Journey into the Boot: Un Riassunto

Thursday, August 25th

I feel like I just got off the plane, and here I am once again on another plane. This time, Connecticut bound. But as I head off to Connecticut, to drop off Alex in college once again, I want to do a summary of my Italy trip. As if I didn't write enough about this, you may think. I promise to put it to rest after this last journal entry.

Italy is a magnificent country, probably my favorite of all the countries I've visited so far which is really not that many considering there are 195 countries in the world and I have only been to 15. But Italy touches my heart in a way that no other country does, even Spain where I grew up and where my ancestors came from. Maybe I should do one of those ancestry tests to see if I have Italian running through my blood.

Italy has a little bit of everything. Amazing views, terrific food, beautiful art, magnificent churches, incredible history... But what touches me the most is the past it has. Beyond the history, I feel the people that have been there for over 2,000 years. On this trip, especially, I felt my heart beat faster and my skin turn to goose every time I walked where St. Paul walked before, where St. Peter was crucified, where Michelangelo painted, where Bernini created his sculptures, where Padre Pio preached, where St. Andrew rests... I don't know if the older I get, the more emotional I become because it certainly didn't affect me this way when I came for the first time almost a decade ago.

Italians have a reputation of being super nice but honestly, in general, that has not been my experience at all. As a matter of fact, I found the French to be nicer on the occasion I went to France. Overall, Italians have been dry and sometimes rude. The few that struck a conversation with us radically changed when we told them we were Cuban. At that point they wanted to talk. They wanted to hear our opinion on the changes happening between the United States and Cuba. Of course, when they found out that we were still against Castro, then they turned dry again. I've realized that most of the world just doesn't understand how much pain and suffering Castro has caused. They don't see him as another Hitler, they think we are exaggerating. But I'm getting sidetracked.

At least this time around I didn't get into any arguments with Italians.  Nine years ago when we came with the kids, I exchanged angry words with one. We were trying to buy an all day pass to spend the day at Lake Como hopping from town to town. The sailor on the boat didn't speak a lot of English or Spanish and we didn't speak a lot of Italian. So I was trying to make myself understood, and finally he said "torno?" And I answered "Si, torno." I figured that meant "return." So we paid the fee, got on the boat and the first stop was a town named "Torno" which we had no intention of visiting. He practically kicked us out of the boat. I started arguing with him that this is not where we wanted to go but he insisted that we had bought a ticket to Torno (which unfortunately we had), and he was pretty nasty about it. My husband said, "let's just get off and we'll catch the next boat." As we were getting off, some Italians that had witnessed the whole incident, told us in English: "If you don't want to go to Torno, don't get off. No other boat stops here until the end of the day." The five of us literally jumped back on the boat. After another argument with the guy, we paid the difference in fare for an all-day multiple stop ticket, and we got off on the next town.

We spent about an hour on that town and then walked up to the marina to catch the next ferry. There must be hundreds of ferries in Lake Como on any given day. I couldn't believe my eyes when the boat that arrived one hour later was the same one that had dropped us off. When the sailors saw that it was us again, they began to laugh. And we laughed with them. We discovered then that they do have a softer side, you just have to dig deep to find it. And I guess on a vacation there's just not enough time to dig so deeply.

Of course, I'm speaking in general terms. There are always exceptions and we did meet some super nice Italians: the owners of Don Alfonso Ristorante went out of their way to make us feel at home, the driver that took us there was friendly and talkative, the shuttle driver of the hotel in Amalfi was a gentle old man that always had a smile on his face (which is admirable when he had to deal with those Amalfi roads and traffic various times a day), the family in Pietrelcina that we encountered when we got lost and literally walked us to the road that we were supposed to be on, the young guys and gal that worked at the reception in the Florence hotel were really sweet, the older gentleman in Rome that saw us looking at a map and asked us if we needed help finding an address, and both of the guides that gave us the Vatican and the Scavi tours couldn't have been nicer. So I'll give a break to the ones that didn't smile or were rude. After all, I don't always smile and when I'm having a bad day, I can be a pain in the neck. Who am I to judge?

One thing they are is very devout. Even if they don't go to church, they truly believe in their patron saints, Mama Mary and God. Mama Mary was everywhere. Her image was not just inside the churches we visited. She was in every street corner, every piazza and many restaurants. And every town has its own patron saint but they are not prejudice, they pray to all the other saints as well. And I saw more than one driver do the sign of the cross as they passed by an image of Mary and/or a church. The Naples taxi driver was a little wild but he slowed down at one point to do the sign of the cross. Then he sped up. I told my husband jokingly, "he must be praying for protection, since he's quite the dare devil."

