Pompei & Herculaneum Ruins

I took the train from Napoli to Pompei, a 45 min. journey. I didn't know what to expect but when I arrived, I was overwhelmed. The town of Pompei which was buried under volcanic ash in the year 79 A.D. is a large town just discovered in 1594 and dug up around 1748. Originally, 20,000 people lived in Pompei but an earthquake 10 years prior to the eruption left much fewer people in the town. Over 2000 people perished during the eruption and work still continues today to uncover parts of it. I had my trusty map and guidebook and took off in the direction with the least amount of tourists. I had headed away from some of the main attractions so there was hardly anyone around. Being by myself, I got completely lost in my head and felt like I had literally stepped back into time 2000 years. Pompei did have an eerie feeling but I just put myself into that time period. Trying to take it all in as if I were living during that era. I had brought my lunch so I found a fabulous spot within the ruins overlooking Mt. Vesuvius. I was completely by myself, no tourists, and enjoyed my picnic in the beauty of the mountains, sun shining down on plants, trees, and the remains of houses.

I continued my journey through the ampitheater, gardens, and best preserved and oldest colliseum in Europe. I stumbled upon a vineyard that had been recreated (they had wine in Pompei back in the day), beautiful frescoes, and water fountains. What struck me most were the mosaics. Centuries and centuries old, these mosaics had withstood the test of time. In the bath houses, homes, kitchens (some with holes for the pots of food), bedrooms, some fancier than others but each place decorated with amazing mosaics and paintings in each room. I spent over 4 hours exploring, jumping in and out between ancient houses, columns, and cobblestone streets. I ended my day by watching the sunset over the bay of Naples while also overlooking the ruins. The history of this space is utterly amazing. I was overjoyed to step back in time and truly feel history.

The next day I went to another ruins called Herculaneum which was more of a resort town (4000 people originally) compared to Pompei and was much closer to Mt. Vesuivius when it erupted so long ago. However, this town was not covered in ash but covered in thick volcanic mud. The result killed everyone but also preserved the town just as the ash had with Pompei. However in Herculaneum, you can still find wooden stairs, doors, and beams, some even charred from the volcanic mud and fire. There are still paintings and frescoes on the walls. Columns, homes, and courtyards still exist. I was at first a little disappointed when I approached these ruins for they are much smaller than Pompei. But once I got deep into the ruins the same magic appeared and I was using my imagination to transport me back. Over 300 skeletons were found on the outskirts of this town which used to be the ancient beach. They were likely killed from the boiling surge clouds sweeping down from Vesuvius. There is a huge statue of the mayor and warrior of that time on the outside wall of the town which would have looked over the beach that used to exist there. I can just picture how magnificent this town must have been, all of the houses and plazas overlooking the ocean. The beautifully painted and mosaic floored villas, flowers & plants, the ancient cobblestone pathways and roads with huge water fountains carved out of stone. The ruins of this Roman fishing town had quite the effect on me.

Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis

It had stormed the night before I was going to Assisi so I prayed for beautiful weather and my prayers were answered. I caught the morning bus from Perugia and arrived to this amazing town. I was so excited that I jumped off the bus and took off walking...in the wrong direction. When I saw a sign that said Assisi with a red line through it, I knew for sure I was going the wrong way. I stopped and asked an old Italian man for directions and he rattled off in Italian and then pinched my cheek and said Ciao Bella! I felt like a little kid as headed off in the RIGHT direction. The churches of Assisi are lovely and I visited San Rufiano and then made my way to San Chiara, St. Clare. I was immediately struck by the cross that hung in this church because it was the same one that we use in many services at my church in Austin. Then I remembered that perhaps we had ordered that cross from Assisi! I will have to verify but I was taken aback by the story and history of this cross in regard to St. Francis. This is an Iconic cross and I wish I could remember all of the details in its meaning but I will have to do some more research when I return to Austin.

