Rome, Italy, Part I

When a temple was announced in Rome in 2008, I, along with probably every other member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints imagined being there when it was finished and dedicated. That was 3 months before Lauren was born and an entire lifetime ago. Fast forward past Tessa’s birth in Texas, our move to London about 2 1/2 years later, a couple of years in Manhattan and then living in Tel Aviv where we are actually in the district for the Rome temple during its completion! Each of those cities we lived in was a specific launching pad to the next place and the next place that eventually brought us this close to Rome and the new temple. While we knew the chances of getting tickets to the dedication were decidedly small, we went for it anyways. When Brian opened the email on Shabbat, right before we left for church and it read that we had been granted tickets inside the temple, we both felt incredibly humbled for the blessing we had just been given and the chain of events that brought us here in our lives. We bought plane tickets that day for our entire family and the excitement began to set in.

We woke up early- 3 AM- for our flight to Rome with all six of us. When we touched down in Italy, I immediately felt a sense of relief and stress leaving me. It was the strangest feeling- one that I certainly had not anticipated. I can only attribute it to the underlying tension that always exists in Israel- it is tangible enough that leaving the country makes you feel it.

We arrived early (9 AM) and way too early to check into our Airbnb, so we did one of the things we were most looking forward to…eating good food that involved pork products (hey, you don’t know you need it until you cannot have it!). We lugged our carry-ons all over and settled on a cute cafe right off the Piazza Navona and very close to where we were staying. They even granted us an early check-in, so we didn’t mind killing a little time over ham and cheese sandwiches, pizza with bacon and some light touristing in this gorgeous place while we waited to ditch our bags. I think everyone was on cloud nine at this point because Rome is stunning and we could feel the excitement of our upcoming adventure in this very beautiful part of the world.

Our Airbnb, below, was an old palace and the rental home of an antique collector. It was gorgeous and in the absolute best location. We loved it.

A stunning and huge print of Caravaggio’s “The Entombment of Christ” was in the entry and so awe-inspiring to see every time we walked through the door.

Trying to capture the beautiful place with its massive marble-encased doors, brick-paved floors and old fireplaces throughout. Such a fun difference from our modern apartment in Tel Aviv.

Gelato at 10 AM? When in Rome! We hung out at the Piazza Navona after eating a quick snack and took in this amazing place. Ever since Brian surprised me with a birthday trip here 3 years ago (can’t believe how fast that time flew!!), Rome has been one of my most favorite cities ever and I could see the same spark in my girls’ eyes as they saw it too.

The colors on the buildings, the amazing food, the narrow cobble-stone streets and the doors of Rome….these are a few of my favorite things! Cannot ever get old to me. We all kept asking ourselves when we could move here! We stopped at the Trevi Fountain first and then a quick pit-stop at the Magnum store where you can make your own custom Magnum bar- so fun! They had the same pop-up Magnum store in NYC a couple of summers ago and I remember taking Lauren and Tessa with my sister-in-law, Amy, and her cute boys when they lived by us for a month. Awww, so many good memories. I’m off sugar at the moment and doing a challenge with my twin sister, Rebecca until the end of May so I just enjoyed watching my kids eating all of the things that made them so happy. I do say, though, that there is a good/better/best gelato ranking in Rome and we stayed near a “best”, Gelateria del Teatro. If you’re in Rome, you must go here!

From Trevi Fountain, we stopped at the Pantheon and eventually made our way to the Vatican. We didn’t have time to go inside (its a very slow tourist-filled 3 mile walk from the entrance to the Sistine Chapel!) so we decided to hang out and take it in from the outside this time around. We scheduled a cooking class for late afternoon- the girls chose between that and a bike tour for this trip because it was such a short stay.

I had done a bit of research on cooking classes and landed on this highly-reviewed option and were so glad we did it! It is called “Cook with us in Rome” and it is run by Cesare and Gianni.

This is Cesare and he was awesome! The entire class was so thoughtfully put together and entertaining- which we needed because at this point, we were all hitting our walls from the time change as well as getting up so early! We made a huge menu of fried zucchini flowers and sage leaves, steamed artichokes, two types of pasta (cavatelli and fettucine) and two sauces to adorn those pastas- goat cheese with broccoli as well as a tomato sauce that simmered for two hours. The dessert was a tiramisu or strawberries with balsamic and sugar. Wow- everything tasted incredible!