Some things that Italians have truly mastered is the food. Every dish we ate was spectacular. Even after getting sick of eating pasta, it was still delicious. And the gelato... I am an ice cream fanatic. I could live on ice cream. And I'm not too picky. My favorite is "Carvel" because I love soft ice cream. But I'm fine with Haagen-Dazs, Cold Stone, even Publix ice cream. But nothing beats gelato. It's just so creamy and yummy. I'm salivating just writing about it. I'm going to have to visit the UConn Dairy Bar this weekend to appease my ice cream fetish.

Another thing that they are really good at is the driving. I guess they have to when you have to navigate such narrow-curvy roads, and squeeze yourself into the tightest spaces to park. I did not witness an accident the entire time I was in Italy. I'm sure they happen, of course, but in Miami, rare is the day that I don't see an accident. In Italy, not even one. I guess all the signs of the cross they do while driving is working in their favor and the angels are working over time in Italy. 😜

My favorite Italian thing by a mile is "il dolce far niente" (the sweetness of doing nothing). It has nothing to do with being lazy. They are hard workers, but they have managed to find the perfect balance between work and life enjoyment. They have really mastered the joie de vivre. That is something we in the States could do a lot more off. I am convinced we would see a drop on heart attacks, cancer and all the other ailments that I have no doubt are directly related to stress. What is the point of working 50-60 hour weeks if we are not going to give ourselves time to enjoy life? We work and spend at the same rate, but we are accumulating material things and forgetting to enjoy the ones that are free: the smile of a child, walking hand in hand with a loved one, sitting at the beach doing nothing and truly enjoying it...

Some things they really need to improve in Italy, like the plumbing system. It should not be necessary to have to flush a toilet five times. And this happened in all the hotels, which were nice hotels. I can't imagine what would happen in one of those hostels that our young kids love to use when they travel abroad.

And in conclusion, as we have seen by the images of the horrible earthquake that struck Italy just a few days after we left, the Italians look out for each other. When push comes to shove, they unite and all the barriers are broken. Even in spite of the danger of the aftershocks, a whole country came together to save the victims. And even the neighboring countries and many other countries far and wide, offered a helping hand. Because at the end of the day, we are not Italians or Americans or Cubans or Jews or Christians or Muslems. We are humans and we all put family first. It would be great if we learned to join hands, not just when an earthquake strikes but all the time.

This truly was an amazing trip, in more ways than one, and even though I still have 180 countries to visit, Italy is definitely on my "return to" list.

Prego!!!

Journey into the Boot: Vatican City... We Saved the Best for Last

Saturday, August 20th

Today is our last day in Rome. Tomorrow is back to the good Yankee Doodle land. But we got one more day and we saved the best for last.

When we came to Italy with our kids and friends nine years ago, I tried to reserve the much coveted tour of the Necropolis, to get a glimpse of the tomb of St. Peter, friend of Jesus, first pope and my personal favorite apostle. Since we were a group of ten, I sent the request months in advance, but to my great disappointment, we were not able to obtain a reservation. This time around, I didn't even think of trying because I never thought I would have a chance with just a 3-week window. But my friend Mabel, one week before our trip, asked me if I was going to go visit the Scavi (or excavations) which is another name they use to refer to the Necropolis. I told her I had not even tried because it was too close. She told me, "you should try anyway, you never know." At this time I figured, why not? I have nothing to lose. So I researched it and found that the request had to be by mail or fax. It was too late by mail so I tried fax. By this time it was 11 am in Miami, therefore 5 pm in Italy. The fax was busy the entire time. I figured they probably disconnected it at night to avoid having thousands of faxes when they arrived in the morning. I tried again the next morning and same thing, but this time when I tried, I thought I heard a recording instead of a busy signal. It was hard to tell because after all, I was just standing next to the fax machine. So I decided to call from a landline and the phone was not busy, it just rang and rang and rang.

