Happy to be Home Again

All travelling TLs and friends are home now and, despite exhaustion and, in my case, a marked limping, we have been flung back into the fray of the work of schools (and accounting). It was a wonderful excursion. In addition to feet unequal to the task of walking all day long, I have learned that one or more of us suffered from Stendhal Syndrome -- that was the day Frances ran in distress through the Uffizi Gallery muttering about it being all too much, Jan went to look for her, Chris and Joanne were nowhere to be seen, and I wandered off into Florence in a fog, wondering if I would ever find them again. Stendahl Syndrome is also called Florentine Syndrome and is a common reaction to too much beauty, particularly evident in people who go to the Uffizi. Why didn't we know this before we went in!

News of the conference, you ask? Highlights will follow when jet lag and work-related shock have abated. I miss my daily gelati, pizza to die for, wine with lunch, and waking up laughing because my roommates were so much fun. It's hard to believe: five days in an apartemente in medieval Trastevere, above a bar, five days on an agriturismo (an olive farm) near Florence with drivers Beppe and Lorenzo to cart us off to unimaginable sights and shopping, three days in Venice in a five-star hotel where the room overlooked Venice and the pool on the roof looked out on the Adriatic and forever and vaporettos took us to unimaginable sights and shopping, and a conference that put our world of school libraries into the international context.

Life here in BC pales beside the Italian reality of walking daily through grade 8 history, of hot hot days and balmy evenings out in the piazzas and the narrow streets and steep hills, of shop windows each a tribute to Italian instincts for design and beauty, of the many Santa Marias de Tutti, of galleries and of days spent shopping for the ones we left behind. But my feet and my psyche, damaged by Stendhal Syndrome, are in need of the rest that sees me walk to the car, from the car to the elevator, from the elevator to my new little cubicle with a view of the intersection of Broadway and Granville where I can ponder all that I have seen and learned. I haven't had time to think ... only to remember a truly amazing experience with some dear dear teacher-librarians and an accountant with stamina.

Thanks, all, for the company and adventures you created. We are going to get together soon to compile the photo account and divvy up the writing about the conference.

Dispersing the Frenzy of Travellers

I got up with Frances this morning at 3:30 to see her off to the airport. Here's the proof she's coming home ... we will miss her terribly, not only here but in the days that follow. This wouldn't have been the remarkable and hilarious event without her and her wonderful expertise in all things Italian (except animals). We thank her family for enabling her to be part of this, both the travelling and the conference.

Here are Frances and Mary hanging out with Ray Doiron. Canadians were a strong presence at the conference.

Here are Chris and Frances, with our new TL friend Karen from Sweden, hanging out with Aidan Chambers.

Word has been received that Jan has arrived home exhausted after a wonderful day in Paris. Joanne has checked in, or is that old news ... back to work in next to no time, as we will be by Tuesday next week.

Mary has left to meet up again with her friend Lindsay. She'll be back on Monday. Chris and I had intended to head off to Verona or Vicenza today (it's Saturday) BUT have opted instead to spend the day enjoying Abano Teme. This is a small but lovely town, unlike any other Italian place we have been. It is a spa town, with many hotels that sit atop the geothermal waters of the region, a town that is always full of older German tourists as it is a well-known health destination. The menus are in Italian and sometimes have German translations. As with every Italian town, the streets are full of strolling people ... these are seniors and the language is often German.

Just one day of relaxing ... after a busy but indescribably beautiful "learning" holiday in this wonderful country of Italy. I for one will be signing up for Italian classes. Guess I shouldn't have had that espresso with Frances before she left. It's 5:50 am now and I think I will be running out of steam today. This may be a good thing so I can get to sleep early as tomorrow is the day Chris and I have to get up at 3:30 am.

This is me "graduating" from the University of Padua. Did I mention we studied in the same room Galileo taught mathematics in? See you all soon.

Here in Padua and Abano Terme

Darn! I posted this to the wrong blog. Only if you check the TLSpecial blog would you know that we arrived, some left, others came, to Padua and Abano Terme ... and I have only just discovered the problem. Given the internet costs and time constraints, I thought I had a least kept you up to date on where we were and who was with us. Anyway, I am relocated the blog entry from several days ago now ...

