Other Wise Man

Sunday morning, after a sound sleep, I woke up tired, with stronger cold symptoms. Thankfully we have meds that help to a large extent, so I was able to make it through the day at church and beyond. It was just above freezing when we left for church. 

On the drive there, Dee and I were talking about how to get the dress shirts that Chiara brought to the Rondinellis, so that we can know which type to order for Daniele's mission. We have friends coming over for the open house next month and will ask them to bring the shirts here, but we need to get the process going soon. When we arrived at church, there was President Rondinelli at our ward -- bummer! But then I asked him if they would be at their late afternoon ward, and he said yes. So I arranged with the Thackers to take them a bag with the shirts that Chiara has brought for them. I dropped the bag off at the Thackers' place after getting home. Worked great.

Stefano Bosco was released as a counselor in the bishopric, but no replacement was named. Odd. They are moving to Frankfurt very soon and will be greatly missed. Sacrament meeting was not very full, due to holiday travel. There were three talks. The first was by Sorella Brock, here in Italy just over two months. Her pronunciation and grammar were excellent, much better than many missionaries out far longer. Then Sorella Muce spoke about the temple. She is originally from Albania but has lived in Italy most of her life, having recently obtained her Italian citizenship. She is really sharp. Her sister served in this mission before her. Her parents are not members but are very supportive of their daughters, and she told of how she went to the Swiss temple to get an answer about whether to serve a mission and prayed for a week. Obviously the answer was yes, because here she is.

The final speaker was Stefano Bosco. He told an awesome story about when he was 15 years old. He was having questions about his faith and feeling a bit rebellious. There was a kid in his neighborhood, Carlos, who was a gang member and full of trouble. Stefano's dad asked him to not hang with Carlos, no matter what else he chose to do. One evening he was playing soccer in the neighborhood, and Carlos came up to him on the sideline during a break, asking if Stefano was a Mormon. Stefano was defensive and worried, expecting trouble, but he admitted that he was a member. Then Carlos started asking all kinds of questions about the church, so they talked until 10:30pm. Stefano ended up bringing Carlos home to his dad to answer the questions better. When the front door opened, Stefano's dad saw the two of them standing there and turned white. Stefano thought he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. When Stefano explained, they came in and had a wonderful gospel discussion until 2am. Carlos was baptized not long afterwards and is now a counselor in the bishopric in his ward. The two consider each other spiritual brothers and hug each time they see each other. Carlos says that Stefano saved his life. Stefano thinks it was the other way around.

The second hour I gave my "lesson", which involved just reading the version of the "Other Wise Man" story that I had abbreviated and translated, with help from Sammy. You can read it here in both English and Italian. It went quite well, I think, with everyone paying rapt attention. It helped that only one member of the class had ever heard the story before. I always get emotional at the conclusion of the story, due to the wonderful message. My timing was perfect, ending right at 11:30am.

Meanwhile, Dee was in Primary, which she said was pretty crazy. The kids just don't know how to behave, though she often is able to control them better. She had worked on her lesson late the night before. 

After church we gave two of the Sorelle a ride home. At one point, Sorella Muce said -- only half jokingly -- that she feared she was losing her (almost native) Italian, being surrounded by American missionaries speaking only English and bad Italian. We got a chuckle out of that.

After lunch, I dropped Dee and Chiara off at the catacombs nearby. Their tour group was big, and the guide's English apparently wasn't great, but they enjoyed it. They then figured out how to get home from there on the bus and subway, instead of calling me to pick them up. Back at home, I sent in our odometer and gas meter readings to the mission office for the month. Then I reorganized the photo folders on my phone. Having taken over 10,000 photos so far on our mission (!), it takes too long to access the full list over USB on my laptop, so I made a folder for each year, which should keep things more manageable for the duration. I do not expect to continue to take that many photos after we get home!

