Reflections

During the last week we quietly passed a number of milestones on our Big Italian Adventure. While we were on the school trip we celebrated our 3 month anniversary of arriving in Italy. Just yesterday I passed my 100th blog entry. Although the official total is higher, not all of the entries are mine. Amy and Maggie contributed a handful. Finally, we celebrated Thanksgiving away from home. Each of these events provided a separate opportunity to sit back and reflect on life, friends and the world we live in.

Living in Italy has been a dream come true. It is a goal I had been working toward for almost four years, long before the start of this blog. I would plan and plot, trying to figure out how to make it happen. It got so bad that Amy stopped listening to me go around in circles. We went through two cycles of searches with the School Year Abroad before we finally landed our positions here. At each stage I had to push Amy out of her comfort zone and past her reluctance. Now that we are here, we both realize how wonderful it is and don't regret a single one of the snags and hurdles which needed to be overcome.

When we first arrived in Viterbo, it was with a sense of wonder and excitement. I would literally walk down the street, surrounded by 1000 year old buildings and tell myself, "Wow, I'm living in Italy. I really did it." I still get that tingle, that same sense of awe. But, it is tempered now by something else. When we go to the store, when we leave school and head for the apartment, when we walk out of a restaurant and look at the stars overhead, when we are away on a trip and come back, ... we are coming home. Our little apartment here is now our home.

We are both greatful and thankful for all of our friends, both old and new. While we are far away from Springfield and miss our old friends there, we have met a wonderful group of people who are now also our good friends. We look forward to continuing to mix our old with the new over the coming months and years!

Happy Thanksgiving

Many of you who know us well are aware that Amy and I have had very low-key Thanksgiving celebrations over the past decade or so. The stress of being pulled in many directions and not only wanting to please our families but genuinely wanting to be with all of them eventually got the better of us. For a number of years we disappeared to Spa Eastman, outside of Montreal. After all, the fourth Sunday in November holds no special significance to Canadians. There we were able to relax in the quiet solitude of wide open space, wander miles of hiking trails and finish every day with a hearty, healthy yet gourmet meal. However, the prices rose, the specials and incentives got smaller and the US dollar weakened significantly against the Canadian dollar so that we eventually give that up except under very special circumstances, turning instead to visiting nearby, out-of-season, tourist destinations such as the Cape. This year, we fled the country even earlier and further, landing here in Viterbo.

In Italy, as in Canada, the fourth Sunday in November has no special significance, UNLESS you are an expatriot American! The cultural exchange aspect of our school program goes in both directions to some extent. While the students are here to experience life in Italy, the Italian host families are always fascinated by their American charges as well. In addition, Amy and I are NOT the norm when it comes to the celebration of Thanksgiving. Our students have been here just long enough to really start to miss home and the thought of all of their families getting together without them would really bring them down were there no corresponding celebration here. Thus, the school sponsors a Thanksgiving dinner for all of the students, their host families and the faculty. It is a potluck; the Italian host families bring the food. Except, every year when they do it there isn't any food resembling what students long for = disappointment. This year, to attempt to counter that, the school purchased five turkeys and asked the American faculty to prepare them. Hence, I went from having nothing to do with Thanksgiving to cooking a turkey with all the fixins.  Ironic?!

To start, I had to pick up the turkey on Wednesday. Italians eat a surprising amount of tacchino (turkey), but they aren't available whole in any of the meat markets or stores. To get one whole you need to arrange it ahead of time. Our Resident Director saw to it that the turkeys had all been arranged for. Confident in my ability to negotiate the simple task of picking it up, off I went to Gigi e Mena, the site of our cheese tasting earlier this year. Fifteen minutes later I left, without a turkey. It seems the owner thought I wanted to buy a turkey for myself and there wasn't sufficient time to order one by the next day. Try as hard as I might, I couldn't figure out how to explain that I wanted one of the ones which had already been ordered by the school. Fortunately, the school is 75 meters down the road and I returned with reinforcements a few minutes later and ultimately left with my bird carcass.

The turkey I got here is somewhat different from the ones I have dealt with at home. It was gutted and the head was gone, all good. It was plucked, at least to some extent. I spent the better part of an hour removing left over feathers. After all, the best part of eating a turkey is the crunchy, butter covered, browned skin. Feathers wouldn't work for that. Then there are the drumsticks. They do cut off the feet - mostly. Next, the oven here is significantly smaller than any I have encountered in the US. After trussing up the bird as best I could, it DID fit. The only problem was that it touched both sides, the back and the top of the oven interior. And this was only a 15 pound bird. Much cooking ensued. Stuffing, gravy and cooked turkey were ultimately delivered to a parochial school assembly hall a couple of miles south of the city.

That was where mass chaos erupted. Imagine 200 of your closest friends, a 60 by 7 foot long buffet table, no chairs, no mashed potatoes and no carving knives. As Warren Zevon said in Lawyers, Guns and Money, "I don't wanna talk about it." I will say that I eventually steamrolled over enough people that I got some of the food I cooked and that it was well done. I cook a mean turkey!

