Beyond The Bricks

Dear Italy Blog watchers,

Here is my final entry for the Italy travel/study abroad tour of J Term 2013. I list it that way because these blogs stay “up” for future readers in future years.

We left our Roma hotel yesterday morning at 6:45 am local time, making the 30 minute drive to the large Rome airport. It is interesting to see how foreign airports arrange their facilities, hardly any seating spaces and fewer shops and stores than American airports provide. Due to some rain and fog, we left Rome a bit later than scheduled and then fought a very stiff headwind across Europe and the Atlantic. Watching the on-board computer screen, I could see times when the headwind was over 200 mph!

Naturally, this slowed our progress and increased our airplane flight time to Atlanta to over 12 hours. We landed at the busiest airport in the world (Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport) around 5:30 pm local time, but that would be after midnight as we were experiencing it. We passed through customs quite easily, and moved over to the area of our domestic flight to Chicago.

Chicago’s O’Hare Airport is the second busiest airport in the world, so we hit the top two airports in succession. We landed around 9 pm, retrieved our luggage and boarded the WLC bus for Milwaukee, arriving back on campus about 10:30 pm last night. Of course, it felt like dawn to us, having left Rome 24 hours earlier. We said our fond goodbyes and each left for our separate ways, content in the knowledge that this trip had been educational, fun, invigorating, and worthwhile. God was so good to us.

Special thanks to Dr. William Braun, my traveling comrade and WLC music professor, and I would like to compliment each of the 17 students for their cooperative spirit and engaged participation. It was my pleasure to keep all of you informed about our trip.

Arrivederci!

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer

Rome cannot be built or seen in a day, but we made a pretty good attempt. Leaving our hotel early, we headed right to the Vatican and were given a personalized tour by a local guide, Angelo. We saw Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel paintings, lots of artwork, the Pieta, and St. Peter’s Basilica itself. Awe-struck would describe us. Then we had a lunch nearby and drove by bus to the Colosseum. We were able to walk inside and imagine the gladiators and animals that fought there almost two thousand years ago.

The rest of the afternoon was a walking tour of many fountains and piazzas, including the Trevi Fountain, where we threw coins into the water with a wish for our return to Rome. Old churches, old buildings, the Pantheon, the Forum, and other Roman ruins comprised many hours and miles of walking. Along the way we saw Michelangelo’s “Moses.” We also mixed a little shopping into our exploits.

Our long day ended with Papa Rex’s Italian ristorante with a Roman centurion waiter and two opera singers strolling from table to table, singing Italian love songs. A four-course meal filled our hungry stomachs, and we laughed and enjoyed our final meal together.

Tomorrow is an early wake-up call with a trip to the Rome airport, lots of waiting, a long plane ride across the Atlantic, a stopover with customs check-in at the Atlanta airport, followed by a shorter flight home to Chicago. A final grab of our luggage and a bus ride home to Milwaukee will conclude this highly successful venture. We have had many memorable experiences and lots of gelato to boot.

God has blessed us, and we are grateful.

Arrivederci!

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer

Blog readers,

The travel day from Firenze to Roma was interesting. First we left Florence with a heavy heart, knowing that many of us will not return to this gloriously rich city of sights and wonders and inspiration. However, we perked up along the way as we crossed the River Arno, observed olive and grape fields across the Italian countryside, and expressed surprise at the many mountains and numerous tunnels through them. We just don’t have mountains and tunnels in Wisconsin!

Our bus developed some engine trouble along the way, and it allowed us to have lunch in a delightful little lake resort town. The students were patient as we waited for a new bus to arrive and replace the sputtering one. This delay did not stop us from visiting “the most authentic medieval town in Italy.” That would be Assisi, my friends. High up in the mountains, we toured the site where the Franciscan Order began, observed the peace of this place, and enjoyed our trip back through the centuries. It felt as if we were living in 1200 A.D. (although some of us had gelato in a little café).

The road to Roma (Rome) was long and rainy, but we arrived in time to check into our central hotel and go out for a real pizza party in a nearby ristorante (restaurant). (You can tell that I am learning the language quickly, can’t you?)

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will visit the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, several famous fountains, and as much more as we can pack into our day. We will have a local tour guide, as well as our beloved Colin Murphy, teaching us as we walk in awe.

