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!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
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.
Now I've washed the saltwater out of my hair and will probably go to bed.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, July 3, 2009
We walk forever
We looked at more churches today with Caravaggio paintings, which were absolutely beautiful. He is by and large one of my favorite painters. After having taken an oil class, I think I can appreciate what he does with oils so much more.
Couldn't take pictures of these paintings, obviously, and I didn't think we needed any more images of vaulted ceilings laid in with gold. Mmyeah. I have images of a lot of them in my textbook, so I can show you all what I saw when I get back.
We walked around for a very long time today, shopping and looking around. We walked around the Pantheon area and then the Campo de Fiori. I ended up buying that leather bag that I've had my eye on for three weeks. It's beautiful and it's real and it smells wonderful and it's my one thing I'm bringing back. :)
Tomorrow we go to Tivoli to see Hadrien's Villa and a waterfall!! I am so extremely excited to get out of this city for a little while and see some nature. Yay! Don't worry, I'll take pictures on this outing.
Couldn't take pictures of these paintings, obviously, and I didn't think we needed any more images of vaulted ceilings laid in with gold. Mmyeah. I have images of a lot of them in my textbook, so I can show you all what I saw when I get back.
We walked around for a very long time today, shopping and looking around. We walked around the Pantheon area and then the Campo de Fiori. I ended up buying that leather bag that I've had my eye on for three weeks. It's beautiful and it's real and it smells wonderful and it's my one thing I'm bringing back. :)
Tomorrow we go to Tivoli to see Hadrien's Villa and a waterfall!! I am so extremely excited to get out of this city for a little while and see some nature. Yay! Don't worry, I'll take pictures on this outing.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Lightning!
SUPER thunderstorm tonight. Around 6:30 the clouds rolled in and all hell broke loose. Not really. But kind of. There was lightning lighting up the buildings every few seconds and the loudest, weirdest-sounding thunder I've ever heard. It was epic. The rain came down in torrents for a while, and people were running all over the streets to get out of it. Lots of people were standing in doorways just watching the lightning. It struck real close a couple of times, and I saw a couple forks come out of the clouds. I wish we had thunderstorms like that back at home. I just sat on the windowsill (inside, don't worry) watching it until it passed.
Tonight we went to the pumpkin place (one of our favorite restaurants) for Neenah's birthday. It was a lot of fun. I had thin pizza, and then we had this cool dessert : it had ricotta cheese and nutella on a crust-type thing. SO good.
When we got back, Hannah fixed my haircut, because it was getting nasty and long and weird in the back, and now I love it. I was starting to feel like a 9 year old boy. She's just wonderful. After that we sat in the hallway and watched So You Think You Can Dance on her laptop, because she gets better internet out there. Glorious.
That is all. I am going to bed. Tomorrow we're looking at Caravaggio!!
Tonight we went to the pumpkin place (one of our favorite restaurants) for Neenah's birthday. It was a lot of fun. I had thin pizza, and then we had this cool dessert : it had ricotta cheese and nutella on a crust-type thing. SO good.
When we got back, Hannah fixed my haircut, because it was getting nasty and long and weird in the back, and now I love it. I was starting to feel like a 9 year old boy. She's just wonderful. After that we sat in the hallway and watched So You Think You Can Dance on her laptop, because she gets better internet out there. Glorious.
That is all. I am going to bed. Tomorrow we're looking at Caravaggio!!
Baroque
Lots more churches yesterday (some pictures below), and a quiz that I think I did okay on. Extra credit covers a multitude of sins. :)
Big thunder and lightning last night! Like legit thunder. It went on for a while, and was really loud. It rained, but only for a few minutes, like usual. I got cold enough to stick on my jeans and a sweatshirt, though (I DID use that SPU sweatshirt, mom! Aren't you glad I packed it?).
Today we went to some Baroque churches, but I didn't take pictures this time. I wanted to try absorbing as much as I could, as opposed to hiding behind a camera all day. It was glorious. There was a beautiful white church that was simply constructed, but really interesting. There was a courtyard with white pillars and a mosaic fountain off of the main area of the church and a really cool mausoleum downstairs with a staircase that looked like a conch shell. It was pretty neat. The other two churches we went to were in the same area, but gilded and really overwhelming. The only think I like about the Baroque painting/ architecture style is the fact that it breaks the frame a lot and spills out into the rest of the room.
When we were getting off the bus, we met two girls who were doing the Semester at Sea program. They had heard us speaking English and asked us for directions, and ended up eating lunch with us at our favorite salad place. It was fun. One of them was from Georgia, and the other was from Hawaii (but she was going to school in Oregon). It was cool to touch base with other college kids after being in one group for so long. It made me miss my friends who live in Georgia and Oregon. Anyway, we pointed them in the direction of the Pantheon, and they left. They're going to Naples, next, then some really cool places like Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, and Morocco. I really want to do a program like that, but they were talking about how big their ship and their program is, and it's seriously like a cruise ship. With like...700 people. No thank you. That's just like a floating university. There are other programs out there that take only like 25 people and actually teach you how to sail. I feel like that would be more beneficial.
