We, Barbarians, Have Conquered Roma

Rome was not built in a day... neither does it take one to see its splendors. Unfortunately, we had very little time in the eternal city, which means that I will have to come back to see some of the sights (sites) before I head back to the USA. We arrived around noon after taking a train from Florence and a bus from the station to make it to the center of town. (Packing 36 people with suitcases on a bus is not as easy as it may seem!) The day was beautiful and sunny, and we met our tour guide in the lobby of our hotel after a quick lunch. (The hotel where we are staying is a modernized 15th or 16th century building, and belongs to Goldilocks, a Roman who was born and partially raised in Australia, and who showed half of the students to the other hotel he owns.)

Hotel Navona

For the next few hours we went to the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, the Wedding Cake and other spots to get a bit of history and pictures. Our tour guide, Federico, comes from a long line of tour guides and has taken JMU groups around town for several years. He was interesting, funny, and energetic, making us walk miles of history and landmarks. (I am posting just a few of my favorite pictures, though I must have taken hundreds more.)

The Forum

Urie Assists

Roman Temple

Love this Pic!

More Ruins

Column in the Forum

By the time the tour ended and we were deposited back to our hotel, I had serious back pain, so Urie and I ate dinner and went to bed early. (I know...! A once-in-a-lifetime experience... but  my back was rebelling, and I needed to conserve energy and my feet for the next day.)

Location of Cesare's Death

I will say this: I cannot fully express the feelings of being in the midst of what was once the birthplace of the Roman empire. That and getting slapped on what should have been "me arse" but ended up being my thigh by a homeless man who vociferated a few words I still wonder about. I was taking a picture of a ruin when the barbarian stood up and came straight at me, palm opened. While I was admiring the beauty of his country, I guess he was admiring my panoramic backside, but having sat against the wall for apparently hours, his legs failed him and he missed target entirely. (Meanwhile Urie was snapping pics on his phone, oblivious that his mother was being harrassed. Good thing too, or he may have been tempted to butterfly knife him and carve SPQR on my aggressor. More to come on the butterfly knife issue.)

Stripped of its Original Marble

The Bottom of the Interior Was Flooded by Nero to Provide Him with His Own Artificial Lake also Used for Naval Battles

Seats of the Nobles

The Columns and Rafters Held a Floor on which Sand Was Placed for Gladiator Combats

Mother and Son

The Holes Held the Marble Blocks through a System of Pegs

It's in the Details

The Pantheon

Ceiling Once Covered in Gold

Raffaelo's Sepulchre

On Saturday, we met Federico at 8:00 a.m. sharp and started another tour that lasted until 3:00 p.m. Thankgoodness, Rome has natural water springs and many fountains to refill bottles (our only "source" of sustenance until we ate a combination of lunch/dinner--and the best calamari I have had in a decade.) On this day, we hit the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel, St-Peter's basilica and St-Peter's Square. We were moved through room after room of art: frescoes (including Raffaelo's famed School of Athens, Michelangelo's Creation of Adam--part of the whole AMAZING ceiling display, his Last Judgment (which he started painting when he was in his sixties), sculptures, sumptuous tapestries, and numerous objets d'art that the Popes have accumulated over the last centuries. (We could not take pictures in the Sistine Chapel--Sorry!)

Bridge to the Palace of Angel (Pope's Former Residence Conceptualized by Adrian)

St-Peter's Square

The Basilica

Cool Passageway

Plural Form Because Lots of Them

It was all a bit too quick for my pace. I like to be able to really observe and absorb the details of what I am looking at, but there was very little time to take it all in. For example, we rushed and passed by many rooms that contained just as interesting though by no means as awe-inspiring art as what we were allowed to see. The Vatican museums are a strange configuration of several buildings that are attached through long corridors and courtyards; easy to get lost and easy to miss out. Yet taking more time than the few hours we had at our disposal would have resulted in student "art fatigue" and to less than satisfying results for our group (which included sets of parents and visiting boyfriends, all of them really nice and great to meet).

