The Pope's Farewell...

Today I had the 'pleasure' of heading down to St. Peter's Square (with the rest of Rome & the World) for Pope Benedict XVI's final public appearance as Pope. He abdicated his position a few weeks ago - effective date tomorrow February 28th.

I was glad I had the chance to be there and see it considering it has not happened in over 600 years. The place was a made-house...thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world. Before the audience began Cardinals welcomed the people and specific groups in many languages - every time a group or country was mentioned a segment of the audience cheered, applauded and went nuts.

It officially started with trumpets sounding and then the Pope-mobile drove around (and through) St.Peter's Square. He was waving at everybody and even stopped a few times to bless assorted babies (they also stopped to put the top up because the sun was a little strong today).

When he was finally settled into his chair under a sun-shade in front of St. Peter's - assorted Cardinals offered a prayer from St. Peter to begin the audience. This prayer was delivered by 7 Cardinals in 7 different languages (In order - Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese). Then Pope Benedict XVI read a speech/letter to the crowd in Italian. He thanked everybody for showing up, blessed everybody, explained he was leaving because of his health and praised the good work of his fellow clergy on behalf of his Papacy. Many times during his speech he used the phrase 'mio caro amici' (my treasured/dear friends). It was a very heartfelt speech and the crowd went crazy!

It was quite an experience and interesting to attend...

Here are some photos of my day! I wasn't close enough to get any great photos but was able to see the entire thing clearly on the Pope-trons (giant TV's in the square).

The Pope-tron and some idea...

...of the crowds!

Pope-mobile finishing its run...

Pope getting ready to speak...

Cardinals delivering...

...St. Peter's Prayer.

Then Pope Benedict spoke...

...at the end he blessed the crowd!

And got a 'Standing O' from the
Cardinals & Guests!

One of my favorite photos...
A priest on his private balcony!

Just some idea of....

...the crowds!!!

Here are just a few fun odd shots of the day and people around St. Peter's:

Italian Pride!

Pope Pride!

And lots of cops!

TV crews everywhere...

...and talking to everyone!

Like I said, it was a once in a lifetime experience and I am very glad I went. I am even more glad to be home sharing this with you and away from the crowds of people!
I hope this allows you to experience a little of the day!

On the home-front everything is good...
Tom is working hard and will be traveling on and off for the next few weeks...
I am still going strong with my ceramics and mosaics. My Antique Rome Street Scene has been baked so now I am painting it. We decided to use Acrylics verses Oils - take a look...

Freshly baked Terracotta,

First round of painting,

Second round of painting!

The bowl I showed you last time (Two Seasons) is still waiting to be baked as is the second baking for the Maleform Sculpture. Mosaics are goinggggggggggg slowlyyyyyyyy but I am making progress...
Not sure if more mosaics will be in my future or not (we will see).
I also thought that I have never shared with all of you - where and with who I do my ceramic, painting and mosaic classes. So, here we go. My classes are held down by San Giovani in Laterno (south of where we live - about a 30 minute bus ride). The name of the studio is Mate Arts and my ceramic and painting instructors name is Maurizio.

My Maestro!

Stefano - a talented painter!

Daniella - playing with clay!

Antonella - a lovely lady!

Mate Arts - store front!

I will share more at another time.
For now I think I am going to relax and figure out what I will be making for dinner!
To all our friends and family we wish much love and happiness!
Abbracci a tutti!
Ciao for now!
Ron & Tom

Times...they are a changing...

Wow! Sorry for the delay in posting...a few things have been going on.
We hope everybody had a wonderful Valentines Day!
Last, I shared we were going to see a Broadway show here in Rome.
We saw Priscilla Queen of the Desert and it was very interesting...
I must say we were pleasantly surprised of the production value of the performance. They definitely brought the fun nature and camp-ness of the original show out in a truly Italian way. The theater all decked out with everything from the giant 'pump' to cut-outs of the characters.
The dialogue was in Italian but all the songs were in English. It was good fun and well done for Italian theater.
Here are a few photos of our evening...

Tom eagerly awaiting the show...

The theater all lit in lavender...

Yeah...I had to...

...of course the Pump!

The sets were well done & over the top!

All-in-all we had a wonderful time!

Other news in this end of the world is about our Pope! As most of you may already know - he is resigning at the end of this month (February 28). We were lucky enough to see him during the feast of the Immaculate Conception and I will try and get down to the Vatican for his last appearance on that day. Hopefully, I will be able to deal with the crowds.
Eight Five year old Pope Benedict XVI was elected April 19 of 2005 and is now resigning. He will be the first Pope to resign his office since 1415.

Pope Benedict XVI

Strangely enough, just about two weeks ago the Italian's re-unveiled a modern art sculpture of Pope John Paul II at Rome's Termini (the main train station). The first time this statue/sculpture was unveiled (May 2011) it was met with a lot of criticism - on lookers felt it looked more like Mussolini than John Paul. So, the statue was covered and reworked to improve the face and make it look more like John Paul.
Here is the new and improved John Paul... (I'm still not impressed).

Side view...

Front view...

