New Years week in Italy

Waiting for our flight to Rome

We started VERY EARLY today!  Up at 4am to pack up and leave the cottage by 5am, so we could get to Heathrow to catch our flight to Italy.  As the snow was still an inch or so deep on the ground our host “ferried” us in the back of his Ute, from the cottage to our cars.  Yes we were in the tray of the ute holding on for dear life!  After two trips, and brushing off the snow from the windscreen, we were finally off down the M1/A1 to Heathrow.

It was a 4 hour trip south, and all through the Midlands the landscape was covered with snow - in parts only one lane of the M1/A1 was open.  We saw snow ploughs salting the road, and when we stopped at a service center for coffee/breakfast, we had to walk through 3 to 5 inches of snow.

A short two and a half hour flight to Rome and we picked up our leased car – a Renault – and made off for Piegaro, in Umbria.  Thank goodness for the GPS, which the guy had kindly set up for us in English, and selected an Australian accent to make us feel at home!  With the rain bucketing down, we negotiated the suicidal Italian drivers on the freeway for two and half hours, and made it to our little 12^th century village on the hilltops in Umbria.

Our hostess – Colleen – met us and directed us to L’Antica Vetreria… the ancient glassworks.  She had booked us into a restaurant just a few yards across from the villa, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner, before settling into our rooms.

The wall of the Winery dated 200BC, with Olive trees in the background

We had a quick breakfast this morning, before meeting Colleen, and the residents of the other apartments in the villa, in the Piegaro square before heading off to a supermarket for supplies.  Italian supermarkets are surprisingly like Aussie supermarkets… so, enough said.

It was then off to the Cantina Monte Vibiano winery, where we were greeted like long lost friends.  The winery was 100% sustainable, supplying its own electricity by solar power, and recycling all its waste to re-use.  We got in electric jeeps (basically tricked-up golf carts) and made our way in convoy up to the top of the hill to see the vineyard that was in operation at the time Hanibal was waging war on Rome.  The wall surrounding the vineyard was dated at 200 BC! 

The Castello Monte Vibiano is where the Vibiano family lives, and it was a lovely building that we drove past on the way from the vineyard to the winery for our tasting.  We travelled through Olive groves, which we later learned was a specialty of the family.  They had developed a market for small bottles of Olive oil that had been snap frozen soon after it was pressed.  They had found that the health properties of the freshly pressed oil – particularly the polyphenols – were beneficial, but they were very much reduced after the oil was exposed to the air.  So when they freshly pressed the oil they bottled it in small bottles, so it could be taken as a tonic.  They recommended that it be taken first thing in the morning – about 20 minutes before eating, for the best results. 

We then tasted some wines - a White, a Rose and two Reds… all excellent drops and then met the son of the patricarch Lorenzo who was incredibly handsome according to Bec & Kel!!  Needless to say, we bought some samples to keep us going in the evenings at the villa. 

On the way back, we stopped for a long leisurely lunch at a local restaurant, before getting a guided tour of the old Piegaro township.  It took us about 20 mins to slowly stroll through the narrow alleyways of the very picturesque, historic town.

Duomo Oriveto

This morning we woke to some cold Umbria weather.  We started off by taking a small vial of cold pressed Olive oil – for the healing and heath properties that we head learned yesterday – before breakfast.  Some of us were not convinced of it’s benefits, by the look of the photos!  This mornings activity was a trip to the farmers markets at a nearby town, where we bought some fruit and veg for the next few days.  Then it was off to spend the day at Orvieto, a little over an hour drive away - a historic town that dates back 3,000 years to Etruscan times.

It is situated on a volcanic plug made from very soft rock, so that the inhabitants, over the years, have dug about 1,300 caves and tunnels underneath the city… but more about this later.  We parked at the bottom of the hill, and caught the rail/cable-car up the steep cliffs to the town that was situation on the top of the mesa-like hill. Obviously chosen because of its very defensible position, it would have been a very difficult city to attack… in fact the Romans sieged it for 2 years before finally conquering it.

Once up the top very few cars were in the cobblestoned streets, it was mainly pedestrians on foot – even in the off-season, there were many people visiting this unique city.  Our first stop was a well that was about 100m deep, that we could walk down – in fact the pathway was a double helix similar to the Sydney Opera House carpark (or the DNA molecule, for the scientists reading the blog!).  It was an impressive piece of ancient engineering.

We then made our way to the Duomo Oriveto – the Oriveto Cathedral – that was an impressive building built over many years between the 13^th and 16^th century.  It had distinctive alternating layers of black and white stone, and a beautiful façade mosaic of glass pieces, many of which (we had learned) were created in Piegaro (our village) when it was famous in the area for glass making.  It would be great to imagine the glass pieces being made in what used to be our villa, all those years ago!  Some of the artwork on the ceilings of the chapels in the transepts (the bits at the side of the main body of the cathedral – imagine it as a cross looking from the sky!) were amazing, and apparently took the artist over 4 years to paint.

We then found another great Italian restaurant for some pasta for lunch… we have yet to eat at a bad restaurant!  We then made our way to the Etruscan Museum for a quick look at some of its pre-Roman contents – coins, jars, bowels and sculpture – a lot that was very obviously influenced by the Greek culture.  This could be seen not only in the style, but also in the content, with a lot of the subject matter of the artworks being the Greek mythology.

We then made our way down to the catacombs for an hour-long tour of only some of the caves and tunnels underneath the city.  Many of the tunnels were public, and used for the benefit of the city – like the dovecotes (pigeon holes) we saw – they were a source of food for the city… in fact they still make dishes of Pigeon… we have not tried these yet!  Others were private, and used for building materials and storage.  Originally in Etruscan times they built long shafts down to the water table so they could have access to clear drinking water in times of siege.

