Week Six

So I am really tired so this one might be a little short because we just got back from Barcelona! This past weekend six of us girls planned our own trip to go to Barcelona, Spain! We flew in on Friday night and settled into our hostel before going out to dinner. We found an authentic spanish restaurant and got Sangria. yumm. We also got Tapas and I ordered Gazpacho and then had Paella for dinner. It was soooo delicious and we had so much fun just us girls. We then went out that night for a pub crawl that we had found because we met some Australian guys on La Rambla who were running it. It was a lot of fun because they brought us to bars that we never would have been able to find.

The next day we woke up really early to do as much site seeing as we could. We walked to Casa Mila which was a building by Gaudi that we had learned about a bunch in class in America. We also found some other buildings by Gaudi on the way that we hadn't heard of before. They were both so much more amazing in person than from photos. I loved the aesthetic that was ocean-like and all the stone and iron work. It was amazing. We went up on the roof of the Casa Mila and it was sooooo cool. There were all these different chimneys and sculptures on the roof and you could see the Sagrada Familia from there which is where we headed next. It was also amazing weather because it was so warm out and sunny for once!

We walked over to the Sagrada Familia which is a huge cathedral designed by Gaudi but has already taken over 100 years to build. It is my favorite building by far in the world at this point. We waited in a really long line to see it and finally got inside the gates. The outside was incredibly sculpture with different biblical scenes and vegetation and animals. Inside the church was the amazing place I have ever been. It was all white stone sculpture with gigantic columns made to look like trees. The most beautiful part was all of the stained glass. It was much more beautiful than traditional stained glass. It was just pieces of different colors that glinted in the sun. I was mesmorized. We were able to find a short line to take an elevator up into one of the tall skinny domes. Once we were at the top we walked up winding stairs and across a bridge where we could see amazing views of Barcelona. It was really scary but also really thrilling and we got some awesome pictures.

We then had to climb back down tons of stairs to get to the bottom. Once we were down there we wanted to get to Gaudi's Parc Guell so we grabbed a map to figure out the bus route to get there. We found our way, and I was once again mesmorized by Gaudi. It was basically just a huge park with some houses in it that looked like little gingerbread houses. Then there was one really wide open part that was like a platform all lined with benches decorated with shards of porcelain. It was so beautiful and again really beachy which I loved. It turned out that the platform was held up by this really cool colonnade and we made our way throughout the park to see it. By the time we had explored the park we decided to head over to try to find the Barcelona Pavillion. One of the girls' feet were hurting so she headed back to the hostel.

We found our way to the Pavillion but it was closed because of some kind of convention and we were heartbroken. It was dark out by then and there was a really cool light show over a fountain so it made up for it a little bit, but not much. We were pretty bummed and just headed back to the hostel.

That night we went out to a fancy dinner. We were all pretty tired so we just stayed in that night. The next day we had to wake up to go to the airport. On the way there we got breakfast at Starbucks. It was the scariest moment of my life. There were two really creepy guys that were basically going to rob us had we not been warned. Two of the girls warned some other people and the guy spit on us and we grabbed our stuff and ran away. It was soooo scary but the good thing is we made it out okay. Thank goodness. We made it to the airport okay and back to Rome.

Well I am really exhausted so I'm gonna go. Dan gets here in a week, can't wait!!!!

Week Five

So before I get into this past week, I still have to talk about my trip to Sicily!

We left Naples Friday night and took an overnight ferry to Sicily. The boat was really nice and was almost like a cruise ship. We had a really nice room that I shared with 3 other girls. Once we got our stuff to our room we all went an grabbed some snacks and drinks, but were pretty tired so we went to bed soon after. We had to wake up on the boat at 5am to get off! Before going to bed we did get a taste of how Palermo culture might be since the whole boat was mainly men and all of us girls were pretty creeped out by them. We got stared at and gawked at while we were in the public areas of the boat.

When we got to Palermo we got off the boat and made our way to the hostel. The city was pretty quiet since it was so early in the morning, but we were able to find our hostel by walking and following the map in my guidebook. It was right near Teatro Massimo which was a very large and historical theatre in Palermo. We ended up waking out hostel owner up to let us in and were able to drop our stuff of but not check in since it was so early. We decided to wander and grab some breakfast nearby. We all got our usual italian breakfasts consisting of cappuccinos and pastries, which I'm lovingggg, while we waited for our other friends staying at another hostel to call. Once we were done they were still busy checking in so we walked through an open market that we saw near the cafe. The market went on for miles and they sold fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, everythinggg. We even saw a sheep hanging to be bought! Eeeew!!!

We stumbled upon Palermo's huge Cathedral which was gorgeous! We then made contact with our other classmates who were checking into the other hostel and made plans to meet at the catacombs in Palermo. We were able to find them pretty easily, but had to decided to walk there which was fun but far! The catacombs were not what I expected at all. It was basically the basement of a church and there were preserved full bodies of people! It was really creeeeepy.

We then went to the next town over from Palermo that was at the top of a large hill. It was a gorgeous view and we got to look at a really amazing cathedral there.

That night we went to dinner at a place we found online that was owned by an Italian man who had lived in America for a while, so he spoke English really well which was awesome! The food was delicious and we had a great time. We then met up with the other group to go out that night. It was a lot of fun but towards the end of the night the girls were starting to get pretty freaked out by all the guys staring at us. Palermo really only has men, it is soo weird.

The next day we got a guided tour of the Teatro Massimo which was really really interesting. The inside was gorgeous and we even got to sit in the Prime Minister's box! We started to head to the bus to get to the airport and grabbed some food on the way. It was pretty easy to get to the airport and we made it safely back to Rome!

Week Four

So we made it back from Campania and Sicily alive! Although Sicily was prettyyyy sketchy to be honest. But I'll get to that in a bit.

