Amazing Italy!

Between being so busy, and not having easy access to internet, much time has passed since my first post!  Our 3+ weeks of travel has been full of one event after another.  We started our time in Italy with a week in a wonderful port village of Orbetello, in Tuscana.  Here we attempted to learn a piccolo of italiano.  Four hours of sitting listening Italian was a bit rough, but we treated ourselves to gelato (there will be a gelato theme throughout Italy) and a swim in the Mediterranean Sea.  Bellisimo!  We loved the feeling of this village; families filled the piazza, especially on Friday and Saturday; kids played soccer with fathers and grandfathers; cafe and wine shared in the warm Mediterranean air.  SO lovely!  We walked around ancient roman homes and temples, through Pinyon forests, and on limestone cliffs.  We met such wonderful people as our teachers and hosts.  We hope to return and visit so many things we missed!
        We almost went north from Orbetello, avoiding Roma altogether.  The thought of a big, busy, loud city after such serenity was not appealing for Jon nor myself, but Jeremiah insisted.  "We can't be THIS close and NOT see the Colosseum!"  We are so glad that we listened to this sage advice!  We got   completely soaking wet in a rainstorm while in the Roman Forum, but managed to get dried out in the Colosseum.  The Senate House was very impressive, as were the random marble columns and capitals strewn randomly around the area.  However, the Colosseo was amazing!  The immensity of the task and scope of the building is mind-boggling!
         That was our first day in Roma.  Yesterday, we decided to do our own walking tour and we followed the tourist route.  We all agreed that the biggest surprise was the Pantheon and the Jewish Ghetto.  The Pantheon is spectacular!  The dome which inspired Filippo Brunelleschi's duomo was exquisite in its grace and beauty. (We were wishing we had been there during the rain storm the previous day, both for shelter, and to witness the torrents of rain coming into the building.)  A marvel of art and architecture.
        We then headed over to the old Jewish Ghetto.  Suddenly, there was hebrew writing, kosher restaurants and a synagogue!  We learned that the Jews in Rome were neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardic, but Italiano, the first Jews to leave Israel after the destruction of the Temple.  The ghetto was created in 1555 because the Pope did not like the idea of Jews and Romans living side by side.  Roughly 8,000 jews lived in a small 7 block area.  The gates were unlocked in the morning, and locked again at night.  They could only work making clothes or as money lenders.  Yet, they created a richness that was displayed in a lovely collection in the museum.  The ghetto was opened when Italy became a country, no longer under the Pope.  It was at this time that the temple was built, with the help of the Italian community.  It is a beautiful building with a square dome (to distinguish it from the churches) and a rainbow ceiling, to remind us of the promise made to Noah.
          During WWII, when Hitler invaded, he demanded 150 kilograms of gold in 36 hours  to not take the Jews away.  The whole community, Italians and Jews, contributed their precious gold, and met his demands.  Soon after, however, Hitler rounded up 2,000 of the 8,000 residents.  The rest were saved by being hidden by local residents.  Luckily, the occupation only lasted 9 months, so many of the Jews hidden were saved.  The synagogue survived because Hitler had made an agreement with the Pope not to bomb Rome and its many monuments.  After a PLO terrorist attack, the Italian government provides security for all the Jewish sites Italy.  You can look up more information on Rome's Jewish Ghetto if you are interested.
      We have one more day in Rome, and then we hop on il treno to Venezia. (Venice)  Caio!