Ferrara

The sixth day of our trip, Saturday 19 November, was intended to be a travel day back to Viterbo. The 5 and a half hour trip was too long to do in a single run for any number of reasons including 71 people, any one of whom could use a bathroom break at any time. However, the most important reason was that the bus driver is not allowed to drive for more than 4 and a half hours at a time without then taking a break of at least 40 minutes. We settled on a two-hour, lunch stop in Ferrara, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region between Bologna and Padua and about one third of the way home. We disembarked into a fairly heavy fog that is characteristic of the region. Indeed, every morning of the trip we were greeted by heavy fog, sometimes with frost. Ferrara, in some ways like Viterbo, is not a primary tourist destination. In Italy, as in the US, tourism is a double-edged sword. The locals love the money it brings in to the community but hate what it does to the character of the place they love. As Ferrara is off the beaten tourist path, the people we met in the shops and on the street were very warm and welcoming which was refreshing after so many days in tourist hotspots. As our stay was short (and finding luch does take some time), we didn't get to see that many things. One of the highlights was the Castello Estense. The Este family was a powerful family who made their family seat in Ferrara for awhile. They built a castle, complete with moat. It is the first moat I can remember seeing in Italy that is actually full of water. Entrance to the castle is free, but there isn't much to do once you get inside other than wander around amongst the cannonballs in the courtyard or visit the cafe conveniently located inside.

A second major sight is the Romanesque Cathedral of Saint George. Again, another giant church filled with art and altars. Do you get the sense I might just be becoming a little jaded about such things? One decoration outside the church did catch my fancy. On either side of the main door there were these lions with squat, troll-like figures holding up the columns. This lion has something like a ram's head between its paws.

Lunch, the main reason for our stop, was porchetta purchased at a local street Christmas market. Unlike in the US where we have Thanksgiving to sort of mark off the beginning of the Christmas season, in Italy they just sort of gradually roll into it. Some places are beginning to decorate and a few of the Christmas fairs have begun to pop up. This was the first day of their market which was located around the corner from the cathedral. Porchetta is a whole suckling pig from which the bones and internal organs are removed. The remaining carcas is stuffed with different things, roasted whole and cut into slabs for serving. I had mine with hot sausage, roasted peppers and roasted onions all wrapped in something which resembled a super thick tortilla. In a word, YUMMY! For lunch, Amy and I broke one of our cardinal rules and went into a McDonalds. In truth, we mostly just wanted to be out of the cold and have access to a bathroom. To do that we had to buy something so we each had a 1 euro milk shake. I figure if we didn't get a burger then it was no harm and no foul.

The sun never did manage to peek out while we were there although the fog did thin a bit. As we were leaving, the heavier fog was rolling in again. We returned to Viterbo to spend the night in our own bed for a welcome change.

Padova

Our final full day of travel, Friday, 18 November, found us in the city of Padova, another of the major cities of the Veneto. Padova is yet another city which dates its roots back to at least the time of the Romans. It would have taken a spectacular day to eclipse the memories of our time in Venice the day before. Unfortunately, the fatigue of the fast pace as well as a number of unanticipated closures combined to create a somewhat diminished experience. Our first stop was the Cappella degli Scrovegni (Scrovegni Chapel), home to a cycle of frescoes by the artist Giotto. The Scrovegni Family were money lenders and the immense family fortune came about through the practice of usury. I find it interesting, and somewhat telling, that rather than simply stopping their usurious practice, they kept doing it and built a private church to atone for their sins instead. The exterior of the chapel is shown below. The chapel is sometimes referred to as the Arena Chapel since it is built on the site of the former Roman arena, some of which still survives.

Unfortunately, we arrived during the one week a year when they close the galleries and do routine maintanance and restoration work. That might have been good since the process of seeing the frescoes is quite a pain and involves sitting for 15 minutes in an airlock before entering the chapel to keep the inside and outside environments separate and aid in the preservation of the art.

Our second stop for the day was at the Basilica di Sant'Antonio da Padova. It was yet another, immense cathedral. I did enjoy this visit. We had been seeing a lot of mosaics, which were fantastic, but the inside of this church was done primarily in fresco. So many of the little churches you find in Italy are totally blank inside. At one time they were all done up with paintings and other decorations, but over time the frescoes have crumbled and not been restored, usually due to a combination of a lack of funding and a lack of artisans to perform the work. This was not the case in San Antonio. It was immaculately maintained and preserved and, as a result, I was able to get a real sense of what many of these churches must have been like in their prime. Pictures weren't allowed inside the church so I didn't take any although it seldom seems to stop the average person. We got to see St. Anthony's tongue, voicebox and jawbone, appropriate since he was an eloquent orator.

The third, and final, site of the day was the University of Padua. Founded in 1288 it is the second oldest university in Italy. The history of Padua is similar to that of the entire region. It traded hands between the Holy Roman Empire and various invading forces and even fell under the rule of dominant neighbors such as Verona. However, at one point in the 14th century, while its neighbors in Bologna were stagnating under a less enlightened rule, the university in Padua flourished as the top school in all of Europe. The university at Padua was quite progressive. Women did graduate. Lecturers were not paid by the university but instead were paid directly by the students who attended their lectures.

