My Roman Holiday March 15-18th

 

We got up early on Sunday and drove over an hour or so to Terni to attend church.  This is not the ward they usually attend. We did not tell anyone we were coming and we got quite the greeting because the mission President was visiting of course. They asked Heather's parents to both speak at the end of sacrament. They get asked to do this a lot I discovered.

This is the chapel after they cleaned up many of the chairs. Elder Pizza interpreted for us during Sunday School. Then the Sunday School teacher interpreted for us and another woman during Sacrament while he bounced his baby girl and tried to keep his older girls quiet. They had a microphone and headpieces we could use. I loved the lessons in church. They stuck to the essentials of the gospel and tried not to stray from the scriptures.

 

Missionaries in Terni. Elder Pizza is on the right. He's from Utah. Poor guy with that last name in Italy.

 

Cute family that we talked to for a long time. We talked about the differences between Mormons in Utah vs.outside of Utah. The father (Marco Petrolini) was on a Mormon messages video under "beekeeper". Look it up. It's a good one. The mother says she visit teaches 5 women. Many live a ways away and it took her 3 hours to visit 2 of them last week.

Afterwards we drove to find a hilltop village. This is in Labro.

We looked so awesome in our dresses and bright blue shoes. (We changed after church, don't you worry)

The view from the top of the village. Could you live here? It's beautiful but very isolated. We kept talking about how awful it would be to bring groceries back home or to drag furniture up.

 

 Sister and President Waddoups.

 

The hilltop village had it's own theatre, chapel, etc.

Me behind the pulpit. I bet I could give a killer sermon.

Carnations in front of one home. I look ruffed up here.

Another home in the village. Adorbs.

 

 

 

The mission home plaque just as you enter the Villa.

We went to the Catacombs of the Capuchins. This was pretty gruesome. It was constructed around 1732-1735. It's all artwork/monuments made out of bones of over 3,700 Capuchin friars, Romans and children. This is one of several rooms. We weren't allowed to take photos so I got this one online. A sign greets you that says "What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be."

 

We paid to have our car parked in a lot while we went into the catacombs. This is how the parking attendant parked all the cars.

Up the street from the villa was the aqua sacre. You bring your own containers and fill up on fizzy water or natural water. Heather and I hated fizzy but her parents love it now. Heather's dad put a bottle under the faucet of fizzy water and walked away. Once it filled up, it started spraying everywhere and sprayed Heather's mom all over. She started screaming and couldn't shut it off since water was spraying everywhere. It was so funny and I wish my video was on.

This guy was just shaking his head at all of our shenanigans.

Heather and I had the pick of a million rooms. We each took a bunkbed in this little loft at the top of the stairs. We had a sleepover every night essentially. We did like to hang out in the "General Authority Room" at night though. That was the fancy one.

 

Here are some of our culinary delights.

 

Some things I learned about Italy:

They aren't as fat as Americans.

There are smokers everywhere.

They look classy, not scroungy. No sign of sweats or flip flops anywhere.

They only wear dark colors. No flash or pop of color anywhere.

Also, I want to live in Europe for at least 3 months of my life. It's on my bucket list as well as a mission when Nelson and I are older.

 

My Roman Holiday March 14-15, 2014

 

After staying in Concerta after our day in Pompeii, we hit Napoli. Heather's parents called a senior missionary couple and asked them to show us around. They serve on the military base. We learned they are the hook up when someone wants cream of chicken soup, peanut butter or chips.

After a taxi ride into town, Elder Willie said we needed to hit a bakery. I did not complain.

We ordered a cannoli they fill right there in front of you with what you want. Mine was pistachio.

Just outside the bakery. I love Elder Willie and President Waddoup's faces in this.

Nasty fish market. I hate fish.

 

Seriously, what are these?

 

Puppet store. Napoli was a bustling town full of markets with apartments above all the shops. Laundry was hanging everywhere up top and you had to be careful not to be below someone when they wring out their laundry. Apparently the dryers at the villa were a luxury.

Napoli was the birthplace of pizza (bless you Napoli) so of course we had to try some. Mine was spicy and delightful. This is Elder and Sister Willie who are returning home to Salt Lake this month.

Here's an example of the shops below and apartments up top. There were many outdoor markets as well. This is our view from the pizzeria. It was nice to have warm enough weather to open the windows.

Inside the Pizzeria di Matteo.

 

This is Christmas street. It's tradition to buy these nativities and then slowly fill them in with characters, animals, and objects to make your own nativity. It kind of reminds me of a Christmas village that is common here.

Castel Nuovo, built in 1282.

 

You can see where the cannon ball hit. This castle had a moat around it which was pretty cool.

Behind the castle. I only got to spend 5 minutes here since we had to catch a bus. I longed to stay there for awhile. I feel so land locked in Utah. I rarely get to see the sea.

On our drive home, we stopped at a cheese factory to but some mozzarella di bufalo. It is watery, squishy and delicious.

The next day back in Rome. The LDS temple being built. It's way behind schedule and probably won't be completed for another year. The oval design has been very difficult for the construction crew. We were told they flew some of the crew to see some of our temples since they had never built anything like this before.

Roman walls were the entrance to the city. All these old ruins are just incorporated into today's society and everyday life. There is also a lot of graffiti in Rome.

Catacombs of St. Domitilla. This is an underground burial place. They were built mainly because there was overcrowding and shortage of land. This spread over 9 miles of underground caves. This is the entrance through the sunken 4th century church.

You enter through here. You have a guide with you which is necessary because you'd never find your way out. This is THE perfect place to go to on Halloween. Super creepy, damp, cold and dark.

In front of one of the burial spots. You can see the paintings still above them. This belonged to the grave digger. He created himself a nice little niche to rest in peace in.

The church.

The Appian Way. It stretches from Rome to Brindisi. The first section was completed in 312 BC as a military road. Perfect place to walk or ride a bike on a nice day.

Ruins along Appian way.

The back of the mission car.

You can see the original cobblestone.

We came back fairly early that night to get ready for our early church in Turni the next morning. I took a shot of the backyard of the villa.

Then took a walk down to the gelato shop down the street. Pistachio and nutella flavors.