Arrivederci, Roma

We went to the beach today, and it was absolutely a perfect way to end our time here. We went to a private beach, paid for beds, and had the best time ever. It was nice and quiet and warm and beautiful. We all got some nice sun, but no burns. :) We got back just in time to get all dressed up and walk over to Trastevere. We sat together on the steps to a church with an amazing view of the entire city and listened to the writing students read their favorite work from this trip to us. It was a really special experience, being able to eavesdrop on their thoughts and to see how incredibly talented my new friends are. We went to dinner at this amazing restaurant. 5 courses and we ate every one. We had this crazy plate of fried zucchini and pumkin flower and potato and mozzarella and it was so good! Then we got some spicy bean and noodle soup, then some penne pasta with bacon, then the best freaking meat I've tasted here. It was veal and roasted potatoes (kind of like the stuff I had a couple days ago, but 80 million times tastier). I wish I could have finished it, but by that time, I was super full. Tiramisu next (so good) and this strange other cakey thing that was reddish and tasted very much like red cough syrup with a very alchoholic zing. Meh. We didn't eat much of that. Then we had some coffee, which is going to be much needed tonight, since we're packing and waiting to leave at 3am tomorrow morning.
I can't believe we've already spent a month here, but it also seems like we've been here forever. Being back on American soil will be very strange.

No pictures tonight; I've already packed my card reader.

Ostia Antiqua

We hopped onto the metro early yesterday morning and then transferred out to the one that takes us to the beach. Ostia was the first colony of Rome, built on the banks of the Tiber right next to the coast. The Tiber isn't anywhere near the ruins anymore, because one of the Roman emperors actually re-routed the river in later years. It was really cool to see nearly an entire city's foundations still intact. We walked on the old roads (reconstructed with the original stones during Mussolini's time; but they weren't fitted together nearly as well the second time as they had been originally set) and went through the cemetary outside the city walls, then looked around the city. We had our tour guide from the Colusseum with us again, which was fun; she knows so much stuff! We got to see ancient public restrooms, bathhouses, apartments, shopfronts, and the corporate district. It was really hot and there wasn't a lot of shade, so by the time we were done, we were really ready to go back. Some people headed to the beach, but the rest of us headed back to Rome. I went with the professors to an amazing little place for lunch that makes basic, home-cooked Italian food. I had roasted veal with potatoes and it was so yummy!

Pictures:

A temple of the cult of Mithras. It was a lot cooler down there, but kinda damp and buggy.

Huge mosaic on the floor of the big bath complex in the city.

The street between two lines of apartment houses.

Overlooking the baths. The big grassy area you see was the gymnasium part of the baths.

Sistine Chapel

We went to the Vatican Museums today. It was actually a long, hot walk from Saint Peter's to the museum, so by the time we got there, we were ready for air conditioning. Bags x-rayed and metal detectors. It was a definite experience in crowd control. There's only one way you can walk through the museum, and they herd you like sheep. It was crowded and hot. The thing I noticed when I was looking at the art was how many people were hiding behind their cameras the whole time. I don't think any of them were really experiencing what they were looking at at all. We couldn't take pictures with flash throughout the museum, and no pictures at all in the Sistine chapel. I had my camera with me, but seriously, everything I could have taken pictures of is in a book, online, or somewhere easily accessible. I'll show you all some good pictures (better than I ever could have taken, with my little point and shoot) of the pieces that I got to see. I didn't want to waste my time snapping away while I could be studying how Raphael painted Michelangelo's face into the School of Athens or what colors Titian used as a Venetian Renaissance artist. I don't know, being here for a month has taught me a lot about what it means to look at art and experience old things. It all seemed a little irreverent. People were just zooming past the tapestries and the map frescos--and all the modern religious art. They wanted to get to the stuff "that mattered." It frustrated me a little, because that other art is still so important, and it's been completely informed by the stuff they'd all spent all of five minutes ogling at with their cameras. I think some of the modern stuff was more moving than some of the Rubens and Titians and Raphaels that we saw. Maybe I'm just an art history snob now. :)
Anyway, when we finally funneled into the Sistine Chapel, it was seriously like a zoo. We had been asked to be quiet and not take any pictures, and not only could I hear the crowd noise way outside of the chapel, but I could see the camera flashes, too. Wow. We've been to so many churches on so many holy places, so it felt really weird to be in such a beautiful place with people shouting and snapping pictures right and left. Well, we did get to see the famous Michelangelos on the ceiling and the near wall. It was pretty incredible.
When we left, I was with a group that wanted to stop for gelato, and I decided to head back to our hotel (it's really close to the Vatican, so I didn't mind walking). Amazing timing on my part. Because I'm walking along the wall, and there are 80 million Italian policemen along the road. And I get to Saint Peter's Square, and it's completely empty. The main street to the Vatican was lined with people, and as soon as I got there to look at what was going on, Obama's car and his entourage came down the street and swung around to the back entrance of the Vatican (where we entered for our tour a couple weeks ago). So I was a few hundred yards from our President, and in Rome. Ha.
Anyway, we came back and studied like maniacs for this style quiz we had to take this afternoon. I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. There were a few pieces on the powerpoint that everyone got wrong, because they were a little ridiculous. But at least we're done with schoolwork for this trip! Yay!
Tomorrow we go to Ostia Antiqua--ruins and some beach time! I can't believe we are three days away from being done. Seriously? Has it been a month already?

Keats and Obama. I mean, what?

