(*Disclaimer: I am somewhat disappointed in the editing capabilities of blogger. Perhaps I've made it hard by having too many pictures . I did the best I could to make this look pretty and organized but you'll have to forgive a few things that are out of my control...)
So, we're broke... Well, not exactly but let's just say that a sizable nest egg just fell out of the nest... actually, it wasn't quite a waste like that. I guess you could say that we had the most delectable scrambled nest egg breakfast in history... wait a second! That sounds almost cannibalistic if it came from our own nest... um... maybe my choice of metaphor was poor. Let's start over...
So, we're broke... We just got back from the trip of a lifetime. Three weeks, just me and Rivka and the most incredibly culturally rich country in the entire world (sorry France lovers, it's true), my home away from home, Italy. From top to bottom, we saw a lot. I dare say we saw too much! We should have been a bit more choosy in selecting which cities to go to but honestly, I don't know what we would have cut out! Can you cut out Siena? Assisi? "Oh you don't
really need to see Rome..." Yeah, right!
I'll give you a little feel for how the trip went down:
Milan - We flew in here and stayed the night with Bruce and Patrice Flothe, the parents of one of my best friends from high school. We saw the Duomo (Cathedral) and the Sforza Castel the evening we got in. Bruce and Patrice were so great! Not only did they take us around the city but they helped us to more quickly get over jet lag by keeping us going. Milan is a cool city but a little too modern for my tastes and there isn't a lot to see so the next morning we left for...
(here's a video of Rivka spinning on the testicle of the bull (symbol of Turin, Milan's rival city) for good luck in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan)
Turin - Well, we actually never really got out into Turin and thus we didn't see anything there. We stayed in a little town on the outskirts called Grugliasco with my Italian parents, my mission president and his wife, the Carusos. We were just there to see them. They took us to "Mount Brigham" a peak from which Lorenzo Snow dedicated the land of Italy for the preaching of the gospel. The mount is actually called Monte Vandalino but was affectionately given the title "Mount Brigham" by Lorenzo Snow and his missionary companions. Afterwards, we went to dinner... the biggest, longest dinner Rivka has ever had in her life. It was three hours and 15 courses of continuous consumption. I won't tell you that I vomited from eating too much because that would be shameful and humiliating coming from a former Italian missionary... The next day it was very hard to say goodbye to two people whom I love as dearly as my own parents. But we had to get off to...
(Trains in Europe are awesome!)
Le Cinque Terre - These are five tiny villages hanging over the Ligurian sea. They are relatively cut off from modern day Italy. Only recently have roads been constructed to reach them. Each of the five are connected by trails and collectively they have been made into a national reserve. We decided our original plan to pack all our belongings between the five was not the best. So we got a place for two days in Riomaggiore, the most southern of the 5 and spent an entire day hiking from Riomaggiore to Monarola, to Corniglia, to Vernazza and finally to Monterosso. We then took the train back down to Riomaggiore and spent the night. The Cinque Terre were beautiful, Italian to the 't'. Unfortunately our stay there had to come to an end. And off to...
(Just the thought of leaving Le Cinque Terre
was very painful...)
(We found this doll stuffed into a fence and
knew that David had been here)
Pisa- Instead of buying a direct ticket to Florence, (which wouldn't really be direct anyway) we decided to stop for a few hours in Pisa. Pisa doesn't have a ton to offer other than the duomo, the baptistery and of course... the leaning tower, so we wasted no time in crossing the city from the train station to where they are at. The lawns surrounding all three are some of the best maintained grasses in all of Italy. (Grass isn't quite as important over there so it's kind of cool to see lush green grass). We had a little picnic in the lawns and the went inside the cathedral. (yes, just the cathedral. We're much too poor to go up the tower!)
Florence... We stayed in a hostel which used to be part of an old nunnery. Where we slept was the old library. It was a quaint little place in the Oltrarno district of Florence (on the opposite side of the Arno river from the main attractions). Florence just didn't do it for us this time. We had both been there before but its charm didn't have quite the impact we had hoped for.