Of course, over time the university has expanded and been remodeled an reworked, one could hardly expect less. However, as in Bologna, some parts of the university have been preserved or recreated to be much as they were like hundreds of years ago. A subset of the entire school group made the pilgrimage to see the university. Our tour took us to see the anatomy theater. It was vastly different from the equivalent room in Bologna. This room was like a deep cave or small, steep, wooden amphitheater. Students lined the perimeter, standing on a series of balconies which were more than waist high and so shallow that you barely fit from front to back. From their vantage points everyone could see down into the center where the cadaver being worked on was located. Upwards of 200 people at a time could view these dissections, with lectures sometimes lasting for hours. The stench of the decaying bodies coupled with the heat of all those bodies pressed together meant that people would routinely faint. The balconies were intentionally designed so that when this happened the person could be safely left standing there until the lecture had concluded so as not to disturb the others in the class.

One of the more famous lecturers at the University was Galileo. The room where he gave his lectures still exists. Unfortunately (that word just keeps popping up), the room was in use for a conference and so I was thwarted in my quest to add a little science to my humanities sensory overload.

Venezia

The fourth day, Thursday, 17 November, found us in the city of Venezia. We arrived by bus to a minor "port" on the mainland and took a large-group, water taxi to the main landing in the middle of the historic city. The traditional and most effective means for a typical tourist to arrive is by rail which deposits you on the islands within easy walking or vaporetto distance of all the major attractions. November is typically an interesting time to visit Venice. The high tourist season is over, although there were plenty of tourist-types looking lost to trip over everywhere. The weather was quite pleasant with fog in the morning which yielded to bright sun and a high temperature around 50 degrees. We were lucky in that November weather can be quite rainy and windy which contributes to the l'acque alte (the high water), where basically the entire city floods to some level or another. When this happens, people are left to either walk/wade through the water or take to elevated walkways which are placed throughout the city. These walks, shown below, were present, but not in use during our visit.

The focal point of the city is Saint Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace. The Doge was the military leader of the city. It was a somewhat symbolic position, but during different historic periods the Doge did play a central role in protecting Venice and spreading its influence across a rather large empire. The Doge's Palace fronts on both the water and Saint Mark's Square. It is connected to Saint Mark's Cathedral which was at one point the Doge's Church. Both the palace and church are ornately decorated and both are open to the public. The church is free; the palace, now a museum, most definitely is not.

Another of the more famous tourist attractions is the Ponte Rialto. It is one of the few bridges across the Grand Canal, which snakes through the main portion of the city. There are three walkways across the bridge, two along the outer edges and one, larger and lined on both sides with shops, down the middle. In the picture below, there is a boat directly under the bridge. This is a vaporetto. They seem to be the primary mode of transportation for residents. They run from one end of the Grand Canal (near the railroad terminal) to the other (near St. Mark's) and then along the waterfront. We rode one in order to take in the sights, many of which are only visible from the Grand Canal.

Of course, when you think Venice, you think gondolas. There are the tourist gondolas, several of which are shown below, and then there are actually working gondolas. I took a picture of one on the Grand Canal from a vaporetto as we went past. If you factor in all the stops that the vaporetto made, the gondola was actually going faster on average. However, we didn't indulge ourselves in a gondola ride. At 80 euros for a 40 minute spin through the canals, it was a bit pricey for our tastes. Yes, that does mean we didn't kiss at sunset under the Bridge of Sighs.

All in all, it was a very nice day. I have to admit, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. I figured it would be difficult to live up to all of the hype. It probably didn't, but it got much closer than I had expected it to. On a less pleasant, but somewhat amusing note, I discovered upon our return to the hotel that I had been the victim of a pickpocket. Fortunately, all they got was the grimy, booger-covered hankerchief out of my back pocket. I will miss it, but if it does them good, they are welcome to it.

Verona

On Wednesday morning, 15 November, we moved out of our first hotel, packed into the bus and headed to the Veneto region, home to a number of famous cities in Italy. First stop, Verona. I have to confess to knowing little about Verona prior to our visit. Well, that isn't entirely true, but I had a fairly warped view of what I should expect having visited primarily through the eyes of Shakespeare in plays such as the comic Two Gentlemen of Verona and the tragic Romeo and Juliet.

Verona has roots back at least as far as the Romans. The third largest amphitheater in Italy (and the world) is in Verona. Much of the original Roman city lies some 20 feet below the current city. The public amphitheater is a central feature of the Roman empire. It provided a sense of community and offered a way for the leaders to both entertain and provide propaganda to the masses: panem et circenses.

One of the entrances to the ground level of the amphitheater is shown below. The theater is open to the public, but there is a fee to enter and we will be seeing the Colosseum in Rome later this year which is actually larger and at least as well preserved.

