Italy -- The Wedding

My friend Jennifer's wedding was a two day affair. We began on Saturday afternoon with a winery tour, tasting and pig roast. The Saturday events took place a two hour bus ride from Rome in Umbria.

Jennifer with her friend Judge Bill M.

The wedding took place on Sunday. Now, I have been to enough weddings in my life and so nothing really surprises me anymore. However, HOWEVER, this wedding of all time, WOAT, had a number of things which blew my mind. Let me proceed...

Getting off the bus, we were met by a marching band which led us attendees up to the castle.

Castle Orsini

Castle Orsini

The view from the castle onto the pool and the surrounding villages around Nerola.

In the late afternoon, the sun broke out and we were treated to amazing views.

The ceremony took place on own of the castle's lawn.

The happy couple.

The back of Jennifer's dress

The bride and myself

Jennifer P. of Toronto (my wedding "girlfriend") and myself

After the ceremony ended around 3PM, we guests were treated to light snacks consisting of (and this was reconstructed by us in the bus on the way back as there was so much variety that I didn't get to all the tables) proscuitto, toast points, fried onions and fried potatoes (?), rice balls, deep fried polenta balls, cured ham, many kinds of cheese. There were more things, but I can't remember.

Afterwards, we sat down to (verbatim from the menu):

Penne Pasta with tomato basil sauce
Gnocchi with truffle sauce and julienne zucchini
Pappardelle with wild boar ragout

Veal beggars purse stuffed with spinach and proscuitto
Duchess potatoes drizzled with truffle sauce

After dinner we were led downstairs for coffee and dessert. Here we have women hand baking fresh cookies for us.

There were many desserts on many tables as we ate in the chapel of castle. The walls had frescoes dating from the 12th century.

The wedding proceeded with dancing and music. We then were treated to a light buffet of cookies, pizza, pasta and a tray of meats. The evening ended with a 15 minute fireworks display that we watched from the terraces of the castle.

Amazing!

A beautiful sunset to end a magical day for the WOAT!

Italy -- Part I

This past week, I took a week off of school to attend my friend Jennifer C's wedding, which I will now call the "wedding of all time" (WOAT). However, I sandwiched my attendance at the wedding with a couple days in Rome at the beginning and a couple of days in Bologna before I flew home.

Before I begin, a shout out to Mom and Dad for cashing in miles to get me to Rome without having to dish out any money. The bonus was I got to fly KLM through Amsterdam, instead of an American carrier.

I arrived in Rome and was landed in the Rome Central Train Station with no idea where or how to get to the B&B at which I made reservations. First thing I did? Have some gelato. That was the theme of my trip, when it down, gelato makes things better.

I eventually found my way to the B&B, which was located near the Ponte Sisto and Campo de Fiori. The next morning, I have reserved a spot on a tour of the Vatican. Now the Vatican tours are so large these days, that each different tour company hands out it's members a headset so one can hear the guide as he/she speaks into a microphone. My group was limited to six guests and was lead by an ex-pat New Zealander who was living in Rome working on his PHD. It was quite a different experience. Our small, agile, group, was able to dart in dart around the massive groups to see things up close, spend time at things we found particularly interesting and ask questions.

I respected the wishes of the Vatican to not take pictures so none are posted. But I did love the Map Room and found the Sistine Chapel to be quite remarkable. Having each and every one of the frescos explained to me, made it quite that much more amazing. Michelangelo was quite the force.

After the Vatican, I took the Metro over to the Colosseum. This time, I took one of the tours where I wore the headset to listen to the guide.

After the Colosseum, I walked through the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This time, I finished the trifecta of tours, but using one of the hand held, self-guided ear pieces to walk around.

The next morning, Saturday October 6th, I spent the morning working my way towards the bus pickup location for the days festivities at the wedding.

First stop, the Pantheon

A couple minutes away.....Trevi Fountain

The important information revealed by this "signage" about the fountain

This last picture summarizes what I learned over the course of the day in Rome as well as something valuable I learned/realized during my Vatican tour. First, I realized that back in the days before print media and television, these public pieces of art WERE a form of entertainment. Popes and patrons would commission these works and then when put on display were, for the masses, more than just art, it was a way to understand history and to be stimulated.

I learned from my Vatican guide to always look at the beauty of the art, but to also look for clues as to who commissioned it. You'll see in the last picture the popes head piece at the top, with two crossing keys. The seal of each and every pope has that as it's papal sign, but the crest below it is individual to each pope. You'll see that Pope Clement II is the one who had the Trevi Fountain built. I found it cool to be able to use clues like this to figure out who gets credit for what. Throughout Rome, one would see these signatures on buildings and pieces of art. I love how the citizens of Rome live in and amongst these famous historical items.

Neptune, he owns Bologna's Piazza Maggiore

After the wedding, I took the train up to Bologna to hang with former student Ari K. Those of you HRS readers can follow his adventures as a student abroad in Rome on Ari's blog. We spent a day just walking around, catching up. I even attended one of his classes with him. Man, was it boring to sit through a lecture in Italian on the role of Women in Greek and Roman life. I applaud myself for NOT falling asleep.

I spent the afternoon in the Piazza just enjoying the weather and sitting around me were these three men. I think I've seen my future.