After our lovely salmon dinner, I went over to the Willeys' apartment. They are having all kinds of phone and internet startup problems, none of which are their fault (I am looking at you, AT&T and Infostrada). I was able to fix a number of their issues, as well as leaving them my extra phone running as a hotspot using their 100GB/month Infostrada SIM card until their fiber internet service kicks in. I also learned how to configure several things on iPhones, which is never intuitive for an Android user (and vice-versa, I'm sure). They were extremely grateful, as well as apologetic for taking me away from my family, but it was good to get them rolling. They are very sharp and wrote down all my suggestions. Later I emailed them links to several items on Amazon we had discussed, to help set up their home office.

Back home

Saturday morning I woke up with a clogged nose and not much energy. The plan was to go to the Uffizi art gallery in the morning and then catch our afternoon train back to Rome. However, I just wasn't feeling up to a bunch of walking. I do feel fortunate that my cold had held off enough that I was able to handle the prior part of the trip. Checkout was at 11am, and the hotel seemed to be full that evening, so they wouldn't let me stay in the room later than that. 

So the girls headed out about 9:30am and at checkout time I went down to sit on the nice sofa in the lobby and work on my Sunday School lesson: finishing editing and abridging the story of "The Other Wise Man". The story had been too long for the class time, so I went over it again and cut out more sentences and phrases, without losing the story. It had started out at 14 pages, in dual columns with English and Italian, having already cut out a lot of stuff. After I finished, it was down to 10.5 pages, which takes just over half an hour to read, good enough for the 40-minute class. 

The Walkers, a senior couple here from Frankfurt to help with the temple open house, needed toner cartridges for their printer. Their German account with Amazon wasn't working here, so the Balzottis asked me to order it for them. People always assume that one Amazon account will work everywhere, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Their toner will take over a week to arrive -- Prime also has a different meaning here!

Chiara and I headed out to the Uffizi gallery. Their website said the first reservation was for January 4, so we decided to just go the old-fashioned way and show up. It took about half an hour to walk there. The line was enormous, the entire length of the gargantuan building, then around the corner. I left Chiara in line with her WiFi hotspot (so we could communicate with WhatsApp) and went to see if she was even in the right line. This line was several people deep, too. I found a short line right in front of the admission door, with a sign that said it was for making reservations today. I waited awhile with about twenty people in front of me. All of a sudden, they started letting us in. Within five minutes I was at the ticket window, but the woman told me the reservations were for the next day. This was our last day in Florence, so I turned to leave. There were barrier cables blocking my exit, so I asked the man how I could get out. He looked at me and said in Italian, "you have a cane." I had a walking stick folded up in my hand, because my knee has been bothering me. Anyway, he continued, "You can't wait with that cane. You need to go in now." He waited while I phoned Chiara (didn't work, so I messaged her with WhatsApp) and then he miraculously took us both in. They also showed us where we could take an elevator to the top instead of climbing hundreds of stairs.  We really enjoyed the pieces of art that the Rick Steves app pointed out, plus some others. It's an overwhelming and wonderful place. A Japanese woman asked Chiara if we were listening to a tour on our phones and very happily downloaded it for herself.

I have to share another fun Chiara-ism from Pisa. We were walking back to the station, almost a mile, and Dee was trailing behind us, as usual. This is a long-standing (very minor) conflict between us. She says that it is because she is shorter and can't keep up, which is true. However, it doesn't seem to matter how slow I walk, she just likes to be 10-20 feet behind, which makes it difficult for me because I have to always turn around to see if she has stopped to look at something (not that that would ever happen :-). So I muttered something to Chiara about how Dee always liked to be behind, regardless of speed. Chiara's classic response was: "walking slow is her superpower!" That made me laugh out loud. In this case, there was no room for me to walk with them, since the sidewalks are narrow.

Once they got back to the hotel lobby, where I was happily camped with a nice outlet nearby to plug in my laptop, they asked if I wanted a sandwich from the shop down the street where they had just eaten toasted sandwiches and a pistachio cream-filled pastry. My messages with pictures didn't reach him until we had already returned. Chiara went to get me one, which I ate while we hung in the lobby until it was time for the train. We arrived at the station just over 15 minutes before the train was to leave, with it about to pull into the station. As we entered the station, Dee noticed that she had left her walking stick at the hotel. Chiara offered, but I went to pick it up, walking fast, which felt good after sitting for so long. Dee felt really bad about it, but it was only about 5 minutes each way, and we managed to get onto the train just as they started announcing it was time to depart. Bottom line: the walking stick giveth, and the walking stick taketh away, but all is well that ends well.

