OK, I said I wasn't going to post anymore and here's one last entry.We're back in the US and I just had to report on our trip home.

We had a rental car reserved to drive from Macerata to Rome. We didn't think it would be a good idea trying to take the train (which requires 2 changes to get to the Rome airport from Macerata) while carrying 6 suitcases and 3 carry-ons. Monday evening I got a call from the rental car company that the car reserved for us would not be available. They had another smaller, but she knew we had requested a larger car, so she called to alert me. We were to get the car Wed. morning. I lost a lot of sleep Monday night. Tuesday morning I called the Macerata Avis office. No problem - they had a station wagon we could take and drop off at the airport. All that worry for nothing.

Wed. we left Macerata and drove to our hotel near the airport. Thursday a.m. we dropped off the car and went to our flight. They were just about to begin boarding when they decided to delay the flight. Three hours later they canceled it. To U.S. Airways' credit, at least they didn't have us sitting on the plane the whole time. They made us retrieve our luggage (ouch!) and bussed us to a nearby hotel for the night. They fed us and treated us well, except for the dribbling of information. When will people learn that the best PR results when a company shares what it knows with customers?

The next morning they had a wake-up call at 3:30 a.m. Breakfast (continental) was available and busses would begin boarding at 4:30, registration at the airport would be at 5 and the plane would leave at 7...which got changed to 8. About the time we were ready to leave, we were told our flight was delayed until 10 and busses would leave at 7. We got to the airport about 7:20 and stood in a very long line. Not knowing how to work the system, we were in the line for 3 hours. Others behind us in line got taken care of before us, by going to other desks, using the phone, etc., but 3 hours later, there we were with an Italian priest behind us in line. Our original 7 then 8 then 10 flight was now going to go about 3, which would've made us too late to catch our connection in Philadelphia. The nice, overwhelmed US Airways agent got us on the flight at 11:15 (the one we would've gone out on the day before) which was only delayed about an hour. But, the Philly-Indy leg was full, so she couldn't book us onto that, and told us to talk with US Air in Philly when we arrived.

About 4 p.m. Philly time we arrived and went through a very painless passport and customs check. The toughest part was collecting our luggage again (ouch). Then, we talked with another nice US AIrways agent who kindly forced us onto to the full flight. I don't know how she did it, but we got seat assignments and by the time we got to the gate they were offering people incentives to stay overnight and take the first flight the next morning. Our flight was delayed leaving Philly so we arrived in Indy about 26 hours behind schedule (the full day plus a 2 hour delay). It was a good thing the last flight was delayed, because we never would have made the original flight time. After collecting our bags and getting through customs, we left the secured area to get ticketed for our next flight, then had to go back through a very long line for security again (about 45 minutes). Why, if we were already in a secured aea did we have to leave it? It seems like a design error that causes increased labor costs. It wasn't just us because of our re-ticketing situation. Everyone on our flight who had to catch a connecting flight had to do the same. That's an airport problem, not US Air. Now that federal agents are handling security, doesn't that mean wasted tax dollars screening people who have already been screened?

All in all we made it through unscathed. We didn't miss a family gathering or a day's pay because of it, and we were treated as nicely as can be expected under the circumstances. God bless Nicole! Our 13-year-old held up great. She had really hoped to be home to see friends and her cat, and she kept up her spirits and stamina. She didn't sleep on the 9+ hour flight, either, opting to watch movies the whole way home (not having seen English-language TV or movies for 4 months). We couldn't have asked for a better traveler.

We're thrilled to be home. It was a great trip, a wonderful experience, but it's always nice to be home. Happy Holidays to all, and in the immortal words of Tiny Tim, "Tiptoe through the Tulips"........ oops, wrong Tiny Tim. I meant, "God bless us, every one."

The city center (inside the walls) of Macerata has been buzzing with Christmas activity. Merchants inside the walls are trying to attract shoppers away from the mega-stores and malls, just as they do in the States. Until Christmas they’ve been providing free cab rides in the evening hours, and there are wandering Father Christmases handing out candy.

This will be the last installment of this blog. We leave Macerata tomorrow, then fly out of Rome on Thursday. It’s been an incredible experience.

Here’s a picture of all of us in San Marino back when Megan and Anthony were here visiting on Nov. 29.

The following day we were in Venice, and Megan shot this family picture. If we were doing Christmas cards this year, we would undoubtedly use this photo (much better than the one of the three of us in medieval costume back in October). While the digital camera doesn’t provide the quality a professional portrait would, the setting is pretty amazing.

A photo of the Pantheon doesn’t do it justice. As I said with St. Peter’s, it’s the sheer size that is the most amazing. But, this was constructed hundreds of years before St. Peter’s.

Piazza Navona in Rome has a Christmas market. It’s a real carnival atmosphere – complete with cotton candy. I sat in this piazza for a while just to watch people. I could be mistaken, but my sense was that there were a lot more locals here than at the Trevi fountain or St. Peter’s.

We didn’t tour Castel Sant Angelo but we walked past it several times.

In my last blog update I told you we saw the Pope while in Rome. Here are two pictures. The first as you might expect, is the Pope at his window welcoming the crowd. The second is to provide you with a little perspective on how far away he actually was. The camera has a nice zoom.

Back in Macerata, I wanted to show how prominent the advertising posters are. Walls have areas designated by cement frames where ads can be posted. All sorts of things are promoted this way – festivals, store sales, even church events.

This photo was shot just last week. The front of the building is nice, but I also wanted to point out that there are still flowers growing here.

I thought this would be a nice closing shot. Macerata is a wonderful town. Just the right size. I’ve enjoyed my visits to Florence, Rome, etc., but they’re big cities with the accompanying traffic, pollution, etc. They are nice places to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Macerata, on the other hand, is a place not too many people visit, but is quite livable.

Our trip is winding down. I gave my final exam on Wednesday. I’ve been making dubs of the projects and delivering them to clients for a day or two. Last night we had a farewell dinner for the students. Today, one of the clients wants to have a final toast to the students who worked on their video.

We leave Macerata Wednesday for Rome, and fly home on Thursday. I hope to have a chance to post one more blog entry Tuesday before we leave. We’ll see.

As promised earlier, I have a few pictures from our trip to Florence back on Nov. 21-23. This is the skyline with the cathedral and Brunelleschi’s dome the most prominent feature.

Here’s a picture of the dome from much closer. Brunelleschi was an architectural master. When he did this in the 1400s, no one had been able to accomplish anything like it since Roman times. All that knowledge had been lost. He studied Roman architecture to build it. When he quarreled with a rival about the design, he walked away from the project, knowing his rival would never be able to complete it, and was invited to return and do it the way Brunelleschi wanted. Thanks to Michelangelo, the red brick remains according to the original design. They started marbling up the ribs of the dome, when he told them to stop (he said they were making it look like a cage for crickets).