We also saw tunnels were they carried out industry!  There was the remains of an Olive Press underground… including the millstones.  An interesting thing was the round mats that the place the ground Olive paste on to put into the press was the same shape and size as that used in the Olive presses of current day…. It seems that some elements of the Olive Oil production process have not changed in thousands of years.  We also saw caves that were situated under the hospital, and were used as bomb shelters in the Second World War – this as the last time the caves were used for any purpose other than wine cellars (the use of some of them today).

The Henrys and Jess and Tony left to return to the Villa, While Kellie, Tim and Zac stayed on to listen to some Jazz – there is a Winter Jazz festival on in Orvieto at this time of year.  Then it was a return to a feast of Local Italian sausage (from the Piegaro butcher) and Mediterranean Roasted vegetables… Yum!

The town square of Panicale

As we had a few “sickies” in the house, today we decided a slower day was in order.  We had some scrambled eggs for breakfast, and we ran out of eggs… so Kellie, had to go out to the shop (a short walk away) to try and buy some eggs from the shopkeeper… with no Italian!  She DID finally come back with the eggs, but also with the information that “Uova” was the Italian word for “egg”. 

So after our scrambled egg breakfast, Kellie and Bec went to buy some meat from the local butcher.  They wanted some meat for a slow cooked stew, and found it very difficult to translate this to the butcher – even though he tried to use an English/Italian dictionary!  He eventually sold them 3 different cuts of meat… maybe it was a sales tactic!  We then set out for Panicale, a local little village on top of a hilltop.  It was quite deserted, but very picturesque (as everything seems to be around these parts of Italy).  We explored the village while combating the snow flurries that had moved in from the hills… the artic weather seems to be following us around Europe!

We found refuge in a warm restaurant and were treated to some traditional Italian cooking, and hand cut Prosciutto ham.  The “foodies” among us were impressed!

Later in the day, we had our hostess, Colleen, and her husband, Tom over for some drinks as they were going away for a holiday to catch some sun in Vietnam.  She brought with her, the lady she had arranged to take over the “hostess” duties - Sharon.  We then enjoyed a magnificent Tuscan beef stew prepared by Kellie, and it was was enjoyed by all!  Over dinner we created Italian aliases for everyone, as a bit of fun….

Henrys... 

Anthony – Antonio Snr

Bec – Beccabella

Max – Massimo

Tom – Tomasso

Will – Elmo

Powells...

Tim – Timotea

Kellie – Kellianna

Jessica – Gessanna

Isaac – Zachachello

Tony – Antonio Jnr

Now we feel like REAL Italians!

The main (shopping) street in Cordona

This morning we decided to get going early, but we did not expect what confronted us when we opened the shutters!  It had snowed overnight, quite heavily, and was laying on the ground covering everything on the landscape in white… it was very pretty, but VERY COLD! 

Looking out the window of our Villa, we could see some of the cars struggling in the snow, and when we got to the car park to get into our cars, there was a queue of trucks waiting to go down the winding road from the old town of Piegaro down to the main road in the valley.  They were waiting for the salt spreading machine to salt the road so the snow would melt and they could safety go down the winding road.  Smaller cars were able to go down, without the road being salted.

After we had scraped the snow off the windscreen, we started the car and let it warm up for about 10 minutes before it was warm enough to get in!  Off we set, very carefully!  With the winding hill negotiated, we thought it would be easier from then.  However, the road to Cortona was over some hills on a narrow, side road… the snow had come in more heavily around these parts, and in sections was 2 inches thick over the road.  It meant that the traffic progressed in a convoy at about 20 km/h.  It made for a longer-than-planned trip, although the closer we got to Cortona, the less snow lay on the ground.

The old city of Cortona is in Tuscany, and was situated on the side of a hill, and we parked half way up, and walked the rest of the way.  It is a very historic city, originating from Etruscan times, after which it was taken over by the Romans.  During the Renaissance period it was held by the Medici and other noble families in Italy, before becoming part of the Kingdom of Italy with all of Tuscany.  We visited a museum in the main Piazza which had many interesting items from Etruscan times through Roman to Renaissance times.

Then, amid the continuing snow flurries and bitter winds, we set about the main event… shopping!  Cortona has many of the clothes, shoes and other nick-knack shops that can be found in Florence, but at a cheaper price!  Needless to say - a few purchases were made!  Even Tim got some trendy (even Jess thinks so !) Italian shoes!

After spending some time looking through a museum and getting our fix of Etruscan, Roman and Renaissance history, we walked right up to the top of Cortona, to see the Church and the view – but the wind was bitterly cold, and we could not stay up there for too long, without our face and ears hurting.  It was fun wending our way through the old streets and alleyways – some no wider than a tunnel, one person wide.  It is a classic pattern of close living that seems to be reflected in many of the villages around Umbria and Tuscany (at least).  It seems to be a good model for community living.

We then met up with the Henrys, who had also done some damage to their credit card, and headed for a place to eat.  The first restaurant could not fit our party of 10 in – an understandable problem, I guess.  So we went looking for another place, and ended up getting instructions from Alessandro – a shopkeeper where enough money had been spent we were on a first name basis…. A bit of a worry!  He directed us (and booked us in) to the restaurant of a friend of his, where he told them to treat us like locals – not tourists.  I think that means we got charged different rates!  In any event the meal was fantastic, as most of them have been!

A bit more shopping, then we were on our way back to the Villa at Piegaro.  A bit of a re-group over a glass of Prosecco, and we were then ready to walk across town to our restaurant for a “special” New Years dinner.  The Americans staying in the nearby apartments also joined the dinner.  It was great fun, with the waiter – Giuseppe – getting a lot of attention from Will and Zac, and he reminded some of us of Manuel from Faulty Towers.

