Roma Adventures 2008

Arrivederci :)

2008-05-04T17:32:00.003-04:00

Sooo...

I'm sitting here, back in the Residence, and it's my last night in Rome. I am so happy now, and feeling very blissful- I couldn't feel more any more thankful right now for having had this experience. It was absolutely enriching and life changing. I learned a lot about the world and about myself over the past few months, and feel as though I'm such a better person for it. I did things and went places I never thought I would, and every risk I took only returned reward. And I think I even managed a 4.0 for the semester on top of it all!

The time has come though, and I'm anxious and excited to return home. I miss everyone like crazy, and also a few things which I couldn't get over here in Italy that I'm craving... sushi, Wawa, LOST season 4, and kisses from my dogs to name a few! But for sure there will be a few things missing in my New Jersey life that I loved about Rome: cobblestones, Old Bridge gelato, open-air markets, and the mindset of slowing down and taking in the beauty which surrounds you (I'm not sure that's too easy to find back home!)

For my final day today (which was an absolutely beautiful day, 70 and sunny!), I went to Piazza del Popolo and rented a bike for the day and rode around, taking final glimpses at the famous sites: Via del Corso, the Wedding cake, the Tiber river, Trastevere and Testaccio, Porta Portese flea market, the Cat Sanctuary, the Pantheon, Castelle St. Angelo, and St. Peter's. I stopped and enjoyed my final gelato, too: a cone with coconut, melon & yogurt gelato from Old Bridge, of course. After returning the bike, I took my final metro ride, and got a little sentimental when I heard the metro announcer say "Prossima Fermata, Cipro, uscita lato, destro!" for the last time. I'll miss that guy.

I used my last 5 euro to buy a pizza from the good little restaurant next door to the Residence, with olive, sausage, tomato and mushroom toppings. Then I packed my luggage; 3 big bags all testing the 50lb. weight limit. I heard some fireworks going off outside, and thought they must of course be for my last night in Rome! haha. I enjoyed a bottle of strawberry champagne to make the packing go a bit smoother ;)

I have a full 16-ish hours of travel and airport fun ahead of me tomorrow: I get picked up by a Mercedes at 6:15, leave from Rome at 10:10, arrive in Frankfurt Germany at 12:10, depart for Philly at 1:40, and am scheduled to arrive in Philly around 4:20 if all goes well. No real plans set in stone for the next week or two, so I look forward to seeing everyone in the very near future.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible for me. You know who you are, and I frickin' love you! See you soon back in the one and only Dirty Jerz. I hope you all enjoyed the blog.

Arrivederci, Italia!

Venice

2008-05-02T18:25:00.000-04:00

From April 26-28 I was able to finally visit a city I have always wanted to see: Venice. It was such a mysterious city, full of art and surprises. It's very strange that it even exists, stretching across 117 small islands in the Adriatic Sea- and no cars or mopeds exist in Venice: you travel either by foot or by boat. My favorite part had to be looking in all of the great shops all around the city, which were filled with the famous and beautiful Murano glass and masks for Carnivale.
I had beautiful weather the whole time I was there, and loved every second of exploring the winding, narrow streets and passing over the hundreds of bridges over the green canals. :)

the Rialto Bridge

Carnivale masks

balcony of the hostel

it was a little confusing at times trying to find where you're going...

loved this!

on the water bus

St. Mark's famous pigeons

i found out on the news when I got back to the farm that
feeding the pigeons in the square was banned
right after I left- maybe I should've done it!!!

St. Mark's square

hostel common room, where we had free breakfasts & dinners :)

with some new Canadian friends and the hostel dude!

a delicious lunch before leaving

Arrivederci Venice!

Week Sixteen & Seventeen: On the Farm!

2008-05-02T14:15:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday the 22nd I had an interesting day. I left the apartment I had stayed at four two nights with some friends, and jumped on a train, not knowing what to expect when I turned up in the middle of Tuscany on a farm, when I had no farming experience and barely able to speak Italian. I slept most of the way there, and I had to change onto a local train after a few hours. At one point there was a delay, so I took the opportunity to walk down to the food car and grab some lunch. Well, after I ate, the over-complementing Italian dude who made the coffees wouldn't leave me alone, and he told me (in Italian) he wanted me to go to his house so he could cook pizza and fish or something. Anyway, after shaking him off, I walked back to my car and asked the old dude sitting next to me if the "prossima fermata" was La Spezia, where I was supposed to change trains. To my horror, he told me I'd missed it. Wonderful.

So after avoiding hysterics, calling my farm host, and asking how to correct my mistake, I finally made it to the tiny train station called Aulla Lunigiana where I was greeted by Valeria, who I assumed probably thought I was an idiot.

We had a friendly conversation (in English) in the car ride through the winding roads to the farm, which put my nerves at ease. She told me I was only the second WWOOFer to ever come to the farm, which is run along with a five-room Bed & Breakfast by herself and her mother Viviana. The land was purchased by her grandfather, and used to produce prosciutto, mortadella and mozzarella, and previously had hundreds of workers and thousands of pigs. Now, however, the two women (with the help of soon-to-be regular WWOOFers) take care of the land which has grape vines (red), olive and fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, and animals including 8 donkeys, 2 pigs, 3 geese, a dozen chickens and a duck.

Finally we arrived and I got settled into my comfy little room!

my little apartment (from the door --> right)
separate from the house

view of the fields from my window :)

and the snow-dusted Alps in the distance

entrance, and house on the right

family house (above) and one of the B&B rooms below

barbecue

After settling in and putting on some shoes, I got to meet and help feed the donkeys and other animals, and helped carry two cardboard boxes full of new chickens to be added to the coop. Luckily for me, the weather was beautiful almost the entire time I was on the farm, while the previous two weeks it had been raining- so I christened my Puma's straight off the bat with plenty of wet donkey poo and mud- welcome to the farm!

donkey dinner time

At 8am the next morning I got up and had a little breakfast in my room, and then Valeria fitted me with some rubber boots as to not further sacrifice the Puma's. I went with Valeria into town to do some food shopping in the morning, and then we came back and did the morning ritual of letting the animals out and feeding the pigs. We also fixed some fences that the donkeys had either chewn through or jumped over, and fixed the electric fence around the enclosure for the pigs, and spent the next 45-minutes or so observing the pigs eat everything in their paths including grass, rocks and donkey crap- and making sure the fence worked when they bumped into it and let out a squeal after they felt the zap. I wasn't close enough to tell if the smell of bacon lingered in the air...

I also got to walk a few of the donkeys, although they usually chose to stop every few feet to eat grass, so it was sometimes a bit of a challenge to keep them moving!

Day two: roped off a new enclosure for the donkeys to graze, replanted zucchini plants into the vegetable garden, fixed weedwhackers and then raked weedwhacker clippings for hours, hid from a 10-minute rainshower under a tree with Valeria, raked more weedwhacker clippings....

there is one chicken which refuses to go in the coop with the others,
and instead likes to wander freely and lay its eggs in obscure places

Viviana cutting a fresh salad

Day three: April 25th is Italy's "Liberation Day," so we just worked until lunch time. I let the geese out and got the goose egg from the cage and let the donkeys out. Then we cleaned up around the entrance area, since there were guests arriving for the B&B during the weekend. We took the tractor into the part of the farm where they used to keep the thousands of pigs, now abandoned buildings- we collected wood and brought it back for the fireplaces, and I got a bit skeeved out for a moment sitting in the tractor bed with all of it, I started to notice ants, beetles and spiders on the wood and then- AH!- a scorpion crawling towards me?!? It was a small black one, and surprised me a bit because I've never seen one in the wild, and didn't expect to see one in Italy. Valeria thought it was funny, and made fun of me a little after that!

