Winter in Almaty

The first major snow storm came on December 1st. We had planned to go to a special ethnic bazaar at one of the event centers...it poured snow, heavy with water, branches broke and the travel was treacherous. But never fear...we boarded the local bus with our friend Jenn and braved the elements.

 

Here is a woman demonstrating silk painting. Their work is stunning. I bought a number of presents to bring home this summer. The vendors were from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Kyrgyzstan.                

 

 Some of the power lines were loaded with snow and collapsed to the street.

 

 

Monday, December 3rd, was a holiday. The President's birthday. We spent the day with Jenn and her friend Dinara from Almaty. After a little shopping and a long time at Costa Coffee Shop we decided to walk around downtown Almaty and view the New Year's Lights. New Year's is celebrated here with lights and gifts on the first day of the new year and the week following. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on the 7th...the day the Magi visited Jesus.

 

 

We've been enjoying a few sports here in Almaty. One weekend ski jumpers from Europe convened upon Almaty for one of their circuit destinations. It was a nice day, the sun was shining, the seating was great, and the price was FREE! The facilities were built in 2011 for the Asian Winter Games. Of course, us crazy Americans have to cheer the loudest. We know how to applaud our team!

 

 

We also attend hockey games without missing hardly a one. The Browns and the Finkbeiners are regulars and we are trying to inspire others to come along. Many of our colleagues are joining us and cheering. Kim Brown has made signs, we have made friends with some local young men with a drum, and we have just plain fun. Lyzzat, is our music teacher and fantastic fun! We asked her why there isn't much cheering she said, "We haven't been free very long. We're learning!" Well, they are learning from us Americans because we cheer our hearts out! When we first attended the team played their game and left the rink. Now they stay on the ice, salute the crowd, and bang their sticks on the ice! It's been great to see them appreciate our enthusiasm. One more fun bit about hockey, at the end of every game they win (only lost 2 at home)"We Are The Champions," comes over the sound system...in English! It's hilarious. Terry received an Almaty hockey jersey for Christmas from his class...we bought one for Joey Brown and they later bought another for the kids. We're decked out at hockey each game! They are currently 3rd in their division.

 

 

 Christmas was amazing at Almaty International School. The parents were extremely generous with us and gave both of us wonderful gifts of appreciation. Terry's parents gave us tickets to the symphony and the opera. Both were wonderful. The music was superb at both venues. The symphony had a guest conductor from China. We heard, Brahms, Wagner, and Hayden. The opera had outstanding vocalists performing Traviata, sung in Italian and subtitled in Russian. No hope for us! But we were given a program in English. These pictures are poor quality...none allowed but Ididn't let that stop me! I have to take pictures of everything!

 

 

December found us taking off for Italy and Albania to meet our children for Christmas. We really needed this reunion! Kenton had never been to Rome. Jill came in 2000 with the Art Club from Connell High School. All of us had a great time. We visited all the notable sites and ventured out to several new ones.

 

 

One unique visitor attending with us was "Flat Stanley." Stanley came from a friend, Tricia Clary from Mesa Elementary. Some poor child in her class has us as Stanley's companions. The way I understand it he has to research everywhere Stanley goes. I hope he can keep up! Stanley had the unique experience of spending the night in the Capitol building. I dropped him there without knowing. The next day Jill and I went back in and there he sat on a cupboard waiting for his owner. Someone probably thought a child would be devastated if he weren't found. Nice.

 

 

One of the highlights of this trip was viewing the Caravaggio's found in Rome. We saw seven of them...many more were in one of the family museums which we didn't have time to attend.

 

 

 

There are local artists everywhere in Rome. We watched for several nights as two young men recreated a Vermeer work of art with chalk on the sidewalk. Wow!