The evening drew to a close as we watched some fire-crackers being let off in the town square.  Max, Tom and Will had bought some crackers too, but were disappointed they weren’t as loud as the local lads… clearly, being able to communicate in Italian is a handy thing to have when buying fire-crackers in a foreign country!  After we shared one last toast, and a conversation with one of the restaurant patrons, who was 88 years old and had lived in Piegaro most of his life, we retired to our Villa after an exhausting day.

Some old stuff in Sarteano

After yesterdays festivities and late night, a sleep-in this morning was had by all.  Most of the shops in Italy were closed on New Years day, so there was very little movement in our little village (or anywhere else).  Tim and Kellie went for a bit of a walk and an explore around the village to see if anything was open, but (as expected) nothing was – everyone seemed to be having the same idea as us… a big sleep-in and then a slow start to the day!

After a bit of breakfast, we sat down to try and book our train tickets to Rome for later in the week.  It was either a tricky website, or a language/communication issue… either way, online booking of the tickets didn’t work!  Tim, Kellie and Jessica were going to explore another nearby village in Tuscany called Sarteano, and decided to book the tickets directly from the Railway Station – it WAS open, and the trains were running on New Years day… this much we could get from the website!  Kellie had her first go at driving a manual car on the other side of the road – with success – as we drove to Chiusi to book the tickets.

With 10 return rail tickets to Rome in our hands for later in the week, we set off to explore Sarteano.  Sarteano is a very historical town that is rich in Etruscan heritage – there are many Etruscan tombs in the valleys around Sarteano that have provided a great deal of archeological artifacts for the museum – but unfortunately it was closed.  Like most of the Italian towns in the Umbria and Tuscany area, it was built on the top of a hill, with steep narrow streets, which were good fun to walk through and explore.  Sarteano also had a castle dating back to the 12^th century at the very top of the hill, which sat like a crown over the village.

Then it was back to the Villa, for a lazy afternoon/evening while Kellie cooked up another great Mediterranean feast for us.  We then planned to have a “quiet drink” with the Americans who were staying in the apartments connected with the Villa.  Jodi & Shaun with their daughter Emma, and Heather & Chris came around for a visit…. They ended up leaving at about 12.30am, tricky for them, as they were scheduled to fly home the next day!

They all came from Boise, Idaho – although, Heather & Chris had been living in Milan with their family for nearly two years.  It is amazing that you can travel half-way around the world, and meet up with people from the other side of the planet, who have very similar outlooks on life – in many things from lifestyle to religion, and interests like cooking, food and music.  It was a great night, with much laughter and conversation.  Great new friendships were forged that, with the help of social media, we will be trying to maintain… even though the miles between us will grow over the next few weeks as we return to our homes.

Beautiful Siena!

Today we decided that we would take a day-trip drive to Siena, to have a look around a city that has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.  We set off in the morning on our 1.5 hour drive, which turned out to be quite a frustrating adventure!  I have not yet commented on this blog, about the Italian road – or the drivers, but after today’s efforts, I will have to vent.  I know there is a language disconnect between my English and the street signs all in Italian, and when you understand that Italian roads in these parts tend to meander around without any clear direction, it makes it very difficult for an Aussie guy like me to navigate.

Combine this with the fact that our car has the most stupid GPS system in the world, and it is a recipe for taking some ABSOLUTELY BIZZARE side tracks to get where we are wanting to go.  Don’t misunderstand me – the GPS does get us to our destination, but it takes some of the weirdest back streets ever imagined!  There are times we can see where we need to go, but it takes us in the other direction or on some side detour, that extends our trip to be longer than it needs to be.  Other times it will tell us to turn right at the road after we have passed the turn-off.  There were times we were in hysterical laughter, with the stupidity of the GPS instructions, and other times when we were ready to rip it out of the car dashboard and toss it in the gutter.  Needless to say, we finally got to Siena….but not without the kids having to shout at Tim to get over to the other side of the road after being distracted by said stupid GPS!! Oops! 

We parked just outside of the city, and walked in via one of the city gates.  Siena is similar to the other Tuscan towns, except on a much larger scale – clearly, during the medieval times, Siena was a place of much worth.  The buildings were 6 or 7 stories high, as opposed to the usual 2 or 3 found in the other towns, and the Cathedral was very ornate and well preserved.  It had spectacular paintings on the ceilings, particularly in the Piccolomini Library, which was dedicated to one of the Popes, that was fabulously covered with brightly covered paintings that had to be seen to be believed.  The floor of the Cathedral was also spectacular, although a lot of the detail was covered up under carpet.

Below the floor level of the Cathedral (below the alter) was the Crypt and the Baptistery, which we were able to access from outside at the back.  The Baptistery had spectacular paintings on the ceiling, and a huge marble baptismal fountain in the center of the room – it was very spectacular.  The Crypt had some very old Friezes painted on the walls depicting the last week of Christ’s life, and although many were incomplete (through damage) they were very spectacular.

After then wandering through the streets of Siena, and soaking up the atmosphere, we met up with the Henry’s for a drink and paninni on the main square of the city – the Piazza del Campo.  Here we were able to sit in sunshine with our coats off for the first time since we had been in Italy – the snow of a few days ago was long gone!  The Piazza is the largest in all of Tuscany, and is famous for its horse races that are held twice a year.  The “track” around the outside of the piazza is layered with sand and 10 horses run helter-skelter around the square 3 times.  Collisions and falls are inevitable, and unlike modern horseracing, there is only one rule…. Don’t tamper with the horses bridle.  Apparently anything else goes – from drugging the horses, and kidnapping the jockeys, to pushing and shoving during the actual race itself!

After our lunch in the sun, the Powell’s set off for the Museale Santa Maria Della Scala, which showed some of the history of the activities of the Hospital that used to occupy the site during the Medieval times.  In between all these sights, we wandered around the streets of Siena – soaking up the atmosphere of the city.  Tony, Jess and Kellie made some more Italian purchases, which means we are almost certain to need another bag before we get on the plane home!