While quite beautiful, the dome’s interior is a violation of the original design. Renaissance style would have been to leave it white, emphasizing the vertical nature of the dome – looking to heaven. Instead by adding the horizontal bands of art, Vasari and Zucchari de-emphasize that. Fortunately Brunelleschi was dead by the time they did this in the 1500s.

Santa Croce (Holy Cross) has little of the original artwork, but houses the tombs of significant Italians, including Michelangelo and Galileo. The marble façade was added in the 19th Century, when Florence became the capital of Italy. The original design was stone.

Pizza made in brick ovens tastes different – there’s no doubt about it. I told this guy he’d be world-renown because I would put his picture on the Internet. Still charged me full price for my meal.

On Thanksgiving Day we got to meet with the president of the University of Macerata. I was thrilled to hear he is a real faculty member, not some political appointee, who in fact still teaches a class. Here we are Filiberto on the left and the University of Macerata President on the right.

That evening we had Thanksgiving Dinner at a nice restaurant. It was a cross between Italian and American. The main course was turkey, and Kim made some apple pie so that everyone could have a little, but the antipasto, pasta and salad were definitely Italian. Our table consisted of Kim, Nicole, Anthony and his girlfriend Megan (who by this time had been in Italy a whole day), and two Italian professors who teach in the AHA program, Tonino and Elena.

While most Americans were Christmas shopping, the day after Thanksgiving we visited the independent Republic of San Marino. Anth and Meg posed at the fortress at the top. Perched on top of a mountain, we are miles from the Adriatic, but it’s visible in the background behind them.

Kim decided the most important sight to see was Venice, so we went there the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Nicole and Megan did the obligatory pigeon feeding in St. Mark’s square.

Here’s a picture of my cousin Cetta in Bologna. After dropping Anth and Megan off at the airport in Milan, we drove down to Bologna to see some relatives. It was a Sunday and most everybody was unavailable (at least, that’s what they told me). At least we were able to spend a few hours with Cetta, but even her husband had gone on a 3-day trip skiing with friends. The next day we headed back to Milan to return the rental car.

Since our last Blog update, our friends the Youngs returned to the U.S. and so have our final set of guests, our son Anthony and his girlfriend Megan. Theirs was a whirlwind trip. They arrived Milan the day before Thanksgiving and took the train to Ancona. Kim picked them up there. By the time they reached Macerata it was dinner time. They spent Thanksgiving in Macerata, the day after in Urbino and the Republic of San Marino, Saturday in Venice and flew out early Sunday morning. Maybe I’ll get some pictures from that visit up next time. I’m giving my Final on Wednesday, so once I get my grades done, I’ll be able to put up some more.

Last week we had a “performance night” for those who wanted to sing or play an instrument. Nicole and Jen Spurr of Indiana State performed a duet from Newsies. I was very impressed that a 13-year-old was willing to get up in front of college students and perform. “Willing” is the wrong word: she was dying to get up and perform.

We just returned from Rome. Far too many pictures to post. Yes, we got to see the Pope address the crowd from his window. We also attended mass at St. Peter’s. Here’s only a small sample of photos. Those wanting to see more will just have to visit us when we get home ;)

Just as we were arriving, the firefighters were holding a protest march. This float depicts Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as an octopus. The clear meaning is that he has his hands in everything. The implicit meaning is a tie to organized crime, as decades ago the octopus was used to imply the mafia’s involvement in Italian affairs. Berlusconi wants to run for Italian president, but he also wants to rewrite the constitution to give the president more powers. In case you don’t know, he’s a multi-millionaire who owns the three independent TV networks (among other things). He’s accused of wrongdoing in some business affairs some years ago. He managed to get the parliament to pass a law allowing him to move his trial on the assumption that the judge in his case is prejudiced against him.

The Coliseum is certainly one of Rome’s most recognized landmarks.

From Inside the Coliseum you get a great view of the Arch of Constantine. Note the relative size of the people walking near it. Perhaps the most amazing part of ancient Rome is the size of the monuments. It’s difficult to imagine how they were able to engineer such things.

OK, so we’re tourists – what’s so wrong about that? We just had to have Nicole photographed with some gladiators.

This unassuming balcony is the one used by Mussolini for his addresses to the crowd. He turned Palazzo Venezia into his offices and used this balcony for public addresses.

Of course if you ever want to return to Rome, you must visit the Trevi Fountain and toss in a coin. I remembered visiting this place 30 years ago. I must not have used a large enough denomination last time since it took me so long to get back.

The Vatican Museums are a vast storehouse of art, both religious and secular. Best known for the Sistine Chapel, there is a lot more to see than just Michelangelo’s ceiling. Much of the museum was fine, but the closer you got to the Chapel, the more crowded it became. I just wanted to show one of the rooms painted by Rafael and the crush of people. Had I not been with the group, I probably would have left at this point rather than even make it to the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed in there - you’ll just have to see it yourself.

Here are Kim and Nicole in St. Peter’s square.

I was astonished that we were allowed to take pictures inside St. Peter’s. Most of what is impressive about the basilica is the size and design, something that can’t be captured on video. The best known artwork inside the church, though, has to be Michelangelo’s Pieta. On our trip to Florence where we saw his David, Filiberto told us that Michelangelo’s parents wanted him to be a lawyer, but he wanted to follow his dream to be a sculptor. I will refer to that every time a student talks to me about pursuing a subject for economic security rather than passion. Imagine what the world would have lost if Mike had decided to become a lawyer because you can’t make a living as an artist.

Sorry - no pictures today. Just time enough to proviide this update. I hope to get some pix up next week.

Our son Anthony and his girlfriend Megan arrived in Italy last Wed. (Nov. 27). They flew into Milan and trained to Ancona, where Kim picked them up. We spent Thursday locally, Friday we saw Urbino and the Republic of San Marino (on the weekly student excursion), and Saturday we spent in Venice. They flew back out of Milan early Sunday morniing. Their visit was too brief, but Kim managed to squeeze in as much activity for them as she could. They were troopers, too: in spite of jet lag, they kept up with us great. The onlly trouble is that seeing Anthony again has made Kim homesick. She was fine until he came, now she misses her firstborn, which also reminds her of the others she misses back in the States.

Monday we returned the rental car. Kim was sad. She'd put nearly 6,000 miles on it in 3 months.

Tuesday we attended the taping of an Italian game show, Passaparola. I met with the producer and one of the writers. I also had a brief visit with the show's host, a very big TV celebrity. He also hosts the Italian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionnnaire" and stars in a sitcom, "Finally, Alone." I don't know if it will make the finall edit, but during the show he mentioned the fact that there was an American professor in the audience visiting from the University of Ball. That may get edited, but there's no way they can edit out Nicole. For one of the games, she was seated in the background of the camera shot of one of the guests. Unfortunately, the show won't air until Dec. 20, and we fly home on the 19th. I'm going to have to try to get someone to tape it for me here in Italy and mail it to the U.S.

