Gathering Graces 7/8/2017

*Today we traveled to the town of Pisa to visit the site of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

*One highlight of the drive over and back was the beautiful fields of sunflowers we saw.  I wish I could have taken a photograph of them.  I love sunflowers.

*I don’t think I ever knew what the purpose of the Tower in Pisa was, and when I found out it was a bell tower, I was surprised.  On the grounds are many things you can visit.  I chose to visit the Baptistery, The Cathedral and climb to the top of the tower.

*The Baptistery was beautiful, and I appreciated how quiet people were in the building.

The altar

Looking down from above at the beautiful stained glass windows.

Next we entered the Cathedral.  What a beautiful building, filled with paintings, sculptures and relics. It was the favorite building I saw today.

The front of the Cathedral

Madonna di sotto gli Oragani

A relic in this tomb

*April, Kellee, Tina and I got in line around 3:15 p.m. so we could climb the stairs to the top of the tower.  It was a very interesting climb.  You can tell when the gravity from the lean was working with you, and when it was working against you.  The stairs are marble, of course, and very slick and well worn.  Here are some of the views from the top.

One of the bells in the tower.

Pisa Soccer Stadium

The Town of Pisa

*Here is a photograph a nice gentleman from Dallas, Texas took of us before we left.

The group in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

*We stopped and ate at a sidewalk cafe with a view of the tower.  I enjoyed some fresh pasta and pesto.

Lunch stop.

*Shopping at the outdoor vendors is always interesting.  Men walk around trying to sell you watches, sunglasses, purses.  Italy is known for leather, and there are many choices of hangbags to choose from outside the square.  And lots of souvenirs as well. Some of the salesmen can get a bit aggressive.

*Pisa has an IKEA store so we stopped there to do some looking around and shopping.  I had never eaten the Swedish Meatballs before, so I gave them a try before we headed home.

Swedish Meatballs at the IKEA in Pisa.

*Pisa was very enjoyable.  There were many tourists visiting the site, but it wasn’t overwhelming, and you could get right into places you wanted to see.  And I was impressed by the way people were quiet in both the Baptistery and the Cathedral.  It made the experience much more meaningful.

Gathering Graces 7/9/2017

*This morning we attended the Catholic church in Barbarasco and listened to the Mass in Italian.  I am glad I am somewhat familiar with the way Mass works, so some parts seemed familiar.  We also had a paper where we could follow along.  I wish we could have understood the sermon.  From the priest’s facial expression and the response from the congregation, it seemed like it was a very positive and uplifting message he was sharing.

*April, Kellee and I were very surprised at the beauty of the inside of the church.  The outside looks very plain, but the inside is beautiful.  Here are some shots of the interior of the church.

On a side wall

The front of the church

Stairs to the balconey

*There was a small choir of about 20 people or so that were singing from behind the altar.  It sounded like it was about 50 or more people singing.

*The first song they sang was to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance, the song you walk in to during graduation.  In doing some research, it looks like the name of the song is Christ is Surely Coming, Bringing His Reward.  The other part of the service that was familiar was when they recited the Apostle’s Creed.  Even though it was spoken in Italian, I could follow along pretty closely and know what they were saying.

The Apostle's Creed

*After church people gathered outside the building to greet one another before driving or walking home.

Heading around the church toward home.

Walking through the park toward home.

Women visiting after the service.

*We walked home through the village, and had a funny encounter with two geese behind a fence.  They came up and greeted us, and “talked” for a while.  Here is a photo I took of the geese a couple days before.

We encountered these two chatty geese again on our walk home from church.

*We had a nice relaxing lunch on the portico and talked about where we would like to visit when we go to Florence on Tuesday.  There are lots of different places we would like to go.

*Later in the afternoon (once the store was open), we went to buy groceries.  Kellee, Tina and I were taking over dinner duties for the next two nights.  I did all the shopping on my own and felt very accomplished at being able to purchase all the ingredients needed for tonight’s dinner.