A second, major tourist attraction in Verona is based on the Romeo and Juliet theme. Both characters are legendary, so a trip to "Romeo's house" or "Juliet's house" is a pilgrimage of futility. But, like many legends, there is the potential for a germ of truth in there somewhere. Shakespeare was not the first to write of them; there are older versions of the story in Italian. What is true is that there were two important houses in a divided Verona and it is possible that two star-crossed lovers might have existed. If you are in the mood to indulge your fantasy, you can head on over to "Juliet's house" (the family home of one of the two aforementioned families), and peer up at Juliet's balcony.

And take in a statue of Juliet.

You might notice that Juliet's right breast is quite shiny. This is because it is generally held that if you touch her right breast you will find true love in the coming year (or some such nonsense). I just think it is kind of interesting that they encourage you to touch the statue, never mind they want you to fondle her breast in public. Awkward! You can also buy a lock, write your name and the name of your true love on it and lock it onto a metal grating which covers a window behind and to the left of the statue. Given the popularity of such practices in Italy, they must routinely cut bucket loads of locks off. What happens to your love then? You can also write a letter to Juliet and stuff it in the wall.

In our free time we opted for a walk to the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore, a Romanesque church dedicated to the patron saint of Verona, Saint Zeno. Basically, Zeno was a good guy who might have been hassled by contemporaries, but wasn't martyred in the classic, burned-at-the-stake or flayed-alive kind of way so common among early Christian saints and martyrs.

His dessicated remains are on view, from afar, in a really cool crypt below the main altar in the church.

We ended the day, as the sun set, in the main square where we began. The Roman Amphitheater is several hundred meters to the left of this picture.

Ravenna

Our second stop, Tuesday November 15, was the city of Ravenna. Ravenna dates back to at least the Romans and played a significant role in the region during the 400's AD when it was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire. The two main themes for the day were the early Christian monuments/mosaics and Dante. The Christian monuments have been declared a UNESCO world heritage site due to their cultural importance and state of preservation. Our first stop was the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia. It is a plain, brick building in the shape of a cross whose simple outside belies the exquisite interior.

The interior is lit by alabaster windows and every surface is covered in mosaic tile. The beauty and depth of the tiles is difficult to photograph and to describe.  Below is one of the four ends of the cross shape, opposite the main door as you enter. Records of what the artists or patrons intended seldom remains, leaving art historians to interpret the mosaics based on the iconography as well as information about the period and style of the work. This is Saint Lawrence next to the flaming gridiron upon which he was grilled. The yellowish rectangle in the middle is actually one of the alabaster windows I mentioned earlier.

The mausoleum is directly behind the Basilica di San Vitale. It is a double octagonal building with nifty buttresses.

Again, the inside is just covered in mosaics. The picture below is looking straight up at the interior dome of the middle octagon.

Next we traveled to the Battistero Neoniano, or Neonian Baptistry. On the ceiling is a mosaic of the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Below is one of the column details below the main ceiling.

Next we went to the Basilica di Sant Apollinare Nuovo. It was originally built as a Arian Church. The Arians were considered a heretic cult by the Byzantines as they believed in one and only one god (Christ) rather than the Trinity as followed by the Catholics. When the Byzantines took control of the area they altered some of the mosaics inside to obliterate any vestiges of the Arian paton who commisioned the church. Below is a mosaic of the Three Wise Men. You have just got to love the pants on these fellows.

Our final mosaic stop was the Arian Baptistry which is not on the UNESCO list. It was interesting to note the differences and similarities between the two baptistries we visited. Both had depictions of the baptism of Christ. The same three figures are in each. Why three figures, you might ask? Jesus and John the Baptist make two. Who is the third dude? The human personification of the River Jordan, of course. In the scene below, he is a large, muscular figure whereas in the other he was much smaller. In both cases, Jesus is standing in the water naked. In this scene he is quite effeminate with characteristics which might be considered feminine. This is because the Arians felt that Christ was the embodiment of everything, all beings, both male and female.

The second theme of the day, Dante, was sandwiched between visits to mosaics. We visited Dante's Tomb and viewed the insides. Below is a picture of the gardens outside his tomb. The mound was actually his resting place for a few years as he was moved out of the tomb and buried on the grounds during WWII to help save him in the event the building was bombed. Amy, the Imp, is peering out of the rather unique iron-link fence framed by the mound, barely visible in the background.

Bologna

The weary road warriors have returned. We arrived home late yesterday evening from a 5-night, six-city tour around what is typically described as "Northern Italy", although all of it is south of our long weekend vacation in Soprabolzano. It was a working trip; we chaperoned 59 teenaged students from our school. As such, much of our time was spent shuffling around, herding students from point to point within the cities we visited. Even though the cities are all relatively close to each other, it also meant spending quite a bit of time on a double decker bus. We saw such a whirlwind of mosaics, churches, museums and buildings that, even looking back at the pictures I took, the experience has blurred and melded. I will do my best to sort things out as I post over the next week or so about each of the cities we visited.

Our first stop, Monday, November 14 for those who are keeping track, was the city of Bologna. Amy and I visited Bologna together seven years ago during one of our summertime trips. We stayed for three nights that time, so we had a pretty good idea of what to expect and, once we completed our recent visit, it gave us a better idea of the kind of experience we would have on this trip. What to say about Bologna. It is famous for a number of things, not the least of which is its culinary arts. One product which has made its way across the pond is mortadella which Americans will more readily recognize as baloney. One major difference is, in Bologna it is GOOD!  Other specialties include Bolognese sauce, tortellini and various types of risotto.

