After my last blog entry, we have had continuous snow throughout the week with a few days of reprieve. Exactly to the day, one week later, another 10 cm of snow fell. It is interesting to note that the Lancanese use umbrellas to shield themselves against the snow, or better yet, use it as a walking stick to avoid slipping.
The next morning after heading down to the Mercato for a cappucino and cornetta, George, Toby and I went for a long walk in the surrounding area.
This week the temperatures started to rise and the snow starting to melt. So when walking, you had to look down to try to avoid any icy patches or dog poop (no poop and scoop here), or look up for falling snow coming from the roofs, sometimes with individual roof tiles attached.
Due to the heavy volume of snow we were unable to get out of town. Many of the roads leading out of town were closed.
However by Friday, February 17th due to the warmer weather and the efforts of the personnel to clear the highways we were able to take a day trip with the school to Rome.
Rome itself had been paralyzed by snow forcing us to delay our trip by one week. We left Lanciano early in the morning with snow still on the ground and drove through the mountains and ended up in Rome. We were pleased to see on the far side of the mountains in Rome that the warmer temperatures had melted all of the snow.
Our trip consisted of visiting the Catacombs. These are ancient Christian burial sites which are underground. The one we visited has three separate underground levels and consists of over 9 km of tunnels. Since the ancient Romans did not allow burial within the city walls, the Christians and later the Romans themselves buried their dead. Imagine a tunnel with the sides carved out in niches large enough to accept a linen wrapped body and then imagine a covering of the opening and you can imagine what it is like in the Catacombs. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the Catacombs.
Following that we went to the Borghese Gallery located in the Villa Borghese. There we saw spectular works of art, paintings and sculpture.
The students normally have free time to shop and to have dinner. George and I had dinner at the Campo di Fiori, sitting outside under a propane heater which was delightful.
Today, Saturday George and I took eight students skiing at Rocaroso. What a beautiful day, bright blue sky, warmer temperatures, great skiing conditions.
Early to bed tonight, as this has been the first time George and I have been on skis this season and our aging bones are creeping up on us.
Tomorrow we are excited to have Shelagh arriving to visit with us during Reading Week.
No comments:
Post a Comment