A Cannon Blast in Rome?

Yes, there is a cannon blast in Rome every day at noon! It used to be that the church bells would ring at noon to tell the citizens the time. However, there are hundreds of churches in Rome and they were all ringing at different times. They needed a better system.

In 1847, Pope Julius IX started shooting a cannon from Castel Sant'Angelo to mark the noon hour. However, he was shooting real cannonballs over the rooftops of Rome! Fortunately, they have now moved the cannon to the Janiculum Hill and they only shoot blanks from it.

I must warn you that the cannon blast in this video is loud. First you can see the guard with the rope in her hand and you can hear my voice reassuring Grace. You should be able to hear another guard count down. Quatro (4), Tre (3), Due (2), (and me repeating it for Grace) and then BOOM!!! I apologize that I shook the camera so much but it was really loud!
Enjoy! -Terri

Playgrounds

This is a playground we found near the Basilica St. Paul's Outside the Walls. This playground has a teeter-totter and you can go on it. But you need at least two people. There are three of us on this teeter-totter though.






Here are some swings. They are big kids swings. Most of the swings here are little kids swings. See me and Elizabeth on the swings?

This is my favorite playground. This teeter-totter is really big! That is Paul and Elizabeth playing on it. I was on the little swings and running around a little track while they were playing on the teeter-totter.

I am mad in this picture. I didn't want to leave the playground.

-Grace

San Pietro in Vincoli

This church is called San Pietro in Vincoli, or St. Peter's in Chains. It is a large church up on the hill from the Colosseum. It is most famous for the tomb of Pope Julius II. The tomb was carved by Michelangelo.

Interestingly, Julius II was the Pope who decided to build St. Peter's Basilica and he wanted his tomb to be right behind the altar. He hired Michelangelo to design and sculpt the tomb. Unfortunately, he died before the whole tomb was finished and before St. Peter's was finished. The next Pope had other ideas, and so Julius' tomb ended up at San Pietro in Vincoli.

The tomb is famous for the beautiful sculpture of Moses, the central figure at the bottom. The photos really don't do it justice. It is quite beautiful and so detailed! In the top photo, above Moses' head, is the actual tomb of Julius II.










What is more interesting about this church is what it was really named for. Below the altar in a crystal and bronze urn, are the chains that bound
St. Peter during his imprisonment by the Romans in Jerusalem. Quite striking.
-Terri

Who knew?

We have searched the TSA website and discovered that no, you cannot bring peanut butter in your carry-on luggage! Here is the list of things you cannot bring:

cranberry sauces
cologne
creamy dips and spreads (cheeses, peanut butter, etc.)
salsa, jams, salad dressings
gravy
jams
jellies
lotions
maple syrup
oils and vinegars
perfumes
sauces
snow globes
soups

Now that we know about this list, we have had fun trying to imagine the circumstances under which one would try to travel with some of these items! Great writing topic!

-Terri

Our Peanut Butter Has Been Confiscated!

Uncle Brian and Aunt Ogi came to visit us today. We asked them to bring us some peanut butter because we haven't been able to find any in Rome for the last few weeks. Unfortunately, there was a "peanut butter incident".

When they went through security in Minneapolis, the guards x-rayed their bags and spotted an unknown substance. (Maybe it looked like Kryptonite!) Anyway, they asked Uncle Brian and Aunt Ogi to open the bag and let them examine the contents. They removed the two jars of peanut butter and x-rayed them again. They asked, "Sir, why are you carrying so much peanut butter?"

Irritated, Uncle Brian explained that his nieces and nephew were living in Europe and couldn't find peanut butter. The guard made him speak to a supervisor! Uncle Brian repeated the story to the supervisor. With a sigh, the woman explained, "Sir, we cannot allow that much peanut butter on the airplane." Unfortunately, Uncle Brian and Aunt Ogi didn't check any luggage so they had to give up the jars of peanut butter.

Do you think the guards had any jelly in the breakroom?

Longing for peanut butter,
Terri

No Church, But Ferrari!

Yesterday we went to visit Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the basilicas in Rome. Unfortunately, when we got there, they were having a Mass and we were not able to tour the church. We decided that we could come back another day and see it and so we would just head home.

Out in the piazza in front of the basilica, we saw a Ferrari coming down the street! Wow! Finally! I had not seen any Ferraris until this point! The Ferrari pulled away as the traffic in front of it cleared.

Fortunately, it was stopped at the next traffic light. We were able to run down the hill, and get a video of it. Here is the video!

Remember how I said that we ran down the hill? Well, I was carrying Grace while running. If you listen carefully right at the beginning of the video, you can hear me say, "Whoa!" I tripped and Grace and I fell down just as we got to where Mom was shooting the video. Don't worry! We are both fine! However, we must have looked kind of ridiculous running down the hill and taking a video of a car. But, I am glad we did! Now I have proof that I have really seen a real Ferrari!

-Paul

Food - Yum!

Several of you have asked about what we eat and our favorite foods here in Italy.

What do we eat for breakfast? Most Italians have a cornetto and caffe. This is a croissant or some type of sweet roll and some coffee. Kids have succo (juice). Sometimes that is what we have especially when we are traveling, but usually we have cereal or toast. We have found Rice Krispies, Multi-grain Cheerios, Corn Flakes, and everyone's favorite: Miel Pops. (Honey Pops) We also often have fruit or yogurt sometimes. Paul has had cappuccino and loves it. Elizabeth and Grace prefer hot cocoa.