I have finally decided I can't live without paying for the internet which is mercifully just a little bit cheaper here at the conference at 17 euros for 24 hours. Joanne left us, and Jan too. Joanne, we understand, is now safely home and Jan will be in Paris. Mary has now joined us.

Yesterday we were taken for our day-long pre-c0nference event at the University of Padua where, amongst other speakers, and in the room where Galileo lectured, we heard Aidan Chambers and all became fans. Find out more about him by searching online ... or read my summary from the Fall Bookmark because he was at UBC last summer.

David DiGregorio, attending the IASL Conference from Tenafly, NJ, has just posted this to the LM_Net: AIDEN CHAMBERS speaks to IASL at the Palazzo del Bol - in the same hall that Galileo lectured his students in the 1590s! Click here to see it "on demand."

David also filmed Frances interpreting for an interview with an artist whose best friend influenced his work and who is Frances's favourite children's writer. That link will follow, I am sure.

Just wanted to let you know we are alive and well and all pressed to find even a few moments to get caught up on email, blogging, or keeping our affairs in order. I have absolutely got no time to insert photos so this will have to wait. I have to run to find everyone before they discover my absence from the conference venues. Fortunately, my feet will undergo less stress and should shortly be returned to their normal appearance.

Do Wild Boars "Mosey" or Charge?

These and other profound questions are now set aside ... internet costs are prohibitive at 12 euros for 60 minutes to be used in 24 hours. Guess where we are now? Sorry, we are alive but the shuttle is awaiting us for the Vivaldi concert at St Mark's Square. Frances fled this morning in a frenzy of luggage to the world of soccer. Hope to see her again soon. Found Mary and her friend this afternoon in St Mark's Square. Jan is my new roommate and I am going to kill her if she says ... oh no, it is now the phone as the shuttle anxiety escalates! Gotta run ... all's well. Love the gondolieri, by the way.

Charging off in all Directions at Once

Yesterday was a little confused as we tried to meet mulitple needs to see and experience places south with our new driver Lorenzo. Here's Lorenzo with Frances:

To add to Joanne's wisdom, another rule is never to stuff too much into one day here in Italy. It is simply not possible to get a driver, aim for two mountain fortress towns to the south by two hours (Perugia and Assisi), stop by little lakeside beaches for gelato, shop for shoes, undertake a spiritual journey, eat regularly but with appreciation of the wonderful food and wine, meet up with old friends, discover Etruscan and other beautiful art and architecture, and so on. Needless to say, we made it home still laughing ... and I have acquired a taste for the wild boar dishes of the region. Neighbours reported hearing the wild boar in the grove by their front door here! Here is a picture from our Assisi collection ...

Today we are to be driven -- yes, we have Lorenzo again for the day -- to Venice, via Ferrara which, given the numbers of pairs of shoes we have acquired, is deemed advisable. We are travelling one step at a time here now! Mary will be in Venice by the time we get there.

The adventures for today have begun already. Jan who is a follower of St Frances and St Clare has been protecting the creatures that find their unlucky selves here. This morning she "saved" a black widow that had spent the night amongst her sheets. I believe her ... but saved it for what?

Hope you are all having even half as much fun as we are ... my legs are much better and better in the morning than the evening. Yesterday was only 4.5 kms (with a lot of climbing up the narrowest streets you can imagine). Early morning blogging while overlooking the Tuscan valley in the splendid morning sun must be given over to the inevitable attempt to stuff everything back into suitcases.

Moira

Thunder and Lightning

This blog entry is from Joanne, fellow traveller and Chris's friend, now ours:

Another adventurous day in Tuscany. Moira is reclining on the couch with her feet up (they are now happy feet) so I am taking over the blog for tonight. Please bear with me.