I went back online and did some further research. I found an email address for the Ufficio Scavi so I sent them an email with a kiss and a prayer. I was hoping for the best, but honestly, deep inside, I was not expecting a response. But God is good, really good, and He works in marvelous ways. In less than five minutes I had a response with a confirmation for a tour for Saturday, August 20th at 1:45 pm. I was by myself in the office, thank God or they would have thought I had gone bananas. I started jumping up and down, running around the office, sending a prayer of thank you to the Almighty. I had to pay the fee within 24 hours. I paid it within 5 minutes. And then I told my hubby. He didn't even know I was trying to book this. This is something that he wanted to see so he got very happy. The confirmation did say that since this was a Jubilee Year, we had to confirm two weeks before to make sure the tour had not been cancelled for another event. I never confirmed it. At this point, I had enough faith to know this would happen.

Therefore, since we had this in the afternoon, we left our visit to Vatican City for today. The first time we came, we visited the Vatican Museum and Basilica on our own. This time around, I decided to do it with a tour and I'm glad I did. It was a three hour tour and our guide was amazing. He was an encyclopedia of information. He started by giving us a history lesson about the Vatican, the Basilica, the Necropolis, the old church that stood there before the current basilica, about the works of art we were about to see, etc.

Then we entered the museum. I remember the first time we came, we had tickets for 9 am when it first open. A friend, can't remember who, had given us a tip to run all the way to the Sistine Chapel, see that first and then return to the museum. The five of us ran like maniacs through the museum until we got to the Sistine Chapel and for five minutes, we had it all to ourselves. I remember the magic of seeing such a magnificent work of art that I had heard so much about. But I really didn't understand everything about it, other than the obvious Genesis scenes (the creation, the birth of Adam, the serpent and the tree, etc). But it was a great advise, even though we almost miss the entire museum because then we didn't know how to get back to the beginning. But a nice Italian guard led us to a side door that took us back to the beginning without exiting the grounds. Today, that's probably impossible to do with all the heightened security. By the time we made our way around and got back to the Sistine Chapel, it was standing room only. So that visit was memorable mostly because of that. This time we went in order: the statues, the frescoes, the tapestries, the maps, the paintings... with a detailed explanation about everything.

And finally, we got to the Sistine Chapel. And yes, it was standing room only but this time around, I knew what to look for. I looked up in wonder, at the painting of God creating the sun. I saw God giving life to Adam by touching his finger. I looked in wonder at the wall that depicted the Last Judgment. I noticed how the scenes of Noah and the Ark were much smaller than all the rest, especially the size of the people. But we had gotten an explanation about that before we entered. When Michelangelo started painting the Sistine Chapel, those were the first scenes he painted. And when he uncovered them and looked at them from below, he realized he had made a huge mistake. You could hardly see the people from the floor below. Therefore, on the rest of the scenes he made the humans much bigger so you can actually see them very clear from below. I was mesmerized and so happy that I made the decision to come back to see it.

Afterwards we entered St. Peter's Basilica. Even the second time around this place is just beyond marvelous. One thing that was new was St. John Paul II's tomb. When we came last time, he had just passed away so his tomb was underneath and it was a plain wooden casket. I remember the hundreds of people lined up to see his tomb and they were leaving flowers, prayer cards, rosaries and all kinds of mementoes in his tomb. Since then he has been canonized and his tomb has been moved up to a place of honor.

By the time we finished, we had one hour to eat and go to the designated meeting point for our Scavi tour. We ate nearby in a cafeteria and at 1:30 we passed security, met the Swiss Guards by the gate and entered through a side door that led us to the Ufficio Scavi. We gave our names, they gave us our tickets and we were told to wait outside for the English tour. It was just 11 of us. They take down no more than 12 persons at a time.

Our guide took us through a set of stairs that brought us into the area below the basilica. There she gave us an explanation of what we were about to see. She said that in 1939, a group of archaeologists decided to find St. Peter's Tomb. They knew that after his death, the faithful recovered St. Peter’s body and buried it in a necropolis northwest of the circus (at the present site of St. Peter’s Basilica).

In 330, Emperor Constantine began building a huge basilica at the grave site to honor the first pope. He positioned the altar over the burial site of St. Peter. When Pope Julius began construction on the present St. Peter’s Basilica in 1506 to replace the decaying original basilica, the high altar remained over the burial site.

By 1950, archeologists concluded they had found the grave of St. Peter because they found a wall with Greek graffiti that read Petros eni, or “Peter is within." Other graffiti asked St. Peter to pray to Christ for deceased people. But unfortunately, the tomb was empty. But after more digging, they found a secret marble repository in the graffiti wall that contained bones. These bones had been wrapped in a purple fabric with gold threads. Were these St. Peter’s bones? And why were they separate from the grave?