 

Christmas Eve was spent in Vatican City. Kenton and Jill went on the Vatican Museum Tour and we all toured St. Peter's Basilica. At midnight the bells from the hundreds of Basilicas around the city rang in tandem proclaiming the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Christmas in Rome is beautiful. The lights were hanging from the sky above the streets. Each alley way had its own style. The Piazza Navona was filled with a carnival-like atmosphere. Booths were set up with games and prizes, food stations, and local artists selling paintings, jewelry, music, and amazements. On Christmas Day we went back to one of our favorite spots, Trevi Fountain. As we walked around the side of the fountain we saw that a museum was open. We went inside and discovered the exhibit highlighted the building of the Trevi Fountain and its maintenance. We watched a film on how they clean it and scoop up all the millions of coins thrown in every year. Upon turning to leave the curator motioned for us to come toward the enormous cascading  curtains along one side of the room. She took us through and opened  the windows...below us was the Trevi Fountain! It was magnificent! What a special treat. It seemed to me that this rarely happens, or so I would like to think so.  Following our time at the Fountain we went back and spent time in the Piazza and had dinner just outside of the Pantheon.  It was a wonderful day.

 

 

One of our days in Italy was spent at Pompeii. We took the bullet train down to Naples and over to Pompeii. It was a misty day so the crowd was almost nonexistent. Great for us. The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman city. Pompeii was partially destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Pompeii was lost for nearly 1700 years before its rediscovery in 1748. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of the city. Pompeii was an amazing site. The amount that has been uncovered and so well preserved by the volcano shocked us.

 

 

 

 

Next Albania.

Last week (10/26-11/2) we had the opportunity to travel to Rome, Italy for fall break.  This is one of the many reasons we decided to teach abroad. The students in my class traveled all over the area too. Here are just a few of the places my six year olds took off to; Hong Kong, China, Israel, and Georgia.

 

Our first full day was spent at the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Palatine Hill. The Colosseum's construction took eight years and was started by Vespasian. Titus inaugurated it in 80 AD. The structure is 3 storeys tall with 80 arches per story. Thousands of blocks of travertine were transported from the quarries at Tivoli for its construction. The Colosseum is 165 ft. high. It's oval and measures 620 ft X 515 ft. It held 50,000 spectators. The lower level had 76 entries to accommodate so many people at once.

 

The Roman Forum was the political, religious, legal, and administrative center of the ancient city. The Forum's disrepair is due to the destruction by man and not by time or natural causes.

 

Terry's favorite spot (most heartbreaking) was the Arch of Titus. This arch was erected after the Emperor's death in 81 AD to celebrate his victory over the Judeans and the conquest of Jerusalem. There are two pictorial reliefs immortalizing his conquest. One of them carrying away the spoils of war, the menorah and silver trumpets. The other depicting his advancing chariot and army. 

 

We visited numerous Catholic Churches throughout the city. Many were very old and had amazing sculptures. One had each of the disciples carved from marble in niches along the main room.

 

Our favorite spot was the Trevi fountain. This fountain has the legend that whoever drinks it or throws a coin in the fountain will assure his return to Rome. It is the facade of a large palace decorated with statues and bas-reliefs on heaps of rocks. The fountain was created by the architect Salvi in 1735. The work had begun in 1641 under the artist Bernini.

 

The only guided tour we took was that of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. After walking around and looking at Basilicas and such we showed up at our departure destination. We said, "We're here." "Great, come back in an hour." We answered, "But it's time to get on the bus." "No, you're an hour early." We looked at the clock and sure enough it said 1:40...we had lived for nearly two days not knowing Italy had rolled back the clock for day-light-savings. That's why when we went to the Baths of Caracalla we couldn't figure out why they weren't open! The Vatican Museum was filled with marble sculptures, paintings, artifacts, and tapestries.

 

 

Following the museum we neared the entrance of the Sistine Chapel. The sign said no photos and our guide cautioned us to be quiet and not take pictures. But to our amazement as we entered the room of hundreds of people...flash, flash, flash. People everywhere were taking pictures. I had been taking pictures of everything we had seen so far without using my flash, so I took a few too. The guards finally told those using flash to stop. That didn't last for long...flash, flash, flash. 

