Tardy update

Late, but in earnest!

We've been traveling quite a bit which means pictures!

Some time ago we took a trip to the small hill-town of Orvieto (Katie wrote her own report earlier). The town has been occupied since Etruscan days (C. 600 BC) but all that remains is medieval, including walls a massive gate complex, and picturesque vernacular houses, crafted out of the warm grey volcanic tuffa rock that makes up the surrounding countryside. The volcanic soil also makes for great wine country. Orvieto Classico wine, thought not often seen in the US, is highly regarded in Italy. Photos

Right after our trip to Venice, we spent a weekend in Athens for my classes. Our guide was a Notre Dame professor, a native Greek, who has written books on the Parthenon and Acropolis and as a result has become acquainted with the architect in charge of the restoration of the Parthenon. Using his connections, he got all of us past the guards and fences for an up-close, VIP tour of the Parthenon. We scrambled all over ancient marble, touched columns, and even climbed the stair to the top of the cornice. It was a trip of a lifetime, and something I can't expect to repeat! Photos

Some time after that we spent some couple time in the southern coast town, Amalfi. While Amalfi is mobbed during the summer, we went during the off season and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere of a working fishing village without the interference of group tours and wondering mobs. On one of our days we climbed the mountain behind the town to another small village (Pantone) 1020 feet above, accessed only by steps. We earned our dinner that night! Photos

I took a week long field trip through Tuscany: Montepulciano, Piensa, Sienna, and, finally, Florence. Among the host architectural details I photographed, the following photos are probably fit for public consumption: Photos

Lastly, mom and dad visited for a week. With them, we visited the Capitoline Hill, the Vatican Museums (no pictures allowed), the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain (at night!), and the ancient Roman highway, Via Appia Antica (and more). Photos

Funny Business in Piazza Trilussa

We're pretty sure this was related to the celebration of a soccer victory the night before...

From Roma

Orvieto Adventure!

From Orvieto

Now that Mom and Dad Teague have begun their journey back across the pond and Christopher's on a day trip to Villa Adriana, I'm back in rare blogging form. I still can't believe how hard it is to try to keep this poor neglected blog up to date. It really does make a huge difference when you have to walk 15 minutes to use the internet!

Back in October, Christopher and I took a weekend trip to Orvieto, a small hill town in central Italy. We knew it was going to be a great trip for a lot of reasons, but primarily because it was the first time we had traveled outside of Rome TOGETHER! It was also a huge plus to go somewhere that didn't have a lot of major sites, which meant we had more time to relax without the pressure of having to see certain things before we left.

We left Saturday morning, got there in time for a bread and cheese lunch in front of the Duomo and enjoyed a lazy afternoon of exploring. We toured the Duomo and learned a bit about how little Orvieto won a bid for such an imposing cathedral (I explain more here). After that, we took a walk down to Pozzo della Cava for a short tour of some underground excavations of Etruscan-era wells and tunnels owned by a family that discovered the ruins in 1984!

On Sunday, Christopher and I had an adventure! Map and water bottles in hand, we set out to hike around the city of Orvieto. What we didn't realize was that although we had a map, the signs marking the trails aren't without mistakes, and as the sun began to set, we realized we might be in a bit of a predicament if we couldn't get to a staircase that would lead us back up into the city. We both quickened our pace, prayed and tried not to lose our cool (ok, I was fairly close to losing my cool while Christopher maintained his flawless composure and reasoned that at least my cell phone has a flashlight setting).

As the last bit of light seeped out of the sky (totally not exaggerating here) and it looked like we might, in fact, have to spend a night outside the walls of our cozy little hill town, we were delivered. As if on cue to answer all the prayers we'd been silently shouting, an old Italian gentleman called out to us from... somewhere. Using words we couldn't understand, he guided us and we followed his voice back along the trail, through the darkness, up a long staircase to a door and his kind face beckoning us to follow him. He led us, with the aide of a lantern, up another large, spiral staircase and at the end deposited us onto a smooth, paved road outside of the dark tunnel. We thanked him fervently in Italian and thanked God fervently in English, knowing (but maybe not yet fully appreciating?) how close we'd been to a REAL adventure. That night left us high on adrenaline, a little sheepish and so grateful for the Lord's provision... in all things. The spiritual dimensions of our adventure are definitely as real to us as the hiking lessons we learned!

Monday, with the new mercies of morning, we decided to give it a second try. Map in hand (and fully aware that that didn't mean a thing), Christopher and I set out to conquer that stubborn trail in broad daylight... mission accomplished! We celebrated with gelato (my idea) and a wine tasting (Christopher's idea), at which point we decided life couldn't get any sweeter and that it was probably time to head home. What a weekend!

Christopher will have another album to share eventually, but here's mine.

Hangin' with the Nielsens

From Magdalene and Edmund

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I walk across Trastevere and spend some time with two of my favorite babies (although one is getting to be quite a grown up little girl) -- Magdalene and Edmund Nielsen! Under the guise of helping Melinda sneak in a few hours of uninterrupted research, I ever so willingly sing Ring around the Rosie, read Mother Goose rhymes, enjoy the squish of play doh between my fingers and play with Edmund's cheeks and toes because they are too cute to be left alone.

A couple weeks ago, two things happened: 1. I brought my camera with me, and 2. Magdalene learned how to do somersaults. This turned into a prime opportunity for a photo shoot. We discovered that not only could Magdalene have a future as a tumbler...

From Magdalene and Edmund

but she also LOVES having her picture taken!

