Florence is wonderful the 2nd time around!

       The 4 of us (Pat Reid, Pat Kelley, my sister Jean and I) arrived in Florence yesterday, had lunch, did S. Maria Novella and got a cab to our apartment, a spacious 3 bedroom flat on the third floor of a building with no elevator. (sigh)
     The girls went shopping and the boys went on a recon mission to see what we would do the next day. We met up and had a wonderful dinner at "Il Gatto e il Volpe" and, climbing the 4 flights of stairs yet again, crashed for the night. I say crashed and not slept because our flat is right across the street from a bar popular with the American students in Florence, who like to party until 4 AM!!!!
      So, we decide that today would begin at S. Croce, which is a gorgeous Franciscan church which houses multiple works by Giotto as well as the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Rossini and a memorial to Dante. There was a special exhibit of marble samples on display in the piazza in front of the church. No, it has not been snowing.....the ground was covered with marble "gravel"

The memorial to Dante in Santa Croce

The tomb of Michelangelo in Santa Croce

    We went into a museum attached to the church and saw an artist who has done wonderful wood cut designs. I WANTED these carvings (NOT the prints but the actual carved block) that he had done, but they were not for sale :-(

    Then we saw a gorgeous painting of a crucifix by Cimabue. Although it was badly deteriorated, it was still powerful.





     Then we set off for the Accademie to see the David and the unfinished works of my boy, Michelangelo! There were no photos allowed, but I managed to get a quickie!

   It is so beyond breathtaking!!!!!  When you turn the corner and catch the first glimpse of this incredible figure, you just want to pass out with joy!!!
      Then we hiked to the Duomo and hung around in the piazza until 5 PM Mass in "english". I put English in quotes because in all of Florence, the only person they could find to say Mass in English was a Chinese priest!!! I don't think he even knew what he was saying most of the time and neither did we, but we fulfilled our "obligation". There was no music and very little participation in anything because none of us knew what he was saying - sigh. I trust that grace was given!
Then we had dinner at "Gusto Leo" and now, after climbing the dreaded 4 flights of stairs, I am blogging!!!
     Tomorrow......Ponte Vecchio and the square outside the Uffizzi  and then back to Rome!
Ciao darlings!!

another day....another church.....another museum

So, after the 2 falls and a day of complete rest, my battered body is feeling better. This is good because we have to vacate the apartment so the cleaning fairy can work her magic! I went to the Center with Pat (I think the folks there wanted to make sure I was till alive!! LOL!) and we worked in the morning- Pat prepping for class and me planning liturgies for the next 2 Thursdays at the Lay Center and Advent I at home!
      Then we decided to go to Piazza Navona. What a neat place!! There are 3 fountains. The center huge one is by Bernini and is the Fountain of the 4 rivers (as seen in the film Angels and Demons)The center is a huge obelisk and the base is four gorgeously sculpted figure representing 4 rivers!
The Piazza is filled with artists painting and selling their wares and surrounded by places to eat!

    We had lunch and then we went to a Roman Antiquities museum. It was beautifully laid out with just 2 or 3 or 4 figures in each room of the ancient building. These are some of my favorite sculptures I saw there.

Apollo and his cithera (lyre)

the suicide of Glatea

Electra and Orestes (from the Oresteia by Aeschylus)

Nymph and satyr. Is that a dirty old man or what????

Even the rooms were decorated and some were named! Of course, Pat took my picture in the Duchess Salon

The "Duchess" with Venus and Cupid!

     I was pretty beat by this time (museums are tough on people with herniated discs and nerve pain!) so we just peeked in St. Agnese church - very Baroque - and came home.
     I sat with my friend the ice pack and made a frittata for dinner. We woke up this morning to find that Obama will be our leader for the next 4 years and hope that things will improve for our country and for the world!

Sunday/Day 4

    It was a grey and rainy day. We began ( as we always begin Sunday) with Liturgy. Pat went to the North Am. College to have mass and brunch with the seminarians and our friend, David Gaffney. I went to Caravita as I was supposed to cantor there. Rob and his friends, Federico and Georgia, picked us up in the Mercedes (!) and we set off for Tivoli for lunch. We went to a fabulous place where everything is homemade! We got to know Federico and Georgia despite the language barrier. Poor Rob was the official translator. We were very curious to ask Federico about his job as he is a journalist for the Vatican radio station......interesting work.....
    Here are the 5 of us - photo taken by a helpful waiter!

Federico, Pat, moi, Georgia and Rob

     I was pretty beat by then and Pat had prep for class, so we ended our adventure last night at around 5!
     Today, I have not stirred from the apartment......I need 'alone' time!

.....day 3

So we begin the day at the Duomo again(trying to stay on our feet -lol!) and there is a gorgeous chapel in the duomo. The decoration was begun by Fra Angelico and completed by  Signorelli. I was particularly interested in one portion of the frescoes showing the angels praising God. Check out what the top angel is playing!!! If it's good enough for the angels, it's good enough for the church!!! :-)

     We hit two museums after that, housed in the Papal palace (the popes lived in Orvieto for a stretch) and I got nearly thrown out once again for taking pictures. But I got a few of the better stuff!

The Annunciation- 11th cent. - the angel was demolished

 We were allowed photos in this museum!

