School In Our Jammies

Italian breakfasts consist of cappuccino and a croissant, so they are considerably lighter than we’ve been used to after plentiful spreads in Israel and at the Hilton.  But, our little hotel here in Rome gives us “breakfast tickets” to take to the coffee place down the block, and we never turn down “free food”, especially before a long, long walk to the Appian Way.

Famous for the oldest surviving section of Roman road, for Sparticus’s slave revolt (resulting in 6000 crucifixions), and a place where the Apostle Paul walked — “and from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as the Appii Forum and three Inns.  When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage” — we anticipated a day in a park-like-setting.  Alas, ’twas not exactly so.

Setting out with satisfied bellies, we found Via Appia Antica and walked along it —

In many places, fragrant jasmine spilled over ancient walls while smallish Italian cars, colossal-ish tour busses, scooters, polizei, ambulances, diplomatic caravans, and bike riders whizzed by.  Apparently the road is closed to all but bicycle and foot traffic on Sundays and holidays, but today was a busy Saturday morning.

We walked and we walked and we walked some more; there was no shoulder to speak of so we got used to plastering our sweaty bodies pancake-like against the walls when a speeding auto veered a bit too close.

At long last, we found the entry into a catacomb area, and ducked in there for some water and a rest.  From here we did walk through a park for a few hundred yards before we were back on the road once more, searching for those elusive Roman roads. We even asked fellow touristy-looking people if they’d seen it yet, and all shrugged and said, “nope.  Still looking!”

But then!  At the very end of Via Appia Antica, without more than an itty-bitty sign, were the stones of the original road built by those Romans. The blue dot was thrilled —

Okay.  All done now, it was time for gelato.  But, no!  At the end of the Appian Way is a little deli, with sandwiches, gelato, and lots of tables in the shade and very few people sitting on them.  Jane and I ordered two sandwiches, thinking we’d split them with our hubbies and then we’d all get gelato — but we got ourselves kicked out, apparently for not ordering enough food.  “Okay, can we sit at those tables in the parking lot?”  No again.  Harumph.  We left, walked back from whence we came and caught a bus home.

In yet another snafu, the bus that was supposed to let us off at the coliseum didn’t so we walked some more, found gelato, saw the backside of the Forum, walked home and took naps.

We leave Rome tomorrow, on a train for Naples.  From there we’ll take a smaller, local train called the circumvesuviana for Pompeii, where we’ll stay a few nights.  Rome has been educational and fun, but we’re all ready for a quieter life.

Our day began early, with a quiet stroll past the deserted Coliseum and down into the metro station where we were to ride all the way to Vatican City. Rome is lovely in the morning, cool and empty, with very little traffic.  Peace and quiet ended on the platform, however, as all the people were underground waiting to board the trains.  Ohmygoodness, we — as Anna says — did as the Romans do and shoved our way inside. More and more people joined us at each stop until
we thought no more would fit but they kept coming.  Have you seen that deodorant commercial on a crowded bus with everyone nonchalantly checking their armpits?  We didn’t bother.

Smiling here!  Not crowded yet!

Exiting the metro, we walked a few blocks and exited Italy to enter the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. “For the longest time, I heard Jim talk about the Roman influence on the Vatican and I thought it was too much,” said Tim tonight at our meeting.  “I was holding on to a love for the catholic church that I wasn’t willing to give up.  After today, I can really see how the Roman influence never really left; it just continued on with the early church.  The popes were like Caesars.  Instead of putting the focus on the Lord, they focus on the pomp.  The Roman empire never died.  As for the treasures in the Vatican Museum — they could alleviate the debt of a small country by selling those.”

Speaking of the museum, it is gigantic.  A “museum of museums”, this one exhibits 70,000 artifacts, with another 50,000 in vaults. Ten thousand people visit every day; today there were 10,006 all slogging ever so slowly through hall after hall, gazing at statues, busts, tapestries, paintings, Etruscan vases, mummies, marble crypts, cuneiform cylinders, and other old stuff.
Since Dave is most interested in Egyptian artifacts, we let him set the pace through these halls.  He found a cuneiform cylinder belonging to Nebuchadnezzar, and explained its significance.  “The dream that Daniel interpreted describes the Roman empire with two legs.  These could be the Roman empire and the catholic church.  Pagan religions all reflect each other because
they have their roots in ancient Babylon.  This cylinder  is also important because it was auctioned off in 2009 and  purchased by someone ‘anonymous’ for $600,000.  It must have been the Vatican!”  Sounds like breaking news, folks.  Remember you heard it first right here!

