Our Car! In Rome?

This morning we saw a Mazda MPV. That is the kind of car my mom has. It has three rows of seats, which is really rare in Italy.

The reason that vans are really rare in Italy, is because there is not much space for parking. The most common cars to see are taxis, which are just front seat and back seat. Most of the cars are only the size of a subcompact car in the US. Another popular car in Italy is a SmartCar. These are only slightly smaller than regular cars! Some reasons why the cars are so small are:

1: The streets are tiny and very narrow. You could never get a pick-up truck down some of the streets!

2: The gasoline is very expensive. It is at least three times as much as at home - about $8-$9 a gallon.

3: There is practically no place to park, even at 8:00 in the morning!

Most people get around on foot, or on a motor scooter, or on buses/trams.

Us? Mostly just feet and buses. (Dad? Mostly feet.)

Here are some photos of cars we have seen in Rome. Also, notice the orange trees growing behind the white car along the side the road in one of the photos.

-Elizabeth

Getting Around in Rome

Several of you have asked how we are getting around in Rome without a car. First of all, thank goodness we don't have a car! The driving around here is downright frightening and the parking is a nightmare! Not to mention the fact that I am having enough trouble finding my way around while walking! No thank you!

We recently invested in bus passes, so we have been taking the buses lately. We usually walk from our apartment about 10 minutes to the tram station. This tram takes us to Largo Argentina, which is a large piazza with lots of bus connections. It is also close to John's studio and many other popular sites in the city. From there we either walk or take another bus.

When we go grocery shopping, we usually walk there and take the bus back up the hill. The walk to the piazza and the shops is about 10 minutes. We usually go to the open vegetable and fruit market and then stop at two of about four supermarkets. We can catch one of two buses to ride the two stops back up the hill. When we are not laden with groceries, we usually walk back up the hill.

The other day we took a day trip to Bagnaia, a small town with a beautiful Renaissance garden and villa. We took the tram and a bus to the San Pietro train station, then a two hour train ride to Viterbo, and then a bus to Bagnaia. Here are two photos from the train ride and two photos of our regular tram rides.

-Terri

More Gelato! Yum!

Yesterday we got more gelato. Yum! I've been getting chocolate and mint, (Cioccolato e menta) but yesterday I got banana and pineapple. It was delicious. We went to a place by the Pantheon. They make the best gelato in the world. If you ever get a chance to come here, I would suggest going to this place if it is still open. Here are some photos of our gelato. The other boy in the photo is my cousin, Ryan, who arrived yesterday.

-Elizabeth

Large Garden in Tiny Town

Saturday morning we took a double decker train to Villa Lante in Bagnaia, Italy. Villa Lante is a large garden that was built during the Renaissance period. At the very top there was a fountain that represented the end of the Golden Age. It was a flood. Here is a photo.

There were two buildings on the side of it. They were used for outdoor receptions. A little bit lower, there was another fountain surrounded by bushes and hollow trees. Unfortunately, it was blocked off. Coming from that came something called a "Water Chain". Here is a photo of that. This photo is from the top of the water chain, looking down toward the continuation of the fountain.

The Water Chain carried water to yet another fountain. This one had two large statues on each side of it. They represented the River Gods. This photo only shows one of the River Gods. There was another one on the other side. The entire fountain and garden was symmetrical. The bottom part of the garden was symmetrical horizontally and vertically. See the photo.

At the bottom there was another fountain that represented the lakes. This part of the garden was enormous. In the four sections of the fountain that represented the lakes, there was a boat in each section. In each boat was a sailor that spouted water from his gun. This represented naval battles.

There is really nothing like this in South Bend. The only thing I can compare it to is the landscaping at Copshaholm. It is a little bit like that because it is a formal garden. But Copshaholm has no fountains. I really enjoyed seeing it.

-Paul

Haiku on Rome

Got a big guidebook?

Got some strong feet for walking?

You're ready for Rome!

-Elizabeth

Rome in Ruins!

Ancient Rome in ruins!

Can't you guess? This part of Rome is more than 2000 years old! This is an area in Rome called the Forum. The Forum is part of an Ancient Roman city. Here's a picture of it.

There is very little of the city left. In the picture you can see three arches with a plaque on top. This is called a Triumphal Arch. My mom is going to write more about this arch. Do you remember Palatine Hill from "Paul's Thoughts"? Well, the Forum is right next to it. Unfortunately, we haven't visited Palatine Hill yet.

In the Forum, there's a lot of rubble and foundations of old buildings. One thing I learned about was a purple stone called Porfery. Porfery is rare and used to show that someone or something is important. I saw a statue made of Porfery. It had no head and no arms and was in a building somebody restored. I don't know who the statue was of, but he or she must have been important. I will take more pictures of porfery when I see them.

