Our Thanksgiving Dinner in 2009

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Paris. We also had our Thanksgiving dinner as usual. But, our dinner was a bit unusual. Here's what we had: Paul and Grace had a hamburger and my cousin, Ryan, and I had chicken nuggets. Mom and Aunt Shelly had hamburgers with Roquefort cheese on them, and my Uncle Garett had a steak. The restaurant was called Hippopotamus and we all received plastic hippo toothpicks poked in our food. We had chocolate mousse or hot fudge sundaes for dessert. Here is a picture of all of us at our Thanksgiving feast.

I am wondering what all of you had for Thanksgiving. Was yours as unusual as mine or did you have turkey like always?

-Elizabeth

What I'm Thankful For

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for many things. I'm giving you three examples of those many things.

My first example is I'm grateful for my family and friends. I'm glad I have friends at home to look forward to when I get home. I'm glad I have my family here with me to have fun with one another. I'm glad that I have my family to come and visit me here in Rome. And I hope that if anyone visits a different country, their family and friends will do the same.

My second example is I'm thankful for my food and shelter. I'm thankful for our apartment. I'm glad I don't have to live on the streets like the beggars do. I'm thankful for the fresh pizza and the gelato here in Rome. I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving dinner to be thankful for.

My third example is I'm thankful for my education and books. I miss going to Holy Cross so much and I am so thankful I have it to go back to. Books are one of my favorite activities. Without books I would be as unhappy as gray clouds. School is one of my favorite places because that's where you learn and I love to learn!

I have many more things to be write about and if I could I would. I'm glad I have all these things to be thankful for and I hope you are too! What are you thankful for?

Ciao!
Elizabeth

Thank the World!

Here in Rome, I have quite a bit to be thankful for. To start, I'm thankful for being in Rome. With all these tourist attractions, who wouldn't want to be here? I also find the different cars interesting because they're so tiny and compact. And I really like the Colosseum. Imagine if you could visit it all the time!

I'm also thankful for having modern technology. I would have a hard time if there weren't cool things like cars and flying machines and electricity. I find machines really interesting and I want to know how they work. It's cool to know that your home is powered by something once unknown!

And finally, I'm thankful for my family and friends. Isn't it good to know somebody cares for you, knows you, is friends with you? I think so. I'm glad to have all these things!

Ciao!
Paul

Rome, Italy from my point of view

Life in Rome Italy from my point of view, well, it has two sides, The first, it's really cool here. I mean with all the ancient stuff. It's cool because we get to be in a place where people actually were over 2000 years ago! What's also cool is I'm in a different country. I get to have experiences that not very many people in America get to have. And it's really cool to go to all the different places in the country! I have been to Florence, Venice, Pompeii, Siena, Viterbo, and Pisa in Italy, and I'm going to Paris, France on Thursday.

The other side of it is I'm still so homesick! And I miss home so much and I can't wait to get back home! And I guess I've learned that I don't like big city life. I only have a few weeks left and I'm going to try to forget about being homesick and enjoy the rest of my time here. I am going to miss Rome when I come home. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!


-Elizabeth

The Berlin Wall in Rome?

On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. The Berlin Wall was an 87 mile long concrete wall that separated the city of West Berlin from East Berlin and from the country of East Germany. This wall was built beginning in 1961 to keep people from going from East Berlin into West Berlin. It was 12 feet tall, 3 feet wide and had guards watching 24 hours a day. This is a very complicated story - too much for me to write about here. Feel free to ask someone about it or do some research on your own.

So, November 9, 2009 was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. There were celebrations all over the world, including here in Rome. The Romans put up a temporary exhibit on the Spanish Steps which included information and a model of the Berlin Wall. I took some pictures so that you could see what it looked like.

