Sunday morning we arose early for our 6:15 a.m. prearranged pickup for the airport. As with everything else, the driver was on time and we had a nice uneventful ride to the Rome airport. We left from Terminal 3. By the time we walked to our gate, we had time to pick up a coffee, a breakfast. and get ready to board. The plane was filled, every seat it seemed. We had the same seats as going, the bulkhead seats. The purser on this crew was kind of "all business," which was good. We had 3 meals snacks during the day and we arrived in DFW at around 2:00 p.m.
People mover at the Rome airport, I think?
It was an uneventful flight. I watched a couple of movies (The Greatest Showman and an Italian comedy) and Patty listened to an audiobook. We dozed off and on, talked off and on, and started turning our minds toward home.
Upon arriving in DFW, things went as smooth as silk. It's a long walk from the plane to the Passport Control, but once we were there, we checked in at theGlobal Entry kiosk, which once again, other than figuring out which direction to orient your passport in the reader, everything was as easy as pie. There was no line whatsoever for us. Then I stayed with Patty as she picked up her luggage which was right there! This did not happen for me when I flew through Chicago or Newark or DFW or Philadelphia so what a pleasant surprise! God really blessed us in so many of these ways on this trip. Everything worked out perfectly!
Patty's connecting flight was in Terminal A and I was in B so near the TSA security checkpoint, we took a selfie and hugged good bye. It was actually kind of anti-climactic and non dramatic considering the dramatic, emotional, life-changing trip we had been on, but it was time to part.
At the point she was entering, there was no TSA pre-check line, and I really didn't want to take off my shoes, dig out my computer, and my 3-1-1 bag so I said I would take the 2 minute walk to the TSA pre-check line. After starting off in the wrong direction, a kind TSA agent told me to walk this way and look for the wishbone. Whaat? But sure enough:
Patty caught her connecting flight through Phoenix and Grand Junction; I caught mine to Dayton and actually slept on the plane! I arrived in Dayton, caught the shuttle van to my car in the parking lot, picked up a sandwich at Arby's and was home before dark --- by 8 p.m. Even started a load of laundry.
I slept well in my own bed, dreaming of Italy, and thankful for all of you who were willing to share my adventures, pray for me, believe with me.
I am so thankful to My Bella Vita Travel who planned our trip so precisely. Cherrye Moore and her staff are professional, kind, patient, and everything you would want. I had not used a travel agent/agency before but it was fantastic. We didn't find any relatives on this trip, but we got some further information to add to our records and maybe someday we will. Though we didn't find blood relatives, we definitely found a family.
The person I want to thank most of all is my lovely sorella (sister) Patty. We traveled well together, laughed together, enjoyed things together. She was so so thankful that she was doing this trip that she just was a happy camper all the time! Where shall we go next, dear sister and friend?
This morning we were treated to a lovely breakfast at our hotel. It was a really a nice buffet and here they served American coffee. Did I tell you that one of our friends in Calabria said that they call American coffee acqua sporca (dirty water). I tend to agree after this week! I enjoyed the espresso and the cappuccinos. They were more like delicacies or desserts. But this morning it was nice to have the choice.
At 9:30 a.m. we caught a cab to the Piazza Navona where we would meet our tour guide at 10 a.m.
We arrived a bit early so I sat and watched people and Patty took tons of photos.
Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini
At 10 a.m. on the dot our tour guide, Robert Coghlan, walked out of the tourist station with his sign for us. Tour guides in Italy are "official." They study for it and they get certified. He definitely knew his history and archaeology and much more. He is from Ireland, living in Rome, with a wife and 3-year-old daughter. We thoroughly enjoyed him and his walking pace really helped us. My legs and feet were so much better, but it is still a lot of walking.
We saw and heard so much there's no way I can repeat it all. But we saw the Pantheon, the Fountain of Trevi, Trajan's Column and more. I'll just put up photos and you can have a look.
The hole in the dome of the Pantheon that lets in light
Rafael is buried in the Pantheon
Trevi Fountain. It is so beautiful. I had no idea it was so grand.
Patty and I throwing the coin over our shoulder. We had to reconstruct the shot!
And evidently we threw it over our wrong shoulder!
Trajan's Column; lots of history!
Ruins they continue to unearth
A part of a statue of a horse that was recently unearthed in the area. Discoveries are still happening!