Slogging our way further, we came to the Raphael rooms, where the famous painting “”School of Athens” takes up a whole wall. It’s cool because Raphael, a “competing artist” with Michelangelo, paints Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and himself into the  picture.  Michelangelo, of course, painted the Sistine Chapel, in four years.  Several of those 10,000 visitors gather in
the chapel, all gazing up to the ceiling and not talking very loudly because the guard yells “silencio!” every minute or so and also “no pictures!”  One of our group may or may not have sneakily taken  a few pics but you didn’t hear it from me.

Leaving the Sistine Chapel, we were able to stroll (not slog) our way to the café where we enjoyed our first cappuccinos of the day and a rest in chairs.  Chairs are so great.  So are WCs when they are plentiful and clean.

Next was St Peter’s Basilica.  Today was hot, the lines were long, the square was full of barriers and hundreds of  chairs.  Anna and I kept noting the scantily-clad women in line, expecting them to be turned away at the security checkpoints.  The rules are similar to other church buildings in Italy — shoulders and knees covered.  After these ladies made it through security, we thought that “maybe the Vatican is okay with immodesty these days”  But, no. Guards are just fine allowing you to stand in the hot sun for 40 minutes in your lacey sundress and then turn you away just before the door.

We’ve been in Italy for three days, and are happy to report that “gelato for lunch” is working out just fine.  Today we found ours where the nuns buy theirs (according to Rick Steves, anywho) and yes, it was excellent. Tim’s favorite flavors are crema and fragola, Jane loves nutella, Anna goes for nutella and coconut, Jim gets mango, lemon, fragola and pistachio, Dave really likes pistachio, and I’m also fond of pistachio and nutella.
Tomorrow we’re walking the Appian Way.

The English teacher in me is trying to avoid overused adjectives, but “old” and “big” happen to be useful while one is in these parts of the world.

Touching old stuff

We touch old stuff all the time here in Rome.  Old columns, old bricks, old doors, old headless statues…  Jim, Dave, Anna, Tim and Jane found an old column and I made them all touch it at the same time.

Today was Coliseum, Forum and Palatine Hill day, which was more of a relaxed stroll (like visiting the zoo! said Jim at breakfast) than a forced blue-dot march.  The guys are posing in front of the Arch of Titus, which is one of the most archaeologically and historically profound sites in Rome as it depicts the sacking of Jerusalem by then-general Titus (who later became emperor).  Inside the arc is a scene of Jews being led into captivity, carrying a Menorah.  Furthermore, those nasty Romans used the spoils of their conquest to fund the building of the Coliseum — and forced Jewish slaves to build it.

Our stroll took us around the arch to the Roman Forum, which was the heart of ancient Rome. It was the main thoroughfare where triumphal processions entered the city and  senators met to make critical decisions concerning the empire.  We saw the grave of Julius Caesar and the special area where the “vestal virgins” resided.

Palatine Hill was where the rich folk lived, and indeed if I were a rich folk I’d live there, too — they had the best view.

Finally, we moseyed back to our little hotel rooms and relaxed for a few hours until dinner time.  We’ve managed to eat at outdoor tables almost every night so far, as the weather borders between very hot and pleasantly balmy.

Both in Israel and Italy we have had to stifle the American urge to expect the check as soon as we’ve licked our plates.  No hurry here; in fact sometimes it’s a bit of a problem to catch a waiter’s attention — and often we just follow the guy to the register and tell him what we ate while he tallies the bill on a piece of paper and gives us a total.  We’re getting the hang of it, but have to keep an eye on each other so we don’t walk off and leave our credit cards like someone did tonight.

Anna and Jane found a grocery store this afternoon when they were looking for a special yellow postal box to mail their post cards (which they never did find) so after dinner we went shopping for breakfast and snacks.  Jim and I picked out a package of chocolate cookies, but the checker threw them away and wouldn’t let me buy them…presumably because they were beyond the expiration date?  I really have no idea, but we are cookie-less tonight.

Tomorrow is Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica.  It will be more of a march than a stroll, and also a lot of standing in lines, but we’re in bed early, resting our feet and plotting our course.

Anna found a blue dot, right there on the Roman Forum!

Ciao!  We arrived in Rome last night, following a cushy flight from Tel Aviv.  El Al is terrific, even after an almost 2-hour delay and a plane switch (we upgraded from a 737 to a 767 and had lots of leg room and extra seats…plus a good dinner.)