Yep, so it's Neenah's birthday today, so I think we're going to go out to dinner--a lot of us. Hopefully good food.
Some pictures from yesterday:
The tomb of Saint Ignatius: founder of the Jesuit order.
Big thunder and lightning last night! Like legit thunder. It went on for a while, and was really loud. It rained, but only for a few minutes, like usual. I got cold enough to stick on my jeans and a sweatshirt, though (I DID use that SPU sweatshirt, mom! Aren't you glad I packed it?).
Today we went to some Baroque churches, but I didn't take pictures this time. I wanted to try absorbing as much as I could, as opposed to hiding behind a camera all day. It was glorious. There was a beautiful white church that was simply constructed, but really interesting. There was a courtyard with white pillars and a mosaic fountain off of the main area of the church and a really cool mausoleum downstairs with a staircase that looked like a conch shell. It was pretty neat. The other two churches we went to were in the same area, but gilded and really overwhelming. The only think I like about the Baroque painting/ architecture style is the fact that it breaks the frame a lot and spills out into the rest of the room.
When we were getting off the bus, we met two girls who were doing the Semester at Sea program. They had heard us speaking English and asked us for directions, and ended up eating lunch with us at our favorite salad place. It was fun. One of them was from Georgia, and the other was from Hawaii (but she was going to school in Oregon). It was cool to touch base with other college kids after being in one group for so long. It made me miss my friends who live in Georgia and Oregon. Anyway, we pointed them in the direction of the Pantheon, and they left. They're going to Naples, next, then some really cool places like Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, and Morocco. I really want to do a program like that, but they were talking about how big their ship and their program is, and it's seriously like a cruise ship. With like...700 people. No thank you. That's just like a floating university. There are other programs out there that take only like 25 people and actually teach you how to sail. I feel like that would be more beneficial.
Yep, so it's Neenah's birthday today, so I think we're going to go out to dinner--a lot of us. Hopefully good food.
Some pictures from yesterday:
The tomb of Saint Ignatius: founder of the Jesuit order.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Yesterday
Yesterday we headed over to Trastevere to look at some early early Renaissance paintings. Trastevere has a little bit of a different feel than the rest of Rome; it's the only area of the city that has been consistently inhabited since the Middle Ages (and they're very proud of that fact). It's a little grittier and has more of a village feel. We visited a church built in honor of a woman saint who had been sentenced to beheading. According to legend, it didn't work (or like only partially? She had a slice in her neck). She died three days later. Apparently, saint's bodies aren't supposed to decompose, so when they found her tomb years later, her body had been preserved. An artist named Moderno saw the body when they recovered it, and he sculpted her as she supposedly looked when they opened the tomb. It was pretty interesting (picture below).
In this same church we saw the very first painting of the Renaissance. We piled into these tiny elevators and went up to the second level where there was a fresco on the wall by Cavellini (the first paintings of the Renaissance were originally credited to a man from Florence--Giotto--but his paintings were done after Cavellini's. But since the first art historians were from Florence, they were a little biased). It was pretty cool to look at--a style that straddled two different eras.
We went to another church that had some beautiful mosaics and domes. It's all running together now, we go to so many churches.
The last place we went to on our morning outing was a little palace with paintings by Raphael. I think my favorite part about that, though, was seeing the ancient graffiti that had been scribbled over the paintings when the Roman soldiers had barracked in the palace during the second sack of Rome (1527). They had very nice penmanship. :)
Last night we walked around before dinner and popped into a few shops. There was some intense thunder outside, and when we were exploring a little church, it rattled the windows. We visited the Pantheon again on our way over to get food. There were still so many people there, and it was 7:30 in the evening. Chinese food again for dinner! Sweet and sour pork for me.
I'll upload my pictures from today and post that later. We have a quiz tonight that I need to study for.
Pictures from yesterday:
Inside the Pantheon under the dome.
Moderno's depiction of that woman saint whose name I've forgotten.
In this same church we saw the very first painting of the Renaissance. We piled into these tiny elevators and went up to the second level where there was a fresco on the wall by Cavellini (the first paintings of the Renaissance were originally credited to a man from Florence--Giotto--but his paintings were done after Cavellini's. But since the first art historians were from Florence, they were a little biased). It was pretty cool to look at--a style that straddled two different eras.
We went to another church that had some beautiful mosaics and domes. It's all running together now, we go to so many churches.
The last place we went to on our morning outing was a little palace with paintings by Raphael. I think my favorite part about that, though, was seeing the ancient graffiti that had been scribbled over the paintings when the Roman soldiers had barracked in the palace during the second sack of Rome (1527). They had very nice penmanship. :)
Last night we walked around before dinner and popped into a few shops. There was some intense thunder outside, and when we were exploring a little church, it rattled the windows. We visited the Pantheon again on our way over to get food. There were still so many people there, and it was 7:30 in the evening. Chinese food again for dinner! Sweet and sour pork for me.
I'll upload my pictures from today and post that later. We have a quiz tonight that I need to study for.
Pictures from yesterday:
Inside the Pantheon under the dome.
Moderno's depiction of that woman saint whose name I've forgotten.
The bridge over the river on the way to Trastevere.
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