The sun was shinning and the whole town overlooks vistas of mountains of green and gold. I found a spot down a random cobblestone street and sat on a wall overlooking a church tower with a garden to my right and a quaint house covered with flowers to my left and just took in the space and solitude. When I made my way to the Basillica di San Francesco, St. Francis, I was amazed. It is surrounded by lush green grass and perched on a hill. The mosaics and frescoes inside were impressive and after going into the lower church I grew tired and sat on one of the pews when I begun to hear singing. It sounded like children and apparently there was a service going on in part of the church but the acoustics allowed for the sound to travel quite far. They were beautiful, angelic voices. I made my way down to the tomb of St.Francis which transported me to medieval times, I believe he died around 1263. I was sitting and suddenly the room filled up with people and the children went up to the alter below the tomb and began singing in French. Needless to say I stayed down there for almost an hour, the energy was so powerful. Right before leaving I went and asked a priest if I could sing Ave Maria. He was telling me in Italian that the children singing was a special circumstance and that normally no one sang down here. Then he said Forse no, potrebbe. Which I thought meant Maybe not, no you cannot. Then later on I thought maybe he mean Maybe not, but I guess you can. Anyways, I suppose it was lost in translation so I wandered around the town singing to myself instead!

My last stop was a church called San Damiano which is the site where St. Francis first heard god speak to him and later St. Clare built a church there. It was a mile walk from the town and I enjoyed every second. It was a steep cobblestone path overlooking the fall colors of trees and olive groves with the mountains in the background, absolutely gorgeous. I walked slowly to take it all in. I was really drawn to this church and after touring the grounds I read a sign that said pregare con noi, pray with us, and a list of times. One time was in a half hour so I double checked with a nun and then wandered around the grounds until the service. The chapel was small and filled with people. I could feel the history here. We all sang in Italian and the monks would sing the choruses and then we did a 20 minute session of centering prayer - being in silence, followed by more singing. It was a powerful experience and one I will always cherish.

I was on a real high as I came out of the church into the black night with the end of the sunset casting the last rays of bright orange and pink. I strolled back up the cobblestone street to the bus station looking forward to putting on my Ipod for the hour bus ride back and relaxing after a beautiful day. Instead, I arrived to find I had missed the last bus because on school days that bus did not run! Luckily after sitting around for about 15 minutes feeling sorry for myself I talked with some people and took the local bus to a train station where I caught the train back to Perugia. Wow, what a day!

Perugia and its festivals

I got to the stop for Perugia over an hour early, okay maybe I was a little paranoid about missing it! The one and half hour bus ride through the hills of Tuscany was lovely but arriving to Perugia with my orange monster (backpack) was not. I dreaded having to walk around with it. Luckily there was an escalator at the stop I was let off at and I was able to cruise up the hills of Perugia with ease. I knew that the last Sunday of every month there was a festival in Perugia, so I wasn't surprised when I hit the main street and there were tons and tons of booths filled with pastries, meats, clothes, wines, everything you could imagine. What I didn't know then was that this was not just the monthly festival, I had arrived at the once-yearly 5 day festival of music, food, and fun. Unfortunately, I couldn't check into my hostel until 4pm so I bought some fresh Norcia Proscuitto (they honor their pigs). I found a spot in the sun on the steps of a big cathedral overlooking the market, fountains, and historic center. I ate this wonderful proscuitto that melted in my mouth and watched the people having fun and enjoying the perfect day with all the festival activities one could wish for.

Later at the hostel, I met Eduardo a university student who was from Sicily and we went through the market where we met Lorenzo (also from Sicily) and we sampled delicious olives and salame with truffle oil, fantastic. I also tried a traditional Sicilian dish that is rice, tomatoes, peas, ham all put into a ball and fried, yummy. After way too much fair food, we and some other students went to sing Karoke at a local bar. I was a hit singing Hey Jude and Alanis Morisette and I even sang R.E.M.'s, It's the End of the World in Italian. I sang many songs in Italian that night and decided that Karoke is a great way to learn.