The spot which is now Bologna has been inhabited for close to 3000 years. Archeological evidence suggests pre-Etruscan beginnings for the city. Architecturally, Bologna is also known for its miles of arcades (covered walkways) and towers. The longest continuous arcade is over 12 miles in length. An arcade can be seen to the left of the picture below, which also happens to have a pair of towers visible through the buildings in the distance.

Towers were both symbols of wealth and power as well as practical defensive structures. At one time there were approximately 180 towers in the city. Many of them have been taken down over the centuries, including some in the early 20th century, to make room for other structures. The most famous of the 20 or so remaining are the "Two Towers". The taller of the two is the Asinelli tower at 97 meters. It is the tallest remaing tower and perhaps the tallest of all that were originally built. It stands next to the Garisenda Tower which is a paltry 48 meters. We climbed the taller tower during our last visit, but there wasn't enough time (or the interest) to do it again this time. The Asinelli Tower is undergoing restoration to its lower portion and is seen to the right in the picture below. The entire Garisenda Tower is shown.

One thing we saw on this trip which we didn't see on the last was the University of Bologna. Founded in 1088, it is the oldest university in Europe. Of course it has undergone many changes since its beginnings, but there are still some really cool bits left. We visited the old anatomy theater where students viewed disections in order to understand human anatomy. The lectures took place in a large wooden room which surrounded a marble table. Unfortunately, what we were viewing (shown below) was actually a recreation of the room in the original space since the actual room was bombed to smithereens by the US forces during WWII. Judging by her intense focus, Amy would have made a good doctor!

Time Out

The marvels of the internet, in addition to even having this blog, allow me to fool all of you by publishing posts at a scheduled time rather than as they are written. Thus, you were reading posts about All Hallows Eve while Amy and I were actually off relaxing in Soprabolzano. This caused some confusion as some readers thought we were away from home, traveling, right up until my birthday when actually I was reporting our adventures one day at a time after our return - nearly a week after they took place.

In a similar fashion, we have been traveling on a six-day, five-night with our school since Monday. If you are reading this, it means I was unable to find a way to get online to cancel this post and write instead about our current experiences. That means I will have lots to write about when we return, sometime late on Saturday.

Ciao!

San Pellegrino

One of the districts within the city of Viterbo is San Pellegrino. It is regarded as one of the best preserved medieval areas in all of Italy. Amy and I took a recent spin through that section of the city, located within easy walking distance of our apartment, to stretch our legs and work off a light meal. We took our camera to record the excursion. The district is full of winding streets/alleys not much wider than a cart. Some of them allow whatever motorized traffic will fit (read scooters and REALLY small cars) while others are designated for pedestrians only.

Around each corner there are surprises like this tiny cul de sac.

Or these stairs.

Or this archway.

There were public laundry facilities which were in use until only a few decades ago. There is a small public fountain next to it with running, potable water which is still available.

The entire area is ringed by towers. While they once stood at what was the edge of town and hence were both functional and defensive, they are now right smack in the middle of the city. The tower below is a residence. Yes, you can still buy a tower to live in or at least a few floors of one done out as an apartment. They tend to be upscale and a bit pricey, as you might imagine.

The Car

We have a car. Before we left for the US, way back in April in fact, we agreed to purchase a 1998 Opal Astra Wagon from the then Latin teacher and his family. After being here in Viterbo for almost three months, Amy actually owns it. The car has been passed down from teacher to teacher pretty much since the school opened ten plus years ago. Passed down might be a tad confusing. You buy the car, it isn't given away. The selling price has drifted down over the years so that now it is worth a few thousand euros, pretty much the same price as any car which runs. With it we also inherited Giorgio and Mario, Italy's answer to Click and Clack. They make sure the car runs and treat you like family when you come in to have any work done. The magnificent beast is shown below in all of its silver glory. Yup, that's bird shit on the hood, the bumpers are scraped and scratched, the CD changer doesn't work and there are dings and bruises all over it. It is a classic, city car. You might notice that it is also old enough that it doesn't have one of the new-style, euro designed license plates.

Owning a car in Italy is quite a process. Then again, dealing with all the hassle of the DMV and all of the requirements in the US isn't easy. It just seems that the Italians have elevated things to a whole new level. We have been dealing with the joys of ownership since we arrived. First things first, you can't own the car (or any property) until you have legal permission to live here. In other words, tourists and illegal aliens can't buy a car. It took almost two months just to get that. Then we had a to wait a little longer until the sellers could have a power of attorney certified by the Italian Consulate in Boston so that someone could act as their agent here and sell us the car. Notice the mismatch? They leave, we arrive, we are never in Italy at the same time and even if we were our permisso is 6-8 weeks down the road. Nevertheless, all the pieces came together last Friday and Amy took title to the car. Next up are all the permissions, inspections and assorted paperwork which need to be done. Below is a picture of our passenger side windshield with all of our official stickers.

