Sperlonga, Italy Saturday, August 28, 2010
First, we took a bus for about 10-15 minutes, then a train for an hour, then another bus for about 20-30 minutes (the bus was packed with beach-goers so we had to stand. I also helped a young woman out who needed a band-aid during the trip – you know me – the eternal mom!), then we arrived in Sperlonga along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was beautiful! Everyone was out to have one last weekend of fun in the sun and surf before school started. The water was clear and warm. Cheri and I had a great time walking on the beach, but I’m sure we stuck out because we were the only ones NOT in swim suits! I never thought to bring one along. There were people of all ages there enjoying the day.
The sand was so fine and it packed hard so it made a perfect sand for castle-building. The beach was incredibly clean! This is one of the more popular beaches for Italians to vacation at and they take pride in their beaches. (Actually, Italians take pride in all of their cities… I was taking a picture of a street scene one day and a gentleman, who I’m sure ended up in the photo started talking to me and pointing after I had taken the photo. I thought he was mad I had taken his photo, but he wanted to point out the church at the end of the street to make sure I had gotten it in the picture! It had an unusual steeple so I took a couple of shots of it by itself, then thanked him for pointing it out.) Back to Sperlonga - It was fun to get out of the city and see what the rest of Italy looked like. I really enjoyed the train trip because I got to see the countryside. It reminded me a lot of the foothills in Colorado, and we passed vineyards after vineyards. Then we seemed to get into a more agricultural area. I could tell there were crops growing under tents, but it wasn’t until we slowed down for a stop that I realized they were growing cherry tomatoes… or at least that is what they looked like from the train. I saw several herds of sheep along the trip also. The closer we got to Sperlonga the more it reminded me of driving through the farm areas in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado.
I had an interesting experience with a public restroom. It was clean, it was just strange – I put a half a Euro into a machine, which opened the door of the restroom just like an elevator door. I walked in to the restroom, the door closed, when I was finished, I pushed a button, the elevator door opened, out I walked, the door closed and then you could hear the toilet flush, then it sounded like a car wash as the entire room was washed and disinfected! I was a little concerned it would start this cleaning process while I was in there, but it waited until I had left and the door had closed as it was supposed to. Kind of crazy, but it was clean! I haven’t come across a bathroom yet that was just a hole in the floor, like I have read about. In fact the majority have all been very clean, but they don’t always have a toilet seat!
Our train trip back was interesting. One train had been cancelled due to mechanical problems, so by the time the next train arrived there were twice as many people waiting for a ride. We ended up standing up the entire way home. We’d met a guy (late 20’s) from NY on the bus ride out to the train who was also on his way to Rome. We had talked during the bus ride, so we naturally boarded the train together too. Believe it or not, I was not the one who started the conversation! Cheri did! When we got on board, there was a couple, most likely on their way home from vacation, who were taking up four seats with all of their luggage. Even though they could see everyone was having to stand, they didn’t even attempt to move their luggage to make room for anyone to sit down. The guy from NY kind wanted to ask them to move their luggage so Cheri and I could sit down, but we said we were ok. Stop after stop people boarded and the standing room got more congested and still they didn’t budge to let anyone else sit down. After many, many stops a large Italian man gave them heck for taking up so many seats, but they argued back that there was no other room for their luggage. Right after this man, two nuns came through. The nuns looked at the seats occupied by the luggage and said something to the couple. At first the couple did nothing, but finally they moved enough luggage so the nuns could sit down. They must have squeezed into one seat because the woman, who was sitting on the aisle, got up and stood to free her seat for one of the nuns. The guy continued to sit! I guess there are rude people everywhere, but their conscious finally got the best of her anyway when the nuns boarded.
Cheri was positive we needed to make sure our NY friend made it to the bus he needed to get to his Rome destination. He had a hand-drawn map from his friend of what he was supposed to do when he arrived at the train station to get “home”. Cheri and I made sure he had bus tickets and got him on the first bus he needed for his next leg of the trip. He helped us tell the ticket person that we wanted to purchase 30-day bus passes for September. I got minutes added onto my cell phone (from ISU) and back home we went for a quiet night. Sorry, I can’t use this phone to call the USA. Tomorrow, we are going to the famous Sunday market, then back to work on Monday.