We were picked up this morning by Beppe and headed off for major shopping. The first stop was a leather outlet mall which featured beautiful purses, gloves and belts. The colours and textures were beautiful and many purchases were carted back to the van. The next stop was heaven for Francesca as she found a major outlet mall. No further comments. After that we drove through the Tuscan country side to Sienna. It is a beautiful medieval village that features an annual horse race through the village. First stop was the Duomo (cathedral) which was extremely elaborate with an exquisite marble floor, a Michaelangelo statue, Bernini chapel and Donetello chapel. Well worth the visit. We purchased the 10 euro pass which also gave us access to the museum and the crypt. Highly recommended. The statuary in the museum dates to the 12th Century and there are places in the floor where you can see down to the original floor level several feet down. The frescos are 800 years old and very beautiful. It is quite a contrast from the cathedral next door. As we emerged, we got caught it a major rainstorm where the thunder was rolling right above us. We found a few doorways to hide in as we made our way down the hill to the Piazza del Campo and then Piazza del Mercato. We stopped into a pizzeria for shelter and a slice of artichoke, pomodoro and funghi pizza and then the rain stopped and we could safely go down to the parking lot and meet up with Beppe again. We were absolutely soaked but happy with the experience. Next stop was San Gimignano, another medieval village known for its many towers. This village was quite wealthy and the local families vied for the tallest and most elegant tower, with the result that there were over 70 towers in the town. Unfortunately the building boom came to an end when the town was devasted by the black plague in 1348. The town is largely preserved in time with narrow alleys, shops and brick houses. We had a wonderful dinner of bruschetta and white vernaccia which is unique to this region. These grapes grow in the tuffa rock fields which retain water and do not require irrigation. We drove back to our "villa" in Petrognano and sampled a bottle of the red with much discussion, hilarity and reviewing of the day. Tomorrow is Assisi to see the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Saint Mary of the Angels) which incorporates St. Francis's original church in the newer building, and Perugia. We are enjoying each day's new experiences.

Some travel hints - most days we have a car and driver. This has been a huge advantage over relying on trains/taxis or renting a car. Both options are possible, but with a driver we do not have to stress about routes, parking and we have a completely flexible agenda. Plus the driver provides a lot of insight into the places we are seeing. And the price has been manageable as we are splitting the costs 5 ways.

The restaurants are very good and our meal in San Gimignano tonight cost only 12 euros per person for a large open faced sandwich (Bruschetta) and wine. Find a restaurant that is a block or two off the main drag and serves local food.

Each stop reveals a rich history of the region and people. Do your research before you go and take the time to check the on-site information - guides, audio guides, information panels etc. Otherwise you may miss that Michaelangelo that is right under your nose!

Wild Boars and Other Interesting Escapes

Today was supposed to be a quiet day here in the olive groves of the Arno Valley. I might have mentioned that I "escaped" from hospital yesterday as I had to get to bookings at Uffizi and Accademia. Today I was discharged from ospedale with a couple of prescriptions and a very nice photo of my medical consultation team at the Pronto Soccorro. Frances is an amazing resource and was last seen dashing off in the company of yet another cousin, this time named Antonio. Our new friend Rosalina picked me up, accompanied by Chris and Joanne. Stocking up on food for the day, we headed off to an afternoon of late Tuscan lunch (the usual ingredients of foccaccia, buffalo mozzarella, rucola, pommadoro, prosciutto and salami, fresh fruit salad, with pinot grigio) back at the olive farm, followed by pool time, reading, and computer work, particularly photos, none of which are posted yet. But we are truly very busy ... trust me! Joanne is looking quite well rested after three naps, as am I after two. When I get my new shoes and my prescriptions (nothing is open here on Mondays), I will have done everything the doctor ordered.

Just before dinner Jan and Joanne wandered off into the winding lanes in the woods but returned rather rapidly, shouting O-blah-dee, o-blah-dah! to scare off the wild boar chasing them. Actually they had decided to walk 1 km to take the garbage out and somehow attracted the attentions of the local fauna. Apparently Jan had just commented on how much she loved the evenings when all the animals came out for a last meal. I take a little licence here ... she likes birds who eat at dusk! This story is true. Although we didn't actually see the boar, Chris and I believe them because they had a very wild-eyed look and red faces from the running and laughing at their lucky escape. I can't imagine how Chris and I would have explained how we lost Jan and Joanne to the local area snorting beast.

