After a week in Slovenia, we're back in Italy....for the night at least.

We spent a very nice week in our home in Ilirska Bistrica. The Skrlj family are very nice to us, letting us use a house, preparing meals... all sorts of things for us. My former student Helena, though, poor thing, is forced to "work" whenever we're there. She's a translator by profession, so even when she takes a day off to spend with us, she ends up translating between us English speakers and the Slovene speakers. By the time we leave she's exhausted!

You'll just have to wait until I'm back in the US to update pictures. Right now I'm doing this from the lobby of our hotel in Bergamo. It's a town just NE of Milan. Ryan Air uses this smaller airport as its Milan location.

Today we (Kim, that is) drove from Slovenia to the main Milan airport, Malpensa, NW of the city, where we returned our car. She drove well over 3,000 miles in just 31 days. We took a bos from the airport to the train station, then a train to Bergamo. Not really far (total of both trips $9), but waiting for the bus to leave and the train schedule, it ended up taking us an hour to drive from Bergamo to Milan Malpensa (we dropped our bags off before dropping off the car), then almost 2 1/2 hours to get back. As Kim said, though, we had all day to get there and nothing else to do. It was a fun excusion.

Off to London tomorrow.

So much has happened in a week that it would take more time than I have to report it all.

We left Sicily on the ferry boat Tues night/Wed. morning. We were fine in bed, but when we had to get up, rough seas made things a little questionable for Nicole and me. We finally made it up and out on deck by about 9, a half hour out of port, also meaning seas were calming. The fresh air helped, too.

Kim then drove us from Salerno (where the boat docked) to Macerata, our "home" three years ago. We walked a little inside the city (not nearly as much as we would have liked to) visited with Filiberto, the AHA program director in Macerata, had dinner with him in our favorite mom and pop restaurant in town, then went back to his house to watch a pre-season soccer match involving Juventus, Filiberto's favorite team and one of Nicole's.

Last Thursday we drove from Macerata to "our home" in Slovenia. The Skrlj famiy gives us the use of a home (it was my student Helena's grandfather's) all to ourselves. We have done a little touring since here, even driving back to Venice (actually closer to Slovenia than Florence). Kim loves Venice, and has been there more times than I have. We also visited the town of Nova Gorica where we met up with another of my former students from my Fulbright experience in 1995. She is working as a journalist for the newspaper in NG.

NG is a very interesting town. Gorizia was made part of Italy after WWII. Nova (New) was created on the Slovene side after the war. The two towns are "separated" by a low fence. There is a piazza with no fence showing the unity between the two cities (though it is officially illegal to use it as a border crossing, there are no guards or security). There was a big ceremony there in 2004 as Slovenia entered the EU. We visited a Franciscan church at the top of a very high hill as well as a Franciscan monastery.

Another very interesting trip was to Soline, a place where sea salt is still harvested as it was centuries ago. We had a tour of the salt pools (I can explain the whole process to you if you'd like), then lunch in the beautiful coastal town of Piran. We finished the day in Koper where there was a festival going on. We didn't stay very late (my fear of driving winding 2-lane roads at night) but were still able to see break dancing, soccer matches, a grafitti artist contest, etc.

Our itinerary calls for us to leave Slovenia Thursday. We must return the rental car to Milan . We have a flight to London on Friday to visit our good friends from Iowa, Tom and Linda Emmerson.

Hope to be able to update this again before we get home but I don't know if/when I'll have access before returning Aug. 3.

Just a short post today.

We drove down from Florence last Friday. Right around Salerno, the toll road stops and things get appreciably worse - number of lanes, quality of road, mountain curves, etc. We stopped for the night in Lagronegro. After having spent a week in Rome and 4 in Florence, the hotel was very nice, and very cheap by comparison.

We've spent Sat. until today with my cousin in Messina (my blog from Nov 2002 has pictures). Tonight we will leave at midnight on the overnight ferry to Salerno, rather than drive it again. It does cost more, but not appreciably given the cost of gas, a night's stay in a hotel, ferry, etc.