I'd better get going. Kim's preparing dinner for students tonight and she could use some help. We're off to Rome this weekend for our final excursion with the students.

November is without a doubt the busiest month since we arrived! Our fourth set of guests is here: Mike and Eileen Young and their daughter Danielle from Minnesota. As I write this, Nicole has gone to school and I am here at the computer, while Kim drives the Youngs off to Assisi. We have to return the car to the rental agency Monday and I think Kim’s trying to put on as many kilometers as possible.

We took the students to Florence Nov. 21-23. I’m not posting pictures from that trip yet: they’re still in the camera. Of course I was only able to take exteriors for the most part. The majority of the significant churches and museums all prohibit photographs. I did see several people “sneaking” pictures of Michelangelo’s David, but that’s not my style. Another interesting tidbit: recently they’ve begun charging admission to Santa Croce, San Lorenzo and other churches. Filiberto explained that Napoleon confiscated church property in the late 18th/early 19th century. The government retained control when Italy became a nation in 1860. The clergy is allowed to use the churches for services, but the state maintains possession.

Brunelleschi’s dome on the Florence cathedral is undoubtedly the architectural masterpiece. Nicole and I walked up the steps as high as the drum, but didn’t make it all the way up and outside to the lantern.

Florence is a “great place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.” Lots of noise, pollution, traffic, tourists, etc., make it a real zoo. The director’s wife almost had her wallet stolen just as we were leaving town. Then, the experience of seeing Florence with 30 college students, two boyfriends and a mom (not to mention my family, the program assistant and her boyfriend, and the director’s wife) make schlepping anywhere a real challenge. We spent 2 1/2 hours in the Uffizi Gallery. By the end, we only had a handful of the students left with us.

I probably won’t have another update until Dec. 5th or so. One of the things I’ll be doing is meeting with the producers of Passaparola, an Italian game show that airs 6 nights/week. Kim, Nic and I will also attend a taping. I have hopes of getting an article published about the unique aspects of this show. Ask me about it sometime: I love talking about it.

Some old pictures:

The fortress at Urbs Salvia. Here’s a picture from inside.

I have to tell you about our favorite restaurant in Macerata, Trattoria da Ezio. It’s just down the street from our house, and run by a husband and wife who are open for lunch and dinner, 6 days a week. The routine: each morning she goes to market about 7 a.m. When she returns, she begins hand-making the pastas for the day. They open for lunch from about noon until 3 or so, then for dinner from 7 until whenever people are finished eating. The “menu” consists of whatever she found that looked good in the market. Nothing is ever frozen. The couple is delightful. We end up there for hours, because after we eat we often sit and talk. The atmosphere is nothing special – except for the Ball State logo, which they now proudly display on a shelf. The food, however, is first-rate. We have taken all our guests there.

Despite the fact that it’s a rental car, Kim insisted on a car wash.

We still have lots to learn. We thought these were Christmas lights when they went up around Nov. 15 or so, but they’ve since been taken down. They may instead have been for a 50th anniversary celebration of Macerata’s declaration as a “City of Mary.” There was a big celebration the weekend of Nov. 16/17, including a gathering in a piazza with local churches processing
into the square.

Here’s a view of the Adriatic coast from another medieval town, Potenza Picena about 20 miles from us.

Here’s Kim on market day, which is every Wednesday morning.

We have nicknamed the cat who lives in our complex ugly cat, and I think you can see why.

This picture is from the first week of Sept., back when we visited Cinque Terre. Nicole thought she was a mermaid.

We are currently enjoying the company of our third set of guests. Wayne and Ferne Davis of Ames, Iowa, were the only Americans to visit us 7 years ago when we spent a semester in Slovenia. They are here in Macerata now.

Tomorrow morning we leave for a 3-day trip to Florence. The students are looking forward to it: everything except having to be on the bus by 5:30 a.m.

This monument in Macerata is a war memorial. Every town has at least one. The students refer to this one as “the Jackson 5.”

This is a picture from the piazza in Loreto. Their website has a lot more pictures, but this is one I took.

One more winery picture. At Belisario (linked in my last report), this man served as our guide. He even taught us the proper procedure for ordering a bottle of wine in a restaurant, how it should be opened, etc. Belisario is a cooperative, and he’s one of the partners. He also happens to be the mayor of Matelka. I think he bears a striking resemblance to Mike Ditka.

Last weekend was one of the many festivals for the feast of St. Martin (officially Nov. 11, celebrated most of the first half of the month). The feast coincides with the opening of the new wine, and with chestnut season, both of which are plentiful. It also coincides with the Italian version of “Indian Summer” (is that term no longer politically correct?). Here in Italy, the occasion of warm fall weather is called “St. Martin’s Summer.”
It was like being at a Renaissance Festival on a smaller scale. There were musicians and performers strolling along the streets. Chestnuts are, in fact, roasted on an open fire.

Kim and Nicole took Ken, Tiffany and Amanda to Venice. That’s their second trip – I haven’t been. Somebody has to stay around and work once in a while.
Here are Kim and her eldest nephew Ken on the boat (vaporetto) on one of the Venetian canals.
Of course they had to go to St. Mark’s square to feed pigeons. Here’s Kim’s niece Tiffany.
Nicole was thrilled that one of the vile creatures allowed itself to be picked up.
Here’s Nic and Ken’s daughter Amanda doing more of the same.
Believe it or not, some people actually come to this square to see St. Mark’s, not the pigeons.

Two days after they visited Venice, Italy experienced a fall weather phenomenon known as the Scirocco: strong southerly winds. They caused some damage in many parts of Italy. In Venice, they cause the tide to rise, flooding parts of the town, including St. Mark’s square. Just 48 hours after they were there, water in the piazza was knee-high. They must be living right to have timed their visit so well.

We just said good-bye to our second set of guests. Kim’s nephew Ken (Guy), niece Tiffany and Ken’s daughter Amanda were just here. After spending a couple of days in Macerata, Kim and Nicole drove them up to Venice. Of course, I stayed behind in Macerata and worked. They only spent one night, returning late last night.

Here’s a few more pictures of family. My aunt and uncle in Bologna. Zia Maria is my mom’s youngest sister.
Their son, Nico, the plastic surgeon.
His wife, Massimiliana.

Since we’ve spent so much time in our car I thought I should show it. Kim’s put well over 3,000 miles on it.

This is the view our car sees from the parking lot. We have to park outside the walls since we’re not residents.

The beach at Civitanova, about 20 miles away. Nicole’s been in the Adriatic here.

Here’s the classroom. I couldn’t get a shot with both the students and the fresco on the ceiling.

