Sunday, July 29, 2012

Art History 101

We are standing by the river Arno in Florence

   We only had a day and a half in Florence, but with all the walking we did, we managed to see most of the sights.  This trip has been wonderful so far, but not necessarily relaxing.  As a matter of fact, I'd call this a two week educational field trip!  Florence was so full of history that I couldn't begin to fit it all into this short blog, but I'll try to give you the highlights.
     First, I didn't know that Italy has only been a country for 150 years.  Before then, each city operated as a state, with its own government, military, and state council.  Towns tried to conquer each other to obtain a larger territorial rule.  That's why each town built walls around itself.  Florence had a very powerful ruling family named Medici (Meh dee chee).  In general, the Medici family started out as bankers, made a tremendous amount of money, and because of this wealth gained enough political power to make Florence one of the richest and most influential city-states in Europe. Also, Cosimo Medici was one of the first bankers to extend credit to merchants. You see and hear the Medici name everywhere in Tuscany.  This family was so powerful they conquered and ruled many localities for centuries.  To this day, Florentines view themselves as superior to other Italians.  They are not well liked and we found this to be true.  When we were in both Rome and Siena, the people we talked to had nothing nice to say about the people of Florence.  Even our Florentine guide acknowledged that Florentines were snobbish. :)
     We hiked to the top of a small mountain to a piazza (pee o tsa) dedicated to Michelangelo. A piazza is just a plaza or concrete park and you find them everywhere in Italian cities.  Its where people go to hang out.  The view there was breathtaking.  Here are some pictures.  Note that the duomo (town church) dominates the skyline.  The dome on this church is the 2nd biggest one in Italy.  It is magnificent!
The dome of the church is the biggest thing in the city.  Isn't it beautiful?
      The dome was built by a very famous 14th century architect, Filippo Brunelleschi (Broon eh les kee), who built it without any wooden supports, something that had never been done before.  Because he wanted to keep his methods secret, he destroyed his designs when the dome was finished.  Even though there is much speculation, no one is exactly sure how he did it. Michelangelo, who was quite famous when the dome was finished, was unimpressed and called it "a cricket cage".
      The inside of the duomo was very plain, but my favorite piece was the clock.  It was hard to get a good picture, but back in the 14th century, clocks showed all 24 hours.  The day did not end at mid-night, but at sunset, when the light was gone. :) I'm not sure when we began using the modern day analog clock.  "Time" for more research!
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Italians still tell time in 24 hours. 15.30 in Italy is 3:30 pm in the US.  I have had to do a lot of time conversions so we didn't miss our trains.  See, we DO need math!

     We also visited the bridge over the Arno River called the Ponte Vecchio (Pon teh  Vek ee oh).  This was the only original bridge left in Florence.  If you look at the bottom level, you can see the backs of the old original shops along the bridge.  These were full of butchers, tanners, meat and cheese markets.   Across the top of the bridge you can see a more modern looking covered structure.  This was a passage built by the Medici family in the 15th century from their palace to the government offices, so they wouldn't have to walk amongst the common folk. Evidently, the meat and fish markets caused such a horrible stench, that Duke Ferdinand I (one of the Medici family) ruled that only goldsmiths and jewelers could set up shop there and that's what you'll find to this day. People of royalty don't like to walk where it smells bad! The jewelry in the shops was exquisite, but way out of my price range!  I am not a Medici!
Can you see the old buildings on the bottom section?
     One of my favorite sights was the bronze doors on the Baptistery next to the duomo. Unfortunately we were all so in awe that we forgot to take pictures of the entire doors! The Baptistery is a working church where people go to be baptized.  It is dedicated to John the Baptist and was built before the duomo.  In 1403 a contest was held to design new doors for the church.  7 artists entered the contest including Brunelleschi.  However, an artist by the name of Lorenzo Ghilberti won the contest and began work.  It took him 20 years to create his first set of doors.  Here is a picture:

    He then took another 27 years to create a 2nd set of doors which are even more beautiful than the first.  Back then, artists were just learning about perspective and you can see the difference in the two sets.  The first doors have 28 panels and have flat backgrounds.  The second set has only 10 bronze panels which are very much 3D.  Ghilberti signed his doors by making a bronze portrait of himself to hang next to the doorknob.  Here he is:



This is a close up of one of the bronze panels.  It was truly outstanding!