Elevator in Colosseum our guide skillfully guided us to.
The stairs are very deep so this was a discovery I was happy to see!
Patty got this great shot with her Go Pro camera
I was here!
We enjoyed Robert very much. He was also very kind to us, keeping a pace that I especially could handle, knowing where the "toilets" were. That's what they call them, not rest rooms. He stopped for coffee before our timed, skip the line, entry to the Colosseum. At this place they made you your own ice cream bar with specific toppings etc. Didn't take a photo, but it hit the spot with an espresso. Patty chose an American coffee which came with its own special coaster.
As a side note, sometimes when I travel I take photos of all the bathrooms because they are so unique. This time I didn't really do that, but I will say that Italy adds a bidet to their bathrooms, which other countries in Europe do too, and without getting too personal I have to wonder why that has never caught on to the United States.
Anyway, at this establishment, we went upstairs to the "toilet" to use the facilities before continuing our walk to the Colosseum and there was a code type lock on the door. What?? So Robert said, "Do you have your receipt from the coffee?" And we did, and sure enough on the receipt is the code to the bathroom. Isn't that clever?
Since we're talking clever, another thing they do here that I think is clever is that at the hotels, your room key card is also used in a card reader inside the door to turn on your electricity for the room. My daughter Ramona said that they are starting to do that in American hotels too. Wonder if they make those for houses? Nice way to keep the electric bill down.
I think we left our devices on to charge one afternoon or evening when we went for a walk and they didn't charge because we took the card keys with us.
This is a photo our guide showed us of what the Colosseum would have looked like in its day. Now there is only one original section standing.
A selfie!
Sister Patty looks much more elegant than I. My cracked lips show a little dehydration!
You can tell she's used to posting on Instagram! But we both exude happiness, don't we?
When we finished our tour of the Colosseum, we walked outside and there were some street vendors selling some souvenirs of the Colosseum. Of course I wanted to bring my family and my Department some authentic souvenirs from Rome! So since they were only one Euro each I bought the vendor out! It was not until I got home home and unpacked that I saw the "Made in China" sticker. It's kind of like trying to bring an authentic gift from America to people in another country. A lot of American gifts and souvenirs seem to be made outside of U.S.A. (I have settled on maple syrup. That's a true American delicacy. If I had known I was going to make such good friends in Calabria, I would have brought them some!)
It turned out that when we finished our tour, we were only a few blocks from our hotel. So we bid goodbye to Robert and walked home, stopping first for lunch at a little cafe.
When we entered our hotel, the bar by the front desk was open so we ordered two drinks and just sat in the lobby drinking them, resting our "barking dogs."
That was a good drink, something Italian, I'm pretty sure it was Aperol Spritz Cocktail (Spritz Veneziano). The next time I have a long week off, I'll be looking for one of these!
That evening we brought our computers up to the hotel terrace, "plugged in" to electricity and wifi and had our supper there. Patty took a few photos from there. She is an excellent chronicler and photographer. I just took photos on my phone and only when I remembered, but she was a true professional!
If you want to see this trip from her perspective and more photos, suggest going to www.reclaimingpatty.com and pattysfitnessjourney on Instagram.
On Friday morning, we arose early and got finished packing. Vincenza at Piccolo Grande had told us to call Massimo (who workes the front desk at night) in the morning to come and get our suitcases and that he wold also fix us a cup of espresso since breakfast was not opened yet. And we did and he did! Barely had we finished our espresso that Conchetta arrived with the van to take us to Lamezia Terme, the train station. It was a short ride, but she was a joy. (With the exception of two cab rides in Rome, all our transportation had been prearranged and prepaid as part of our package with Cherrye Moore at MyBellaVita. Every ride was exactly on time and as promised. What a great service!)
At Lamezia, we traversed the stairs again, and again someone took my suitcase and carried it up for me (not a worker at the station, just a kind Italian). This time the name of our train was the Frecciargento train to Roma Termini. Per the Web site it is one "step up" from the Freeciabianco that we took from Rome to Lamezia. It is a bit faster (a slant train) and has less stops. But just saying the Frecciabianco was perfect for our arrival in Rome and on to Calabria. Our carriage was almost empty and we could stretch out and rest and kind of transition from traveling. So both trains were perfect for what we needed at the time.