The answer to the second question is easier than the first. The brick work of the repository dated to the reign of the Emperor Valerian (253-60). Valerian intensified the persecution of the church. Sealing the bones inside the marble graffiti wall secured them from desecration.

In the early 1960s, anthropologists studied the bones. All the bones were present except the feet and the skull. The anthropologists concluded the bones belonged to a man, between 60 and 70 years of age; about 5 feet, 7 inches tall; and of robust constitution — an apt description of St. Peter. The bones had been discolored by the earth (the same earth as in the grave). The purple and gold thread cloth (dated to the ancient Roman weaving techniques) was an extremely expensive cloth reserved for imperial honors, thereby befitting the first pope. And the fact that there were no feet meant that the man had probably been crucified. When the body was removed from the cross, the executioners simply severed the body from the feet nailed to the cross.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran, for at least 1,000 years has kept the relic of the skull of St. Peter. Another evidence since the skull was not part of the bones found. Comparison tests were done, and the anthropologists concluded nothing in the Lateran reliquary interfered with the Vatican bones. They speculated that the skull had been removed from the rest of the bones to preserve it.

Given this evidence, in February 1968, an official report was presented to Pope Paul VI who concluded that the bones had been “identified in a way which we can hold to be convincing.” I was certainly convinced.

We went down to an area of tunnels, very similar to the catacombs we visited yesterday. The first part was a pagan cemetery and the second part a Christian cemetery. There, we were able to see the graffiti wall and the box that holds Peter's bones. I got goosebumps.

Then we went to the level above, which holds a lot of Pope graves. I was a little disappointed that even though Peter's bones are maintained in the same way they were found, I felt that he was not being given a place of honor like the majority of the other popes. But I was pleasantly surprised when we got out that on the other side of the wall, they have made a tomb in marble and a chapel to honor him. Even pilgrims that cannot enter the Necropolis can visit the front of his tomb and say a prayer to St. Peter the Apostle.

This whole day was by far the crown ending to an amazing trip. I had so much to be thankful for. And then I realized that I had not bought a single gift to take back to my kids. So we did a little bit of shopping before returning to the hotel.

For our last night in Rome, we asked the hotel to recommend a really nice restaurant. They sent us to one in the neighborhood of Trastevere. It turned out to be the second best restaurant of our entire trip, right behind Don Alfonso in the Amalfi coast. We had dinner at Antica Pesa. From the appetizer of goat cheese with fresh figs and nuts, to the home made tagliolini with prawns, followed by grilled white fish fillet with Ferentano wine scented carrots sauce and green apple and mustard seeds tartare and the delicious chantilly cream milfoil with crunchy chocolate pearls and popcorn, everything was exquisite.

Arrivederci Italia.

Thank you Jesus, Mama Mary and all the saints that accompanied on this trip. It was perfect because You all lead the way. Protect us tomorrow as we fly back home to our family, friends and loved ones. And answer all the prayers of all those whose petitions we brought with us to Italy.

Amen.

Journey into the Boot: Pilgrim Rome... From church to church

I woke up this morning to the sad news that Italy had suffered a major earthquake. We are already safe back at home, thank God, I'm just a little late posting my last journal entries, which I finished writing on Sunday as we were flying home. My prayers go out to all the Italian people, especially in the areas most affected by the earthquake. If there are people trapped that are still alive, may they be found soon so they won't perish in the rubble. And may the family members of those that perished find consolation through their faith. In Jesus' name. Amen

Friday, August 19th

Another long day in Rome but I was really looking forward to this one because we were going to explore Rome like true pilgrims.

We began with the Borghese Gallery, not part of our pilgrimage but we also have a cultural side. This would have made the Roman Pass almost worth it except that I had already bought the tickets in advance for this one because they won't allow you in unless you have a reservation for a specific time. Ours was from 9 to 11. Enough time to admire all the paintings by Caravaggio, and all the beautiful sculptures by Bernini and others.

From there, we took a metro and headed towards the Apian Way, where most of the Christian catacombs are. The metro only took us half way there and then we couldn't figure out the bus system so we took a taxi for the rest of the way.

The first tomb we visited was the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, a wealthy woman who is buried in the Apian Way. Her tomb is not down in a catacomb. Her tomb is an entire building which is mostly in ruins by now.

