Ciao! to Florence and Italy

Well, my final post from Italy. I may sum up my trip when I am state-side, but this is it from here. We arrived to Florence via Tivoli and the catacombs. The catacombs in Rome are outside of the city walls, and while Christians are buried there and did pilgrimages and worshipped there, they never hid and lived there during the times of persecution.

The catacombs themselves were roomier and taller than I thought they would be, but it was still quite a labryinth of hallways lined with shelves for bodies. Our final stop was a family room that was ready for pilgrims to celebrate mass. We had arrived at the catacombs before they opened and were moved when the priest said a prayer of blessing over the day and all of the visitors that would come that day. SueAnn summed up the feelings many of us had when she said she just felt so moved by the place and the spirit of everyone, that a prayer seemed the most appropriate way to finish our time in the small chapel/burial room.

Climbing back onto our crowded bus, we drove on to Tivoli, home of green Italian marble, and we toured Hadrian's Villa. It was a city in its own right -- and only 30% of it had been excavated. Hadrian was emperor of Rome when the empire was at its largest. The villa certainly attests to that fact. We took a great group picture in front of yet another naked statue. Everyone was strategically placed so as not to offend anyone who doesn't appreciate classical art. We also took a faculty photo because there was a faculty meeting happening in Bethany later in the day, but I don't think we could get the photo to transmit because it's tough to get a GPRS signal consistantly here.

We had a wonderful lunch at a place that was quintessentially Italian (that word is for Gwen Hackler). The service was wonderful the food authentic, and the expresso perfect. I had ravioli, and I may never eat the American canned ravioli again.

We traveled on to a town outside of Florence and stayed at a charming and very roomy hotel. Of course, our wonderful guide Alena had us up before dawn driving back into Florence for the day. It was a fun day for her because she is engaged and her father and fiance joined us for the day. She's a doll, and everyone has been very thankful to have her as our guide. I wish I could put a picture of her on this blog now, but that will have to happen later.

SO.....the day. We began at the Academia (spelling?) and saw Michelangelo's David. It IS magnificent. The proportions of his hands and his head and muscles are all symbolic. Truly genius what Michelangelo did with that old column.

Donna, Patsy and I ate lunch on the fly, slammed another expresso and shopped for souveniers for our kids. I wish there was some way I could take pizza back to Ali. THEN whe went on to the Uffizi and I saw many Botticellis, three Divincis and several Michelangelos. And one Caravaggio. Plus many other artists that I am learning about. It's certainly information overload, but I am not complaining at all.

I gotta go. I want to check the weather so we know what we are flying into. I have to make these flights sober (always) and unmedicated (rare) so I need to get psyched for that.

More later.

Ciao!