A Visit from Home

This past week I was blessed to be visited by someone from back home, my mother!  I was so happy to see her!  I was sadden that my sister and father weren’t able to take time off from school and work to come and visit too.

Twins in green and black?

My mother and I had an amazing time together.  I was able to show her where I have been studying and living for the past three months.  During the week she was here, we explored the Vatican, including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum, the Colosseum, Ancient Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and, of course, the Pantheon.  One of my favorite things we did was going to an Italian Opera.  We went to see the Italian Opera Tosca the night she arrived.  My poor mother I’m sure was still jet lagged and just wanted to sleep by the time the opera started around 10pm.  However, we had a great time listening to their amazing voices.  Thankfully, I was smart enough to print out a synopsis of what the opera was about in order for us to follow along.

Dinner in the Jewish Ghetto

After our 300m climb in Cinque Terre

On Friday and Saturday, my mom, two friends from my program, and I took a train north to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre is on the coast of the Italian Riviera.  “The Five Lands” are comprised of five coastline villages.  It is a beautiful region with terraces and cliffs overlooking the sea.  There is a train that goes between the five towns but the scenic way to get to the towns is by walking or hiking the trails.  We were able to walk the trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola called Via Dell’Amore (“Love Walk”).  This trail is very well known because it is decorated with locks from hikers.  It is customary for “lovers” to walk along the path and put a lock on of the many fences overlooking the sea and then to throw the lock into the ocean binding their love.  Too bad I had a lock with me but no lover. Haha.  The scenic path from Manarola to Corniglia was sadly closed due to possible landslides.  Instead, we took a trail up the hill that would then go to Corniglia.  This was not a walking path but a hiking path!  My mother was such a good sport!  She made it up the entire 300m hill and kept up with us the entire time.  It was an exhausting hike and all of us were sweating by the time we reached the top.  It was definitely worth it though because the views were amazing!  The path we were on led us through vineyards that overlooked the sea.  We finished our day of hiking with a great meal and the local Cinque Terre wine.

I had such a good time showing my mom around the city that has become my home.  But most of all it was great to have someone from home to show my new home to.

(P.S. Mom, I hope you realize you get jet lagged both coming to Rome and when arriving back home haha)

Florence, Verona, and Venice

After my week of independent travel, I traveled with my program to northern Italy to visit Florence, Verona, and Venice.  From Monday, March 14 until Friday, March 18 I was once again living out of my backpack from hotel to hotel.

Baptistry and Duomo

We stayed in Florence for two days and visited many architectural sites and was able to meet up with a few friends.  I saw the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Ospedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital), Pazzi Chapel, Laurentian Library, Palazzo Medici, Baptistery, Duomo, Piazza Republica, Palazzo Pitti, and many other architectural significant buildings.  While the architecture was amazing, I was able again to see my Smith roommate who is studying Italian in Florence.  I was also able to connect with one of my high school teachers from Rocky Hill.  The week before I left for Greece and Turkey, my mother emailed me saying that a group of Rocky Hill students would be traveling to Italy for Spring Break.  She thought that I should meet up with them when they were in Rome.  Oddly enough I wasn't going to be in Rome when they were, but I was going to be in Florence at the same time they were going to be there.  So, I was able to meet up with the group from Rocky Hill one night for gelato.  I sadly only knew one of the students who was a freshman when I was a senior.  I couldn't believe that she was now a senior!  Did I feel old!  It was great though to reconnect with students who went to the same high school I did.

Ponte Vechio

Meeting up with RHS

Michelangelo's David

Mid week we went to Verona.  It rained the entire day and Verona did not become one of my favorite place.

For the last two days of the week, I was in Venice.  It was absolutely amazing!  Venice is a collection of islands; it is a city built on silty clay.  The architecture is specifically built for the land.  Instead of having a lot of vertical qualities, the architecture is more horizontal.  This is because the vertical pressure ultimately causes buildings to shift.  Ultimately, there are very few towers in Venice.  In 1903, the Tower of San Marco collapsed in the middle of the night.  Besides observing architecture and art history, I was able to enjoy the Venetian ways.  I took a gondola ride with three other people among the canals of Venice.  It was great!!

Tower of San Marco

Gondola ride!