After lunch, I took my first "motorino" ride with Valeria and Vevi to the local Liberation Day fair- they had vendors, good fair snacks, animals, and a few rides.

taking pictures of the three of us on the moving scooter!

the thing all of the kids (and older kids) like to play at the fair is "kick in the ass,"
an amped-up chair swing ride turned into a game where a cloth is hoisted into the air
that you must be the first to grab, best to work as a team with the person in front of or
behind you, so they can grab ahold of the chair and kick it as high as they can towards the
cloth! chairs are flying everywhere, people backwards and hanging out of the chairs while the ride
revolves- i don't think it'd ever fly in America!

Vevi on the mini version of the ride!

she almost got it!

During the weekend I took a little side-trip... (see post to come)...

Day Four: I arrived back at the farm on Tuesday the 29th, the only day which it rained for about half of the day. In the morning I went with Valeria to Fivizzano, a main community about 20 minutes away, where we got fruits and vegetables from the market, and other groceries. When we arrived back at the farm, after taking care of the animals we vacuumed and cleaned the apartments where the guests had stayed.

Day Five: Finished preparing the B&B rooms for the new guests (made beds, clean towels)... got distracted for a little while by some escaped donkeys... and in the afternoon I took care of the animals by myself: fed and put the donkeys back in their enclosure, caught all of the chickens and rooster, collected the eggs from the coop, cleaned the goose and duck cages and gave them fresh water, and fed the pigs. After dinner, Valeria taught me how to make home-made ravioli filled with beet greens and ricotta, and also tiramisu.

the geese are vicious- they hiss and honk and try and bite you when you go
near them. you have to threaten them with a stick to get them into their cage.

Day Six: A rainy morning kept us inside finishing up with preparing the apartments, but after lunch (when we sampled our home-made pasta and tiramisu!) we spent the gorgeous afternoon raking more weedwhacker clippings, and then having a little photoshoot with the chickens. Valeria didn't ever pick up the chickens, and thought it was funny that it became my preferred method of getting them back inside their cage at the end of the day!

they turned out so good!

and best tiramisu everrr...

some of the grass i raked in the afternoon

but the donkeys were very happy!

come back!!

i think we've got them all!

Going to the farm was such a great experience. I couldn't have asked for nicer, more accommodating hostesses, more beautiful location, or better food. It was a rewarding way to place a capstone on the whole Italy experience, being in the home of a family and sharing their conversations, meals, and daily routines. I would love to come back someday, as a guest or as a WWOOFer, and revisit this place which will always hold some fond memories!!!

Today Valeria took me to the train station at 6:15, and we shared a cappuccino and a picture before I set off back to Rome :)

Only a few more days before I see you all!!!

WEBSITE OF THE FARM: PODERE LA PIANA

Week Fifteen

2008-04-17T11:13:00.000-04:00

Where did it go?

I just took my last final.

I'm getting kicked out of my apartment in 3 days.

I already have a suitcase packed.

This is surreal.

On Monday I had my final critique for painting.My teacher told me I earned an A in the course- and she also told me that someone offered to buy my final project book. After much debating between how nice it would be to get some unexpected euros, and then realizing how quickly they'd probably be gone- I ended up saying no to selling it. Here's how it turned out:

mixed media with pressed flowers, printed (then colored) pictures, acrylic, ink, magazine clippings, found items. The black and white pictures
already existed in the book, so I usually just played off of them.
ENLARGE TO SEE BETTER

On Tuesday I finally got to Florence. It was an interesting day... I didn't expect the weather to be bad, but it ended up drizzling off and on all day, and in the meantime I was trying to find my way around the poorly drained city in flip-flops and soaked jeans. But I did get to see some cool artwork.

Florence's Duomo

The golden "Doors of Paradise" on the Baptistry

the Duomo's dome

illegal David picture! oops
it was pretty incredible in person.

some famous boar statue- you're supposed to rub his snout for good luck?!

I also went to the Uffizi museum (and waited in line for around 2 hours!) to see the collection they have, which includes Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, and other including some by DaVinci and Caravaggio.

Wednesday night, we went to see Philadelphia legend DJ Jazzy Jeff at Gilda's (oh you know him, from Fresh Prince?!) - dude killed it, and I was right in front.

Today I had my photography final critique (which seemed to have went well), and my final exam (which seemed to have went well too). Hopefully this semester didn't destroy my decent GPA!

Savoring my last days of Roma...

Naples, Pompeii & Capri

2008-04-14T11:45:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I was in the train station by 7:30, and bought a ticket down to Naples, with a coupla other kids from TURome. After a two hour train ride, I took another short ride to Pompeii; a Roman city that was completely ruined and buried by the eruption of the Mount Vesuvius volcano in 79 A.D.

victim, covering his face with a scarf.

beautiful micro-mosaic

pompeii's version of the colosseum

and the lemons there were bigger than my brain.

And then there was Naples. Cool I guess, but still pretty trashed.

trash

i wish this wasn't blury! 4 people on a moped!

neopolitan pizza :)

castles, apparently?

I spent the night at an interesting little hostel- it was fine except for the fact that one of my roommates was the most obnoxious snorer EVER- thankfully someone else in the room couldn't take being stuck awake anymore and gave a loud, fake "ACHOOO!" and woke the snorer up, so they stopped- and I said "thank you!"

good morning

cannoli for breakfast!

on the cruise-ship sized ferry

After an hour and a half, I arrived on the island of Capri, and it was a gorgeous day. The only thing that was disappointing about the trip was that the island's main attraction- a cave on the sea called the "Blue Grotto," was closed that day; the water on that side of the island was too rough :( But anyway, I did a boat tour of the other side of the island, which was really cool.

water is so clear!

a big hole- that the Romans pushed people out of or something?

the white grotto

natural arc

you could see fish & jellyfish =)

must be nice??!!

huge cactuses!

walked half-way across the island
to the natural arc up-close

:)

Anacapri

please, don't burn down the trees.

I walked from Anacapri to the Blue Grotto

As close as I got.

Couldn't quite see inside...

grabbed lunch with some new friends

Great weekend!

Week Fourteen

2008-04-11T08:16:00.000-04:00

rainy day & new umbrella

Classes are over! I can completely erase all of the Italian I learned from my memory now, haha.

This week I had a ton of stuff due, so it feels like a huge burden is gone. Just 2 final crits and a final exam to go.

Wednesday I joined another class on a Grafitti Tour excursion they went on to an old military post, transformed into a "campus" and graffiti canvas for Italian youth. There is graffiti all over Rome, and apparently it's somewhat of a tradition. The artists over here aren't necessarily the "hoodlum" types we normally stereotype graffiti-makers to be; in fact, generally they're a pretty well educated crowd, and at times, even get commissioned to do their thing around the city. This base is basically a place for them to sleep, socialize, eat, drink, and do art.

(self portraits were due this week!)

We also checked out a cool apertivo (like happy hour sorta, buy one drink and eat as much buffet food as you want) in Trastevere.

Thursday was the school-wide Student Art Show- but I'm a dummy and forgot to take pictures of the stuff I put in! (my painting final project book, 2 cut paper collages, 1 other photo went in as well as this one):

my fishies!

we got flowers for our italian teacher- i'll miss her!

a living sculpture installation, he was hilarious

This weekend I'm gonna take a little trip- I'll be back on Sunday to tell you about it.

