Down to two

The two days before my mom left we decided to act like Amelians, so everyday after class she would meet me at Bar Leonardi and we would have some prosecco. The lovely thing about drinking in the afternoon in Italy is that they bring you snacks!! :-) I love this! For 3 Euros you get a glass of prosecco and snacks. 

My mother enjoying her prosecco.

Both of us enjoying our prosecci! (that's not a typo, that's the plural for prosecco)

The next day we decided to hike up to the Duomo. It was HOT, but we made it. Luckily the Duomo was open. I have attempted this hike before only to find that the Duomo was not open, so I was very happy this time.

The Duomo is beautiful. Lindsey and I started talking about finding out why they call it a Duomo instead of a church, etc. Well a Duomo refers to a church that used to be the seat of a Bishop, but that Bishop is no longer there. So there, you have a bit more history.

This is on the ceiling. For the first time I can really understand why people could become so connected to the artwork in their churches. The town on the bottom of this image is Amelia. Even though Amelia has only been my home for a few months, I still felt pride when I looked up and saw it there. 

A closer shot.

The altar. The churches in Italy are really breathtaking. Even when you think you are walking into a little small town church you get blown away!

The dome.

The view from the top!

After the Duomo my mom and I walked down to Bar Leonardi to wait for Danielle to arrive.

She made it!! :-)

We then walked down to the chalet for some pizza and wine in the park. This is one of my favorite pizza's. Pizza Caprese. Like a caprese salad on top of pizza dough! :-)

The next morning Danielle and my mother left. Do you know what that means? Once I post my next blog I will be caught up! :-)

The Road to Assisi

The following day Connie, Chrissy, my Mom and I headed out to Assisi. On the way out of Amelia we stopped to get some good shots of my future home... 

And a good shot of Amelia.

My house from the driveway.

The fields of sunflowers... and the mountains. Scenes I have only ever seen in books or movies until now.

We liked the name of this town.

Finally the sunflowers were looking at us.

The main square in Assisi.

My mom and I at the Basilica of Saint Francis. Our family really likes Saint Francis, so this was number one on our list of places to go.

This is the pathway to the lower square for the lower church. I thought the two toned bricks were pretty cool.

The square and a fantastic view of the valley! 

The thing I liked most about this fountain was not that the pigeons were in it, that is very common in Italy. We ate lunch with this as our view and I was amazed by the amount of people that would walk up and start filling up their water bottles out of the lion's mouths. I mean, I know that most towns in Italy have tap water that far surpasses the quality of our bottled water, but there was a fountain less than ten feet away where the sole purpose was to fill up water bottles or drink from... and there weren't pigeons bathing in that water. :-)

Look closely...

Do you notice that these are simply random ceramic animals with Assisi written on them with permanent marker. :-) My mom and I thought this was very funny.

Some shots of the street.

The view of Assisi as we made our way back to Amelia.

Ciao ciao!

Miles to go before we sleep...

We had one day left with Kelly before she met a friend to tour around Italy for a couple of days, so I was eager to get some good places in. We started at Bomarzo (which you have seen in previous posts) which is the Parco del Mostri. I figured this is the exact place Kelly and my Mom would like to visit while in town. 

Here is Kelly "posing" with one of the sculptures. 

Here are Kelly and I in the slanted house. I was playing like I was dead.

Mom and Kelly coming out of the slanted house.

I thought this urn looked very Harry Potter like with the red writing.

Kelly and I in front of a big acorn. 

After the Park of the Monsters, we got on the road to head to Pienza. Oh the sunflower fields!! They were all looking the other way, but they are still beautiful!

There is Pienza on the hillside in the distance.

Pienza a little closer.

In Pienza!

The view.

The Ogden ladies and the view. Pienza is a bit more touristy than Amelia, so they have lots of shops around the city center. TONS of cheese shops. We got some pasta, sauce, wine and cheese.

After we dropped Kelly off with her friend, Mom and I headed back with Connie and Chrissy. Connie likes to pull over on the side of the road so we can take good pictures. :-) 

In the distance is Montepulciano. AKA Twilight New Moon town for all my Twilight friends. 

We saw the dog herding the sheep so we stopped the car and got out to see them close up.

A sign to prove I was almost there. We were all too tired to tackle another town. I know it's still sunny, but it was 8:30pm. The sun is very deceiving in Italy.

Then we went to Porcelli's for pizza. This picture is for my cousin Jim's wife Heather. :-) Mom and I thought you would like to see the restaurant named after your family. 

That was all for Sunday. Quite the busy Sunday. I got a trucker tan on the left side of my body because we were in the car so long. (a trucker tan (for those of you that don't know the reference) is when you get a sunburn on the side of your body that the car window was on.

Ciao Ciao!

The Holy See

No self respecting Catholic can visit Rome without going to the Vatican. I would argue that no self respecting person could go to Rome without visiting the Vatican, but that is your own call. The Vatican is one of the most amazing places I have ever been, and every time I go I seem to find something new that I am in awe of. 

This is a picture of the Dome at St. Peter's, and a new modern sculpture by some guy named Arnaldo Pomodoro (which means Arnold Tomato, something our lovely tour guide pointed out). Our tour guide was hilarious, it was by far one of the best tours I have ever been on. This is supposed to show a link between the past (the dome) and the present (the sphere).

This is one of the many Papal seals that adorn multiple rooms in the Vatican. Typically, if the following room was "remodeled" by a certain Pope, then his seal or some form of identification will be on the entrance to that room. 

I particularly find the sculptures that have fig leaves where other objects should have been/used to be very entertaining. 

This sculpture is funny for two reasons. 1) the fig leaf. 2) This is a perfect example of a horrible restoration. This is a woman's head on a man's body. 

Another mixed sculpture. This one is particularly funny because it is a sleeping woman's head on a mans body. (Close up below)

Really??? You mean to tell us that there were NO other heads?? No other heads with eyes open that they could have used? A sleeping figure standing up fully engaged?? Very funny.

There is a map room in the Vatican. The maps are amazingly accurate, particularly because there was no way to see these things from above. So the artist created these by walking around. You can see Amelia, it is actually listed as Ameria. (It is sorta center top... a little to the left)

This is the hallway that the Popes walk to get to the Basilica.

The Basilica.

It is impossible to grasp the enormity or the beauty of this place with my camera. I suggest everyone get on a plane and come over and see it for yourselves. :-)

My sister, Mother and I in the Basilica.

The ceilings... so beautiful!

After the Vatican we had a wonderful dinner in Travestere the "restaurant" district of Rome. Our family friends Connie and Chrissy Wendlek were with us, but I can't find any group pictures! 

After dinner we walked around a bit on our way back to the hotel. Here are some Roman scenes at night. This is the National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II. It is the most remarkable memorial I have ever seen, which got me wondering, who was Victor Emmanuel II? Well, Victor Emmanuel II was the first King of unified Italy. The monument was designed in 1895, inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935. The monument also holds Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame. (so there's some history for you)

Another one of those fantastic situations you stumble onto while in Italy. When walking around we saw this, Julius Caesar the play being performed at the ruins of Caesar's Forum.. so where the original murder actually occurred (I think). Very surreal.

The Colosseum at night. 

Kelly's tongue and me in front of the Colosseum.

Quite the busy day. Incredibly hot, and tiring, but memorable and fantastic!

Ciao, ciao!