Here’s a pretty decent view of the Sibilini Mountains. I have yet to find a day with absolutely no haze. I am told that happens in summer. Nonetheless, we can see them better that the video camera shows. Those are the mountains to our west – the pre-Apenines – that keep us from being able to make “simple” drives to our west.

This crest is the old seal of Macerata. The central symbol is a mill wheel, denoting Macerata’s agricultural importance. Later, the crest was expanded to include a cross to show the town’s relation to the church state.

This painting is located in a university classroom used mostly for ceremonies today. One-time classes and seminars might meet here, but no regular sessions. Too bad.

OK, now let me tell you about our class excursions. I’ll just provide links to existing websites, which have better pictures than I do. In the case of most basilicas, photography is prohibited inside, so this is the only way to show you some of what we’ve seen.
Oct. 4 we went to Urbs Salvia and the Abbazia (Abbey) of Chairavalle di Fiastra.
Oct. 8 we did a walking tour of Macerata.
Oct. 11 we went to San Nicola of Tolentino and Ascoli Piceno.
Oct. 18 was our trip to Assisi. I’ll provide a couple of other links, like this Virtual tour – in Italian and this Photo gallery, which loads quickly.
On Nov. 8 we went three places: Loreto, Sirolo, and the Frasassi Caves. I had some trouble getting the official caves website to load, so just in case, here’s another. On the way home, we also stopped at this winery, whose wines are available at some US locations.

We are delighted to have our first guests! Ilija and Dragana (their wedding party pictures can be seen in an earlier blog) are here visiting from Slovenia.

Two of our class excursions have ended with tours of wineries. Friday we visited Belisario in Matelica. They produce an award-winning Verdicchio, in addition to other very fine wines. These pictures are actually from our earlier winery tour: a place that sells directly to the public. People bring their empties and fill them from the storage tanks a la self-service gas stations.

The first step in wine making is grape collection. The grapes (in this case merlot) are dropped into a tank where they are squeezed. In the case of some wines (like the white Verdicchio mentioned above) the grinding of grapes must be much more delicate not to allow the skins to break and “contaminate” the wine. White wine can be made from either red or white grapes: it’s the skins that determine the color. The unwanted material is then dumped out. In spite of that, even good wines contain a small percentage of skins, seeds and stems. Wine is then stored in fermentation tanks. It’s obvious these are for white wine because of the bands around them, which are used to keep the wine cool. Some reds do spend some time in oak barrels but stainless steel is much more prevalent. The host on one of our tours was critical of California wines, saying they have more wood flavor than grape flavor. He explained the reason for that as the American desire for a product to always taste the same. A McDonald’s burger always tastes the same, and Americans want the same brand of wine and type to taste the same, but nature has other plans. The weather, side of the hill the grapes grow on, etc., all impact the wine flavor. In Italy and France, people understand one year’s wine – same brand and type – may have a different flavor than another year’s.

A few more pictures of Macerata life:
This is the exterior of one of our city walls. You can tell it’s only a few centuries old because of the angle of the lower wall. When canons came along, they started reinforcing the lower parts of city walls.
This is the interior of our city’s theatre. Kim and I saw a Pirandello play, “Ma non e una cosa seria” (But it’s not a serious thing). Not only could I follow most of the play, but Kim could, too. Her Italian comprehension has come a long way (still speaking only a little though).
This is the interior of our cathedral. Macerata has 9 churches inside the city walls. Each is filled with art and history.
We had “Music Night” at Quatro Porte (4 Doors), a local student bar. Professor Zampa, who teaches the Italian history and culture class, helped us learn to sing some Italian songs. He’s a great guy.

Unfortunately I can’t take pictures in most of the churches we visit. One exception is in the Basilica of San Nicola of Tolentino. These frescoes were very impressive.
Finally, this statue is for my Ball State friends. It’s nothing tremendous, but I thought I’d have to show the San Nicola version of beneficence.

We’ve just returned from our 10 day break. I could put dozens of photos online, but it would take way too much time to upload. I’ll just try to provide the highlights.

We left Macerata and drove toward Vesuvius and Pompeii, both of which are located just south of Naples. It was a pretty drive, cutting across from East to West of the peninsula, crossing some very pretty mountains. Kim wants a T-Shirt that says “I survived Driving in Naples.” There is definitely a notable difference between northern and southern Italy. After spending a night on the outskirts of Naples, we went first to Vesuvius. We reached the info booth to the national park which we thought was near the top, but we still had 9 kilometers to drive. Great – more mountain driving. Kim was loving it – I was not. We got as far as you can drive. You have to walk the last kilometer, and a pretty steep incline. We probably would have done it despite the cold and $6/person, but the top of the mountain was in the clouds and we never would have been able to see the crater. We settled for this view of old lava flows (the last eruption was in 1948): if you look closely (through the haze) what looks like a gray river was lava.

From there we drove to Pompeii. Boy, is this place set up for tourists. Plenty of souvenir stands right outside the gate. Once you pay your admission, guides come to you right away offering you to join their group (for a price, of course). We had read that guides were really the best way to go because of the detail they can provide. In two hours we saw “the highlights,” including the main square. It’s amazing to think this was constructed 500 years B.C. Our guide also showed us phallic symbols (which “pointed” toward brothels), a brothel, and a wine shop with private rooms used by some of the clients to cavort with women. Nicole said she never learned about those things when they studied Pompeii in school. We spent another couple of hours walking on our own after the tour.

We spent the night at a hotel in Salerno, just a little further south. It was right on the Mediterranean. We paid half of what the hotel costs in the summer. Our ferry boat left from there the next day. Here was the sunset that evening.

It was about an 8-hour boat ride to Messina, the Sicilian city closest to the mainland, and home to my family. My mom actually grew up in Ganzirri, a small community outside the main city. Most of the activity is around the lake. The church in the center of the picture is where my parents were married 54 years ago. We went to mass there on Sunday.

In Messina we stayed with my cousin Cettina and her husband Matteo. Their daughter Pinella is on the left. From their patio, you can actually see the Straits of Messina and the southernmost part of the Italian mainland.

Here are Cettina’s grandkids: Piero and Matteo are Pinella’s kids. Agnese, the 2-year-old, belongs to their son Angelo. You can just barely see his wife Pinucia’s profile on the right.

Tanina is a cousin on my father’s side. She and her husband Nicola are here in their very impressive garden with Kim and Nicole. (Sicilians have great fruit and flowers.) We also met one of their sons, Dominic (who goes by Mimmo), their daughter-in law Teresa (married to their other son Valentino), and her son Nicola.