The next day I met Erica, who is a 66 year old nomad, who has been traveling for the past 6 years all over the world including sailing. She is a hoot and absolutely fascinating. Born in Hungary, she has lived in Austria, Argentina, and Key West and speaks 4 languages fluently. We went and took the minimetro to another one of the markets in Perugia that was filled with every imaginable item. We looked at everything but when Erica spotted a stall of beads her eyes lit up. She sold jewelry in Maui for 5 years previous to her nomad yrs. and these beads were a steal. By the end, I had even ended up with some Peruvian turquoise like beads called Chrisacola. The view from our hostel was breath taking and seeing the morning rays shine through was wonderful. It seems like everywhere I go there is some vista that blows me away! The terazza here was also covered with flowers overlooking the historic center. Fall had made its way to Perugia as well and I saw many beautiful sunsets over the mountains and churches. There are also several universities and Erica and I attended a student led Italian conversational hour which was great practice. I even sang a little bit when telling everyone in Italian that I was a cantante (singer).

Arrivederci Siena

My last days in Siena were wonderful. I spent my days studying, nights chatting in Italian, and just taking in the sights. We watched an amazing video in class on the Palio which is a huge horse race event in Siena that happens twice a year. We watched the 2006 Palio where the district (contrada) where I live, La Pantera (Panther) won in the very last seconds against one of their rivals, Aguila. I was moved to tears watching the film because so many Italians were crying and so filled with emotion and were absolutely pazzo (crazy)! I would love to return some day during the event which happens in July and August.

I also spent Halloween in Siena which was the first time I hadn't dressed up, yes I'm big into Halloween. I was actually dressed in all black and we were maybe going to be crayons but it was so cold out that it never manifested. I went to another student's apartment for wine and tapas and then we went to an 80's themed Halloween dance party at another contrada (district) called La Selva. People were dressed up a little and they had spiderwebs hanging and few witch hats, Halloween is very different in Europe. We danced to Michael Jackson, Journey, and a million other 80's songs with a room packed full of Italians. There was a full moon out and I was missing my husband and the good ole USA where they do Halloween right!

The day before I left Siena I went on a wonderful run out of the town walls to a beautfiul area called La Fortezza. The leaves were blowing and streaks of yellow and orange rained down on the plazas. The views from the top of the Fortezza were gorgeous and overlooked the Duomo (cathedral) and the historic downtown of Siena. I loved it so much that after my run I returned again that afternoon just to sit and journal and enjoy the view. Old Italian women would walk around and around the fortezza and then finally see someone they knew and say Ciao, and go into a loud, fun conversation. I watched kids playing, couples kissing, tourists taking pictures, and just took it all in.

My Italian parents Silvana and Paolo made me a cd of the music from their contrada, La Pantera, as well as all 17 contrade. They also made me a DVD of the Palio from 2006 when they won. They were super sweet to me and told me a million times how wonderful it was to have me in their home and I told them the same. It was a great experience and I am truly grateful to them for opening their home, their meals, and their hearts to me.

Montalcino - a small Tuscan hill town

We visited the Sant'Antimo Abbey this past week on our way to Montalcino. This Abbey was started in the year 800 and has been a pilgrim (peligrino) destination for centuries. In fact as we were walking up we saw someone who had been trekking with walking poles and all. As soon as I stepped in I could feel the energy of years of spiritual beings coming to this place. The smell of incense filled the church (same kind my church uses) and the simplicity of the architecture was beautiful. There was a wood carving of Jesus on the cross from the year 1200 hanging in the back and their were candles lit and even some low gregorian chant music playing. I took the moment in and wished that I was alone and not with a group so I could just sit and stay but there are pros and cons of being with a group and so after a few moments of sitting in the pews I joined our small group of 5 outside overlooking the gardens and a monk mowing the lawn.

After the Abbey, we headed to the small town of Montalcino. We walked along the streets and sitting on the ledge were four older Italian gentlemen with the mountains behind them, chatting, it was a typical Italian scene. We made our way to the Fortezza (fortress of the town) and were able to climb to the top which had spectacular views of the sunset over the mountains, the small town below and the beautiful orange trees of fall in Italy. It was a sight to remember and I didn't want to come down.

But after I did, I was in for a treat, the wines of Montalcino. Within the walls of this fortress is a wine cellar. The most famous wine of the area is called Brunello and we ordered a bottle of red with pecorino cheese, proscuitto, and salami. Mauro, our teacher was telling us that most Italians do not drink wine with out some kind of food to complement it such as olive oil and bread, meats-cheese, or with dinner. He sipped the wine and said it smelled of the terra (earth). It was delicious, there were tons of bottles of red priced all the way up to 500 Euros for bottles that were the last of their kind. It was a yummy educational experience and we topped of the night by strolling the quaint streets and eating some yummy dolci (sweets) under the full moon. I'll never forget this simple, yet beautiful town.