*Tonight’s menu included Shrimp Carbonara, sauteed zucchini (the zucchini’s were from April’s neighbor’s garden), cucumbers, tomatoes and onions in oil and vinegar, bread, and some wafer cookies for dessert. 

Gathering Graces 7/7/2017

*Another early morning getting up early and enjoying a quiet house, and listening to the sounds outside of Villa Magnolia.

*One of April’s friends, who is also teaching her Italian, Federica Furia stopped by today, and we enjoyed meeting her and spending a bit of time getting to know her.

April, Tina, Federica, Me, Kellee

*After Federica departed, we decided to walk up to Barbarasco to a little place we saw on our walk the day before to have lunch.  On the way we passed a building we had seen the day before, and today, there goats were lounging on the stairs next to this building.

*What a delightful time.  The food was delicious, and we met the owner, Mauritzia.  She invited us to their Karaoke Night on Saturday.  I also got to enjoy my first cup of Ginseng Caffe at lunch today.  It was very good.  At one point when we are visiting with Mauritzia, her neighbor Rosalie from across the alley opens up her window and they exchange greetings.  We all felt like we were on the set of an Italian movie.

Mauritzia and April

The sign outside the bar.

Ginseng Caffe

*When we got home, I got some things caught up on the computer and had time for a short nap, and to get some laundry done.

*The day before, Lucia Bonotti invited April, Kellee and I over to her house for coffee.  So after dinner we walked about two blocks to her house and had the most delightful evening with Lucia and her daughter Anna Masotti.  They have a lovely backyard with a beautiful gazebo, and she served us some delicious treats along with caffe.  It was a lovely evening enjoyed by all.

Their cute dog was part of the party, too.

Kellee, Lucia, Myself, April. Photo by Anna.

The Gazebo and Lucia's beautiful hydrangea bush.

*Even though I have enjoyed all the incredible sights of the places we have visited here in Italy, my most favorite part of my time here are the people I have met, whether they have been friends of Eric and April, or people in a shop or restaurant, my favorite part of this trip has been meeting and talking with new people.

Gathering Graces 7/6/2017

*This morning started out quietly on the cool portico reading scriptures, praying and enjoying some beautiful quiet time at lovely Villa Magnolia.

*Later I was joined by Tina, Kellee and April and we had a nice morning visiting, then decided it was time to go explore the Barbarasco community.

*We walked through the village taking photographs and exploring the lovely little community.

*About a block from Villa Magnolia is a small little market that we went in and checked out.

Small market down from Villa Magnolia

*Down the road was a little cafe that we stopped in and had some caffe and Coke on ice. Some gentlemen were enjoying some lunch and drinks before going back to work.  Here Tina is toasting with them.

Tina and two men toasting during their lunch break.

*So much beauty in this country and in this little village.

Three buildings along the road

I love this house color

Barbarasco

* Toward the end of the walk, Kellee and I were lagging a bit behind and all of a sudden a car came by, with a woman waving at us.  We could not think who it could be, since the only people in town that we know are April and Eric. It ended up being a woman April knew in the village from Facebook, and she recognized Kellee and I from the Facebook photos.  Her name is Lucia, and we met her and her daughter Anna, who could speak English.  It was fun meeting them.

Kellee, Me and Lucia

Anna

*When we got back to the Villa we relaxed a bit, then Kellee and I went up the road to the village of Tresana to April’s friend Ivana’s house (which is also a bed and breakfast, Il Tempo del Vento, and her husband is Alan Balzano, the Italian Chef from last week who fixed the Italian meal) to receive a massage session for Kellee and a Reflexology session for me.

* During my reflexology session, Ivana told me some things about myself that I totally agreed with, and, when she was done at the end she shared many things with me that I was thinking about while she was working on my feet.  One important thing...flexibility.

*When we arrived back to Villa Magnolia, Eric barbequed some hamburgers for us, and it was very delicious.  He also purchased some chocolate croissants for dessert.