We then returned home, after a rather tiring day, to have dinner at our local restaurant in Piegaro, with Pizza being the order of the day, as no-one except Isaac had tried Pizza since we had arrived in Italy.

Pienza

Today it was off to see if we could squeeze in 3 Tuscan/Umbrian historic towns in one day (while the cleaners tidied up the Villa!)  We had to be up and out by 9am, so after a quick breakfast we hit the road.

First stop after 1.5 hours of driving was Pienza, which was surprisingly busy.  It was clearly on the “tourist maps” as there were many visitors looking through it and a couple of tour parties also.  As we did for most of these historic towns on top of hills, we parked just outside the town and walked up to the old area.  Pienza is another World Heritage Site, and was probably in the best condition of all the towns we had seen so far.  It was also the flattest!  Most of the old towns are built on the top of hills (for historic security), and most are quite hilly in parts – Pienza was built on the top of a fairly gentle hill, and the old area of the city was quite flat, which gave it a different character from the other towns we had seen.

We walked through a city gate, and into some beautifully restored streets, and wound our way around to the two significant features, the Duomo and the Palazzo.  The Palazzo Piccolomini was under repair, but was an imposing building on one side of the main square.  Inside the Palazzo it had an open courtyard surrounded by columns, and some gardens out in the “back-yard”.  The Duomo was on one of the other sides of the square, and is one of the earliest Renaissance designed Cathedrals.  From the Duomo, we walked along a promenade on the outside of the city, that gave us a great view of the surrounding countryside – rolling hills and farms as far as the eye could see.  It was great to drive through, and having the perspective from Pienza allowed us to see a different perspective of the landscape we had driven through.

From there it was a short drive to Montepulchiano, which was a larger town that was famous for its wine.  Tracing its origins back to Etruscan times (as most of these towns seem too!), it was built on a steeper hilltop, and had caves that had been dug out into the side of the hills (behind the houses) that were used to store wine.  We settled into a restaurant that had caves behind it that extended into the hills under the town for 12 meters – you could see them from the back of the restaurant (through the glass doors) and the first part of the tunnel that was visible was still used for cellaring wine.  Tom and Jess noticed that this was the town that was used for filming one of the scenes in the second “Twilight” movie – Motepulchiano was used as the back-drop for the fictional town of Voltarra (although, there is a real town of Voltarra), and the main square of Montepulchiano starred in the film!

After a bit of a walk around the town, and some looking in the shops, we headed back to the main square (where they shot the Twilight movie) to buy some Olives, stuffed Chillies, stuffed Capsicums and Italian pickled Onions from the markets for our dinner!

After Montepulchiano, it was off to Citta Della Pieve, back in Umbria, for a quick visit.  It is a walled city, and has similar characteristics to the other towns we have seen.  We had a wander through the streets, and bought some wine to go with the other goodies we had purchased from Montepulchiano.

The square at Montefalco

This morning before we set off, Tim, Kellie, Ant, Bec and Will decided to explore the Glass Museum in Piegaro.  It was last used in the 1960’s but has a long history dating back to renaissance times when it had a reputation for some of the finest glass in Italy.  It manufactured the glass for the stained glass windows in the Duomo in Oriveto.  When the glass making stopped at the factory, they let the molten glass that was in the furnace out the overflow and it cooled on the level below like a lava flow, and is still there today.

After a quick coffee at the local café, we made tracks for Montefalco for lunch.  It was another of the Tuscan style villages (but in Umbria), and was recommended to us by our new American friends from Idaho… refer the post from a few days ago!  Montefalco is famous for its win, with the local specialty being Sagrantino.  Needless to say we sampled some over lunch.  Lunch was one of the best we have had, with some authentic local cuisine – pork & beef stew, thick hearty lentil soup, beautiful Gnocchi and spectacular deserts.

The restaurant was on the main piazza, which was shaped as circle – unusual, as most were square or rectangle, and the closest we had got to a circle was the “shell” shaped piazza at Siena.  All of the roads in Montefalco came off the square/circle like spokes off a wheel, with crisscrossing alleyways connecting them.  It was a beautiful town and had a great view over the surrounding townships.

While we were walking around looking at the view, we all discovered an interesting thing about Jess… she seemed to have developed a fear of cats!  For the second day in a row, she jumped out of her skin as a cat had crossed her path as she was concentrating on something else – her phone, most likely.  It was a hilarious sight to see, and something we are not going to let her live down for the rest of the holiday – and maybe longer!

When we returned to the Villa, our hostess – Sharon (pronounced Sh-ah-ron) had us over to her home for a drink of Prosecco and some Italian Anitpasti.  She was a very interesting lady to talk to and as she has acted as a tour guide in many countries, but her preference is Italy.  She was an English lady (who had a home in Hampton Court as well as Piegaro) and was of Hebrew descent.  Her parents were writers and had worked for the BBC world service.

The dome of St Peters

An early morning this morning to get going from our Villa for the 15 minute drive to Chiusi railway station to catch the train to Rome.  The train left just after 7am so we quickly ran out the door and bolted to the station without any breakfast – sleepy heads were able to catch up on some sleep during the hour and a half journey into Rome.  Once we arrived, we headed straight to the nearest café for some breakfast and coffee…. and our first rude shock!  The Roman prices compared to country Piegaro were highway robbery – mind you, 4 Euros for a pizza at our local restaurant was pretty good value.  The first breakfast at Rome reminded us that we were back in a big city, with big city prices… we had to adjust our thinking to Sydney-type prices for the next two days!