Dinner thereafter was a Safeway chicken -- disguised but identified regardless here in Tuscany under the supermarket Coop brand. It goes really well with Valpolicella and Isola d'Oro Nero D'Avola, salad, and the rest of the Foccaccio. Few pictures of this event survive. Now Frances is here ... Chris won the bet as she is home before midnight. We are recapping the events of the day and may make coffee before going to bed early at 12:30 because Beppe is getting us for the outlet mall, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, and points northeast from here.

Moira

Finally Internet!

For our follower(s) comes news that we have been incommunicado but are now able to connect and heaving sighs of relief. Well, I am ... the others, Jan and Frances now here, as well as Chris and Joanne ... despite exhaustion after another 10 km day, this time in Florence, including Uffizi, Accademia, and David. In addition to exhaustion, zucchini legs have become something of a medical interest. Dottoresse Gandollfino -- as tanned and beautiful and blond as any you might see on Gaazia Anatomy -- will kindly see me tomorrow while the others lounge by the pool here at the olive farm. Well some may skitter off but they are not telling me so I won't think I've missed too many photo ops.

We all met up, along with our wonderful personal driver Beppe, at the Santa Maria Novella train station farmacia. Beppe took us on a tour and explained the wonders of Florence. He explained to me that a lavandrie is for washing clothes, not for selling lavender. He took us to the Coop food store where we loaded up and headed into the hills to our farm that overlooks the Arno River but is not too far from The Mall (Gucci, Burberry, Armani, with Prada just down the way) and the lovely quiet hospital that will see me tomorrow. Frances's stories about antiobiotic injections have me just a little worried ... arms don't seem to be the place one might receive such a shot.

What the designers are planning for the fall

Others are preparing themselves to blog. Pictures will be coming soon. Tonight we ate at the Trattoria ZaZa which has been 70 years in one of the busy evening piazzas and which came highly and correctly recommended. Gloria (pronounced glawwwwwwria) was our waitress and her other job seems to be local photographer. One of us today succumbed to a lovely leather coat. Others purchased fridge magnets and other holiday treats.

As for school libraries, we did some careful consideration of the stock of lovely books about Renaissance art ... but were a little concerned about the absence of fig leaves here in Florence. Oh, and I got lost in the Uffizi. Seems the other four ditched me ... so I went out for gelato and Birkenstocks.

Alive and planning to be well soon.

Moira

Staggering Rome!

Yesterday began in the sleepy morning Piazza del Populo. Piazzas in August are full of life but not until later in the day when everyone comes to "hang out," locals and tourists co-mingling in the sheer joy of warmth, people watching, eating, shopping for art, and so on. Our group of 20 was stuffed into a small bus for The Angels and Demons Tour of Rome. We have chosen tours offered through Viator so most of our group members are not Americans -- Brits, Australians, Europeans with good English -- but not Americans. We try not to be confused about this. There seems to be more respect, as ever was the case here in Europe, for Canadians.

Tourism is amazing -- we waited quietly at the back of the small baroque Santa Marian della Vittoria church with our group's small children being very well behaved as we had found ourselves attending a small funeral which reminded us that life goes on as usual for the congregation of these small but magnficent churches full of treasures of art. We saw obelisks, statues by Bernini, the Pantheon, and more ... then left the bus for our coffee break and a quick walk through the back alleys and small streets of medieval Cientro, the centre of Rome, as we headed into the Castel Sant'Angelo where the book puts the assassin and the undaunted Robert Langdon in direct conflict. Nice group and interesting tour ... but Mike, the young Italian American tour guide who had grown up in Rome, could have done with a lesson I often gave grade 8s which is to avoid plot summary! We were, after all, really there for the history, but his keen and youthful enthusiasm for the plot more than captured our interest and, although most of us had read the book or seen the movie already, we were soon keen to hear his running interpretation. But it was fun. Several group members had disappeared before the Castel Sant'Angelo as the tour was long, the climb an added challenge, and it had been billed as a three-hour (not five-hour) tour. We were hungry but late now for our much coveted 3 pm booking across the other side of town.