Ciao tutti!

Volterra, Italy

Our field trip this week was to a tiny little medieval town of 11,000 called Volterra. As we were winding our way out of the streets of Siena and into the hills beyond I could only think one thing, this is Tuscany! It's so simple yet so beautiful and the drive in a car (not a bus) was a nice change. We all chatted in Italian about trips, life, and of course opera. We arrived in Volterra around 4pm on a gorgeous sunny day. This town is perched on top of a hill so the views below are magnificent and Mauro, our professor, told us details of the town as we leisurely strolled around the cobblestone streets. Volterra dates back to Etruscan times and the use of Alabaster is everywhere. It is an easy stone to mold and we saw everything from fish to grapes carved with amazing form. We even got to watch one carver in action molding a vase. The town is small but has one small ruin from Roman times, an ampitheater, which has been picked apart because they needed to use the stone for a church nearby. Preserving ancient ruins was not common until recently (past 800 years). Mauro said there are tons of ruins in the hillsides of Toscany (Toscana) that have been tampered with and because there are so many it is hard to regulate their protection.

We entered an old church dating back to the early 1200s that was quite amazing. Just walking in you can sense the history that has happened there. The wooden statue carvings dating from the 12th - 15th centuries were quite breathtaking. After taking in the town we stumbled into a VERY small pizzeria where the owner was yelling out and talking with all the local Volterrans. We went in to try the torta di ceci, a pizza like food that is made of chickpeas. It was quite tasty and pretty filling and I think we all had at least 2 pieces! It was a great hole in the wall type of spot and we had fun hanging out with the locals. Next we headed to a little osteria to have some wine and sweets (dolci). We continued our practice of Italian and debated which little pastry was best, my choice was the pistaccio one, delicious!

A presto.....

Mangia, Mangia, Mangia!

It seemed that the theme at school this week was making and eating wonderful food. Mangia, mangia, mangia! We take a break during classes to go to a little cafe nearby and I usually order a macchiato but the other students have been more adventurous. This week Joanna and Roberto had pan forte (chocolate dessert with nuts) and the owner threw in some free pear Cognac. You know you are having fun at school when you're drinking before noon! Other treats they serve include mini proscuitto sandwiches on croissants, amazing chocolate pastries, and a hot chocolate so thick it looks like soup. We also had an extra class this week on the history of coffee and the classic coffee makers that Italians use, La Moka & La Napoletana (usually in Napoli). Italians are serious about their caffè.

My roommate Roberto (Robbie) is from Austria yet knows how to make an amazing Tiramisu so he asked our host family if we could make it in their kitchen for them as well as the school. We went out and bought all of the ingredients and got to work. Our signora, Silvana, was so gracious and showed us where everything was in her kitchen and provided us with cafe (coffee), cacao (chocolate), zucchero (sugar), and latte (milk). Robbie made it look easy so I hope I can duplicate the recipe for all to enjoy when I return to Texas. That evening we ate Tiramisu with our host family and then again the next day with all of the students and teachers at the school, yummy!!! Mi amo Tiramisu (I love Tiramisu).

Friday turned out to be a food day as well. We had lunch (il pranzo) at the school with everyone and one of the teachers Mauro taught us how to make winter pesto. The difference between winter and summer pesto is that you use fresh sage instead of basil. We all got our own mixing bowl (mortaio) and with our pestello we grinded-mashed the sage, pecorino and parmasean cheese, pine nuts, and garlic. Add some olive oil and presto we has pesto! Each student brought something for this potluck. Marcia brought fresh grapes out of her signora's garden. I brought freshly sliced salami toscana and other students brought wine, proscuitto, insalata, pane, etc etc. We had quite the feast and enjoyed a delicious lunch together. I felt truly Italian as we chatted, laughed, and relaxed with the background of music. And of course at the end... Expresso!

Salute (Cheers)