Unlike the US, all of the various pieces transfer with the car. Thus, just because we bought the car doesn't mean it needs to be reinspected. This is a good thing since we had the Revisione (inspection) done when it was due in September. It is good for two years, so we should never have to do that again while we own the car. At the same time, we got out Bollino blu, the small blue sticker on the windshield. This is the city emmisions sticker which must be renewed every year. Fortunately, Viterbo has relatively lax emmisions standards so it is easy for even an older car like ours to pass. Next up was the Bollo. This is your annual road tax which is based on the car's weight, engine power and fuel type. Fortunately, this can be renewed at a Tabacci which we also did in September. The piece we did on Friday was the actual sale and title transfer. As part of this you pay a one time transfer tax, but no sales or value added tax. Unlike in the US, the tags transfer with the car so there is no need for new plates unless you are buying a new car from the dealer. This this government tax is collected by a private agency. They charge you the tax and for all of the stamps, etc. which go along with it and then they tack on their own fee. When we were there they told me the total. As I was getting out the money they dropped the amount so that it was an even multiple of ten. When the person we were with thanked them for the discount they misunderstood him and said, "Discount. Of course we can give you a discout" and dropped the amount by another ten euros. It helps that they are good friends of the person we were with, but connections are what it is all about. So far, to date, in addition to the purchase price of the car and dealing with a couple of small maintainance issues, the cost of owing the car is around 750 euros; just over $1000 with some of the items needing to be done on an annual basis.

Technically we still have a couple of other pieces do deal with. The car MUST be insured. Right now we are still driving on the insurance from the previous owner. We have been trying, unsuccessfully, to contact the Geico agent here in Italy to arrange for our own insurance. We must get that done before 22 November which is when the current insurance expires. The insurance card is posted in a little pocket which is also stuck to the windshield so that the police can see immediately if your car is uninsured without even stopping you and asking for proof of insurance. You might also notice the yellow and green sticker on the windshield. That is our parking permit from the City of Viterbo which allows us to park in residents' parking spaces within the city walls. We are entitled to do this since we live there. While we seldom even drive into the city walls, having the permit does allow us to park for free in what would otherwise be prime, paid parking spaces outside the city wall. That comes due in January and we will be sure to go through the hassle of renewing it.

Tanti Auguri

Happy Birthday to me. Well, as everyone knows, my birthday was more than a week ago, but a number of people have asked me how I celebrated so I figured I would give a brief update. A group of teachers here has developed quite a liking to the concept of TGIF and, as I noted before, is quite willing to put just about any day after the TGI. So, they decided that we hadn't had one in awhile and that we would do TGIDomenica (Sunday) which just happened to be my birthday. About a dozen of us met at Basilico, a small restaurant outside of Viterbo near the town of La Quercia. The mounds of antipasto and several glasses of wine was enough for me, but others had a main course, dolce and caffe as well.

After the splendid lunch, we rested for the evening and then had company for dinner of gnocchi gorgonzola followed by chocolate blackout cake which I baked on Friday and ganached on Saturday. The cake turned out just as it always does in the US thanks to our imported ingredients and persistent work to identify appropriate substituions. Below, I contemplate turning one and the damage done to the cake. Yup, the cake is parked on a Chrismas plate. Sometimes you just have to go with what you've got.

Fear not, I had a breakfast of birthday champions (more cake) the next morning, took some cake to friends at work and had all of my advisees over for cake in the afternoon so that by Monday night the cake was but a distant memory.

Olive Picking

On Saturday a group of friends headed to the outskirts of Viterbo for a day in the sun, picking olives. It was another glorious fall day which began with temps in the low 40's and warmed up to 60 or so in the full sun. The head of our school owns what is essentially a gentleman's farm. It is a narrow strip of land where he keeps chickens, plants a substantial garden and approximately half of which is planted in two varieties of olives. 54 trees, to be exact. Most are trees which are kept for their oil producing properties, but a few are a variety which is used for brining and eating. You can make oil from the second variety and it tastes just fine, but the yield per kilo of olives is lower.

Olive trees can live to be very old. Typically they are cut down every few hundred years and allowed to grow back from the central root stalk to keep them healthy. The trees we were working in are all around 100 years old - or at least the current round of growth is. Size-wise the trees are roughly the same as a standard apple tree. In an olive grove like the one we were working, the trees are carefully tended. They are pruned several times a year and never allowed to grow overly tall since then the olives at the top would be too difficult to harvest. The olive harvest lasts for months, beginning in early October and stretching into January. Olives do not mature at the same time on the tree. Since the object of our picking was oil, it didn't matter whether the olives were green, black or somewhere in between. We stripped the trees were were working in as bare as we possibly could. Olives do not grow on first year growth, they come in only on 2-4 year old branches

The picking process began by spreading heavy, mesh tarps on the ground to catch the olives. Next, a hand-like rake was employed to rake the olives from the branches. They sometime grow in clusters and other times can be spotted down a branch almost like leaves. Unless the olives are very ripe they like to stay stuck to the branch and you need to be quite vigorous in your attack. Ladders are leaned into the upper branches to allow for harvesting stuff higher up although care must be taken. Our fearless leader is out of commission due to a pair of broken ribs sustained when the branch he was leaning his ladder on gave way several weeks ago and he hit the ground awkwardly with the branch and ladder. For a more genteel approach, you can pick by hand rather than raking. You end up with somewhat dirty hands but the residual oil coats them and makes them soft and smooth.