Gruppo de Laocoonte Excavated in 1506

Drapping over the Knees

21 Centuries ago...

Nero's Fountain

(Now for a side story: Urie, who YouTubes videos ad nauseum, told me a while back that he wanted for his 15th birthday his official Canadian citizenship and a butterfly knife to learn tricks and blade plays. While being assaulted by vendors and colors in Marrakech, I came upon such a knife for a tenth of the cost I would pay in the states, so I purchased it for Urie. You should know that my son is the most pacifist child ever born; he just thinks that these knives are cool, in the same vein as martial arts' poi or nunchucks--must be a teenager thing. At any rate, since Marrakech, he's been practicing tricks--very safely--and has been carrying his knife in his pocket. Lo and behold, we get to the Vatican, and the tour guide, as a matter of conversation, mentions that knives are forbidden in the building. I see Urie's eyes distend and I KNOW HE'S GOT HIS KNIFE.... I immediately told Federico, who sent Urie off to check it while giving me a short lecture on how we could have been arrested for bringing a weapon in the building. Yikes! Turned out not to be a big deal, but for a moment, I was stunned by the nitwitism of my youngest child. And learned later on that another student was carrying a pocket knife that went undetected by the scanners!)

Hall of  Belgian Tapestries

Hall of Italian Maps

Part of a Raffaelo Fresco

School of Athens

St-Peter's Basilica was beautiful, and the sculptures therein were all made by Bernini (whose work I could not see at the Borghese museum because we ran out of time and my defective computer would not let me log on to make reservations. It was a sad moment for me!) Whether or not the basilica stands where Peter was actually crucified is a matter of conjecture (as far as I am concerned), but the symbolism it carries is probably as important as the facts.

Michelangelo's Pieta

More Basilica Beauty

In the Basilica

Yes... in the Basilica

Finally, yesterday, we attended the Angelus at noon, and Pope Francis gave a very good ten-minute message about love, its abundance and never-ending supply, and the importance of sharing it. Of course, my camera ran out of juice, so I will have to get pictures from a student to share with you. I understood 98% of what he said and translated for the students around me, which led some parents to believe that I am catholic. (I'm not sure I see the connection, but that was an interesting link to make as I was probably the only person from our group who had not purchased rosaries for the benediction of the Holy See!!)

We barely had time to eat a quick lunch (tongues on the menu!) and grab our bags to wait the rain for the bus (which seemed not to want to come). A train ride and a walk in the rain back to the apartment, and we can summarize the following from our trip to Rome: Satisfied students: 100%, Happy parents: 80% (one set left a bag at the hotel, which created quite a few complications for them, I am sorry to report); pickpocketing victims: 0%; desire to come back: 200%.

Off to Florence!

I will have to come back to Rome before the end of our stay because I have missed some of the places I wanted to see: Triveni fountain (closed); Boca della verita (closed); Spanish steps (no time); a dozen museums (no time).  But as they say, All Roads Lead to Rome, so I am sure to come here again!

Marrakech, Part 4: Of Camels and Men

Bedouin of the Desert

Welcome to the Sahara! All you need to bring with you for a great adventure: A djellabah, a turban (any 2-yard of fabric will do), company (four Italians, two Bengladeshi, three Romanians, one Greek, two Croats, three Canadians, a  sullen driver and a few Berbere Bedouins), and dromedaries for each crew member.

