Past two weeks....

So, after Paris, we've been in Ariccia for the past two weeks. We have been all over Italy again, and finally made our trip (last Thursday) to the Vatican City. Susanna, who is one of the historians at the Palazzo Chigi, was our tour guide for the day. One of the great things about our teachers, who have become our friends, are our tour guides. Also, since they live and work in Ariccia and Rome, they have connections all over the city. One of Susanna's friends is a restorer in the Vatican and he was working on an ancient mosaic. We got to go behind the scenes and see them working on the intricate design to preserve the original tiles. We met the restorer and got to watch his tedious work as he chiseled the tiny replacement tiles into the exact shape so they would fit exactly in the tiny missing spot of the mosaic.

We also had the privilidge of having Marco, who is a WW2 expert because he lived here through it all, take us to Anzio to see where the allied forces landed.

There is a beautiful United States cemetery that we visited, it was pouring down rain, but we still among the thousands of white marble crosses looking at all of the names. It felt so good to see the American flag flying.

We made our way to Frascati for lunch, and tried to buy some wine but everything was closed. (In Italy, most small towns close for one day out of the week, and they are all also closed on Sunday).
Today was the best day of the past two weeks. We visited a local olive harvesting farm just about ten minutes away. They don't just harvest their own olives, but the locals bring their olives there and pay them to press it (hot or cold press) into oil. We got to go into the olive orchard and see the ladies stripping the olives from the trees with their little hand held plastic rakes (they looked like toys we used to play with in the sandbox). They even let us pick some! They drag large net tarps underneath each tree to gather the olives.

Afterwards, we went into a large warehouse where they were putting the olives into large vats, separating them into different crates based on how ripe they were, then pouring them into a crusher, then to the presser, etc....
The fresh oil is BRIGHT green, and so much lighter than the oil we are used to buying in the states. Also, the unfiltered oil (which tastes the best) is very cloudy, and we were able to buy some (which we weren't expecting, since it wasn't a retail place). They best part was the bruschetta they had for us at the end. They toast their bread over an open fire, then pour the fresh oil over the bread. We tasted the oil from the hot press and the cold press, I liked the cold press most. It was such a neat experience, unbelievable everyday life for these people.

Tomorrow we are headed to Venice for the weekend!! I'll be home in 3 weeks and a day!!!

Paris!!

Early last Saturday morning, Margaret, Ali, and I boarded our "budget airline" Ryanair flight to Paris. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep the night before because, for as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of going to Paris. The flight was fine, but it felt weird to have vendors going up and down the isles selling perfume and other tax free goods, not to mention the fact that the plane itself looked like it had been built with yellow and blue legos. The view from the window was beautiful, and as we were preparing for landing, the pilot spoke these words (in english, then italian, then french) " As you can see from your window, there are extreme levels of fog on the ground and there have already been two unsuccessful landings, we will circle the airport and let you know when we have a plan." So... all I could think was "What does an 'unsuccessful' landing mean??!?" We circled the airport for what seemed like forever and he then informed us we were going to land in Brussels, Belgium and would have transportation back to the Paris airport (he forgot to mention that it would be six hours later). So... long story short, and an even longer day of traveling we finally made it to the City of Lights. It was worth every minute of our travel complications and when we got to our hotel, we were all three giddy.
We had an amazing meal, and FINALLY got some good grilled chicken!

The next three days were spent wandering the streets of Paris, up the Champs Elysee, to the Iffel tower, along the river, etc. etc. etc. We went to Ile St. Louis one day and had cafe and crepes just in time for a cold winter drizzle. The weather was cloudy, but that's how I imagined Paris to be. The french know how to cook, and we took full advantage of their talents and their wine. The little cafes and restaurants are just like you see in pictures and the waiters are even like I'd always thought they'd be. It was the best place to be when anticipating something because time goes by so fast.
My anticipation ceased on Wednesday morning when Caleb arrived IN Paris!!! He really did! He bought a ticket the week before and met me in Paris! Ali and Margaret headed to Austria on Wednesday morning and I headed to the airport to meet him. I couldn't wait to see him and I know the lady at the information counter was SO annoyed with me because I kept asking the status of the flight. I read every english magazine in the airport store to pass the time and when he finally came through baggage claim, it was the greatest feeling in the world.

We spent the next three days in Paris exploring the city. Paris is so huge and every part of it is different so I hardly saw the same thing twice, plus we had so much fun figuring out the metro. We'd stop for hot chocolate (and coffee)(and wine) and end up talking for hours.

Caleb loves hot chocolate, and they make it right in France- at one cafe, they brought a little thing of hot milk with a little thing of hot melted dark chocolate and an empty mug and you poured it together yourself!
The city is so beautiful at night so after dinner it was nice to walk around the busy streets.

One night we ate at an Egyptian restaurant which was very different, no one spoke english, and the served cinnamon on the couscous! We didn't actually mean to eat there, we thought it was french restaurant from the outside, but the food was really good!
Friday morning we walked to Luxembourg gardens which were the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen.


On Friday night at 7pm, our overnight train to Rome left.... without us. We were on the way to the train station but got stuck in rush hour traffic AND it was the day before All Saints Day which is one of the biggest holidays here. Bottom line... we missed our train. I was NOT happy because I thought we were going to have to buy 2 more overnight tickets (which aren't cheap) and I definitely didn't want to make the 18 hour train ride during the day. Luckily, when I bought the tickets, I had flexible options, which means I could reschedule after I missed it. Thank goodness. So, we had an extra night in Paris and caught the train on Saturday night to Rome!
We arrived in Rome around 10am Sunday morning. We had planned to have 2 days there, but because of the train mishaps, this was our only day, and Caleb was determined (as was I) to see everything. We jumped on the train to Ariccia and he got to see my world here- the hotel, the palace, the little restaurants where we eat, etc. We had lunch (pasta, bruschetta, wine and a biscotti from the local pastry shop) in Ariccia and took the train back to Rome where we did a complete tour of the city in about five hours. Colessum, Roman Forum, Via del Corso, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, etc. He LOVED the gelato (he had it twice!). We had dinner outside on Piazza del Popolo. **Remind one of us to tell you the story about the men with the roses.. hilarious, but too long to type**
He left the next morning and I headed back to Ariccia. We had the best time together, and I want to live in Paris!!