared for the event. We did a bit of mask shopping but found the quality ones to be beyond our budget.