My boy, John XXIII visiting the prisoners with angels!

      We met Rob and his friend Avery (both are Ph.D candidates, Rob in theology and Avery in philosophy) for lunch, then we went our separate ways to do whatever we wanted. I found the most wonderful mercato of all local artisans who made jewelry, crafts, soap, woven scarves, even shoes and purses! I bought the most amazing necklace - a copy of an 11th century piece!!!
     Then we met another friend of Rob's for coffee - a lovely, humble and hard working priest - a canon of the Duomo - who tried to convince us that Orvieto was really the place of the Eucharistic miracle because the "proof" document came from there. I just smiled and kept silent......I know the truth! :-) As an side, no wonder Italians talk so much, so fast and so loudly - they are always stopping for expresso; there are coffee bars everywhere!!! There is one next door to us and also across the street!
      After a bit more exploration of the streets of Orvieto, the four of us set off for Viterbo for dinner, where we had the most amazing pizzas

arugula and mozzarella/ spinach and pecorino - YUM!!

Rob and Avery

    After dinner (it was dark by then) we went to the place of the "con clave" The cardinals could not (or would not) elect a pope so the town locked them in the room, (con clave means with a key) took off the roof and stopped feeding them. With these incentives,they finally elected a pope!!  LOL!! It has been called a conclave ever since!
     Then we went back to Rome - arrived around 9 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Our Mercedes vacation/Day 2

     Our travel companion, Rob, has graciously agreed to drive me to see my relatives in Bolsena. It is my Nonno's paese and 2 sisters stayed in Italy when he immigrated to America. I have met these cousins before, but I hoped to find them again. (despite the fact that there seems to be a family feud going on over there!)
     While we waited for Rob, I decided to take some photos are the gorgeous bas-reliefs on the front of the Duomo. I stepped back to get a better shot and fell down the 7 marble step, with Pat close behind me trying to stop my fall. (Grace is NOT my middle name!!!!) I bruised my left hip and ankle and Pat cut his head. While I was trying to clean up the blood, 4 girls came over and asked if they could help (they had witnessed the fiasco) It turns out they were Catholic Studies majors from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota! They gave Pat a muli-hued teddy bear bandaid to cover the cut! LOL!
     We got on the road - a VERY winding road full of hairpin turns - around 11 and arrived in Bolsena in 40 minutes! We found the Town church dedicated to S. Christina, a very popular 4th century young martyr (11 yrs old). It is an 11th century basilica which houses the altar and blood stained altar stones of the Eucharistic miracle of 1263, which gave rise to the feast of Corpus Christi! 

The reliquary holding the blood stained altar stone and a painting of the miracle above it!

     This is the church where my grandfather was baptized and where he worshipped!

     Then we set out to find my cousins. I remembered where they lived and we rang the bell - no answer, but we saw their surname (Ovidi) on the mailbox. We did a little shopping and tried again. This time, my cousin Cesaretta came to the balcony above and nearly fell off when she saw me! We came in a had a nice visit, but she had to get back to work. We promised to get in touch so that we could get together when my sister arrives    
      Bolsena is on a huge volcanic lake and so we drove around the lake and stopped to eat. I had absolutely divine ravioli stuffed with pears and percorino romano cheese, layered with mozzarella and drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar.er comes this week.

    It turns out that the owner is friends with my cousin, Marie-Vittoria and her son Angelo had his wedding reception there!!
(another small world moment!)
       I am a freak for olive trees and there were wondeful ones growing around the lake.

    We shopped along the small streets of Bolsena and drove home to have dinner in Orvieto. I was so tired and a bit sore from the fall, that I fell asleep at 7 and slept right through dinner until 8 the next morning!
ciao until tomorrow!!

Our Mercedes Vacation/day 1

We set off around noon for Orvieto. We abandoned Siena and decided to just do Orvieto and Bolsena. Before we even left the city, we passed by Santa Croce and went in since we never been in before. There was a strict "no photo" policy so Rob took our photo outside

     Then we set out for Orvieto along with every other Roman in the city taking off for a 4 day vacation. Traffic was awful, but we passed the time chatting about this and that and how lucky we were to be in the comfort of a Mercedes-Benz!!  Lol!
      We arrived in Orvieto and checked into our hotel. It was within steps of the Duomo and we could see it from the window of our room!

    It's an amazing sight to wake up to in the morning. The staff couldn't do enough for you and were so nice!! As we had already been to Mass for All Saint's Day, we went to see the wonders of the Duomo. Now Orvieto seems to think that THEY own the Eucharistic Miracle which took place in BOLSENA in 1263. They have finagled the corporal of the miracle so that it resides in their Duomo - I finagled a photo!

the small square in the center is the actual corporal, encased in a glass reliquary.

    We strolled the streets of Orvieto and stopped for a snack - as you can see, Pat thoroughly enjoyed his "macedonia" (fruit salad)

    Then we browsed the shops and had dinner at a marvelous place ( It seems, Rob knows restauranteurs all over Italy)next to the duomo and then we fell into bed with visions of Orvieto dancing in our heads!

so much too tell......sooooootired.....

Just got home from our not-Siena-but- Orvieto - Bolsena-Orvieto - Viterbo -run! I have tons to tell you but I am too tired to think straight!
Tomorrow fer sure.....zzzzzzz