Jill Biden arrives in Naples to tour an American military school

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First Lady Jill Biden arrived in Naples, Italy Monday afternoon to tour a DOD-funded school, splitting off from husband, President Joe Biden, who traveled to Scotland to participate in the COP26 climate summit. 

Biden arrived at the military airport, Mario De Bernardi, outside of Rome, wearing a white dress and dark pink blazer. She paired her outfit with a matching pink face mask, a blue scarf and taupe boots. 

She spent several minutes on the breezy tarmac greeting military personnel and hugging staff who accompanied her on the G20 trip to Rome, before taking off for Naples. 

After touching down and greeting staff she headed for the American-run Naples Middle School where she watched students in a robotics class and tried her hand at making ravioli during a culinary lesson.  

For her last night in Rome, Biden made a surprise trip to the Borghese Gallery in Rome Sunday, after spending a final lunch with the G20 spouses. 

FLOTUS, dressed casually in an olive jacket over a cream top, leather pants and black over-the-knee boots, paired with a blue scarf and a black face mask, roamed through the grand galleries looking at classic sculptures and paintings and modern pieces by British artist Damien Hirst.     

‘It took your breath away, didn’t it?’ she said after the tour. 

Museum director Francesca Cappelletti played tour guide, as tourists who recognized her were heard excitedly saying, ‘first lady!’ 

‘Is that all from one piece of marble?’ FLOTUS asked about a grand female nude sculpture, Antonio Canova’s Portrait of Paolina Borghese Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, which dates back to 1805-1808.

She marveled at some busts that dated back to the 18th century that were a unique brown color and spent several minutes admiring a large sculpture of two humans and a three-headed dog. 

Biden was able to see several of the museums prized Berninis, and admired hieroglyphics in a room that included a modern interpretation of King Tut’s mask by Hirst. 

In the next room she said ‘it’s bright, right?’ when looking at the painting, ‘boy with a basket of fruit’ by Caravaggio. 

As she exited she gave an ‘of course’ when asked if she had fun with the other G20 spouses, who she lunched with earlier Sunday at the Capitoline Museums.

There she greeted Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s wife Maria Cappello, the host of partner events, at the top of the stairs on the Piazza del Capidigolio. 

For the fancier affair, she wore her black boots with a green floral dress.  

She was captured holding court with Spain‘s Begona Sanchez and Joachim Sauer, the husband of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

On Monday, she’ll split off from President Joe Biden – who’s headed to Glasgow, Scotland for the COP26 climate summit – and head south to Naples instead, where she’ll visit a DOD-funded high school.  

At the G20, Biden spent time with both French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, as the U.S. tried to repair relations with its oldest ally after the submarine row.    

 She stunned in a sparkly lilac fitted dress by Ralph Lauren at Saturday night’s G20 dinner, which took place at the 16th century Quirinale Palace in Rome. 

The leaders and spouses were split up at the dinner, which was hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. 

So Dr. Biden sat next to the French president, while President Joe Biden was seated next to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.  

Dr. Biden and President Macron previously bonded when they represented their respective countries at the opening ceremony at the Tokyo Olympics in July. 

The first lady and the French president watched several sporting events together after the ceremony.    

At dinner Saturday, the G20 leaders and their spouses were served a menu of marinated salmon, risotto with pumpkin and white truffle, roasted artichoke, seabass and vegetables. 

Earlier Saturday, Jill Biden joined the other G20 spouses Saturday for a private lunch at Villa Doria Pamphilj, looking friendly with U.K. Prime Minister’s Boris Johnson‘s wife Carrie as they walked through the grounds.  

Biden and Johnson, who bonded at the G7 in Cornwall, England in June, walked side-by-side, Biden in a brown blazer and camel dress, Johnson in a bright red Zara blazer and floral dress, as they concluded taking a group picture, according to the first lady’s spokesman.  

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez‘s wife Begona walked nearby. 

A number of the spouses were seen touring Rome’s Colosseum on Saturday, however the American first lady didn’t attend.   

On Friday, Biden spent time sipping Chardonnay at a restaurant in downtown Rome with French First Lady Brigitte Macron.  

The two first ladies were practically twinning, as the petite blondes both wore navy suits paired with navy heels.   

Both petite blondes wore navy suits paired with navy heels. 

They got together at a restaurant called Il Marchese, ahead of their husbands’ first meeting since France was blindsided by Australia pulling out of a submarine deal to join a security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom.

Afterward, Biden, 70, standing alongside Macron, 68, said the time spent together was ‘wonderful.’ 

‘It’s nice, two friends together, just like sisters,’ she cooed. 

The two women sipped Chardonnay and ate small bites. 

When asked about what they ate and drank, Biden played coy.

‘Well,’ she said, pausing. ‘Practically nothing.’  

Biden, whose family is from Italy, spoke glowingly about this year’s G20’s host country. 

‘We’ve come here so many times. I love Italy, Brigitte loves Italy. Who would not love Italy? There’s nothing that we couldn’t love about it right?’ she said. 

The Bidens, after the death of son Beau in 2015, even spent Thanksgiving in Rome, staying at the U.S. ambassador’s residence, CNN reported Friday.  

As she arrived at the restaurant, located on a narrow street near the Tiber river, Biden was asked about her earlier meeting with Pope Francis she attended alongside President Joe Biden. 

‘It was wonderful, he was wonderful,’ she told the reporters staged outside the restaurant’s door. 

Macron, who arrived second, nodded in affirmation when asked if she was excited to meet with Dr. Biden.  

She and Macron had spent time together at a spouses event at the G7 in Cornwall in June, which marked the Bidens’ first overseas trip since the president was sworn-in in January.   

Earlier Friday, Biden had tea with Cappello at the Chigi Palace, while President Biden met with the Italian prime minister. 

After a weekend of private spouse events, the first lady will do a solo trip to Naval Support Activity Naples on Monday, where about 8,500 U.S. troops work.  

There, the first lady will visit Naples Middle High School, which is a school operated through the Department of Defense, meeting with high school students and teachers and then delivering a speech. 

The event will marry Biden’s ‘Joining Forces’ initiative, which she started with former First Lady Michelle Obama in 2011 and restarted earlier this year, and her career as an English teacher. 

Joining Forces provides support to military members, veterans and their families.      

Biden continues to teach community college classes – making her the first, first lady to ever hold an outside job. 

Biden had a similarly busy schedule on her first solo trip abroad – representing the United States at the opening of the Tokyo summer Olympics. 

There, the first lady held court with then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his wife Mariko, watched the Olympics with French President Emmanuel Macron, attended an event with heads of delegations at Tokyo’s Imperial Palace and hosted an Olympics watch party for American diplomats at the ambassador’s residence in Tokyo. 

She stopped in Alaska and Hawaii to do COVID-19 vaccine advocacy.

In Honolulu, FLOTUS also attended a barbecue for military members and their families as part of Joining Forces.