Yesterday we were on our way to Mt. Etna. We were at the base. The towns were built from volcanic rock but we weren't up enough for the temperature to drop. The other car (with my cousin's daughter, son in law and kids) had car trouble so we never made it up. We were close enough to see plumes of white smoke. Three years ago we didn't go because it was erupting. Either it is jinxed or we are.

Macerata next, then Slovenia.

I posted only a couple of days ago, but I'm not sure how long it will be before I get back online. Tomorrow will be a full day for me. I give the final at 10 a.m. (both classes will meet at the same time). Afterward I go back to the room and grade while burning DVD copies of the documentary for each person to take home. I really should say "first version" of the documentary.

Although I've only voiced it publicly to a few people, I was prepared to have the five week class end with less than a "polished" product. Frankly what 15 students have done in 5 weeks with no budget and only a PD 150 camera and G4 laptop has been pretty impressive. Six of the students had absolutely no video experience whatsoever. Two others had some, but limited. Pedagogically speaking, there is great learning that can occur when things don't go exactly as you'd like. I have no issues with any of the students, though. All of them have done what asked to the best of their ability.

So, one or two volunteers will work on the production when we get back. I got an e-mail from a grad student in music at BSU who has offered to provide original music. Version one will have the canned stuff we brought with us. Version two will instead have an original score. Cool!

On Friday we make the long drive from Florence to Messina. Depending on when we get out and the traffic, we will either arrive Friday night or Saturday. The plan is to spend 4 nights, although we were advised by my Bologna cousin that the mosquitos are pretty bad down there. If that's the case, we may have to leave earlier. Kim was eaten alive in Rome. Not just bites, but swelling and oozing (sorry about the image, but it was really quite gross). This picture, in the town of Ganzirri, is taken very near the spot my mother and father were married 57 years ago.

Nicole and Kim went to Pisa Monday and today they're in Siena. I've never been to Pisa but Nicole and Kim tell me I didn't miss all that much. The 16 Euro price to climb the leaning tower is not what kept them away. It was the 4 hour wait! I did enjoy Siena when I was there. Still, I'm happy that they get out and about in Tuscany without me. I'm not a very good passenger in the car. I'm way to uncomfortable. Before we leave for Sicily Friday I'm going to have to take one of the "happy pills" (as Steve calls them) that I usually take to fly.

One unexpected pleasure here in Florence has been the ability to go see Michelangelo's David for free. Call me cheap, but it's one of the most expensive tickets in town. The Accademia, where he is housed usually charges, but it's free Tuesday nights. Several of us have made it a regular weekly event to visit Dave (as we call him) every Tuesday night after dinner. It's truly magnificent. But, we were very disturbed to see a description in the museum stating that his pose is just after having slain Goliath. That is contrary to everything not only I know (I've never claimed to be an art historian) but also contrary to 2 art history experts and a book sold in the Accademia gift shop. A colleague speculated that some local professor/"expert" has probably tried to build a reputation by taking a radical position. It does cause one to reflect on other informational material provided in museums, and whether that has been vetted by others.

As a media guy, some of what I really want to bring back has been media: videotapes of Italian TV shows, music videos, commercials; CDs of music; newspapers (I'm saving one from the day after the London bombing); magazines, books. Unfortunately I have neither the money nor the room in my suitcase for all these things. I have told myself that I can get any books I want once I get home, either through the local bookstore or online. The hotel owner did videotape one thing for me, though, Calcio Storico (the site's in Italian but they have a button for photos). It only vaguely resembles soccer. It's more like a cross between rugby and a rumble. I met one guy who has played for 16 years. Back in 1993, he was on the operating table for 10 hours while the put his eye back in its socket. Many of the students went to see a game and have asked me for a copy of the video once I get it dubbed to NTSC.

I have been disappointed that the TV game shows I enjoyed so much just 3 years ago are not on the air. I was espcially attached to one (Kim, Nicole and I even were in the studio audience for a taping, and I met the producer, a writer and the host), but there were several on the air a few years ago. Now there are none to be found. They do have lots of summer special programs on, especially music festival programs. Probably the best known is FestivalBar. It's a series of shows from a piazza in four different cities with lots of different artists. Speaking of music, we enjoy music videos. I've tried buying them in record shos but to no avail. I've asked the hotel owner if he can record some but haven't gotten them yet.