Lunch is a large meal for most Italians. Many businesses close about noon and reopen at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Traditionally, Italians have a large (pranzo) at this time. Some of the schools even let out for a few hours at lunch and resume classes in the afternoon, going sometimes until 5 or later. We often have sandwiches at home. Peanut butter and jelly is still a favorite, but we haven't been able to find peanut butter for a few weeks now. Our next visitors are bringing us some! Sometimes sandwiches are prosciutto (ham) and cheese, or just bread with cheese. If we are out and about we get either sandwiches or pizza by the slice. These sandwiches are usually like focaccia bread with something inside. They are usually heated for you when you order them.

Pizza is sold by the slice and has all sorts of toppings. Cheese, sausage and cheese, prosciutto and cheese, pepperoni (red and yellow sliced peppers), and mushrooms with a white sauce instead of tomato sauce are just a few of our favorites. Some of the more unusual toppings include potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, shrimp and lettuce with ranch-like dressing, and anchovies. Grace's favorite is Margarita - just tomato sauce and cheese. I like to try them all. I haven't found a pizza I don't like. And I have learned that I really like anchovies!

Dinner is traditionally a smaller meal for Italians. They also tend to eat much later that we do in the US. In the US, restaurants are busiest at about 6pm. Here, they are busiest (with Italians) at about 9pm. Restaurants have antipasti (appetizers), primi (first courses - mainly pastas), and secondi (second courses - mainly meat/chicken/fish). A large traditional meal would consist of all of these followed by salad and then dessert. We usually only order two - an antipasto and primo, or a primo and secondo.

At home we eat a lot of pasta. Boy, can I make a lot of different sauces! We tend to eat very little meat and opt for fresh vegetables in the sauces instead. The (farmer's) market in the piazza has lots of fresh vegetables that are not very expensive, wheras meat, etc. is pretty expensive here. I have also been making risotto which is rice. I found a delicious risotto recipe that has prociutto and peas in it. Fantastic! I have also made calzones a few times. Spinach and fresh mozzarella, or prosciutto and cheese are two of our favorites.

For dessert we love gelato! We try not to go to our favorite gelato place too often though! They have all sorts of great flavors. Grace's favorite is strawberry and banana. I think my favorites are chocolate, peanut butter, caffe, and all the fruit flavors. Again, I am trying them all and I have yet to find one that I don't like! Other desserts we like are tiramisu and cannoli.

Hungry now?
-Terri

Florence, Venice and Lots More!

A few weeks ago we went to Florence. The first thing we did was go to the Duomo. A Duomo is an Italian word for Cathedral and dome. We went to the baptistry and then the actual church. When we were done looking at the church and the dome from the inside, we went to the very top of the dome. It was awesome! You could see almost the full city from up there. The next day, we went to Siena and went to another Duomo. We were hoping to go to the top of another tower, but it was closed. On our last day, we went to Pisa. Pisa is famous for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We wanted to go to the top of the Leaning Tower, but we couldn't. The next time we could go up was when our train was leaving. It would been fun to go to the top of three towers, but at least we went up one.

-Elizabeth

Up, Up and Even Further Up

We went to Florence. Once we got off our train we checked into our hotel. After that, we went to a church called the Duomo. Paul, Mom, and I got to go to the very top of the dome. Here are some photos of what it looked like when we were climbing up. It was interesting because we were climbing inbetween the painting on the inside of the dome and the outdoor part of the dome. Look how narrow, steep, and curvy everything is!




Once we climbed 464 steps, we got to the top. Here is what we saw. Isn't that neat how you can look down at the ground and see just how far up you are? The middle picture shows the side of the dome from the top.





We were at the cupola at the top of the dome. We were actually outside! The first photo is of the dome when we came back down. You can see the cupola at the very top of the dome. The second picture is zoomed in on the cupola. You can see where we were because there are still people up there. Look closely. They are right where the cupola meets the top of the dome. Hint: they look like specks!

It was really fun and we got a lot of good exercise!

-Elizabeth

P.S. I am glad I don't have to climb 464 steps to get home every night! We only have to climb 126!

Michelangelo Day

On Wednesday, October 14, we had a Michelangelo Day in Florence, Italy. First, we went to the Academia Museum to see David, by Michelangelo. David is a sculpture with very lifelike detail. I sketched him because we weren't able to take any photos. The hall leading up to the David sculpture was lined with unfinished statues for a tomb. These were also done by Michelangelo, but he died before he completed them. It looked like real people were trying to break free of the stone. The sculpture of David used to be in piazza in Florence, but is now in a museum. There is a copy of him in a piazza now. Fortunately, we were able to take a picture of that.

Next, we went to a church called Santa Croce, to see Michelangelo's tomb.

Finally, after lunch, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. There we saw a painting by Michelangelo called The Holy Family. Not only did Michelangelo do the painting, but he also designed and made the frame. I wasn't allowed to take a picture of this either, but we got a postcard. I will have my dad scan it.

Elizabeth and I are doing a PowerPoint presentation on Michelangelo. We can send it to you or show it to you when we return.

-Paul