With our blood sugar levels returning to normal, we then set off to walk the streets of Rome with a tourist map in hand.  The first stop on our meanderings, was Santa Maria Degli Angeli (the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels) which was right across from the Plazza della Repubblica.  It was an impressive structure that was designed and built by Michaelangelo in the late 1500’s within, and incorporating some of the existing structures and foundations of the ruins of the Roman baths of Diocletian.  Unlike other churches and Cathedrals of the time, there is no significant façade at the entrance of the Church – instead it uses one of the “Apses” (a curved section of wall) of the bath walls as the entranceway.  It was an impressive building that gave us our first glimpse of the impressive engineering of the Romans (the baths were very extensive, and still standing – with the Basilica being able to be built WITHIN the walls of the baths), and the beauty and artistry of the renaissance artists and architects.

We then continued our meander down towards the old city of Rome, and stopped off at the “dead boys” – a name our friend back in Piegaro had given to the Church, Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Monks (Il Convento dei Cappuccini).  Interesting side story… these monks have simple brown robes tied at the waist with a rope and take vows of poverty.  Their robes include a pointed hood (or Cappuccio) which was a symbol of a hermit in parts of Italy and symbolized one of their ideals of solitude.  It is these monks that give us the name for Cappuccino coffee – with the Froth on top of the coffee being the “cappuccio” of the drink.  Anyway, back to my story, after looking at the simple church, we entered the Museum that gave us a lot of information about the religious order and what they stood for and their history.  After which we entered the bizarre world of the Crypt! 

It is a work of art (!...?) that was created in the first half of the 18^th century because they needed to make room for new bodies in the friarys small cemetery.  The bones have been arranged in particular order and contain the remains of about 3,700people – mainly Capuchin friars.  They have been arranged in 6 chambers (I’m not sure you can call them “tombs”), and some of them have themes – for instance the “Crypt of the Skulls” or the “Crypt of the Leg Bones and Thigh Bones”.  The Capuchins believe that the earth in this cemetery is holy as the soil was brought from the holy land or even Jerusalem.  Many of our party pushed through the display pretty quickly… it was not for everyones taste.  Quite a strange interpretation of religious doctrine – and not the first we would come across during our days in Rome!

After this morbid experience, we set off for the Spanish Steps – a more traditional tourist location.  By the time we got there the crowds were starting to build, and we were struggling to get “clean” photos of our group or the locations.  We learnt later that the following day was a significant public holiday called “Befana” which is where an old woman/good witch delivers presents of candy to good children on Epiphany Eve (which was the Monday night - 5^th January) and a lump of coal to bad children.  The 6^th is a public holiday, with an important mass in St Peters (and other churches), and many devout Christians/Catholics come to Rome for the holiday… hence the crowds!  The Befana legend or tradition or doctrine (whatever you want to call it!) seems to have come from a Roman god, but the Christian tradition is that Befana showed hospitality to the 3 wise men as they travelled to see baby Jesus (stopping in Italy, of course!).  When they left in the morning to continue their journey to see Jesus, they asked if she wanted to come, and she said that she had too much housework and so stayed behind.  She later regretted this decision, and wanted to find baby Jesus but could not.  So she now continually searches for the baby Jesus to this day stopping at the houses of children and giving them gifts, instead of Jesus.  Another unusual tradition we have uncovered…!

Our hotel was close to the Spanish Steps, so we dropped off our backpacks and continued on to the Trevi Fountain.  Unfortunately, the fountain was drained and under repair/restoration so we were not able to see it in its glory, which was a shame.  We then wandered past the Plazza Colonna which was a square which had a classical column of Marcus Aurelius depicting his military conquests. The Column has stood in this location since the 2^nd century AD!  We then set off for the Pantheon.  This is now getting into the pretty old stuff!  The Pantheon was originally built around the time of Christ and was finished/rebuilt under the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD.  It was (and still is – even today) the worlds largest unreinforced Concrete dome.  It is one of the best preserved of all the Roman buildings – and was used in Roman times as a temple to all the gods.  It has been in continuous use since Roman times, and after the 7^th century it has been used as a Christian Church.

We then made our way past the Piazza Navone, which was originally a Roman stadium of Emperor Domitian – from above, you can still see the pattern of the stadium that was used as the foundations of the buildings that currently stand around the Piazza.  We then crossed the Tiber River at the Ponte Sant’ Angelo that is in front of the Castel Sant’ Angelo.  We were heading for the Vatican, to meet up with our guide – Maria – on the steps of the Vatican Museum.  We walked around the walls of the Vatican City, to the Museum, past a queue of people that were waiting to get in – apparently the wait was 2 hours long to get into the Museum!  We were glad we had bought tickets!

Once we were in the Vatican, the crowds of people were unbelievable! Our guide told us that it was as busy as a Wednesday afternoon – the busiest time for the Vatican – and all because of the Befana holiday the next day.  We first went in via the new entrance and learned that between 6 and 7 million visited the Vatican each year… it felt like most of them were visiting the same day as us!  When we first came out of the entrance of the Vatican, we were on a plaza area where we had a great view of St Peters Basilica.  For the first part of the tour, we saw mainly Roman art and sculpture – all non-christian, which was ironic in such a venerable religious institution.  The collection of historical artifacts was amazing, and similar in scope to the British museum, but larger, it seemed.  There were sculptures of Greek mythology, Busts of Roman Emperors, coffins of Constantine’s mother, and mosaic floors from Roman times.

Some of the other highlights were a hall of tapestries (our Italian guide even admitted that the French ones were better quality than the Italian ones… but she thought Italian artists were better), painted Maps of the regions of Italy dating from renaissance times, Chapels and meeting rooms painted by masters like Rafael (quite jaw dropping in their colour, detail and scope) – with my personal favourite being the conquest by Constantine of the heathen, and of course the Sistine Chapel.  The chapel with its painted roofs and walls is beyond description.  The roof was painted by Michelangelo in the early 1500’s and portrays the story of Genesis as well as prophets, and on the lower parts of the ceiling he painted ancestors of Christ.  It was a masterpiece by any measure.  Michelangelo returned in the mid 1500’s to paint the wall behind the alter with “The Last Judgment”, another colourful masterpiece that has to be seen to be appreciated.  We were lucky to visit now as a controversial restoration lasting about 10 years was completed in 1994, that restored it to the colours that Michelangelo originally intended.