Spent the night last night again at the Hilton Airport, where we were told “wifi is free in public areas” which would have been nice if we could connect.  Ah, the trials we go through.

Again, our plan was to take the free Hilton shuttle downtown to get near the Coliseum where our next hotel is, but alas.  This time the shuttle couldn’t drop us there because of “demonstrations.”  Thankfully, Jim had a Plan B, and we took the metro instead.

Walking up and out of the underground, Jim was the first to spy the Coliseum and pointed it out to Dave.  Later Dave remarked that, “after all the pictures, and having taught about that thing for four years, I’m finally here!”

Also here were the demonstrators, marching towards us from the left side of the Coliseum and down the street.  Big-gun toting police were everywhere, the demonstrators looked like normal people all carrying flags and banners, so ignoring all travel advice to steer clear of such happenings, we headed straight for them.  Dragging our suitcases and following the blue dot, we kept on walking until we parted company a few blocks yonder and found our little hotel.

The Arena Guest House is on Marcus Aurelius street, and is run by two of the sweetest Italian ladies in the whole world.  They greeted us warmly, shook each of our hands, offered us water and the WC, stowed our luggage, gave us recommendations on restaurants and bus lines, and finally warned us, “if anyone ask you show your passport, say no!  Italian police no do that.  Only pickpockets!”  Got it!

After our Galilee days we’ve gone soft in the feet.  Today we broke ’em in again by walking around the Coliseum, taking one more metro ride to Spanish Steps (covered in scaffolding, they weren’t picture-worthy this time), then walking to Trevi Fountain, the Turtle Fountain, the Jewish Ghetto, and the oldest synagogue in Rome.  Then, back again to our hotel past Circus Maximus, and other old stuff.   Ruins, we’ve come to understand, are like debris.  They’re everywhere — columns, arches, cobblestones, pavers, doorways, statues of Caesars.  We’ll be walking down a street and bam! there’s another “old thing.”  Some old things are marked; others aren’t.

Trevi Fountain was built to celebrate Rome’s acquisition of a clean water supply via the aqueduct system.  Now famous as a “romantic spot” it is overrun by people throwing coins over their shoulders, kissing, and taking scads of pictures.  Jane was scolded here for *ahem!* standing on the concrete thingy to take a photo.  Poor Jane.  She’s gotten into so much trouble this trip!  You’ll have to ask her about how to dress modestly in certain religious buildings, and how to grab her metro ticket when it pops up out of the validator-thingy.

Charlie and Virginia — we thought of you today as we found that little gelato shop near the Pantheon, and ate some for lunch while sitting on the steps!

Lastly, we took a turn around the neighborhood tonight looking for dinner and settled on a place with outdoor seating and….pasta.  And, pizza.  Some of us learned that in Italy you should really order one pizza per person so you don’t have to ask your wifey if you can eat her last bite because she will say “no!”

Below are Anna and her fish — before on the right, after on the left.  (Sorry, it’s crooked)

Click on the link below for Jane’s video of the Worship Boat.

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“Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name (Yad Vashem) better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”  Isaiah 56:5

After dinner every evening we gather in a quiet place so that Jim can review the itinerary for the next day, Tim can lead us in scripture reading, and I can ask everybody to share their impressions of the day for this blog.  Last Friday, we visited Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial/museum, and these were some of our thoughts:

Tim:  “I was thinking that throughout history the world is a monster.  People persecute each other.  Without Jesus in our lives…we would be part of the monster.  We are capable of anything without the Lord.  It can happen over and over again.” At Yad Vashim I read a quote from the Old Testament about when Cain killed Abel and God asked, “Where were you when your brothers blood was spilt?”  When others are needing help, to stand by and do nothing can be convicting. Bad things happen when good people don’t stand up.

Anna:  “A highlight for me was looking at the personal belongings of the Jews who were killed.  One exhibit was of a beautiful diamond and emerald necklace, huge jewels, that a man purchased in preparation for the persecution to come. He had hidden it, and when he went back to his house he just couldn’t sell it — it was a memorial to his wife who had been killed in the camps.  Even though he had nothing, and could have used the money, he just couldn’t sell it.  When you see things like that, it makes you see that they were real people.  Even seeing the bunks from the camps and the stars they had to wear — you see that they had lives.  The individual stories were a highlight for me.”

