The point is, we went to see Cinecitta (pronounced Chin-ay-chee-ta) last Saturday. Never heard of it? Well, it's only the movie studio where Ben Hur and Cleopatra and where one of my all time favourites, Gladiator, was filmed. And we had so much fun! We went with the Sears, another senior couple serving here. Cinecitta does two English tours a day (hourly in Italian) and so we took one of them.
Our favourite set was Ancient Rome, which was the set for the HBO series called Rome. I wouldn't recommend the series - I tried it once and had to turn off because it was too risqué - but I would recommend seeing the set. It's made largely of fibreglass but it looks so real!
And for some reason, my iPhone switched into black and white mode for this picture but in the end, I kind of like it that way:
Another backlot she took us to was their Jerusalem set which we couldn't take pictures of because of copyright rules. They had just finished a film there about Jesus Christ as a youth and the film hasn't been released yet. Then we went to the Middle Ages / Renaissance set.
This church facade here had the top that looks like the cathedral in Assisi, and the bottom looks like the one in Florence so depending on the camera angle, they can use it for either.
I'm so in awe of the artistry it took to build those sets.
As you can imagine, Cinecitta was the home of famous Italian directors like Frederico Fellini. He is known as one of the great filmmakers of all time and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1993. He was quoted as saying he never felt so at home as when he was at Cinecitta. We got to see the outside of his favourite soundstage, but we couldn't go in because of some big thing they were doing in there.
Sophia Loren also started her film career at Cinecitta. Cinecitta was originally started in 1937 by Mussolini as a propaganda tool, but in post war years, it became and remains the biggest movie studio in Europe.
After our backlot tour, we went through the museums there. The Fellini tribute room had these beautiful outfits. I would so wear that red outfit if I could!
There was also the submarine set that is now in the museum.
And you can stop in several rooms and watch clips from Italian movies.
This cauldron that we're standing in front of was in the movie, Gladiator:
This weird statue was from the Fellini version of Casanova. You can find the clip on You Tube where the statue is pulled out of the Lagoon in Venice and the eyes appear and then sinks. It's kind of a weird scene.
And then there are the fake Rome statues. Hermes is leaning against the one for the Roman god Mercury, known to the Greeks as Hermes - ha ha!
Actually the Greeks had him first and the Romans took him over and called him Mercury. So if you're ever on Jeopardy and get asked what the other name for Mercury is, now you know. You're welcome.
So yes, we had a fun day. I don't think Cinecitta is all that well known among English speaking tourists (there's no end of other things to see in Rome) but I think it's worth a stop if you have extra time in Rome.
Well, back to talking about my real purpose for being here which is not being a tourist all the time. Our office work is busy and sometimes challenging. We are seeing off a group of missionaries this coming week, but unfortunately the new group doesn't come until a week later because their visas were arranged for later than we expected them. Long story but I have felt sorry for our mission president who has to arrange things for this week and arrange again when the new ones arrive.
A new senior couple arrived this past week who will take over from the office elders. Elder Calvagna is one of the ones going home this coming week. What a sweet boy he is; I will miss him. The Guercios seem like they're fitting right in, however, and I can tell we will all get along just fine.
Now just to add an addendum to my last blog post, I was starting my usual morning walk to the office this past week, when I stumbled a bit over an uneven sidewalk, so I said a little prayer to "help me not fall on my way to work." And right away I got the impression: "Well, pick up your feet then!" And I'm like going, "Oh. Okay," realizing that I do have a tendency to drag my feet when I walk. It all reminded me of the talk heard at the last church general conference which was given by Elder Larry R. Lawrence called "What Lack I Yet?" This talk references the story in the Bible in Mathew 19 where the rich young man approaches the Savior and asks what he needs to do to obtain eternal life. At first he Savior goes through the Ten Commandments and the young man responds that he has kept all the commandments since his youth but then asks "What Lack I Yet?" And the Saviour told him that he would need to make the major sacrifice by selling all his belongings, giving away all his wealth and to be come His disciple. And the story goes the young man went away sorrowing. Now, obviously my answer to "pick up my feet" is not even comparable to being told to give away all your wealth but I think sometimes we are told to do big things in answer to the question "what lack I yet" or in present day words, "what do I need to do to improve" and sometimes we're told we need to do little things. I need to pick up my feet when I walk so I'm working on that. It's not as difficult as giving away all my wealth and it might just keep me from permanent damage. I like answers to prayers like that!
So I'm now going to finish this blog post just like they do in the movies.
THE END
I love that B&W picture of you two! It's so cute!!
ReplyDeleteI like your prayer story! Clear, direct answers are great! In moments like that, I think Heavenly Father has a good sense of humor! 😁