Italy: Pisa and Verona

From Florence, Marina took a day trip to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. The Leaning Tower is a bell tower for Pisa's Cathedral.

This is a carving over one of the Cathedral doors.

The figures on the center statue column represent the three graces: faith, hope, and charity.

Inside the Baptistery, there is a dome within a dome. This double dome creates a unique effect. The guide demonstrated how a shout echoes 12 times because of it.

I told Marina she had to take a picture holding up the tower. All three buildings--the Tower, the Cathedral and the Baptistery--lean, but in different directions.

They went to Verona the following day, February 15th. There were still leftover decorations from Verona's Festival of Love.

After Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, an incredible thing happened. Some enterprising Italians found Juliet's actual home and balcony. Isn't that amazing?

Here is a bust of Shakespeare beside a plaque that quotes Romeo and Juliet.

For more pictures, visit my Flickr album.
For grandma's notes on the trip, visit her blog, InnerElder.

Next stop: Venice (I know, we were there for Carnival, but there are a few more pictures to show)

Home Spun comic strip #327

Unfortunately for book lovers, there is no guarantee that a movie adaptation will meet their expectations, even if the author writes the screenplay. According to Marina, Neil Gaiman (Stardust) said that even when you are writing a screenplay for your book, the director can interpret it however they want to. I guess we'll have to continue treating the movies and books as separate entities.

Italy:Florence

From Rome, Marina's tour group took the bus through Tuscany to get to Florence. This is a beautiful picture she took of the view of Florence on the Arno.

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) which was the only bridge to survive the Nazis. Hitler remembered how nice it was when he walked across it with Mussolini.


The entrance to the Uffizi Palace courtyard. This palace is now a museum. They didn't get to go inside. Too much to see!


Neptune's Fountain was designed by a student of Michelangelo. Michelangelo tended to be very critical of the work of his students and contemporaries. He didn't like this fountain. Of the statue of Neptune, he told the student, "What a nice piece of marble...you have ruined."


Here we have the old Medici palace. In the courtyard of the Uffizi palace, there were statues of some of the artists and scientists who have worked and lived in the Medici palace.


There are many beautiful buildings decorated with frescoes.

Below is the architect of Florence's Duomo. His statue is situated so that he can look up at his work.

They passed by Dante's house. On the walk outside the entrance, there is a carving of Dante's profile which can only be seen when it is wet. Look at that nose! People with large noses are said to have Dante's nose!


Marina loved seeing the library. It is beautiful, isn't it.


Next stop: Pisa

Home Spun comic strip #326

Yes, this one happened. I told them how it would end. They knew the play. And still we spent about a half hour calming them down. It did bring up some interesting talking points. Marina thought it was better that Juliet died with Romeo, instead of being left alone like Maria was. She saw the pain of the loss. This surprised me, but Shakespeare's story does have a very childlike quality and a very immature view of love. I explained that if Romeo hadn't decided to die with his Juliet, they both would have survived. In a real loving relationship, you don't want your love to suffer, but that also means you don't want them to die because of you. I explained how Maria had the opportunity to take her sad experience and make a change in the world. Perhaps she would work to end gang violence, or work with children to keep them from joining gangs in the first place.

It was nice to be able to talk with her about the movie and see it through her eyes. That was one of many moments where I learned that my children don't always think as I do.

Carnival of Homeschooling at Consent of the Governed

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: The Stimulus edition is up at Consent of the Governed. A lot of stimulating reading here, so make sure you head over and take a look!

Carnival in Venice

I'm going to take some of Marina's Venice pictures out of order so that you can enjoy them for Mardi Gras. Imagine, the Carnival in Venice!

There was a point when Carnival lasted six months! It only lasts for ten days now. There were little kids dressed up in costume as well. Some of them had bags of confetti which they were throwing all over the place. One little boy was feeding his baby brother confetti! The baby didn't like that too much. His parents didn't either!

The revelers walked in color coordinated groups.

Marina stands in front of the clock tower. It has a 24 hour clock and every hour bronze figures at the top of the clock hit a bell. I'll talk more about it when I finish editing and posting Venice.

The dinosaurs were stilt-walkers in costume. They had sound effects and music when they walked through the piazza and down the street, so you could hear them roaring! They are walking around the Doge's Palace.

Home Spun strip #325

I want to start by restating my belief that there is a place for movies and television as a learning tool. I know homeschoolers who will proudly declare their homes "TV free" and I think it's admirable that they are able to do that. I can't. I grew up with television, and it comforted me through many hospital stays for asthma after visiting hours were over.

That said, I don't know how many people would enjoy watching movies with us. We are very vocal. We don't go to the movies often, but when we do, we are literally bursting with discussion by the time the movie finishes. I encourage my children to read the books before we watch movies that are based on them. This usually means there are shouts of "Why did they add that?" and "That's not what the characters did!" during movie time. Marina has come to terms with poor film adaptations by accepting the movie as a separate entity.

Italy: Vatican City and Roman Ruins

On Marina's second day in Italy, her group toured Vatican City. They started at the Vatican Museum.




This painting of St Helen is a ceiling fresco. The ceiling was full of beautiful frescoes.


How exciting to see artwork she's read about! This painting is Raphael's The School of Athens.


They also went to the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, they were not allowed to take pictures there.
Next they went to St Peter's Basilica. This is the entrance. Look at that sky! Remember how gray it was the first day?


These next two pictures show the statues and columns in the Basilica. Because they are in proportion to the Basilica, it's hard to imagine the statues are 50 feet tall, so grandma took a picture of Marina next to one of them. Marina said the way some of them stretched out from their alcoves, it felt like they were about to fall on you.