From there we walked to the Church of St.Sebastiano, underneath which we entered the catacombs. They were pretty eerie but with a lot of history behind it. (My husband told me today 8/24 that while were down there, all he kept thinking was, "if there's an earthquake, we'll be buried down here." Little did we know that just a few days later there would be an earthquake).

We could have continued on to visit other catacombs but we figured they were all pretty similar and we were hungry and tired. Besides, my hubby had accepted that today was all about pilgrimage and he had promised me that in the afternoon, we could visit most of the basilicas.

As we were leaving the church, I found these two beautiful frescoes of two of our newest saints:

We took a taxi back to the hotel, had lunch nearby, went up to our room to freshen up, and then we headed back to the metro to begin our basilicas tour. Our first stop was San Paolo Fuori Le Mura (St. Paul Outside the Walls) where St. Paul is buried. It's called "Outside the Walls" because St. Paul was buried outside the walls of Rome. It's pretty far away but they have built him a pretty impressive basilica. And it was filled with pilgrims.

From there, we took the metro back and visited San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). This church holds the chains that they used on St. Peter when he was arrested. "The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, 'Get up quickly.' And the chains fell off his wrists." Acts 12 6:7 The chains are kept behind the altar.

There is also a beautiful sculpture of Moses inside the church by Michelangelo over the tomb of Pope Julius II who was pope from 1503 to 1513.

The rest of the churches were walking distance so we then walked over to Sta. Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) which holds a relic of the holy manger. This brought a big discussion between my hubby and myself. I believe anything they tell me but he's more of a Thomas. He had a hard time believing that this could really be from the manger in Bethlehem where Jesus was placed when he was born. And I guess he made me think and do some research because it's true, by the time people realized that Jesus was the Messiah 30 years later, how could they find the manger? It's not like Mary would have carried it back to Jerusalem with her and then later on to Egypt. So this is what I found:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04488c.htm.

A lot of studies have been done and whether the wood actually came from the holy manger or not, we may never know for sure on this lifetime, but I like to believe is real and I was very happy to have been able to see it, even if from afar.

We continued our pilgrimage to St. Giovanni Lateran. This church holds the seat of the bishop of Rome and is where Pope Francis gave his first mass after becoming Pope. Across the street is La Scala Sancta which is a set of 28 white marble steps which according to tradition, they are the steps leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus stepped on his way to trial. It's said that the stairs have drops from the blood of Jesus. The stairs are now covered in a protective framework of wooden steps but through holes in the wood, you can see the marble below. Hundreds of pilgrims go up the stairs on their knees daily. I did it nine years ago but this time around, I chickened out. My knees have been giving me trouble ever since I fractured the patella three years ago, so I didn't want to risk my last day in Rome messing them up. But my "Thomas" surprised me and went up on his knees. I went up a different set of stairs and waited for him in the chapel above. I was so proud of him.

We then walked over to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

This church holds a piece of the wood from the cross of Jesus' crucifixion, one of  the nails used to nail him to the cross, two thorns from His crown and a bone from St. Thomas finger. This was beyond humbling for both Rafe and I. We couldn't take pictures because they don't allow them but I found this on the internet (top is the wood, bottom left the thorns and bottom right the nail).

This was our last stop because by this time it was already 7:30 pm and most of the churches would be closed by now. We took a taxi directly to a restaurant near Piazza Navona that had been recommended to us by my friend Alina who is an expert in all things Rome. Ristorante Santa Lucia didn't disappoint with its delicious lobster and pasta dish, and amazing tiramisu.

We ate outside on their terrace because the weather by this time was perfect. In Italy, even if you melt during the day, the nights are nice and cool. And we have been extremely lucky because it has not rained at all, except for the one storm in Ravello.

After dinner we took another taxi back to the hotel and literally collapsed. And tomorrow, we have to wake up at the crack of dawn because we have a reservation to tour the Vatican Museums and need to be there by 8:30 am.

St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us.

Journey into the Boot: Into the Heart of Rome

Thursday, August 18th

Our first stop today was the Coliseum. We took the Metro to get there, and as the travel guide suggested, we bought a Roma Pass for a whooping 38.50 euros each. The Roma Pass card promised entry to two major attractions in 72 hours, public transportation for three consecutive days and the best part of all, no lines. This last part was enough to convince me. The problem was that it also convinced every single other tourist so when we got to the Coliseum, the line for the Roma Pass cardholders was longer than the line to buy the regular 12 euro ticket entrance. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. This turned out to be the worst decision ever.

