Cassino revisited.

Went back to the Cassino area today, only brought the small camera this time. The weather alternated between extremely wet and really freakin' cold, and occasional sunny spots and really freakin' cold. It wasn't quite Eiffel Tower-hot-wine-and-cocoa-rum-extravaganza cold, but it was was no Mediterranean paradise, I tell ya what!

Here are some relevant links for today's outing:

The abbey.
Battle of Monte Cassino
WWII Italy Campaign -- Allied advance to Rome
Official looking website.
Another official looking site, this time with music!

Dario came with me and passed the time while waiting for his train to Rome. He drove for part of the time, too, and was very gracious about my sudden outbursts of, "OH MY GOD THAT'S GORGEOUS STOP THE CAR!" He happily stopped in the middle of traffic and set the hazard lights on so that I could get shots of the abbey through the trees on several occasions. (Yay for Naples driving!) My theory is that he doesn't mind because he is an artist himself. He understands these things, much like Gustl and Valerie do, 'cept they collect art and support artists.

Finally got a couple of nice shots of Italian hot chocolate. You get it at bars, because "bar" in Italy usually means "coffee bar" more than "place where frat boys hang out, get smashed, and hope to encounter stars of Girls Gone Wild videos," like it does in the U.S. Anyway, it's also referred to simply as "chocolate" (or cioccolato, if you insist!) and it's so thick it's more like hot pudding. Omg, so good, woo! I am not a cioccolato connoisseur, so I can't tell regular from awesome yet, but as Dario is a big fan of the stuff, I expect I will learn.

Dario snoozed in the car while I visited the Polish war memorial near the abbey (I have pictures through the car window, but I will be kind and not post here :P ). The memorial is also a graveyard. It was very still and very sad. Many young Polish men died during the push to break through German lines. A rough translation of some of the words at the memorial:

We Polish soldiers
For our freedom and yours
Have given our souls to God
Our bodies to the soil of Italy
And our hearts to Poland.

I don't know what to say other than thank you and blessed be.

After that, we went to the Monte Cassino Abbey. I was hoping to go into the museum I'd missed the first time, but it was closed for the winter. I will have to come back in March.