The quality of this picture stinks, but it’s impressive. This is actually a night picture of the fire erupting from Mt. Etna as seen from the hilltop tourist town of Taormina, about 33 miles away. The smoke was easier to see by day, but the flames were clearer at night. Nicole had hoped to stand on two volcanoes: Vesuvius and Etna. No one was allowed to get near Etna, so she had to settle for being able to say she stood on one and saw another erupting. We happened to bump into 5 of the American students who were also visiting Sicily over break.

Nicole also got the honor of splitting chestnuts for roasting (sounds like a Christmas song). Kim had never had chestnuts before and we discovered she’s allergic. She ate one and her mouth went numb. She didn’t eat any more.

On our way back north from Sicily, we spent a day in Sienna. The most recognized part is the main square, but we were more impressed by the cathedral. Sienna is definitely a tourist town – almost everyone there spoke some English. We ended up staying in a nice hotel – run by Germans. Really enjoyed the day we spent there and all three of us said we could easily have spent more time.

But, we had to get to Bologna to see other relatives. My Aunt Linda lives there (she was married to my mom’s brother, who passed away 2 years ago). Seven years ago she taught Nicole to sing the Italian version of “Frere Jacque” (sure that spelling is wrong), which Nicole still remembers.

Aunt Linda has two daughters. The older one is Rita, who now lives near Venice and came to town to see us. Her husband is Federico and her 9-month-old is Gabrielle.

My other cousin is Alessandra, with her husband Francesco and their children Giovanni (5) and Sofia (almost 3).

There will NOT be a blog update next week. We have our term break the week of Oct. 27. We will travel that week. I don’t know whether I’ll have e-mail access or not, so I may not respond to messages until Nov. 4.

A little bit about our excursions. There are five, one-day bus tours, a walking tour of Macerata, and two, 3-day trips: one to Florence, the other to Rome. The bus tours we’ve taken so far have been to Roman ruins at Urbs Salvia and the Abbey at Fiastra, Tolentino and Ascoli Piceno, and just last Friday our trip to Assisi. The tours are wonderful, and extremely educational.

Here is the main reason they’re so educational. Filiberto Bracalente, the program director in Macerata, serves as our guide. His degree is in architecture, but he’s a true Renaissance man. His knowledge of art, culture, history, music, food and everything else is phenomenal. This program is as good as it is because of Filiberto.

Filiberto had emergency surgery just before the semester began, so his wife Angelica served as the interim director. In a typical semester her duties would “only” involve coordinating the Italian classes the students must take, and arranging their housing. Our 31 students have various housing arrangements: some just with other American students, some are with a mix of Americans and Italians, and others are in Italian homes. With Filiberto’s illness, Angelica did most of the other tasks as well, while Filiberto had his cell phone at his side in the hospital. He continued to make arrangements from a distance.

Here’s what we look like as we walk through medieval streets on our tours. I often wonder what locals think as they see us. At the front of the pack is Jackie Gouyette (spelling is wrong, I’m sure – it’s French, not Italian), a DePauw graduate who was in the program 3 years ago and serves this semester as a program assistant.

Our first tour to Urbs Salvia. This is the wall of an ancient amphitheatre just like the Coliseum in Rome, only smaller.
These are the ruins of a Roman temple. There is an archeological dig at this location.
These are frescoes from the temple walls. We’ve seen much more impressive ones, including those by Giotto in Assisi, but photography is prohibited in most of the larger churches.
Nicole is standing on a rock that was the position of the principal actor in the theatre. Romans built amphitheatres, where gladiators did battle, into the ground, but theatres for performances of plays were built above ground like this one.
The Abbey at Fiastra. Built in the 12th Century, this Abbey managed to survive plunder by Napoleon because in the early 19th Century when his troops moved through, it happened to be under private control, not church, so he didn’t strip it of its relics as he did many other churches.
The entrance to the Abbey has 7 rings to denote entering the seven rings of heaven.
On our visit to the castle at La Rancia, we had to stop and try on the medieval costumes. If Anthony had been with us, this would have been this year’s Christmas card picture.

It’s about time I started providing some images of Macerata. We’re excited that we will host four different sets of guests in November. We want to make sure they can see the pix before they come.

This first picture shows the clock tower from one of the piazzas in town. It’s probably the most noticeable building of the Macerata “skyline” although not necessarily the most distinctive. The clock tower is the taller of the two, in the background. The shorter, foreground tower is new - from the 1920s, erected by the Facists. The latern at the top was one of their symbols.

Every Wednesday is market day in Macerata. Vendors set up in the piazzas but also in much narrower spaces. We always buy fruit and vegetables in the market, but we’ve also gotten shoes, a coat and nail polish (none of which were for me).

I had to take a picture of this store front. The surest sign that someone is not an American is clothing that is written in English. Plenty of people here with Yankees caps, Georgetown sweatshirts, etc. Should have brought a lot more Ball State T-shirts with me.

This is the Sferisterio, an outdoor theater. They have built up a reputable opera season. Unfortunately the only performances are in the summer. This is a well-recognized Macerata landmark.

San Giovanni (St. John’s) is literally a stone’s throw from our apt. If you go down the street at the right of the church, our place is just about even with the back of the church. Not sure whether the scaffolds are for routine restoration or for earthquake repair. The same quake that caused so much damage in Assisi in 1997 also shook Macerata.

I have wanted to take photos of people but have been afraid. The buildings are interesting but they don’t tell much about life. I saw this lady going up the stairs, so I walked past, got my camera out and set it as best I could, then walked back and just shot quickly. The picture helps to show the up-and-down nature of our walking here in town. Medieval towns were built at the tops of hills for security. Anytime we walk anywhere, we go up and down. I hope the picture illustrates something about the people, though, as well as the town.

Kim’s been making dinner once a week for a different group of students. This is the first group
to come (and Nicole, of course). With each dinner the other students hear more and more and anxiously await their invitation. It’s been a nice way to get to know them a little better.

Nicole’s middle school participated in a citywide peace march that concluded in the Diaz Gardens. I took this wide shot both to show the kids and some of the setting. You may be able to see some of the rolling valleys in the distance. Later we were told that the theme of the march was peace, but the subliminal theme was anti-Bush and his Iraq policy. Throughout the speeches, neither Bush nor Iraq was ever named.

Another facet of a medieval city is the narrow roads. Unfortunately the picture makes it look more spacious than it is. When we first got here, each time a car came, we did a Spiderman impression, clinging to the walls. Now we barely move, letting the cars pass within inches as do the natives. This same road actually also carries city buses.

The views from town can’t be depicted well because of the haze, but here’s an attempt to show the mountains. Macerata lies east of the Sibilini Mountains. In clear weather (which I would have thought would be most likely in the fall, but am told is more common in summer) you can see the Adriatic to the east and the Sibilinis to the west.

There’s a hiking group here that has some great mountain pictures. They’re not exactly what we see from town, but if you want to see pretty pictures you can visit their website.

