Urbino

The Strada Panoramica (City View) has a panorama of Urbino even Kodak had trouble reproducing. As we walked down Via Raffaello (an extremely steep street) we remembered that we must walk up later, just as far as we walk down now. To coin a phrase, our eyes were almost bigger than our feet. We stopped to visit Casa natale di Raffaello, the birthplace of Raffaello Sanzi, Italian painter and architect. A portion of the Vatican Museum is called Stanze di Raffaello (The Raphael Rooms), and in 1514 Raphael became chief architect of Saint Peter's Basilica.

The Ducal Palace with twin round towers, houses the National Art Gallery. Next door is the Metroplitana Basilica. As a wedding party left the church, a crowd of teen-agers were cheering and throwing rice at the (at least 60 years of age) bride and groom. We think they were more than family. We got the impression they were cheering their favorite school teachers, or some other well-liked public figures.

A lady from Urbino told this story. “In WW II my father had been fighting with the Italian army for 4 years and no one knew if he was alive or not. At last the war was over, my father returned home, I was born, and my birth was of Grace by the Holy Mother, Maria. My name is — Maria Grazia.”

One year we found ourselves driving up a steeply angled street. Using hand gestures and a word or two of English, we asked a man if we could continue, or did the sign say, “No.” As best we could understand, with his word or two of English he said, “Yes the sign says no, but this is Italy, so go right ahead.”