We got 'museumed-out' fairly quickly and that is one of the best parts of Florence. The saving grace was when we rented bicycles on our last day there. We cruised around Florence proper for a bit and then headed out down along the Arno through some neat parks and then crossed to explore some of the outskirts and even the countryside. That was one of our favorite things from the entire trip. I highly recommend it to anyone!
Up until that point our entire trip had been by train but after Florence we wanted to explore Tuscany and Umbria so we had arranged for a rental car. PROBLEM! I left my license in the States and I found out that it was hard/impossible to rent a car without one... go figure! So, we had to switch Rivka as the 'sole driver'... and she drove the whole time... at least if anyone from Europcar asks that's right... Anyhow, upon getting the car we headed south to...
Siena - Siena is everyone's favorite Tuscan town. We had arranged for a hotel that night but since I hadn't put any money down, we decided that we would just sleep in the car to save a few bucks. So after finding a little pizzeria to eat in, we drove around until we found a quiet neighborhood outside of Siena and reclined the seats and snoozed. It wasn't too bad and now we could use the saved money to quasi-satisfy Rivka's insatiable cravings for pizza. Siena was its typical self. Slow, laid-back and lazy. We hung around in the morning and cruised the streets. We sat back and relaxed for a bit in the Campo del Popolo soaking in the experience. It was beautiful but we had a bunch of little hilltop towns to visit that day so we were off. (I'll just hit the main hill towns we visited. They were a few 'inbetweenies' but for your sakes...)
Pienza - We were not going to hit this town until we met two kind Milanese couples in Siena who were traveling together through Tuscany. One of the ladies was so adamant on our visiting Pienza that we couldn't refuse. I'm so glad we listened because Pienza was probably my favorite of the towns we visited in Tuscany.
(Side note: Gelato is the fifth food group in Italy)
Montepulciano - I don't have much to say about Montepulciano and the other towns. As beautiful as the drive through Tuscany is and as picturesque as the towns are, after stopping in so many, things start to look similar. This town was quaint and worth a stop but I would have much preferred staying longer in Pienza. After gallivanting through the Tuscan countryside we headed further south to...
Orvieto - Orvieto is perched atop a giant hill of tufa (a volcanic rock). It is home of one of the prettiest cathedral facades in all of Italy. Unfortunately, while we were there the lighting was never good enough to get an adequate picture. (I did what I could). We spent the night here in a cool old hotel called Hotel Posta (no cramped car for us!) We ate one of the best pizzas (and biggest!) we had in Italy at a little place called "Charley's". We slept like rocks and in the morning we were off to...
Civita di Bagnoregio - This town has about 15 permanent residents. The Italians call it "la citta' che muore" (the dying city). The name comes from the fact that people just don't live here anymore. It is tiny and perched atop a tiny clump of rocks where two rivers merge. You have to park your car in the neighboring town and walk across a small bridge in order to enter the city. This town is a kick! You can see the whole thing in 15 mins but to sit and soak up the experience is well worth the extra time.
Assisi - I was skeptical of Rivka's enthusiasm for this town at first but now I'm hooked! Assisi easily wins my 'favorite town of the trip' award. I just don't think you can beat it. I was so good that it was the only town in which I was willing to pay for parking! Yeah, it was that good. For those of you who've been, you know. For those who haven't, go! This is the hometown of my favorite nonconformist, St. Francis. My only gripe is that he's probably cursing in his grave at the money that is being made on St. Francis bobble heads and the size of his 'humble' sanctuary. Sorry Francis... My favorite thing we did was storm the castle! (La Rocca Minore) We climbed up one of the walls of the fortress that sits up above the city and ate our meager bread cheese and meats dinner as we gazed down. It was great! We were supposed to stay with a friend in a town not too far away but when that didn't work out we jumped at the chance to stay a little longer in Assisi. After a little stress, and a lot of phone calls we found a place just outside of town.