This is us preparing the artichokes for a flash fry and then finished off with an olive oil and water steaming. I loved learning all of these new-to-me techniques and watching my girls in the process.

Our favorite part of the night had to be making this cavatelli pasta. The recipe was incredibly easy- just semolina flour and water, but the most satisfying part was rolling it out on these little wooden grooved paddles. It may have been so satisfying that Lauren almost fell asleep- haha! She was so zoned out (below) working off only a few hours of sleep.

How beautiful is this pasta!?! Never thought I’d hear myself say that, but its so true. Can’t wait to make it again- Cesare sent each of us home with our own paddles so we could do just that.

And then this process of making fettuccine had us all laughing. We had to run and “catch” it as it came out of the pasta machine and it came out so thin and long that it took everyone in the class to help. By the craziest coincidence, we had the nicest family in our class with just girls as well, and from Raleigh, NC. How crazy is that?? It was so fun to hear about their life in the city we land in next and they just love living there, so it got us all excited to be there soon.

Above is the tomatoes that we first cut up and made up the two-hour tomato sauce that was unbelievably packed with flavor. We all took turns stirring it every 10 minutes. Three ingredients- garlic, olive oil and tomatoes and add time and you get something that blows you away with flavor. The sauce eventually adorned our fettuccine, but I probably could’ve drank it with a straw.

Oh, Rome. You are the best. This city delivers in a huge way and its like a living museum with its ancient ruins sprinkled all over.

If we ever lived here, we’d never survive in a big car. We’d sooner squish into a tiny car than try to squish a big car into these tiny streets. It would be worth the charm though- I wouldn’t trade these streets for anything resembling a highway.

Day One involved an unusually large amount of Coke zero (for me) and Haribo gummies (for everyone else). World’s best gummies that were everywhere.

Ah, the live music playing in the various piazzas around where we were staying (and probably in every corner of Rome) made me so happy. Add beautiful music to any setting and I could sit and bask in it forever. I’m so smitten over this place.

I love awesome coincidences and running into this family right here was one of them. There was a youth fireside at the Rome temple and because there was no public announcement made about the time, we guessed it would be around 7 PM. We arrived in our uber at 6:30 to find out that it had just ended! :( As we were getting out of our car, we ran into the Dalton’s. Mike and Brynne are dear friends of my sister, Jessica and her husband as well as neighbors to our friends, the Pothier’s, so we’ve heard so much about their family. While I recognized them, they had no idea who we were so when I got out of the car and said “Hello Daltons!”, they were definitely confused. :) I explained the connection and we chatted for a few minutes before they got in our uber for their ride back to Rome. It was so fun to make the connection and we met up for dinner in the city the next evening.

The foggy, magical mornings and bridges of Rome are one more reason to love it. Still trying to think of some reasons not to love Rome- can’t come up with any! Lauren and I went on a run one morning together to Trastevere and we felt like the only ones out. Next up: Rome temple dedication and the reason for our trip.

Caesarea Philippi, Upper Galilee, and Mount of Beatitudes

In Luke 9:20 it says “[Christ] said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter, answering said, The Christ of God”. Caesarea Philippi is where this powerful exchange took place. Jeffrey R. Holland spoke these words about these verses from the New Testament “he is clearly the least abstract being in our lives. So, while we must be fully aware of the limitations—in our lives, in our language, in our ability to comprehend or appreciate—we still do well to praise Deity by name and in some small way come to know him better by what he says he is… ‘Whom say ye that I am?’ We say with unshakable certainty, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ We say he lives! and that through him and in him we live to become again begotten sons and daughters unto God. We say this is his true and only church, that his prophets speak today, that his kingdom inexorably rolls forth to fill the whole earth with its magnificence. We say he loves all men and we must love them, too. I know that my Redeemer lives and that is wonderful—wonderful to me.”

Caesarea Philippi is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Tel Aviv and straddles the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria. I imagine that there is no more gorgeous time of year to visit it than spring when it is green, lush and quiet. It was once a Roman city built around 20 BC and there are many ruins still standing to explore on a visit. Our favorite part was this huge cave where they supposedly performed ancient sacrifices.