This is the house in Ilirska Bistrica where we lived for two weeks.
This is Sneznik, our “local” mountain in Slovenia.
Stanjel is a medieval walled town at the top of a hill on near the Italian/Slovene border.
This waterfall is in Triglav National Park, in Northern Slovenia.
If you look closely you can see Kim and Nicole walking behind the waterfall.
Tito’s hunting lodge near Kamnik, where the wedding reception was held.
I can actually say Tito ate here.

Another shot of Cinque Terre (we have lots).

More of Bologna at night. This isSan Petronio in the main square. This church would have been bigger than St. Peter’s in Rome, but the Pope stopped its construction. It has a fascinating astronomical clock. There is a small hole in the roof to let in sunlight. At a certain time each day (changes according to season) sunlight enters and lights a meridian line on the floor. The length of the light beam ends at the corresponding date on the floor. Astronomers have found the centuries-old calendar to be remarkably accurate.
San Stefano is actually a series of churches built at various time over the last millennium, all interconnected.

Today we took the second bus excursion with the students (not counting the walking tour of Macerata). We went to the towns of Tolentino and Ascoli Piceno. The Basilica of San Nicola in Tolentinio is quite surprising. From the outside you don’t know anything special but inside there is a cloister with incredible frescoes depicting the life of Christ and St. Nick of T (not to be confused with St. Nick of Bari, who is the one on which our Santa Claus is based. There are, however, multiple connections between the two, and the Basilica contains an incredible collection of nativity scenes). Ascoli Piceno was interesting because it was the first town we visited that was down on the plains, rather than on a hilltop. Ascoli dates back to the Roman days, and the city still contains a mixture of Roman, medieval and Renaissance styles. They have even excavated portions of the old road that led from Rome to the Adriatic, which date back to a century or so BC.

I should begin to worry about my teaching. Of the 31 students here, 20 originally signed up for my class. I’m now down to 15, which means I’ve lost 25 percent of my class, and I’m now teaching less than half the Americans on this trip.

Still Catching up on pictures:
The Skrlj Home in Ilirska Bistrica, where we ate almost every day in Slovenia.
I was amazed at the flowers. This house epitomized it. Helena said that in Slovenia, every decent hill has a church, every decent village has a bocci court and every decent housewife has flowers.
Here’s the Ljubljana skyline as seen from the castle clock tower.
Kim loved this building seven years ago and had to take a picture.
Here are Ilija and Dragana at their wedding party. The infrared camera is not very flattering but I had to use the picture of them with their cigars.
The castle at Predjama, built into the cave.
Another shot of Milan
Parma is the birthplace of Parmesian cheese and prosciutto.
Another shot of Cinque Terre. This is Riomaggiore.
Here’s Nicole standing at Juliet’s balcony in Verona. We couldn’t get her to do “Romeo, Romeo…” though.

We had our first class excursion on Friday. We took a charter bus to a number of places. We visited Urbs Salvia, the site of Roman ruins right here in the Marche. The amphitheatre there was not as big as the coliseum in Rome, but it, too, dates back more than 2,000 years. We saw the temple site (where there is currently an archeological dig going on) and the theater (different from the amphitheater). From there we went to the Abby of Chiaravalle di Fiastra, built in 1142, a Cistercian monastery that survived Napoleon’s destruction because it was at the time owned by a noble family, not the church. From there we went to a castle, then off to a winery. That was the biggest surprise to me. The winery was in a small town, and their vineyards were not adjacent to it. My image of wineries is quite different from this one. Everything was quite modern – no one stomping grapes like Lucille Ball did. Hydraulic pumps moved wine from place to place. Also, people brought their own bottles and filled them “self service” from storage vats, then paid the cashier. The owner explained that it costs $1 just to put the wine in a bottle, label it and cork it, and that these people can save lots of money by just filling their empties. We didn’t have any empties with us, so those of us who bought wine had to pay “inflated prices” – far below what we’d pay in the U.S. I felt compelled to buy something to thank him for the extensive tour, explanation and wine tasting they provided ;)

Yesterday we drove 4 hours north to Vicenza. I attended a satellite conference. Since it was only about 50 kilometers west of Venice, Kim and Nicole hopped the train and went to Venice for the day. We spent the night in a little hotel just off the main piazza in Vicenza.

Catching up on some more “old” pictures…

Kim’s driven more than 2,500 kilometers in Europe and gotten only one speeding ticket. Here she is with the friendly cop in Slovenia.

More from Milan: Exterior of the galleria
Interior

Nicole diving from a rock in the Mediterranean at Cinque Terre.

Driving through Northern Italy. The Dolomites.

Hall, Austria (just east of Innsbruck). This 6 km road goes up (and I mean up) the mountain. I had to get a shot of this guy biking up the road. The speck in the distance is a hang glider.
Here are some more shots of Hall.
Rather impressive views in spite of the clouds.
We’re not skiers, but this would be the place.
Just admiring the scenery.

The big news from Macerata is that our program director has returned. Filiberto had undergone surgery in Milan and was taking longer than expected to recover. His wife Angelica did a fabulous job in his absence, but I know he was going crazy not being here. He is now back in Macerata, and the doctors let him leave the hospital a few hours each day, but he must spend his nights there, at least for a while.

Nicole’s first week in school was a big success. She was somewhat shocked to learn she also had school on Saturday, but she was willing to go (we gave her the option). She’s made friends in school and even met up with a few for a couple of hours to walk around town.

A favorite pastime in Macerata is “fare una passegiata” (taking a walk). The streets are filled with peopl

I finally got some images uploaded. These are not in the correct order, but at least they will show some of what we’ve seen. There may be an easier way, but the process I’m using is rather convoluted. I capture video with the laptop, then save a frame. I then go to my BSU account and upload the jpg file (Blogger supports links but not jpgs unless you buy space). Hope to post more each time (BSU server space permitting).

Our trip to Cinque Terre
La Via Dell’Amore, the Walk of Love. It’s a national park.
A respectful tourist: no picking flowers or carving graffiti in the rocks

Verona has the largest amphitheatre in Italy (Macerata, by the way, has the second).
Two cuties waiting for the show to start.
They were setting up for a pop music festival.

Our Slovene host was a national champion at bocci, aka lawn bowling.
Nicole fell in love with the Skrlj family cats. She wanted to take the kitten with us to Macerata (and they wanted her to).

Spinning on your heel on the bull’s testicles in the mosaic on the floor of the Galleria in Milan is supposed to be good luck. All three of us did it, but since Kim was the one who insisted that each of us do it (and each be videoed in the process) I decided to post her picture. When she does a weblog, she can post mine ;)

The main piazza in Bologna at night. We were there with my cousin and her husband at about 10:30 p.m., and they said the place doesn't reallly get crowded until after midnight.