From Magdalene and Edmund

I put together an album complete with giggles, somersaults and more silly pictures. Enjoy!

Pigeons, Gondolas and Other Venetian Things

So in my attempt bring this poor little blog up to date, I've spent WAAYYYY too much time on the computer this weekend. We're still more than a month behind, but that's ok. We'll get there eventually.

I left off with Vicenza, the second to last stop on the Veneto trip. Our last stop was Venice, the home of canals, St. Mark's and what I'm pretty positive is the largest population of pigeons in Italy. I'm sure Christopher will want to compose his own blog post telling more about his experiences -- and he's got a lot more pictures than I do with his spiffy new camera -- so I'll just tell a little bit about what the other wives and I did on our whirlwind tour.

After mastering our train riding technique on our trips to Tivoli and Vicenza, we figured we were ready to take on Venice. Well, we didn't know what we were getting into. Loaded down with luggage, strollers, backpacks, pack n plays and babies, we gradually made our way off the train and out the doors to the front of the station... where we realized that the three flights of stairs leading down to the canal did not have a corresponding ramp. Italy is definitely NOT the US, and they aren't nearly as concerned about the handicapped/stroller-pushers among us. Once we made it to the water's edge, we hopped on a vaporetto (water taxis that ferry people around the city) that dropped us off not too far from our rental apartment. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and mapping out our sight-seeing plans while the babies napped. That night, Christopher and I got to go out to a cute little osteria that offered a plate of fresh seafood as an antipasti, which we devoured with no problem.

The next day, the other wives and I decided to put our muscles to the test by setting out with the strollers in pursuit of the Frari Church, a neat old building with some spectacular artwork, including a St. John the Baptist sculpture by Donatello. After lunch, we toured St. Mark's Byzantine-influenced Basilica and spent time marveling at the incredible mosaics. My favorite was just inside the church to the right and showed the story of the Flood and Noah's Ark.

From Vicenza and Venice

Later that afternoon, Bernadette and I checked out the Doge's Palace -- a beautiful old palazzo which was essentially a prison for the doge in power at any given time. According to one of the informational guides inside the museum, the doge was only allowed to leave the palazzo grounds on affairs of state. The Doge's Palace also has its own dungeon located across the canal -- so creepy! Convicts would cross the "Bridge of Sighs" on their way to imprisonment, hence the name of the bridge. I wanted to get a good picture of the bridge, but the whole thing was covered in scaffolding for restoration. Boo.

The rest of my time in Venice was spent with Christopher, walking along the canals, taking pictures, picnicking in piazzas and gawking at the tourist-driven shops full of masks, clothes, beads and other glass products. The rest of my pictures can be viewed in this album. Christopher has a more extended collection which I'm sure he'll put up eventually... but Mom and Dad Teague are arriving tomorrow morning for a visit, so we'll be busy entertaining for a while!

We love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Oatmeal!

I am freaking out right now because for the first time since August, I had oatmeal for breakfast!

Italians aren't too big on breakfast foods (espresso, juice and a croissant is about it), and Christopher and I have been lamenting the absence of substantial breakfast foods since we got here. I know, I know, "when in Rome blah blah blah," but by 10am I'm hungry for more than a measly roll with powdered sugar on it. Seriously.

So although the odds seemed slim, I started keeping my eyes open for oatmeal in September and FINALLY found it on my last excursion to the local grocery store. It's expensive, but I've decided that we're desperate and it's worth it.

I promise I'll never take Quaker Oats for granted again!

Autumn in the Land of Palladio

Back in October, the graduate program took the students to the Veneto for a ten day architecture marathon. They stopped in a couple of hill towns along the way (more on that from Christopher, later), but their main stops were in the cities of Vicenza and Venice.

Vicenza, one of Europe's most affluent cities, is best known for its architecture; it's home to several buildings designed by Palladio, one of the more famous classical architects. Christopher can give more details if you're curious, but for your sake and mine, I'll just show you a picture of the most famous of Palladio's designs -- Villa Rotunda.

From Vicenza and Venice

Apparently Palladio is such a big deal to them that they decided to host a huge party to celebrate what would be Palladio's 500th birthday. The soiree was held in a nearby town and all the who's who of architecture were there, including the ND School of Architecture grad students. Their trip was timed to coincide with the anniversary bash, and Christopher enjoyed a couple hours of schmoozing and good scotch in honor of Palladio, the pride and joy of Italian architecture.

In the meantime, I enjoyed window shopping on the streets of one of Italy's big retail cities with the other wives, licking gelato and *almost* succumbing to a coat in Zara. We took turns labeling suits, coats, boots and other goodies as "maybe someday" and "not in a million years" and pretending we weren't actually tempted by all the high priced threads.

After two nights in Vicenza, we were on our way to Venice...

Villa Adriana

Hi friends and family!

Christopher's still on his Florence/Tuscany trip, but I got home yesterday and thought I'd take this chance to spend a little time updating our blog. It's been a while, and we've got lots of stories to tell and pictures to share with you. :)

Going back several weeks to an early weekend in October, the other wives and I decided not to let our husbands' absence stop us from having an adventure of our own, so we hopped on a bus and went to nearby Tivoli for a day at Villa Adriana, a favorite getaway spot for Emperor Hadrian.

Although the day was a bit rainy, we enjoyed picnicking under olive trees and traipsing through the ruins for a few hours before heading home. A little rain never hurt anyone, right?

From Villa Adriana

For the rest of the album, click here!