More Florence

On December 29 we went to see Dante Aligieri's house. He was born near the end of the thirteenth century and died in 1321. He was a writer who wrote among other things the Divine Comedy which was a book that was widely read among Italians. This book helped shape the current day Italian language. He was betrothed at 12 years old to a young girl from the Donati family. There was a map that lit up that showed the six different families that ruled Florence at that time. After we left Dante's house we walked back down by Santa Croce. On the way back we stopped at a store so I could buy a purple beret. We also walked all the way around the main Duomo. It was a long way around. We also walked over to the Ponte Vecchio which is a bridge with all sorts of shops and carts. There were locks everywhere around that area. My sister told me that kids were write their names on the locks to insure their eternal love. And then they would throw the keys into the River Arno. I also rode on the carousel near Piazza di Repubblica again.

Off to Florence

Well we have arrived in Florence. We took the train from Orvieto to Florence (Firenza in Italian). It was about a two hour train ride. Then we walked about five minutes to our hotel. The place we are staying is within walking distance of everything we have wanted to see. When we look out the window in our room we are looking directly at the dome and the bell tower of the San Lorenzo Basillica. When we were about to go out last night I watched the bells ringing. They sounded really cool. We also walked down by the Arno River and we went across to a restaurant where I had fettucini Alfredo for dinner. After dinner we had more gelato.

All the streets had Christmas lights and they were very pretty. There are statues everywhere and we saw more nativity scenes (presepe in Italian). The one in the front of the Cathedral (duomo in Italian) was made of terra-cotta. We have seen a lot of these nativity scenes all over Italy. We went to the church called Santa Croce (St Cross in English). This is where the tomb of a lot of famous Italians, including Dante Alighieri and Michaelangelo, are buried. Yesterday my sister Kayla and I read and studied while my parents went on a tour called The Taste of Florence. Today we are going to a gelato place that was founded in 1939. YUMMY!!! :D

The name of the gelato place is "Perche  No".  In Italian it means "Why not".  It seems like a pretty good name for a gelato place!!

Christmas day

I got up Christmas day to find that Bobbo Natale (translates as Father Christmas in Italian - Santa Clause in America) had visited us. He left me a few small gifts and a note that said he would leave a few more things in Boston so we wouldn't have to carry them with us. We took the quiet time around Orvieto to explore the city. We walked for hours almost completely alone enjoying the beautiful architecture from thousands of years ago.

Orvieto is built on the top of a mountain on top of layers of material from volcanic explosions thousands and thousands of years ago. On Monday we took a few tours of the labyrinth of underground caves that are everywhere beneath the city of Orvieto. We learned that the material below the city is soft and could be dug out to form caves which were used for many purposes. In the caves were little holes in the walls. Those holes were for pigeons to come to. Pigeons were commonly eaten and according to the guide taste like chicken. We are taking her word on that.

Another thing was that the temperature stayed constant and it was an escape from the heat and the cold. There are remains of ancient olive presses which were powered by donkeys that would walk around in circles to crush the olives. There were also many remains of staircases that are thought to have led up to the houses and the city above.

The guide told us that there are about 500 of these tunnels that are documented and probably another 500 or more that either have not yet been documented or not yet discovered. The tunnels are not connected to each other. They also said that a lot of the homes in Viterbo still have access to the caves and often use them as wine cellars. They are perfect for wine since the temperature never changes, it is dark and it is silent.

A little later on the other end of town we went into another cave that contained a nativity scene called the Presepe nel Pozzo. This cave had artifacts that were discovered when excavating at different times. As recently as the last few years, evidence was found that indicated that some of the caves dated back before the Etruscans, more than two thousand years ago. The Etruscans were the inhabitants of parts of Italy before the Romans.

                                                                                                

Christmas in Orvieto

I went to Orvieto I took 2 trains. One took a half an hour and one took an hour. After the train we had to take the "funiculare" up to the city of Orvieto on the hill. The funiculare is like a little train that is pulled up the mountain by a cable.

After we checked into our bed & breakfast, Ripa Medici, we went to a restaurant where we had the traditional Christmas eve dinner of seven fishes. I didn't try them all but I did try the shrimp, the octopus, clams and mussels. We went to midnight mass. It was in Italian and was in a very old church called a duomo in Italian.

We also got a small christmas tree for Christmas. Then we went on the Santa tracker. After we went to bed

Papal palace in Viterbo

We visited the papal palace in Viterbo today after going to a spaghetti restaurant that serves over 300 types of spaghetti. The pope lived in Viterbo a long time ago. We saw the il corso di Babbo Natale race. Everyone that ran dressed up as Santa Claus. I had my first white hot chocolate.

In Viterbo

Bob and I are in Viterbo where my sister lives. Bob chose and I bought a small Colosseo and he plays and sleeps in it. Colosseo is the Italian word for Colosseum. We are staying in the medieval section of Viterbo at La Locanda del Riccio. I had real Italian lasagna and stayed with my sister's host family last night. It was so cool because they only speak Italian. I am on my way to get some white hot chocolate for the first time.

My first two days in Rome

I flew to England on Sunday, then to Italy on Monday morning.  Bob and I saw the Colisseum and the Piazza Venetzia.  I think we walked 8 miles.  Bob is a dog with a red hat from Kilmer 203.  We ate gelato and Italian pastries and spaghetti and meat sauce and a grilled pear.  If you look closely you can see Bob.  Today we went to another country.  It is called the Vatican.  It the smallest country in the world.  It is guarded by the Swiss guards. They can't get married and their uniforms are orange and blue.  We had a tour and we learned all about Raphaelo and Michaelangelo.  They painted frescos which means they had to paint the picture when the plaster was wet.  Michaelangelo painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and one of the walls.  That wall was called the Last Judgement and one of the people made fun of Michaelangelo got painted in hell.  Michaelangelo was not very nice.  Before the Sistine Chapel he was only a sculpture and he didn't want to do the Sistine Chapel.  Pope Julius asked him to do it and finally he did.  It took four years to paint the ceiling and nine years to do the Last Judgement. There is a painting of a map from when Columbus discovered America in 1492.  Columbus was an Italian explorer, but Spain paid for his boats to go on his journey.  We also saw St. Peter's Basilica.  I think it is the largest basilica in the world.  146 popes are buried downstairs in the Basilica.  One pope was buried in a glass coffin and he had a mask over his face.  I also saw the pope's balcony.  It looks out over St Peter's Square where people can see the pope. 

Later in the day, Bob and I went to the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.  We stopped and had some more gelato on the way home.  We are going for a guided tour of the Colisseum tomorrow morning.  We can see the Colisseum from our hotel when we are eating breakfast.