The last part of our tour was St Peters Basilica, which was an enormous and impressive church built over a hundred year period – most of the 1500’s and finally being completed in the early 1600’s.  There has been a church on this site since the time of Constantine in the 4^th century BC.  It was set up with hundreds of chairs inside and out in readiness for the services associated with the Epiphany holiday the next day.  The whole building was intended to impress the visitor with the power of the church, from the size of the ceilings and the beauty of the sculptures and mosaics, and imposing nature of the alter which reportedly has the tomb and bones of Peter below it – Peter being, by tradition, the first Pope.  To reinforce this, our guide pointed out a statue of a Catholic Cardinal looking very emperor-like and under his feet (literally) was a protestant churchman of unidentified origin… a sculpture designed to show the dominance of the Catholic Church.  It was considered the greatest building of its age – and after viewing it, it is easy to see why it held this reputation.  Interestingly, our guide made the point that no building in the old city of Rome (indeed as far as the eye could see) was built to be higher than the dome of St Peters – reportedly out of respect for the building.  On the way out, we passed the oddly garbed Swiss Guard, who were the Vatican’s protectors.

The Henrys and Powells then split up and did a bit a shopping, and met up for dinner in a restaurant that specialized in Parma ham and big wheels of Parmesan cheese.  It was a delicious meal, and probably our best pasta so far this trip.

The Colosseum!

We started off early today to meet our guide (Maria) at the Collosseum at 9am.  Wandering through Rome in the early morning (before the crowds) was a pleasant, if not cold, experience.  The crowds had not yet appeared, and we were able to wander at our own pace with plenty of space to experience the sights of Rome.  We made our way down to another commemorative column near the forum of Rome – known as Trajan’s Column.  It is a column depicting the successful military campaigns of Trajan.  We then made our way around the Roman ruins to the impressive sight of the Colosseum (technically called the Flavian Amphitheatre) to meet Maria.  She gave us a tour of the impressive Colosseum.  It was/is the largest Roman amphitheater in the world and construction started in 70 AD by the Emperor Vespasian and was completed 10 years later by his heir Emperor Titus.  It was an arena that held between 50,000 to 80,000 spectators.  Interestingly the Colosseum was given its name because of the 30 meter statue of Nero that used to stand outside the arena – but has now been lost in antiquity.

Interestingly the Colosseum was able to be filled in 15 minutes, and emptied in slightly longer time period than this – and was open to all Roman citizens that had a ticket.  Games or festivals were held at the Colosseum regularly, and often during festivals or celebrations games were held in the Colosseum for days in a row.  The Colosseum was structured with tiered seating with the most prestigious seats at the lower levels and the cheaper seats (for the plebeians) on the higher levels.  In the higher levels (cheap seats), the males and female were separated, as it was thought that the adrenaline rush that the games provided would cause the male to become overly aggressive and threaten the females…. It seemed that the adrenaline didn’t reach the lower levels where the higher classes sat!

The floor of the Colosseum was wooden and covered with sand, with a labyrinth of tunnels and rooms underneath (that were still visible), that held animals and competitors in the games that were launched up into the arena by a series of pulleys operated by slaves that opened and introduced new elements into the game at the order of the director of the games for that day.  Contrary to the popular opinion portrayed in the Hollywood blockbuster, the Gladiators usually did not die in the arena… in fact they were a lot like the modern TV wrestling competitors.  Their role was to entertain the audience, and live to fight another day – the best Gladiators were the best entertainers!  To be sure the slaves were killed in the arena – but the was usually during the lunch break – the Gladiators were far too valuable to be killed off!  In fact the Gladiators were like modern day rock stars, and were feted by the public to the point where they needed to have a 400m tunnel built between the training arena and the Colosseum (the performance arena) so that they wouldn’t get accosted by the public.  From the Colosseum, we could see a good view over the Roman forum and in particular Constantine’s Arch.

After the Colosseum, we made our way into the Roman Forum – and first made our way up to the Palatine Hill – one of the seven hills of Rome and the first one that was settled during the establishment of Rome. This hill was the one that was used by the Emperors to build their palaces as it was the most prestigious position in Rome.  The Palatine palace was a spectacular area and contained extensive ruins that gave us an excellent view of the lives of the Roman Emperors and their lifestyles.  Behind the Emperors Palace was the Circus Maximus – an arena that held 250,000 spectators and was favoured over the Colosseum by the common man as it was far more accessible. The Emperor was able to walk out from (the back door) of his palace to view the events.  The Emperors Palace on the Palatine Hill also had a private Arena where he might have watched tournaments or competitions of wrestling or other events.

We then made our way down from the Palatine Hill to the Basilica of Maxentius which was the remains of a very impressive Roman Basilica that was started by Maxentius, but he died before it was finished – Emperor Constantine  completed the building in 312AD, and consecrated it as a Christian church – it was the largest of the Roman Basilicas.  It occupied an area of 100m X 65m.  The roof of the massive Basilica existed until the mid 1300’s, until an earthquake caused the magnificent roof to fall.

From here we walked down to the Roman Forum and past the Church that was the Temple of Romulus where tradition holds that Romulus (the founder of Rome) was buried.  The bronze doors of the temple were the same ones that were in place when the temple was originally built – pretty impressive!  As with most of the Roman stuff, the reason that this survived was because it was converted for use as a Christian church… if Roman buildings were not used as Christian churches, they tended to be dismantled over the ages and their component parts (the iron, bricks or marble) were used for other purposes.