-Paul

Homesick

I am so homesick! I miss Holy Cross so much. I miss all my friends there and my teachers. I miss my grandma and grandpa and my cat, Mr. Flynn. I miss Aunt Kathy and family friends too. I miss everyone that I left in the United States.

If you have never been homesick, it is a really horrible feeling. It just makes you want to cry all the time. I don't like it when I have to talk about home because it makes me feel like I want to cry again. I miss my street and my house and I wish I had gotten to meet the new neighbors that moved in next door to my house in South Bend. I miss the toys that I left at home. I miss my friends there too.

It just isn't the same living in Italy. It is so weird because everyone is speaking a different language. There is trash everywhere. (See future blog entry on trash.) Everybody is smoking everywhere and I am not used to the buses and trains. I am not used to the sirens. I am not used to living in a big, busy city. I think it would have helped if I had lived in Chicago. I am not used to walking in streets the size of alleyways with cars going down them. I always think the cars are going to run over my toes!

I just miss home so much!

-Elizabeth

The One, the Only, the Ferrari Store!

Last week we went to the Ferrari Store! This isn't a place where you buy a vehicle. It is like a fan club store, you might say. You can buy t-shirts, models, jackets, pants, helmets, bikes, and a bunch of other stuff. It is on a street called Via Tomacelli which is near the Corso and the Spanish Steps.

The photos I included were taken in the store. The first one is a Ferrari from 2004. The second photo shows the inside of the store and is a wire frame of a Ferrari. It was a really neat store.

I really wanted to buy a cool model of a Ferrari. Unfortunately, it was 100 euro - about $140. Oh well, it was fun to look.

-Paul

Capitals

We learned about the three major types of columns and capitals. They are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. These three photos are from the Colosseum. The first level of the arches has Doric columns, the second has Ionic, and the third and fourth have Corinthian. The columns often appear in this order, with Doric at the bottom and Corinthian at the top. You also might see the Doric or Ionic on the outside of a building and Corinthian on the inside.

Erased from History

Last weekend we visited the Roman Forum. Here is a photo of part of the Forum, with the Arch of Septimius Severus. It set the standard for all triumphal arches. It is so large that newcomers were led directly past this arch so they would be impressed and intimidated. Here is a close-up photo of one part of it so you can see how detailed it is.

We read in a guidebook that Septimius Severus had two sons, Caracalla and Geta. After their father died, Caracalla had Geta killed so he wouldn't have to share the power. Geta's name was on the arch though, so Caracalla had it removed. Look at the fourth line of the inscription. See how it is different from the others? It used to say something about Geta, but now it says "Optimis Fortissimisque Principibus" which apparently means "best and most valiant emperors" and refers to his father. Talk about sibling rivalry!

-Terri

Police Cars, Trains, and Buses

Here is a photo of a police car that I took. We saw it near the Colosseum the other day. The emergency vehicles have blue lights on top. I don't know the lady in the picture. She walked in front of my picture.

We have been riding the buses and trains in Rome. This is because I don't like to walk very much and my mom is tired of carrying me all the time. My mom and dad got bus passes and Paul, Elizabeth, and I ride for free.

Some of the buses are very crowded and we have to stand up. One of the first days we rode the bus, we got on the wrong bus by accident. We rode for a long time until the bus stopped. We had to get off and ride the bus back again. My mom was frustrated, but I loved riding the bus!

We have also been riding the tram which is like a train. It takes us across the river. I don't like to get off the train. I want to stay on it.

The police cars make a lot of noise here. The sirens are not the same. They go "wee-waa, wee-waa". (a high tone, then a low tone, repeating) They don't have red lights, only blue ones.

Ciao! -Grace

Where's Waldo?

Here are two photos with Paul, Elizabeth, and Grace in them. See if you can find them!

Hint: Paul is wearing blue in both photos. Elizabeth is wearing pink in one and a light-colored shirt in the other.

Answering your questions

Many Holy Cross students sent us questions to answer. Here goes:

We don't know what the National Anthem of Italy is - at least we haven't heard it yet. Maybe we will if we go to a soccer game.

The food here is very good. We are eating a lot of pasta and pizza. I have had cheese, mushroom, prociutto(ham), and pepperoni (which is really strips of peppers, not what we have at home). My mom had squash on pizza one time (which I tasted and I didn't die!) We are eating a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables.

It took us about 24 hours to get here. See Paul's earlier blog entry for details.

How do we buy stuff? Either with Mom's credit card, or with euros! It's just like buying things at home, but they are speaking Italian. Luckily, we know our numbers in Italian, so that helps us know how much something costs when they tell us. One thing that is different is that they always want exact change and they don't want to take big bills like the ones we get at the ATM.

