Ostia Antica Part II

Friday morning at a very reasonable (but chilly) hour Ginny and I headed to IES to catch the bus with our Forma Urbis class. Just like our two hour field studies some Fridays are reserved for classes to take day trips. Ours was to Ostia Antica! If you recall Ginny took me to Ostia (Reread from my second weekend in Rome) when it was hot and I was sweating in a tank, now all bundled up in a coat with a scarf Gianni was leading the tour. Thankfully the day actually warmed up nicely so we were shedding layers even before lunch. Ostia Antica was the original port town associated with Rome and is a sprawling city of well preserved ruins. It's outstanding to wander the streets that are now overgrown with mint and daisies and try to imagine the life before us. Gianni did a good job (obviously) of painting that picture for us and gave a detailed intriguing guided tour. Here are a bunch of snapshots from the day

While in Rome I fell in love with umbrella pine trees

theater

note awesome new scarf!

remember this pose?

Our class cat, followed us around all day

Pharos! Lighthouse

the cutest friends, go Woo!

love this

Hope and I 

This is Pepperoni without a shirt on
and with his Bears vs. Bucs in London hat

Gianni behind the bar

Hope and Insule

Madison and Ginny on top of an insula

beautiful fields where the temple used to be

Amanda

This guy!

Amanda and Kacie

Baths

"What happened in 1988?" "My brother was born?" "no."

Some other Americans helpin' us out!

Hope standing on top of a column

We made it back to the city around 4 that afternoon and lounged around until dinner. For dinner time I invited Tom and Pepperoni over to help me get rid of some extra veggies before they spoiled plus we had a bunch of leftovers from the potluck. It turned into really nice dinner with friends all around the table, lots of pasta, a good amount of beer, and one excellent name game. Saturday morning I woke up early and finally finished blogging about all the time I missed for academic and festive reasons, but you've already read that right?  Ginny is an awesome roommate who knows all the museum/events going on in the city, probably because she has so many Italian friends. She invited Julie and I to join her at the Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo alle Terme to see mosaics, frescoes, coins, jewlery, and sculptures from ancient Rome. She really hooked me when she promised Livia's Garden was there and I was not disappointed. An entire room to ourselves to soak in the brilliant blues and greens surrounding us. Mmm I love that fresco room. The entire floor was displaying frescoes and mosaics alone which was awesome and never ending in the best way! Ginny and I even got to bust out some of our Conservation skills. After two floors of sculptures and a floor with jewelry and coins (largest coin collection in Italy) I was tired but so so sooo happy I went! The best part? Ginny talked the ticket sales lady into giving us free tickets since we're students studying archaeology and art history in Rome. Hooray!

Livia's Garden :)

trees

Mosaics aka floors to Romans

Awesome marble

Fantastic

frescoes

Ms. Julia just standing in a cubiculum

Me in the triclinium

I love this drill work!!!

Ginny sneaked a picture

The Boxer

After the museum, since we were all the way out by Termini any way, we stopped by the baths of Diocletian which are enormous!! Sadly there wasn't much to see because they had a special exhibit on display, thankfully our tickets from the museum worked so we didn't have to pay again. A quick hello to the baths was followed by another quick stop right next door! Michelangelo's last project, a church created using the original structure of the baths (aka the huuuge vaulted ceiling). Santa Maria degli Angeli is a wonderful church, a bit atypical so I'd love to pop in again sometime when I'm not so tired and it is more light out.  It was bird time by now, that perfect pre-dusk time when all the birds in Rome take flight and swirl in flocks in the sky. Our last stop before home was to say ciao to St. Teresa in Ecstasy, another amazing Bernini sculpture just so astounding, and it's tucked away in a tiny little church on the main drag (St. Maria in Vittorio). It is an extremely Baroque church and was kinda overwhelming and claustrophobic in such a small church. It created a reaction in me that I haven't felt before here. Definitely an experience, but I was exhausted and there isn't much to the church. Thus we hopped a bus home, I went grocery shopping and then come home for a late day nap.

Cloister

me and Julie

Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli gardens

St. Teresa in Ecstasy

Julie and Ginny and a funky looking Moses

Saturday night I had a wonderful dilemma: I had two awesome parties to choose between! Nico's radio station had a vintage party planned for that night, but it was very very far away. I heard all about it and it sounded so cool and I'm bummed I didn't go, but honestly I wasn't up for an Italian night out, I was very tired. I chose to go to the Ice Club near the Colosseum with Kristen (Cornell IES girl), Kylie, and Pepperoni. We were going to meet up with more Wooster kids who were in town for the weekend but they never made it (not even Hope). Couldn't find that Madonna dei Monti! The club was really fun though. It's made out of ice and you get a parka when you enter, all vodka drinks in glasses made from ice. A fun experience with a nice small group of people. At the end of the night all I wanted was a classico burger but I ended up staying in my apartment after Pepperoni kindly walked me back. He got a classico :(   But it was a great night and I'm eager to return to that bar!

Yep, that's ice

fuzzy blankets to sit on, or keep your hands warm

Got a drink without using my drink card?

The group (minus Kylie)

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Sunday has been an extremely lazy day. I went out to Prati and did a little bit of work and caught up with friends, but then ended up just watching Despicable Me and Inception. Wasted day. Grabbed a slice from Filippo for dinner before coming home and catching up with my roomies and skyping my parents and uncle (and Fanny!!). Ready for another week here in Rome, another week of paradise.