 

 

On Wednesday we went back to the Vatican to tour the St. Peter's Basilica. It was POURING rain. When we arrived we saw rows and rows of seats set out. Come to find out the Pope was having a special service ...I think for All Saints Day. We decided to sit in the back and take in a little of the service. Much to our surprise here came the Pope in his car moving between the sections of seating. He came within 10 feet of where we were sitting. But of course...his body guard got in the way of my picture.

I took a picture of the monitor to show the service looked. You can see us in the back left section, next to the small opening, with the black umbrella.

 

 The Pope was real close...body guard got in the way of my camera and they were traveling very quickly. Great zoom on my camera...that was one of the reasons I bought it.

While everyone was at the service, and the Basilica was closed due to the service, we traveled over to Castel Sant'Angelo. This fortress was created by the Emperor Hadrian as his tomb. The story of the Mausoleum closely follows that of Rome: the struggles and treachery of the Middle Ages, the Papal Court, and the Renaissance. The Mausoleum transformed into a castle about the 10th century and was occupied by many figures including the Crescenzi family, and Pope Nicholas III who joined the castle to the Vatican by the famous passetto or passageway. The passage allowed the Pope to travel back and forth as needed.

 

 

 

It was still pouring rain when we went back to St. Peter's Basilica. The line was long and we waited for about an hour and 15 minutes to get through the security check. The Vatican has been the residence of the popes since 1377. Michelangelo designed the dome and began the project in 1546. At his death in 1564 only the drum had been completed. The rest of the work was completed between 1588 and 1589 by Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana. The Colonnade is the structure surrounding the square in front of the church. It was designed by Bernini and provides a beautiful entrance into the Vatican area. There are 140 statues of saints which decorate the colonnade.

 

 

 

 

Michalangelo's Pieta is in the first nave inside the chapel. He sculpted the masterpiece between 1498-1499.

 

Time does not permit me to tell you about each of the chapels inside the church. I'll just post a few pictures for you to view. While we were there a service began behind the high alter. Yes, there again was the Pope directing a service and again...a flower in the way!

Our final day in Rome we picked up a few ruins that we missed along the way. We returned to the Baths of Caracalla which we had missed due to the time change. This was an enormous sight. The structure was built in 206-217. The structure is lined with basalt, granite, and alabaster. The enormous baths of hot, warm, and cold water could accommodate 1,600 people at a time. It housed splendid vaults, porticoes, esedrae and gymnasiums were decorated with the most precious marble, beautiful sculptures, and the largest columns imaginable. The ruins were surprisingly intact. Much of the tile flooring is still visible.

 

 

The Temple of Vesta and Fortune is the most ancient building in the city.

 

I hate to admit it but we were lost a few times and uncertain why people were standing in lines in various places in Rome. As we turned around from the before mentioned temple, we saw a long line of people entering a church. A common looking church to us however, it was the Santa Maria in Cosmedin one of the gems of medieval Rome. It stands on the ruins of a Temple to Hercules visible in the crypt inside the church. Just inside the porch area is a marble masked called the Bocca della Verita, the Mouth of Truth. According to legend a liar who puts his hand in the mouth will have it bitten off. In Roman times the masked covered a drain hole nearby. I'm telling the truth!

 

We made a final attempt to visit the Capitol building. Piazza Venezia was built in 1455 by Venetian Pope Paul II. It was the first great Renaissance palace in Rome. The equestrian monument  of the king was worked on for 20 years by sculptor Chiaradia. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lies at the feet of the statue and alter underneath. But of course we arrived a little late and they closed the interior after we barely arrived.

 

We had a great time. Mostly good weather. Good food. Friendly people. Leather boots. And we figured out the bus system! Arrivederci Rome!