Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Italy - Day 19 (Rome)

The morning of the long anticipated pottery class!  A driver picked us up at 10 and took us to the pottery studio.  The class did not disappoint!

Preparation

Andrea helping Gia to get started with molding her clay.

Caden and I making our clay flat for shaping.

Art master Lily hard at work.


Making shapes to attach to the spoon holder.

The bowl...


Our raw materials.


Decorating the bowl...

Love this pic of Lily concentrating as she embellishes her plate.

Gia painting her spoon holder.

The Angst pottery masterpieces (at least before being fired) - they will be delivered to us Saturday before we leave.
 We walked up the street the Piazza Del Popolo, the home of twin Baroque churches - Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto and the Santa Maria Del Popolo, which Lily drew below.  There was a protest or something in the square and a man using a strange chain contraption to make large bubbles that the kids enjoyed chasing.

Nero and his family are buried under this church.



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Gia's drawing of the Obelisk (second oldest in Rome)





We ate our first burger and fries of the trip at a little restaurant just off this street.  A welcome change from our usual pasta.

We walked on to the Spanish Steps to complete our 'mission' (from the great book 'Mission Rome, Top Secret Scavenger Hunt Adventure') - first stopping at the recommended Gelato restuaurant - Fatamorgana Gelato (I had chocolate/hazelnut/cappuccino- Yum!) and then on to find the boat fountain, counting the steps, and locating the monster house.  Done, done, and done.



Gia washing her hands with her daddy...  which was Gia's highlight of the day, which she drew below :)

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The fountain was also a highlight of Caden's :)



The Spanish Steps - but Lily Angst


Nearly there...

The view from the top!


Looking for the Monster House and Trevi Fountain... 
Found it!
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Monster House, by Caden Angst


Gia trying to "squeeze through" - it didn't work.

On a fountain mission



We made it to Trevi Fountain only to find it was under construction!  We learned from our mission that the water that feeds the Trevi Fountain travels 8 miles from a spring outside Rome through a 2,000-year-old aqueduct.  Once it drains from the fountain, it fills other fountains in the city including the Old Boat at the Spanish Steps and the Fountain of the Four Rivers at Piazza Navona.

Our mission included throwing a coin into the fountain over our left shoulder, to help support the annual $800K haul the fountain brings in for charities each year.  Even without water, we didn't want to jinx ourselves.  It took some work getting the coins above the barrier, including a couple re-tosses, but by the time we left, coins had made it over the wall!



Lily as she heard her first attempt ricochet off the Plexiglas and into the crowds :)

Caden made it on his second attempt.




All were exhausted at this point, so we walked to the closest bus stop outside of the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, which was quite a stunning spot to wait for a bus!




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Vittorio Monument, by Caden

 Lily's bus entry...


Everyone bathed after this long, hot day, and then we had dinner in.  Lily and I also watched a BBC show on the coliseum, as The Gladiator was just not the right level unfortunately.

After dinner we took a walk through the grounds of the property.  A lovely evening, followed by Nerts at home (in honor of the Altman's :)
 
Practicing cartwheels

Admiring the view