We visited the Spanish Steps and the Berlin Wall exhibit with John's brother, Brian, and his wife, Ogi. Here is a picture of all of us on the Spanish Steps. The Berlin Wall exhibit is not in this picture. Behind us you can see some of the steps, and there is an overlook in the piazza at the top. This piazza is right in front of the church, Trinita del Monti. Here is a photo that I took in September that shows the whole set of stairs, from the Piazza de Spagna at the bottom, to the towers of the church at the top. The staircase is apparently the longest and widest in Europe with 138 stairs. (Golly! Our Glorioso stairs that we climb every day have only 126 stairs!)

Pope John Paul II

We visited St. Peter's the other day and heard a really neat story.

On 13 May 1981, Pope John Paul II was in his "Pope Mobile" riding through the piazza. May 13th is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima and he was holding a picture of Mary in his hands. As Pope John Paul II leaned over to look at the picture, Mehmet Ali Agca shot the Pope several times, hitting him four times. The Pope was critically injured.

According to the story we heard from a priest in the piazza, immediately after the assassination attempt, a small nun tackled the much larger Agca, and together with other bystanders, restrained him until the police arrived. The Pope was rushed into the Vatican complex, and then to the hospital. He underwent several hours of surgery, but survived. The doctors reported that the bullets missed major arteries by mere millimeters. The path the bullets took swerved.

Once Pope John Paul II recovered, he returned to the Vatican and credited his survival to the help from Mary. He noted that of all the hundreds of saints that are represented in the Piazza San Pietro, Mary is not there anywhere. Thanks to Pope John Paul II, Mary is now represented on one of the buildings in the Vatican complex that faces the piazza.

There is a marble marker that marks the spot where the assassination attempt took place. Notice the roman numerals that represent the date: XIII V MCMLXXXI = 13 May 1981 The seal of Pope John Paul II is also on the marker.

Neat story, huh?

-Terri

An Amazing View Through a Keyhole?

On Monday, Nov. 16 we went for a walk on Aventine Hill. Up on the hill we saw 2 churches. One was called Santa Sabina and the other called San Alessio. Santa Sabina was a very strange church, unlike other churches in Rome. It was very colorless, and plain. The other church, San Alessio, was a standard church full of color and decoration. One of the side chapels contained the stairs that a saint hid underneath to prevent his execution.

In between those 2 churches, we found a nice garden with an amazing view of the city. Here is a video of it and a photo of St. Peters.


But that isn't the best part! As we were walking, (my mom intended for us to see it) we came into a Piazza. In the piazza and there were people staring through a keyhole. It looked kinda funny. Here is a photo.

When I got to look through the hole, do you know what I saw? I saw a path lined with vines and bushes and at the end of the path was St. Peters! The trees made a perfect frame for the dome. I tried to take a picture, but it was too bright. When I took the picture, the flash went off! It turns out that the flash actually made the photo darker. So now I had a really good photo! Here it is:

Cool, huh? A photo through a keyhole!

I'm impressed with the picture myself.

-Paul

Ponte Sant'Angelo

This is the Ponte Sant'Angelo, the bridge over the Tiber River in front of the Castel Sant'Angelo. There are ten angel statues designed by Bernini along this bridge. Each one of the angels holds something from the Passion of Jesus Christ. See how well you know the story. Can you figure out what each angel is holding? Answers at the bottom.

1. Angel with nails

2. Angel with lance

3. Angel with crown of thorns

4. Angel with the garment
5. Angel with the whip

6. Angel with cross

7. Angel with column

8. Angel with the inscription INRI

9. Angel with the sponge

10. Angel with Veronica's veil

A Cannon Blast in Rome?

Yes, there is a cannon blast in Rome every day at noon! It used to be that the church bells would ring at noon to tell the citizens the time. However, there are hundreds of churches in Rome and they were all ringing at different times. They needed a better system.

In 1847, Pope Julius IX started shooting a cannon from Castel Sant'Angelo to mark the noon hour. However, he was shooting real cannonballs over the rooftops of Rome! Fortunately, they have now moved the cannon to the Janiculum Hill and they only shoot blanks from it.