Caesarea Philippi sits on a spring that feeds into the Jordan River and it is just beautiful. We walked around on a short path that took us by gushing waterfalls, ancient ruins and even some orange trees. The day was overcast, but it was still beautiful.

Tessa found this interesting stick and brought it home. It hasn’t left her side since. She loved walking along the walls and looking for tadpoles in the ponds formed in the ancient ruins from the crazy rains we’ve been having the last few days.

Next, we drove up the street to Sa’ar Falls and seriously can you even believe this place? I think I imagined Israel as more desolate and desert-like but I’ve been so surprised by how lush it is- we have seen some incredibly gorgeous things while living here and this one ranks right near the top. The falls were huge! The girls loved exploring, climbing and running around all over this area.

These two are always up for an adventure and followed their Dad onto a closed, muddy trail to the foot of the falls for a closer look.

The flowers are blooming everywhere right now and it makes me so happy. The lilies of the field (red poppies) are everywhere and they are stunning and stop me in my tracks every time.

From Caesarea Philippi, we drove south to Galilee making a stop at our favorite place, Eremos Grotto. The setting here just above the sea simply cannot be beat. Its peaceful, lush, and has perfect views. We’ve held several Come Follow Me lessons here as a family and have learned to appreciate every square inch of this part of Israel and its significance in the life of Christ. I don’t think a single place in Israel (outside of Jerusalem) has meant as much to us.

We talked more about the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount- literally where it took place. Physically immersing ourselves in the place where these events took place is something we we will never, ever take for granted.

And I cannot state how strongly I feel about how gorgeous this time of year is. The hills and valleys around the Sea of Galilee at sunset are unreal. Its no wonder that Christ spent so much of His life here.

We’ve taken a few bunches of flowers from this favorite spot and pressed them at home and hope to keep them forever. Just the same hope I have for the feelings we felt in this amazing place.

Hanging with Tessa

After our Dead Sea trip with the Breinholts, Brian was dying to get away to this magical place one more time. So, he and Tessa made the drive back down again, but this time to the Qmran area. This is also where the Dead Sea scrolls were found so there are some really interesting archeological digs in the area to explore.

Lots of hiking in and around the Dead Sea and even some long-term campers right on this beach :)

You can see that the entrances to the water here are less “groomed” than the Masada area and perhaps its a good idea that Tessa kept her shoes on for entry…all I see is salt rocks and I’m thinking how much it would hurt to walk on this!

The water here is so gorgeous! There were also some freshwater pools surrounding this area, where you could wash the salt off. Tessa met and talked with these two campers for a minute while she rinsed. She thought it was Mary and Joseph, from the scriptures! Can’t say I blame her :)

Tessa and Brian also did a little bit of hiking and said it was the best time. If you asked Tessa what her favorite thing to do is, she would tell you it is hiking and that its always worth it! Love her.

Despite the long drive to get to Qmran, these two had such a great time and were so glad they went on their adventure together.

The Breinholts in Town

Good friends are the best! We met the Breinholts when we lived on the Upper West Side…we were practically neighbors because we lived on the same block (76 and CPW). Our kids not only went to the same elementary school, but most lined up in ages as well. Thats a recipe for fun. So, when we moved to Tel Aviv, we were so sad to say goodbye to this family right here and then we were so so excited when they told us that they were coming to Tel Aviv on their way out of the city (they recently moved back to their home state of Arizona). What made this visit even better is that we managed to keep it a secret from our kids for the entire time it was planned. Our girls just knew Jason and Deborah were coming, but that the kids wouldn’t be able to. And, their kids (some of whom were in daily contact with Taylor and Lauren) were tightlipped about all of it too! On Thursday night, when Jason and Deborah came up to our apartment after a long flight, we were all so happy to see them and then a couple of minutes later, a knock on the door and then this happened…

It was so fun to have these friends reunited. Especially for our kids, who have been missing friends so much since leaving the city.

We stayed up wayyy too late talking and catching up. The next day was a slower day where we all slept in and played on the beach here in Tel Aviv. On Saturday we got up early to attend church in the BYU Jerusalem Center together. This is a magical place to show friends and family- the views, the feelings, the entire place is just something else.

