14 Beautiful and Special Acres

We just had to save and share this really cool aerial view (screen shot) of the buildings of the   Rome Temple Complex. It is a beautiful and peaceful space. We feel blessed and honored to be there every day. 

Four major buildings surround a traditional Italian piazza. In this image you can see the Temple, Patron Housing (square building to the left of the temple), Visitor Center (directly opposite the temple) and Chapel (to the right of the temple).  Mingled among the olive trees (400-500 years old), palm trees, fountains and stone planter boxes filled with flowers, are multiple piazettas with stone benches for quiet moments. 

The complex sits on an elevated knoll in the northeast of Rome near the beltway and freeway interchange. The property was purchased in the late 1990's. Before any building can be built in Rome it must be carefully inspected for Roman ruins which is done by digging trenches every 10 to 15 feet across the property. The day the Rome Italy Temple property was to be inspected, Church members in Rome held a special day of prayer and fasting. No ruins were found over the entire property, yet an old Roman village was discovered just 100 yards beyond the property boundary line.  https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/rome-italy-temple/

"A temple of God is the most sacred place of worship in the world - a place where heaven touches the earth, a place where marvelous blessings are bestowed, and a place where we can feel closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as we strive to become more like Them."   

(https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/why-latter-day-saints-build-temples?lang=eng)

Appreciating the Apostle Paul

We are in Rome, Italy for two years. The Apostle Paul was in Rome, Italy for two years. We came here to serve in the temple, he came here to be tried before the Emperor Nero on charges of heresy. We roam freely around Rome, he spent his time under house arrest in rooms that we were able, through special arrangement, to visit. We walked away from this experience with a great appreciation for the Apostle Paul's courage, mission and teachings. 

Located under the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata church, a portion of this space was once thought to be a crypt. In the 1600's further excavations revealed much more.  Our visit took us backwards in time. It seemed like every step down the ancient stairs took us 100 years into the past.  

Interesting features included a 1st century deep, dark, well that still has water in it...

Remnants of frescoes that had once decorated the walls of the apartment, believed to be 8th-century...

Large limestone foundation stones...

A column with a cross carved on it and a spiral inscription that reads: Verbum Del non est alligatum ("The word of God is not bound").  

A 17th-century altar on higher ground topped with a marble relief showing Peter and Paul reminiscing while Luke listens... 

The space pictured here was the most recent to be unearthed, in 2016, and is believed to be a bedroom. It could have been in a space like this that Paul wrote some of his epistles and last letters to early Christians. Paul was martyred in about A.D. 65.

The following observation is from Reverend Matthew Cowden: "This house once looked out onto the Via Lata which was the parade route to the city center where gladiators strolled in great triumph to receive their green victory laurels, literally a ring of bay leaves placed on their heads. Up the Via Lata, Roman generals paraded to the city center to receive their laurel leaf crowns made of gold. From the front doorway and windows looking over the first century Roman porch, Paul would have witnessed this victory parade very regularly over the two years he was held here.

One could easily imagine Paul contemplating his own, inevitable martyrdom from this view as he writes, 2 Timothy 4: "I am now  ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not only to me only, but unto all them also that love [him]."  

https://www.matthewcowden.com/2016/10/23/pauls-house-arrest-apartments-discovered/

Castel Sant'Angelo

Our visit to this unique structure enabled us to to retrace the entire history of Rome, the "Eternal City", all in one place. Famous stories, movies, operas, executions, and historic events took place or were inspired by Castel Sant'Angelo. 

 Its construction was commissioned in the first century AD by Hadrian, the Roman emperor, as a mausoleum to house his remains and those of his descendants.
(Below is a rendering of what the mausoleum might have looked like.)

Unlike other Roman monuments, this mausoleum never fell into disrepair over the centuries.  It thrived through an uninterrupted period of transformations. It went from being a tomb to being fortress, from a prison to a Renaissance dwelling and from a barracks to a national museum. Here are some of our favorite snapshots from our visit to Castel Sant'Angelo....

Lavish rooms of the Pope's apartments.

View from the top into the courtyard where stacks of cannonballs
waited to be thrown down on attacking armies.

There's the Vatican is in the distance. 

This is the Passetto (built in 13th century), an enclosed, elevated half-mile-long walkway that, over the centuries, provided passage from Castel Sant'Angelo to the Vatican City for popes and prisoners.  

A tourist and a seagull enjoying the view and breakfast. 

The name "Castel Sant'Angelo" is from a medieval legend that in 590 Michael the Archangel appeared before Pope Gregory the Great to announce the end of a plague. 
There is his statue, behind us, at the tippy-tippy-top of the castel. 

The Houses of the Lord - Then and Now

The Visitor Center on the piazza of the Rome Temple offers an interesting display about temples. In an effort to share it with you, we snapped a few pictures of the models and narratives. 

"The House of the Lord: Christ held the temple sacred. Mary and Joseph found Him teaching and asking questions of the elders there. He further taught reverence for the temple when He drove the moneychangers from it. Temples have existed since the days of the Old Testament. The Lord commanded His people to build temples where He could teach, guide, and bless them. They are literally the Houses of the Lord."

"Temple Beginnings: After Moses and the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. During this time the Lord instructed them to build a tabernacle, which was a portable temple designed for sacred ceremonies." 