We all napped on the ride home. From the Roma Termini station, we walked to the Institute, put our stuff into the car, and drove home, arriving before 6pm. Immediately Dee and Chiara started doing laundry, with a bunch of loads to do and, more importantly, to start drying on the racks. The girls also went out to the supermarket to get some food to have in the house. We got salmon, ingredients for riso al telefono, and for the asiago-bacon-apple grilled cheese sandwiches. The salmon was from the fishmonger at Conad, a woman. She included fresh parsley with the salmon. We got fresh crusty bread, cooked over wood. The bacon was round and sliced in the deli. Of course, we also got a few interesting rolls and cookies to try. Chiara learned how to use the scale. At that particular market, the customer has to weigh and label each item. We also stocked up on vinegar, which I use to clean off the hard water. I also use it to rinse my hair. I wash it with my standard shampoo and sometimes use conditioner. Then I use baking powder dissolved in water, followed by diluted vinegar. It's wonderful! I went down to pick up some  Amazon packages the Balzottis had retrieved for us from Paolo and had a nice chat with Anziano Balzotti down in the piazza. They wanted info on our hotel in Florence for when some of their kids come to visit in February. We highly recommend it: Hotel Porta Faenza, on Via Faenza near the station. BTW, in our room, we finally realized (after four days) that the wood-framed niche was in fact not framed with wood -- it was 3D faux painted!

No wood required!

For dinner, Dee made a very unique grilled cheese sandwich, with bacon, asiago cheese and apples on Italian bread with honey mustard. I backed up my two laptops, and then went to bed soon after 9pm, exhausted due to my cold. Our trip was great, but it is always good to be home.

At work in our spacious kitchen

There are also apples inside the sandwich. Chiara loves the Italian breads and cheeses.

Florence!

Chiara is so good at picking up Italian. She comprehends the words she sees and is willing to talk to people. She's drinking it all in.

Cold in Venice

Friday morning we left at 9:30am to catch the two-hour train to Venice. I continue to sleep well in Florence, which is surprising, and slow-moving my cold is not hindering me. The weather forecast for Venice was cold and foggy, with a high of about 40 degrees and a low of freezing. Fortunately, with the new scarf from Dee and my new thermal underwear from Amazon, plus a thick sweater and coat, I actually did very well, feeling pretty warm despite being outside most of the afternoon.

The train ride to Venice was uneventful. We grabbed a sandwich in the station there and then headed out on the vaporetto 1, a water shuttle down the grand canal that goes the length of the town, making every stop along the way. There was a big moment of uncertainty for me just after getting onto the shuttle, when it was rocking, as boats do. It somehow hadn't dawned on me that I would need sea legs -- I am known to get seasick at the mere sight of boats! Fortunately Chiara had some Dramamine that she gave me, and I managed to make it without incident, though it was touch and go for a while -- not good right after lunch!

All along the 45-minute ride we enjoyed the commentary from the Rick Steves app on our phones, learning lots of interesting facts about the various stops and sights, finally arriving at St. Mark's square. From there we saw the Bridge of Sighs, the main square and cathedral, all gorgeous. 

Bridge of Sighs (note the jacket on Chiara!)

St Mark's Square and Cathedral

Dee had done the planning for our tour, which is unusual because that is normally my job. However, she is quite capable and gave us a nice afternoon. We took a gondola ride for about 45 minutes, which she had arranged online. It was supposed to be a guided tour, but the gondolier didn't say anything except when I asked him questions, usually in Italian. He said that there is a year-long class to become a gondolier, followed by several months of one-the-job apprenticeship. The gondolas are very wobbly, but fortunately he did a good keeping us from turning over. I asked about it, and he said that it had never happened to him and that there was a fine for going in the water. Not surprisingly, gondolas are only used by tourists, not locals, who find it much easier and faster to walk around town, with over 800 bridges -- they know all the shortcuts. I was mildly queasy through the ride, but it was worth it, not having been to Venice since 1977. I went in a separate gondola from the girls, along with a family of four from India who lives in northern California. I volunteered to be split up so that they wouldn't have to be, and the mom was extremely grateful to me.