After church, we took some pictures out on the lawn overlooking the Old City. It was really really cold.

We love their kids not only because they’re so great, but they have so much fun hanging out and playing (til the wee hours of the morning, even) with our girls. The entire week was pretty much a non-stop party.

After church, we headed to the Garden of Gethsemane. Probably the most special place in all of Jerusalem and what’s more is that the flowers were blooming and everything had greened up spectacularly. I love these red poppies (which I later learned are the actual Lilies of the Field).

Some scenes (below) from our Friday beach day. Deborah and I went on a gorgeous run all the way to Jaffa and back and then met these crazy swimsuit-clad kids on the beach in front of our building. It was chilly out, but they were intent on getting in the water no matter what. And they did. We also played several rounds of family-style volleyball (no spiking, catching the ball and then lobbing it over, etc) so everyone could do it and we all had so much fun.

Ok, this doesn’t really resemble the actual game of volleyball. But, its almost better because everyone can play no matter the age. We just had the best time playing for hours on the beach.

Stayed tuned for more from our week with the Breinholts…

The Breinholts in Town, Part 2

The number one thing on the Breinholt’s list was visiting the Dead Sea. We hadn’t had a chance to visit them ourselves yet, so we were so excited to go and experience this place. We drove the 2 hours down and our first stop was Masada. This ancient fortress in the Judean Desert is on a massive plateau overlooking the Dead Sea and was built around 30 BC. Once King Herod’s Palace, Masada is huge and has a ton of archeological ruins. Because we had a late start, we opted for the cable car ride to the top instead of the hike.

The views of the Dead Sea were pretty awesome. It’s amazing that Herod decided to build a palace in this desolate place, but if you wanted to get away from it all and enjoy bounteous sunshine year-round, this is the spot to do it in. The siege of Masada near 70 BC ended in the mass suicide (their final act of refusal to be captured) of 960 Jewish zealots, the Sicarii. A small few hid in this massive cistern below to evade capture.

Half of us rode the cable car back down and the other half raced on foot to the bottom of the plateau. They beat the cable car! Our next stop was the public beach here near Masada. It was gorgeous, as you can see. The water was so clear and the salt bottom provided a nice white background to the clear water, which was pretty unreal looking.

It was a chilly day out and the water wasn’t extremely warm, so we waded in slowly, but eventually everyone got it- no one wanted to waste this amazing opportunity to float in the Dead Sea.

The teenagers were able and wanted to stay in the water for a long time. Jason and Deborah did too. But the few of us that had cuts or sensitive skin only lasted a couple of minutes. The salt really burned and stayed that way for quite a while. But, pain aside, floating in the sea was unbelievably incredible and the weirdest, craziest feeling! We loved it.

Kate came prepared with a prop ;) Harry Potter. Proof that I braved the cold water (I am truly the biggest wimp!) and got in for a few minutes. Lauren’s face says what I was feeling a little more accurately than my face does. It was so cool to do this with my kids and see how much they enjoyed it.

I love Tessa’s face here. She was really hesitant to just “let go” and let the water hold her up- so different from any other swimming experience in the world! She finally relaxed and little and was giddy with the sensation of this experience. You had to be careful splashing around too or you’d get salt in your eyes.

When we were driving in, there was this perfect reflection of these mountains (the Jordanian side) on the water, which was as calm and flat as any water I’d ever seen. Also, it was wild to see zero signs of life (outside of tourists!) anywhere around the sea.

We went back to Jerusalem the next day for a tour of Hezekiah’s tunnel and more of the Old City. This tunnel experience was the coolest! We were unprepared for what to expect, so I didn’t know to have everyone wear clothes they could get wet, so most couldn’t do the tunnels and went on the dry tour instead. Such a bummer and I felt terrible about it.

Most of the water depth was up to the ankle, but the start reached halfway up the thigh, so I carried Tessa for that portion and she carried her shoes :) . We both loved how narrow and dark and warm the water was (compared to the chilly air outside). The 583 yard tunnel went on for close to 20 minutes and a few times Brian turned off his flashlight and I’ve never been anywhere so completely black with darkness- it was crazy.

This is in the beginning, where I carried Tessa for a short while. It was a pretty amazing feat to build this tunnel in the 8th Century BC and that it was started at the two ends and somehow managed to meet in the middle way before technology was invented that would have made this much easier to accomplish.

