That was a refreshing break . . . !

After a couple years . . . back at it.  At least intermittently.

More Fun With Cousins

More photos re the blog post below. (The "gladiators" is one of my favorites!)

How the time flies!

Reviewing the blog posts over the last month and noticing how irregular the posts have been. Also noticed (!!) that we haven't posted on Romain, Heather, Jonathan and Gabe's wonderful visit, which was just shy of one month ago. (The fact that we left for Venice shortly after their departure surely had something to do with the ommission.)

Their visit was a great boost for us, as I think we were all in something of a "third month funk." Hard as it may be to believe, we had done and seen a lot already in Rome, so the original excitement of being here had worn off. On the other hand, we were still looking at another solid month before returning to the States. Having family visit was our chance to "rediscover" the city, and even see things that we hadn't yet!

Things got off to a rough start for Romain and Heather, unfortunately, as they were the victims of a clever scam in which two men (masquerading as assistants helping them unload their bags at their apartment) made off with a backpack containing valuables. This is the side of Rome you are warned about in travel guides, etc., but it was not something we had encountered, until then. Thankfully they were able to recoup some of the loss. But still . . .

The week went by in a whirlwind of activity. The kids, I think, would have been content to spend much of the time playing in the apartment (which they did anyway), but we were able to do at least one major activity in and around Rome per day. The pictures above capture some of the events.

The visit to the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine was especially fun--though it was an incredible amount of walking!--because it was our first time on the Palatine too. The Palatine (one of the seven hills of Rome) flanks the ancient Roman Forum. It was the site of the emperor's palace (our word "palace" is, in fact, derived from the word "Palatine"), which was opulent indeed. Very little remains besides the ruins, of course, but even these are enough to give you a sense of the magnificence of the place.

From the Palatine we wound our way (through the rain!) to the Bocca della Verità, which we had also not visited before then. This large marble circle was probably a sewer drain cover in antiquity, but it was made famous in Roman Holiday, and now crowds line up to test their "truthfulness" (or the cleanliness of their consciences) by putting their hand into the "mouth of truth." Legend has it that if you have a guilty conscience you lose some digits. Good news: we're all livin' the good life. No loss of limbs.

Our major excursion outside of Rome was a visit to Ostia Antica. If you recall from an earlier blog post, we had travelled here for a day trip back in late February, and fully enjoyed ourselves with a picnic lunch. On this visit, however, we really saw far more of these ruins than we had before. (And there's still more to be seen!) Pompeii gets all the press when it comes to excavated cities, but for my money Ostia's just as good and in some respects even better; in Ostia, unlike Pompeii, there are many places to lounge (and picnic) in the grass under shady pines.

Instead of returning directly to Rome we decided to take the train further down the coast from Ostia Antica to the Ostia Lido stop, "Lido" being the "beach." After about a fifteen minute walk from the station we made it to the shore. This was our very first time to dip our toes into the Mediterranean. It was too cold to swim (though there were a few young women braving it), so we basically just spread the picnic blanket and enjoyed the view, while the kids covered themselves in sand.

The grown ups had one night to themselves, and we spent it at a well known and celebrated Roman restaurant "Vecchio Roma," just around the corner from the Theater of Marcellus and the Jewish district. It was a splendid meal "al fresco" on a lovely Roman evening.

But alas, all good things--at least in this life--must come to an end, and we bid family adieu on the 27th. We look forward to sharing the memories sometime soon, whether in St. Paul or Lake Bluff!

Fried Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Here's an Italian specialty that we've come to enjoy quite a bit. The zucchini flowers are sold at all the markets. After removing the stamen, you stuff the flower with cheese and other flavors. The most common is mozzarella and anchovies ("sardines" as they are called here), but only a small piece of the latter, as all you need is a hint of the saltiness. Dip in them in a beer batter and fry in vegetable oil. Wow! Good stuff.

Keely tried them the other night in our apartment kitchen. They came out perfectly!

Il Duomo

The "Duomo" or dome of St. Peter's, brought to you by Michelangelo himself. We didn't realize you could actually climb up to the cupola (lantern) of the dome until some students in the program brought that to our attention shortly after our arrival in Rome. Since it was one of the things on our "to do before we leave Rome" list, we ventured up on a glorious Sunday afternoon. (Sunday afternoons are great times to visit St. Peter's, as the crowds have greatly diminished.)