The challenge to get to the Villa Borghese -- no, the Galleria Borghese -- was by now easy for us. Metro from Castel Sant'Angelo, attached by wall disguised as aqueduct to the Vatican, as you will know if you have read the book, back to Piazza del Populo but that's only to the Villa Borghese which is quite different from Galleria -- essentially you would be on quite different sides of say Stanley Park. We were late for our 3 pm appointment but managed to get the headsets on and head into the galleria for 1.5 hours of the two you usually get of wandering through amazing statuary like Bernini's Appollo and Daphne, or the statue of the pale Pauline upon her divan -- she was Napoleon's sister who married a very wealthy Borghese, a connection that saw many of the Italian family's art treasures purchased at great cost to Italy and to the family Borghese moved to Paris, or so we were told. Perhaps the most interesting pieces were the Carravaggios and the Titians in the upstairs collection.

This amazing art gallery experience was included in the options for our Roma Pass ... we have agreed that this pass was an excellent purchase, particularly as it was fully paid for with simply the Colosseo and the Borghese but it also covered all our on/off public transit needs and enabled us to move easily, albeit with significant planning often under Chris's excellent tutelage. We are a truly interdependent group.

We finally resorted to a taxi to take us home, at 3 euros each. Now three pairs of legs are showing signs of the stress of walking -- we did 8 kms on the tour above -- and we hadn't had time to eat as the A&D Tour turned out to be over 5 hours! We loved our cabby who, on finding out we were from Vancouver, began to tell us all the wonderful things he had heard about our town.

I am up earlier than my roomies ... but had collapsed the minute we got home and am convinced it will take everything I've got to stuff all my belongings -- new art, pamphlets, jewellery, etc. -- into the bags before Orlando comes to take us to the train for Florence. And I truly want to sneak around the corner fto the small piazza where I can linger for a caffe latte, an experience which neither Joanne nor Chris appreciate, being tea drinkers! By 6 pm this evening, we will have added Jan and Frances, met Beppe -- our new driver -- and had a few hours to wander the streets of Florence as we wait for their later arrival. I will miss Rome, but the cabby told us that living there for any length of time would expose us pretty quickly to the problems of taxes, government, etc. .... we didn't tell him that he would find things the same and I am reading headlines that suggest our "government" is again delivering more bad economic news in BC -- was it billions I was reading about? One needs holidays to escape these realities.

My roomies will be blogging soon. There is really so very little time! I'm off to pack or I'll have no sneaking out for coffee time!

Moira

Vatican Treasures

Thursday morning ( I am now in the early early hours of Friday, unable to sleep, so blogging) was our earliest exit from Trastevere. We caught the 23 bus up the Tiber just 10 minutes to Vatican City to join our Dark Rome Skip the Line Vatican tour group with the most amazing Georgia as guide. We walked for three hours, covered over 4 miles of corridors in the museums, photographed amazing treasures, and carried on after the tour into St Peter's Basilica and the crypt of the popes.

I cannot begin to describe this except to say that skipping the line is a wonderful thing to do -- we did it with our Roma Pass at the Colosseum too -- no one should come to Rome and not go to the Vatican. We sat in the Sistine Chapel, saw The Last Judgement and The School of Athens frescoes, heard lurid details of the personal lives of Michelangelo and Raphael, marvelled at Bernini statuary and Dali art, and finally fell down the Via to a sidewalk cafe and a rest.

From the Vatican, we caught the metro to Termini stazione to buy our tickets on the EuroStar for the early afternoon journey on Saturday to Florence where we will meet up with Jan and Frances. We get there ahead of Jan who is coming from France so we will just have to hang out in Florence for a little more than three hours before Beppi comes to pick us up and drive us out to our farm holiday in Tuscany. This took an hour of waiting in line and probably could have been done online. We have done everything else this way, stopping by internet shops until we discovered we could get internet here in the apartment.

From Termini, we hopped back on to the metro to find the Spanish Steps and then to walk to Trevi Fountain. Both are astounding, but I do have to say that the magnitude of this Bernini fountain sculpture simply takes your breath away. I lied -- I am not hopping on to anything. Feet continue to be a problem ... but then today was over 10 kms on the old pedometer.

