St. Paul Outside the Walls

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Philly

St. Paul Outside the Walls is one of Romes four major (papal) basilicas. We were lucky enough to go visit it with some friends of ours. The Basilica was originally founded by Emperor Constantine I over the burial site of St. Paul in 370. In 386 it was renovated and extensively remodeled under Theodosius I. Throughout the years, St. Paul Outside the Walls has been damaged by natural disasters and human inflicted damage, including Saracen invasions in the 9th century.

Panorama taken of the facade.

A closer look at the incredible mosaics on the facade of the church.

A walkway up to the church entrance.

The intricate scrollwork on each column

A shot from an interesting angle, again of a column.

The main nave of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

One of the side naves with a couple of little buggers (Augustin, Christian, and Antonio) posing for a photo. 😉

Party with neighbors

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Philly

On May 31st the lady who lives below us (with Jakob) threw us a little bit of a going away party for us to see the neighbors and everything because we were leaving the Rome area that week. We had grilled fish, grilled meats, and grilled cheese (actual cheese, on the grill-not the sandwich). We also had some pizzas that they cooked in their outdoor oven. The night was finished off with a variety of desserts and a fruit torture device. 🙂

Food getting ready to be set out. She and I created that fruit thingy in the back and we were quite proud of it notwithstanding the fact that it almost took a nosedive for the floor and it looked like it might hurt the floor.

Cheeses to be grilled, then eaten hot and stringy. Yum!

A type of bread with spinach and cheese in some and prosciutto and cheese in others.

Everybody digging in and socializing.

Same as above. 🙂

Checking the various meats and fishes for doneness. Alex, Andrew, Cristina, and another friend.

Turin

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Philly

On Friday, June 14th in the morning we went to Turin. Dad actually went to talk with someone about work and so while he was in there we all went to the Juventus Stadium. Alex (a Juventus fan) trotted around grinning while we took pictures.

After that we went into the town (we picked dad up first…. we contemplated leaving him but we didn’t want any axe murderers to get him. We had already bought his tickets after all! 😉 )

We first went into the National Museum of Cinema. (which didn’t allow you to take pictures. and quite honestly was only “eh”)

The outside, all we were able to take a picture of.

The duomo where the Shroud is kept.

Where the Shroud is. The box above it was where the royal family would hear the mass. The Shroud is only actually on display once every blue moon. Usually it is covered.

A cool shot of a motorcycle that Andrew got.

The famous bar of Turin that never closes.

The river Po.

It is a popular tradition to stand on the bull in one of the main Piazzas of Turin.

We somehow always seemed to end up at this street corner… Hmm… Is someone trying to hint something…?

Villa d’Este and Dad’s Birthday!

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Philly

On Dad’s birthday we went to one of his favorite places in Italy, Villa d’Este. Villa d’Este was originally commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito d’Este. Cardinal d’Este had been lobbying for the papacy and was appointed governor of Tivoli (where Villa d”este is located) by Julius (who had been elected) to earn Cardinal Ippolito’s loyalty. When Julius started building a palace and gardens, Ippolito took over a Monastery and started building what is currently known as Villa d’Este. Hundreds of fountains are supplied with water from the Aniene River.

Mom and Dad right after we got there.

Mom and Dad acting like an old married couple (oh, wait, they are an old married couple. :))

Momma looking like a movie star.

Mom and Dad on the stairs leading up to the Villa.

Please note Andrew being a creeper at the end of the bushes on the right hand side.

A spirally stair case.

Alex

Ostia Beach with the Family

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Philly

Mom and Dad got back late last night, so today we all went as a family to the beach. It was very windy and rather chilly, so we didn’t do any swimming, just walking around. It was a very nice time just relaxing with the family.

But first. this is how we started our day… (you will probably see a lot of this little guy as he lives just below us)

Teaching him bad manners…. Crazy boys!

Jakob taking a rest with Big Al.

On to the beach!

Me and Alex looking at something interesting. I can’t remember what.

Mom enjoying the waves

To be perfectly honest, this picture wasn’t SUPPOSED to look like this. Gus was digging in the sand…. Andrew saw a piece of wood….. I had a camera…. It just happened…. I am not sure Augustin actually knows we took this picture. We’re sneaky like that. 🙂

Andrew doing a handstand!

A cool picture of Alex. However, after I took that picture (I may have not warned him there was an enormous wave coming. I wanted a good picture…) His expression changed to….

(actual picture, I continued snapping as he jumped down, his back soaking wet.)

A nice picture of Dad.

The four kids. Unfortunately at this point our camera lenses were coated in water and salt.

Me, no that is not a horn sprouting, that is a wild lock o’ hair!

Mom and Alex

The three boys (again, wind, salt and mist made for a hard time capturing photos)

Me again.

The three boys also went across the street at some point during the day and have this gem to show for what they do in their free time!