The view from the cupola is one of the best in town, and relatively inexpensive to boot: 5 euros by foot (a piede); 7 if you want to take the elevator to the top of the basilica and then walk the rest of the way. By foot, there are a total of some 620 steps, slightly less than half if you do the elevator. We did it by foot (just Keely, Paul, Clare, Paul A. and Katie).

The walk up was not easy. There is a point where the walls are sloping (the curvature of the dome), and the going gets very narrow. At one point, you're spit out into a walkway on the inside of the dome, some one hundred feet above main altar below. Another set of stairs leads up toward the top, with things getting narrower all the time. Finally, a small circular staircase with ropes to steady your ascent, leads out to the glorious panorama of Rome.

You can also spend some time (either on the way up or the way back down) on the roof of St. Peter's. The first and second photos, above, are from this leg of the visit. We were amused to find a souvenir shop, post office, and restaurant/coffee shop here. How many times have you seen pictures of St. Peter's? Did you ever think there was a restaurant/coffee shop on its roof? Pretty sure it's the only major basilica in Rome (maybe in the world?) that can make that boast.

Italian Lessons

Not quite our experience, but it's funny.

First Communion!

Congratulations Lucy!

Cacio e Pepe

A great, simple pasta dish, "cheese and pepper," served in abundance at a local "Trattoria," where the pasta is made fresh daily!

Coffee, Bread, Pasta

Haven't blogged much about the quotidian, the simple elements that make up our routine life in Rome. Italy is, of course, a land of great food and drink. Let's start where some of us (and most Italians) usually begin their day: at the local "Bar."

There's nothing quite like the neighborhood Roman "bar" in the United States, at least not that we've experienced. (Some coffee houses are an approximation. Note, by the way, that there are no Starbucks in the city of Rome.) Enter the bar, go to the cashier (cassa) and ask for your favorite coffee. In the mornings that usually means a cappucino. After 11AM a "caffe" (a shot of espresso), or a "macchiato" (a shot of espresso with a small dollop of steamed milk), or perhaps a "lungo" (espresso with a little bit of hot water). There are a number of other possible orders:

• corretto--espresso with a dash of liqueur (e.g., grappa, amaretto)
• ristretto--super strong, very short shot of espresso
• americano--shot of espresso topped with hot water

There's a decided culture to each of the neighborhood bars too. Show up enough and the bar owner/barista will begin to chat with you. You might even begin to feel like one of the locals. Nothing much else for breakfast besides the coffee and some sweet roll or "cornetti" (a croissant filled with either marmalade, nutella, or some other goo).

The following "instructional video" is pretty accurate in our experience!



More on "Bread and Pasta" in the next post!

Venezia

April 30-May 2. One of our last major excursions before we return to the States. In fact, probably the last, since we are planning on a three day vacation on the Amalfi coast (Sorrento-Salerno) in two weeks, but that is only a short distance from Rome.

Venice is a six-hour train ride. Add another two hours if your train is delayed and you have to sit on the floor in the Rome/Termini station waiting its arrival from Naples. We finally left Rome around 12:30PM, arriving in Venice "Santa Lucia" Station around 6:30.

There are two stations in Venice. "Mestre" is on the mainland, "Santa Lucia" on the island (actually "islands") of Venice itself. It's difficult to describe the experience of stepping outside the Santa Lucia train station, because instead of the usual bus/tram-congested city square there is a canal, in fact the "Grand Canal," with barges, taxi-boats, gondolas, and the "vaporetti," which are the main means of public transportation on the Grand Canal, all plying there way about against the backdrop of a medieval/Renaissance city that seems frozen (architecturally) in time.

Because we arrived later than expected, we didn't get to look around much the first evening. Instead we took a shuttle directly to a campground on the mainland (right next to the airport) about twenty minutes away. We had the option of staying at a convent/monastery in Venice itself, but it would have cost us more than $700 for two nights. The Campground was less than half that. Easy choice.