The students arrive on Wednesday. I’m sure my time for taking photos will go down drastically then. My plan is to blog once a week. I’ve heard from several of you now, and everyone enjoyed the blog and photos, so I’ll keep it up since it worked.
By the way, it’s just about 10 am here and it’s 70 degrees right now. It will be around 85 today, but it is very humid here. I sweat all the time. Church bells have been ringing at different times every day. They chime every morning at 7 am. I do have a church close by, but I haven’t looked at it’s schedule. They post all of their services on their doors. I haven’t found a Lutheran one yet, but I’m sure there is one somewhere. I plan to go to several different churches while I am here so I can see what they look like on the inside… I won’t be able to follow the service very well, but it will be fun to sit there and listen.
Porta Portese Market Sunday, August 29, 2010
The guidebook describes this as “Rome's biggest and most famous market, where you can find practically anything you can possibly need. Every Sunday morning the square fills up with crowds of people who browse the several acres of new and secondhand merchandise, all searching for a bargain.” It truly is one huge flea market, where you can buy anything from underwear to tools, purses to jewelry, household items to furniture… there is something for everyone! I’ve never been a fan of flea markets, but I do love a good garage sale and flea markets could be described as really big garage sales… I really went for the cultural experience! I didn’t expect to buy anything while I was there, but I did pick up some kitchen sponges for a euro and two purses… the vendor acted as though I’d haggled him to a price where he was losing money. It’s amazing how they will accept your price if you walk away! Cheri bought a genuine Gucci handbag, which I guess is illegal for the vendors to sell and illegal for you to buy, but there were “mobile” vendors everywhere who are always looking out for the polizia.
There were plenty of beggars in the area looking for Euros. There were a few nuns, so I guess going to the market on Sunday isn’t a bad thing! I really get a kick of how they display underwear around here. Italians are very proud of the quality of their underwear! The market just goes on and on… as the guidebook says, “several acres”. I thought it was pretty crowded, but vendors “cried” that because everyone was still on vacation, the crowd was small and they were not selling their wares
We didn’t cover the entire thing because after awhile it all started to look the same. Cheri and I stopped at “Planet Kabob” for lunch. The restaurant she wanted to take me to was closed. Then we walked to her apartment just to sit and talk. As it usually does, one thing leads to another, Cheri asked me to look at something on her computer (school related) and five hours later we had completed a bunch of work for all three classes! She was going to walk me home, but I told her I thought I had the route down now. I had my camera in hand as I walked home taking photos. I knew I wanted to stop along the bridge and take pictures of the Vatican and of Tiber Island.
As I walked by the park near Cheri’s apartment, I really wanted to sit and take pictures of all the families of all ages enjoying a Sunday evening in the park, but I didn’t think it would look too good for a stranger to be taking pictures of children, adults eating icecream cones and an elderly woman enjoying being pushed around the park in her wheelchair. That’s one thing I’ve noticed this weekend was how family-oriented Italians are. You always see several generations together, whether it was at the beach yesterday or at the park today or just running errands during the week. I’ve tried to document the people of Italy as best as I can without invading their privacy, but I’ve had a few “ask” me not to take their pictures… I think. I did have a vendor from the market this morning as me if I was from Interpol! He had a smile on his face when he asked though! Rome has their fair-share of homeless people too, and I walked past several settling down for the night as I walked home. I was just glad it wasn’t really “dark” yet by the time I made it back to Piazza delle Cinque Scole, which I found out means “Square of the Five Synagogues”.
Back in 1555, Pope Paul IV segregated the Jews in a walled quarter of Rome with three gates that were locked at night. The synagogues were passed off as schools as a way to get around the Pope’s restriction that there could only be one synagogue in every town. The fountain in the center of the Piazza is called “Fontana della Piazza” and came from the square in the old ghetto that was destroyed in 1888. It is carved by Pietro Gucci and was designed by Giacomo della Porta. The four masks on the fountain are inspired by the Gorgons, with snakes in their hair, who spout water through wide open mouths. There are always people resting or gathering around the fountain. (Sorry I don't have a better picture of the fountain. This one is taken from my apartment window.)
No comments:
Post a Comment