Our gondolier

Loading up the ships

We did a lot of shopping for Chiara, looking for her trademark magnets and teddy bear. She couldn't find the latter, settling for a small wooden Pinocchio with Venice written on it. All afternoon we looked for a pastry shop but never found one! I might think that Venetians are healthy, except there was gelato everywhere, despite the cold 😉🍦. We walked around some back streets and shopping areas for a good while, finally finding a public restroom after a few hours. Here we are actually grateful to pay for the privilege, because that generally means that the bathrooms are clean and warm.

We had dinner at the train station after a ride back in the shuttle in the dark. The big cafe was warm, which felt very nice after being out in the cold all afternoon. Our train back to Florence was more or less on time, and we each dozed a bit along the way, happy not to have frozen. Chiara actually wore her jacket and gloves and was quite cold much of the afternoon, to give you an idea how frigid it was. It was late by the time we got to bed, after planning a bit for our final morning in Florence on Saturday.

Chiara likes to get a bear from each town she visits, but she selected a little wooden Pinocchio from Venice instead. She had fun selecting some Venetian glass earrings and some hand-marbled paper, which Venice is famous for. After the stationery store, I told her it was rare to get that kind of good customer service here. Last year I saw a butcher in Rome actually remonstrate a customer for leaving hand prints on the glass case. She said if it were a child, she would understand, but a grownup should know better. The customer apologized. 

Anyway, we hunted for cameos, since Wendy suggested we three get matching ones. Napoli is the best place to go, since they're made nearby in Torre del Greco, but we won't have much time there, so we tried. We saw a few, but not what we were looking for.

The Rick Steves canal ride narration was very good. The exteriors of the buildings were a feast for the eyes. Later, we took a gondola ride. It was supposed to include a guide, but he only spoke when I spoke to him. Doug went separately since the boats were full. Chiara and I rode with a little family of four from Brazil. The Dad's grandmother was Italian, but he hasn't spoken it in years. He was very complimentary about my Italian, as was the lady in the marbled paper shop. Doug quizzed his gondolier, too. It's a family business, and it takes a year of training. If they fall in the canal, there is a big fine.

Fun sign in Florence

We also passed Sikuliana, a store that sells Sicilian ceramics including the heads I like so much. https://www.sikuliana.com/


A few days ago, Chiara  said she wants to do another trip to Europe with me. We're talking about Switzerland and/or Spain, though we might change our minds on the destination. It would be so fun to do this together.

Pisa

Tuesday we went to Pisa, which is what Chiara selected. We had been thinking of Siena, but for a first-time visitor, Pisa is more famous and easier. Chiara and I ended up downstairs for breakfast at the same time and visited about the prior day. My cold abated enough that I felt like going along, which is how it seems to roll, never quite getting bad but never going away. In fact, I felt stronger and better as the day went along.

We left a little early for the station because we had to buy tickets. At the last minute, I moved up our departure from the hotel 5 minutes on the hunch that something might go awry, alla Italiana. Sure enough, we barely made the train. Here's what happened. The ticket machine didn't accept my credit card. Three times. Then it wouldn't accept my ATM card. Then it wouldn't accept cash. We changed ticket machines once in the middle of all that. Finally it accepted Dee's credit card and we headed for the track with ten minutes to spare, or so we thought. After going through security to track number 1, we found that that track was off to the side but the door to get there was locked. So we had to exit and go around, with thousands of our best friends. Then we had to re-enter security with lots of frantic folks trying to get to our same train. We made it with one minute to spare, onto the first car which everyone piled into, afraid it would take off. Dee and Chiara found seats, and I walked up to the next car which was less crowded. It was 50 minutes nonstop to Pisa, and all went well.