Week Thirteen

2008-04-07T13:34:00.000-04:00

Finally, we've been having gorgeous weather here in Rome. As expected at the end of every semester, I have spring fever. And I don't feel like doing work!

But it's the last week of classes, and time is disappearing so quickly...

The good news is, I got to check a few things off of my list of "things to do and see" this week.

Wednesday 4/2: Went to St. Peter's to see the POPE. He was doing a mass in the square for "Holy mass in suffrage of the deceased Holy Father John Paul II."

i was about 100 feet away
(POPE HAT!)

the masses

statue of the Archangel Michael atop of Castel St. Angelo
(for you, Mom!)

On Friday, I FINALLY saw the Sistine Chapel (have to go back again to see the rest of the Museum). You couldn't take pictures inside, but here's an interactive view of how it looks.

one of the hallways (the hall of tapestries i think?) leading to the Chapel

I also went in St. Peter's Basilica. Wow! The place is massive.

Michelangelo's "Pietà" 1499

St. Peter- he's buried under the altar.

altar & dome

Aaaand then I went to the top!

beautiful mosaics in the dome

climbing up the dome:
he was standing straight.

saint peter's square

a little self-portrait action

After the dome, I walked around Trastevere and found a place to have a traditional Roman lunch: Roman artichoke, braised oxtail and tiramisu. All delicious- I don't think I'd order oxtail again, but I'm glad I tried it once.

and a couple pieces of chocolate orange slices :)

A few more projects, a paper and 2 finals to go!

Le Cinque Terre (the five towns)

2008-03-31T12:20:00.000-04:00

After this weekend, and the incomprehensible beauty of the place I visited, I questioned if good ol' Jersey is really the place I should be. I mean, south Jersey is striking, and I don't know if I could really ever leave behind all that it has to offer: Route 130, the vast Delaware river, Willingboro Marketplace, Boost™, and the perfume of the air there, but this place sure did tempt me.

Cinque Terre was a 4 hour train ride from Rome, we got there on Saturday around noon, checked into our apartment, and then did the famous 5-town, 6 hour hike. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, it was such a nice change from the crappy weather we've been having in Rome.

i wonder if this is a WWOOF farm...

lunch break view

best gelato ever: spicy chocolate with peperoncino & crema catalana

VIDEO

this is what we were climbing up for the last 2 hours

and trekking along narrow paths with cliffs to the left

On Sunday morning we explored our little town, and found out that there was a train strike and we wouldn't be able to take the local train back to the station to get the train to Rome. Instead, we were offered a more exciting option- to take 2 ferries to the place we needed to go. We got a great view of our town and cliffs from the Mediterranean.

here comes the ferry

our apartment was in the pink buildings in the top. the steps
just to get to them were more intense than the entire hike.

you can see the snow-capped Alps in the background

Even though it was just a day trip, Cinque Terre was the most gorgeous place I think I've experienced so far in Europe. I hope you can go see it too someday. I'll be back.

Week 12

2008-03-31T10:48:00.000-04:00

Sorry to say it, but I did pretty much absolutely nothing all of Easter weekend. It turns out that we had the worst weather I've seen yet in Rome, the entire time. So instead of going to see the Pope I stayed in bed, cooked a little Easter brunch with the crew, caught up on sleep, watched movies and read. I'm gonna do my best to go see that dude before I leave Rome though- and my time is going away real fast.

As a matter of fact, there are a lot of things I haven't seen or done since I've been here that I will kick myself if I don't do.

I have not been to the Vatican yet. I know, I know.
I have not been INSIDE the Colosseum yet.
Various museums: Capital Line, Modern Art, etc.
I need to explore more in Trastevere/Testaccio, day and night.
I need to visit the Pantheon at least a few more times.
Gotta try traditional Roman food: oxtail and tripe.
Also hope to visit: Pompeii, Naples (for the pizza), Venice, Florence...
Go to mass/see the Pope.

Instead of doing sightseeing and things, I've again been occupied with a variety of tasks inside this week; communicating with a possible company to intern for, arranging interviews- interviewing Caterina Crepax for a paper due 4/8- writing a biography for my smart fortwo ad campaign from last semester that's being entered into TURF/CReWS back on main campus-painting-tweaking old ads-researching-taking photos...

Anyway, Monday. It was gross outside. We went for burgers at a place down the street. They were disgustingly huge burgers.

Tuesday and Wednesday= not much besides class, homework and other tasks.

Thursdays are usually good days because I have 2 on-site classes. I went to see an exhibit on speed & velocity (lots of cool old cars, bikes, etc) and an exhibit on Contemporary Chinese art. In the morning for digital imaging we went to a few areas and a photo exhibit on St. Peter's. Here are some detail shots I got around Piazza Navona, the Jewish ghetto and Trastevere.

in the ghetto

Trastevere

Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Apparently there's a really awesome sponge somewhere inside.

More to come about my weekend. For now, here's a look at what a day is typically like for me in Rome. (it was this week's assignment for digital photo)

i hate waking up.

let the light in

gotta pee.

banana for breakfast

today i learned how to say
"I've just started running" in Italian.
Don't think I'll be needing that one.

blowdry the hair

try not to look scary

i'm a sloppy teeth-brusher.

take two: 8 inches of drool. cute.

take the stairs

gotta have tunes on the walk to school

seeing beautiful things - take nothing for granted

Rome's great drinking fountains

taking a break before class

studyin' hard

take the elevator up.
(who flipped the 3?)

dinner with the girls in our room
(i made shrimp and cous cous, they brought salad and wine)

a little ink painting

phone home & italian homework

"jammies" and a book

buonanotte a Roma.

Week Ten (plus ½ of eleven)

2008-03-21T14:33:00.000-04:00

To all of you out there who read this religiously, sorry for the delay in getting a new post up. I have a few pieces of semi-exciting news though, which has been keeping me busy lately.

I applied for two internships this week. One with Tierney Communications, which is the largest agency in Philly and also an agency which I've visited before (and have also met their Creative Director a few times). The other is with an agency in Moorestown called Kiernan Thompson, which I found out about through school. The notice they sent out sounds great, saying that their interns will get first-hand art directing experience since they'll be working directly with the creative team. Anyway, I was scrambling this week to re-do my resume and cover letter (I also owe a few thanks for help with that: THANKS DAD! THANKS JERRY DIRUSSO! THANKS JUSTINE! THANKS DR. MARRA!) So anyway, I'll let you know the word with that.

I've figured out for sure what I'm going to be doing with myself come April 20th when I get kicked out of my apartment for two weeks before my flight home. I'm gonna go work on a farm in some obscure part of Italy and live with an Italian family. I joined an organization called WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), and am in the process of choosing from a list of 170+ Italian farms, which cultivate everything from grapevines, fruit orchards, olive orchards, bee hives, and animal products. I wonder if "Yee-haw" translates into Italian.

A few cool things have happened since the last time I wrote. Last Tuesday I went to dinner with some friends near the Colosseum at night. It was nice to get some real pasta and good wine and splurge a bit, and we also got some cool pictures of the Colosseum all lit up and purdy.

metro

Last weekend I went to my first soccer game- Roma v. AC Milan! Even though I don't really follow the sport otherwise and don't really know most of the rules, it was still exciting to watch and be in the crowd, especially since we were in the rowdy section! Luckily we didn't die, and I even managed to get a few pictures. And Roma came out on top, 2-1.