On the day we were supposed to set off for our great desert adventures, Hilary, Urie and I ate our breakfast promptly at 6:30, then waited, and waited, and waited  for our ride to pick us up. By 8:00 a.m., we had all but given up, thinking that our money was long gone and on its way to Florida. The office where we had purchased our tickets seemed to have been put together by a couple of friends in search of gullible tourists. There were a few posters on the wall and brochures available, but other than that, nothing too official to inspire trust. Yet, we had felt that it would not be in the country's best interests to take advantage of innocent people, considering that tourism is the fastest growing economic sector in Morocco. That and Argan oil, fruits, and textiles,

The Valley of Draa

Outisde of Ouarzazate

After placing a couple of phone calls. a taxi driver finally picked us up, then took us to the meeting point location where we met the motley crew listed above. One look made us fear we'd fallen in a "guetapens": our travellers were dressed in dark clothing and did not seem very friendly. Hilary and I whispered to each other, as the "two-hour" ride (read seven!)  started through the mountains. The level of motion sickness was proportionate to the thawing of our little group. The higher we went, the sicker we became, the more we talked. (Eventually, I bought meds to share with three others who were also suffering from car nausea. Hilary traded place with me, and I survived.)

Kingdom of Heaven

Our goal was to make it to Zagora (near the Algerian border), a stronghold of Berberes and the gateway to the Sahara. On our way, we stopped by various little cities or touristic spots (some cinema studios, looking abandonned, where several movies have been filmed, including Jewel of the Nile, all of The Mummy installments, Kingdom of Heaven, Gladiator and a few episodes of Games of Thrones. One such village has a remnant of 8 families with 42 inhabitants total.

Home of one of the 42.

We stopped to take pictures in areas that were pretty much all of the same: mountainside view of the road below, the valley of Draa, Ouarzazate, among others. The sad part: we zoomed by all of sceneries I was interested in, without stopping. I wanted to take pictures of women doing their laundry in an oasis ora rivulet, children playing soccer in a field with makeshift goals, mules carrying stacks of hay; the day-to-day occupations of those living in the mountains. None of these pictures was good enough or clear enough to make it on the blog. Sorry! I tried but the camera could not get into focus and the driver was on a mission: get rid of us ASAP.

Urie and Chocolat

My Dromedary's Name Was Boubou.

We finally arrived to meet the Bedouins in time for our hour-and-a-half dromedary ride in the desert, but too late to see the sun go down (as we had been promised). Upon arrival to our encampment, we were assigned a tent, shown the bathroom, ate a dinner of couscous, beef and vegetables, and sang and danced by the fire as the temperature fell. Urie and Hilary slept well, but I pretty much froze all night (yet too tired to move). Our ride back in the morning was faster (we met the cars in a different location), then faced the seven plus hours in the mountains to get back to our hotel by 7:00 p.m. (not without a last fright, when the driver dropped off everyone else but us, then drove us behind a "sketchy alley" to disappear for five minutes. During that time we were wondering how many people would attack us and sell us on the sex slave market. Urie had his butterfly knife ready to go, but the driver came back to us smiling (having emptied his bladder around the corner). What an adventure IN IMAGINATION|||

Sunrise

Local Entertainment

Urie and Hilary Clapping and Dancing

The next day, we packed our bags, rested by the pool until 3:00 p.m., dropped Hilary in town after goodbyes and promises to get together some day and continued to the airport where we had to wait an extra hour for our flight to take off. This meant arriving in Pisa very late, and almost missing our shuttle connection to Florence. When we arrived around 1:30 a.m., Urie and I had a long walk back to our palazzo, during which time there was an earthquake in Florence (which we didn't feel at all). The only thing quaking was Urie's bladder; he needed to go!!! I guess the wheels on our luggage made enough noise on the cobblestone that we were left unaware of earth's tremors.

Water Fun

The students had made us a "Welcome Home" sign, and Chiara had left a most delicious cake in our refrigerator which we pounced on as if we had not eaten all week long (which we did... a plenty!) It's so nice to be back to Palazzo Capponi. I loved Marrakech but found it to be stressfully busy; a busy-ness that pounces on the unprepared and left me both enchanted but also leary of the place and the pace. It was beautiful, chaotic, crazy, and stressful. Vive le Maroc, ma davvero viva la bell'Italia!

Marrakech Coke

Florence Dessert