This begins the last week of class. Now is the time for the editing crunch. I was a little concerned today when the people responsible told me there were still "one or two" things left to shoot. At this stage, we should not still be shooting. The VO audio was recorded this morning but will have to be re-done. Tried doing it in an upstairs bathroom (for the quiet) but it echoed too much. Not easy finding a quiet place in the city.

Kim's birthday was Saturday. On Friday Nicole got a cake for her (she had ordered it 10 days earlier). We shared it with the hotel owner and the only student we found around the hotel. The important thing is that we had cake, and we sang Happy Birthday. Friday night there was a free concert in one of the piazzas of Beethoven's 9th conducted by Zubin Mehta. Kim and I only stayed for a portion of it, as a very loud, very drunk couple sat down next to us about a half hour into the program. Don't think they were Italian, but couldn't really tell the way he slurred his speech.

On Saturday Kim wanted to go to the beach for her birthday. The closest beach is Viareggio, on the Mediterranean, about a 45-60 minute drive from here (depends on traffic). The system involves renting an umbrella and beach chairs for the day from any of the many bath houses along the coast. We went to Bagno Zara (couldn't find a website for them) and spent 4 1/2 hours without leaving the beach. We were only a little tender, though, thanks to sunscreen and the umbrella.

For her dinner, Kim chose a restaurant that she and Nicole visited twice before, Trattoria Marione. The owner is very nice and takes good care of his customers. A great meal for a reasonable price, especially as he keeps throwing in free stuff - glasses of wine, appetizer plate of figs and salami, etc. I suspect we'll visit again before we leave town Friday.

On Sunday Nicole was pretty tired (still in bed at 10 a.m.), so Kim and I went to the nearby Tuscan town of Lucca with Gil Smith, a prof from Eastern Kentucky U. Another nice, small, walled town. The previous night there had been a George Benson concert, but we just spent our time walking around, having lunch and taking lots of pictures.

I want to tell one other story, about the San Lorenzo Market. Those of you who have been to Florence know the market. For others, it is an incredible gathering of leather, ceramics, foods, etc. Everything from cheap dollar keychains to ceramic orginals costing thousands. Well, we visited one of the food booths. Lo and behold, the guy who made our sandwich is pictured in the front of the Williams-Sonoma Florence Cookbook that my son gave me for my birthday! The people were very nice, including his daughter who worked the booth and an American ex-pat who married an Albanian and now lives in Italy. We went back a second time. He said "I'll make your sandwich" (in Italian, of course). It was wonderful. Roast pork with sauteed onions. He also handed me an open bottle of wine from behind the counter from which he invited me to help myself. Their website has lots of stuff for sale, all of it good. I'll gladly promote his business.

We've been keeping very busy. Since last I wrote, we've had a chance to do some tourism. Friday we went to San Gimingnano, a small Tuscan hilltown noted for its towers. After having spent a week in Rome and two weeks in Florence, the first thing I noticed was the quiet and cleanliness of a small town. There's a reason I don't live in the big city. It was really pleasant just to walk around the town (limited wheeled traffic inside the walls).

We spent Saturday and Sunday with my aunt, uncle and cousins at their condo in Cesenatico. It's a beach town on the Adriatic that actually reminds me a lot of Hollywood, FL. It's a real family-oriented beach with lots of small shops, restaurants, etc. Kim greatly enjoyed driving. In both cases we took highway one way and small roads the other. In the case of Cesenatico, we came back a road that went right over the spine of the Appennine Mountains. Beautiful views, but we had to drive very slowly, and Nicole and I were still uncomfortable (motion sickness is a tough thing).

Both my cousins Nico and Cettta are married. We spent most of the weekend with Cetta (my age) and her husband Stefano. Her older brother is a plastic surgeon and head of surgery for a hospital in Bologna. He arrived late Saturday and left 24 hours later. We didn't get to see too much of him. He did have enough time to go diving while there, and we enjoyed the fresh mussels he fished out for Sunday dinner. The Emiglia-Romagna region we were in is quite well known for its good food. We went to a restaurant and had an incredible meal. Just the platters of appetizers would have been enough, but then we sampled 3 different pastas and had a bit of lamb after that.