During the week, Italy also celebrate its sesquicentennial anniversary of its unification.  It was an amazing sight to see such a patriotic spirit among everyone.  It made me feel proud to be in Italy during such an important time in Italian history.

It's all Greek to me, unless it's Turkish

It has been a crazy past two weeks!  I am so sorry for not being able to update my blog, but I have not had access to my computer.  It is nice to finally be back in Rome and clean all my clothes after living out of my backpack for fourteen days.

As many of you know, I decided to travel to Athens, Greece and Istanbul, Turkey for my spring break.  I spent my first five days in Athens and the last four days in Istanbul.  I left Saturday morning on March 5th for Athens with a group of girls in my program who were also going to be in Greece.  It turns out that all the other girls in my apartment, besides my roommate, decided to stay at a hostel by the coast.  Oddly enough two other girls from the program, who are from Penn State, were staying in Athens when we were.  We ended up spending most of our time together when we were in Athens.

Acropolis at night

Athens is a lot like Rome that its heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city.  It has a lot of archeological sites that are definitely worth seeing.  When I was there, I went to a lot of sites and museums.  In a nutshell, I went to the Acropolis Museum, Acropolis, Parthenon, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Theater of Dionysos, Ancient Agora, Temple of Poseidon, National Archeological Museum, Museum of Cycladic Art, and others.  

Parthenon

One of my favorite sites was the Acropolis that houses the Parthenon (not to be confused with the Pantheon!).  The Acropolis, meaning high city, is about 500 feet high and was the location of temples paying homage to the goddess Athena.  On the Acropolis is the Parthenon which is a temple dedicated to Athena, the protector of Athens.  It was constructed in 432 BC and is a great example of the Doric Order with amazing sculptural elements on the metopes, friezes, and pediments.  Most of these sculptural elements can no longer be seen on the site because of the deterioration over time, but there is a reconstruction of all of them at the Acropolis Museum.  The Parthenon originally was used as a treasury and a place for a large statue of Athena.

Temple of Poseidon, Cape Souinon

Another favorite site of mine I saw when in Greece was the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Souinon.  It took about an hour and half bus ride to get to, but it was definitely worth it!  The temple sits on a cliff overlooking the sea.  It was built around the same time as the Parthenon and is also a Doric temple.  The temple is gleaming white and once served as an icon of comfort for ancient sailors who when they was it they knew they were almost home.  Lord Byron visited the temple and carved his name on one of the columns.  I agree with Byron when he said, “Place me on Souinon’s marbled steep, Where nothing save the waves and I, May hear our mutual murmurs sweep…”

Also, I couldn’t leave Athens without getting myself a pair of leather sandals.  I went into a shop with my friends and we tried on sandals.  Well, I found a pair I loved yet they were too wide (which is no surprise).  The man who made the sandals said “no problem” and customs fit them to my feet!  Never before have I had a pair of sandals fit perfectly on my feet!  The man who sold me my sandals had also sold sandals to Barbara Streisand, Jackie Onassis, and John Lenon (just to name a few).

Bronze statue of Poseidon in the National Archeological Museum

Athens was absolutely amazing, despite the fact the weather was overcast and even snowed (I thought I left the snow in New England!), I didn’t let it ruin my experience.  Greece is a beautiful country and I only hope that I can come back again when the weather is warm and take a trip to one of the islands and go swimming in the Aegean Sea. 

Celebrating the last night of Carnivale in Athens

I flew to Istanbul, Turkey late on Wednesday night, March 9th with Emily, my roommate from Rome.  There is so much to do and so much to see in Istanbul that I feel that our three full days of touring the area didn’t give the city justice.  Turkey, a Muslim nation, is so different from the United States and Italy.  You hear the Muslim call to prayer five times a day and it is an amazing sound! 

In a nutshell, I visited Haggia Sophia, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque, Dolmabache Palace, Pera Palace Hotel, and Turkish bath.  

Interior of Haggia Sophia

Having tea at the Pera Palace Hotel

One of my favorite places to visit was the Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world.  It has more than 58 covered streets and over 4,000 shops!  Supposedly it can attract up to half a million visitors a day!  I’m sure it is no surprise then that Emily and I got lost in the Bazaar and spent over 5 hours in there.  We weren’t lost the entire time, we spent the majority of it haggling for good deals.  I started my day with nothing and left holding many bags,  Most of my shopping was for gifts for everyone back home.  Hopefully, you all like your gifts!

