What do you want on your tombstone?

As we were walking through the Etruscan museum, we walked through room after room or interesting artifacts. There was one room with a sarcophagus in it. It was made totally of stone. The depiction on it was somewhat interesting. It made me think of the old Tombstone Pizza commercials..."What do you want on your tombstone?" In the video below, Max Bertini looks at what was on this Etruscan "tombstone."



Now I don't know what I want on my tombstone, but I know it won't involve an execution scene! So it begs the question...What do you want on your tombstone?

Etruscan GI Joe!

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing with those army men that came in a bucket? Imagine that, but only thousands of years ago and in bronze. While in Orvietto, we visited the Etruscan museum. Among the many exhibits, they had a case full of hundreds of the Etruscan "army men." Click the video below to see the collection.

The final 48

First of all let me say that when we awoke Saturday morning, we didn't know what was going to take place. But to suffix that, God also works in mysterious ways and cares for his people.
Saturday morning started much like any other. Wake up, brush teeth, and have breakfast. After breakfast we got on the road for Florence. We made it to the airport, checked-in, and went through security to find out that our plane had been diverted to Pisa. The airline said it was for weather, but the weather was fine. So we bussed to Pisa and landed in Munich an hour and a half later.
Once we disembarked in Munich, we found out that our plane to Chicago had left without us. We spent four hours with the airline, booking hotel rooms, getting food and transportation to the airport...and most of all tickets back to the states. But in the meanwhile, we bunked in Munich. We made a good time of it. Some of us hit the sauna...while others went out on the town.
This morning my group left the hotel at 6:30 a.m. We got to the airport, went through security and made our way to Frankfurt. Once in Frankfurt, we had to do it all over again, security and passport control. But again we made it through with time to spare. We finally arrived in Atlanta.
But US Customs and Border Patrol is another story. Long lines and question after question. We thought we'd never get back to Little Rock. But we did, safe and sound! So 48 hours later here I am in my apartment, back in Searcy, Arkansas where it all started...a week and a half ago! Caio Italia!

While in Rome...

So today, was by far the best. There was no pressure to turn a story or to be anywhere at a certain time. We went and did what we wanted when we wanted and it was great. We left Florence at 8:40 and arrived in Rome around noon. When we got there, the bus drivers and train conductors were on strike, making traffic back up for miles. We tried to take a taxi to the Colosseum and work our way down, but had to end up going up hill. No matter...we're on Spring Break! We started at St. Peter's Basilica, which was utterly beautiful. The statues were gorgeous and the fresco's were breath-taking. After seeing this we treked toward the Trevi Fountain. It started raining and we stopped in McDonalds for abit to escape the weather. When it finally cleared out, we got finally got to see it! Here's a video of what I thought about the Trevi Fountaian...and yes! i threw a coin in and made a wish.



After this we went into a bar and got a pastry, mine was a croissant filled with nutella. We started up the hill again toward the Colosseum and we stumbled upon the ancient ruins, which were awesome. Then we saw it...the mother ship of Rome...THE COLOSSEUM! It was gorgeous...I touched it! After our day of excitement we went back to the train station, had lunch, shopped, and waited for our return train. I slept all the way back! I have mixed feelings about going home, but home is where the heart is. Spring Break has been a blast and it's been fun sharing it with you guys! Can't wait to get back and see everyone of your beautiful, smiling faces! Caio and TVB y'all!!!

The last hoorah!

Eventhough today is Thursday, it was out last day with the HUF students. They head to a free travel weekend as do we. Many of us are going to Rome. Here is a look at what we did this morning.



We ate lunch at Del Pinnelo, which was amazing. We showed up for dinner at the Villa an hour early, so we took a nap. Dinner was good as usual and after that we enjoyed the Scandicci Jazz Band. It put me in a New Orleans mood. We're back in the bible school now. A group of us head for Rome tomorrow at about 8:45 a.m. I really want to see the Trevi Fountain. I will blog tomorrow, hopefully with video. Im off to bed...Caio and TVB y'all!

The beauty of the Arts

Besides the sculptures and paintings we see day in and day out here in Italy...I thought I'd share something today about song and dance. Song will be adressed in this video.



But the dance aspect is a little different. Tonight we hung out with some Albanian Folk Dancers, who put on a show for us after dinner. We were exposed to Albanian dance and had a great time talking with them and learning their dance moves. I will be writing a story about one of the HUF students who is the "scat-man" of the group if you will. Be looking for it. Caio and TVB friends!

I'm beginning to see a pattern here

All day Tuesday was spent documenting a group of HUF students, as they traveled to Orvieto, Italy to complete a homework assignment called mission Impossible. Click the video below to hear some of my thoughts on the train ride to Orvieto.