From there, we raced over to Temple Mount before it closed for prayers. We got a solid 10 minutes there before they asked us to leave.

We had to drag the kids out of there- pretty sure they could have held an all day photoshoot with all of the incredible architecture.

We also stopped at the Western Wall, which never loses its feeling of devotion for so many.

We ate some lunch in the Old City and then finished our day with a walk on the ramparts. This provided gorgeous views, both inside and outside of Jerusalem as well as some slides for the kids ;)

Israel is so green and lush right now and there was this huge empty rolling hills field right in the Old City that was peculiarly abandoned, from the looks of it.

It was a clear day, so you could see all the way to Bethlehem (as well as that crazy wall) from our vantage point. We made it to Bethlehem that night to visit the Church of the Nativity with some sketchy guides that we picked up at the entrance to the city and then they subsequently dropped us on the Palestine side of the border (and charged us almost double what they originally quoted- ugh) where we walked across this infamous crossing where thousands beg for the chance to live with more freedom almost daily. Such a complicated topic.

Brian and I took the Breinholts on our own food tour of Carmel Market, stopping at our favorite places. We had malabi, hummus, Thai and kebab pita. Oh, and we topped it off with some gelato for good measure. I will miss the colors, smells and fresh produce of this place so much.

The last day was spent playing on the beach for hours and then showering off so the Breinholts could catch their flight that night. I’m sure they went home exhausted and ready to get to their new home in Arizona. We were seriously sad to see them go and our fun week come to an end. More than that though, we were so grateful that they came to see us and what great friends and examples they are to our family.

Mount of Beatitudes

We had a handful of lessons from the new “Come Follow Me” manual that we taught and talked about here in this absolutely stunning area by the Sea of Galilee. Springtime anywhere is always glorious, but I don’t think we were prepared for how amazing this place would be when it turned completely green and sprouted flowers of every color of the rainbow. Which obviously added to the majesty of learning about the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes. It didn’t take much for this to become one of our favorite places to go by the Sea of Galilee. This exact spot is just above Eromos Grotto, where many believe the Sermon actually took place (versus way up the hill near the Beatitude Monastery). Its location right off of the sea makes more sense, but as with most sights in the Holy Land, there is really no way of knowing exactly.

After soaking in the incredible 360 degree views, taking all the pictures and picking small bouquets of wildflowers (that the girls later pressed and are hoping to keep), we sat down and talked about the importance of things like laying up treasures in heaven instead of earthly ones. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. And the equally important lessons of not judging others and relying on the perfect aid and love of Heavenly Father to receive true joy in this life as well as the next.

There are a couple of simple monuments in the spot, marking where the sermon might have taken place. Its simple and gorgeous and peaceful.

These girls have learned and grown a lot in this place and I hope what we’ve taught them (and what they’ve taught us), the way they’ve felt and the important place they got to learn about these lessons sinks deep.

And then we watched the sunset. Cannot recommend this spot highly enough.

There is a little trail that leads from the grotto to the top of the hill and its bathed in wildflowers.

Later during the week, Brian, myself, Tessa and Lauren wanted to go for another longer hike. We started out toward Qmran, near the Dead Sea. But, Brian realized that he didn’t have the time, with work commitments later in the day, to make it back. So, we opted for a quick hike through the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem instead. We’ve always been intrigued with this valley that separates Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives so hiking it seemed like a great idea. Except there are no trails and parts of it are not exactly in the best areas of town. We had to turn around a couple of times when we encountered impassible sidewalks filled with trash and other debris. But, parts of it were really pretty! And, it’s always nice to get out and see a different part of Jerusalem.

Tessa has proclaimed that hiking is her favorite thing in the world…she says “you may not want to do it at first, but its always worth it at the end”. True statement.

We hiked to the top of Bible Hill for this new view as well . I had no idea how hilly this area would be and it gives you so many different views of the city from so many different angles (and lots of traffic as most routes are very circuitous).

See what I mean about it being so hilly?? Love this place.

We don’t have much time left in Israel, so we are trying our best to take advantage of every free second (and every sunny day as spring showers are a real thing here!). So glad we got to get out on this day.