What do I like the most? I really liked going to the Colosseum and the Forum yesterday. Paul is writing an entry on that. It was interesting to see how the Romans lived in ancient times.

Gelato - yum! We got gelato on the third day, even though Mom and Dad promised it on the first day. Not fair! I have had strawberry, chocolate, mint, banana, lemon, nut, coffee, peach and pear. Not all of these were mine! I tasted some of these from my family members. So far, my favorite is chocolate.

Churches - they are everywhere! The closest one to us is Santa Maria in Trastevere. Yesterday, we went in San Pietro in Montorio. See a future blog entry about the Tempietto.

The peanut butter is delicious. It tastes like the natural peanut butter from home. I wish there was a peanut butter flavored gelato! Yum!

We have not been pick-pocketed thankfully. There are a lot of people on the streets asking for money though. Here is a photo of a street performer. He has painted himself completely to match the trashcan he is leaning against. He sat as still as a statue and then would move suddenly. We have also seen other street performers like this in Piazza Navona. One was all in white and was dressed like the Statue of Liberty. People would give him coins to have their picture taken with him.

The numbers in Italian: uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci. We have been playing "Go Fish" in Italian. You have to say, "Pesca!"

That is all for now!

Ciao ragazzi! -Elizabeth

To Rome and Away!

Several of you have asked about our flights to Rome.
On September 8, 2009, our family took a flight to London on British Airways. We took off at 5:25 pm and landed at about 1:30 am.

Our section of the airplane had three rows of three seats each. Each person had a small TV placed on the seatback in front of you. The crew gave us a pillow, blanket, headphones, and package containing a little toothbrush and toothpaste, socks, and a mask to block out the light while you were sleeping.

We all watched a movie of our choice. I watched Night at the Museum 2, Battle of the Smithsonian. Then a flight attendant brought us dinner. After that, I slept for about three hours. When I woke up, we all received breakfast and watched an interactive map on the TV to watch the plane land in London. We landed in London at about 6:30am London time (1:30 SB time). After that, we got on another plane to Rome. This plane had two rows of three seats each. We took off about 12:40 and landed at about 4:00 Rome time (10am Wednesday SB time). In Rome, a man met us with a van and took us to our apartment.

-Paul

Answers to questions: There is a TV. See the photo of the living room. The TV is in the right hand corner. It's just like a regular TV. We have a satallite, and a DVD player. However, everything is in Italian and we have been so busy, we have hardly watched TV.

No pool. Not a pool in sight.
The city is very large. We will try to take a photo for you to see. We haven't been to the Colesium yet. We will take lots of photos when we do. Food - we are eating a lot of pasta with bread. They even have Barilla pasta here. We are also eating lots of fruit and vegetables from the fresh market in the piazza nearby. We have had pizza a few times. I will have to write an entry just on pizza.

St. Peter's Basilica

Hi! Saturday we went to St. Peter's Basilica! There were statues and tombs of many of the former popes! The Basilica was really big. Just to give you an idea of how big it was, if you put Holy Cross Church in there, it wouldn't take up much room. There was this really cool thing. Down the center aisle of the church, there were names of big churches around the world and a mark to how big the church is compared to St. Peter's. It made me realize just how big St. Peter's really is. It was cool. We took a bus there and a bus back. One of the bus drivers was not a good one. We couldn't get off the bus at our stop even though we had pressed the button to say we wanted to get off the bus. Apparently, he only pays attention to people who stand next to the door!

I attached some photos of the adventure. You can see us in St. Peter's, the Baldacchino (canopy above the altar), the piazza (plaza) outside the Basilica, and Grace's reaction to the magnificent church. Also, there is a photo of "Pieta", a sculpture by Michaelangelo

-Elizabeth

P.S. To answer some of your questions: I can speak a little Italian, but not much. I know "Grazie" means "Thank you" and "Per Favore" means "please". I know a few other things too.

At last! Peanut butter!

Well, today's shopping trip was much more successful. It took more than two hours, but we did finally get everything we needed.

Left home with one backpack, one wheeled shopping cart, and three children. First we stopped at the farmer's market in the piazza down at the bottom of the hill. Tomatoes, onion, carrots, lettuce and some peaches. We went to the first grocery - Todis. We immediately noticed the sign that said that they couldn't accept credit cards today. I don't know why - my Italian is not that good! So, we went to the grocery store next door. Here we picked up cereal, cookies, prociutto (2 kinds), cheese, butter, and spaghetti. We didn't get milk because it was over one euro and I found it at a different store for only 50 cents (1/2 euro). Next stop was a bakery down the street for a loaf of fresh bread for lunch sandwiches. Next grocery store was Standa - a larger grocery in the basement of a clothing store. We got milk, juice, cream, and eggs.