Near the end of our tour of the forum, Maria showed us two tablets with engravings on them – one where the writing was very neat and beautifully done, and one where the writing was messy, and poorly carved.  This compared the technical expertise of the Romans (the well done one) and the post Roman occupants of Rome (the messy one)… it illustrated how the engineering and artistic knowledge was lost during the dark ages, and why the Roman buildings were plundered for their materials.  As there was not the know-how during the dark ages to construct or create things as beautiful or useful as the Romans had created.

We moved onto the Forum, where there were buildings created by various Emperors (Julius Caesar, Trajen, Augustus) as places to conduct political consultations and business transactions to keep the Empire running.  There was one building, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina (which was built in honor of the Faustina, the wife of Antoninus Pius in 141 BC), which had 10 columns each cut from a single piece of marble in Egypt, and all still standing.  They were apparently transported up the Tiber River to Rome on boats – a separate boat for each pillar.

We then bid farewell to our guide Maria, and continued our wanderings around the Roman sites and walked for a while along the Tiber River.  We crossed the river at the Tiber Island – which was an important strategic link for the early Roman town. And had bridges built 40 to 60 years BC to enable goods and trade to cross the river.  These bridges have long since been replaced with bridges that were constructed towards the end of the 1700’s.  The Powells and Henrys then split up for some sightseeing and shopping.  We had some lunch in a restaurant in the sun, just near the Pantheon, before wandering the streets of Rome one final time.  They were very crowded with people who had come to visit Rome for the Befana/Epiphany celebrations and services and it was difficult to find space in the narrow cobblestoned streets.  There was noticeably more smokers in Rome too, than we found in Australia… maybe it was a cultural thing, or maybe it was because of the cold – but the air was thick with cigarette smoke as we walked along.

We caught the train from the main Rome railway station back to Umbria at around 5pm - exhausted from our two days in Rome, for sure – but feeling that we had only just scratched the surface of what there was to see in that amazing town.  There is so much history and culture to absorb, that 2 days seemed like just a “teaser”, and we may have to come back and spend more time exploring the treasures of Rome.

Streets of Assisi

A later start after our hectic two day trip to Rome, but we decided to head to Assisi to have a look at the home of St Francis, who is quite the celebrated figure in Tuscany and Umbria.  It was about an hour and a half drive from the Villa – and across the valley from Montepulciano where we had lunch a few days ago.  The smoke in the valley was very thick, I guess there had been no wind, and we could see it sitting on the valley floor from our vantage point in Assisi when we got there.

Our first stop was the monastery on the hill of Assisi where St Francis used to meditate.  It was set in an olive grove, which was apparently the setting when St Francis lived there.  It has now been set up as a chapel and monastery for the order of female nuns that he set up known as The Order of St Clare – Clare was so taken by the teaching of St Francis that she ran away from her father to follow St Francis around the countryside.  St Francis also set up the Order of Friars Minor as well as one other that has been recognized by the Catholic Church.

His background was interesting and quite in contrast to his life of service as a Friar.  He was born in the late 1100’s and was the son of a wealthy silk merchant.  In his youth he lived the life of a rich merchants son – even participating in the Assisi army as a soldier.  It was while he was away at war in the early 1200’s as a 20-something young man that he received his calling and changed his lifestyle 100%... taking a vow of poverty and wandering the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside even as far as Rome to teach.  He is famous for a number of reasons – he was confirmed as a saint only 2 years after his death, he was the one who created the first nativity scene, he was the first recorded person to receive the “stigmata” and actually travelled to Egypt to try and convert the Sultan during the early 1200’s in an effort to stop the battles of the Crusades.  He is held in high regard by the Italians, and is one of two patron saints of Italy, as well as being the patron saint of animals and the environment (note to my long-suffering readers... this background will become meaningful later - read on!).

The town of Assisi, as a result, is a “must see” for pilgrims – which is why it is one of the most beautifully preserved towns in Tuscany.  It’s streets and buildings are in great condition, and new buildings look like they have to built in the same style as the older one – to keep the character of the town.  They all use white rock as the building material, which makes the town a stunning sight to see as you approach it from the valley floor.  UNESCO has designated it as a World Heritage Site, because of its historical significance and beauty.  It used to be a Roman town (and before that Etrustan) and still has some Roman ruins and even frescos – but was converted to Christianity very early on in the early 2^nd century AD.

Although the town sits on top of the hill, it is more elongated than most of the towns we have visited.  We parked and entered at one end, and walked all the way down through the town to the other… following the signs to the main attraction, the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi.  This was quite confusing as at more than one point in our walk we had sign-posts at forks in the road that directed us in opposite directions!  We felt like it was all a bit of a game to get us to see the sights of the town!  On our way down we stopped at one of the other main churches – the Basilica of Santa Chiara (the Basilica of St Clare… the lady who followed the young St Francis around), that contained the tomb of St Clare.  In any event, we finally arrived at a large courtyard surrounded by cloisters with the church at the end.  We entered and explored the church (which seemed to have a fairly low ceiling for a cathedral), and had the tomb of St Francis in the “basement”.  It was a stunning church with beautifully preserved artworks and painted walls.  We made our way out to the rear of the church following the signs to see other parts of it – all in Italian, so we didn’t fully understand what we were looking at.  We then made our way up some stairs thinking it was the exit or an outdoor viewing area… We then entered the larger, main church!