Then they toured the Roman ruins. This is inside the Colosseum. You can see the corridors that would be under the floor of the arena.


Many of the ruins seem to tower above their bases because of ongoing excavations.


I have more pictures on my Flickr page. You can see them here. I'll keep adding more as I go through her photos. I'm sifting through over 900 shots!

Italy: Rome

I'm slowly organizing some of Marina's pictures. Today I have some highlights from Rome.

The group started touring as soon as they left the airport. As I said in my overview, she went to the Piazza Navona where she saw an obelisk and three fountains. Marina thinks there are more obelisks in Rome than there are in Egypt! This was where they had a hailstorm. They found shelter in the building that houses the Department of Internal Affairs, where they met Carabinieri (I think) who act as policemen but can be called to serve in the army. (Reservists?) We have no pictures of them as she had low battery power and prefers taking pictures of architecture.

From there, they went to the Pantheon.



The Pantheon was much bigger than she expected. Outside of many structures like the Pantheon, there are people dressed up as Roman soldiers. You can take pictures with them, but then you have to pay through the nose for it! Michaelangelo studied the Pantheon's dome when he was designing St. Peter's Basilica. He was so in awe of the dome, he made sure not to make the Basilica's dome larger. There's a hole at the top of the dome which washes the floors when the rain comes in and allows heat to escape in the summer. It also makes the dome lighter, which is why it could be so big. The Pantheon is the burial place of Queen Margaret, King Victor Emmanuel II, and the artist Raphael.

Next they visited the Trevi Fountain.

Today the Trevi Fountain is the facade of one side of an office building. You can see windows along the wall.



The tradition is if you throw one coin in, you return to Rome. If you throw two coins in, you get married. If you throw three coins in, you get divorced. Isn't it interesting how it costs more to get divorced? Marina wisely threw one coin.



Next they went to the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps used to be across from the Spanish embassy, but the embassy moved. They lead up to a church. The Spanish were probably tired of climbing all those steps to get to church.



The girls were all complaining "We climbed the steps, and there were more steps! Then we climbed those steps, and there were more steps!"

Marina had a new camera with her, so she took some time to play with the settings here.



Grandma and the view from the steps. You can see the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the background.



Notice how cloudy the sky is in these shots? The weather will improve the next day.

Next stop: Vatican City

Home Spun comic strip #324

Yes, we do get weird problems. Those fish move fast. When I realized Marina showed skill in art, I started encouraging her to bring a sketchpad on our field trips. I also encourage them to take photos.

Marina returned from Italy on Thursday. I'll start helping her put together her pictures from the trip. I'm hoping to have her guest write some anecdotes from her trip. We'll see how that goes! She has to work a full day at the library on Saturday. Maybe I can interview her while she rests today.

Home Spun comic strip #323

I admit it. I like having places like the zoo, the aquarium, and museums to myself. I don't like trying to see over crowds or wait in lines that inch forward every ten minutes. And thankfully, I don't have to. It did not take me long to figure out the best time to go to these public places is on a weekday after 2PM. The school tours are usually on their way out to get back to their schools by 3. We could also go when these places open, assuming they open before 10 (our zoo does not), but I have to be realistic about my children's ability to wake up early.

Of course, the downside is that we can't share these adventures with my husband. He usually has to go to these things on the weekend. That's when all of the families come to the zoo, aquarium, museums and such. Poor daddy.

Carnival of Homeschooling at Topsy-Techie

The 164th Carnival of Homeschooling: The Hardwired Edition is going on at Topsy Techie. I've only just discovered Topsy Techie's blog and I think it's wonderfully funny. My readers know how important that is to me! As you peruse this week's articles, you will be treated to Topsy Techie's "favorite hardwired homeschool tools." This includes the bubble wrap application for iPhones which almost makes me want an iPhone. Almost. Enjoy!

Marina's Italian Adventure: Florence

Marina called! She's been getting the whirlwind tour of Italy and had a hard time getting to a phone for a while. They left Rome and headed to Florence, where they did not get a room with a view, but they were very close to the Arno. In Florence they saw Michaelangelo's David, as well as some of the artist's unfinished work still partially trapped in marble. They watched a leatherworking demonstration too. Apparently, this area is well known for it's leather boxes, which have been around since the time of Catherine de Medici.

From Florence, they went on a side trip to Pisa, where she took the obligatory photo holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They also saw the cathedral and baptistery which are adjacent to the tower.

After Florence and Pisa, they headed toward Venice, stopping first at Verona. In Verona they saw Juliet's balcony and the Arena, which is a smaller amphitheater similar to the Colosseum.

Onward to Venice, where Marina's group has seen St. Mark's Square and they took a gondola ride. They also saw a glass blowing demonstration of Murano glass. And Marina finally found a moment (and a phone) to call me! She said many people are walking around in costume for Carnival. I can't wait to see her pictures.

Next: San Marino and Assisi

Home Spun comic strip #322

My Source of All Knowledge is still in Italy, having a grand time, so I was forced to look online to find out which president it was that was ambidextrous. How many times has Marina told me this and I didn't remember? I'm a poor student. I scoured our encyclopedias and the internet before I found that fact. I believe she learned that from "Don't Know Much About US Presidents by Kenneth Davis. I really should pay more attention when Marina tells me these things.

Then I went looking for a fun fact about George Washington. I never knew how much he liked ice cream. Truth be told, I thought ice cream hadn't been invented yet. I could not have been more wrong! Ice cream has been around a long time. You learn a new thing every day when you homeschool your kids.