Ghilberti, the artist, is the bald guy on the left.
     Michelangelo said about these doors, "They are worthy of the gates of Paradise" meaning they looked like the gates to heaven.

     No trip to Florence would be complete with out mentioning Michelangelo's most famous statue, David. Have you ever wondered what makes this statue so famous and why Michelangelo made his hands so big?  Well, first Michelangelo was only 26 when he created this work.  It took him 30 months and propelled him to fame.  He carved the statue out of a single piece of very low quality marble, one that was actually thrown away by other artists. No one had created a statue of that size out of a single block since ancient times.  The work is from the biblical story "David and Goliath", and shows David as he prepares for battle against the giant.  He has the sling in his hand and seems to be sizing up his opponent.  Before the 15th century Renaissance, artists did not show much emotion in their work. However, the face of David is contemplative. Michelangelo sculpted the chest, arms, and muscles of the human body perfectly, including the veins, creating the illusion of life.  No one had done that before either. Also, back then, artists strived for perfect proportion when sculpting.  Michelangelo's genius was that he understood proportion according to where the piece was to be viewed.  The statue was supposed to be mounted on top of the duomo.  He sculpted the head, chest, and hands slightly bigger so that they would appear correctly proportioned when viewed from down below.  When the masterpiece was finished, it was so well acclaimed that it was given a place of honor on ground level in the Piazza del Signoria.  I end this blog with a picture of Michelangelo himself.  This is what genius looks like. :)
The statue of David.  

Michelangelo as an older man.  He lived to be 89.
We've been excellent students and learned so much that our brains are tired!  It's time for recess so we're off to the beach and the Amalfi coast!  Ciao!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Scuola di Italia: What I Found Out About Schools In Italy

We've been in Italy for 7 days and are still loving every minute!  We spent our last two days in Siena  traveling the Tuscan countryside and exploring the local flavor of this small mountain town.
The brown color of the rolling hills is from the expansive wheat fields.
Some of the fields had already been harvested. It's hard to see, but there are vineyards on the hillside.
One of the highlights of the trip so far has been our tour into the country.  Tuscany is the west central part of Italy and is known for its delicious olive oil, its flavorful steak, and its wine which is produced from the many, many vineyards in the region.  I had always imagined this part of Italy to be lush and green because of those vineyards, but this is not the case. While we did see vineyards, the most prominent color was light brown due to the expansive fields of wheat. I was surprised, but of course, this makes sense - pasta is made from wheat, and Italians eat A LOT of pasta. Our guide, Levennia, told us the other two colors of the Tuscan landscape come from the grey rocks and soil, and the bright yellow sunflower fields intermingled with all that wheat. We passed quite a few of these sunflower fields, and I wondered why Tuscany had so many.  Levennia told us that these are grown as feed for the farm animals in the region, as well as for oil.  I wanted to take a picture of those lovely fields for you, but as we drove the clouds moved in. Unfortunately, if you've ever grown sunflowers in your garden, you know that on cloudy days the flowers bow their heads and close up their petals so you can't see the bright yellow of their faces. There's nothing sadder than a whole field of sunflowers on a rainy day. :(  I also noticed the many olive orchards as we drove.  Here in Italy, olive trees are as abundant as apple trees in the US.  I had never seen an olive tree before and was fascinated.  Here they are just beginning to produce fruit.

