Italy in 2007

Our first tiring day in Rome, July 19, 2007, we were near Spanish Steps - Remember a scene in Roman Holiday? The crowd was abominable and we learn to stay in a quiet town next time, even though we liked Rome very much.  You can guess how claustrophobic Vincent felt while we enjoyed the famous spots. We walked all over the city every day and we took nap midday everyday. The hotel food and gelato were our daily comfort.

Trevi Fountain was spectacular and breathtaking artistically, though the crowd soon dispelled us regretfully soon enough. A tour guide book said the night view of the fountain was a must-see, but we never made it there again during our 4 day stay and I regret very much that we did not stay longer and more importantly off-season.

We found a Rome University near Spanish Steps and a nice �quiet� caf� nearby and I tasted the best cold coffee without ice. Why are they so stingy on ice, we wondered each time we were hot after a long walk on a hot day.

We really liked the water fountains all over the city of Rome and you never have to carry a water bottle. The water fountain water is fresh and cool to drink. I wish I took a picture of one.

Rome surrounds Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. It contains Saint Peter�s Basilica and Vatican Museum. We have too many pictures of Saint Peter�s Basilica- http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/sanpietro.htm- and it is because our hotel was right next to it and we passed by it everyday twice a day. It is also an amazing cathedral and the biggest one in the world, I was told. It was impressive and massive, but not a solemn place to pray.  I add here a picture of the church of an abbey in the south of France near where Vincent�s parents will retire. The contrast between two churches is worth a moment to ponder what a church should be to pray or meditate.

Avoid Vatican Museum in the summer. Let me correct and say to avoid the Sistine Chapel that comes along with Vatican Museum ticket during the summer.  The Chapel was jam-packed with people and we could not move an inch without bumping into other people. The ceiling paintings done by Michelangelo were captivating enough for me to stare at them for ten minutes despite the crowd.  Different painters have different styles and you could tell clearly apart Michelangelo from Raphael.  Botticelli beauties in Florence�s Galleria were unique and symbolic. I forgot who painted this one and it was just before entering the Sistine Chapel.

A great number of sculptures in Rome make you forget to appreciate them.

Those famous piazzas attract crowd, the more crowded the more expensive the food is in the piazza, and then the price decreases as you walk away from it. Higher price means famous piazza and it does not mean good food. We enjoyed the street artists and performers.  Ah, this picture shows one of the water fountains and, as you can see, people drink the water from the spout.

Vincent�s favorite location in Rome was Palatine Hill for several reasons and children agreed with him. Can you guess why? As suggested in a guidebook, we accessed Coliseum from Palatine Hill (http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/242_Palatine_Hill.html)

Italians do not seem to like Americans or Koreans, or tourists. I hope it is simply an impression not a truth. Our Italian words were mostly around food, but we learned a few words: uscita, prego, il conto, galleria, scuzi�Otherwise, we were rather hopeless in learning Italian and Vincent was very embarrassed  because he does not speak their language. I was content to use my body language or to keep quiet. Italian is so different from English or French. English is so universal that people simply prefer reading in English than in Italian. English is easy to learn, compared to any other languages.

Coliseum was very interesting but it was hot and so we mostly hid ourselves in the shade.  There was even an exhibit on Eros on the top floor of Coliseum. 

Nicolas�s favorite was Pantheon and it was odd to see the tombs inside a church. Raphael�s and the King Vittorio Emanuel�s were among them.

Then, in the evening, we were back to Saint Peter�s Square on the way to our hotel. An unforgettable moment for me is a talk with Nicolas in the square. Daily I check his homework and extra curricular activities, but I actually do not converse with Nicolas on his interests. He told me a story from a book he read all evening long and it was Lightening Thief, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1.  That evening was worth the trip!

We rented a car in Rome and we drove to Florence. The car caused us so much trouble in Florence. How we wished we did not have a car then and now! Parking was our nightmare and removed all the fun. Italian highways were the best, though. Between cities, our drives were pleasant.

We rented an apartment in Florence to stay with Vincent�s parents and we had our favorite caf� to go to every morning. The cappuccino was 1.50 Euro but a soda can was 3.00 Euro. Croissant and other pastries were reasonably priced. If you walk straight behind the scene of this picture, you run into the famous Ponte Vecchio. We went to an Indian restaurant near Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) twice during our stay in Florence.

There are many sculptures in Signoria Square and this one is one of my favorite.

It was a lot smaller city than Rome and we could easily walk back and forth between the town and our apartment. Our apartment was just at the foot of Michelangelo Hill and a friendly Italian gentleman offered to take the whole family picture shown on the top of this web page.  The city view for the the hill was good enough for some pictures. We were getting tired of taking pictures.

We were unlucky enough to have our apartment right next to a concert stage and we could not go to bed until after midnight. Here is some noise that bothered us all evening long.

At a lucky night we can have some enjoyable music like this:

We also ran into traveling Youth Orchestra in a church in Florence like this:

French Folk Dances and Music in Lorgue was more touching and leaves more mark in our memory:

There was also Russian Youth Choir Performance one night in Lorgue: