Saturday Mornings, only thing missing is the coffee

One thing I notice I miss frequently (besides friends, family, and my mom's cooking/domelets) is coffee. Real, American, full bodied mugfuls of coffee in the mornings. The cappuccinos and espressos are just fine between classes or in the afternoon when I need a boost but it's just not the same.

Anyways, I apologize because in my excitement to finish up my weekend stories I neglected to mention one of my field studies. On Thursday my Forma Urbis class went into the Roman forum for two hours! Gianni gave us a guided tour and pointed out all of the monuments and buildings we're discussing in class. It was so easy to follow his story like descriptions and I hope it all stuck with me. It's a little annoying to try and take notes out and about in churches and such, so my fnield study notes aren't quite as good as in class. I like to spend time looking around where I am rather than furiously scribbling. We saw the Arch of Titus (which I remember from Stud's class!), Arch of Septimus Severus, Basilica Amelia and Guila, the Curia, Temple of Castor and Pollox [bollox it wasn't 500! haha], some columns from the Temple of Saturn and Temple Julius, the Temple of Vesta and the compound where the Vestal Virgins lived which is very much intact, the giagantic Temple of Antonious and Faustina, the Basilica Maxientius and Constantine which is just unbelievably large (also the original home to the colossol statue of Constantine),  the Rostra where Cicero's head was nailed when Marcus Anthony and Octavian took over, the "belly button of the city" umbilicus urbis romae, all connected together by the Via Sacra the first road in Roma! Whew! There was lots and lots and lots to see so to anyone considering a visit to Rome find a good tour guide and go into the Forum. It wouldn't have been nearly interesting enough without Gianni's guidance and I learned so much! Pictures to follow, I'm still stealing from my roommates because my camera is out of commission for the moment.

Roman Forum

Atrium of the Vestal Virgins, aka their house!!

Pretending I'm a statue

My new favorite arch

Looking towards the Via Sacra

Arch of Septimus Severus!

After such an eventful afternoon and a long Italian class Julia and I stopped for groceries on the way home because we hosted another potluck! Such busy socialites over here right? As my IC friends know though, I love hosting. Hosting a mature get together with friends from different walks of life, and of course food, is one of my favorite things even though it sometimes stresses me out. Thankfully with all 5 of us pulling our weight there's no stress! This dinner party snowballed because Tom decided it. He just informed us on Wednesday that we (the centro girls) were hosting a potluck on Thursday. No complaints because he cooks really well :) So I made a big fruit salad but there was also pasta with spinach and chicken, steak, sangria, tiramisu (tiramisoup!), guac because Mattly is the man, bruchetta, Amanda brough little cherry tomatoes sliced up with basil and moz in between like tiny sandwiches, yummy yummy spinach artichoke dip, brie, and of course wine and lemoncello. Needless to say it was one of my best meals I've had here, thank you guys! Afterwards, at like 1:30, they all headed out to our favorite St. Calisto for a single beer and then home. It's nice having this super long weekend.

Spencer and Tom

Potluck nonesense- Aven and Julie

Headed out with full bellies

Friday morning we woke up to clean up the remains of the party.Ginny and I met up with Mattly to visit the Prati market! It's inside and has tons and tons of fruit, veggie, meat, fish, cheese, clothing stands everywhere. Once I got there I realized that because of the potluck we didn't really need much food in our house. I was bummed because I wanted to shop! I bought two little zucchinis which I plan to slice up with some tomato and moz and put in couscous, yum! Mattly was on fire with his Italian skills and Ginny bought some pants she needs for her archaeological internship. My roommate is going to be uncovering priceless etruscan treasures over the course of this semester... yeah Rome is that cool. It was a nice morning to be outside walking to and from market and they are good company even when we get lost. What nice people there are in this program! After the market I came home for lunch and Sophia, Kat, and I tried Julia's yoga instructional video. I don't really bend that way... but we tried! Then a shower and quick nap because I knew Friday night would involve big plans!

I woke up and did lots of homework, updated the blog, we all had dinner together (except Julia who ran away to Tuscany for the weekend). After that we got prettied up and met Pasty, Amanda, Emily, and their roommate for drinks at a wine bar. I don't know what kind of white we were drinking but it was very deep gold in color and tasted so good. Classy wine once in a while is a nice change of pace from our table wine at dinner. After that Mattia, one of Claudio's friends, and his friend Marco met up with us and we went to a dance club on the other side of Rome. We were the only Americans there and it was fun to practice our Italian, thankfully the guys English is really really good also. I was struggling with switching between English and Italian and just gave up at some point in the night. They also showed us a sandwich truck that is open late sort of close to our apartment and ordered the Italian version of Pirmanti's. Mattia got EVERYTHING on his sandwich: tomato, fries, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce, sausage, peppers, cheese, pickles, i don't even know what all was on that monster of a sandwich but I tried a bite and it actually was pretty good. I'm afraid I might have to go back and get one for myself sometime. It was a traditional Italian night, meaning we got home after 4:30 in the morning! Glad I napped. They don't go out until late and thus they stay out later. Strange and I am happier going to sleep most nights but it was a fun experience.

Us girls at the discoteca

When we got home last night Nico was fast asleep. When I woke up this morning SYRIA WAS HERE!!!! Syria is Nico's new puppy, she is 3 months old and has big paws she trips over and is loving and cute and adorable. I am so happy we get to play with her all day today!! So now that you're all caught up on life I'm going to play tug-a-war with the cutest creature on this earth (sorry Fanny).

We took Syria on a walk

Terza Parte

Sunday morning: final installment of the Almalfi Coast series!

Sunday I woke up feeling exhausted and achy thanks to a head cold. Amanda, Sophia, and I packed up our room and went down for another fabulous breakfast. When I went to get an omelet I asked the man preparing them what type of cheese he was using (safe to say it wasn't shredded cheddar, they don't understand breakfast foods like Americans do). I had noticed earlier this man knew limited English: tomato, omelet, cheese, you want?, and your welcome! haha So I asked the very simple question "Che tipo di fromaggio?" He got really excited I could speak Italian and we chatted about how pretty Sorrento is, art history, where I am from back home and when the group was leaving the hotel. I had so much fun chatting in Italian (before 8am I'd like to add) and this man didn't seem to be purposefully simple or slow. The cheese is German by the way.

After my fun breakfast we all boarded our bus for a tour of the Amalfi Coast. These roads are wide enough for maybe a car and vespa to pass eachother yet are two way traffic heavily populated by tourist filled buses like our own. They twist and turn up and down perilously steep cliffs allowing for breathtaking views (if you're not the driver). It was a little muggy but our tour guide, Esmerelda, pointed out the olive groves and lemon groves along the way which are supposedly the best in Italy (and therefore the world in the Italian mind). I might have dozed for 15 min or so but it left me feeling much more alert for the rest of the morning. We made a stop at an overlook crowded with tourists and aggressive salesmen.

The sleeping giant, see his face looking to the sky
and hands folded on his chest?

Good example of the roads, remember that's a cliff

Scenic views

Olive groves on terraces

We made it to the town of Almalfi for a tour of a Cloister and the shrine to St. Andrew where his remains are. The church was built in the striped style reminding me of Moorish/Spanish buildings which I haven't seen much of  in Italy before. There was a long staircase up to the church and it was richly decorated on the narthex/porch with bronze figures on the portone and mosaics and elegant columns. I was a happy camper. Also I read the itinerary that day and knew to wear church appropriate attire. The majority of ladies in my program were wearing tank tops and booty shorts, which meant they had to wrap two or three scarves around themselves before entering the church and museum. The Cloister of Paradise was originally a burial site for the nobles in Almalfi in the second century, hence "paradise". There was a beautiful atrium area with graceful arches and colorful frescoes that was covered over with a more straight simple whitewashed style. I feel like an awful art student because I am blanking on the actual name for it. Basically it went from being beautifully ornate and decorated to square and white and boring. Thankfully an earthquake much later on reveled these hidden niches and they were uncovered to find very well preserved frescoes!! Sadly it appears there was a Muslim invasion at one point so many of the heads of saints were carved out, but still these frescoes are incredible and we could see them right up close in person!

Ceramic mosaic at port entrance to the city

Pretty arches

San Andrea- can you spot my plaid scarf?

Above the door

Uncovered mosaic designs on display

Frescoes in the Giotto school!

Birdie

The crypt/shrine!

Depiction of the procession of St. Andrew's remains
from Constantinople to Amalfi (read up on the miracle)

St. Andrew himself

After the artium we went into the church's old basilica which is now a museum for relics of saints and popes and the church in general. It's just one large room with glass cases but inside the cases are priceless treasures. I was awestruck at the collection! After the museum we descended some stairs down to St. Andrew's shrine. This room was clearly Baroque! The ceiling was covered with colorful depictions of the saint's life and there was gold gilding everywhere! In the center there was a large bronze of the saint over his remains in the alter. Even without being Catholic or super religious I felt honored to be there. We didn't get to explore the Baroque basilica since it was a Sunday and there was a service in process. After the church we were given a little bit of time to explore and get a snack. Sophia bought two cute little lemoncello glasses (like a large shotglass but you sip on it as a digestivo). The area is known for it's ceramic tiles and I almost bought these cute little bottle stoppers with pretty ceramic flowers for family friends, but we ran out of time and I felt like I was ready to faint again haha. Ten minutes and a coke later we were getting back on the bus. Oh! but I used my first public bathroom!! I paid only a euro and it was really clean (toilet paper included!) which I thought was a bug success. At Pompeii we learned all about the public tax on urine which started the evil trend of paying to use bathrooms.

On the bus we were informed that our next stop for lunch was supposed to be Ravello but between the coast and the town there was a wild fire which they were trying to put out and there was a likelihood of a landslide. Thus Ravello was out of the picture and we would stop somewhere else for a quick bite. Since we had to change our route the roads got jam packed and amazingly smaller! We spent 30 minutes trying to go down one hill because the traffic had to take turns on one specific turn, and well Italians don't understand that concept too well. Once we reached the bottom we were met with the horrid idea of having to return up the same hill because along our desired route there had been a fatal car/motorcycle accident. We were trapped between a fire and an accident. All the students were just hungry and tired and wanted to be in Rome, we weren't heartbroken about missing part of the narrated tour. We stopped for 20 minutes for lunch and thankfully the roads opened up ahead of us so we could continue. We reached the end of the coastline highway (to great applause) and hit the road back home. Whew! I slept much of the bus ride back to Rome and thankfully our apartment is so close to IES that getting home from there was a breeze.

I made a bland dinner to get something in my stomach and skyped with my family for a teeny bit because it was John's birthday. Then I collapsed into my bed hoping that 9:30am would take it's sweet time in getting here.

Parta Due!

Continuation of the weekend!

So we pick back up on Saturday morning with a brusque 6:45 wake up call, thank you IES (no sarcasm). I slept like a baby in a large comfy bed and got to wake up to the prettiest view. *sigh* I miss that place already! We went down to the restaurant for a breakfast buffet… oh yeah, REAL breakfast!!!!!!!! They gave us (very un-American tasting) coffee in full portion sizes along with breads/croissants and jam, fruit, cereal, yogurt, eggs, omelets, potatoes (HIENZ KETCHUP!). They provided juices and even some Prosecco for making mimosas. I did not take part because all day was going to be spent out in the hot sun.

After the best breakfast I’ve had in Italy, we all went for a ten minutes stroll down the steep cliff to the port of Sorrento. We caught the ferry to Capri, but they ran out of outdoor seating by the time we got on so we sat at the round couch/table set up (think piano bar style?) indoors at the bow. It was an odd experience since the largest boats I’ve been on were something like the Sloanstrosity. The ferry only took maybe 20 minutes, not too bad, and we hit a couple good stomach-dropping waves right before the port. At Capri the port isn’t too interesting so to explore we went up the funicolare (think tram/incline/train up some BIG hills). Once at the top I follow Giovanna, one of our leaders, on a tour of a profumiere. Capri is known for the scents that can only be produced from the fauna that grows on the island. I liked the scent made for men the best actually. I was happy when Sophia bought it.

Top of the funicolare at Capri

Hiking down 

 The whole day was ours to spend on Capri so after the profumiere I didn’t have anything special planned. A group of us went off in hunt of a beach. Hiking down a serpentine slope for twenty minutes and then walking for another ten minutes can work up a sweat! We were happy when we found a cute little private beach club. We paid 5 euro for the beach, showers, bathrooms, changing rooms. It was a good deal. The beach wasn’t sandy like we were expecting though!! It was made up of smooth white stones the size of rubber bouncy balls, but oblong in shape. They were a little painful to walk on but surprisingly comfy to lounge on, and once you were in the crystal clear brilliant blue water nothing else mattered. The water was warm when I got in…. I’ve never experienced such a weird sensation! There were boats everywhere along the coast with people anchored and swimming and “yachting” if that can be a verb? All the Italians are suuuuuuper tan right now, but my teacher claims in the winter everyone turns snow white. I don’t really believe it yet.

Beach Group

 After the beach we bought some ice cream treats and started the hike up to the top of Capri. After a couple sweeps back and forth I realized it felt a lot like climbing up Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon! I was the “John” in my group and booked it ahead of them, setting a brisk pace. We rewarded ourselves with a quiet simple lunch on a terrace at the top. We were in the shade with a breeze, cold water, and fabulous pizzas. It’s funny how only 3 hours difference changes the pizza! The crusts were a little thicker, like only HALF the thickness of American crusts instead of an eighth. We caught the funicolare down to the port and met up to swap stories with the other students before boarding the ferry back to Sorrento.  Some students went on a boat tour around the island. Some went on boat tours into the Blue Grotto, which is just the perfection of Mediterranean blue water times a thousand! I was interested in the grotto tour before I heard the time commitment and price. One thing I am sad I missed out on was a looong hike and short visit to one of Tiberius’ villas. Apparently it wasn’t quite worth the walk but I still would have been interested.

Back to the hotel we showered and napped then hit the town! Before dinner Tom, Sarah, Sophia, Alexi, and I went into town to check out the shops and town life. We might have stopped to buy a couple bottles of wine for un digestive after dinner also O:)    Then back to the hotel to freshen up for excellent dinner: round two! When I was dressing for dinner (thank you Amanda for the dress loan!) I noticed how incredibly tan I am!!! I am as tan and blonde as a summer on the bay! It’s crazy because I wasn’t really planning on going to beaches or bronzing this much. No complaints of course, I like my hair blonde.  Dinner second night didn’t offer as many droolworth options but my dish was voted best! I had some form of eggplant, zucchini, and cheese in little balls (fried maybe?) with a sauce. It was good but no super outstanding flavors. For dessert I got the fruit salad which included pears, apples, pineapples, coconut, and maybe one or two things (I’m forgetting already!!!!!). That was fresh and cool and light and the perfect end to dinner.

The ladies

After dinner Sophia, Amanda, and I all invited two or three friends to mingle in the room and enjoy some wine. Our group and many other IES groups got together that night to hit up the discoteca by the port but I was feeling extremely tired from the day in the sun and stayed behind. I’m glad I did because that night or the following morning I realized I’ve developed a cold! The achy, getting chills, stuffy/running nose, headache kind of cold. Thankfully I got my fill of Capri without any symptoms. All that was planned for the next day was a bus tour and going home to Rome. Home to Rome! I like that phrase!

Don't forget my hotel view 

Whew!  That’s Saturday for ya! I went on a field study to la basilica della santa cecila this morning and it was wonderful. I liked  the church but my teacher was going over basics for some students that I’ve already learned so that was a little boring. Thankfully it was only Renaissance and Italian today! After class I tried my hand at some rosemary lemon chicken (it’s not bad but my mama can cook far better). One super exciting awesome piece of news: Snoble sent me a letter!!! I got it in the mail yesterday and it made me so happy :)  I love my roomie and was happy to hear about her life and adventures even though we’ve managed to catch up two or three times since I’ve been here. My Italian hippo was so cute and made me smile Snoble so thank you!

Ouch on the Toes!

Busy day with school and errands and ended it all with a passagata after dinner to Prati and then Trestevere (in flats! silly Hallie). As a result of my sleepiness I'll postpone another update from Almalfi until tomorrow (hanging on the edge of your seats right?!?!)

Today my Baroque class took a field study to la Chiesa del Gesu which blew my mind!! Somehow I forgot this is BAROQUE art which means wild crazy motion and drama and extreme everything! We visited Gesu, San Andreas della Valle, and Chiesa Nuova (my neighbor) this morning but Gesu was by far the most elaborate. I'm so happy we have the time and location for these trips because I might not have visited Gesu and have missed on  one of the most ridiculously excessive churches in Rome. It's a Jesuit church and that order is known for being tight with the rich and famous over the years. While they take a vow of poverty they also swear complete, total, and perhaps sometimes blind obedience to hierarchies like monarchies or you know, the Catholic church. Cardinale Firenze's family were the patrons for this building, the first Jesuit church ever I believe? maybe just in Rome. This was the first time I really really really missed having my camera (since it got sand in it and needs a little tweaking from a professional).

The center of the ceiling... does not do it justice though

After Baroque I had Forma Urbis with Giani, my new favorite/bff since Almalfi.We are really diving into an understanding of ancient Rome in relation to modern landmarks. I like his thought processes and can follow him easily which is nice because he's throwing a lot at us at once. Gotta learn the basics somehow.

After Giani's class I hoofed it to the electronics store where I had the kindest sales rep! Our conversation was all Italian except the last 2 min or so, and until that point I think he believed me to be fluent! He couldn't physically solve my problem but gave me the number for Kodak Italia to see where their nearest store is and how to get help. I'm a little scared to call an Italian number, I really hope they speak English! Italian over the phone is hard because a. I can't hear very well and b. Italians use their hands to speak and that's really helpful! Oh well, a challenge for another day. But I want my camera fixed so I can check out Gesu two or three more times!

 

Tonight was homework, laundry, an unexciting/dreadful outing with my Italian class this evening, and then a quick bite before Prati. Home again home again! Going to St. Maria in Trastevere tomorrow morning for my Renaissance class!! yay field studies! Roman Forum on Thursday!  

PS. Kat and I finished planning our fall break plans! It'll be a week from Rome --> Dublin --> Edinbourgh -> Nice --> Roma!  Maybe I will sneak a trip to Paris to see some traveling family/friends in early Oct and maybe I'll see some parental units in late Oct/early Nov. We'll have to wait and see!

To bed now, ta ta!

Wild and Crazy Travels! Prima Parta

Here I sit, sicky poo with a head cold. Thankfully I squeezed in an adventured filled weekend first. Dearest Rents don’t you worry it’s going around the program and not related to late nights out (I’m the homebody of our apartment). So with a cup of tea I curl up to try and detail as much as I can remember from Thursday on!

Claudio with all the ladies

Dinner Party: Classy Centro Ladies that we are, we hosted a potluck with two other apartments of IES students. The boys and some Emory kids made the trek with desserts and risotto (Tom is the man), brochette, amaaaaazing guac, and a few bottles of wine/lemoncello to add to our melon and prosciutto, garlic bread, veggies, and fruit/nutella crepes. Claudio had just finished a major project to graduate and has only ONE MORE PROJECT! We’re all getting excited for our ISCs to finish the semester so we can hang out with them more. The goal of the night was to celebrate Claudio’s achievement and Sophia’s friend was in Rome for the weekend. There were lots and lots of dishes and music. Everyone had a great time, and the night continued for most at a discotecca while Ginny and I cleaned up and poor Kat went to bed because she wasn’t feeling well.

Matt, Pepperoni, and Claudio

Riccardo Tre: The next night, Thursday, Nico and Claudio and Issota brought their apartments to an Italian production of Shakespeare’s Richard the Third at the Globe Theatre replica in the Borghese Gardens. Sadly this was my first time in the gardens and I’ll have to go back. We were early so my apartment enjoyed the cool evening air, of course this production started at 9pm… it’s four hours long… by midnight Ginny, Kat, and I skipped out on the second half to come home, pack, and sleep before departing for our trips. I loved the play! They added a weird mechanic/elizabethian feel to the performance, and for the most part I could follow the performance! It was really fun to sit on the concrete floor and have a surrounding experience of Italian words etc. I’d like to see Riccardo III in English sometime since I haven’t seen it before and I only caught the first half before going home.   *Also Nico bought a puppy with her sister (to keep at her family home not here) and we get to meet her soon!

FRIDAY!!! Hooray! The day I’ve been waiting for! At the early hour of 7am my group met at the center to board a bus for the Amalfi Coast. IES requires that every student pick one of three trips to attend, almost all expenses paid to fun destinations! I chose Amalfi so I could see Pompeii, two roomies went to Cinque Terre for hiking, and Julia will be going to Tuscany to see the countryside next weekend. The first day was a bus trip to Pompeii, a two hour guided tour of the city, a high class four course meal for lunch, checking in Sorrento at our hotel, and a ridiculously fantastically amazingly incredible four course dinner at the hotel.

Port/suburban buildings

Pompeii was exciting because I’ve studied it several times, from freshman history to AP Survey, and I was getting to see all these things in person plus learning more! They put little marble chunks in the pavement on the main road from the town center to the port so that at night the torches would be reflected and sailors could get home late at night. Many of the fountains (because they had running water, go Romans!) had animal head decorations so that they could be used for directions or meeting points; like “Meet you at the goat fountain tomorrow!”. We got to go into two different homes of wealthy Romans where the frescoes are remarkably well preserved. I am so impressed with the completeness of the buildings, streets, art, and houses in Pompeii. 

Outer wall

In one house they had a summer dining room and winter dining room, in which they would lounge (women included before the after dinner entertainment) and gorge themselves, once they were full they would go out back, stick a feather down their throats to allow more room for food when they returned to the party. The rich people sounded just a smidge obnoxious, but at least we have the ability to know all this about the lives of people 2000 years ago! One extremely well preserved building was the brothel house, and its frescoes were considered a “menu” for the sailors coming into port not speaking the language. Well detailed and graphic for sure. Those stone beds in the brothel house don’t look too comfy either. Another fact that the oh so mature college guys on our trip enjoyed was the good luck charm located all over the town. It is very similar in shape to the male anatomy and would be decorated with wings, bells, and bright colors. When Pompeii became a tourist destination they removed 80% of these symbols considering them not appropriate. The only disappointment for me was that our time limit didn’t allow us to explore the Villa of Mysteries, which has a pretty dancer fresco I had been hoping to see. Oh well, I can always go back! It’s a short train ride South of Rome.

Fountain in the bathhouse

Molding in bath house with atalntes

People suffocated by the ash

Fourth style fresco!

Inside the bathhouse with Sophia

In the summer dining room

Bakery! They found bread in the ovens and the stamp on the bread naming the baker, the cone things are grain mills

Pools from below

Our hotel in Sorrento was tops! It is a four star hotel and we were three to a room, me, Sophia, and Amanda who I came to love! The floors were elaborate tiles designs, the bathroom is twice the size of ours at the apartment, and our view was unreal. UNREAL. Every time we glanced out our patio doors we gasped. We looked over the port town of Sorrento with bright colored houses built into the cliff on the Mediterranean Sea. Afternoon light was pretty, dusk was lovely, sunset was breathtaking,  night was picturesque dotted with little twinkling lights (sorta reminded me of Ithaca at night looking over the lake), and sunrise was perhaps the best of them all. Most of IES took advantage of the cascading pools that afternoon and sunbathed before heading to dinner.

Pools from above

The giant key!!! with electricity key!

For dinner my primo piatto was cavatelli with a ham/gorgonzola creamy sauce, my secondo piatto was veggie stuffed peppers that fell apart in my mouth, my contorni were french fries(!!) and bacon wrapped green beans, for dessert I have a baked apple with cinnamon but tasted the desserts of all my dinner partners, fruit tart was by far the winner (even over the tiramisu).

This is a lot, yet only FRIDAY! I’ll keep updating a little every day I hope but school is real here and I have homework and classes and field trips to the Sistine Chapel, etc, etc, boring boring…. Hehehe but in all seriousness I’m off to make dinner (in our new functioning sink!!) and do readings before getting a good night’s sleep to help fight this cold!  If you actually read this, well done! There is more so I will always have a record of my travels. Ciao tutti! A doppo domani!

**EXTRA PICTURES!

Super famous moasic in Pompeii 

Pompeii!!

Mr Vesuvius 

Sophia and the cow head fountain

On my patio, looking goofy I know

Room 923 knows how to host!

Morning view

Looking over Sorrento and the pools

Sunset view