It was a church on top of a church!  Amazing, and the second one was just as beautiful as the first, only larger.  It’s ceiling was the “proper” height for a grand cathedral, and it was mind boggling to think that there was two churches on top of each other.  One was known as the Minor and the other the Major – and the road signs were leading us to either the top/Major one, or the bottom/Minor one.  All those confusing street signs made sense, after all!  Out the front of the top church, was another beautiful courtyard (like the bottom one), but this one was more open and mainly grass and bushes. Laid out on the grass area was the LARGEST (life-sized) Nativity scene we had ever seen – Jess and Kellie tried to get a photo of it and had to use the “panorama” getting on the iPhones to fit it all in.  This all made sense later when we realized the significance and connection between Nativity scenes and St Francis.

We then had the long walk back up the hill to the cars… half way up, we felt like we had all earned some desert  - so we stopped for a coffee and fudge, nougat, strudel or Prosecco depending on our preference!

Beautiful Florence!

Today was an excursion to another beautiful Italian city – Florence.  We had been getting some pointers from our host Sharon, and she had mentioned that she would like to travel with us to Florence as she had a few errands to run.  We gladly obliged (well the Henrys did, really, as she was going to be travelling in their bus!) as we thought it would be nice to have a guide… at least for some of the day.

We set off down the Autostrada to Florence and parked in Michelangelo square, which has a great view of the city, and is a convenient area to park (at least outside of peak season) as we were able to walk down to the city from the square.  Sharon gave us a commentary and introduction to Florence from the square pointing out many of the landmarks and monuments.  The Florence Cathedral is a magnificent structure and dominates the skyline.

The Cathedral was built over many years, with the design continually changing as they Florentines heard about the Cathedral being built in Sienna – they wanted their Cathedral to be bigger and more spectacular than that of Siena and so they left the building of the Dome (the “crown” of the building) until the last…. after they had heard of the dimensions of the Sienna Cathedral dome.  It is very difficult to build a dome AFTER the building has been finished, as the building might not have the structural strength to hold up the dome.  As a result the Florentines arranged a competition to find a design for the dome.  Brunelleschi (a goldsmith and clockmaker) won the competition and designed the largest masonry dome ever built – 45 meters wide.  The dome still is an imposing sight on the Florence skyline.

We also heard about the Medici family – the wealthy family of Florence (well on of them anyway!).  They first came into prominence during the 13^th century through their success in trade and banking, and they used their wealth to support the arts and humanities and turned Florence into a key player in the Renaissance – with many of the key artists, architects, writers and scientists coming from Florence or spending time there perfecting their craft.  The Medici’s also contributed to many fine building in Florence and built what is now the Florence Town Hall – an imposing building that is built in the style of a typical castle that a child might draw with squared ramparts around the top.  They also built a one story high covered walkway, from their palace on one side of the river across town to the main square and civic buildings… just so they would not have to walk in the streets with the commoners.  The fact that they were not universally liked and there had ben numerous attempts on their lives, might have also encouraged them that a covered walkway up high away from the masses was a good thing!

When we walked into Florence, we headed for the Basilica of Santa Croce, which was the principal Franciscan church in Florence.  It is also interesting as it is the burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and others.  It was (yet another!) magnificent church for whom one of the architects was the same guy who designed the dome of the citys Cathedral – Brunelleschi.  From here we were given a quick tour of Florence as we walked through the city to our lunch appointment that Sharon had made for us at a restaurant opposite Florence’s Fruit, Veg and Meat market.  On our way we passed the Duomo (Cathedral), although we only looked at it from the outside (Anthony, Bec, Kellie and Tim all having seen it before), the Town Hall, and the private church of the Medici family.  The lunch at the restaurant was excellent, and Sharon joined us which was great! After such a tasty meal, we had to drag ourselves away to explore Florence while the Henrys did their own exploring.

We I say “exploring”, this really meant a bit of shopping!  After visiting the leather coat shop where Anthony’s sister had worked for a few years (the proprietor still remembered her!) and buying a few leather jackets, we went our own separate ways for the afternoon – after agreeing to meet up outside the Uffizi later in the afternoon as we had bought our tickets online for a 4.30pm entry into the gallery.  Everyone got something - Kel got a leather jacket (as did Tim!)… Zac got a wallet, Tony got a leather Uni Bag and Jess went berserk and spent much of her savings at the leather shop and the markets.  We will have to use that extra bag on the way home!!

We then met back up with the Henrys and separately had a look at the Uffizi and saw some spectacular art by many of the key artists of the Renaisance, as well as some Roman sculptures.  It was a real treat, and some of us could have spent many more hours in the gallery, but time did not permit it.  The Powells finished the Uffizi a bit before the Henrys, and had a quick drink in the main city square – looking at the town hall and the Uffizi gallery.  We met up with Henrys and Sharon in the courtyard near the “fat white guy” statue… at least I am assured that is the English translation of what it is colloquially known as in Florence (on account of the white marble stone it is made out of, of course!), and then walked across the Ponte Vecchio, past all the gold shops on the bridge (without buying anything), before stopping to have a glass of Prosecco at a cute little bar - and then walking back up the hill to the Michelangelo Square where we had parked for the drive home.

After a late night we all had a big sleep in. While the Henry’s went for a walk to one of the local villages in a hill - there seems to be one on every hill in these parts of Italy - and lunch, we stayed in the villa as Zac was still sick with a fever and Tim had some work emails to attend to.  So this was all happening, Kellie and Jess packed bags for our departure early the next morning.

In the evening before dinner at the restaurant, the adults met up with Sharon for a prosecco in the café as a final farewell and to say thank you for her guided tour of Florence. We ordered a takeaway pizza for Zac as he was still to unwell to join us for dinner.   As we were one down we invited Sharon to share dinner with us as we had a spare chair at our table. 

A good night was had by all with lots of laughter, conversation and recollection of highlights of the two weeks in Italy... and lots of vino was consumed!  We left Sharon and the Henrys to finish off the remaining wine, and headed back to the Villa to check on Zac And turn in early (?!) for the night.