Our seatmates were two sixty-ish men. They looked very artistic and hip. I tried to make conversation with them, but once I pulled out my knitting, they got really excited. The one next to me not only knits, but he also spins and dyes his own yarn. He knew I was using Addi brand needles and magic loop, and that opened him right up. He says in Australia where they're from, the selection is small, so that's why he spins and dyes. Unfortunately, we only had a few minutes to talk.

At the station we grabbed a taxi. The driver was from Pisa, very nice. She said that the leaning tower was by far their most common destination. It was only 9€ for the ride of about 10 minutes. We asked her what else there was to see in Pisa. She kind of hesitated and named a couple of museums and the main cathedral, without much enthusiasm. That rather matches what we found online for tours, with the tower being the only big draw. I explained that, when we came there in 1979 as newlyweds, the tower was closed to visitors because it was leaning too much. She said that it took decades for them to right it enough to match what it was in 1850 and then reopen it. She joked that they didn't want to straighten it completely or nobody would come.

The tower is indeed leaning a whole lot, not just a little. Chiara and I don't do heights well, so we opted not to wait in line and climb it, but just to walk around and enjoy the views. It is really worth seeing. Apparently it started leaning early in the 200-year construction, but they kept going. The baptistery across the way also leans just a little bit, so maybe the soil just isn't very firm. Anyway, it was very worth the trip.

 

 

At the gift shop, Chiara bought a few fridge magnets, but the machine there wouldn't accept my credit card either. At that point I started to realize something may have gone wrong with our chip-and-PIN card. Later I would try it at the station again, with no luck. After we got back, I called the credit card company but they had no record of any attempted transactions; neither did BofA for my ATM card. Ultimately at dinner I got it to work, but only via the magnetic stripe and not the chip, so I called back and ordered a new card sent to the mission home. Hopefully they will get the configuration right, as it has to be done specially to make chip-and-PIN the default to work best here.

When we got back, after a nice quick lunch on the walk back to the station in Pisa (Chiara's first toasted caprese sandwich) and a chance to get warm), I stayed in the hotel to rest and warm up some more, while the girls went out shopping. For dinner we went to Mama Napoli, a pizza place not far away, so that Chiara could try pizza alla Napoletana. It was terrific. There's nothing like Neapolitan pizza. It uses a certain flour and water, has to be a certain size, with a raised edge. But best of all, it's cooked at 800 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 seconds. The results are heavenly. She had her first arancino too. She needs to have one in Napoli to get the true experience. After that we hit the bank to get some cash, and my ATM card worked flawlessly. We use Banca Nazionale di Lavoro, a partner of ATM, to avoid the foreign transaction fee, and there was a branch not far from the restaurant. On the walk back we stopped at a nearby gelateria and enjoyed some gelato, despite the cold. I have always wanted to get one of those fancy cones with the chocolate and nuts around the edges, so I splurged. Their lemon ice cream was great! Mine was huge. I still wasn't hungry the next morning!

When we got back to the hotel, there was an email from church travel with our reservations to come home on March 21. The flight gets in at almost midnight, so it will be a very long day. I called Delta and was able to upgrade our seats to get some leg room for me on both legs of the trip. It took a while, but they finally did it: money well spent in my estimation -- the alternative might have been knee surgery after a day in coach seats <g>. They also told us that an extra suitcase (beyond the two each that the church pays for) is $285, and we may well need to do that to get all of our stuff home.

By then it was time for bed, with a big day in Venice coming up. So far Chiara's visit is going very well: lots of tourist sights in not many days.

While Doug rested at the hotel after Pisa, Chiara and I walked to Gemme Liolina, a jewelry store that our tour guide had recommended. There were times we were on dark, deserted streets, which is a little creepy. But the place was a pleasant surprise. The owner, Elena Liolina, was clearly intelligent and in tune with the customer. The selection was thoughtful and vast. I wish I had had more time there.

Chiara likes to get a little keychain-size bear with I heart [town] for each place she visits. It wasn't easy to find one this time. When she did, the man at the kiosk asked if she was cold. She was in short sleeves, as usual. Not cold. While we were out, I bought a scarf for Doug to try for the first time. Venice is cold.