Yesterday I taught class but Kim and Nicole went off to Assisi. This must make Kim's 4th trip. Obviously she is very fond of the place.

As for the documentary I feel a bit better about some things but more concerned about others. We still don't have a completed script and we will cut the narration audio on Monday. But the good news is all the interviews with experts have been completed except two (the Florence Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Bureau) and those are scheduled for tomorrow. I wish we had some female experts but I'm pleased with the mix we got:
a church official on the Cathedral board
a Syracuse prof who is a Brunelleschi expert
an Eastern KY architecture/art history prof
a Ball State architecture prof

Can we get it all edited in a week?

I'll be brief today. I got a chance to get online and took it.

Producing a documentary in 5 weeks would be a challenge anywhere but doing it in Italy makes it even more "interesting." We were scheduled to have an interview with a Syracuse prof on Monday, but he was sick and ppostponed until Wed. The good news is that we got lots of good stuff from him on Wednesday, and even some useful B roll. The students went to shoot another interview and due to missed comunication, they were inside the hotel while the prof waited outside. They were within a few feet of each other and didn't know it. Another rescheduled interview.

I talked with both the Florence Chamber of Commerce and the Tourist Bureau to try to line up interviews. Anyone unfamiliar with Italian bureaucracy should read Beppe Severgnini's stuff. Anyway, you have to make an appointment to talk to someone about an appointment. We have one lined up for next week and hope to schedule the other. Only 2 weeks left to get this in the can!

Many of the students are going to Cinque Terre this weekend. We are opting for the Adriatic side, Cesenatico, where my aunt and uncle have a condo.

It's still very hot but it's supposed to get better. Let's hope.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. The record high temperatures here, and no AC in our hotel, make it hard to feel enthused. Today's high should be 92. I know, though, how lucky I really am.

I managed to get a few pictures uploaded.

Here are Kim and her friend Lorilynn. We met her while we were both living in Ames, and she and Kim became great friends. Lorilynn met us at JFK during our layover and brought lunch, including cannoli!

The Irish eat a hearty breakfast. Egg, three kinds of sausage (including blood), homemade soda bread.

Kim, Nicole and our Irish host Marion having tea and scones at Powerscourt in County Wicklow.

Me with the most photographed woman in Ireland, Molly Malloy.

THIS is what every university should post. I shot this on the door of Trinity College Dublin's library.

No picture can do justice to the crushing crowds in the Rome subway during rush hour.

This is the subject of the documentary: the dome of the Florence cathedral. This is actually the view from one of the student rooms in the hotel (not ours) -- zoomed a little, but not tremendously.

The cathedral museum contains the unfinished Michelangelo's Pieta - not the better-known one in Rome, but one he wasn't very pleased with.

One day during our class in front of the cathedral, a march by a political party took place.

A suitable ending shot - sunset in Florence.

The first week of class in Florence is complete. That means we are now 40 percent of the way through the "semester." Unfortunately we are nowhere near 40 percent of the way through the production. Those of you who know production, though, will recognize that this is not unusual. It takes a while to get geared up and going. Things are coming together and I am hopeful that all will end well.

We conducted an interview with Monsignor Timothy Verdon. He is a scholar on the cathdral and a member of its governing board. We had a bit of a scare when we arrived at his residence and he told us he didn't know we were going to tape. He was expecting that it would be only a pre-interview. After about 10 minutes of casual conversation he invited us to set up and do it. I think he was concerned, either that we would ask questions about stuff that was not his purview, or that we were unprepared, neither of which was the case. We got about 40 minutes - most of which was quite usable. He knows his stuff.

We've spent the week having class on the steps of the cathedral for inspiration, but that will end with class tomorrow. It is terribly distracting to be in the piazza with thousands of tourists. The worst part is the women who come up begging. They see you're talking to a group and yet they come right up with their cup and interrupt. Tough to keep your train of thought while teaching. Tough for students, too. Tomorrow we will move to a quiet park on the other side of the Arno, far from tourists.

The heat here continues. Most days it's over 90. We have no air conditioning in our hotel. We bought a fan, which helps greatly. At night, with the window open wide and the fan on, we're able to sleep.