Our full day in Venice was Saturday, May 1. (An ominous date, as it turns out. Read on.) We first meandered to St. Mark's square. On the way there we stopped for a gondola ride. Venice rules actually prohibit more than six passengers per gondola, but they cut us a break since we are a family. (Plus Lucy is small and was able to squeeze in between Paul and Matthew.) Our gondolier was "Leonardo," whose English was pretty good. Good enough, anyway, to give us a very informative ride, including some interesting info (and a hands-on demonstration) about the crabs that live just below the water line in the canals.

It was amazing how much control and power Leonardo exerted over the gondola, all with one oar! He navigated both some tricky tight spots in narrower canals, as well as the swells from the vaporetti on the Grand Canal. All in all, the gondola ride was an extremely relaxing and peaceful way to tour part of the city.

Our peace and relaxation was soon broken by the crowds that (like us) were converging on St. Mark's square. At many points in the narrow streets and alleys one had to "walk like an Egyptian" in order to make any progress.

The somewhat tragic backstory here is that Venice is quickly becoming an "artificial" wonderland, surviving (in Rick Steves' words) on the "artificial respirator of tourism." The city is down to about 60,000 full-time residents, down from 200,000 about twenty or so years ago. Real estate is too expensive, and it's not an ideal place to raise a family.

It is an ideal tourist destination though! We'll let the pictures above tell the rest of the story.

The View from Rome

Other than a trip to Turin to see the Shroud (Keely, Clare, Paul A., and Katie) last weekend, not much happening the past two weeks. The St. Thomas students are busy studying and writing papers for classes, registering for summer and fall courses back in the States, and generally sticking to the rhythms of life here in the Bernardi residence.

We are in the same rhythm, though eagerly anticipating a week-long visit from Heather, Romain, Gabe and Jonathan!

Those of you reading this blog might be interested in knowing how the recent reports about Pope Benedict's handling of the sex-abuse scandal are being discussed or viewed here in Rome. We've not said much about this on the blog, not because we're sticking our heads in the sand, but because it's hard to know exactly what to say. In some sense, it feels like 2002 all over again (that being the year the reporting on scandals in the American church was at a fever pitch). The same narratives are at work here in European mainstream media.

If there is a major difference between Europe 2010 and USA 2002 it would have to be the situation in Ireland. Because of the historical and cultural importance of the Church in that country, and because the abuses were not committed by isolated individuals, but in the context of social-service institutions maintained by the Church and blessed by the secular state, the long-term consequences of the disclosures in Ireland will be profound. It's fair to ask whether and in what form the Church in Ireland will even survive in anything like its present form.

This website is where we've (mostly Paul J.) been turning for intelligent news and commentary on the events, i.e., as opposed to sensationalist reporting.

Also, if you haven't read B16's letter to Irish Catholics, you should.

St. Patrick, ora pro nobis.

San Gimignano

This little gem of a town was not even on our radar screen, but it was highly recommended by our Agriturismo hosts.

San Gimignano was a thriving medieval hill-town, but in 1348-9 it lost roughly half of its population to the Black Death (like so many other towns across Europe). After that, any influence the town had went north (about 30km) to Florence. In consequence, however, San Gimignano has remained virtually untouched since the 14th century: a late medieval pickle of a place!

There used to be about 60 towers in this town. All but thirteen have disappeared. We climbed to the top of the highest for a splendid view of surrounding Tuscany.

Firenze

Some pictures from our visit to Florence. At this point in our adventure serious "Church/Art fatigue" is setting in with the kids (see the last pic, above): "What? Not another Renaissance masterpiece, dad/mom!"

But even in our art-addled state it was hard not to be wowed by Michelangelo's "David." Likewise Florence's Duomo (Cathedral). Nb. Alas, we didn't even try the Uffizi.

The drive back to the Agriturismo was greeted with much enthusiasm (photo, top).

In Vacanza

We are back to our normal weekly schedule, after a two-week spring (Easter) break. On the front end of that break we visited Paris (see posts below), in the middle we were here in Rome (Holy Week/Triduum), and last week we took a three day excursion into Tuscany.

