Two for One

June 10, 2016

Day 2 continued--Vatican City and The Colosseum

Tim and I have been talking a lot about our visit to Vatican City and The Colosseum. With absolutely no disrespect, as Protestants, there was no deep spiritual connection for us at the Vatican. At the Vatican, there are places that are off limits to those who are not high ranking religious figures. In fact, during this year of Jubilee, there are sections of St. Peter’s Basilica that are roped off now that are not roped off during other years.

The Vatican Museum, The Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica are wonderous works of art, that I do think were built and painted by inspired men, especially Michaelangelo, who allegedly said he would paint the ceiling, not because the Pope asked him to, but because God told him to. This place is special because of the incredible ingenuity of man, inspired by God. In each detail, from the correct proportions required to build the dome of the basilica to the smallest brushstrokes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, God directed man’s hand. He gave us our brains and our own sense of wonder, creativity, and curiosity. That's what made it so cool to me. Thanks to the Roman Catholic Church for giving access to those of us who are not on a pilgrimage to see the Pope, but those who want to see these incredible works of art.

The Colosseum had a completely different feel. While according to our guide, Donatello, there is no written history of Christians being martyred at the Colosseum; there are commonly held believed that those who professed their faith in Christ and did not bow to the Roman gods, were executed, fed or thrown to the beasts, or were sent into battle to most probably die. I had thoughts of Russell Crow in the Gladiator intermingled with thoughts of men who would not acknowledge the Roman emperors, considered one of many gods in Rome. Most of what went on inside this arena (which, by the way is the Latin word for sand), was the depravity of man at its worst--men and beast pitted against each other to fight until one of them died just for the sake of pure entertainment. Men pitted against men in the same fight-to-the-death battles or men fed to the lions because they would not acknowledge the rulers or gods of the day.

The other part that was so very difficult to swallow was the sheer number of slaves it took to build this colossal (hence the nickname the Colosseum) building. Many times a person was given the choice to work as a slave, where he was likely to die from the work, or to fight to the death (be it his own or his opponents). Often times the fighter, even though he killed his opponent, died of complications from the wounds anyway. Some choice.

It was a stark juxtaposition between "good" and evil--the awful things done in this building and the slave labor that actually built it compared to the marvel of engineering it took and the courage of people standing their ground and refusing to bow to no other god but One. On a lighter note--those were some really old rocks and that was cool.

June 11, 2016

Drive to Alberobello--day 3

Today was quite a bit slower. We drove the A-1 to A-16 then made our way to Selva di Fasano in the boot of Itally. We are in the trulli region. You'll learn about that tomorrow.

On the drive, we stopped at Monte Cassino, and visited a cemetery memorializing the site of a WW II battle in Italy. There is an abbey on a hill. The Italians thought the Germans occupied it..we'll never really know...(I know, I should know more details but I don't.) Ask Tim if you're interested. :)

We drove through the wheat belt of the country. Tim could quickly identify the crop, I could quickly identify the culinary significance of the crop...durham wheat-->flour-->pasta! I love that Dina, our guide for the whole trip, peppers our drives, long and short, with interesting facts, personal stories (she was raised in Australia by Italian parents), and a passion for the country and its people.

The countryside we saw today was so lovely--little villages perched on little hills with rolling fields of wheat, vineyards, and as we got closer to the Puglia region, beautiful olive trees. The only thing that even comes close is the Yakima Valley, in Washington State. The contours of the land were similar but lack the wheat fields.The patchwork of greens and browns with dwellings built right on the tops of the hills was beatiful...not yet Under the Tuscan Sky beautiful...that's coming later.

In addition to some history and agriculture, we also learned about Italy's current state of affairs--unemployment, commerce, tourism, more culture, where they go on holiday--if you want those details you can ask me when I get home.

As I've learned from the countless Giada and Mario cooking shows, each region eats according to it's agriculture and farming and has its own specialties. This was confirmed by Dina's reference to what's in season and what grows best in each region. Tonight, we ate in what I would call a little gas station ala Quik-Trip. However, instead of just hot dogs rollers, there was panini (mine--focaccia crudo di parma--procciutto, arugula, and mozzarella on a crazy good fococcia; Tim's--a good Italian bread, ham, and mozzarella), arancini, and other assorted "stuff" at a deli counter, as well as cookies, crackers, breadsticks, chocolate, candies, and drinks. It was pretty awesome.

For dinner tonight, we ate at our hotel. It was a surprisingly good meal for a hotel. We started with an appetizer of fried vegatables, then a salad, a pasta course--cherry tomatoes, bacon, maybe some butter, and an herb (which I am going to try very hard to recreate when I get home), mixed pork grill, consisting of a sausage, belly, butt, and loin with sea beans, and roasted potatoes, and for dessert, whew, almost thought we may miss it today--gelato--vanilla and hazelnut--so good!

Okay, it's 2 in the morning here--I've got to get to bed! Buona notta!