Students are here and classes are underway! I started with 20 in the production class and so far only one has dropped. Our first class excursion isn’t until next Friday to Urbs Salvia and Abbazia Chiaravalle di Fiastra. Don’t worry if you don’t know where they are, because I don’t either (just as long as the bus driver does).

Nicole is enjoying Italian 8th grade, especially since the teacher has no expectations of her. She brings her U.S. textbooks with her and works on her own, listening to class on and off. I know she already knows more Italian than she did a week ago. More importantly she’s around other 13-year-olds.

Since we’ve “nested” here in Macerata, Kim doesn’t get to drive nearly as much as earlier this month. She keeps plenty busy, though. She’s preparing dinner for 4 of my students who will join us tonight (rotating through my class each week).

Since last I posted, the students have arrived!

We have 31 students from universities in the Midwest (Indiana and Michigan) and Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington). Indiana State and Oregon State tie, each having sent 5 students. There are 3 here from Ball State.

One of our poor students had a rough time getting here. Her bags were lost on her flight to Rome, so as she was straightening out that mess, she missed her train. She took a later train but was too late to catch the connection to Macerata and ended up spending the night in Fabriano. She called and planned to take the first train the next morning. Two people went to meet the train early the next day. They waited for the first two and she wasn’t on either. She called later to say she had gotten on the wrong train, back towards Rome, and would have to catch another back to Macerata. She arrived about 25 hours later than she had planned, still minus her luggage, which arrived the next day. I think she deserves a lot of credit. Had I been alone and all those things happened to me, I might’ve just given up on the semester at that point.

I am quite surprised to find that a majority of these students have already had experience overseas. Some have only traveled with groups or with family while others have even had amazing experiences living and/or working abroad. We also have “first timers” and I’m anxious to gauge their reaction as the semester unfolds.

The banks here are interesting. They have a kind of “air lock” looking door: you enter (one at a time), one door closes behind you before the next one opens. Kim went in one door and I another. I had my camera bag with me. The second door did not open and a recorded message told me to exit the entry and deposit my items in one of the free lockers provided. The entry chamber must have a metal detector, because Kim made it just fine. She wondered, however, when she saw me walking out as she was already in the bank.

Nicole is very excited that she will begin to attend Italian 8th grade Monday. The principal told us he would introduce her to the class. He also told her that she was free to do as she pleased: come only when she wanted, leave class for the library or use the computer lab for Internet access. She also has the option of whether she goes on class field trips (they’re going to Venice to see the Egyptian art on display). She can’t wait to be around people her own age. Her old fogey parents aren’t as much fun.

Kim’s been holding up pretty well until just the last few days. We’ve been doing a lot of walking – and it’s not level ground here, either – so I think it finally got to her. Angelica (currently serving as the director while her husband convalesces after surgery) called her physical therapist and Kim went to see her. She felt significantly better after the session, but the therapist (Claudia) said Kim’s so inflamed from the pain that it will be a couple of days before she should do much walking. Oh well, we’ve already done quite a bit. A weekend of rest can be a good thing. She’s gone more than a month without physical therapy, so I’m hopeful Claudia will work her in, despite a busy schedule.

Weather has been quite nice, but unfortunately it’s raining now.

I guess it’s about time I recorded some impressions of Macerata, our home for the next three months.

We are in a medieval city almost halfway down the country on the north-south axis, and about 20-30 minutes from the Adriatic. Right now the sun’s shining and our temperatures should be pretty typical for this time of the year: low last night was somewhere around 50 F, and the high today will be in the low 70s. We went to the coast yesterday and it was noticeably warmer, due probably to both the sea breeze and the lower altitude.

We are in a comfortable apartment inside the walls of the old city. We live one floor up (for Europeans, it’s the first floor). The apt. is roomy. When you open the door, a corridor runs the entire length of the apt. until our bedroom. All the other rooms (kitchen, office, Nic’s room and bath) are to the left, thus all the windows open onto the “courtyard” (actually, more of a parking lot). We’re less than 30 yards from the AHA offices and classroom where I’ll be teaching and less than 100 yards from St. John’s Church (where we went to mass yesterday) and the small piazza in front of it with a coffee shop/bar (commonly combined here). The “streets” (if you can call the narrow passageways that) are very narrow and restricted access: all are one-way since nothing inside the walls could accommodate two cars. Only permanent residents can park inside. We have our rental car parked in a lot outside the walls, and down! As a medieval city, the walled portion was built at the top of the hill, so for us, almost everywhere we go is down. That’s not so bad, but going home means walking up. We will all have stronger calves at the end of this journey.

Until the unification of Italy in the 19th century, Macerata was part of the church state, and Catholicism is obvious. Inside the walls (a space of less than a square mile) there are nine churches, at least two of which have had papal visits (we know from having seen the plaques in the churches, and we haven’t visited all of them yet). Even the town hall has a fresco of the Blessed Mother.

Typically Italian, much of the town except eateries shuts down at midday for a couple of hours (or more). Things reopen in the late afternoon and people are out until what we might consider quite late. Inside the walls the shops are predominately small and specialized. Just at the edge of town is a more Western-style mall that goes non stop, even on Sundays.

The biggest difference from our travels of seven years ago is the money. Euros are almost the same as dollars, so we don’t have complex conversions to figure out prices. Also, we don’t have to deal with money exchanges. ATMs are everywhere, and our cards work as instantly as in the States.

The students arrive Wed. We can’t wait. The program director here has been in the hospital so we have handled our own orientation to a great extent, and we can’t wait to share some of it with the students.

We now have Internet access in the apt., so feel free to e-mail us.

We've made it to Macerata! Hooray. We're finally "home."

We left Cinque Terre on Sept. 4 and went to Verona. There we visited the famous amphitheatre and, of course, Juliet's balcony (of Rome and J fame). We took Nicole's picture up there, but couldn't get her to deliver Juliet's "Romeo, Romeo" speech for the video camera. Had Chinese dinner across the street from our hotel. The Chinese guy there told me my Italian was pretty good.

On the 5th we went to Austria - another Rick Steves recommendation - Hall. He said it has the charm of Innsbruck but a smalll-town atmosphere. The scenery was unbelievable. We drove 6 km almost straight up to a parking area where you can see quite a bit of the valley. Stayed in a great, inexpensive hotel there, which I recommend highly.

The 6th, back to Slovenia, but through incredible scenery. We drove through southern Austria and Northern Italy, which was once Austria. The mountains were quite scenic. When we got to SLO, we stopped at a waterfall that Helena told us about in Triglav National Park. You can walk behind the falls (which Kim and Nic did while I viideotaped). We spent the night back in Ilirska Bistrica with the Skrlj family, and to pick up our luggage.