This is an olive grove.  The trees have gnarly bark and a pale green sheen.
We stopped to explore the beautiful historic mountain town of Montalcino (Mont-e-chino). I had to practice pronouncing the name, but I learned that  monte is the Italian word for mountain, and the single c is pronounced as a ch. That helped!   Did you know that Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello is taken from the Italian language and means "little mountain"?  Even though the single c is supposed to be pronounced with the ch sound, Jefferson didn't pronounce it that way.  He called his home "montisello" even though he knew how to speak Italian.  No one really knows why.
The narrow streets of Montelcino.  In Tuscany, everywhere you want to go is uphill!  
At the end of our day, my family and I realized that from a distance, except for the brown wheat fields, the Tuscan mountains look very much like the blue ridge of our home in Virginia.  Lois Armstrong was right - It IS a wonderful world!
This is the view from the top of the church's bell tower.  Doesn't the ridge in the background look beautiful and blue just like in Virginia?
On our last day in Siena, I wanted to experience some local life so we walked outside the city walls where the town was a bit more modern! I have to keep in mind that modern here means architecture built in the 1700's. :) We found a small local bakery which served excellent paninis, very cheap. By the way, panini means "sandwich" in Italian. We also found the local elementary school housed in a 17th century renovated building.  Check out those front doors!  After talking with a local resident, I found out the school system here is not very different from ours.  Children begin "elementare" at 6 years old and continue for five years.  Classes range in size from 15 to 25 with several sections of each grade just like in the US.  From there students transfer to "scuola media" or middle school, until they are 13 or 14.  Students then must take and pass an exam before attending high school, or "scuola secondaria" where they attend for 5 more years.  Most children finish their schooling by 18 or 19 years of age and a school year runs from September to June just like in the US.  Interestingly, English is taught every year beginning in elementary school.  This must be why most Italians can speak at least a few English phrases. Since we've been here, all four of us have realized how helpful it would be to know a second language. We're each picking up a few Italian words here and there, but we're lucky so many of the local residents can speak rudimentary English.  Even many of the tourists we've met from other countries can speak to us, albeit not very well. Thank goodness! The most difficult part of traveling internationally is not being able to communicate! I also found out, according to the residents I spoke with, sports are played through community league teams and not sponsored by the schools. I have not researched this outside of the few places I've been, so I hesitate to say if this is true for all of Italy.
I could barely reach the doorknobs on the front doors of the elementary school.  There wasn't a second set at a lower point either!
This was the playground.  It had a slide,  2 swings, and lots of space for pick up soccer games!

Speaking of sports, we did run across this GREAT human foosball game at a festival in Siena!  Doesn't this look like fun?  I wonder if we have something like this in the states?  Time for more research!

Next stop, Florence!  Ciao!


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Soups, Spaghetti, Meats, and Sweets: Molto Buono!

                  
Today is our 3rd day in Siena.  We spent our last day in Rome visiting Ostia Antica, a quiet little town about 30 miles outside of the city.  Within its borders lies an entire town of ancient ruins open for the public to climb through, touch, and explore.  We spent the better part of our day there, walking around and imagining what life must have been like in the 4th century BC.

The next day, our challenge was figuring out how to take the train to Siena.  Tourists beware in airports and train stations!  We had several people approach us in an attempt to forcefully help, then demand payment in Euros.  They wouldn't take no for an answer.  When this happened the final time, we caused a scene on the train, and the man was escorted from the station by the polizia (police).

Sienna is a beautiful town straight out of medieval Italy. We are staying at the Hotel Duomo at the top of the mountain. (A duomo is a church). All medieval towns were situated at the top of a hill or small mountain so that the people could defend themselves against invading armies.  Walls were built around the buildings and the gates were closed and guarded. Should their town be attacked, the elevation gave the people an advantage against the enemy.  It's difficult to fight uphill. :)  The sights of the city are breathtaking.  Here are some pictures to show you what we are seeing.
The town of Siena from the surrounding wall.



We are standing in the piazza in the town center.

I'm standing on Via Stalloreggi (via means street)
Last night we took our cooking class and it gave us a new appreciation for the amount of time it takes to prepare Italian cuisine.  We were taught by Lella, a fantastic chef who spoke no English and looked like the quintessial Italian mama.  In Italy, people take food seriously.  Meals are to be savoured and it is a time for relaxation and conversation.  Breakfast is usually light, or not at all, and true Italians do not drink milk in their coffee after 11:00 am.  By the way, the coffee here is delicious.  It is heavy and thick, but smooth with no bitterness at all.  Dinner usually consists of at least 2 courses, but a full traditional meal includes 4.  First is the antipasti. Antipasti means appetizer and is most often some sort of cold cuts/cheese combination or vegetables like tomato slices. This is followed by the primo, or first course. The first course is either soup or pasta. Then the main dish, or secondo, is served.  This is your meat like steak, pork, or seafood. The meal is finished with a light dolce (dol sheh), or dessert, with espresso. Of course, we prefer gelato, italian ice cream, and have eaten our way through many flavors! My favorite so far was cream, but I haven't tried pistachio yet.  The gelato back home isn't quite as creamy as it is here, but it's comparable. Enjoy! It is ice cream after all, and ice cream is always good!