On Monday for painting we made painted paper collages using the model.

Yesterday (Thursday) I stayed after school for a while for a documentary film they were playing called "L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio," about an orchestra formed in Rome comprised of immigrants who lived in and around the Piazza Vittorio area (said to be the only melting pot neighborhood of the city). Afterwards, 4 members of the orchestra as well as the director came to the school and played a few songs- it was really awesome.

Mario Tronco- founder of the orchestra.

the guy on the left was playing an african instrument called a
kona, and the guy to his left was playing an oud. the orchestra
is famous for combining instruments in songs that have never before
been heard together.

The rest of my time throughout the week and a half was either spent taking street photos for my class, or working on resume stuff.

italian youth. stuck in the year 1997.

illegal purse vendors runnin' from the cops

a lot of people around here who beg for money have
deformities and tumors. she used a skateboard
and a boot on her hand to get around.

"buy this, it's useful!"

little thug on a carousel with aviators, trench coat and Chanel bag.
even at his young age, he's WAY cooler than me!

It's Good Friday today, and it was rainy enough outside to discourage me from going to see my boy the Pope today. It's supposed to rain all this weekend and all through next week. I hope not.

Week Nine

2008-03-10T17:14:00.000-04:00

It's been a gloomy week. Overcast and rainy. I'm officially more than half way through the program and I'll be home in less than two months. Which is in a way a relief for me- I've been feeling pretty homesick lately. Since its been crappy outside and I've been stuck inside doing homework, I'm really feeling a void lately.

March is always crunch time in school, and I just realized I have to get crackin' on papers and final projects that I've been slacking on. That includes: a photo essay for digital imaging doing more street photography, a 100 painting book, and a 10 page paper (which I decided to write about Guido Crepax). Almost all of my free time since I came back from Ireland has been concentrated on one of those three things... all fun and interesting to me, but hey, it's still work afterall.

On the Monday we got back to class, I was surprised to find out that we were painting a model. I had never done it before, although I know it's one of the first classes you'd ever take if you had gone to art school. We used complements to emphasize the warm and cool lights on the body, and make it a little more abstract. This was also the assignment we had for homework (but instead of a model, re-create a painting of the figure in complements).

first time painting the figure. 3/3

for homework 3/7

today in class- 5 quick sketches with ink. (3/10)
(enlarge, it looks better)

today in class 3/10

I can't remember what happened on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'm sure that means nothing too interesting...

Thursday it was another crappy rainy day, and for photo class we went all the way to the Palazzo delle Esposizione to see a National Geographic exhibit called "AcquaAriaFuocoTerra" (Water, Air, Fire & Earth), which was really really cool.

one of the photos I liked at the exhibit

On Tuesday, I stuck around after school for a while for the Temple Rome Faculty show. I was really impressed by these little pencil/watercolor drawings done by one of the advanced art professors here. I also really liked the street photography which my photo teacher did less than a month ago in the not-so-nice areas of Naples.

Thursday is always a long day, so to top the day off, I joined a few friends for the biggest, greasiest, strangest "burger" that I've ever had- I'm sure it took a few years off of my life, but it was worth it.

"BURGER" = meat, cheese, red peppers, lettuce, tomato,
french fries, artichokes, eggplant, ketchup & corn...
...there had to be more too. it was OBNOXIOUS.

We got a short break from the bad weather on Saturday, so I went exploring for a while. I took a bus to the Jewish Ghetto in an attempt to find fried artichokes, but this time I didn't. I'm not giving up though! Eventually I came across the Roman Forum and the Wedding Cake, and wandered around that area for a bit. It happened to be the day after the opening of a Renoir exhibit at the Vittoriano museum there, so I checked it out. It wasn't that huge, and his more famous works weren't there, but worth it anyway I suppose.

"Girls at the Piano"
was probably the most famous work there.

good thing i went when i did-
this was the line to get in later!

wedding cake

colosseum

colosseum & forum
from the top of the wedding cake-
down the end of that road (via del corso)
is piazza del popolo, near school

When I left the Wedding Cake, there was a sun-shower going on, so I took the opportunity to make my way to the Pantheon, taking some pictures along the way. Unfortunately the Pantheon was closed for some sort of ceremony, but I got to do some people watching anyway.

i gave her a few cents since I took her picture, and she bowed to me.

I think you're out of luck right now, buddy.

Pantheon

I ended the day taking in the sights in Campo de Fiori and Piazza Navona, where there is always activity, vendors, street performers, and plenty else to see.

he was standing perfectly still.

piazza navona

near campo de fiori

Last night (Sunday) our Italian teacher Daniela invited both of her classes over to her house for bruschetta, minestrone soup, tiramisu and wine. It was really nice- you would never hear about a professor doing that back in the states!

kate, daniela & i

I hope the weather clears up soon. It was dry enough for a little while after class to go snap a few more street shots before heading home.

"we are hungry. 10-20 cents for you is nothing,
but for us it's life!"
i couldn't ignore that.

Now scram!

Spring Break II: Dublin, Ireland

2008-03-02T07:05:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday we left Barcelona and headed to Dublin for the second half of our spring break. In the air we were trying to figure out how to get to our hostel, which was located in the Temple Bar area of the city- lucky for us, a Scottish lady across the isle knew where it was and offered to share a cab with us to save some money. Sweet.

After we landed and collected our bags, we got a cab and were on our way. But wait- something's not right...

Ohhh, they drive on the other side of the road here!
For whatever reason, I didn't know or expect that.

...so anyway, the cab driver and our Scottish lady friend gave us a mini-tour of places we drove by while on our way to Temple Bar, and dropped us off close to our hostel about 20 minutes later.

our room- my bed was the one with the light on

temple bar- a famous pub right next to our hostel

river leffie by night

One of the cool parts about Dublin was all of the live music going on, everywhere, constantly... so after a long day of travel we were able to relax, have dinner (I started with the traditional Irish "Bangers & Mash") and listen to a good Irish cover band and enjoy some Bulmer's cider.

it doesn't look that appetizing, but i can assure you that it was!

cheers!
(us 4 girls and our new friend Ryan)

On Wednesday morning we got up early and did the touristy thing- went and saw the Dublin Castle (but didn't do the tour), walked by the Christ Church Cathederal, then went to the Guinness Storehouse and learned how Ireland's most famous beer is made, then saw Trinity College, and topped it off with some shopping.

dublin castle

dublin castle

i got really excited when i saw this sign, thinking they served gruel-
but it turns out it was just the name of the restaurant. darn.

Christ Church Cathedral

Barley- one of 4 ingredients in the beer

Water- 2/4 ingredients in the beer! (others: hops & yeast)

at the top of the storehouse: highest point in Dublin

cheers, again! (hey, it was free)

everyone and their fish & chips for lunch!

trinity college

obnoxious seagulls
they had irish accents

St. Ann's church from Grafton street

at night we went to Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub- established 1198!