Made it to the Uffizi gallery on Friday. Reservations are not available for the whole time we're in Florence. Tour groups have booked way ahead. We rose early and got in line before 7:30 for the non-reserved entry. Our strategy paid off. The museum opens at 8:30 and we got in before 9. A relatively short wait.

On a personal note, we had dinner last night with John and Marilyn Dolan and two of their kids. John is the brother of Kim's brother-in-law, Steve. Once again, we crossed the Arno to get away from tourists and found a restaurant where the locals eat. Goood food, reasonably priced. We had to tolerate the TV on during dinner, but that's what happens when you seek out a local place. Great to see them, and to compare notes on what we've seen and done.

We have moved onto Florence. If you've never driven the road between Rome and Florence, it's rather pretty (like I imagine parts of California to look like). Of course it was a little disturbing when our bus lost power going up one of the hills and stalled. The driver pulled over and, fortunately, was able to re-start the bus in about a minute. It may have been short, but he had to try several times and it seemed a lot longer. When we restarted, there were 38 relieved people (driver included). The students applauded and the driver responded, "grazie."

We're in week 2 of the semester and we've encountered a couple of minor technical glitches. The first is we are getting no audio from the camera-mounted mic. Not a big problem. We're using the hand-held to get nat sound. Yesterday we couldn't find the firewire (Sony calls it iLink). That's the cable connecting the camera to the laptop to dump all the video for editing. Thanks to the help of some students I was able to find a shop that sold me another (20 Euros, about $24). I'm convinced we have the cable (we used it in Rome) and it's jut buried under somebody's clothes somewhere.

We also encountered one minor non-technical glitch. When the students were shooting in the Pantheon last week, a guard came over to tell them that they needed a permit to shoot professional video. They quickly pulled out their student ID cards and said they were students, not professionals. Still, the guard said, they needed permission. He said they could have 5 minutes. After some conversations with Romans, we have come to find out that pulling out a tripod draws the guards. They assume anyone that serious must be a pro. We modified our shooting plans. Now, any interiors we shoot we will shoot first off the shoulder. Once we have those, then we can take out a tripod. That's just interiors. Yesterday we shot 4 hours of person-on-the-street interviews in front of the Florence cathedral with no trouble. Tonight we have an interview scheduled with a church official. Perhaps he can help us use a tripod inside. Of course that was Rome and this is Florence, so who knows whether we'll encounter any more trouble.

It's hot here (our hotel has no air conditioning) but most of the students have bought fans and are not complaining. Just a reason to eat more gelato!

Ball State has published a news story about the class.

The first week of class is already over! It's hard to imagine we only have 4 weeks left to go to get this documentary put together.

Rome has been warm (in the 80s) but tolerable. At night it cools off fine. Good thing, too, since we have no air conditioning. The worst part of that, though, is the mosquitos. I have a couple of bites, Nicole seems clean, but Kim... they must realy love her. She said they're after all the drugs she's taking.

We leave Monday for Florence. I thought it was going to be Sunday. I must've missed the memo. Oh well, it really doesn't make much difference.

About the class: I have 9 students in the advanced class and 7 in the begining. That only totals 15 because one is actually in both (there are a total of 32 students here). The advanced class is all Ball Staters but one - she's from Murray State. The beginners - 2 of 7 from BSU. One other anomaly about the student population: there are 26 gals and 6 guys! I'm proud to say BSU has the largest contingent (10), followed closely by U of Kentucky. All but one of the Ball Staters are taking one of my classes. One is a chem major and claims she isn't nterested in TCOM. Imagine that!

We've shot the "gotta have" shots here, like the Pantheon (Brunelleschi studied to do his) and St. Peter's (Michelangelo studied Brunelleschi to do it). Class Tuesday wasn't that cool, but Thursday we met in front of the Colosseum, Friday at St. Peter's and today in Piazza del Popolo (has one of the churches from Angels and Demons which, by the way, is a popular our here). What an amazing backdrop for classes!

Here are a couple of photos of a few of them hard at work at the Colosseum.