Campania was BEAUTIFUL! We left Wednesday and went south of Rome to Paestum. It was so amazing because we saw when I think were the only Greek Temples in all of Italy. It was soooo amazing to see them up close and I was so impressed at how well most of the 3 temples were so well preserved. We basically just looked around for a while and had free time to just sketch and hang out. The weather was actually pretty good, albeit a bit rainy at times, but we were able to get some sketching in. We also got a really good group picture of the whole class in front of one of the temples. We also got a tour in the museum there by Saskia (who I LOVE by the way) which was so interesting because we saw all of the artifacts that they uncovered at the site, like coffins, and clay pots and sculptures that belonged on the temples themselves. When we got out of the museum it was raining so a couple of us went and grabbed some gelato while we waited for the other group to finish.

We left Paestum and stopped at the Villa Oplontis which was a really well preserved ancient villa. We got guided tours and had time to sketch, but I mostly wandered around and took photos. It was SO huge and amazing that someone had lived there. One of the coolest parts was that only half of it was able to be seen because it had been excavated from having been covered in lava when Mount Vesuvius erupted. The other half was under a modern road so they didn't excavate it but we got to see the cut part that showed the layers of the lava. It was soooo cool.

We then left to go to the town where our hotel was located. It was right on the coast and could have been really fun, but it was so cold and misty the whole time we were there. The hotel didn't even have the heat on when we first got there! Once we had settled in, some of us left to go to find a store where we could get some snacks and wine. Once we got back we had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant, where we all sat and chatted and had an amazing meal. It was homemade by the owner and his son. We then all went to our rooms and hung out together until it was time to go to sleep.

In the morning we traveled to Herculaneum which was so incredible. We checked into a beautiful hotel (which we got to stay in because the town of Herculaneum was pretty ghetto). Once we had dropped our stuff off, we went to the ruins. It was a lot like Pompeii where there was a whole city that was preserved when Mount Vesuvius erupted. The weather was probably the best we've had yet. It was warm out and sunny and we were right on the ocean, it was amazing. We could see Capri from where we were in Herculaneum. We basically spent the day walking around the ruins and got some tours from Saskia and a woman who worked at the ruins. It was so much fun. We saw tons of interesting things, and took all kinds of pictures. That night we had dinner at a pizza place that we found near the ruins. It was delicious homemade brick oven pizza. We then stopped for some wine on the way home and hung out at the hotel for the night.

The next day we stopped at a couple of different places on the way to Naples. We went to a cave of a siren, it was soo eery and amazing that they were able to carve that cave out. We also stopped at a water sistern that was amazing. It was basically a man-made cave where water was kept. We stopped for lunch where there was a small Colosseum and a couple of us snuck down below the floor to see underneath the stadium. It was so much fun...it was really scary because we took these really dark stairs down but it was soooo worth it because it was so beautiful. There was a serious of arcades and old column ruins and we could see above through grates in the ceiling. When we went back above to the ground area, many of our classmates were hanging out on the colosseum steps, but then a lady came and yelled at everyone, saying they were all nuts and in huge trouble, etc (in Italian, but Saskia translated for us). It was pretty funny. We then went to a volcano but it was awful because it smelled like sulfur and i was gagging the whole time. It was fun watching some of the boys climb up the side of the crater though.

We were then taken to Naples where we were going to catch the ferry to Sicily.....but I'll have to talk about that next time since I have to get ready for classes tomorrow!

Week Three

So this marks the end of my third week in Rome. I am starting to get settled in. The weather still hasn't been great. It rains a lot, but is really cold. I even went out a bought a down comforter for my bed! Who knew it would be this cold in southern Italy?! But then again our heat is terrible and is only on for something like 6 hours per day. I'm so glad that I brought my fleece blanket that Dan bought me for Christmas. I can wrap up in it even when I'm in the living room doing work on my computer. I am really hoping that this weather get's better soon. We are all feeling pretty miserable about it.

Monday we had a project due that is a sketching assignment for Theory class. It is pretty interesting because we never really did much hand drawing in Boston, so this is helping to practice. We had to analyze a piazza near where we live in Trastevere and design one sheet to demonstrate what we observed of the space. I think I did a pretty good job. This week we got a new assignment to pass in before we leave for Campagna. It was to compare two museums we visited, the Ara Pacis Museum and the Centrale Montemartini. They were both so interesting in their own ways.

The Ara Pacis was by Richard Meyer who is a pretty well known American architect and is one of the only really modern style buildings in Rome. I really really enjoyed it and hopefully I will get to go see Meyer's other project outside of Rome, the Jubilee church. The museum just houses the one artifact that is the Ara Pacis. It is right on the river and next to the Mausoleum of Augustus. The best part I thought was there was a fountain and waterfall outside along a wall made of travertine. We arrived at the museum early in the morning so the early light was so beautiful on the water. I took a bunch of pictures of it.

Montemartini was really cool because it used to be a factory and they renovated it to turn it into a museum, leaving some of the machines in the building, creating a really interesting juxtaposition between the white sculptures and the machines. The coolest part was there was a huge statue of Athena in the center and then there were also parts of what must have been a gigantic statue. There was a huge arm and hand and lots of kids took pictures with it. The room of the museum where these statues were was the main room of the factory and the installation was meant to look like a basilica whereas the other main room was set up to look like a villa with one whole wall being a huuuuge machine. The floor had parts of a mosaic from a real villa and there was a staircase where you could go up and look at it from above. It was so beautiful.

This week we are basically just preparing for our trip to Campania and then from Naples a bunch of us are going to be taking a ferry to Sicily. I am really excited because it is going to be our first thing that we are doing without teachers. I think the whole week is going to be really fun and it should be nice to have a little break from schoolwork.