The Blue Mosque was also another favorite site of mine that I visited.  The Blue Mosque, officially known as Sultan Ahmed Mosque, was built in the early 17th century and faces the Haggia Sophia.  The design is the culmination of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church architecture.  The interior of the mosque is well known for its blue tiles, which gives the building its nickname.  When I went to the mosque, I had to cover my head with a scarf and take off my shoes because it is a holy building.  If you are wearing a short dress or shirt, you will be given a sheet to wear.  Stupidly, I went to the mosque wearing a long shirt that came to my mid thigh and black spandex pants.  Because I had no clean pants left, I didn’t even think that it was going to be a problem.  Well, I guess my spandex were considered more as tights and I was handed a sheet to wear.  I was so ashamed of myself!  I would never have worn spandex to a church and I’m not sure why I didn’t plan head to wear something else.

In the Blue Mosque

I also had a very interesting experience in the Turkish bath!  It’s like a spa but A LOT different.  They exfoliate your skin, give you a massage, wash your hair and bathe you.  It is very much like an ancient Roman bath.

I had so much fun in Istanbul and wish I was able to have stayed longer.  It has an amazing culture that can only be understood when you see it for yourself. And, as always, the food was amazing!  Gyros and kebabs were a great break from pizza and pasta!  I was excited to go back to Rome, even if it was just for one evening because I had to leave for Florence the following day.  Rome has become my home and it was nice to return to it after an exhausting, fun filled vacation.

Galata Tower, Istanbul

View from Galata Tower, Istanbul

Dervish Whirlers

View of Haggia Sophia at night

Spring Break Plans

Hi everyone!  Tomorrow morning is the start of my Spring Break!  I am very excited to start a week of traveling.  I will be spending 5 days in Athens, Greece and 4 days in Istanbul, Turkey.  About 8 people from my apartment are coming with me to Greece and my roommate Emily and I will be going together to Turkey (Emily's Aunt works as a teacher in a city south of Istanbul).

Packing is going to be a little tough...the first airline we are flying with allows you one free carry on item, otherwise you have to pay an enormous fee to check luggage.  I will be using a large backpack, so hopefully I will be able to fit all I need.  Thankfully, the hostel we are staying at has washer machines that we can use.

In Athens, I am planning on seeing the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Ancient Agora, among many other museums and archeological sites.  Hopefully, one day we will be able to go hiking and another day go to the beach (it will still be cold to actually wear a swim suit but it will be nice just to relax and read on the beach).

In Istanbul, I want to go see the Haggia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar.

Right after I get back from my independent travels, my program has a scheduled field trip that everyone has to attend that will be going to Florence, Verona, and Venice.  Talk about traveling!  The next two weeks are going to be packed tight with lots of sight seeing!  Wish me safe travels.

Pompeii and Paestum

This past weekend (February 26-27), my program went to Pompeii and Paestum to explore and analysis the two archeological sites.  The weather held off for both days and we had a great time walking around, sketching, and taking photos.

The day before we left for Pompeii, I had to go to the Vatican for one of my classes to visit the Special Collection.  Oddly enough, our professor who works at the Vatican forgot to notify the Vatican police that we were coming in a large group.  As our professor likes to put it, we also "got arrested" by the Vatican police.  Thankfully, she was able to tell them who we were and we were finally allowed in after waiting 45 minutes.

Panoramic of Pompeii

We left for Pompeii early Saturday morning around 8am on a double decker bus.  We got to Pompeii and after a short lecture about the importance of the city of Pompeii as a preserved city, we were given free reign to explore.  Pompeii has an interesting history in the sense that in 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius erupted, covering the entire city and its inhabitants in ash.  Because of this, plaster casts have been made on the cavities in the ash where animal and human remains had been.  You can see some of this casts at the site.  What is also really important about Pompeii is that it gives archeologists great insight into Roman architecture.  I remember writing a research paper in sixth grade on the importance Pompeii had in understanding how advanced ancient Roman architecture was (if only I could find this paper now!).  Pompeii also has amazing frescoes in 4 different styles: simulation of marble (or other masonry elements), architectural style (painted on elements of architecture and three dimension realities, like columns), ornate style (figurative and colorful decoration), and a baroque reaction to the Third Style (framed pictures that took up the entire wall).  I studied these styles in art history class and it was great to finally see them.

