Four Months in Rome, Part Fourteen

Saturday, October 23, 2010:

I know it’s been awhile since I last wrote… we’ve had major deadlines in all three of our classes and that means Cheri and I have had lots of grading! We had a day trip to Florence last Saturday, but it was way too short. We had reservations to get into the Uffizi Museum, but there was still a line to get the tickets, and when we got inside, there was another line to get into the museum! We were backed up into one of the gift shops, when an Italian tour group budged into line. The tour leader was trying his best to just work his way into the line, despite the fact that there were people in line who couldn’t even see he was trying to budge. Brenda was at the front of our group, since she was the one who had arranged this trip. This tour guide had no idea who he was dealing with!  He actually pushed one of our students as he tried to budge his group into the line to get into the museum. Brenda saw the entire incident, told the student to switch places with her, and then she told this Italian tour guide, “next time he could try and push her!” I realize most of you don’t know Brenda, but Brenda has a presence about her (a good presence) that she is not to be messed with. She’s not that much older than me, but she has been fighting for equal rights and equal rights for women since she was born! She was not going to allow this “adult” to push around our students; not too even mention how rude he was being to the people behind us. When Brenda finally arrived at the museum entrance, she told the ticket taker how many people were in our group and we all went in. I think the Italian group was right behind us. Again, here was another instance where we could not get a group discount simply because we were Americans. If I had been by myself, I would have refused to go in. The place was packed and it was almost noon, so we went to the café to get something to eat. Their sandwich prices didn’t seem too high, considering we were inside of a museum… it wasn’t until we got the bill that we just about died. We had all gotten a Coke to drink and a 12 ounce can of Coke (or any pop) was €5! I could buy two cases of Coke for that at home!

By the time the three of us left the museum, it was almost time to meet for the train back to Rome.

We saw the sites that were near-by and walked through the open market. It is a pretty town, and I wouldn’t mind going back some day to see more of the sites. The whole “Europeans pay one price and Americans pay another” is all over Italy. If we tried to do that in the States, there would be all sorts of lawsuits, but it is considered perfectly fine to do it here. I don’t know if all of the European Union countries are like that or if it’s just Italy. It’s just at certain “tourist” attractions, but when I have a choice, I boycott them. I know it doesn't make a difference, but it is the principle.

This is a photo of part of the Piazza della Signoria in the heart of the historic center of Florence. There is an open-air sculpture exhibit, and a copy of Michelangelo's David stands in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's city hall.

This is a photo of Florence's first bridge across the Arno River and the only surviving bridge from the medieval time (all of the other bridges were destroyed in WWII). The bridge is lined with shops that sell gold and silver jewelry.

This is the outside of the Uffizi Museum, plus a close up of one of the many statues in the columns. Artwork by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael plus many others are home to the Uffizi. There was a special exhibition of Caravaggio's work while we were there.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo) is the icon of Florence. It is breath-taking. It's also hard to try and fit in one photo. It's huge! Construction started in 1296 and it was consecrated in 1436. It holds 20,000 people! The exterior is made of green, pink, and white marble. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to go inside. You can climb 414 stairs to the top of the bell tower. We had a couple of students who made it to the top!

Today, we had a bookmaking workshop led by Vittorio Fava. It was great! It was so much fun. He doesn’t want more than twelve to participate, so he has time to get to everyone. Brenda, Cheri and I had been picking up “stuff” at the Porta Portese Market, over the last three weekends to get ready for the workshop. I had so much fun. I even made a few cards from the extra paper after cutting pages for my book. I was planning on using some of the photos I had taken for my photography class in my book, but we didn’t get to the part where you decorate the pages, we just got the book done. Fava doesn’t speak English, but it didn’t stop him from communicating what he wanted us to do. I know, for me, I can understand Italian better than I can speak it! I’ve decided that the word “OK” is just one of those international words that everyone seems to know, use, and understand. I hear it all the time when having a conversation with Italians.

I practically forgot today was Saturday until I got home after eating supper with Brenda and Cheri and

turned on my computer. Today was my dad’s 80^th birthday, and my siblings were throwing him a party. Everyone was there… except for me, but I was there in spirit… and by phone! Even a few of his siblings drove from Colorado and South Dakota to attend. His two brothers from Colorado were a “surprise”! My dad is the oldest of twelve. (All twelve were at the family reunion in June.) Close friends were also invited. I called my sister at the start of the party and talked to several as her phone got passed around. Then, I called back after they finished eating so I could sing “happy birthday” to my dad along with everyone else. I think my dad had a very good day. Monday he starts a new round of chemo. He was supposed to start it the Monday before his party, but when my mom told the doctor about the party, he said dad could wait until after the party to start the new round.