We were in carriage 2 in first class. This train had less luggage space so we ended up with the luggage under our little table between our seats. There was a "Welcome Service" provided by an attendant who came around with a cart (kind of like an airline steward) so we got some sort of snack and an espresso! It was a 3 hour ride I think.
I was showing you a screen shot of my I phone to share the name of the train we are taking; but look what time it said trash call was, Way Pubbers! I guess it changed my calendar events to local time!
We arrived in Rome about 11:30 a.m. and then took a wild cab ride to our hotel.
Cabs lined up outside Roma Termini train station
The ride was wild because there was some sort of protest going on at the moment we arrived in Rome and many of the streets were closed, so the cab driver had to keep changing course. I tried to take a selfie with him after he finally got us to the hotel, but he said he "no like" photos. It cost us more money than is worth mentioning, but as I said it was only one of the two cab rides we had to pay for. All the rest of our transportation was prepaid and arranged.
Several people told us that nobody even pays attention to the protesters any more because there are so many of them all the time in Rome, often coming in from other areas of the country. See the "Important Note" in the attached Hop On Hop Off brochure. .
When we arrived at the hotel, our room wasn't quite ready so we went up to the terrace and had lunch. By the time we got into our room we were both bushed! And we fell sound asleep, both of us. Upon awakening from my nap, I noticed that my legs and feet were quite swollen so we decided to just stay home, not go out to dinner, not go to the hop on hop off bus. Instead we got room service and called it an early night. (We may have been a little overwhelmed also by the "busy-ness" of Rome compared to the casualness of Pizzo and Calabria.)
It was a really good decision. We had a big day of walking come tomorrow.
We began our morning again with breakfast with the lovely Kala, our last, since we will be leaving before breakfast tomorrow. While we were eating I was blessed to get a video WhatsApp call from Corrado Ciulla and Salvatore DiCarlo from Sicily. Thy are the leadership of The Way Ministry (my Bible fellowship) work in Italy. I had let them know we would be in Italy, and they wanted to say hi. That was such a blessing. Corrado definitely wanted me to give his love to Donna. He said it over and over again. So here is my love from Corrado to Donna.
Then we were also to have our one last day with Domenico. He arrived at 9:30 a.m. and we took off for the south to Reggio Calabria. He brought us zeppola (I would call it a cream puff) and coffee soda!
A tunnel?
We drove approximately an hour south to Reggio. I believe we were on either the A3 or the A2, which is quite an engineering feat. The road basically follows the Tyrrhenian Sea and has many tunnels and bridges. There is a mountain range in the south of Italy, and Domenico told me that there you can actually ski there while looking at the sea! I thought Marcia would like that. Domenico is a ski instructor in Calabria and France and maybe Spain? He is a man for all seasons.
Vibo Valentia is where Pizzo is and then Reggio is down at the bottom
After this beautiful drive, can you guess what our first stop in Reggio was for? Just try. It's the best in the region. Yes, for gelato!! The shop was across the street from the lungomare, which we might compare to a "river walk" only it's on the sea. It's also translated as a promenade or seafront. It's a long walk way with different sections being cared for by various civic groups. It's beautiful. My vocabulary finds it hard to describe some of these sights.
We took our gelato and walked along the lungomare. From the lungomare, you can walk down a few steps to different restaurants and such. Looking across the sea, we see Sicily.
The next stop was the Museum of Calabria where the main attraction is the ancient bronze statues that were that were found in the 1970s by a fisherman. This part of Italy once belonged (?) to Greece and these are two Greek sculptures.
But before entering, right outside the musem was an exhibit by the Science Polizia (I would compare them to forensic scientists or CSI types) called "Fragments of History." This was going on from May 21-26. Per a Google translation from a Web site on the exhibit: "It is a traveling exhibit showing fragments of the history of Italy through the footprints, images, and inspections of the Scientific Police. It is a photographic exhibition on the techniques and activities of the scientific police, which tells the highlights of the work of those who are at the forefront of fielding the most advanced technologies for order and public safety. Starting from the beginning of the twentieth century, one of the main activities was to crystallize the crime scene, and here, almost in the same way, the exhibition focuses on documents and photographs to stop the time on some dramatic moments in Italian history: the arrest of Sandro Pertini, the murder of Matteotti, the monster of Florence, the massacres of the mafia and so on."