Well, enough of Popes and Priscilla's...
Everything else here on the home front has been going well. It is still a little cold for my tastes in Rome but signs of spring are on the horizon. Tom has been having a lot of meetings in Switzerland and traveling but is doing well.
My sculpting and ceramics are going well. I have a few projects in the works waiting to be baked - and I am starting a new class! I have decided to learn how to do Mosaics. It is an amazingly tedious process but I am sticking with it. Hammering each piece of marble and then setting it in mortar is..... a...... verrrrry..... slowwwwwwwww.... process.... but it is interesting and kind-of therapeutic.
Well, here are the projects in the works...
First, is a bowl I am calling 'Two Seasons'. It is decorated with grape vines and flowers... I am still working on this so be kind!

The grapes vines (fall)...

& the flowers (spring) 

The 'Man' I am working on has just been painted with glaze that will make the terracotta look like marble (fingers crossed) then I will paint the background with acrylics to look like brick after baking...

I think this will be fun when finished...

Lastly, is my new adventure...mosaics... I am doing an antique lion in black & white marble.

This was three hours of work...

...like I said slow & painful!

Ok, Basta! (Enough!)
I will let you all go back to your wonderful lives and will post more soon.
As always, we send love and best wishes to all our friends and family!
We love you all!
Abbracci a tutti!
Ciao for now!
Ron & Tom

Almost forgot - I saw this today and thought it was great. A tiny little electric car, not unusual, but I loved the beagle in the back with his head out the window... Too cute! Enjoy!

Novanta tre...

The title of this blog is 'novanta tre' which in English means '93'...
The reason for this is that yesterday was my Dad's 93rd Birthday!
Happy Birthday/Buon Compleanno Dad!
Wow! Tom & I were talking yesterday at lunch about basically taking our age and almost doubling it and we would be my fathers age...Wow! We are just glad to know that he is well and still kicking...
Salute! Here's to you Dad!

Mom & Dad (Villa Borghese 2011)

On the home-front, I just returned from a quick trip back to the US (Richmond VA) and Tom has returned from his business trip to Switzerland.
I really enjoyed being back home and being at the original Barrington Resort & Spa for a few days. While home I had a chance to see some friends and to visit the Richmond SPCA - always a good time!
One of the things I really love about being back in Richmond is having my coffee at the Daily Grind Short Pump! Sam, the owner, and his wife Allison always make me feel like I have never left and always remind me where home is! While there I had the chance to visit with Bill Bangham and his lovely wife Diane - two amazing people! Bill is one of the worlds truly fantastic photographers and his wife just a truly wonderful women and an great knitter...
This time home I was smart enough to ask them to pose for a photo so I could show everybody 4 reasons Richmond will always be home!

Sam, Allison, Bill & Diane at the Daily Grind Short Pump!

If you are ever in Richmond or traveling through the area - stop by and with some great people!
Also, while home I got to spend a lot of good time with Tabitha, Jon, Frieda, Sunny & Frisco at home!
it was good to see everybody - one night Tabitha and I decided to head out to Red Robins (a burger joint) for dinner! Of course the restaurant had its mascot running around - so I revert to a more child like personal state...here are the results:

Me & the Red Robin!

All-in-all it was a wonderful trip back to the states and fantastic seeing all our 'southern' friends!
Back in Rome, I started getting back to normal...
I have just finished reading my 3rd book for 2013 (may not sound like a lot but it is pretty impressive for me). I also went back to my ceramic class to start finishing off some of the projects I have started...

Roma Antique Strada...

...next baking & painting!

My last piece is baked & ready for painting!

Next on the plate (no pun intended) is a surprise for our cousins Diane & Bill! Stay tuned...
Beyond laundry, ceramics and settling back in, I also took time to visit the Quattro Fontane (corner of the four fountains - slated for restoration) and the Museo dei Fori Imperiali (a museum down by Piazza Venezia and the Roman Forum). It turned out to be a beautiful day in the 60s and sunny!

The Quattro Fontaine is a t the corner of Via delle Quattro Fontaine and Via del Quirinale.  Commissioned by Pope Sixtus V in the late 1500's. Once they are restored I will show them to you again...

The Tiber River
(the symbol of Rome)

The Goddess Juno
(the symbol of Strength)

The River Arno
(the symbol of Florence)

The Goddess Diane
(the symbol of Chastity)

The Museo dei Fori Imperiali (Trajans Market) is a large complex of ruins at the opposite end of Fort Imperiali from the Colloseo. It definitely had some interesting views...

A beautiful amphitheater 

A marvelous view of Piazza Venezia

Side view of Il Vittoriano

Outside view of the museum itself!

It was a great day for roaming around Rome!
Other than that everything else is great and we are happy to be home again...
This weekend we are going to see a play - it should be interesting...
We are seeing the Italian version of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (or Priscilla la Regina del Deserto).
A little NYC culture in Rome

Priscilla Queen of the Desert...

Ok, it's time to end this posting...
As always, we wish our friends and family much health and happiness!
Ciao for now...
Abbracci a tutti!
Ron & Tom