by Greg | Jun 9, 2010 | Blog Posts
After a rather restless night of sleep – I think I am past jet lag and simply over-caffeinated coupled with mental overload – I caught the bus at 7 AM for the city center. From there I hiked another mile or so to meet up with Dr. Schwartz, Dr. Shotwell and the art students. This morning was dedicated to visiting churches that were artistically and theologically responding to the reformation of the early 16th century. Our first church for the morning was Santa Maria in Vallicella. Don’t bother checking a typical guidebook because the chances are it is not mentioned, although that does not mean that it has no gifts to offer the eye. Neri was the architect of this “pre-baroque” style although it has suffered (yes, I meant to use that word) many later additions of paintings, sculptures and tapestries. The design of the church – a straightforward nave with shallower chapels and transepts, however, could still be appreciated beneath the “busyness” of everything else. There was a fine early 17th century altar piece by Peter Paul Rubens. Michael summed the interior of this church by stating, “this anticipates what we now experience of the continuous bombardment of the visual.” It made me long for something a bit simpler. As we walked to our next church Michael took the opportunity to point out buildings we have been passing nearly every day and noting how one can determine if they were renaissance or something more modern. We next entered the Basilica San Andrea della Valle. This church is the scene of the first act of Puccini’s beautiful opera Tosca...
by Greg | Jun 7, 2010 | Blog Posts
We learned of some sad news regarding one of the ASU students. She received a call last night by cell phone that her father died in a car accident. For privacy sake I will not share her name but I do ask you to remember her and her family in your prayers at this time. The faculty is working with her to get her back home early. Michael Schwartz sent me an email this morning sharing with me that they may or may not make it to our site lecture at the San Callisto Catacombs along the Appian Way. We decided as a family to go on ahead on our own since we are a ten minute walk from our apartment to the catacombs. In spite of the morning’s news it was a beautiful day of mild temperatures, low humidity and a blue sky framed by flowing, sap-green fields. The grounds are meticulously kept, making for a striking contrast to the urban grit of the city center. There are no vehicles driving through with the exception of a few chartered buses parked discreetly behind one of buildings. Workers are constantly sweeping and trimming caring for this ancient place of burial. The catacombs served as the burial grounds for Roman Christians in the first several centuries. Romans chose cremation while early Christians chose a simple burial because of the belief of Christ’s immanent return with the bodily resurrection of the believers. In the city, however, burial was not allowed. Christians dug an estimated 375 miles of tunnels lined with tombs many layers deep. Touring the catacombs is always guided and...
by Greg | Jun 7, 2010 | Blog Posts
This morning marked our second Sunday in Rome and I was determined to go to Rome Baptist Church. This church was founded by Doug and Helen Ruchti in 1962. I came to know the Rutchis when they retired in, ironically, in Rome, GA when I was a student at Shorter College. The church is an English speaking congregation that ministers to Baptists worldwide. Factoring in a slower bus schedule and allowing for 30 minutes of walking I left earlier than necessary – 9 AM for a 10:30 worship service. As I was walking out of my apartment I caught a glimpse of the bus rounding the corner so I raced to the stop just in time to leap in the bus as it was about to pull away. Once in it occurred to me that I may not be on the right bus since the stop serves two other lines. I asked the few passengers on board and of course none of them spoke any English, no matter how loud I spoke! One lady was convinced that I was on the wrong bus after I pointed to her on my map my intended destination, so I promptly got off the next stop a mile down the road in order to wait for my bus. As the bus pulled away I saw the number – you guessed it, I just got off my bus. Forty minutes later my next bus came around again. Nonetheless I made it to church with five minutes to spare. As with any travel to “strange” places that involve living, eating and traveling differently, I am...
by Greg | Jun 6, 2010 | Blog Posts
Last night before bedtime I had one final chore which was to secure some drinking water. Yes, we have indoor plumbing but the water coming out of our faucets tastes, well, a bit flat and a bit off. Rome is known for its water, having long ago secured fresh water for its entire city to the extent that on nearly every block there is a drinking fountain of free flowing water. Each day as we are rambling through the city I keep two nalgene water bottles with me and as need arises find a spigot or some other drinking fountain that is flowing and fill them up. The water is clear, cold and happily tasteless. The water out of our kitchen sink, however, is tepid and just seems a bit heavy with minerals. This brings me around to last night’s chore. In spite of all our walking and an over-the-top meal of hamburgers and fries I took one final walk for the day and found one of those drinking fountains and filled up a one liter water bottle for us to keep in the fridge. Sure, I could have just bought some water from the store, but why buy when Rome offers it free and in abundance? Plus, I felt sort of like the old farmer of bygone days going out to the well to secure what every household and every person must have in order to live – water! When I see things out and about I no longer depend on my middle-aged, “ADD” memory to assist me in recalling them when I sit down to write. Instead...
by Greg | Jun 5, 2010 | Blog Posts
It has been another interesting day in the Eternal City. Besides what has now become the routine of making a morning walk for coffee and a pastry, I spent much of the morning reading and getting prepared for the afternoon at the Borghese Gallery. There are two books I have used on a daily basis in regards to my travels around Rome: Eyewitness Travel: Rome, and Rick Steve’s Rome 2010. After reading and mapping our route for the day, I took a solo walk just around the block to visit moving memorial from World War 2. The “Fosse Ardeatine” remembers 334 Italian POWs who were summarily executed at this quarry in 1944. The victims included various political prisoners, 73 Jews and ten other civilians, among them a priest and a 14 year old boy. The husband of Dr. Karen Aubrey, Phil D’Ambrogi, has a distant cousin who was one of the victims. He was able to go and visit the memorial as well as locate the marker remembering that terrible event. Not too many days ago in America Memorial Day was observed and in some ways this was my own way of remembering the many people around the world that made sacrifices on behalf of the ideals of democracy. We boarded our bus with a few sandwiches packed to eat at the first piazza we crossed. After swallowing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we made the one or so hour walk to the beautiful Borghese gardens en route to the Gallery. Honestly, how can I write in a blog my thoughts on the Borghese? The Gallery is a villa...
by Greg | Jun 4, 2010 | Blog Posts
I am a bit late getting today’s blog in (actually it is 7:30 AM in the next day, 1:30 AM EST). Quite frankly, I was too pooped last night to even think about what I needed to write down. I think my haphazard sleep patterns, stress of getting lost everyday in the city center, and trying to communicate with my southern-fried-Italian is starting to catch up! Nonetheless yesterday was a good day. It began normal enough with a walk for my morning cappuccino and cornetto. The typical way to have a cup of coffee at these places is to stand at the bar and drink alongside the locals. Sitting at a table is for tourists, school children and the elderly. Still, I feel a bit out of place standing at the bar sipping and eating and trying not to look conspicuous. Afterwards I did a bit of shopping at one of the many fresh produce stands all around and bought a few essentials for the day and week, including more of that delicious asparagus and wonderful strawberries (they are red all the way through). Back in the apartment I sat down and read and wrote for most of the morning. Amy commenced on various household chores that she knows I either loathe or will ignore. Soon Clark was up and he commenced to fixing his own breakfast of fresh eggs, prosciutto and espresso. He is fitting in nicely. Aaron, by and large, misses breakfast because he would rather sleep. The family decided they would not join me for the day’s itinerary – visiting the historic (which is a redundant...
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...
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