In a few short hours, we are booked out of the Piazza dei Popolo on the Dark Rome Angels & Demons Tour. There is always so much consideration of maps and bus numbers required but we think we can do this on one bus ride and two metro stops, via the Vatican! We will see more Bernini statues, and the Pantheon, and end up at the Castel Sant'Angelo. From there we have a few hours to find our way to our booking to view the art of the Villa Borghese. We have realized that we are simply out of time ... but we have been caught wholly in the spell of Rome. I must now plan to go to the Villa d'Este and Tivoli on my next trip here!

Heard today from Alan Z who is here in Rome ... but my message arrived too late and we are unable to meet for birre or caffe lattes.

Stay tuned for more news!

Moira

Too Busy Walking to Blog!

The day of the Colosseum was not our "longest" on record on the pedometer after all. We spent most of the day in the area of this most massive amphitheatre and the Palatino Hill nearby. Our guided tour in the middle of the hot, hot day was probably our first major mistake as it cost us our energy and our sense of humour! Not only that, I have developed feet that more closely resemble zucchinis in late summer than my rather long narrow usuals. Am preparing to search internet for travellers' solutions, although today I muttered lots about never thinking I would look like this!

If yesterday was just a little over 4 km of walking yesterday, in fact, we limped home gratefully -- after catching the right bus but missing our stop -- to find our lovely little air-conditioned flat awaiting. Joanne made us a lovely pasta dinner which was perfect with the $5 bottle of red wine.

My blog post for the evening got lost and I am certain it had everything to do with the day of heat and walking.

Moira

To Padua We Go ...

We're here!

Flights were fine, although I didn't sleep for the 13 hours of travel, and we almost missed the flight out of Montreal when we were misdirected to the wrong end of Trudeau airport. Fabio picked us up at the Fiumicino airport in his Mercedes and dropped us off at the end of our very narrow cobbled street. Our little apartamente in Trastevere (VRBO casadidaniela) is truly perfect. We have lots of space, air conditioning, lovely shutters that allow us to peek out to the quiet mornings and the very busy evenings when you live atop a bar and a pizzeria. Double paned windows make for absolute quiet. And we are just around one corner from a lovely little local cafe for my morning cafe lattes and another for the compulsory first gelati of the day.

Everything about Rome is truly amazing. I am, after two days, along with Chris and her friend (my new friend) Joanne, wholly adjusted to the Roman pace of life. That seems to be very busy and engaged, from noon to midnight! Here is a fashion prediction for the Fall ...


Here's what they are reading here in Rome because we know you need to know that ...


On our first day we tried to adjust to the pace of life here in Trastevere. There were no coffee shops or cafes open until noon and we were exhausted, famished, but keen to get going. We see that, when in Rome, you do things their way ... and have immediately adjusted. Now we don't expect to do much until after noon and we haven't been home either day before midnight.

We live here in this little quarter of the city which is a healthy walk to the sights. We have a lovely leisurely breakfast and plan our days. Yesterday, my pedometer registered over 7 kms on foot, over 10 000 steps. Add additional distance covered by bus and metro, and I bet we beat that today based on the planning. Tomorrow though we need to be at the Vatican at 9:15 so that might change things up just a little. I beat roomies this morning and was able to sneak off for a couple of cafe lattes in the lane nearby. Yesterday's first stop was for gelati ... the best in the world ... but it was closed at 11 am! Nothing much going on here until after noon!

So far we have travelled by local bus and metro (this is a huge accomplishment, we think) out to the Appian Way to see the Catacombs of San Callisto. They were cool ... I mean that literally ... which was nice, seeing as it is dripping hot. Magnify the notion of dripping when riding the metro during rush hour! Tourists exchange valuable tips ... we have acquired Roma Passes and been to San Paulo "outside the walls" and the Colosseo at nightfall. We have explored the Piazza Navona and dined there after buying local art in the square. We even had an accordion accompaniment, Sinatra's "my way," with our insalata caprese, our ravioli, and pasta with prawns and squash blossoms (which seemed to have disappeared in the mix). We limped home through throngs of younger night folk, managing to find a late night cafe/bakery to pick up pastries for this morning.

Can't say we've had time to miss Vancouver yet. We are sure you will understand. Chris, Joanne, and I think Rome is perfect. There is nothing that displeases us.