Italians drink wine or water with every meal - never milk. It seems like A LOT of food, but the one thing I've noticed is that all the food we've eaten has been fresh. As Lella and her interpreter, Francesca explained, the people eat very few packaged foods, and Italians cook with olive oil, not butter. Each region has its own specialties, just like in the US, but the food is prepared fresh and is very healthy.   We've tried wild boar, deer sausage, sheep cheese, spicy mussels, and the calamari, or baby squid. Also, from what I've observed, fast food means pizza. We've only noticed a couple McDonald's and one Burger King, but we've seen lots of pizzerias!
Spicy steamed mussels as an antipasti

wild boar and deer sausage as an antipasti
In our cooking class, we learned to make several dishes.  First was the Pappa col Pomodoro, a soup made from tomatoes (pomodoro) and stale Tuscan bread. It is a traditional dish and, honestly, tasted like heaven in a bowl! Next we began the dessert. We made cantuccini (can tu cheeni), small almond cookies that look and taste like biscotti.  However, Italians do not eat biscotti with coffee in the morning like Americans do.  They are for after dinner with espresso or sweet wine and lots of conversation. :)  Our primo, or first course, was homemade pici, a very thick spaghetti.  Lella taught us the secret to making good pasta.  The added water should always be 60% of the amount of flour and never add oil to your cooking water - only generous amounts of salt and stir often!  She made the process of preparing the dough look very easy, but making pasta by hand takes a lot of effort! I did get a "perfecto" from Lella on my pasta dough, but my handmade spaghetti left a lot to be desired. According to Lella,  I made the noodles too thick and had to redo several.  I guess a B+ in pasta isn't too bad. :) My family and I had a lot of laughs trying to get it right!
The main course was arista di cinta senese in porchetta con patinie arrosto (I can't pronounce it either), but it is roasted pork loin with potatoes on the side.  All and all, I think we did pretty well on the meal, even if we aren't Italian.  Both Lella and Franscesca told us "molto buono" which means "very good" when complimenting food.  Hooray for us!
pappa col pomorodo or tomato soup

Our homemade pici - mine was a little too fat!

the roasted pork, or porchetta

Our cantuccini - yum!
Chelsea is rolling out the cantuccini dough.

Alex and I got stuck with peeling the potatoes!

Chelsea and Eric were concentrating on getting their pici (spaghetti) the right thickness.  Their noodles were far better than mine.  Rats!

Our chef, Lella, on the right and her interpreter, Francesca, on the left.
Afterwards, we rolled back up the mountain, which wasn't easy, and went to sleep, full and happy.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Vatican City

The ceiling in one of the Vatican galleries
Today was our last day in Rome and we spent it in Ostia Antica.  First, however, let me go back to yesterday afternoon and our visit to Vatican City.  Having a private guide like Christiano take us through the Vatican was worth every penny.  Because he has advanced degrees in both history and art history, he was full of information about all the museums and gave deep meaning to what we were seeing.  How fortunate for us that he had actually studied at the Vatican!

Believe it or not, Vatican City holds more art than the Louvre and has 4 miles of galleries.  We saw only a tiny fraction of the treasures housed there.  It's been said that if you stopped to look at each individual piece of art for 30 seconds, it would take 6 years to see everything! Wow!  We saw the Gallery of Sculptures, of Animals, of Tapestry, of Maps, and several others.  Here are some pictures from those galleries. I didn't take too many pictures because we were moving pretty quickly and didn't stop for long at any one piece.