Sat., the 7th - spent much of the morning straightening ourselves, the house they kindly lent us, and getting the lugggage into the car. Kim's incredible at packing. We killed some tiime in Ljubljana, then headed to a wedding party of two former Slovene students. They had a small family wedding the week prior, and had friends over for a party on the 7th. They held it at Tito's former hunting lodge at the base of the mountains, just north of Lju. I took a picture of the master bedoom and can actually say "Tito slept here" (although I think they've changed the sheets in the last 21 years). Met a lot of very nice people. It was a great party: great people, great food (Armenian caterers), great wine, and even cigars with a Yugoslav Army red star on thhe band.

Sun and Mon we spent in Bologna with my Aunt Maria and Uncle Antonio. Their daughter Cetta and her husband Stefano took us to dinner one night, and their son Nico and his wife Massimilliana took us the following. I felt like a real charity case, but of course they wouldn't let me pay. Since Cetta's only been married a short time, it was our first time meeting her husband. He's a really nice guy. We hope to get to see everyone again before we leave Italy.

We got to Macerata on Tuesday. Got all moved in and everything. We're right in the heart of the old city (inside the walls). This week is orientation/preparation. The students arrive next week.

Once again, my Internet time is limited. I'll just put in some highlights and expect those of you who are really interested to Google search to see pictures. Once again, after the 10th, I promise to do better with picture links.

Currently in Italy at Cinque Terre, which literaly translates to Five Lands. We're here because we saw video of it on Rick Steves and just had to come. It really is impressive. The five villages are on the Mediterranean, snuggled up against some steep hills. The terracing is amazing. The place we have for two nights is not anything special, but from our patio you can see the Sea. Very cool.

We were in Milan for about a day and a half. Believe it or not, we stayed at the Hotel San Francisco. We did a little bit of touring - saw Il Duomo, La Galleria and La Scala, but most of al we went to get our rental car. Kim and Nicole are very excited, I was a little frighted. Everything went off without a hitch and we're now driving around. Gas prices in Italy are a little steep - about $4/gallon if my math's correct. I'll be glad to get back to Slovenia for this weekend when we attend the wedding reception of two of my former Slovene students. I wonder if I can store extra gas in the trunk ;) Only kidding - it'll be a challenge to get all our luggage in there. Nicole will definitely be sharing the back seat.

Before we left Slovenia we did a little more sightseeing. One pretty amazing town is Stanjel (there should be a roof over the S). It's a hilltop town near the Italian border. It's in a wine region where they grow the grapes for Kraski Teran (another cap over the s) - a dark red wine that's almost black. Quite good. We also stopped at Lipica, home of the famous Lippizaner Stallions.

Tomorrow we will begin to wend our way back toward Slovenia, making a stop in Verona for sure, not sure of the other sites. We'll be in SLO Friday night and Saturday, then head to see relatives in Bologna Sunday and Monday. Tuesday we're to be in Macerata at noon. I guess I've got to go to work sooner or later (I have some serious credit card bills to pay).

This Internet time is also costing me. Better sign off for now. Ciao.

Here we are in Slovenia. We're staving in a small town - Ilirska Bistrica - located in the southern part of Slovenia - about 10 miles from the Croatian border. Unfortunately Helena (our host) has a slow Internet connection from her home, so we aren't able to connect to the web. We're in the capital today, Ljubljana, on other business, so we've stopped in her office to use the web. Chances are I may not get back online until Sept. 10 when we arrive in Macerata.
With limited time to do this, I'm not uploading links. I can tell you where we've been and you can google search for pictures someone else has taken.

We went to Lake Cerknica. The lake itself doesn't look that unique, but it is. Each year it disappears and reappears - fish and all! It's fed by run-off, streams and springs. The water recedes underground and into caves via sink holes. It's really quite fascinating.

We also went to Postojna caves, then heard that the day after we were there, Senator John McCain was there. The caves are great, and really made easy for tourists. You take a kind of train in and out and only walk about a mile inside. The walk is very easy - all paved and no hands and kness spelunking.

Got a chance to see the Ljubljana Castle again after 7 years. This time the restoration work is mostly finished and the cranes are gone.

We're living in a home that Helena's father is restoring (I'll post pictures next month). He's doing a beautiful job. He's an engineer and is meticulous about everything.

That's enough for today. On. Sept. 1 we'll take the train to Milan to pick up our car on the 2nd.

We took a major step. We've decided to rent/lease a car for 3 months.

There was an ad in the NY Times for Europe By Car. They offer special deals with some limitations. We got what we think is a great rate. We'll have to pick the car up in Milan. Its a Renault Laguna.

While Kim wonders why we didn't get the car for longer, I wonder if we have it too long. First, of course, is the expense. But there's more to it than that. Even though we got a great deal that includes all insurance, gas prices in Europe are quite high (Italy's one of the worst), most highways are toll roads, and there are fees for parking most places. We'll be parking the car 5 blocks or so from where we'll be living. I also worry about driving in bad weather, so I think returning the car at the end of Nov. is a good idea.

The good part is that we will have the car for the beginning of Sept. when we want to do some traveling, and the end of October, when we have our term break. That should give us a lot more options. It will also allow Kim and Nicole to take off on their own more. I don't expect them to drive to Spain or anything, but driving 20-30 minutes to get to the beach will be a lot easier for them than trying to take a bus or train.

We still have to wait for the paperwork to arrive. I hope everything goes as expected.

Our air travel is arranged. The good news is, we'll be flying into Ljubljana. The bad news is, it will take us four hops to do it.

The reason for this is the great opportunity we got. Our good friend Jim offered to give Kim and Nicole frequent flyer miles with US Air (Jim has over a million of them), so we decided to fly US Air. My airfare is suppoed to be reimbursed by AHA, so I didn't get miles from Jim. Of course, Kim and Nicole will now be flying first class while I sit in back with the cattle. We looked into an upgrade for me, but it would've cost thousands of dollars.

As it now stands, we will fly out of Indy early on August 18. We go first to Pittsburgh, then to Dulles, where we have about a five hour layover. From there, we take US Air's international partner, Swiss Air, to Zurich, then to Ljubljana. We land 22 1/2 hours after we takeoff from Indy. Add to that the time we have to get to the airport and we should be pretty tired by the time we get in.

The return trip should be much simpler. December 19 we fly Rome to Philly, Philly to Indy.

We'll be in Slovenia for the last 12 days of August. We have been graciously provided with the use of a house in Ilirska Bistrica by a former student from Slovenia. Helena has visited us in the U.S. twice: once for three weeks back in Ames, and just recently for 10 days in Muncie. She said she's looking forward to returning the hospitality. Actually I think we're getting the better deal. Both times she has been here, she's had to put up with living in our house and having us constantly around. There, her family is providing us with a house of our own.

I am setting this blog up to use during my semester abroad, August 18 through December 19. My plan is to post about every week. We'll see how that goes.