Meanwhile, Anziano Castro phoned us, looking for a key for the sorelle. I don't know the whole story, but we couldn't help in our current location. 

Doug's seminary class is so popular that Junior Cadena asked if there was class this week. He was disappointed to have to wait until January 11.

There are beautiful lights at night for Christmas season. After all, Florence is a tourist town.

Chiara finally wore a jacket for the first time. Briefly.

A model being photographed

Lights in downtown Florence

Corn-cob pipes from Missouri

This is called "Fallen Angel". It's contemporary.

Guided tour of Florence

Wednesday morning we got to relax a bit in our hotel room. The free hotel breakfast was nice. Chiara got up late when her alarm didn't go off, so Dee brought her some food from the buffet. Her response was clever, vintage Chiara:

Mom, the breakfast croissant you brought me is buttery, flaky, filled with custard, and sprinkled with sugar. I love Italy and never want to go home again.

We headed out just before noon. Our tour was to start at 1:30pm, so we walked up to Piazza San Marco where we would meet the tour guide, and then looked for a restaurant nearby. We found a nice place right on the square, with a very fun young waiter from Kosovo. It was fun kidding with each other. At one point my wife told him everything was "bello" (handsome), and he replied that only his mother said that to him. We also saw a little cafe named Chiara, so we had to take a picture.

Our tour group was small, only six of us. The guide was Mat, who was born and raised in Florence, with a German father and a French mother. His English was wonderful, very easy to understand, which is not always a given. He obviously loves his city and his job, with lots of great knowledge, insights, and stories to tell. I have been fighting a cold, which continues to threaten to get worse, but remains very minor. So I thought that I might go back to the hotel after seeing Michelangelo's statue of David, my favorite thing to see in all of Italy, which was our first stop. However, Mat was so good that I stayed for the whole three hours, enjoying the walking all over the city. We had wireless headsets to listen to Mat as we walked. He took time to show us some other old Florentine art, with lots of explanations as to the meanings of backgrounds, colors, religious and historical context.

L-R: Mat, Dee, Chiara

From there we went to the main cathedral and baptistery, without going in (the lines are too long). The doors by Ghiberti are breathtaking, and Mat had lots of artistic, historic, and religious explanations for everything.

We walked across downtown, stopping at several places to discuss key points of interest and ending up at Ponte Vecchio on the Arno river. Mat got a big tip from us for his wonderful tour. Mat really brought things to life. For example, I loved learning that white=faith, green=hope, red=charity. Did you know that Michelangelo's David used to have gold on his hair? Or that women in his day plucked out their front hair and singed off the rest  of their front hair with a candle to look more intelligent? Their hair had to be blond, too. So, paintings of Mary in that time are usually blond with a large forehead, too. And of course, white skin.

From there I walked straight back to the hotel, about 15 minutes, to rest. It was chilly outside, with me wearing a sweater and a heavy jacket, but Chiara in shirtsleeves. I was cold and needed down time. The girls stayed out, walking home more slowly, doing some shopping.

When I got to the hotel, I asked the front desk clerk how to turn on the heat, as it hadn't come on overnight. His first comment was, "did you close the windows?"  Italians love to open windows, so from that perspective it made sense, but to us it seems like a silly question. He came up and checked. Turns out that apparently the thermostat temp is mis-calibrated, so if I just turned it up to about 80 degrees, it came on. Strange, but it was nice to get warm finally.

The girls found a restaurant right down the street, Ristorante Nerone, so we went there after they got back. It looked like a hole-in-the-wall from outside, but inside it was surprisingly large, and we enjoyed visiting and eating. For appetizer, we ordered prosciutto and canteloupe, an Italian favorite, which Chiara had never heard of but quite enjoyed. She ordered pizza, which was bigger than the large plate, which was a shock to her. I ordered rabbit, since I like to try something new whenever I can. It was rolled around cooked spinach or something and bathed in salty gravy. Not a winner. The decor was really cute, with a dozen chandeliers of all types.