From there we continued to the Sistine Chapel, which is beautiful beyond words and my favorite part of the day (although St. Peter's Basilica was amazing!) We were not allowed to take pictures and it was very crowded with tourists, but worth the visit. It's common knowledge that Michelangelo painted the ceiling either standing or on his back from scaffolding constructed to reach that high,  but I didn't know it was his first painting job! Michelangelo was from Florence and considered himself a sculptor and an architect, not a painter.  He didn't want to paint the Sistine Chapel, saying to Pope Julius II  "You want me to paint the stables?" Can you imagine saying that to the Pope?  Although he was a genius, he was very arrogant! He hired assistants to teach him how to paint frescoes, and once he learned, he fired them and continued the work on his own.  His ceiling tells the story of Genesis and the creation of Adam and Eve.  Christiano pointed out the difference in the size of the people between his first frescoes, when he was just learning, and the later ones when his vision was strong! If you look at a close up of the ceiling, you can see his first attempts on the far left.  See how small the figures are compared to those on the right?  Isn't that interesting? Btw, for those who don't know art (that's me) a fresco is created by painting over a layer of wet plaster.  The paint stains the plaster as it dries, which is why we can sand it many years later and the colors only become brighter. On the back wall of the chapel is Michelangelo's famous fresco "The Last Judgement" which tells the story of man's last day on earth and his rise to the heavens or his fall to purgatory. Christiano explained this painting in great detail, and the Pope's subsequent displeasure with it.  I have so many fascinating stories about Michelangelo, via our terrific guide, but I'll save those for when I come home and if you ask!

Michelangelo's Pieta.  It was his first sculpture and the only piece he signed.


We're inside St. Peter's Basilica.  The altar in the backgound is made completely of bronze taken from the dome of the Pantheon.
 Our last stop was St. Peter's Basilica, the most important cathedral in Christendom because St. Peter was believed to be the first bishop of Rome.  The church was created only in gold and marble, materials  that symbolize eternity.  The altar is made of bronze taken from the dome of the Pantheon.  Additionally, housed behind protective glass is Michelangelo's first sculpture, Pieta, which he created when he was 24 and is the only piece of work that he signed.  It is a statue of the Virgin Mary holding her dying son. As Christiano explained, the mastery is in her hands.  Her left hand is clutching her only son because as his mother, she doesn't want to let him go.  However, the right hand is open and facing up, showing her resignation to the will to God. It is a moving piece, and seeing it was a powerful experience for the four of us.

Italians park wherever they can find space.  The roads are VERY narrow in the city and the traffic patterns looked chaotic! I was so thankful we didn't have to drive! However, the Italian seemed to know what they were doing!
One more interesting bit - in Rome, if your car is short enough, you don't have to parallel park!
I hope I didn't overwhelm you with information. :)
Tomorrow we take the train to Siena!  Ciao!

All roads SHOULD lead to Rome!

Day 2 in Rome was fantastic thanks to our outstanding tour guide Christiano Pelligrini!  Thank you Michelle for recommending him.  He was all you and Kara said he'd be! Not only was he incredibly knowledgeable about the history of Rome, the history of art, Italian politics, World War II, but he also spoke 4 languages! He inspired all four of us! Grazie, Christiano!

We started our day at the impressive Roman Colosseum, the ancient arena which paved the way for how we watch sports to this day. It was begun in 72 A.D. by the Emporer Vespasian and could hold 50 thousand spectators in its 4 levels. The imperial court and high officials were seated at the lowest level.  Families who contributed to the city of Rome were seated on the second level, then common folk and women (with the exception of concubines) were seated at the very top.  Entrance to the games were free, but even back then people had assigned seating.  Family names and seat numbers were inscribed by the door.  Isn't it amazing how things haven't changed all that much?  Here's one more interesting tidbit offered by Christiano - Vespasian also invented the men's urinal and to this day Italians refer to the male bathroom as a Vespasian. :) Ancient Romans were smart!

Christiano escorted us to several other sites in Rome including the Pantheon- an incredible church built to worship the planetary gods (Pantheon is Greek for "most holy").  It was first built in 27 BC and is almost completely intact.  The interior is breathtaking and the design of the church especially deliberate.  The height and diameter of the dome are equal which represents the spherical shape of the sun.  The interior includes 7 alcoves representing the seven known planets and the floor is slightly sloped representing the 8th planet - Earth.  We thought ancient Romans believed the Earth was flat - wrong!  They knew the Earth was round, however,  according to our historian Christiano, during the Dark Ages people rejected the ideas and knowledge of the ancients.  I wish you all could have been with us to see this unbelievable church!