More pictures are coming, but not right now. I will try to add another blog entry later, but we are busy all of the time on this compact trip, and the internet may not be available. If we return to America before I add more pictures, I will submit some more pictures later. Keep checking back to read about our adventures.

Finally, let me compliment these 17 students who have behaved well, patiently waited for a replacement bus, obeyed all rules, and soaked in Italian literature and art and music and culture and history like sponges in a bathtub. Dr. Braun and I are very proud of our students.

We will spend much of Wednesday in airports (Roma, Atlanta, Chicago), but believe me when I tell you that we have all enjoyed this time in Italy.

All is well in Italia! God is good!

Ciao.

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer

Hello, blog readers. I hope that you are getting a sense of this Italian trip and finding the posts and pictures to be interesting. I don’t have enough time to adequately explain everything, but I am sure that our 17 students will tell you more about it when they return.

Sunday began with a worship service: singing some hymns, a psalm, an Epiphany liturgy, and some prayers of thanks to our God who has given us such wonderful experiences in Italia. We were able to conduct our service in a conference room on the sixth floor of this hotel, viewing the Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) out of one window and the Medici Chapel out of another.

Touring Italy in January has given us some rainy and cool weather. We cope with layered sweatshirts and raincoats, many of us using umbrellas. The plus side of that situation is that crowds are missing, long lines are absent, and we have all the tourist sites to ourselves for maximum viewing. Nobody has complained.

The first thing we did after Sunday worship was to take a two and a half hour walking tour of the ancient city of Firenze (Florence). Our local guide (Roberto) provided us with witty information about every place, building, and statue. His knowledge of historical events and cultural aspects of this birthplace of the Renaissance was outstanding. Although it was raining, we were able to listen to him through headsets. Our visit to the Galleria dell Accademia gave us close-up view of many of Michelangelo’s statues, including “the most famous piece of art work” in the world, “David” himself.

From there we split up into smaller groups to visit the sites and places that interested us. The Uffizi gallery was the personal collection of the Medici family, and it rivals the best collections of paintings and statues in the world. The Ponte Vecchio is a bridge that crosses the Arno River. The Santa Croce church contains the graves of Galileo, Rossini, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli. Can you beat that?

After a day of rainy walking, we were given a treat by our daily guide and interpreter Colin Murphy. He had arranged for us to ride the bus out to a vineyard/farm for an authentic Italian supper. We were given a tour of the olives and grapes and tomatoes production. There we ate fabulous food. The surprise was a further bus ride to the city of Pisa, and yes, we were able to view and photograph the Leaning Tower of Pisa by night! This trip was not on our agenda, and even though it made for late return to Florence on Sunday night, no one complained. Wow (“Mama Mia”) is all I could say.

Monday will take us out of Venice to Assisi, medieval mountain town, then further bus travel to Roma.

Have to go now. Ciao.

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer

Greetings from Firenze (Florence). This day deserves more than I can give it. We started off with our usual good breakfast of eggs and cheese and meat and juices. By 9:00 am Venice time, we had left the city of canals and winding streets for the Italian countryside aboard our comfortable bus. Our bus driver Andrea brings wonder to our eyes as he drives between big trucks with little passage space in between.

We headed south toward Bologna, a non-tourist city, but one filled with interesting piazza (town squares) and towers and churches. We toured the town for two hours with some of us preferring churches and street walking, while some ambitious ones climbed over 400 steps to scale the top of the town tower! Dr. Braun and I were content to hear about their experience and look at their photos on their cameras.

Another 100 or so kilometers of driving and we reached some modest mountains where I was surprised that the road carved through at least ten longish tunnels. As we descended into Tuscany, the ancient city of Florence opened out of the mist before our eyes, and we were entering the land of the Medici family and the birthplace of the Renaissance. Our first stop was a leather-making factory and store with an interesting demonstration. We then marched across the piazza where Dante himself is depicted in statuary where he lived 700 years ago. In a light mist we walked to our hotel on the very streets and stones where Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch lived and wrote.

Checking into the Saint Georgio Hotel, we have nice accommodations and a convenient location to the town center, 500-year-old famous statues, museums, and art galleries where world-famous artifacts will be viewed during tomorrow’s walking tour.