So we went to the Spanish steps this morning so we could visit the Keats Shelly Memorial home. This was the house that Keats lived in during the last days of his life, before he died of tuberculosis. It's now been turned into a museum filled with books by him, Shelly, Lord Byron, and others, and paintings and letters and paraphanalia of all three. It was mildly interesting, but this day was mostly for the literature students on this trip. We felt a little bored and tired. But it was still good. Then we took the subway waaay south to the Piramide stop (I hadn't been there since that fateful day when we did the scavenger hunt) so that we could go to the Protestant Cemetery. That was my favorite part of the day, actually. There were trees and it was very very quiet (as one might imagine, being around dead people). We found some friendly cats and pet them, and tried to find the earliest instances of Christian imagery on the tombstones. I'll explain that: The reason that this cemetery exists was to have a place to bury "non-Catholic foreigners." Obviously, if you weren't Catholic, you couldn't be buried in a Catholic cemetery. In the earlist days of this particular cemetery, any sort of cross, mention of God, or salvation had been outlawed, because the Catholic church believed it was the one true church and therefore the protestants had no right to use any such symbols. The protestants were forced to have their burial services at night, otherwise the sight of a non-catholic priest blessing a burial would cause riots among the general Catholic public. Very interesting. Anyway, the earlist date I found on a headstone with a cross on it was 1845, but I'm sure there were a few that were older. But not many.
Came back, took a nap, and we'll be going to the Museum of Modern Art here in a few minutes. Oh, but I mentioned Obama because of what's happening tomorrow. I'll back up. For the past few days, we've been seeing people in suits driving around in dark cars in big groups, with police stopping traffic and pedestrians to let them through. We've been walking around at least twice when their little caravan has gone past. Helicopters have been watching the city streets, too. It's all felt very ominous, and we were all wondering what important person is in the city. Well, turns out it's Michelle Obama and her daughters. They've been sightseeing the past couple of days and I guess tomorrow President Obama and his family are having an audience with the Pope at the Vatican. Guess where our very last outing is tomorrow? Yeah. So I think Dr. Kresser went to the Vatican today to make sure that we'll still be able to get into the Museum part of the Vatican, because we have reservations. But it's incredibly ironic that the closest I'll probably ever be to the American President is in a foreign country. Ha.

Pictures:

A kitty that I managed to persuade to come over and be petted. He was really thirsty, so we turned the water on for him. He wasn't so sure he liked water on his whiskers, but he got over it.

"They change their sky, not their affections, who cross the sea."

-an inscription on a tombstone for someone born in America who died in Rome.

Yesterday and today

Yesterday we went to the Palazzo Barberini, a palace designed by Moderno and filled with lots of different paintings. There was Caravaggio and van Eyck and lots of other artists that I didn't recognize. It was beautiful. I stayed there way longer than I was expecting to. I saw that famous portrait of Thomas More in person! That was awesome, since A Man for All Seasons is one of my favorite plays. Also saw the portrait of Henry VIII that practically everyone's seen pictures of. It blows my mind how detailed that portrait is: every stitch of his clothing embroidery is clear and exact. Obviously, we couldn't take pictures, so I don't have any photos of yesterday. Or today. We went to the Galleria Borghese today. It was a very very long walk, and we thought we were going to be late. So we hustled. And now my feet aren't happy abou thtat. But we got to see amazing Bernini sculptures and tons of paintings (more Caravaggio :) ).
Funny story:
So I'm in the main painting gallery and I see an older couple sitting on some benches talking to each other and staring at me. I thought they were just thinking "oh look, another American girl," but then the guy gets up, comes over to me, and says, "I'm sorry, did we speak downstairs?" in this British accent. I said "no" and then he said, "But do you speak English?"
"Yes."
"Are you a student?"
"Yes, I am."
"Oh well then maybe you can answer a few questions for us..."
And we talked for a while about emerging perspective in early Renaissance paintings and how they restore old pieces. It was fun, because I actually knew what I was talking about. Turns out he's actually from California and he's an engineer, so the screwed up perspective that lots of early Renaissance paintings have was bugging him. Anyway, that was fun.
We waited forever for the tram so we could get back to the hotel, and they kicked us off to transfer. And we had to wait for the busdriver to take his break. And there was traffic. And it was gross. Pleh. But we're back. And I got pizza for lunch. All is well.
Review session tonight for our quiz we're taking on Friday. Wow, is it already Wednesday? We hardly have any time left here!

Bene, bene

We went to the beach today! It was a very long bus/metro/another metro ride there, but we finally got to the coast. We had to find a beach that wasn't members only, and ended up having to pay to get into a private beach (if you had seen the public beach, you would know why--crowded and gross). It was glorious. Lots of sun, and the water was perfect and warm. Such a good day. The ride back into Rome was so crowded and hot, though. That was probably the only unpleasant part of life. Still, I think this was a good Italian culture day. Being at the beach and everything felt very "un-American" today.
Now I've washed the saltwater out of my hair and will probably go to bed.

Tivoli

Today we went to Tivoli to visit the site of Emperor Hadrien's villa (just outside the city) and the Villa D'Este (inside the city). We all could have stayed there ALL DAY. I feel like the pictures will explain why. After three weeks in hot and dirty Rome, I got to hike a little and be with trees and birds and water. The site of Hadrien's villa was really cool and really big. We only got to see a little bit of it because we only had the bus for a short amount of time, but there were pools and the ruins of his personal baths, etc. There were humongous fish swimming in those pools--I guess they can get so big because they go undisturbed for so long. And we saw turtles, too!
We came back to Tivoli and ate lunch, then headed over to the next villa. The Villa D'Este was built in the Baroque period as a retreat inside the city, and it has the craziest fountains I've ever seen. They're all in this massive garden with an incredible view of the countryside (did I mention that Tivoli is on the side of a mountain?).
Pictures!


One of the big fountains in the gardens of the Villa D'Este


Meh, not the best picture of me, but here it is!


The view from the stairs to the garden at Villa D'Este

A pool at Hadrien's Villa.