After 30 minutes, we finally made it into the coliseum. Yesterday, was a very pleasant day in Rome because it was cloudy and there was a breeze. Today, the sun was out in full force and there was no air. So the coliseum was like an oven. But like good little tourists, we went all around, read all the signs that explained where every rock came from and what every entrance represented.

We took plenty of pictures and by 11 am we headed towards the Roman Forum, even though where I really wanted to go to was back to the air conditioned hotel to take a shower. Why am I so spoiled? The Roman Forum was covered by the Roma Pass, but I found out that it was also included in the 12 euro Coliseum ticket. 😡

Our next stop on my agenda for the day was Capitoline Hill and the Capitoline Museum. We skipped it altogether. It was just past noon and we were as tired as we had been last night. We found a caffe in Piazza Venezia and took a break for lunch and a very cold birre.

With renewed energies, we headed towards Piazza Gesu. This was one of my favorite churches when we came for the first time. Rafi had just graduated from Belen, Alex had just started and Ftr Fernandez-Travieso, one of the Jesuit priests, was with us. He gave us a private tour both of the main church and the little chapel and house next door where St. Ignitious of Loyola lived. We even celebrated mass in the little chapel. It makes a huge difference when you come by yourself. This time we had no VIP (very important priest) with us to give us a private tour and in addition, the main church was closed. I was very sad because I really wanted to see it again. I just had to be content with a picture outdoors.

But we continued our walk and the next church we found was open. My hubby asked me, "do you want to go in?" Honestly, I didn't want to. I was disappointed that I couldn't visit the one I wanted to visit and this looked like a little ugly church from the door. I had not even taken the time to step back and really look at it. Besides, I had never heard of Church of St. Andrea del Valle. I just told him, "whatever you want," figuring he would say let's keep going since he had already told me at the beginning of this trip that he was not planning to spend all his time visiting churches. To my surprise, he said, "let's go in." We walked in and "wow, wow, wow!!!" I was completely taken aback. This church was amazing. It shouldn't surprise me. This is not the first time this happens to me. Most churches in Italy are full of treasures, no matter how small. And this one just blew my mind. Maybe it was not as grandiose as Gesu Church, but it came pretty close. I knelt and said a prayer of gratitude, because when one door is closed, many times a better one opens.

When we walked out, we crossed the street to really take a good look at the church. The little black door, which was all I had noticed, was nothing in comparison to the whole building which was amazing. It made me think that sometimes we concentrate on the little problems and we forget to look at the whole picture. What seems ugly and insignificant may be the door to something amazing, bigger and beautiful.

After such an amazing discovery, my spirits were lifted and we retraced the same steps we had taken yesterday because my private photographer wanted to take pictures with the good camera. So once again we went to Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and Fontana di Trevi, with a small detour so I could have my daily dose of gelato. This time we went to Gioletti's, which is supposed to be Rome's oldest and most delicious Gelateria. I think they all claim to be the most delicious and honestly, I haven't had bad gelato in Italy. But this one was pretty fancy and quite yummy.

We then grabbed a taxi and headed back to the hotel. They recommended a restaurant just a few blocks away, Il Fellini, and that's where we had dinner after freshening up and removing two layers of Roman dust from our bodies.

St. Andrea del Valle pray for us.

Journey into the Boot: Rome... From Piazza to Piazza

Wednesday, August 17th

We truly conquered the train this time. Business was in "coda" and by this time we had figured out that "coda" meant the tail as it was leaving the station and not the other way around. So we did not get it wrong when we climbed on the carriage closest to us.

We arrived in Rome at 1 pm and the train station was just a ten minute taxi drive from our hotel, the Westin Excelsior Rome. Even though check-in was not until 3, our room was ready. We dropped off the luggage, unpacked, and headed out to walk through the streets of la Dolce Roma.

Our first stop was for lunch and I must confess that we did what I always criticize. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. Why do I criticize it? Because, really? To come to Italy and eat in an American restaurant is simply not acceptable. But after two weeks of pasta, paninis and cheese, we were dying for some Cuban food. Since that wasn't available, we picked the next best thing: hamburgers. Well, that's what my hubby had. I went for the chicken tenders instead. We ended up eating at the bar because it was that crowded... by Americans. We met the nicest waiter and waitress and had a wonderful conversation. She was from Madrid, born in Brazil and half Italian. He was 100% Italian. Super nice, like all Italians should be because they have a great reputation, but in my experience, not all of them are nice. I didn't get into a fight with any Italians this time around but nine years ago... Well, that's a story for another day.

