Rome - the Triumphant Return

 After Florence, we returned to Rome for a few days. It will take several days to post a selection of photos from Rome and the sights and activities of the group. Above is a photo of the Circus Maximus, which was the site of the chariot races held in ancient Rome. The building in the background (slightly left of centre) is the ruins of the Imperial Palace, home to the Roman Emperors (on the Palatine Hill). The trees in the picture are Mediterranean pines, very typical of the region.

 In the Vatican Museums - halls and halls of artworks through the ages. Here are Lisa and Laura admiring some of the historical works of art. You can see that Laura is practicing to become an ear, NOSE, and throat doctor. We are hoping that she'll learn to use gloves in her practice.

 In the Vatican Museums again - sculptures along each side and painting covering the vaulted ceilings. After a couple hours here, we only saw a fraction of the collections of the Museums.

 This gallery is called The Map Room, The wall paintings are all maps of various sections of Italy.

 Mr. Lio, posing in front of the old map of his ancestral homeland, Calabria, a region in southern Italy. He says not, but we all believe Mr. Lio planned out his wardrobe for the day so he could match this map painting.

A different version of The Last Supper in the Vatican Museums. Notice, only eleven apostles appear around the table. Jesus has his arms resting on the head of one who is in front of him. This is quite a different image than Da Vinci's famous painting. But very much like Da Vinci's version, there is no cup or chalice in front of Jesus - so another piece of evidence that maybe The Holy Grail does not refer to the drinking cup Jesus used at The Last Supper. Also, the fellow in the bottom, front has no halo and neither does person whose head is reclined on the table. (Is one of them Judas?) Did the artist run out of room? Of was he working from a different version of the story?

Check back tomorrow for more from Rome...

Ciao a tutti.

Ahhh! Florence.

   The first night in Florence - what else - ride the carousel! in Piazza della Repubblica.

 Il Ponte Vecchio (The Old Bridge) which is the only one across the Arno River that was not destroyed by the Germans as they retreated from Italy. The bridge is full of gold and jewellry shops. Piazza dela Signoria, Piazza dela Repubblica, the Academia gallery, Il Duomo church, and the Porcellino and San Lorenzo markets are all on the right side of the river. Several of the girls went on a bike tour to the opposite side of the Arno River; those who stayed on the right side - shopped.

     The bell/lookout tower at Piazza dela Signoria framed by one of the many narrow streets in Florence.

    In Piazza della Signoria, is a huge broze statue of Cosimo de Medici on a horse. Today, he had a visitor.

Once again, in Piazza dela Signoria, which was one of our most frequently used meeting places, some of the students listening (or not) to our tour guide. Another sunny day - setting up nicely for a gelato later. Most, if not all the girls, said Florence was their favourite part of the trip. It is a lovely city - not inexpensive - but lovely and probably worth a return visit.

Visiting the town of Assisi

 Assisi, on the way to Florence, is a very old town and home to St. Francis, founder of the Fransican order of priests. Much of the town dates back to medieval times.

 Brother Michael gave us a very interesting class on the life of St. Francis and the building of the three churches, one on top of the other. The first one built was the middle one, on top of the grave of St. Francis. Then the crypt chapel was built by excavating under the church and around the grave of the Saint. Finally, the large basilica was built above the other two churches. A few years ago, an earthquake in the area damaged many of the frescoes in the basilica.

                                   Some of the quaint architecture in the town of Assisi.

Have MCSS Flag - Will Photograph. The Madonna group in the main piazza of Assisi. Once again, another perfect weather day. Not a drop of rain fell during our entire trip.

Some more photos - starting in Rome

                            

 Inside the Roman Colosseum - named for a statue of a Colossus that formerly stood outside the walls.

 The Colosseum - or more accurately, the Flavian Amphitheatre - as it was built by the Emperors of the Flavius family. Much of building was destroyed by people taking the stone for building materials. That was also the fate of many of the structures in the Roman forum.

                 At the Gladiator school. Preparing to defend Rome against the barbarian hordes. They'd be no match against the Madonna girls.

 Piazza Navona in downtown Rome - the site of some excellent gelato stands and roasted chestnuts. On the right is the church of St. Agnes. One of the chapels displays the skull of the saint.

Back at Home after a very long travel day

For the non-parents, we are back in Toronto and many of the travellers should be tucked into bed by now. Some may even be on the MCSS campus tomorrow. We had three flights, all pretty much on time and all pretty much full. Air Canada managed to get all 17 of us and our luggage from London Heathrow to Pearson all at the same time, despite the ongoing issues. Thanks, AC.

 Here's the group in Rome - at 4AM this morning, with our tour director for the last few days, Marianna. Still a few smiles despite the lack of sleep and the 3:30 AM departure from the hotel.

... and at Heathrow... after the shopping and before boarding. Quite a few Harrod's bags made it back to Canada. Our flight home was long and fully booked, but we were all seated in the same section of the plane. The flight home was fairly smooth, ableit a bit long at 8 hours. Except for a couple little epsodes of turbulence, the flight was quite smooth. The airport was exceptionally busy and we had quite a wait to get through customs and immigration. That meant we had a very short weight for luggage, which we checkin in Rome at about 4:15AM.

We'll probably keep the blog going for a while to share a few more photos and also to give the girls a chance to post. (Ladies, you can either post a comment, or see me during the week so we can arrange for you to post your thoughts, stories, and ideas.) Check back every once in a while.



Thanks to all of you who followed the blog and posted comments. We had over 2000 site visits by the time we got home. Wow! We never realized so many of you would be interested in our little adventure.

Ciao and have a good week.

Good day from London Heathrow

We have just arrived at Heathrow airport. Well, we arrived a while ago, but we had to change terminals by bus, then go through a couple security checkpoints. I just left some of the girls at Harrods before finding a computer to post a short note.

The flights this morning were fine and on time. Our final flight home is showing as on time, so far. If we have a significant delay, I will try to send another post. Otherwise, for those of you coming to collect a weary traveller at Pearson, perhaps check the arrivals page by going to the GTAA website to see if we are on time. We hear rumors about slowdowns with baggage at Pearson, we we could be a while before appearing.

Hoping to see everyone soon.

From here, Cheerio and TTFN, is more appropriate than ciao!

Some special messages...

Hey, Dante... here's dad in front of Dante's home in Florence. We have some more 'Dante' related pics, but you'll have to wait till we get home to see them. Ciao

Alex... thanks for the notes... yep, there will be stories to tell. There are probably enough to last for the rest of the semester.

Mrs. Totino - Thanks for all the comments and wishes. We think you win the prize for the most frequent commentator. Grazie

Mrs.Bellissimo... not withstanding the note to Alex above, you are reminded of the axiom of the US Army - "Don't ask - Don't tell." Va bene?

and Mr. Trabona... thanks for your notes, too. Just a warning... you'll have to return to MCSS to cook on next Pancake Tuesday with some Italian attire that will be coming back with us.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. Just remember March 19th. (BTW - we had zeppole in Pompei. Mmmm!)