Our group supper meal tonight was a crisp and wonderful salad, bread with olive oil, two kinds of pasta, followed by a chocolate dessert that I cannot describe. To walk off the calories, we all walked more miles around the old town center of Florence, even though a light rain was falling.

Tomorrow morning will begin with a joint worship service that I have prepared, and then our continued discovery of Florence will be our passion. We have another surprise for tomorrow evening, but you will have to tune in again to find out what it was.

The Packers play in a few hours, but we will not know of the results until tomorrow morning. Go Pack, Go!

Ciao from Firenze!

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer

We had another great day in Venice today, starting with a boat ride onto the island of Venice. Then some of us rode on authentic gondolas along the canals, while others visited stores and shops. The Doge Palace Museum was also visited by some. Lunch involved spaghetti and pizza, of course.

The afternoon was a delightful panoply of Venetian places, from the Rialto Bridge to the Santa Maria Della Salute to Piazza San Marco Square. We ate gelato, visited a lace-making shop, and strolled through incredibly small streets where a hand cart makes a difficult journey. There are no cars or buses on Venice, so boats and hand carts deliver all the goods to shops and stores.

Our guide, Colin Murphy, is delightful and knowledgeable, always staying one step ahead of events and places. He will be with us for the entire tour. Venice is not too crowded at this time of year, with cool weather keeping the tourists away. In the summer, it often has seven or eight cruise ships in the harbor. We have seen none, and we don’t miss them.

Tomorrow is an early wake-up call and then a bus ride to Bologna, the site of Europe’s oldest university. We will then take a bus to enter Florence, the heart of the Renaissance and Italian art, music, and culture. Most of our class lectures back at WLC were about the authors and musicians who lived and worked in Florence so we will be very excited to see the places where they stayed.

Our health is good, and we are getting adjusted to being seven hours ahead of you. It’s late now, so I will close. More to tell tomorrow. Good night.

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer

Hello from the Italy travel group, headed up by Dr. Braun and Dr. Moldenhauer.

This was a typically long day of international travel. Early Wednesday we took a bus from Milwaukee to Chicago, then hopped a flight to JFK airport in New York. We had a rather long layover before boarding our eight-hour trans-Atlantic trip to Venice. Two of our folks had never flown before, so they were introduced to air travel in a big way. We arrived in Venice at 10:15 am local time, met our guide Colin, and checked into our nice hotel.

Then without benefit of sleep or napping, we took off by bus to explore the old city of Venice among its many canals and waterways. For the rest of the day we hiked and toured this ancient Italian city, doing tours of St. Marco’s Church and Square, with an authentic three-course Italian meal for dinner (supper). To give you an indication, lasagna was the appetizer!

We rode two different boats on the canals today, and tomorrow some of us will ride a gondola.

The weather was cool and humid, but what does one expect in a seaport city on the Adriatic Sea in January? The students are well behaved and attentive to the guide and the surrounding culture and history.

Right now we are all beat; we are supremely tired from going many hours without sleep. It’s to bed now, with more Venetian adventures tomorrow.

Stay tuned, America.

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer

Hello, and welcome. This is Dr. Moldenhauer, writing a first entry of what I hope will become a daily blog from Italy. Today is the 8th of January – 2013.

As some of you may know, two Wisconsin Lutheran College professors are teaching on campus during J Term, then flying (tomorrow) to Venice, Italy, to enhance the experience. Dr. William Braun of our music department is teaching Italian opera to eight students, and I am teaching Italian literature to nine additional WLC students. We’ve been holding intensive classes on campus since January 3, and tomorrow we take off from Chicago to fly to New York and then on to Venice.

Our students have been working hard, and they have impressed us as cooperative and eager. Both Dr. Braun and I have taken students abroad to study and tour in the past, so we are “veteran” professors in that regard. We anticipate a successful venture to the country of Italy.

This particular trip will start in Venice where we will spend two nights, then move through Bologna into Florence for another two nights. Florence will be a highlight for both opera and literature. We hope to tell you about it on this blog. Check back later.

After Florence, we will travel through Assisi and into Rome for our final three days before flying home on January 16. Re-visit us here and read about our travels.

God bless us all.

Dr. Martin Moldenhauer