Jim:  “The section that documented the effect of Christianity since Augustine, right up to the time of the Third Reich was painful and interesting, and consistent with what some of us have been saying for the past years.  A lot of the anti-Israel trends among evangelicals looks like anti-Semitism.  There is deception and propaganda on both sides — is everyone that criticizes
Israel anti-Semitic?  No.  Are there rich Jewish people who are part of the attempts to control the world?  Yes.  People of all ethnic groups and backgrounds can be part of the coalitions to control the world. It is anti-Semitism to blame it on the Jewish people.  It was very provocative for me to consider some of these things.”

Jane:  “The French resistance fighters were so brave to take that stand.  It took a lot of courage…what would we do?  I also saw a story of a girl who had long braids that had never been cut. Her mother knew it would be difficult wherever they were going to keep the girl’s hair clean.  She decided that it would be better to cut her daughter’s hair.  She did, and gave the braids to a neighbor.  They never came back.  The neighbor kept the braids until the war was over.”
Dave:  “I thought it was interesting the nobility of the people who went to great effort to save Jews without bearing arms –without taking up violence.  It reminded me that Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.  Our weapons are not of this world.”

Today is much cooler than the last few days here on the shores of Galilee.  We are relaxing in our rooms this afternoon, and not swimming as the sea is quite contrary.  White caps cover the surface and clouds cast dark shadows across the water.  Were we in a Galilee boat attempting to row to the other side, we would have tough going, indeed.

Last night was pleasant, though —

and I can post them because we ladies realized that Tim’s photos of us were silhouettes and lacked “detail”!

Also, check this pic of our “meat restaurant” platter —

Two dinners for six + a bit for lunch today = worth the price.

Here we are eating lunch on the Mealey’s patio after driving around this morning:

Going to enjoy the view now before it’s a memory…more tonight.

The sun has set behind the Sea of Galilee, and across the water the lights of Tiberias sweep from the shore to the cliffs of Arbel, sparkling orange and white against the blackness.  We spent our Sunday on and around the sea, visiting the Museum of the Galilee Boat in Ginosaur, sailing with Daniel on the Worship Boat,  climbing cliffs, strolling through Capernaum, eating leftovers for dinner, and swimming just before sunset.

Ginosaur is across the lake from Ein Gev, and there we visited the museum where a 2000-year-old fishing boat was discovered in 1986  buried beneath the mud.  As the story goes, two brothers from the kibbutz discovered the boat during a severe drought resulting in lower waters.  It took just eleven days to wrap the vessel in a cocoon of fiberglass foam and then float it to the surface.

Analysis suggests this was from the time and is of the type that would have been used by fishermen during the days of Jesus’ disciples.  When Jesus told the disciples to “bring some of the fish that you have just caught” and Peter hauled the net ashore, there were 153 fish in it — lots of fish for a boat like this one, and their nets didn’t break!  (John 21: 11).

Anna made reservations for us on the “worship boat” with Daniel, who sang for their group in 2007.  We boarded the boat about noon, along with a group from Portugal and another from Germany, and sailed slowly out into the calm sea as “How Great is Our God” played over the loudspeakers.

Daniel, above, led us in more worship songs as we sailed along for about an hour.  It was a lovely way to spend our Sunday.

Next we drove to the cliffs of Arbel, which are insanely high above the sea.  Oh, and today was hot.  In fact, it was probably almost as hot as the day we walked up the Mount of Olives, so we were especially grateful for the car!

Finally, we drove to Capernaum where so much of the New Testament happened.  Ruins there are of a synagogue and Peter’s house, although the dwelling marked was probably not really Peter’s.  But, as we sat in the shade near the synagogue, Dave read John 6 from the beginning to verse 59 — “Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.”  We were sitting in a spot where it is  certain the events really happened — other places it’s not so clear (the garden tomb, Golgotha, etc).   It was there also that Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This is the synagogue in Capernaum.

The night is still very, very warm, so our swim felt refreshing.  Tomorrow is our last full day in Israel, and plans are to visit the place where Jesus taught the sermon on the mount, find some “St. Peter’s Fish” for dinner, eat a Hebrew Magnum (!), and enjoy our resort in the afternoon.

Goodnight, friends!

Sometimes uploading photos to the blog is laborious…other times it’s smooth.  So, since tonight is a smooth night, I’ll first share a few of Tim’s photos of us inside Hezekiah’s Tunnel.

Here we are at the start, before plunging into the rushing water.  Jane is adjusting her headlamp; the rest of us have flashlights.

The ceiling was high here, but for a good portion of the walk we were stooping.  Water was 70 cm high initially, then between ankles and knees for the rest of the walk.

Happiness!   We made it to the pool of Siloam at the end of the tunnel.

I’ll post this and then see if I can upload photos from our Sunday.  Stay tuned!