While Doug rested, Chiara and I went out to seek a purple David refrigerator magnet for her collection. She collects magnets from the places she visits, and also little teddy bears with the I heart [town].  I keep thinking I should want something in leather--but so far, I really don't.

We hunted down our tour guide's favorite ice cream shop (Perchè no!), but I am not that excited by ice cream at this point. I miss having stuff in my ice cream, like nuts or other crunchy things. USA, here I come!

Christmas in Rome and Florence

Tuesday was Christmas. In the morning my wife sent me down with a gift (cookies, soaps, etc) to our doorman, Paolo, who works a couple of hours on holidays. It occurred to us later that maybe the custom here is to give cash, so we will have to ask. We simply are not Italian. I called the catacombs near us and, not surprisingly, they were closed. So Chiara and I headed downtown to see a couple of churches, both near the Institute, where she got to see me enter the narrow driveway and park, which is an experience in itself. We weren't sure that the churches would be open, but we assumed so. On the way out we noted that the trash dumpsters by our apartment were overflowing; service has been spotty recently.

First there was Santa Maria Maggiore, where there was a huge mass going on, in Latin. The place was almost full, with the sides roped off so we couldn't see everything. There was a lovely choir accompanying the mass, though we couldn't see any singers from our location in the very back, so it might have been pre-recorded; you can see a brief video here and decide for yourself. In any case, it was a lovely spectacle and always a beautiful location.

 

Then we walked about ten minutes to St. Peter in Chains, where they have Michelangelo's statue of Moses, as well as the chains supposedly used on Peter in prison. It is a relatively small, out-of-the-way church, but one of my favorites. There was a small mass going on there too, in Italian. 

On the way back we went into the Institute to give her the brief tour, then we were home by about 12:30. Dee was finishing her dessert (butterscotch haystacks) for the ward party, and Chiara decided to come along. It was hilarious to get all three of us and three big trays of haystacks into the elevator. Meeting lots of new people, especially with the language barrier added, is not her favorite thing, but she was afraid otherwise that she would just fall asleep at home, which doesn't help with jet lag. It was fun to introduce her to our friends from so many different countries and cultures. There was a ton of both food and people. We started with appetizers, including Peruvian papas a la huancaina, then some pasta, then sausage, steak, and arrosticini.

 

The grill team: Huber, Perego, Cadena

 

 

I was able to gave a CD of Donny and Marie Osmond hits to Sergio for Christmas. Chiara brought it from the US after I had Amazon ship it to her fso we could surprise him with it. The Hubers also gave him the framed print of him standing beside Donny Osmond from a few weeks ago, so he was smiling ear to ear. I also was able to copy Sorella Yanacallo's old 16GB SD card onto the new 32GB card that just arrived. It is nice for her to have some extra room for photos now.

We left the party early because we needed to get home and finish packing for the train to Florence. We each nabbed a butterscotch haystack on our way out. I did the dishes and emptied the trash, (I emptied the frig of perishables) finding space in the dumpster which had apparently been emptied during the day, although all the extra bags of trash were still piled up outside. I threw in mine plus a few more as my act of service for the day. We drove down to park at the Institute, then walk over to the train station, which seemed easier than walking our suitcases all the way to the Jonio subway stop. We arrived downtown in plenty of time, so we took a few minutes to call my in-laws from the car to wish them a Merry Christmas.

The train was on time and very comfy. I had gotten a cheap upgrade to a car with only three seats across instead of four. We each slept a bit on the 90-minute ride up to Florence, and then arrived at the Hotel Porta Faenza in less than 10 minutes on foot in the cold. Chiara runs warm, so she was in short sleeves, while I was shivering in a sweater and my heaviest coat. She came here in the winter on purpose! We all were able to fit everything for four days into our carry-on sized suitcases, which makes it much easier to get about.

Our hotel is the same one that Marilyn/Lu and Karen/Dave had used and liked earlier in the year, so I was anxious to see it. The rooms are very spacious and clean, with high wood ceilings. Our room is right around the corner from Chiara's. It is good to be here together in one of our favorite places in Italy for sightseeing.