I must warn you that the cannon blast in this video is loud. First you can see the guard with the rope in her hand and you can hear my voice reassuring Grace. You should be able to hear another guard count down. Quatro (4), Tre (3), Due (2), (and me repeating it for Grace) and then BOOM!!! I apologize that I shook the camera so much but it was really loud!
Enjoy! -Terri

Playgrounds

This is a playground we found near the Basilica St. Paul's Outside the Walls. This playground has a teeter-totter and you can go on it. But you need at least two people. There are three of us on this teeter-totter though.






Here are some swings. They are big kids swings. Most of the swings here are little kids swings. See me and Elizabeth on the swings?

This is my favorite playground. This teeter-totter is really big! That is Paul and Elizabeth playing on it. I was on the little swings and running around a little track while they were playing on the teeter-totter.

I am mad in this picture. I didn't want to leave the playground.

-Grace

San Pietro in Vincoli

This church is called San Pietro in Vincoli, or St. Peter's in Chains. It is a large church up on the hill from the Colosseum. It is most famous for the tomb of Pope Julius II. The tomb was carved by Michelangelo.

Interestingly, Julius II was the Pope who decided to build St. Peter's Basilica and he wanted his tomb to be right behind the altar. He hired Michelangelo to design and sculpt the tomb. Unfortunately, he died before the whole tomb was finished and before St. Peter's was finished. The next Pope had other ideas, and so Julius' tomb ended up at San Pietro in Vincoli.

The tomb is famous for the beautiful sculpture of Moses, the central figure at the bottom. The photos really don't do it justice. It is quite beautiful and so detailed! In the top photo, above Moses' head, is the actual tomb of Julius II.










What is more interesting about this church is what it was really named for. Below the altar in a crystal and bronze urn, are the chains that bound
St. Peter during his imprisonment by the Romans in Jerusalem. Quite striking.
-Terri

Who knew?

We have searched the TSA website and discovered that no, you cannot bring peanut butter in your carry-on luggage! Here is the list of things you cannot bring:

cranberry sauces
cologne
creamy dips and spreads (cheeses, peanut butter, etc.)
salsa, jams, salad dressings
gravy
jams
jellies
lotions
maple syrup
oils and vinegars
perfumes
sauces
snow globes
soups

Now that we know about this list, we have had fun trying to imagine the circumstances under which one would try to travel with some of these items! Great writing topic!

-Terri

Our Peanut Butter Has Been Confiscated!

Uncle Brian and Aunt Ogi came to visit us today. We asked them to bring us some peanut butter because we haven't been able to find any in Rome for the last few weeks. Unfortunately, there was a "peanut butter incident".

When they went through security in Minneapolis, the guards x-rayed their bags and spotted an unknown substance. (Maybe it looked like Kryptonite!) Anyway, they asked Uncle Brian and Aunt Ogi to open the bag and let them examine the contents. They removed the two jars of peanut butter and x-rayed them again. They asked, "Sir, why are you carrying so much peanut butter?"

Irritated, Uncle Brian explained that his nieces and nephew were living in Europe and couldn't find peanut butter. The guard made him speak to a supervisor! Uncle Brian repeated the story to the supervisor. With a sigh, the woman explained, "Sir, we cannot allow that much peanut butter on the airplane." Unfortunately, Uncle Brian and Aunt Ogi didn't check any luggage so they had to give up the jars of peanut butter.

Do you think the guards had any jelly in the breakroom?

Longing for peanut butter,
Terri

No Church, But Ferrari!

Yesterday we went to visit Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the basilicas in Rome. Unfortunately, when we got there, they were having a Mass and we were not able to tour the church. We decided that we could come back another day and see it and so we would just head home.

Out in the piazza in front of the basilica, we saw a Ferrari coming down the street! Wow! Finally! I had not seen any Ferraris until this point! The Ferrari pulled away as the traffic in front of it cleared.