Alex is working up the courage to eat that baby squid.  He had at least 15 of those in his pasta.  Just eat it Alex!
We stopped for a delicious lunch in which Christiano ordered a Roman appetizer - zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and anchovies. They were delicious! Our waiter suggested a specialty seafood dish for Eric and Alex, but because he spoke Italian, Eric and Alex weren't exactly sure what he was saying.  You should have seen their faces when the waiter set a plate of pasta covered in baby squid and mussels in front them!  However, they really liked it! Well, Eric did anyway.  I tried a baby squid just out of curiosity but probably won't order them again. :)

After lunch we were off to the Vatican, which of course includes the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The afternoon requires an new blog entirely because OH MY GOSH!!  It is a MUST see for anyone who loves history and art.  Rome really is incredible!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

When in Rome...

Wow!  What a fantastic first day in Rome!  This is an amazing place - there is ancient history everywhere but it's mixed in with the bustling life of a big city.  We're staying in what's called the City Center and most of the interesting ancient sites are within walking distance.  We spent yesterday visiting several of these sites, but also soaking in the culture.  Here we are at Trevi Fountain, Rome's most famous fountain.  Legend says that if you turn your back and toss in a coin, your return to the eternal city will be guaranteed.  Unfortunately, we didn't have any small coins. Rats!

The highlight of the day was visiting Castel St. Angelo (Castle of St. Angelo).  It was built in 193 AD and was supposed to be a mausoleum, or a burial monument, for the Roman Emporer Hadrian and his successors.  However, in later years it served as a fort, and then most interestingly, housing for the Pope before Vatican City.  It was everything you'd want a castle to be - secret passages, an old moat, a draw bridge, stone canon balls, a torture room, and a dungeon!  My favorite part was walking the secret passage from Vatican City to the castle.  This was used by several Popes to escape danger and to keep them from walking on the streets with the masses.  They even had their own elevator in the castle because the Pope doesn't do stairs!

I could talk on and on about the castle, but we're off to Vatican City and the Roman Coleseum today.  More later!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Arrivederci!

     My family is ready to begin our adventure!  We'll leave tomorrow at 2:30pm from Roanoke, then fly to Charlotte, North Carolina. We'll arrive in Rome on Thursday, July 19th at 9:30 am.  Rome is 6 hours ahead of  Eastern Standard time, so for those of you in Virgina, it'll be 3:30 in the morning when we head to our hotel. 
     We'd like to thank all our friends and family for offering lots of helpful advice in preparation for this trip! We now know these things.  First, Italy uses the Euro instead of dollars and the exchange rate is 1E = $1.3.  That means if my lunch in Italy costs 15 Euro, I'm really spending...hmmm...15E x 1.3 =  $19.50?!!  YIKES! That's good math to know!  Second, apparently it's uncivilized in Italy to drink coffee with cream or milk after 11:00 am.  Cappuccinos are for the morning only. Does this mean our Starbucks is uncivilized? Finally, gelato (italian ice cream) can be found everywhere!  Hooray! If you've never tasted gelato, you can try some at Pino Gelato, next to Annie Moore's on 419.  We've been there 3 times in the last two weeks doing "research"!  If anyone else has any helpful tips or advice PLEASE let us know!
     We've got our suitcases packed and the gel sole inserts in our shoes.  See you over there!  Arrivederci!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Ready! Pronto!

As most of you already know, I was honored last April with the prestigious McGlothlin Award for Teaching Excellence.  Along with the recognition, I was given a check for $25,000 with the stipulation that at least $10,000 be used for international travel. What an incredible gift!  According to the McGlothlin Foundation "The...goal is for the awards to inspire recipients, their students, their peers, and indeed, their entire school." Mr. McGlothlin believes that if he provides teachers with the opportunity to enrich their own lives, they will bring that knowledge back to inspire and enrich the lives of others. :) Knowing this, I chose to go to Italy, a country rich with history, scenery, and culture! Thanks to a wonderful travel agent, my family and I are ready to embark on a custom planned trip of a lifetime. I truly wish I could take all of you so we could explore together! Wouldn't we have fun?! Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, we can do the next best thing!! For those students, parents, colleagues, friends and family who are interested, welcome to my blog "Beyond the Chalkboard". Come spend two weeks in Italy with me!  Follow along on our trip, see the sights, post comments, ask questions, and be sure to tell us about your experiences abroad! We leave on July 18th! Andiamo!