Cast mold of a dog found during excavation

Fresco at the Villa of Mysteries showing first and second style 

Fresco in the brothel (pretty explicit...)

In between Pompeii and Paestum, we stayed at a hotel right on the water.  I shared a room with my roommate from the apartment and had a room overlooking the water.  Some of the guys were crazy enough to even go for a swim.

Paestum is also a great archeological site.  However, it is not Roman in nature, but Greek.  It has three temples of the Doric Order on site and a great archeological museum that has hundreds of frescos and Black and Red Figure vases.

On our way back to Rome on Sunday afternoon, we stopped to visit a cistern, an underground reservoir for water.  The cistern is about 3 football fields longs and worked with an aqueduct system to transport the water from the cistern to the port below.  This particular cistern is actually very well known and was the location for a scene in one of the Lord of Ring movies!

Cistern

During the time of our trip, I was also taking pictures for a photography project.  I decided that for my project I would focus on framing objects with elements from the sites.  The last four images attached are for my project.  For those of you who are artists out there, let me know what you think!

New Soles

Unlike most places in America that are paved smooth with asphalt, all of Rome's streets are cobblestones.  Not only does it take some time getting used to walking on the uneven surface, but it takes a toll on one's shoes!  Before coming to Rome, I received a new pair of boots for Christmas.  I wear them almost every day and as you can imagine, the heals of my boots have worn down to reveal the material underneath the rubber sole.

Today, I decided that I would ask the Pantheon office assistant if there is a place nearby that I would be able to go to to resole my shoes.  The woman said yes and circled on a map where one was located.  She also wrote me down a phrase that I needed to say to the cobbler.

I decided that I would then go to the cobbler to get an estimate of the price it was cost to repair my shoes.  I walked into the small store down a side street and said to the man what I had been told to say: Devo resvolare la scarpa.  The cobbler looks at me as if I need to continue saying something and I just stand there smiling.  I'm then confused and I say, "Parlo italiano un po."  That's when I realize he speaks no English.  He's now talking to me in Italian.  I'm confused and try showing him the heals of my boots.  In Italian I ask how much: Quanto costa?  He replies by saying, "Dieci euros."  In my head I am saying, "Crap...I know how to count!  How much is that?  Oh right, that means ten."  He continues to say "Domani" which means tomorrow.  I'm sure he thought I was going to try to leave my boots with him today without having another pair of shoes to walk out of the store in!  I replied with "si" and tried to think of how to say I will return tomorrow, yet all I could think was how to say it in Spanish.  Frazzled, I said in English that I will be back tomorrow.  I thanked him ("Grazie mille") and left the store.

Tomorrow, I hope to drop off my shoes...in the meantime, I am going to be practicing my Italian.

Brussels without the sprouts

Bonjour! Hallo! This past weekend I spent my time in Brussels, Belgium.  Brussels is the capital of the Belgium, a western country in Europe.  It is also the capital of the European Union.  It is the largest urban city in Belgium.  What is most interesting about Belgium is that its official languages are Dutch, French, and German.  While most people speak French, Dutch is very popular within the Flemish Region.  

My roommate, Emily, and I left Rome Thursday night for Brussels.  We took RyanAir (one of the discount airlines in Europe) and flew into an airport outside the city of Brussels.  We took a bus from the airport to the main train station in Brussels and then took a taxi from the train station to our hotel.  By the time we got to the hotel, it was almost 12:45am!  I felt awful because we told the hotel when we made reservations that we would be arriving around 12am.  We rang the doorbell to the hotel and were greeted by an older man with a set of keys.  He starts talking to the two of us in French and I stand there wide eyed.  The man continues to talk, hands Emily the keys and she thanks him in French.  He leaves and I turn to Emily with a face of confusion.  Without hesitation she says, “Our room’s on the third floor and the elevator is over there.”  In response I say, “Thank God you understood that!”  I was so thankfully that I had traveled with someone who had studied French and was able to understand most things in conversation. 

We decided to stay in a hotel instead of a hostel because we were not able to find a hostel that had a three day reservation open for this past weekend.  Our hotel was Hotel Neufchatel.  It was so nice and simple!  It had two twin beds, a private bathroom, a closet, two chairs, and a small flat screen TV.   It was great.  They were very friendly and gave us advice for places to go and restaurants to eat at.