After an 8 hour day which included a hearty lunch of bruschetta and pasta we had pulled in right around 300 kilos of olives from approximately 11 trees. This was actually a pretty impressive haul and just met the minimum required for pressing at the cooperative he is part of. If he is lucky, it will yield 40-45 liters of oil. Each of us will get a liter for our efforts, yielding a small return on his part for hours of tending trees over the course of the year and all the expenses incurred for pest control, pressing, bottling, etc. There must be a different way of doing this commercially, otherwise there would be no incentive to produce oil or it would cost much more than it already does.

Gelato

Is gelato Italian for ice cream or is it something different altogether? The answer you get depends on who you ask. What is gelato? It is a frozen dessert, not to be confused with either granita or Italian ice. So far, so good. What flavors does it come in? Pretty much any flavor. Traditional flavors such as chocolate, fior di latte, fruits and nuts. Interesting things such as chocolate mango and gorgonzola. Is it made with milk or cream? Here the answer can get interesting. At one of our absolute favorite gelateria, Tropical Ice in Rome, their chocolate fondant (to die for, by the way) contains NO dairy of any kind and man is it good! On the other hand, most gelato does contain dairy. One significant difference is the fat content. Gelato typically contains half or less of the fat of ice cream. Which is better, gelato or the equivalent flavor of ice cream? Better is subjective - when in Rome .... High quality, premium ice cream OR gelato is hard to top on a hot summer day and I will take whichever is available.

Here in Viterbo there are several shops which are widely acknowledged as "the best in town". The first is Gelart in the Piazza della Erbe, less than half a kilometer away. Then there is Antica Latteria which has two locations. The one downtown sells just gelato while the one a few hundred meters from us is a true latteria, selling the whole range of cheese, milk and yogurt as well as gelato. Which one is better might just depend on the time of year. During the SUMMER, Gelart has a much wider selection and it is open across far more hours including the traditional, early-afternoon siesta period which is perfect for a coppa di gelato. However, they are further away and their prices are almost 1/3 higher so in the WINTER Antica Latteria is a better place to go. Especially since during the off season their hours are almost identical and Gelart cuts back on variety so that the selection of flavors is essentially the same. But, stand alone gelateria are a losing proposition during the colder months and so we have frequently found ourselves out wandering the town, wanting gelato and discovering that all of the stand alone shops are closed for the day. What is a gelato junkie like Amy to do? A newer discovery which could trump the big two even during the summertime is Taverna Etrusca, a small restaurant on a side street off Via Cavour. It turns out they have truly wonderful, homemade gelato with a wide selection which is reasonably priced, essentially midway between the other two shops I have talked about. However, perhaps the biggest surprise was a shop in the food court at Tuscia Mall where we do our grocery shopping at the Ipercoop. We haven't sampled many of their flavors, but it turns out they have one of the best chocolate fondants that Amy has ever had. It will be interesting to compare it to Tropical Ice which has set the standard for chocolate fondant for literally years. The comparison can never be direct since the two shops are separated by 3 hours of travel. Gelato woulod never last that long if either Amy or I was carrying it!

A woman walked into a bar ...

No, it's not the start of a bad joke. Instead, it is an opportunity to talk about differences. In Italy, a bar is not what you think of in the US. In Rome, a bar is a place where you can pick up a drink and a sandwich. Here in Viterbo there seems to be less of a distinction between a bar and a caffe. Most of them serve coffee and pastries, but most of them don't serve sandwiches. On the other hand, there is usually alchohol in a bar here in Viterbo. Not that they pour out massive shots of whiskey to people getting shloshed all night long but sometimes you just need a little something in your coffee to get you started in the morning, or at lunch, or in the afternoon ... you get the picture.

So, you are in a bar and you want some coffee. What do you order? Unlike your local Friendly's, the list of coffe-type stuff is a page long. And, we're not talking Starbucks-style, pretentious, flavors etc. Do you want cappucino, espresso, macchiato, caffe latte, doppio or cioccolato? Espresso is a shot of super concentrated coffee. Think all the flavor and caffeine of an entire cup in a mouthful instead. Macchiato ads a little steamed milk to your espresso. Cappucino has quite a bit of steamed milk and caffe latte is more milk than coffee. A doppio isn't a different thing at all, it is a double helping for those who need their eyeballs to pop out of their head before they can wake up. Cioccolato was slipped in there to keep you awake. It is actually a cup of hot chocolate. While it is perfectly alright to socialize or read the paper at the bar, the morning coffee break isn't usually a sit down and sip affair taking hours. Most Italians take their espresso while standing at the counter. In truth, many bars don't even have a place to sit down. While it is possible to get your coffee-shot in a styrofoam cup to go, it usually isn't worth the bother. Just toss it back and be done with it. On the other hand, if you have a working relationship with the bartender (I just had to say that) then they sometimes don't mind if you disappear with their cup and bring it back later.