Fortunately, it was stopped at the next traffic light. We were able to run down the hill, and get a video of it. Here is the video!

Remember how I said that we ran down the hill? Well, I was carrying Grace while running. If you listen carefully right at the beginning of the video, you can hear me say, "Whoa!" I tripped and Grace and I fell down just as we got to where Mom was shooting the video. Don't worry! We are both fine! However, we must have looked kind of ridiculous running down the hill and taking a video of a car. But, I am glad we did! Now I have proof that I have really seen a real Ferrari!

-Paul

Food - Yum!

Several of you have asked about what we eat and our favorite foods here in Italy.

What do we eat for breakfast? Most Italians have a cornetto and caffe. This is a croissant or some type of sweet roll and some coffee. Kids have succo (juice). Sometimes that is what we have especially when we are traveling, but usually we have cereal or toast. We have found Rice Krispies, Multi-grain Cheerios, Corn Flakes, and everyone's favorite: Miel Pops. (Honey Pops) We also often have fruit or yogurt sometimes. Paul has had cappuccino and loves it. Elizabeth and Grace prefer hot cocoa.

Lunch is a large meal for most Italians. Many businesses close about noon and reopen at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Traditionally, Italians have a large (pranzo) at this time. Some of the schools even let out for a few hours at lunch and resume classes in the afternoon, going sometimes until 5 or later. We often have sandwiches at home. Peanut butter and jelly is still a favorite, but we haven't been able to find peanut butter for a few weeks now. Our next visitors are bringing us some! Sometimes sandwiches are prosciutto (ham) and cheese, or just bread with cheese. If we are out and about we get either sandwiches or pizza by the slice. These sandwiches are usually like focaccia bread with something inside. They are usually heated for you when you order them.

Pizza is sold by the slice and has all sorts of toppings. Cheese, sausage and cheese, prosciutto and cheese, pepperoni (red and yellow sliced peppers), and mushrooms with a white sauce instead of tomato sauce are just a few of our favorites. Some of the more unusual toppings include potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, shrimp and lettuce with ranch-like dressing, and anchovies. Grace's favorite is Margarita - just tomato sauce and cheese. I like to try them all. I haven't found a pizza I don't like. And I have learned that I really like anchovies!

Dinner is traditionally a smaller meal for Italians. They also tend to eat much later that we do in the US. In the US, restaurants are busiest at about 6pm. Here, they are busiest (with Italians) at about 9pm. Restaurants have antipasti (appetizers), primi (first courses - mainly pastas), and secondi (second courses - mainly meat/chicken/fish). A large traditional meal would consist of all of these followed by salad and then dessert. We usually only order two - an antipasto and primo, or a primo and secondo.

At home we eat a lot of pasta. Boy, can I make a lot of different sauces! We tend to eat very little meat and opt for fresh vegetables in the sauces instead. The (farmer's) market in the piazza has lots of fresh vegetables that are not very expensive, wheras meat, etc. is pretty expensive here. I have also been making risotto which is rice. I found a delicious risotto recipe that has prociutto and peas in it. Fantastic! I have also made calzones a few times. Spinach and fresh mozzarella, or prosciutto and cheese are two of our favorites.

For dessert we love gelato! We try not to go to our favorite gelato place too often though! They have all sorts of great flavors. Grace's favorite is strawberry and banana. I think my favorites are chocolate, peanut butter, caffe, and all the fruit flavors. Again, I am trying them all and I have yet to find one that I don't like! Other desserts we like are tiramisu and cannoli.

Hungry now?
-Terri

Florence, Venice and Lots More!