We came with a script written (one of the grad sudents worked on it) but as with all good documenaries, we've all but torn that up and are working on a new draft. We've concluded that purely historical informaion would not only be less interesting but harder to come by (hard to get shots of the dome being built, since it happened 600 years ago). We've had a few "creative differences" among the students, but thankfully no one has taken it personally.

The place we're staying has almost turned into a dorm. It's small and we occupy all bust a few rooms. Students keep their doors open when they're in, inviting conversation. Not bad, except after midnight. They have a midnight curfew - not from us, but the hotel. The front dor is locked midnight to 7 a.m.

My two clleagues here are Bill Morningstar, a photog prof from Berea College (program director) and Gil Smith, a former Ball State architecture prof now at Eastern KY U. Last night Kim and I went with Gil for Egyptian food (after a week of nothing but Italian).

We arrived in Rome on Saturday, a little later than expected. Al Italia was about 1:40 delayed. It was no problem, though. Spent Saturday and Sunday night at a convent (threatened to leave Nicole) in the same room, but it was large, so no trouble. This morning we moved to the hotel with the students. Nic's excited because she has her own room. Kim's not too keen on the idea, although I thought she might like having a private room with me. What is she trying to tell me?

We did a lot of walking. Saw Pope Benedict deliver the Angelus (blessing) from his window to the crowd. What a huge crowd. We were able to attend mass at St. Peter's.

The students arrived today, a little late: exhausted and most without luggage (yeah Air France). Gave them a trip on the subway, basic orientation, etc. Class starts in earnest tomorrow.

God has been good to us. Weather has been great. A little warm, but no rain, and nothing like we hear it is in Muncie.

We have just finished three wonderful days in Ireland! We arrived Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. local time. Marian, who had stayed with us back in 2000, met us at the airport and brought us to her home in Laoughlins Town in the southernmost part of County Dublin. She made us an Irish breakfast, then the three of us headed into Dublin on the train for the day. It was great because the train goes right along the coast (saw a house Bono bought). We went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells, from 1200 years ago! The old library is fantastic. Walked around a lot. Marian took me out for a pint. On Thursday we spent much of our time at the Dublin Zoo. Today Marian took off work and we went seeing nature (instead of the city). Went to Knocksink Wood (where she used to work), an incredible place called Powerscourt, an old estate with incredible gardens (where Kim wants her sisters to know we sat on the patio and had tea and scones), then off to Glendalough, where we visited a beautiful valley lake. We had dinner at Johnnie Fox's, which claims to be the highest pub in Ireland. Whether it is or not doesn't matter - they have great seafood. Tomorrow we're off to Rome. Don't know when I'll update next.

It's time to renew this travel blog. Kim, Nicole and I leave in three weeks. I'll be teaching in Italy for five weeks. We will be doing a little bit of traveling before and after.

I am teaching two classes in Italy: basic video production and documentary. My students will come not only from Ball State, but also from other member schools of the Kentucky Institute for International Studies, the consortium through which the courses are offered.

This program will be dramatically different from my 2002 teaching in Macerata through the AHA consortium. First and foremost, we will be spending one week in Rome, then four weeks in Florence, the three of us sharing a hotel room the whole time. I will not have regular Internet access as I did three years ago, when a connection was provided for us in our apartment. For that reason, I can't be sure how much updating I will be doing of this blog from Europe. If you're reading this in July and it's the most recent post, I obviously didn't update it.

A round trip flight to Rome during the summer (with gas prices and exchange rates) would run about $1,300 each. With advice from Kim's sister to check Aer Lingus, we were able to cobble together a rather convoluted itinerary which saved us about $250 per person. Our itinerary:
June 7: Indy to Washington Dulles/Independence Air
Dulles to New York/Independence Air
NY to Dublin/Aer Lingus
June 11: Dublin to Rome/Al Italia
June 19 - Bus to Florence
July 15: Class ends. Drive rental car to Siciliy
July 20 or 21: Drive to Slovenia, stopping a night in Macerata
July 28: Drive to Milan to return rental car
July 29: Milan to London/Ryan Air
Aug. 2: London to Dublin/Aer Lingus
Aug. 3: Dublin to NY
NY to DC
DC to Indy

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.