by Greg | Jun 2, 2010 | Blog Posts
Today is a national holiday and I was quickly reminded of this when I took my morning stroll and was intending to pick up a few grocery items for breakfast and lunch. Every little shop was closed with the exception of one bar. Let me explain what a bar is in Italy: it is not a tavern, or American pub, or otherwise a place that serves alcoholic drinks accompanied by bowls of stale peanuts or pretzels. An Italian “bar” does in fact serve mixed drinks, but it should be more thought of as a café (I wonder if it is okay to mix French with Italian?) At least around our neighborhood these bars are mostly used for espresso, cappuccino, baked goods and some grocery items. Furthermore Italian bars are everywhere. Our neighborhood, which is nearly exclusively apartment buildings with small stores on the first level have them on practically every corner. During our first few days I pondered how competitive these stores must be with one another since there were so many, but then I realized that there probably were not enough of these small shops to service all of the people living here. Anyway, now I can go on with my story of hanging out in bars every morning while in Italy. This solitary bar was open and while I was enjoying my daily cappuccino and cornet (Italian for croissant) I spied the grocery items I most needed – eggs and milk. I needed bread for sandwiches so I asked the indulgent owner about “pane” at which he disappeared into a back room and soon returned with this...
by Greg | Jun 1, 2010 | Blog Posts
We are now in our second week in Rome have more or less entered into a routine of keeping house, catching the bus to the city center, and walking – lots and lots of walking. We walk to the grocery store, to museums, through museums, to churches and to pizzerias. I shared in last week’s church newsletter article that the purpose of my sabbatical was to study sacred art with Rome serving as a primary source. Since last week I have visited twelve churches, two museums, one Coliseum, three arches, one Trajan column, one sprawling Roman Forum and I cannot even guess how many fountains. I have viewed great works of art from antiquity, Byzantine, Renaissance, Baroque, and modern. All of this, mind you, within just the first week. There is still plenty more left on the agenda although one of my sons openly protested that surely there was nothing left to see! Today, however, there was still more to see, but not without doing some walking. Our trek began unofficially with Clark and me walking around our neighborhood. We are about a ten minute walk from the historic Appian Way but I decided I could not wait until our class field trip to see it, so Clark and I made our way to this ancient passageway to the center of Rome. Instead of making it all the way to the road, we took a detour through the Catacombs of San Callisto. We took a leisurely stroll along the lanes lined by both cypress and olive trees. It is the first time since coming to Rome that we have...
by Greg | May 31, 2010 | Blog Posts
It is hard to believe a week has passed since leaving Augusta. Tomorrow starts our second week in Rome. Our day began fast and furious with a wake-up call (annoying alarm clock) at 6 am. While I think I got the full eight hours of sleep Clark and Aaron said they were well into the early morning hours before they fell asleep. By the time our bodies adjust it will no doubt be time to head back home. We caught our bus at 6:45 and were deposited right beside the Tiber River where we walked for about a half an hour until reaching our ultimate destination – the Vatican City. Since we had a few minutes extra before meeting up with the rest of the class, we enjoyed a brief breakfast of rolls and coffee. Aaron attempted to order milk and was presented with latte. He gave up, and I enjoyed an extra beverage. The time to visit the Vatican Museum is early in the morning. The crowds were not nearly the size they were when we left around 2:30. There are no words or space to describe our six hours in the Museum. I confess that for both boys this may have been too much, but it was not nearly enough time to spend with all the artifacts, paintings, frescoes, sculptures and tapestries. There were a few surprises I would like to share with you. Their section for religious modern art was quite good. I saw paintings by Weber, Klee, Chagall, Bianchini and my favorite – Dali. There were probably many more that I missed but I honestly...
by Greg | May 30, 2010 | Blog Posts
Due to what I assume are the lingering affects of jet lag, I am having enormous trouble getting to sleep at night. We sleep with our windows open and although it is a fairly quiet neighborhood, we can still hear neighbors talking, babies crying, dogs barking, etc.. Then again, it may be all the espresso and cappuccino I am drinking everyday. Speaking of espresso, our apartment has one of those stovetop espresso pots and thanks to “wiki-answers” I figured out how to use it. We enjoyed several cups for breakfast this morning with our toast, eggs and fresh strawberries. Today being Sunday I felt a bit out of sorts for a couple of reasons. First, I was not preaching. With the exception of summer vacation I am most always behind the pulpit either here at FBC or by invitation at another church. Secondly, we had no place to go to church this morning which I know sounds strange in a city like Rome. In our neighborhood, however, I have no idea where the nearest church is and I am certain that the closest church will be both Catholic and in Italian. This reinforced to me the importance of sharing community with a local church, which I always miss when I am away from FBC regardless of the circumstances. Worship on Sunday came for me not in a traditional service but through visiting – or actually revisiting – some churches in the Trastevere area of Rome. I am positive that you, careful reader, have already noted that is where I visited yesterday, and of course you are correct. Amy and...
by Greg | May 29, 2010 | Blog Posts
It has been another beautiful day in the Eternal City. The local forecasters called for rain and it has remained sunny all day – some things, like predicting the weather, are international. Since today is Saturday there was not a scheduled class, but Michael Schwartz led a “field trip” for anyone interested to the Trastevere section of Rome. This meant that I needed to be up and waiting on the bus by 6:45 AM. It also meant that I was going to travel alone to meet up with Dr. Schwartz and the others. I left early because this was a completely new section to me, located just west of the Tiber River and south of Vatican City. I reached the agreed meeting spot with time to spare so I took advantage of the extra minutes by indulging in what would amount to three cups of cappuccino. Needed some more euros to tide us over for the weekend, I asked the barista owner for the nearest “bancomatic” or ATM. He was kind enough to walk me down the block and show me how to enter the bank in order to use the machine (I would have never figured this out because you have to slide your card along a reader outside the door, whereupon it opens automatically and leaves you securely inside to do your business). Three students and one other professor joined Schwartz for the full day before us. Trastevere, according to guidebooks, is considered by its inhabitants as the most authentically Roman. I am not qualified to make a judgment call on that, but it was filled with...
by Greg | May 28, 2010 | Blog Posts
The day began like all other days since arriving in Rome; gentle sunshine and mild temperatures. In fact, I do not think it has gone above the mid-70s in temperature. Since everyone else in our flat was asleep I decided to stretch my legs out a bit and of for a walk, which is kind of odd since that is all we have been doing this past week. I also was in search of a good cup of coffee. The apartment does not come with a coffee maker since the locals either make their own espresso or go out and buy a cup. At the last minute I bought about a dozen Starbucks instant coffee packets which Amy and I are trying to ration out. After about a block I stopped at a small coffee shop and had a cappuccino along with a croissant fresh out of the oven – all for about $2.50! I sat at a table and attempted to read the sports section of an Italian newspaper. About all I can report is that two soccer teams played but I have no idea who won. Speaking of soccer, we evidently have some neighbors that love soccer because they were up until midnight watching a game. They were loud and raucous and obviously having a good time. It was well after midnight before I drifted off to sleep. Once everyone was up and email checked we darted for the bus. By now a gentle rain had started and we realized that while we packed rain gear, we brought none of it with us for the day’s events....
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