There is a whole history there that Domenico explained to us, but it will take more reading and Googling on my part for me to understand and explain. We just "happened" on this exhibit on our way to the statues.
Then came the Bronze statues, the Riaci Bronzes. Again, Domenico knew so much about them. (See below for a description.) They are really marvelous. We stood/sat and stared at them for close to an hour.
The Riace bronzes, also called the Riace Warriors, are two full-sized Greek bronzes of naked bearded warriors, cast about 460–450 BC that were found in the sea near Riace (a municipality in Reggio Calabria) in 1972. They are two of the few surviving full-size ancient Greek bronzes (which were usually melted down in later times), and as such demonstrate the superb technical craftsmanship and exquisite artistic features that were achieved at this time.
The bronzes are on display inside a microclimate room on top of an anti-seismic Carrara marbled platform. Although the bronzes were rediscovered in 1972, they did not emerge from conservation until 1981. Their public display in Florence and Rome was the cultural event of that year in Italy, providing the cover story for numerous magazines. Now considered one of the symbols of Calabria, the bronzes were commemorated by a pair of Italian postage stamps and have also been widely reproduced.
The two bronze sculptures are simply known as “Statue A,” referring to the one portraying a younger warrior, and “Statue B”, indicating the more mature-looking of the two. Statue A is 198 centimeters tall while Statue B stands 197 centimeters tall (approximately 6.5 feet).
Stefano Mariottini, then a chemist from Rome, chanced upon the bronzes while snorkeling near the end of a vacation at Monasterace on August 16, 1972. While diving some 200 meters (219 yards) from the coast of Riace, at a depth of six to eight meters (20-26 feet), Mariottini noticed the left arm of statue A emerging from the sand. At first he thought he had found a dead human body, but on touching the arm he realized it was a bronze arm. Mariottini began to push the sand away from the rest of statue A. Later, he noticed the presence of another bronze nearby and decided to call the police. One week later, on August 21, statue B was taken out of the water, and two days after that it was the turn of statue A. No associated wreck site has been identified, but in the immediate locality, which is a subsiding coast, architectural remains have also been found.
The bronzes and the story of their discovery were featured in the first episode of the 2005 BBC television documentary series How Art Made the World. I found this web site that had this episode: The bronzes are discussed in the last ten minutes or so.
There is indication that Statue A was holding a shield, and Domenico told us that the diver said he found a shield at the same time. It was part of his original statement, but that was not "recovered." Here is an article I found on the Bronzes that includes that piece of info.
There were lots of other Greek "artifacts" in this museum which were very interesting to look at. I'm not much of a museum person so I had to keep reminding myself to "stay in the moment" and try to grasp how truly remarkable were the things I was seeing.
After we left the museum, we drove to Scilla. Miriam (from the silkworm coop) had told us that we would love Scilla. I later asked Domenica, "Who is Sheila? I don't remember hearing about her." He told me that Miriam was saying "Scilla." Oh!
He parked along a narrow street (they're all narrow streets here)
and we walked to our restaurant for lunch. It reminded me of one of the restaurants where Marcia and I ate in El Salvador that was so beautiful right on the sea. From the restaurant we could see all the fishermen out there fishing for swordfish.
Our waitress took this. Isn't it lovely? If I'd had a son, I'd want him to be just like Domenico!!
One of my favorite pictures. Over lunch Domenico helped me translate the birth certificates of our great grandmother and great aunt and uncle. At some point, I'll try to share that. Still have to type it up!
After our leisurely meal, we drove to meet "Sheila" (or Scylla, a goddess in Greek mythology, who made her first appearance in Homer's Odyssey.)
Here's my shirt; it says "Love Your Life"
When we got back to Pizzo, we said a heartfelt goodbye to Domenico that evoked a few tears from me. Our trip would not have been the same without him. He is a man of intelligence, kindness, humor, ability. He thought of us at all times and shared his life, his knowledge, and his views freely. I mean, c'mon, he arranged a meeting with the mayor of the town our great grandma was born in!! Who does that? I was so sad to say goodbye.
To ease my "mourning," we walked down to the Pizzo piazza for our final tartufo. Bur before that, we walked to the end of the piazza overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and watched the sunset, and in this video you will hear the bells of a local church. (Very close to us was a group of young people just enjoying their evening, obviously not quite as enthralled with the arrivederci majestic moment were were experiencing.😊)