Tuscany is one of Italy's twenty regions. It lies immediately north and west of Lazio, which is where Rome lies. It's capital is Florence. The region is perhaps best known for its many medieval hill towns, and its good wine (Chianti, Montalcino, Montepulciano, among others).

Because it is the home of Florence, which was the center of the Italian Renaissance (ca. 1350-1540), Tuscany boasts an impressive amount of art (painting, sculpture, architecture) and has at least six sites which have been declared "World Heritage sites." We were fortunate to be able to visit three: Siena, Florence, and San Gimignano.

For this excursion we rented a van, a relatively easy process through Hertz. Our vehicle was a seven passenger Fiat diesel minivan with manual transmission. Paul was the only authorized driver (he went to pick up the van at Rome's central train station) so he did all the driving. The hardest part about driving was getting around, out of, and back into Rome. Suffice it to say, Rome is not the place for timid drivers, or those whose pacemakers have a limited high-end.

Once out of the city, however, travel was relatively easy. We left Rome early Tuesday (April 6) morning, and arrived at our destination, about 5 km west of Siena, about three hours later. We stayed in a converted farmhouse that we had reserved, one of many "Agriturismo" sites that are available throughout Italy. An "Agriturismo" is usually a working farm (grapes, olives, wheat, etc.) that supplements its income by renting such accommodations to travellers.

Our first afternoon we drove to Siena and walked through this beautiful town, stopping for a later afternoon ("molto Italiano") lunch on Siena's famous central Piazza. (In late July and early August there is a famous horse race-the "Palio"--around this square.) The highlights of Siena, however, were the Church of San Dominico, the Duomo (or Cathedral Church), and St. Catherine's home.

Siena is, of course, the hometown of St. Catherine of Siena, b. 1347- d. 1380. The Church of San Damiano has some important relics: her head (yes, her head!), and her thumb, all quite visibly displayed ("No pictures, please!"). (The rest of St. Catherine's body is in Rome, entombed within the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.)

Triduum

The high holy days are upon us, and it is a special privilege to be celebrating them in Rome this year. There are something like 600 churches in Rome, so it's not hard to find a place to celebrate; however, the center of attention is the Papal liturgies.

By one estimate, as many as a million pilgrims flock to Rome on this weekend, and we've seen the evidence of that ourselves, mostly in the form of incredibly long lines to get into the Papal masses.

Paul, Keely and Clare attended the Holy Thursday "Chrism" Mass at St. Peter's. (Video below is from the recessional.) The Mass was at 9:30AM, and we were in line about 7:45AM. They began letting people in around 8:30AM, so we then waited another hour before the opening prayers.

(If you want to attend these liturgies, by the way, you need to have special tickets--free of charge--in advance. Due to some very persistent and persuasive St. Thomas students, we have such tickets for the entire family for all of the masses.)

Unfortunately, our experience last night at the Holy Thursday Mass ("Lord's Supper") has caused us to change our plans somewhat. The Papal Mass for Holy Thursday takes place, not in St. Peter's, but in the Bishop of Rome's (that is what the Pope is) Cathedral church, St. John Lateran. As warned, we showed up--the entire family--two hours early (3:30PM). There was a large, but not enormous group of people waiting for the gates to open at 4:30. When they finally did, the Italian police began letting people in, but only two or three at a time. Each person with a backpack needed to be checked, and everyone was "wanded" for weapons, etc. We finally made it into the church about 5:30PM, but by then, all the seats were taken and where there were places to stand you couldn't really see anything at all and it was generally chaotic. Given the circumstances, we decided to leave.

Today, Good Friday, we decided to attend services at Santa Susanna, the English-speaking American parish here in Rome, at 6PM, and then go to the Papal Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum at 9:15 PM. In short, we're bagging on the Papal Masses, at least for one day.

Tomorrow, Paul will take Matthew, Katie, and Lucy to the Vigil Mass (9PM) at the "Irish College," which is near St. John Lateran. The Church in Ireland is suffering grievously right now, so it will be good to be with our Irish brothers and sisters to celebrate our Lord's resurrection.

Keely, Clare, and Paul are going to attempt the Papal liturgy at St. Peter's. It starts at the same time (9PM), but they will need to be in line by about 5PM, maybe earlier.

Note: the Vatican Website is publishing texts of the Papal homilies during Triduum.