Rome - After Assisi we headed off to Rome and found an interesting pattern following us. There we had planned on staying with friends but... you guessed it! It didn't work out and there was not an unoccupied bed in the entire city! We finally got one reserved for the second night of our stay but once again we scoured the outskirts for a quiet, dim parking lot and slept in our trusty Fiat. Rome is a must see. From the Colosseum, to the Roman Forum, to the Trevi Fountain we did just about all of it. ***Lesson learned: don't go somewhere like Rome with out a) studying a ton about the interesting historical sites b) bringing a great book that explains it all or c) having the money to remedy the situation while you're there. We got an audioguide while in the Colosseum which helped make it a little more meaningful, but you can only eavesdrop for so long before just feeling like a dirty thief, as we did in the Roman Forum. We did get blessed by the Pope and listened to his talk kicking off the 'Month of the Rosary' from the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. We even got to see him. Later we went on a evening walk as suggested by our good friend Rick Steves and ran across a guy giving a free tour of the Pantheon. Something free in Rome!?!? "Yeah, right," I thought. But this guy was American (not that this makes him less of a thief... well maybe just a little). It was an awesome tour and we learned so much about the Pantheon that it is one of my favorite places now. I got so much out of it. The Pantheon isn't just a place anymore, it has meaning. He was so good that we decided to go on his tour of the Vatican the following day. It was a little more money but again, we didn't have extensive background on the place let alone a simple book. It was definitely worth the extra money (plus we got a student discount and an 'I like you guys' discount). After the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica we split.
The Amalfi Coast - On your left, cliffs and rugged green hillsides; on your right, more cliffs and deep, clear blue; in front of you, the twisting curving narrow Amalfi Coast Highway. This is one of the world's most beautiful coastlines. 
We left Rome after visiting the Vatican and made it to a little town off the coast and into the mountains called Agerola around 9:30pm. There we had reservations at a little bed and breakfast that had just opened up. Agerola is not very car-friendly. There is one main road that cars can fit on but to get to other parts of the city (like where our B&B) you have to park and walk up the tiny streets, most of which don't have names (or all have the same). The owners/operators of the B&B live in another town and when there are patrons they have to drive out and meet them. Well they weren't there (at least not where we could see. I'll explain later...) and there was no pay phone in the whole town. So thankfully we met Giovanni, a local mozzarella maker, as he was coming out of butcher's shop (that shouldn't have been open that late). 
The man was so kind and helped us for close to an hour. He tried calling from his cell phone time after time to no avail. He stopped people passing by (he knew everyone by name) and asked them if they knew where this place was (it being new). He found out that the owners lived in another town over the mountains and then found out where the B&B was. He took us up there but it was deserted. Finally, he tried calling again and got someone. He explained where we were and asked where they were. They were in the same parking lot we'd been in the whole time. The trick is, they had parked in the shadows behind a bus. I had seen them as we initially pulled in but we didn't see anyone in the car... Well after returning from the vacant B&B the car had moved to the lit area of the parking lot and a boy and girl emerged from the car, slightly ruffled. I won't go into any theories about what had taken place but... at least they finally opened the place up for us! It was a great location, up on the hills overlooking the town. We were the only ones there (after the two lovebirds left) and our room had an awesome view. The next day we took off and cruised the coast.
Matera - This city is amazing! I know I've talked about favorites but I might have to take back what I've said thus far because it is hard to beat this ancient city. One of the oldest consistently-lived-in cities in Europe, Matera hasn't changed much from it original form. This city is made up of cave dwellings called "Sassi" ("Sasso" singular) which are mostly from original inhabitants. Throughout the years the Materini have modified their dwellings by carving in the tufa rock and today more modern facades cover most Sassi. We splurged a little and stayed in Hotel Sassi and slept in a Sasso ourselves! It was a magical little town. Some of you may have seen this town if you've seen Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ".
