Abbazia Sacra di San Michele

The Abbey of Saint Michael (this picture and the following courtesy of the Google Image Search)

Day 2 had us back on the bus on the way to Torino. The highlight of the day was a trip to the Abbazia Sacra di San Michele. The stunning location and beauty of the church overcame any issues I had with the fact that all tours are being held in Italian. My Italian isn't good enough yet to be able to understand what's going on so I just look and then go the internet to get the real details. I can get about every fifth word but it's mostly nouns right now but the verbs are harder. Adjectives and Adverbs? Forget about it. So, everything I write about here, I learned from the Abbbzia's website.

Here's why I had to pilfer pictures off the web. The weather in Northern Italy's Po River valley in the late fall and early winter is dreary and fog filled.

The Abbey on this high point, about 30 kilometers from the French/Italian border was erected in erected in the 10th Century and inhabited by Benedictine monks through the 1600's.


 

 

This statue of San Michele stands at the entrance of the Abbey. San Michele was the archangel of good, who defeated evil.

Who remembers flying buttresses?!?! Here they are. These exterior struts allowed buildings to be with thinner walls and also to be built taller to allow additional light to enter.

This Latin inscription was laid sideways as a Christian jab at Paganism's decline.

These ruins are from the battles of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1836 the fathers of the Rosmini Order were allowed to take over the Abbey. Although they no longer reside here, they still are the ones who "inhabit" it.

Today, after much generosity from the public and the fact that the Piemonte region considers the Abbey their symbol, the Abbey is undergoing extensive safety and upgrades for accessibility.

Parma

One of the, if not THE biggest, benefits of my job here at SYA Italy is the opportunity to go on the school trips. Orientation earlier, well, was nice, but it was orientation and there was work to do. Workshops and discussions and adviser meetings. These past our days, it was museums, free time and just plain sightseeing. Trips are planned by my Italian colleague Santo S. (who I will get to chest bump me by the end of the year, you'll see) who just decides where he thinks is cool and makes it happen. A trip usually has a two year run and our trip this week to northern Italy was the second. Therefore, my guess is that next year's November trip will be a new one. The February trip, 13 days, will be going to Sicily and, wait for it, TUNISIA. My job is taking me to Carthage. This is a classics based program, remember, so Santo is throwing down and taking the school to North Africa.

Oh, right, so where did we go this past week? Parma, yes, the home of Parmesean Cheese and Prociuotto. Then we drove to NW Italy, to Torino, which being near France, has a very French feel, but still at heart, an Italian city. First up, Parma!

At the heart of Parma is this building of the 11th-12th Century, the Battistero, which is a baptistry. The Catholic Church was beginning to take hold in Europe and buildings were being erected after the Dark Ages with the Church's great influence. The Battistero is constructed of the famed pink Venetian Marble and built in an octagonal shape.

Even though the Battistero is many stories tall, the inside is one large room. Here's the ceiling.

Here is the actual pool in which people were baptised into the church.

If it's an Italian city, there is a Duomo. The outside of Parma's Duomo is uninviting, but the I liked the door.

One student with a good eye noticed an interesting "mistake" or perhaps intentional design feature of the pediment of the Duomo. See if you can find it. I'll put the answer at the end of the posting.

In another church near the Duomo, this was the pattern on the floor. The Geometry teacher in me loved it.

Near the Duomo was a monastery. Here's the largest of three inner courtyard.

Yes, I had to post pictures of food. It is Parma. This shop smelled so good. I would walk out so I could walk back in and be bombarded with the smell, which was almost one of being sweet, but was essentially the strong smell of fresh cheese and meat.

My colleague Frank and I purchased prosciuotto and cheese for lunch the next day, but we couldn't resist sampling it that night.

We were in Parma for an evening and night. The next day it was back on the bus to Torino. As for the "mistake". If you look at the arches on the left side, the tops point diagonally to the left, whereas the arches on the right, point directly skyward. Mistake or on purpose. You be the artistic judge!

Olive Oil

Each grower brings their olives to a press to be turned into olive oil. Here they are stacked up and ready to go. The return is 14% of the total mass will be returned as olive oil.

First the olives are dumped into a huge blower, to remove twigs and leaves.

Olives are then put underneath the granite rollers to be turned into a paste.

The paste is spit out and spread in a thin layer onto one of the "rope disks."

The disks are then stacked up between metal disks ready to be pressed.

The liquid seeps out from the paste as the machine compresses the disks.

The liquid is then sent to a centrifuge which separates the olive oil from the other liquid, water.

The final product! The smell in the press is so sharp, it's almost a spicy sensation on your nose.

Tuscania

It's Saturday and time for another local Viterbo adventure. I find out most of my information from my colleagues in my office. I say where should I go and I get suggestions and then off I am. This time, the town of Tuscania, a 20 minute bus ride away. As usual, it's beautiful views from scenic lookouts and religious sites. But, well, I love it anyway.

This is the view from the edge of town. It takes my breath away every time I come upon a sight like this. How can anyone ever get bored of moments like thins?

The great thing in Tuscania is that you can walk on top of about a quarter of the city wall. It's also perfectly manicured.

The church from the first picture is San Pietro. Here it is from the front.

Where there's a walled city, there are towers.

Maybe the front of this years Christmas card?

Inside Chiesa San Pietro

Chiesa San Pietro has a crypt. Notice that all the columns are different. It's as if the builders went to the scrap heap and picked out any columns they could find and stuck them here.

Another candidate for the cover of the Christmas card!

Parent Conferences -- Italian Style

Last night, the host parent's of 12 of my 13 advisees came into school for a parent conference. I was asked to speak about each of the students for a minute or two and then my colleague translated into Italian for me. Most of the time my assessment of the student matched the host parent experience at home. All except for one. After I went around, the host parents just starting going on and on in Italian and I understood nothing. They just wanted to vent. The most common issue is lack of tidiness. For all you students out there reading, CLEAN YOUR ROOMS. Pick things up off the floor. Your Italian mothers are beside themselves at not being able to walk into your room and clean it up for you, or even to change your sheets!

Here are the names of the families: Ciucciarelli, Agostini, Guitarrini, Delre, Berti, Ciprini, Oliveri, Colonna, Corinti, Anselmi, Giannini, Raponi and Salino. Might I be working in Italy?

Viterbo City Hall

Rain quashed plans to go olive picking with Gigi this day. So, I got the motivation to spend a couple hours finishing off the recommendations for students back at HRS and then head out during a break in the rain to walk around town.

I saw people heading towards church so I went in and observed services. I lasted 15 minutes.

I wandered around (went into a wedding expo, lasted 5 minutes) and then as I'm headed home wander into an open door, up some stairs and land in what is the municipal building of Viterbo and it's open. Here is a 16th century original painting of the province of Viterbo and the surrounding towns.

The city council room

The ceiling is filled with paintings of each of the cities in the province of Viterbo. Notice S.P.Q.V, just like S.P.Q.R in Rome.

Vetralla painting

The marble of the floors is from Venice (as told to me by the docent). Notice the fossilized seashell in the marble.

Why this man is painted as coming out of the door on the wall? Who knows.