And more Paris

Notre Dame

More Paris

Frolicking outside the Louvre on a sunny day.

Paris, France

Our one--and only--major destination outside Italy during this four-month sojourn is Paris. Why Paris? Two reasons. First, there are two "Francophiles" in the family: Keely and Clare. Second, Paul's old college friend Tom, who teaches literature at a French university and lives in Paris with his wife and 11 year-old daughter, offered us the use of a studio apartment he owns.

Keely and the kids actually left Rome on Wednesday afternoon (3/24). Paul followed the next afternoon, as he teaches on Thursday mornings. Travel was not without incident.

There are a number of discount airlines flying across Europe these days, and we took one of the bigger ones: RyanAir (based in Ireland). Those of you who remember "People's Express" from the early 1980s will understand how these airlines manage to keep the cost of their flights so low: basically "customer service" is minimal to non-existent, and passengers are pretty much on their own to check-in, find seats, etc. But the savings is considerable. A round-trip ticket from Rome to Paris was about $50. (A round trip 2d class train ticket is about $160.)

RyanAir flies to an airport in a small town, Beauvais, about 40km outside of Paris. A shuttle takes you from the airport to a major transportation hub on the periphery of Paris itself. From there you can catch a Metro (subway) that will put you almost anywhere you wish within the city. (The Paris Metro is vastly larger than Rome's. It has 14 major lines. Rome has 2. And the Paris Metro covers the city like a net; you really don't need a car if you lived here, as almost every sector of the city is easily accessed by the Metro.)

Because Keely and the kids arrived in the evening (8PM), and because they would have been walking on dark and unfamiliar streets in Paris looking for Tom's studio apartment, they decided to stay that first night in Beauvais, and then take the shuttle the next morning. Great in theory, except the flight was slightly delayed, and by the time she arrived at the hotel, the concierge had left for the night. In the end--but not without some stress--she managed to secure another room and then made it to Paris the next day.

Tom's studio is in the "Arts et Metier" neighborhood, just a short ten-minute walk north of Notre Dame Cathedral: a fantastic location.

We saw many of the major sites (see pictures), and it would be hard to say which was the most impressive. For Paul and Keely the experience of Palm Sunday Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral was a great joy. The kids enjoyed it too, though perhaps our outing to Versailles Palace--where they were more at liberty to run around--was a bit more fun.

Tom, Anne and daughter Chloe invited us for lunch on Sunday after Mass. Paul had not seen Tom in at least 18 or so years, so it was good to reconnect! Our repast was a traditional French meal called "Raclette," which resembles the Swiss "Cheese Fondue," only the cheese is melted on an element in the center of the table and then poured over a variety of fresh cooked vegetables (potatoes, beets, broccoli) and cold meats/patés.

Every morning Keely would visit the bakery just down the street from the studio and bring back fresh croissants, quiches, and other treats for breakfast. We usually had one restaurant meal per day, otherwise we relied on the local grocery store for some home-cooked meals: another great benefit of the studio apartment!

The picture above is from the Eifel Tower, of course. We'll post other pictures in a separate post.

Assisi

It has been one of our great dreams (Paul/Keely) to visit Assisi, the home of St. Francis and Clare.

This medieval Italian (Umbrian) town is everything it's cracked up to be. To begin with, it's only a short train ride (2 hrs) from Rome. We left about 8:00AM--this time getting on the right train--and arrived about 10AM. The train actually stops at a town called Santa Maria degli Angeli, which is about 5km from Assisi itself. A short bus ride, though, brings you up the mountainside and into the heart of the town.

A network of narrow, cobbled streets run throughout the town, connecting the major churches: the Basilica of St. Francis (containing Francis' tomb, and the stunning frescoes of the saint's life by Giotto); the church of St. Clare (including her tomb and many relics of her life); Saint Peter; St. Rufinus. A steep walk just outside one of the city gates takes you to the sanctuary of San Damiano, where St. Francis received his famous vision of--and commission from--Jesus, calling him to "rebuild" the church.

It was an immense privilege just walking around this beautiful town, home to one of the most beloved and influential saints in all of western Christianity.

Some Pompeii Pics