Making Mozzarella di Bufala

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Philly

We went to a little cheese and meat shop to watch how they make Mozzarella di Bufala on the recommendation of one of our friends here. Mozzarella di Bufala is made of the milk from water buffalo that generally are raised in the Campania region of Italy.

The milk arrives already curdled at this shop. Before they get it, the Buffalo milk is curdled and then strained into the mass you see above.

The curd is then cut into pieces and ground up.

After it is removed from the grinder, it is tossed around to loosen up the curd that is now in small pieces.

Boiling water is then added to melt the curds down and make them pliable.

After that the mixture is then strained of most of its water while still allowing little pockets of flavorful milk mixture to form in the mozzarella.

The cheese continues to be stretched and pulled by one guy while the other two prepare the next step.

A piece of Mozzarella about the size of a man’s head is pulled off and taken over to a brine of cold water.

With one man pulling, the other man quickly shapes balls about the size of a baby’s head until the original large piece is almost done. The little bit remaining is thrown back in to heat back up until it is pliable. This is continued until that entire vat is empty. Then they start all over again.

As you can see Mozzarella isn’t the only cheese that this shop makes. But it is certainly our favorite.

If you are interested in reading more about Mozzarella di Bufala, this site is very informative and interesting.

*The pictures were taken with an iPhone mainly through a glass door, I am sorry they aren’t very high quality…

The Three Musketeers (or Stooges) on their own

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Philly

The three boys went into Rome on their own while I went around with a friend of ours and her adorable baby, Jakob.

Jakob getting ready to eat

Sleepy boy

The boys went to the Liberation Museum which was the Prison and headquarters used during the Nazi occupation in Rome. (Sept. 11, 1943 – June 4, 1944)

Entrance to the Museum.

Cell No. 1

Various official Nazi documents.

Writing in the wall reading “Lieutenant A. Paladini sentenced to die.” Arrigo Paladini was born in Rome and after getting involved in some resistance work was caught by the Gestapo on May 4, 1944. He was tortured until June 4th, 1944 when he happened to escape while on his way to be shot.

A calendar on the wall from one of the inmates.

A British flag also carved into the wall.

A sign reading “the bread of Ignazio Vian with his final farewell to his family” Ignazio Vian was in Torino, Italy, on a mission when he was arrested by the Fascists. He was tortured repeatedly but would not give any information about the resistant forces. He tried to commit suicide in prison so that he couldn’t be forced, in a moment of weakness, to reveal anything he knew, but the attempt failed. He was later “tried” and hung.

After the museum the boys went to the Janiculum Hill where a howitzer is fired off everyday at noon.

Getting ready!!

Andrew enjoying the view

Alex enjoying the view

The boys then walked to the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument and went to the top to look around Rome.

In the background the Colosseum and in the foreground the church San Giuseppe dei Falegnami (St. Joseph’s of the Carpenters)

Colosseum from the Vittorio Emanuele Monument

No explanation needed….. 😀

I, on the other hand…. Spent most of my day like this.

Villa Borghese

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Philly

Saturday we wandered around Rome a little and then met up with a friend of ours. Together we walked up to Villa Borghese and hung out there. It was a nice change of pace to be around all that greenery and fountains after hustling and bustling center city.

Gus… Being Gus…

The lake inside the gardens

Photo without Andrew

Photo WITH Andrew!

We walked with our friend to his bus stop and on the way there we watched a bunch of street performers. It was fascinating to see the various ways they could contort their bodies.

Later that evening we went back to Villa Borghese to try and get into the Borghese Gallery and Museum. It was supposed to be free because it was a promotional night at the museum. Turns out that you had to make a reservation. They had left that out of the promotional banners etc. so when we got there we were told we couldn’t get in. However, as we were sitting by a fountain being depressed another group of people came up asking for directions and they hadn’t known either. It made us feel better that we weren’t the only ones… 😉 We did get a few nice pictures of the actual building and of a nearby fountain at night.

Piazza del Popolo and il Pincio

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Philly

The kids are still going strong on their own! On Friday we walked around Piazza del Popolo and people watched there. Then we headed up to the Pincio which is a hill that lies to the north of the Quirinal and overlooks Campus Martius.

Andrew sitting on one of the water shooting lions in the Piazza.

The view from il Pincio.

Three boys fooling around on some little pillars/columns

How we arrived at the above picture of Alex, Andrew and Augustin standing.

Kids on their own

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Philly

Today Mom and Dad left early for Vienna. But the kids went in to Rome on their own and did a little site seeing. We went to the Colosseum, and its surrounding area, the Bocca della Verità, (the Mouth of Truth – Gus didn’t do so well there…. 🙂 ), and Trevi Fountain. We went to grab a kebab for lunch shortly afterwards and went to Old Bridge. Again. After that we headed to St. Peter’s to try and actually get in this time. We spent most of our time there, then we went home and ate.