Thursday was my favorite day of the trip. We took a train to a coast town outside of Dublin called Howth, where we got a little taste of the Irish countryside.

the harbor in Howth

the pier we walked down

a pup takin a dip

i put my hand in! brrrr!

me near the light house, my hair is a mess

we had subway for lunch (real irish, right?)

and they wanted it

this guy was so patient, so i gave him a piece of bread

After the harbor and lunch, we went exploring around the town, looking for somewhere to get a good view of the sea. Luckily for us, we had some help from nice Irish people who told us how to get to the summit. But we did see some interesting things along the way.

this guy later gave us directions

donkeys!

finally, at the summit.
beware of dangerous cliffs.

this dog ended up being our tour guide.
we don't know where he came from, but he followed us the whole way.

mainly because he wanted someone to play fetch with!

me on the treacherous path

WATCH MY VIDEO OF HOWTH!

to the right was a huge vertical drop...
... i wasn't about to throw the stick!

"you guys are so slow, geez!"

nice backyard.

seals in the harbor

After Howth, I did some more shopping and wandering, and then at night the girls and I went to dinner (I had MIND-BLOWING seafood chowder, mmmm! and bread and butter pudding for dessert) and listened to some great Irish music at a nearby pub.

great band at gogarty's pub in temple bar, dublin

....aaand a crazy irish dude dancin'
(keep an eye on the dude with the grey sweatpants)

What a great experience. It made me proud to be at least 50% Irish! Ireland is a great country all around- the people are nice, the food is great, the city is awesome- an all-around great time. I would love to go back someday. And to top it all off, on the way to the airport I sat on the top of a double-decker bus. It was a blast.

Cheers to Ireland!

Spring Break I: Barcelona, Spain

2008-03-01T12:33:00.000-05:00

At the buttcrack of dawn on Friday morning Kate and I began our voyage to Spain, which was fascinating simply because we utilized basically every form of public transportation: taxi to shuttle to plane to bus to metro; we spent a good 6 hours travelling between 4am and noon. But we got there fine, and were glad to take off our coats and enjoy some nice, warmer weather.

We found and checked into our hostel, which wasn't quite as scary as I had imagined hostels to be- in fact, it was actually pretty nice. It had a lively common room with foosball, pool, chess, internet and a bar. We were placed in an 8-person room where we met two girls we know from school and a few new friends as well.

the hostel common room

our room, I was bed D!

After settling in, we went exploring around the city. We were surrounded by activity of street performers, colorful stores, palm trees, the smell of the sea and good food.

barcelona street band- kinda like Squirrel Nut Zippers
VIDEO!

gondola at the harbor (we took the ride on monday!)

the beach

an odd little building

toes in the Mediterranean

mister colombus

For dinner we ate at a small restaurant off of Las Ramblas, I had calamari, bread with tomato and awesome sangria :) mmm!

On Saturday we went to Sagrada Familia church by Gaudí- it was beautiful, but we couldn't explore the inside too much since it was under construction. But we did wait for an hour to take an elevator to the top, which offered a great view of Barcelona.

looking down the tower

sagrada familia stairs of doom

At night we relaxed at the hostel for a while, got some reeally really good lamb kebab sandwiches for dinner, and ventured out for a bit to see what the nightlife in spain was really all about! Oh, and we saw this:

hugest vending machine ever... it sold cameras! (in a metro station)

On Sunday we went with some new friends from the hostel to Gaudí's Park Güell and walked around for a while- the park also had a great view of the city. But apparently I'll have to go back someday, because we managed to miss one of the famous areas of the park where there are some really famous mosaics! Bummer! But it was still incredible.

first we had to get up the intense hill

cool graffiti and cactus

a valid question!

some cool stone stuff

After the park, we went shopping for a bit, got some good lunch at Maoz vegetarian restaurant, and relaxed in the hostel- at night we went to a cool bar called "The Black Sheep" and had some sangria, and on the way back, some great pastries!

my lunch at Maoz... what was in it?
i couldn't really tell you, but it was good!

On Monday we were hoping to check out the Picasso museum but it turns out that it was closed, so instead we went and took a gondola ride over the harbor. It took a while to find it, and when we got there it wasn't really thaaat cool, but something to do nonetheless.

we found this on the way!
(me with the 2 mikes we met)

gondola

there's my boat!

huge sculpture near the ocean

the end of las ramblas- the street our hostel was off of

fisherman's nets

the mediterranean beach

At the top of the gondola, there was a neat little park and cafe. Oh, and a dude carrying his pug around.

After the gondola ride we went shopping on Las Ramblas, had pizza for lunch, found a cool food market, went shopping some more, and decided we were craving sushi (actually, I've been dying for it ever since I left NJ!), so we looked up a good place and had a great dinner.

dragonfruit at the market- i had to get one!

and some coconut milk :)

for dinner mike and i split some spicy tuna rolls- sooo good

I really loved Barcelona and the things I experienced there. I would love to go back someday, and also see the rest of Spain. We met good people and definitely felt the essence of this colorful, vibrant city.

me with mike and kasia- friends we shared our hostel room with

Week Seven

2008-03-01T11:58:00.000-05:00

This week was midterms. Ugh. These sort of things just shouldn't be happening in Rome...

Anyway, I think I did pretty well. On Monday, my painting professor reviewed the work I've done up until this point and made a few dumb comments, nothing too helpful. She's a dingbat. We also painted a still life in class, which I wasn't too happy with the way my turned out, but what else is new. My Italian Design test on Tuesday was pretty tough, especially since the Milan trip the weekend before didn't allow for much time to study. I'm hoping for a B on that one. One Wednesday we had an oral exam for Italian, and we worked in groups and created and memorized a short dialogue utilizing vocabulary and grammar we've learned up to this point in class. Thursday was my Italian midterm (I think I did well on it), and also my Digital Imaging one-on-one session with the professor, in which she reviewed all of the work I've done up until this point- she said she thinks my work is strong and I have a good eye (but I think she may say that about everyone's photos!) and she suggested that I should do street photography for my final project, which is exciting and scary because it's definitely the most challenging type of photos to be taking, and also risky at times... here are two that I took this week that I was really happy with. I included both of them in my "top 10 best" from the semester.

a gypsy asking for change in piazza del popolo

there are often people playing the accordion on the metro,
and having a child hold their change cup brings in more money.
who knows if this girl is even his daughter or not.

For a portrait assignment this week, we had to shoot 60 pictures of one person, and I chose my roomate Kate. But instead of just 60, I took over 750 pictures of her. I'm pretty sure she's sick of me now! Anyway, here's a few good ones.

the end.

Week Six

2008-02-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

What a week. There's been a lot going on... let's see, where to start...

Lets start with some Italians. This week's assignment for digital imaging was to shoot documentary photos on the street of strangers. I took these pictures on my walk to school, at Piazza del Popolo, and at St. Peter's and surrounding areas.

musicians at Piazza del Popolo.

he was hammin' it up

the spraypaint artists are fun to watch

"gelato man pose"

these men selling chestnuts are everywhere. i got them
once near the spanish steps- they're good, but not worth 5 EURO!
mom makes better ones :)

beggars everywhere.

st. peter's & vatican

I also received 2 great Valentine's day packages this week! From Mom, I got a HUGE box, and the best present ever- a warm cozy comforter! I'm such a pillow and blanket person, so it makes me feel more at home here to have it :) I also got a package from Greg with a sweet card and FAT teddy bear! I feel so special, haha

On Thursday we also visited a photo exhibit in the morning by Ugo Mulas in the morning, and in the afternoon for Italian design we visited the office of architect Enrico Realacci, and saw some of his buildings and work, including this Haworth showroom.

oh, and some freakish bird-patterns

This past weekend I was in Milan as part of an excursion for my Italian design class. I had my first taste of the Termini train station and a super-fast luxury Eurostar train. It was a 5 hour ride.