SICILY! - One of the first things President Caruso ever told me in his broken English was a story of the creation of the Earth. "When God finished creating the Earth he took it in his hands and looked it over. 'Che bella!' he exclaimed as he brought it close to his face and gave it a kiss. Where God's lips touched the Earth is where Sicily was born." That about sums it up... Although I love visiting the 'boot', going to that crazy three sided island will always be like going home.
President Caruso was kind enough to let us stay at his summer home in Avola, a small town just south of Syracuse (Siracusa), Sicily. We showed up around 9:30ish and were supposed to ring at his sister's house (the whole little neighborhood is part of his family). The problem was that we were supposed to have been there before 4pm... which of course is never really a problem in Sicily (everyone is late). We rang and Lidia Campisi answered and invited us in. We sat with her and her husband Salvatore (means "Savior", a very Sicilian name) for about an hour as they fed us and talked our faces off. I felt like I had just arrived at my dearest old aunt's house.
The next day, I was out. I got really sick and we ended up spending the whole day hanging around Avola. The next day I felt much better but in the process of recuperating a nasty storm blew in and stayed for the whole week we were there. There went 60% of what we wanted to do, sit on the beautiful Sicilian beaches and swim in that jade blue water.
We hit Siracusa and saw some of the main sites. The main duomo in Siracusa is the one of the first Christian churches (some say the first) in Europe. It was originally a Greek Doric temple and still has the original columns. Like the rest of Sicily, this duomo has influences from just about everyone (Byzantine, Norman, etc.). In fact, for a period of time it was converted into a mosque by the Arabs.
Catania is where I spent a little over half of my mission. We ate the best pizzas around at "Al Nord-est" in Gravina di Catania. The owner, Gianni, and his wife are good friends of mine. We saw the normal sites and bought me a suit in the market. We went to church there and saw a lot of dear friends. Sister Giuseppina Spina invited us to dinner that evening. I also got cornered by one of the mission office couples and the mission president's wife who found out that I had served in the office for a long while during the creation of the mission database. They were having some problems and no one knew how to fix things. It had been over four years but I said I'd give it a go.
Who'd have ever thought that I would be back working in the office and fixing things. It happened a good two or three times in the mission and now... a fourth! It was fun to see my old desk and see the mission home though. After I fixed things we headed off to the Spinas' home... late as usual. We were so late that she wouldn't let us leave and we ended up spending the night with them. They are so wonderful!
(Rivka and me eating "nero di seppia" spaghetti pasta with a sauce made mostly of cuddlefish ink. Sister Spina made it specially for us! Mmmm! Also, Sis. Spina and her daughter Simona preparing our beds.)
We went to Agrigento and explored the valley of the Temples. During the Greeks' heyday in this area there were over 12 temples in this little valley. Having been made out of mud-stone, they haven't all weathered the years very well but there are still some standing. This is the home of Empedocles, the pre-Socratic philosopher who gave the Greeks the concept of matter divided into four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. A concept was the basis of science for many centuries and of course more importantly was very crucial in the development of "Captain Planet".
Like any trip our original plans had to be modified time and time again. With us both getting sick and the weather being poor AND with gas and the Euro creeping up (ie. we were spending more money than we had planned), we ended up doing a little less than we had anticipated in Sicily. All in all, it was a much needed relaxing last leg of our journeyings.
On our flight home we left from Palermo and flew to Milan where we spent the night in the airport (see the picture of the little nook we found to sleep in).
(I don't want to see another airplane for a long time!)
Well, that took entirely too much of your time... why are you still reading? It was a great trip! We now have memories and pictures to last a lifetime and if the opportunity rolls around again we now know what to do and what not to do to have an even better trip. (If you ever need any tips...) Now we're on to a new adventure: Michigan! So far so good! We'll have new posting on that so stay tuned! Ciao!