 

Packing for four days is the same as for two weeks, so it is always a feeling of accomplishment to get it all in a carryon.

Jim Huber asked, "when are sisters going to be get to wear pants?"  I stood up to show him I was already enjoying the new rules. The young sisters can hardly wait to go shopping for pants this week. Elder Balzotti said he is waiting for ties to be optional. After all, the angel Moroni didn't wear one when he appeared to Joseph Smith :) 

Chiara keeps hoping to hear Italian Christmas music, but so far has heard only English, haha.

Christmas Eve about Rome

Monday was Christmas Eve. In the morning Dee and Chiara walked down to Conad, the Chinese store, and the farmers market in our piazza. They had a great time, buying some Italian delicacies to try. The stores and their contents here are enough different from the US that it is always fun to show them to visitors. We sampled the food and then headed out to the subway to go downtown. The weather was nice, low 60s and cloudy. At one point it drizzled just a teeny bit for a few minutes, but even then it was very pleasant to be out. 

At this point I have a nice sequence of places to visit downtown that can be done on foot by those not faint of heart. We got off the subway at the Colosseum, which is always stunning to see -- you exit the subway stop with the edifice right ahead, filling up most of your field of view. From there we walked up to the Campidoglio (city hall), where there is a commanding view looking down on the Forum. Then we saw the Altare della Patria, a huge white monument for King Victor Emmuael II, known locally as the wedding cake, as well as housing the tomb of the unknown soldier. After that, about halfway through our walk, we grabbed lunch at a little place we passed. It was good to have a rest, some food, and a bathroom. Then we continued on to the Pantheon, followed by Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps. Along the way we bought some warm roasted chestnuts and enjoyed them, but Chiara was too full to even try gelato. By that point, having walked over two miles with lots of up and down, we were done. What I forgot was that walking to/from/into the subway itself was again nearly two miles, so no wonder we were tired.

At the Colosseum

Touching a column

The scale of the Colosseum is mind boggling, especially since it was built 2000 years ago

A Pope John Paul II lookalike on the street, complete with mannerisms!

Looking down at the Forum

A fountain in front of the Altare della Patria

  

Altare della Patria

Inside the Pantheon -- an amazing structure, well preserved

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Enjoying roasted chestnuts on the street

Throwing coins into Trevi fountain

At the Spanish Steps

I had ordered a 32GB SDHC card for Sorella Yanacallo's tablet. Amazon said it would arrive on Thursday, so my plan was to install it next Sunday. Instead, they delivered it to the mission office on Monday! The Thackers brought it home, so I can install it on Christmas day at the ward lunch. Amazon always amazes.

We spent the evening taking it easy at home, enjoying being together. For dinner I had some more of Dee's tortellini with pesto and chicken. We watched a few Dry Bar Comedy segments by Andy Woodhull on YouTube, laughing hard for twenty minutes. It was also the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 broadcast from lunar orbit. If you were alive then, it was an astounding and touching moment.  You can listen to it here. It will be interesting to see what they do to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing next summer. I was a huge fan of the space program as a kid, following and reading everything I could at the time. The whole thing still seems almost miraculous.

Merry Christmas to all! Next year in California...


Chiara tried Pandoro, which puts panettone to shame, IMHO. We also bought fresh mozzarella, mini breakfast croissants with a sprinkle of sugar, fresh wood-baked bread, and a befana! The befana is the witch who brings presents on Epiphany. It's a culture shock to see a witch in the Christmas season. Other surprises at the grocery store were frozen squid, flour sold in tiny bags of one kilo, and baking soda found near the water rather than in the baking aisle.

The weather was great. Chiara went in short sleeves, and I mostly took off my sweater. Doug wore a sweater and coat, but he feels the cold a lot more than we do. 

There were lots of street artists. One woman was carving dogs out of sand. Chiara was so impressed she walked over and gave her a coin. We should have taken a photo.

On the way home, Chiara said, "this metro is crowded." We smiled and told her it was not.