"Herod's Temple, Jerusalem: After the Israelites were established in the Holy Land, they built a temple that followed the pattern of the tabernacle. In the first century BC, King Herod expanded and rebuilt parts of the temple. This is the temple Jesus Christ taught and worshipped in during His life. "

"The Bern Switzerland Temple: Beginning in 1820, God restored through His Prophet Joseph Smith many of the same spiritual practices that were in place anciently. The first modern-day temple was completed in 1836, and the first European temple, located in Bern, Switzerland, was completed in 1955. For many years Church members from Italy traveled to Switzerland to receive the blessings of the temple."

 

Tonno/Tuna Love

Canned tuna fish is a BIG thing here in Italy! An entire bank of shelving at our grocery store is stacked from floor to ceiling with canned or jarred tuna.  

We have seen tuna served in pasta dishes, in chopped salads, made into a sauce served over veal, baked into loaves of bread and even on pizza. 90% of the Italian population buys tuna on a regular basis and one in two Italians eat tuna at least once a week. 

 This "tonno tale" came full circle for us when we tied these observations to Frank’s Grandma Susie and her delicious, but simple tuna salad. Now we understand that she brought her love of tuna with her from her homeland in Italy to Brooklyn, New York....and she shared it with us. If you are tuna fan, look for the brands packed in olive oil and if you are lucky enough to see the “Rio Mare” brand on the shelf at your grocery store….buy it, try it and love it like an Italian!!

Fascinating Figs (Fichi)...Freshly picked ...Fabulous!

The first of the fig harvest is here! 

In case our readers do not know about figs, we shall share what we have discovered!!  The fig has a long and ancient history and are considered by many to be the first cultivated crop. Figs were the main ingredient for sweetening desserts until sugar came on to the culinary scene. Fig trees grow wider than tall (easier for picking) and require hot, dry climates with all day sun in order to ripen. We wouldn't have any luck trying to grow them in Randolph, Utah!  

After serving us Pizza with prosciutto, figs and balsamic glaze, our friend, Sylvia, taught us how to pick figs from her trees. When the fruit is ripe it looks like it's about to burst its skin and turns purple. To pick, pinch the fig at the stem and twist gently until it releases and drops into your hand. Eat instantly, skin and all, or peal off the skin, toss it on the ground and savor the entire thing. Either way, be prepared for the sweet, wet juice to drip down your chin!  

Cutting into a fig reveals the unique inside. The white outer flesh is actually part of the stem that encloses those bumpy little things in the middle which are the flowers and have a delicate and delicious crunch. What a unique design!

 

Frank's Grandpa Joe, who immigrated from Italy to New York in the 1920's, had a fig tree which he tenderly cared for. He protected it from the cold winter temperatures by wrapping it like this... in burlap or tar-paper and putting an upside down bucket on the top. We understand now why he went to all this effort. He must have loved this fruit from his homeland and wanted to share fabulous figs with his children and grandchildren. 

You are right, Papa Joe! 

There is nothing quite as delicious and fabulous as a freshly picked fig!!  

  

Lunch in the Italian Countryside

 Sweet friends invited us to a Sunday lunch at their home in Poggio Nativo about 30 miles north of Rome.

Their home and 10-acres is located in the rolling hills.  Emanuele showed us around their 30 olive trees (and invited us to the harvest in October), large vegetable garden, beehives, herb garden, and fruit trees. He also gave us a tour of the beautiful private rooms they have recently opened and listed on AirBnB.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch under this wisteria covered gazebo overlooking the valley and distant Apennines mountain range. It could not have been a more beautiful setting!

In her cool country kitchen...(where she also teaches cooking classes), 

Sylvia prepared a delicious lunch of....

...roasted-marinated peppers, eggplant, grilled zucchini and carrot-jicama salad. That was followed by....

...(drum roll, please) prosciutto and fresh fig pizza with Balsamic glaze!!! It was indescribably delicious!

Next up... Penne Carbonara (Divine!)

Roasted chicken was next on the menu but we were all so full that we skipped it and went straight to dessert of Tiramisu made with Orzo instead of coffee. 

Thank you, sweet friends, for filling our bellies and our souls with the flavors, sights, comforts 

and magic of WONDERFUL ITALY!!!  

Let's go for a walk...

...around the temple. 

"Santità all Eterno, La Casa Del Signore". Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord 

are the words inscribed over the entrance. 

 Italian Cypress, Palms and Roman Pine Trees. 

Olive leaves represented in the stained glass windows on all sides of the temple. 

Unique flowers in the raised beds. Marble walkways wind through the Roman Pines.

Places to sit, relax, ponder and enjoy the calm. Thanks for joining us on this picture stroll around the Rome Italy temple! Let's do it again sometime!

 

Handling the Humidity!!

 We found this handy-dandy tool that is helping us during the humid season that has arrived her in Rome. 

This is a brand-new moisture absorber hangs in our clothes closet. It costs 1.50€ and is ingenious! The white granules in the top compartment gather the moisture from inside the closet and gravity pulls the water drops into the lower compartment.

Here is a picture of the same absorber after just one week. That's a lot of wetness!!When the white granules disappear, we throw it away and replace it with a new one. How's that for handling the humidity?!!!???

Italian Lunchables

 When our kids were growing up, it was wonderfully easy to send a boxed Oscar Meyer Lunch-able with them on Field Trip Day. It was a rare treat for them and they loved them! Take a look at what the Italian version of those convenient lunches contain......

...parmesan cheese...

...tarallini....

... salami.

It tickled our funny bone to find these in the grocery store!