What do you do if you are crawling out of your skin, needing that caffeine fix and you happen to be in the one area in all of Italy which isn't within spitting distance of a bar? During the summer, Italians will sometimes carry little shots of pre-packaged espresso around with them in a pocket or purse. During the colder months they have an even more pleasant alternative called "Pocket Coffee". It is a piece of chocolate with a liquid, espresso center. I have been told they are addictive. Amy can comment more on that.

The Rittner Horn

On Monday, our last full day in the mountains, Amy and crew opted to travel for a spa experience which ultimately didn't work out. I'll leave her to blog about that if she feels like it. Being an un-spa kind of guy, I opted for a strenuous hike in the mountains. The Alpenverein Sudtirol (AVS) maintains a large network of trails which cover the entire region and one of which (Wanderweg 6A) goes right through the back of the Geyrerhof property, creating easy access to the entire network. After a hearty breakfast I set out to conquer the Rittner Horn, the highest point in the nearby region. Amy and I hiked this on our first trip to stay in Oberbozen on a sultry, hot, buggy August day. By contrast, on Monday the day was cool, crisp and clear - pretty much perfect hiking weather. My trek took me onto trail 6 after roughly 1 kilometer and then through rolling, forested countryside interspersed with Alpine meadows.

The first little "town" alomg the way is Riggermoos. I place town in quotes since most of the hamlets which dot the region consist of little more than a few houses and the obligatory hotel and restaurant. Heading out of Riggermoos you begin to climb and eventually meet up with Wanderweg 1, which goes all the way to the peak, and follow it as it meanders (while steadily climbing) to the town of Auf der Tann. Up until that point the trail had been made up of primarily, narrow dirt lanes upon which you could actually drive should you be courageous enough. However, at Auf der Tann you pick up a major paved road and follow it to Pemmern. At Pemmern you have a choice, take the conveniently placed, gondola-style chairlift which covers 2 km and climbs some 500 meters or walk. I must admit that I chose discretion over valor and took the lift. Side note: the next day Amy drove to the base of the chairlift and, while she and our friends made their way up, I DID climb to the other end of the lift. In reality, it was a good thing I took the lift the first day since I'm not sure how I would have fared for the rest of the hike had I not done so. When you arrive at the top, you are greeted by a beautiful view of the Rittner Horn some 2 km and 200 meters above you. The 200 meter rise is deceptive since the first thing you do is go down and then you need to recover all of that elevation as well as the 200 meters. There is a Alpine hut at the peak which is open during the summer for food and shelter, but which was closed for the season when I arrived.

The top of the horn is all above the tree line which offers breathtaking, 360 degree panoramic views. Actually, I'm not sure it was the views that took my breath away or the strenuous hike.

After a twenty minute rest I began my descent, taking a different, longer, more circuitous route down the mountain and back home. On the way down I got a view of the upper end of the chair lift.

My downward trek took me along Wanderweg 1 to Wanderweg 4 and down toward the town of Oberinn. Before I reached the town I decided to take Wanderweg 4A, cutting off a long section of walking, which was where the fun began. Until that point, the way down had been much like the way up, dirt and paved lanes and roads. The first sign directed me to open a gate in the fence and, I kid you not, walk down somebody's driveway and into their back yard. It was ... interesting. At one point I was walking in somebody's side yard when I came across a pair of lambs tied to a lamp post. It was a good thing they were there since it was only when I stopped to pet them that I noticed the arrow directing me to turn left and head across several hundred meters of open field on a barely discernable path, shown below.

At another point, I opened a gate and entered a field. I noted that there were four cows in the distance, but I couldn't tell what field they were in and I was walking the opposite treeline. As I got closer, I realized they were in the same field as I was, but I was still OK since I wasn't anywhere near them. Until I came upon an arrow that directed me across the field right past them. OK, across I went. About half way across I realized that they weren't all cows. One was a bull, complete with horns, and he was NOT happy that I was in the field with him. A race across the remaining distance to the far gate ensued which, fortunately, I won! After catching my breath I snapped a shot of him, staring at me and snorting. The horns are hard to see; trust me they are there.

As we got closer to home the lanes and roads turned into true footpaths through the woods. At one point I came across a nice little waterfall. That part of the trip reminded me a lot of the hikes I took with my father and brothers in the Smokey Mountains.

The trip to the top took 2 hours and 10 minutes. The trip down took 3 hours and 10 minutes. The entire trip, including time at the top took just over 5 and a half hours. The total distance was around 25 km with an overall elevation rise of 1000 meters (a net 400 meters of that was done by the chairlift). The path was undulating so it is impossible to say exactly how much gross elevation change there was. I have highlighted the route taken on the map below.

After several bottles of cold water, a hot shower and a couple of ibuprofin I relaxed and waited for the fourth and final of our magnificent dinners.