I ate at McDonald's in Italy, but I don't even eat it at home!

We jumped right into visiting studios and showrooms after checking into the hotel on Friday. The first place we visited was the home and studio of architect/artist Caterina Crepax. She has become famous for her work with recycled papers and the dresses and accessories she creates from it. It was really fascinating, and also really neat to find out that she is the daughter of the most famous (adult) comic illustrator in Italy Guido Crepax, who did the Valentina series in the 60's, right before the sexual revolution.

Caterina Crepax (left) and my teacher

hand-made paper dresses

The next showroom, we went to, Dilmos, had furniture with her Dad's illustrations on it!

fun in dilmos

i fell in love with this furniture!!!

dinner on friday night during our free time-
I had veggie tortelloni with cream & balsamic sauce :)

On Saturday we woke up early, had a good breakfast, and visited a lot of different showrooms including: Cassina (furniture), Flos & Artimide (lighting), Alessi (home goods), Venini (hand-blown glass vases), and Dirade (more furniture). I won't bore you with a billion pictures of chairs, but here's a few.

our class. lots of estrogen.

i was amused by the grumpy robots placed around the cassina showroom!

word.

venini vases

And then we walked down one of the rich streets with all fashion stores: Prada, Gucci, Versace, blah blah blah. I saw more cars worth over $1/2 million dollars concentrated into one area than I've ever seen in my life.

oh hey look- ANOTHER aston martin. yawn.
!?!!!?!

After we were free, we checked out the Duomo- the 2nd largest Gothic cathedral in the world. I didn't really get any good pictures of the inside due to the low light, but here's a few others.

again, at night

the gallery next to the duomo

On Saturday night we had a good dinner at a Mom-n-Pop restaurant near the hotel, and I got risotto milanese, since I was in Milan and all!

This morning (Sunday) we went to the Trienalle museum and saw an exhibit on the 70's- very interesting. Here's was one "psychedelic" aspect of it.

This next week is midterms, and it's gonna be intense and frustrating!!! Ahh, NOT looking forward to it. I really don't feel like doing any work while I'm here! But so far I've been doing okay grade wise, and I think it'll probably continue *fingers-crossed*. Next week I have a portrait shoot to do for digital imaging, which should be fun. Here was a practice picture of Kate & I!

And then bright and early on Friday, me and this girl get on a plane to Barcelona!
Stay tuned.

Week Five

2008-02-11T12:41:00.000-05:00

This week was not too eventful in comparison to the previous- and the forthcoming for that matter. But it was very relaxing. Sorry, I don't have 65,321 pictures to post this week!

Some things that did happen: on Thursday morning for Digital Imaging we went to Campo de Fiori to shoot street documentary portrait photos of strangers, which is pretty hard to do. There is a small market there during the day, and plenty of interesting-looking Italians. I'm not all that happy with the shots I took there, but we have to take 20 more for this Thursday's class, so I'll be sure to push myself to get some good ones.

sorry to the vegetarians :(

We also went to see a photography exhibit by Gregory Crewdson which was pretty amazing- he's able to produce huge-scale photographs by using a camera so large that it's negatives are 8x10- he's best known for creating complex surreal, sometimes scary staged images of life in suburban American towns.

one of Crewdon's photos I saw

oh, and we saw this on our way into the museum

On Friday I shopped a bit, and at night went to a friend's for dinner, then over to a new friend's apartment to have a few drinks and relax. We went to get gelato at a great place right near the Vatican called Old Bridge- I got banana, pinenut, and coffee-mmm! Then we went back to her place again, she cooked me an EXCELLENT grilled cheese sandwich- and we watched Planet Earth!!! :)

Saturday I was a huge bum and slept all day. I went shopping again, cooked dinner, read a book, and went to bed early. Ahhhh.

Sunday I forced myself to get up early and go back to Porta Portese, determined this time to find some more hidden treasures amongst all of the junk! I again didn't buy anything, but ohhhh will I be back. Again. I know I'm in ancient Rome and all, but I really wish I was a good judge of whether things there are really antiques/worth anything or not. Oh well. Before leaving, I stopped at one of the food trucks in the flea market and got something that I thought would be similar to a burger- not quite. It was a sliver of undercooked meat of some type (probably not beef), which had just about as much mayonnaise and ketchup as it did meat, all on a terrible roll. I'm really missing good ol' American food variety.

I stopped by to say hi to the kitties at the Cat Sanctuary before getting on the bus back home. That's probably one of my favorite places in Rome.

On Friday I'll be off to the Fashion Capital of the World- Milan, so there should be plenty to write about and show in pictures next week.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Refreshing start.

2008-02-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

This week started off refreshing for two reasons.

1. PATRIOTS LOSSSSSTTTTT!!!! Greg called and woke me up at 4 a.m. to tell me the good news. Just wish I could have seen the look on Tom Brady's face, yessssss!

2. My alarm went off this morning at 7:45, I layed in bed for a few minutes, waking up slowly, trying to remember my dream... maybe it was about an island. I was on the beach, soaking up the sun and listening to the waves coming in. Then just before I woke up, I dipped my toe in the water. Ahhh.

But then I realized, I really was on an island when I woke up. BECAUSE MY ENTIRE ROOM WAS FLOODED.

So I screamed and woke Kate up, and rushed around picking up everything on the floor which had been soaking in the water which was cascading out from the bathroom sink for the past 2-3 hours. Luckily, there wasn't too much major damage, and it could have been a lot worse. Nothing valuable of mine or Kate's was lost. My Italian books and notebooks were in my bookbag on the floor, so they were all soaked. Kate got lucky, she usually leaves her Mac on the floor to charge overnight, but last night she took it out to the living room and charged it there. The biggest loss seems to be our friend Clare's laptop which she left here over the weekend- it was the first thing I picked up off the ground, but it isn't quite functioning as of now.

What happened was one of our roomates had gone out to watch the Superbowl at the HardRock, and got back around 5 when it was over. She went in the bathroom to wash her face but the hot water wasn't coming out for some reason. She thought she had turned the nob all the way off, but had actually turned it full blast since there was really no way to tell. After she went to bed, the problem with there not being any water was apparently fixed, and wallah! Two hours later there's an inch of water in my bedroom.

So we made the Italians here reeeally grumpy, they had to come up with an industrial shopvac and suck up all the water, probably mumbling about us stupid Americans the whole time... but in the end, we have something to eternally bust on Kiki about, and we did do a little jig in the water with the camera before it got cleaned up.

Horray for Mondays.

Week Four

2008-02-03T17:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe a month has passed already! Time has really been flying. Hmm, what happened in school this week... my Italian seems to be improving, I'm remembering how to say certain things and how to structure the sentences. I feel like I can understand and read the language better than I can speak it though. On Thursday we had a photo critique on an assignment that we had to do which focused on light. Here's a few of the ones I submitted.

a little self-portrait

Marissa

That same day for digital imaging, we visited 3 sites: an photo exhibit at a children's museum which featured a series of photos of homeless children (called "Bambini di Strada" by Mauro Sioli). We also saw an exhibit by an Italian artist named Flavio Micheli, who fuses found paintings with his own photographs, interesting. Lastly, we visited the church Santa Maria del Popolo to take a few low-light pictures. It was really neat, and also the home of two Caravaggio paintings, "Crucifixion of St. Peter" and "Conversion on the Way to Damascus", a Bernini sculpture, Raphael's "Creation of the World" mosaic on the dome... ya know, blah blah blah. Unfortunately I didn't get too many clear images, but I walk by it just about every day, so I'll be back.

