For the first time since we got married, Leon didn't have an Easter Sunday mass...and it was fantastic! It made for a nice kick-off to our vacation week. We stuck around for Monday and Tuesday and then on Wednesday morning of the Easter octave we decided to find a nearby city and take off. Within the hour we were on our way to Frascati, Italy.
I really love how our girls go on buses and trains enough here that it feels very normal for them. They're both pros. This was Dietrich's first train ride though, with many more to come.
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| Happy little travelers |
Stella makes cute faces at the people sitting next to us to while away the time.
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| An acute case of cuteness |
Emma on the other hand pensively gazes out the window on the fantastic views. A budding philosopher she is.
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| Seems so much older than just 3 years old. |
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| Beautiful Thinker |
Meanwhile, Leon just puts on the smolder. These sorts of special skills take practice after all.
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| "I look angry" ~Leon |
Why did we choose Frascati? It was close and had a big cathedral.
Why would we go back there again? Easy:
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| "I've never felt so good eating pig fat" ~Leon |
Porchetta is a very good reason to go to Frascati. It was flavorful. It was spectacular. I might add that I don't
ever eat the pig fat, but this stuff was something that I'd never experienced before. We picked up a package and ate the entire thing with our bare hands, standing in the piazza. Since we arrived during the siesta hours there wasn't anything else open to eat except the porchetta stands. But we happened on one of the better foods that we could find.
We strolled around the medieval streets and got a feel for the city. It was very small. We passed a school and all the everyday shops and just a few restaurants (for the part of town we were in). Here's a turret we found. :)
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| Frascati and Leon go well together. |
We didn't have any major attractions to hit so we just walked around to see what we could see. (Since we had already experienced the porchetta and been so satisfied, it didn't matter if the rest of the day was a dud.)
We spend so much time walking around and looking at boring things like ancient architecture, original Renaissance paintings, cathedrals, and Italian countrysides, that when we pass a playground we try to stop to give the girls a chance enjoy themselves and stretch their legs.
This playground had a big bowl swing.
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| Rub-a-dub-dub two cuties in a tub |
It swung really high and Stella wasn't holding on soooo......
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| "Man down! We lost one!" |
No. She just got bored and moved on to more exciting things like steps. It is not the tunnel that entices her, but the step (which is really a bench?) that allows her to get on top of the table. Or just to a higher step. Either way, she requires help jumping down every time so that she doesn't break her arm.
When we finished there, we decided to follow a road that was supposed to lead to some church. This is at the bottom of that road. It was narrow with walls on either side.
Little did we know that following the road meant climbing a mountain. The road just kept going up and up with no sign of the church. It seemed like a pleasant enough road so we kept climbing.
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| Looking down the road, just a fraction of the way up |
Soon there were no more cars on the side, the walls got shorter and the foliage exploded.
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| Little girl on big hill. |
It was very fresh and lush and the walk was very quiet, save for all of our panting and asking, "How much farther does this go?" and "Are we sure there's a church up here?"
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| "Come on Mama! You can catch up to me." |
Soon we realized that we'd gone to far up to turn back and that we just had to keep going even though the end was nowhere in sight. Every now and again a car would pass us going up assuring us, that there was something up there. Far, far, up there. I imagined ways we could all climb in the stroller and hitch it to the back of one of those cars. But alas, no.
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| The real hero of the hike, pushing the stroller the whole way! |
Finally, after a plateau and then a final climb beyond that we found the entrance of something religious. At first it didn't even look like a church but just a little hidden shrine left among the moss covered steps. It seemed that beyond those steps was a church, although it really didn't seem like this was the main entrance. Then it hit me. There aren't many people who walk right up to this church. They all drive and the road to the parking lot veered off to the left of the shrine. There were not enough people walking up the stairs to keep the moss from growing on them.
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| ...and the hike goes on |
It really looked like a scene from a fairy tale the way the trees over hung the uneven stair case up to a church we still couldn't see. In the distance we could see a statue of the Virgin Mary so we knew we were going in the right direction at least.
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| Almost there! |
(Ok, this picture almost looks creepy with the light playing on Emma's very serious face)
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| "Join us" ~scary-faced Emma |
This stroller rolled right up the path until that last 25 steps or so. Then we carried it up. Incidentally, just after this day trip, we realized that we managed to snap the frame of the stroller. But don't worry. I duck-taped it back together.
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| The Stroller Champion |
A small Mary statue stood at the entrance of their front steps with not a lot of pomp.
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| Pomp up the Jam Mary! |
Inside there was one Monk circling the small church with rosary in hand. He smiled at us and went on strolling about the church. The church had a simplicity about it, but not at all by neglecting beauty.
The girls are getting used to stopping into new churches, hopping into a pew and saying a prayer.
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| "We pray that Stella will be nice to me" ~Emma |
We generally keep the church stops quick so the girls end on a good note and don't get too bored. But even in the smallest church I always wish I could stay longer and take in the art and architecture and feel of the chapels.
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| Important saint with bird |
It also makes me wish I could recognized any saint by their portraiture. Every element has a meaning, and sadly, that is usually lost on me. Oh well. At least the beauty isn't. I particularly enjoyed this painting of Our Lady and the Holy Child.
Any depiction with a guy with a spear in hand is usually fun.
The views from this hill top were breath taking. You could see all the way back to Rome and all the space in between. It was a very clear day and beautiful. But I just took a shot of this beauty:
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| Framed looking over the cities |
And that quick little stop completed our mini pilgrimage in Frascati. We must have been hiking up that hill for about 30 to 40 minutes and stayed in the chapel for about 5 minutes. I took a pamphlet on the way out of the church and made note that they hold retreats here. It would be a beautiful place to stop for short respite.
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| Tall and skinny x 2 |
To make the hike up the hill feel a little more complete we ventured just a little further to discover what was all the way at the top: a fancy hotel. Even though the entrance to their driveway was just outside of the churches parking lot, I couldn't believe we could all agree to continue venturing upwards. But we were soooo close, so, up we went!
And I took a selfie when we got there.
They had some nice, fat goldfish in the front.
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| Big enough for dinner! |
...and a little fountain feeding the fish.
What troopers!
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The Griesbach's went over the mountain (x3)
To see what they could see... |
The way down was blessedly easier. Only a few other things resided there, this sign showing two, and the big entrance to a private palace being another.