Our first full day in Brussels was a day of exploring.  We figured out the metro and bus system and got accuanted with our surroundings.  We first went to Grand Place, the central square of Brussels.  The central square is surrounded by Baroque guildhalls, the city’s Town Hall (Hotel de Ville), museums, cafes, chocolate shops, and restaurants.  We walked to the Galleries Royales, an arcade with shops. 

Emily and me

Wherever I go, I love visiting art museums.  We proceeded to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts (Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts) and the Magritte Museum (Musée Magritte).  Emily and I got to see art by Ruebens, Pieter Breugel the Elder, Pieter the Younger, and Jan Breugel.  My favorite Museum of the two was the Magritte Museum.  Rene Magritte is one of the world’s most well known surrealist painters.  He was born in Belgium and spent most of his life in Brussels.  One of his most famous works is that of a man in a bowler hat whose face is hidden from view.  Another famous work of his, that I got to see this summer at MoMA in NYC is of a cityscape with men dressed in suits acting in the place of raindrops.  At the museum in Brussels, I was able to see over 150 of his paintings and sketches.  It was amazing. 

Magritte Museum

The following day we decided to go to the Atomium, a monument originally built for the 1958 Brussel’s World’s Fair.  It is 335 feet tall and consists of nine steel spheres resembling the shape of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.  Four of the spheres are currently open to visitors.  The top sphere is a restaurant and viewing area.  The other spheres house exhibit halls and other public space.  It was slightly overcast the morning we went, but were were still able to see the panoramic view of Brussels.  

After going to the Atomium, we did a walking tour by ourselves of the rich Art Nouveau architecture in the city.  Along our walk of both private and public buildings, we stopped to visit the Horta Museum.  Victor Horta was a prolific architect of Art Nouveau.  We were able to go into his private home and see his original designs and creations.  Art Nouveau is classically described by its organic and floral motifs and its stylized, flowing curvilinear forms.

Horta Museum

Musical Instrument Museum

On our last day in Brussels, we visited the Musical Instrument Museum.  The museum is housed in an Art Nouveau building with a black facade of wrought iron and arched windows.  The museum boasts the world’s largest collection of instruments.  They give you headphones to wear in the exhibits and when you approach a number on the floor music starts to plan from the headphones.  Not only did Emily and I look ridiculous in big bulky headphones but every time we approached a number we would jump back because the volume was set too high!  We soon figured out how to turn it down.  It was also funny to see people tapping their feet and swaying their hips as they were listening to the music. 

Brussels is known as the city of fine food, and I was not disappointed!  The food was absolutely amazing!!  Beer, chocolate, waffles, fries...what else could one ask for.  On every street we would see multiple chocolatiers.  I bought pralines, created in Brussels, and decadent chocolates.  I decided I would buy a bunch of chocolates to share with my family and friends.  I ran a bill of about 40 euros of chocolate, which is about 55 US dollars!  I have no regrets because the chocolate is that good!  The fries were delicious with different sauces to choose from.  Emily and I both got the spicy sauce which was but onto of the fries that came in a paper cone.  The waffles were also delicious and beat any “Belgian waffle” you find on any New England ski slope.

Belgian Frites

While wine is like water in Rome, Beer is like water in Belgium.  No other country has such a rich and diverse tradition of beer.  Every beer has its own glass with its own embossing as if to enhance the flavor.  In the 19th century, Belgium had more than 3,000 breweries.  Today, there are about 100 different breweries (the decrease is due to WWI).  Lambic is the traditional beer of Brussels and is considered the champagne of the beer world.  The description of lambic says that “they are not immediately likeable - they’re sharp and acidic and tend to contort the faces of novices.”  However, I actually liked it and found it to be more fruity than anything.  I also really enjoyed Duvel, a golden ale.  It is served in a special glass that, as the guide book puts it is “seductive and undulating.”  Some of the many other types of beer in Belgium are Trappist beers, white beers, abbey beer, and Flemish Red beers.

Emily and I had an absolutely amazing time in Brussels!  I would suggest going there to anyone who is going to be in Europe.  However, chocoholics beware!  Nowhere in the world will test your self control as much as Belgium.