On Friday I went on a school-organized trip to Tivoli, and saw both Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este. Our trip was run by professor Robert Huber, a Johnny Depp look-alike professor from Palmyra. Excellent. Hadrian was Emperor of Rome in 117 a.d., and had this beautiful retreat built for him. It had gorgeous architecture and landscapes, and definitely seemed to be just the place to escape from the craziness for a while.

the floors used to be covered in mosaics
bath houses

Next we checked out the Villa d'Este, which is another retreat built by another emperor in the 16th century who decided to jack all of the marble from Hadrian's crib above to make himself some shmancy fountains. But they sure were shmancy!

gandolph the grey?

there's Johnny!

Fontana di Diana Efesia and her many mammories

it wouldn't be a normal blog for me without
some kind of grumpy animal

It was also really nice to have the place to myself for the weekend. On Friday night I took a stroll by myself to try and meet up with my man the Pope, but he wouldn't pick up his cell, that jerk. But it was my first time seeing St. Peter's, which was nice at night and relatively empty since it was drizzling. Sorry, no pics of that.

Saturday was another early morning. School sent an e-mail out about the largest Carnivale celebration in the Lazio (Rome city-state) region, held in Ronciglione. The main event that happens is a rider-less horse race, preceded by a parade. But before we got there, I saw this in the train station:
(sorry, I try to normally keep these G-rated, but this was just too amusing!)

crazy Italians?!?!?!

Okay, how about those parade pics!

this little dog loved following the horses around

Then after watching the band, colorguard, and baton-twirlers march back-and-forth on the street about 12 times, they had some difficulty getting the horses in the gates, so we waited...

...and waited...

And finally, they were off!

Apparently the animal-rights groups groups are trying to
ban this event, due to horses getting injured- look closely,
one slipped and fell in this race :(

it was hard to get good pictures, they were fast!

After the race, we got some hot chocolate and enjoyed the town a bit before heading back to Rome.

On Sunday, I got up early again and checked out Porta Portese, a huge flea-market in Trastevere. I didn't get anything this time, but it was neat, and I'm sure I'll be back. For the rest of the day, I worked on my homework assignment for Painting on Paper, we had to do a self-portrait collage using painted color swatches. I went a little overboard and took about 6 hours to do it, but it was a rainy day with nothing else to do. Another motivating factor was my determination to make my teacher's head explode with my incomprehensible talent.

not quite perfect, but you get the idea.

another one we did in class on Monday

LET'S GO GIANTS!

AAAALPS!

2008-01-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was incredible- I took a bus with 20 other students to the Italian/Swiss alps and snowboarded for 2 and a half days in Breuil-Cervinia and Zermatt on massive mountains with huge rocky peaks, glaciers, and no trees due to lack of oxygen! Unforgettable. Here's some shots.

mozart & me- i took a ton of pics of this big guy!

matterhorn

ridin'

snow-eating siesta w/ tim

checkin out the switzerland view
and chucking snowballs into the valley

being in the alps makes you feel veeeery tiny!
(those specks are people)

getting on the glacier paradise tram

see where it took us?!?! (top right)
i thought i was going to die

i sprinted up the stairs.

making the climb to 12,736 feet

of course my batteries died as soon as we reached the top!
(i had to borrow this picture from someone!)
after checking out the view, we rode down that :)

our crew at the highest liftable peak in europe!

the last day was very very windy.
i had to stop and cover my face when it blew too hard.

one last slobbery kiss from MOZART before leaving!

<3

Week Three

2008-01-24T13:10:00.000-05:00

The pictures I'm posting are mainly taken this week as part of my Digital Imaging class assignments. It's been gorgeous out here this week, and this morning I got to see the Colosseum and Roman Forum for the first time- breathtaking! We did a photo assignment shooting the ruins and practicing getting good depth of field and exposure with our cameras.

anti-postcard shot

shmorsies @ the colosseum

he was trying to kick the pigeons

roman forum

i made a friend!

kate took this :)

roman forum

good ol' dome of Constantine

nice view- from Musei Capitolini

eek!

Our digital imaging assignment for this week was to pick a spot, take a picture, then walk 11 steps, take another picture, and repeat until we have 20. I went to the Trionfale open-air market right down the street from where I live. It was also a good chance for me to practice my italian - i had to tell the vendors that I'm taking a photography course and ask if it was okay to take their photos. It's been wonderful to walk through every morning, such a treat with all of the foods, colors and activity. Here's a few to give you an idea.

woman carving priscutto

some vino bianco

octopus

this guy was very proud of this fish!

mmm... SLIME

the market is the best place to go for fresh produce.

Today I also got to visit the Olympic stadiums as part of an excursion for italian design- we didn't get to see too much since the main soccer arena was being used for a soccer game tonight, but we did get to see some of the facility and the original swimming pool. The Olympics were held in Rome in 1960, and the facilities have since been expanded, and a much larger soccer arena added. Hopefully sometime next month I'll have a chance to go see a game.

I also relaxed for a bit in Piazza del Popolo yesterday. I'm going to try and do a painting at some point. It was nice to people watch for a bit.

kids throwing confetti for Carnivale

grumpy fish statue!!!!!

I should have another post for you all on Monday or Tuesday... I leave in an hour to get on a bus and head to the ITALIAN/SWISS ALPS!!! Breuil-Cervinia, Valtournenche, Zermatt here I come!

xoxox

Walkin' the Wall

2008-01-20T12:07:00.001-05:00

So, I don't really feel so guilty anymore about eating pizza everyday since I've been here. Today, in 8 hours, I took about 30,000 steps and walked 14 miles in a journey which followed the remains of the ancient wall surrounding central Rome.

The walk was lead by historian/archaeologist/man-of-genuis and TURome professor Jan Gadeyne, a very entertaining and knowledgeable Belgian dude. He had our group of 120 students trekking all through all parts of Rome. He told us that by the end, he expected that our bowels would shoot out of our bodies from all the walking. Intense. When we all finished though, we were happy to hear that he was "almost a little bit proud" of us!

Jan Gadeyne, he's been on the history channel,
and he's all over google!

So here's some of the pictures from the day. Some of walls, and some not. You get the idea.

wall and stuff

graffiti

a well-preserved portion of the wall

one of the 14 original gates to Rome

i found this lazy guy during our coffee break :)

ancient bathroom in the wall. ewww.

a bust of Alexander the Great in a portion of the wall

Ferrari. Italian trash.

Kids in the park at Villa Bourghese

carnivale

ooh, pretty church.

some important-looking building

tiber river

st. peter's & the vatican - craziness

at the top of the bowel-splitting climb

thankfully nobody yelled at me for
taking pictures of their kids

carnivale confetti everywhere

did you know there's pyramids in Rome?

more wall goodness

most important gate-
made of marble

the masses

"stupid tourists."

Week Two

2008-01-19T12:18:00.000-05:00

So classes started up, and they all seem like they'll be very interesting. I'm taking Italian, painting on paper, Italian design (art history) and digital imaging. For my italian design class and painting on paper classes, we've already taken field trips. On Thursday for italian design, we went to a neighborhood of Rome near the Bourghese Gardens that had really fancy-shmancy decorated buildings (but I completely forget what that neighborhood was called!)

