Tuesdays Come and Tuesdays Go

Nothing too special to report today. Julie and I didn't want to get out of bed this morning but forced ourselves to wake up and catch the bus to Piazza Venezia for our Baroque field study. We actually ran into Tom on the bus which was a nice surprise! Our class went to Galleria Doria Pamphilj which I already visited with friends earlier in the semester (Read earlier blog post here!) Federica gave a great overview of the tradition of collecting art and the history of the Doria and Pamphilj families. Her explanation and narration throughout the morning added a lot to my previous visit, but we were very short on time so I am happy I had a chance to wander and explore without the time constraints. Sadly I didn't get to listen to Prince Jonathan's silky voice however Pepperoni managed to rummage up the juicy family gossip/rumors somewhere.

Annibale Carracci's Landscape with the Flight into Egypt

The ruffles on this bust won me over

Bernini is such a gem

After class Julie and I walked back to IES for our second classes of the day, mine was Forma Urbis with Gianni! This week we are studying the Valley of the Colosseum and Domus Aurea. I learned today that the Colosseum was not the original name for the amphitheater but rather the Amphitheatrum Flavium. Only after the colossal statue of Nero was moved (in order for Hadrian to build a temple) after the demolition of the Domus Aurea closer to the amphitheater was the name changed informally. I really like our textbook for this class but because there is so much information is can be daunting and technical at times. Hopefully I'll find a use for it in the future (future trips back to Rome??).

After classes Pepperoni, Tom, Julie, and I headed to our apartment to prepare for our Italian oral exams which are tomorrow and the written which are Thursday. Also, I was starving so I heated up some lunch (no microwaves here by the way). Work work work, nap, then Italian class! My teacher, Anna, is the definition of organized chaos so we understand each other very well. She offered to bring in comic strips for us to read because all of the newspapers are in the conditional tense (it seems that, it appears that, etc) so as to avoid libel and comics are in simpler tenses.

After class I decided that it was too close to dark to run, even though today had the nicest weather! So instead I came back and tried to remember as much from Butt and Gut as I could. We'll see how that feels tomorrow. Then more homework and an easy dinner. Everyone is getting studious with midterms right around the corner. Back to the books for me! Ciao tutti.