While standing in the long check-out line, Grace announced that she needed to use the restroom. She is newly potty-trained, so that didn't leave me much time! In the US, there are public restrooms everywhere, but this is not the case in Rome. I asked someone in Standa, and she told me to go to a coffee bar. We left Standa, pulling all the groceries carefully packed in the rolling cart. We found one coffee bar. But when I asked, they told me they didn't have a restroom. Poor Grace was wiggling and starting to panic when we finally found another coffee bar. I didn't even ask the man - I just headed to the back of the place and found one of the tiniest restrooms I have ever been in. Despite the fact that there was no toilet paper (wet wipes in the backpack) and the lights went out in the restroom while we were in the stall, Grace made it through the shopping trip with dry pants.

We found the final grocery store near this coffee bar and bought:
Peanut Butter! (for 4.50 euro) (about $7)

Finally, we headed home on Via Gloriosa. This road ends in a staircase that leads up the hill. I think there are six sets of 21 steps. That wheeled shopping cart handles stairs well, but boy was it heavy!

The best news is that I don't think I have to grocery shop tomorrow!

-Terri

Go Irish!

We do a lot of walking around here and it is hard to keep Grace holding someone's hand. So, if we are in an area where I can give her a little more freedom, I do.

Last night we were heading back to the apartment after gelato. We were on a very narrow street turned pedestrian way. Grace was strolling and singing - The Notre Dame Victory March. I was amused and thoroughly happy that she was still walking. While walking in the other direction past us, a couple stopped dead in their tracks to make sure they were hearing Grace's tune correctly. They laughed, said "Go Irish!", and continued on their way. What a small world!

-Terri

Grace's Thoughts

I went on two big planes. I ate snacks and carried my purple pack-pack. I slept for a few hours. A man picked us up. He drove a van. We were in the back and I had a seatbelt.

We go for lots of walks in Rome. My favorite part is running up and down the stairs. On the sidewalks you have to watch for dog poo. There is lots of dog poo and lots of dogs. I saw two black cats too. I had gelato last night. It was strawberry and banana. It was delicious. I just ate it by myself. It was like an ice cream cone.

-Grace

The Shopping is making me crazy!

Well, we have been here for two days and I think the part I dislike the most is the shopping. First of all, everything is tremendously expensive! A liter of milk is about 1.50 euros. We are getting about $1.50 to every euro. That means I am paying about $2.25 for a quart of milk - or about $9 for a gallon! Needless to say, we are only drinking milk for cereal and a glass at dinner.

Secondly, as with any new grocery store, I can't find anything. So every trip takes twice as long as it would at home. Plus, we are walking, so anything I buy has to be carried home. Fortunately, there is a wheeled shopping bag here and it handles stairs very well. That was easier today.

Yesterday, I went shopping four times. In the morning, we went to the Campo di Fiori (outdoor market) to get tomatoes, basil, and fruit. On the way home at lunch, I stopped at 2 different stores, and acquired pasta, olive oil, Nutella, bread, and some sliced lunchmeat of sort. I couldn't find any kind of cheese to put on a sandwich, believe it or not! Finally, after John came home and we invited the grad students for dinner, we went to a big grocery store and found parmesan and provolone cheese, milk, garlic, cereal, and more pasta and tomatoes.

I think this is going to be the hardest part of our adventure!

-Terri

Courtyard

We made it to our apartment. It has a courtyard with it, which is kind of like a backyard. The floor of the courtyard is orangish-brownish tile. It's surrounded by a tall wall so you can't see the street. The wall is stucco over bricks, but is mostly covered in ivy. Along the walls is a raised garden surrounded by a stone wall about 3 feet high. There are 2 trees and some other plants growing in the garden. Part of the courtyard is on the west side of the apartment and another is on the south. It's not a big backyard, but I'm glad we have it!
-Elizabeth

Photos of Apartment and Courtyard

Our Apartment

Well, we're here and we made it to our apartment. It's on the ground floor and we happen to have a courtyard. The apartment has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room and dining room with no separating wall. See my floorplan and the photos.

-Paul

We made it!

Well, we made it! We arrived at the apartment this afternoon about 5:30 local time. Amazing, since we landed at 4! The apartment is great, we had a nice pizza dinner (Thanks Leah!) and the kids are in bed. John and I are following shortly.

We left South Bend about 1:00 Tuesday afternoon and arrived here 22 1/2 hours later. We've had about 3 hours of sleep since we left, but everyone is amazingly in a good mood.

Tomorrow we are heading into the center of the city for John's orientation. The kids and I are going armed with maps and writer's notebooks and we are on a mission to explore.

We will update the blog with many stories to tell - as soon as we get some sleep!

Love to all!
-Terri