Yesterday (Friday) my painting on paper class along with the sketchbook classes went to Tuscania, another medieval hill town. First we stopped at a church outside of town to do a painting, it was really beautiful- called San Pietro (google San Pietro in Tuscania for more offical images)

san pietro & medieval towers

this is the nice scene i butchered in my painting!

my palette.
made of a busted moped windshield that i found on the street in rome

this was the coolest goat i've ever seen. i think
i was the only one who even noticed him.

After doing a painting at San Pietro, we went into the town of Tuscania across the valley and had lunch. I had my first authentic pasta- fetuccini with spinich (mmm!) and a steak which was... interesting... about a quarter inch thick and well done. Better off sticking to thick juicy steaks in the US! :) After lunch we painted the landscape of the valley with the church in the distance. I, again, butchered it with paint! But the view was fantastic.

Today I got up early and wandered around Rome by myself for the day. I started at a "flea market," which was pretty much just tables and tables of clothes for just a few euro each. I bought a sweater, scarf & necklace. :)

flea market at san giovanni

After the flea market I decided to go explorin, and I just ended up walking in a giant circle! It was a beautiful day though so I didn't mind. I hopped on the metro and went up towards one of the shopping areas. As I was walking I saw a sign for an art museum that was having a Pop Art (1956-1968) exhibit, so I went. Interesting enough, I saw some works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton and others. I managed to get yelled at twice, once for not noticing the dotted line which stuck out about two feet from the paintings - I stood inside the line for about 30 seconds and didn't notice the alarm going off and the museum guard yelling at me in Italian. The other time I got caught taking a picture. Oh well.

Lichtenstein (Pistol)

The museum did have a good view from the top, though.

On the left, Vittoriano- dubbed "The Wedding Cake" "typewriter"
and "false teeth" by the Romans.
Well, it is pretty gaudy.

After checking out the exhibit, I continued my wandering- and eventually stumbled upon the Trevi fountain. Very nice! I didn't make a wish yet, but I know I'll be back.

I also saw the Pantheon (oldest building in Rome) for the first time. It was really peaceful inside, despite the hoard of tourists.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day. I think I'm beginning to see what its really like to live the Roman life. The Romans really have a relaxed lifestyle, even though you don't really notice right away since there's so much crazy traffic and tourists. I felt like one today as I was able to stroll casually, no time restrictions or worries, and absorb the city, culture and history around me. I like this place.

Medieval Todi & Titignano

2008-01-13T14:43:00.000-05:00

I jumped on a bus yesterday at 8am and got a taste of Umbria, famous for picturesque rolling hills, wine, and medieval hill towns. All 250 Temple Rome kids filled the tiny walled-in Todi for about an hour- way too short of a time if you ask me. I could have stayed there all day taking pictures.

creepy Jesus!

After annoying the locals for a bit, us Americans reboarded the buses and took a twisting, turning ride through Umbria to the Titignano castle, where we enjoyed a seven-course lunch with the castle's self-produced wines. Some of the foods we had were: priscutto, mushroom & liver brushetta, risotto with asparagus, brocolli rabe, wild mountain deer, pasta with boar meat, chicken, potatoes, salad, clementines, tiramisu, biscotti, espresso, dessert wine - i'm forgetting some! It was quite a feast to remember.

Madison & I

Kate & Marissa

So anyway, classes started today. I had painting on paper this morning, which is going to be pretty intense, but i should come out of it with a lot of great work. I'm also thankful that Italian started today, so I can begin to look a little less like a fool to the people who live in this country!

Ciao!

Gelato.

2008-01-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

It's going to become an addiction.

Week One

2008-01-11T06:47:00.000-05:00

So I'm finally here! Its been an incredible first few days. The flights went fine but were fairly uneventful, except for seeing this:

a great view of the alps on our flight
from frankfurt to rome. literally took my breath away!
(tip: click on any picture to make it bigger)

upon arriving, we learned real quick how crazy the driving in rome really is. tons of tiny cars and scooters are flying around, cutting each other off - its just madness! the taxi ride to the residence was quite an exciting way to start.

the residence is a very nice place to be living. i have three other roomates in a two bedroom apartment. here's some pictures.

me & kate's room (i'm on the left)

ummm, we have a bidet...?!?!

our common room

teeny-tiny kitchen

wrap-around balcony & kate enjoying wi-fi

the scooters are everywhere!

every day we've been enjoying the 35-40 minute walk to the school building, which sits right on the Tiber river. the weather is much warmer than we were expecting, a comfortable 50 degrees and overcast. we walk through an open-air market which is just full of vendors selling different foods i can't wait to try- its also very interesting; the butchers have whole pigs and chickens, boar's heads and meats, the fish vendors have octopus, clams, all different sorts of fish, and huge swordfish heads, and there's tons and tons of fresh produce and cheeses, everything you could want. we need to learn some more basic italian before shopping there though, for now we've been going to the local grocery store.

my first experiences eating out were very good. the first morning i went across the street from our residence to get some cappucino and pastry - it was probably the best coffee i've ever had! on wednesday night my roomates, two friends and i went to dinner near the piazza novono at a place called the jazz cafe, our waitress spoke english so we were relieved. we had some bruschetta, salad, pizza with gorgonzola and pears, and the house red wine, all very good. (the pizza here is so good, i've had it every day so far!)

roomates, friends & i at the jazz cafe

fountain at piazza novono

sculpture restoration at piazza novono

after dinner we went to a bar, also with an english-speaking staff. everyone in rome is very friendly (especially the men towards the american women) but we already know how to ignore that! :)

we were treated to a round of flaming shots!

on thursday i went on a walking tour lead by one of the temple rome students who has already been here for four months. i was really suprised and excited about how well he seemed to know the city. he gave us good tips on places to eat near school, and good pointers on using the public transportation. he showed us the piazza del popolo, which is just a short walk from school. it's a square that has three streets branching off, each has a plethora of good shopping, and all lead to a famous landmark or monument. here's a few pictures of the piazza from a good lookout spot we were told about (i had to go back again at night to see what it was like too - gorgeous! pictures just don't do it justice).

the piazza del popolo - very close to school
(vatican in the distance)

the piazza del popolo at night

after visiting the piazza, we took a bus to the argentina district- we passed another famous monument called the wedding cake (i forget the italian name) but we only saw it from the bus, so i didn't take any pictures yet. once we got to argentina, we saw a really cool site of ruins (all of the ruins in rome are below the current street level). i don't think the spot was a big tourist destination, but i found it fascinating- it turns out that this spot was the site where julius caesar was assassinated, but now its purpose is a cat sanctuary. i want to adopt a roman cat! here's some pictures.

look close and you can see some kitties!

if i were a cat, i'd love it!

after watching the kitties for a bit, our group got some pizza across the street- definately the best i've had so far! a simple pizza with tomato sauce, fresh mozz, cherry tomato halves and fresh basil was so tasty! i'm probably going to come back weighing 300 pounds, haha. we finished the tour at the famous spanish steps, but by that point my batteries had died... i'm sure i'll be back.

today has been uneventful so far, we just have to take care of business as far as getting our wi-fi on the laptops for the school set up, and also complete the "permit to stay" procedures. we've been waiting in lines all day. i got an italian cell phone and number today, i will give it out to whoever would like it - however i'm going to try not to make any outgoing calls to outside of italy since they're very expensive, but all incoming calls and texts (for me) are free. i also have the address of the school, where mail should be sent, incase anyone wants that as well!!! :)

anyway, i'll try and update this as often as possible with the stories of my adventures and pictures! i'm missing all of you back in the states - come visit me!

love, ashley