A few weeks ago we went to Florence. The first thing we did was go to the Duomo. A Duomo is an Italian word for Cathedral and dome. We went to the baptistry and then the actual church. When we were done looking at the church and the dome from the inside, we went to the very top of the dome. It was awesome! You could see almost the full city from up there. The next day, we went to Siena and went to another Duomo. We were hoping to go to the top of another tower, but it was closed. On our last day, we went to Pisa. Pisa is famous for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We wanted to go to the top of the Leaning Tower, but we couldn't. The next time we could go up was when our train was leaving. It would been fun to go to the top of three towers, but at least we went up one.

-Elizabeth

Up, Up and Even Further Up

We went to Florence. Once we got off our train we checked into our hotel. After that, we went to a church called the Duomo. Paul, Mom, and I got to go to the very top of the dome. Here are some photos of what it looked like when we were climbing up. It was interesting because we were climbing inbetween the painting on the inside of the dome and the outdoor part of the dome. Look how narrow, steep, and curvy everything is!




Once we climbed 464 steps, we got to the top. Here is what we saw. Isn't that neat how you can look down at the ground and see just how far up you are? The middle picture shows the side of the dome from the top.





We were at the cupola at the top of the dome. We were actually outside! The first photo is of the dome when we came back down. You can see the cupola at the very top of the dome. The second picture is zoomed in on the cupola. You can see where we were because there are still people up there. Look closely. They are right where the cupola meets the top of the dome. Hint: they look like specks!

It was really fun and we got a lot of good exercise!

-Elizabeth

P.S. I am glad I don't have to climb 464 steps to get home every night! We only have to climb 126!

Michelangelo Day

On Wednesday, October 14, we had a Michelangelo Day in Florence, Italy. First, we went to the Academia Museum to see David, by Michelangelo. David is a sculpture with very lifelike detail. I sketched him because we weren't able to take any photos. The hall leading up to the David sculpture was lined with unfinished statues for a tomb. These were also done by Michelangelo, but he died before he completed them. It looked like real people were trying to break free of the stone. The sculpture of David used to be in piazza in Florence, but is now in a museum. There is a copy of him in a piazza now. Fortunately, we were able to take a picture of that.

Next, we went to a church called Santa Croce, to see Michelangelo's tomb.

Finally, after lunch, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. There we saw a painting by Michelangelo called The Holy Family. Not only did Michelangelo do the painting, but he also designed and made the frame. I wasn't allowed to take a picture of this either, but we got a postcard. I will have my dad scan it.

Elizabeth and I are doing a PowerPoint presentation on Michelangelo. We can send it to you or show it to you when we return.

-Paul

Big City at Night

Big city at night.
On a tram.
Going across the river.
The streets are shimmering reflections.
Otherwise the water is pitch black.
Going past shops.
Inside people are buying what they please.
Going past restaurants.
Each table is filled with joyful spirits.
On my feet.
Walking.
Walking.
Finally I have what I want.
Gelato.

-Elizabeth

Rome or Home?

Which one? I can't tell which! I don't know which! Which one?

When we first got here, I was really homesick. All I wanted to do was go home and do nothing else. But now, I like it here and I don't really want to go home. (That doesn't mean I don't miss you guys!)

Part of me wants to stay here with all the cool things, like the Colesseum, the busy traffic and the trams. I like the buses, St. Peter's, the crowd, the market. I basically like everything. But Rome is no South Bend. I miss South Bend and I can't wait to get home. I miss all my friends and my family. And I miss my cat, Mr. Flynn. Again, I miss home, but I am going to miss Rome too!

So all I can say right now is "Home Sweet Rome!"

-Elizabeth

Halloween Photos

Here are some photos from our Halloween Party. Waldo is one of the grad students, Danny. Paul was a very elaborate tourist complete with a huge camera and audio guide. Elizabeth was a chef, with handmade hat and apron. Grace was a beach beauty since she has been dying to wear her swimsuit since we arrived. John was dressed as a cashier from the local grocery store. I was a basket of laundry. You can't see the basket on my back in the photo. The third photo is Eva, a grad student. "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

We played games and had great American food. Lots of fun was had by all!

-Terri