We had plans for winter break that included getting out of town. Even though we live in an incredibly beautiful city, I wanted to see something else. We had plans to visit John's sister in France. We dreamt of baguettes and chocolate croissants, but it wasn't meant to be. Over the holidays France was in the middle of a nationwide transportation strike. Over a month later it is still unresolved. There is a stand-off over the possibility of pension reform. The French do love their unsustainable pensions. With no reliable trains running from Lyon to my sister-in-law's town we tried a rental car. No luck. We couldn't get one. We heard later that getting gas was iffy since the protesters were blocking refineries. With no way to get where we wanted to go we just decided to be "flexible" and go another time. We looked into Croatia and other places, but in the end stayed home. This is, after all, one of the most visited cities in the world. Why leave, right?
The decision to stay home brought a sigh of relief from the kids. Recently I learned a word that describes them pretty well on most days. Pantofolaio.
Pantofolaio comes from the word pantofola which means slipper. By adding the agent suffix -aio to the end, you wind up with a word that means “someone who wears slippers all the time”. People in this category prefer to stay at home on the couch watching TV rather than go out and see new things.My girl likes to go do things, but neither is all that interested in going out to see things, especially things like big piles of old rocks. So what did we do over the break? We went out and looked at piles of old rocks. Often. We threw in a few newer rocks and some underground rocks just for fun. To be fair, after we finally get out of the house, they have a good time, but they are more than happy to get back home.
Buddy Boy and I headed up to Piazza San Pietro to see the Vatican nativity. We hadn't been there at all before. The whole thing is quite impressive. We'll need a whole day to see the Vatican museums. We'll tackle that one another time.
Piazza San Pietro
Each year the Nativity or presepe is done in the traditional style of a different region of Italy. This year it is Valsugana in Trentino. This is near the northern border with Austria.
After seeing the big one we stopped into the exhibit of 100 presepi. It was fun to see all of the different materials, wood, straw, stone, paper, and even pasta.
Pasta presepe
Traditional presepe
Italians claim to have originated the Presepe. Maybe in Naples. Maybe one of the several other places making the same claim. The traditional presepe have a specific style with very elaborate sets.
"Really mom, will you PLEASE stop taking pictures?"
We were back a few days later with the whole family.
This time we added Castel Sant'Angelo to the itinerary when we saw that it was free entrance day and, more importantly, almost no line. It is a perfect example of the layering of history in Rome. The building originated as a tomb for the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 123 AD. It later became a military stronghold as layer upon layer was added, including an escape passage from the Vatican in case of siege. Later additions included lavish papal apartments with frescoes decorated by the Renaissance master, Rafael.
Why yes, that is a catapult with piles of stone shot.
Statue commemorating a papal vision of St. Micheal the Archangel sheathing his sword signalling the end a 6th century plague.
View of the Vatican from the top.
Gorgeous winter days. Life is good.
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