After lunch we walked down to Piazza Barberini, up via Tritone and took a detour towards the Pantheon, which is always impressive. At this time my hubby, who became the official photographer on this trip, realized that he had left his good camera with all three lenses back at the hotel. But we were not about to go back, so thank God for IPhone cameras.

Before getting to the Pantheon, we saw a long line of people at a Gelateria. We figured, such a line means it must be really good gelato, so we stopped to buy one. And I had to agree with the crowd, it was really good.

We continued through Largo Argentina which has some abandoned ruins. In Italy, any building must take years to lift off the ground because it seems that every time they excavate, they find an underground treasure. From there we tried to find Campo de Fiori and got lost, even with a map. After going around a maze of streets, we finally found it, even though at first I thought I was in the wrong place. For some reason, in my mind, Campo de Fiori was a "flower garden" or at the very least a park. It turned out to be another piazza with a statue and some good history behind it.

We then headed to Piazza Navona, took pictures at its famous fountain and entered the pretty church.

We then headed to Piazza Colonna. In Italy, you go from piazza to piazza and church to church. But on this journey, I also ran into this guy from back home:

Then we made our way to Fontana di Trevi which as usual, was packed with tourists trying to throw in a coin over their shoulder to guarantee a return to Rome. Another thing I missed doing nine years ago and yet, I'm back.

We then headed to another piazza and its impressive Spanish Steps, which unfortunately were closed for restoration.

At Piazza di Spagna we didn't stay long because we were exhausted. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we just decided to call it a day and ordered room service for dinner.

We have three full days ahead of us in Rome. No need to conquer Rome in one day.

Buona notte!!!

Journey into the Boot: Firenze, Un Regalo Per I Sensi

Tuesday, August 16th

We woke up early because we wanted to get to the Duomo before it opened its doors at 10. In this hotel, breakfast was not included, which turned out to be a good thing because we got to have a very nice breakfast at a caffe in Piazza de la Signoria.

In Italy, you have to be patient. The Italians are never in a hurry. Even though we wanted to get to the Duomo early, breakfast took forever. By the time we got there it was already 10. They still had not opened but the line already snaked its way all around the piazza. We made our way to the end of the line and prepared ourselves to wait. When they opened, the line moved pretty quickly. We were inside in just twenty minutes. The official name of the Duomo is "Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore." And it's simply beautiful both inside and outside.

A few blocks from there, in Piazza di San Marco, I discovered an even more beautiful place for my taste, thanks to the recommendation of my friend Alina. We visited the Monasterio di San Marco or also known as Fra Angelico's Monastery. Even though it does not have the magnitude and fame of the duomo, I felt in love with its simplicity. It also had an incredible treasure of frescoes. The bottom floor had lots of beautiful art work depicting scenes like the Annunciation, the Coronation of Mary, the Nativity, the Crucifixion, etc.

And on the second floor, each of the monks cells had a beautiful fresco painted on the wall.

My favorite of all was this fresco of the Annunciation which you encounter as you walk up the stairs.

Afterwards, we visited the Basilica di Santa Croce, whose outside architecture resembles that of the Duomo but in a smaller scale.

This church holds the tombs of important artists, like Michelangelo, and well-known scientists, like Galileo.

But to me, even more impressive, was finding that they had a piece of the clothing and cord used by St. Francis of Assissi.

And this beautiful statue of Mama Mary.

I also liked some of the works of art held there.

After lunch we walked over to Ponte Vecchio, where it seemed that all of Florence had congregated.

I personally like Ponte Vecchio more from the outside than from the inside. On the inside is just a street of shops, mostly jewelry stores. We walked over to Palazzo Pitti but there was long line standing under the hot Florence sun, so we decided to skip it this time around. We returned to our hotel through a different bridge, that way we could take some nice pictures of Ponte Vecchio.

At night, the hotel recommended a very nice restaurant for dinner, Il Locale. What we liked the most about it is that it's built among old buildings, so the bar uses the wall of a building as it's backdrop. Very original and beautiful.

And the food, like all food in Italy, did not disappoint. We began with a tray of seafood that was spectacular. Rafael chose fish and I went for the beef, a filet that was so soft I was able to cut it with my fork. And of course, dessert, coffee and limoncello.

Florence is truly a gift to the senses and God willing, we'll be back again someday.