rome, and i want to.

I can safely say my 21st birthday was a success. Last Thursday 12 of my classmates and I boarded the train to Salerno, Italy to start our Amalfi Coast adventure. That night we stayed in a hostel, all 13 of us in one dorm-style room, and explored downtown Salerno before heading to bed to rest up for the trip to Atrani and my birthday. Friday morning we packed up our things and returned to the train station to catch the bus, which would take us on a tiny road (full of switchbacks) cut into the cliffs with breathtaking views of the sea.

After an hour on the bus we finally arrived in the sleepy town of Atrani (a ten minute walk away from Amalfi, the tourist spot of the coast). We walked up to our hostel and the owner, Filippo, warmly greeted all of us and showed us to the rooms. After going over check-in and check-out procedures he left us to get ready for the beach. The beach! Finally! For the next few hours we all laid out on the warm sand and braved the not so warm water. It was perfect.

Eventually, we all had enough of the sun and headed back to our rooms to shower and get ready for dinner. My original plan was to have a drink or two at the bar in Atrani and then head to Amalfi for dinner. However, the two owners of the bar in Atrani, Luigi Sr. and Luigi Jr., were so accommodating that I decided to just hang out in Atrani for the night. Everyone had their fair share of drinks, delicious pastas, pizzas, bruschetta and even tiramisu (mine came with a candle). To top it all off, everyone was so sweet  and generous that I didn’t pay for a single thing. A tremendous thank you goes out to: Mara, Terris, Dabney, Rachel, Theresa, Shannon, Ryan, Emma, Katie, Anisha, John and Becca!

The next day we checked out of our hostel and spent the morning back at the beach. At 3:00 pm we were all waiting at (what we thought) was the bus stop and at 3:15 when the bus was supposed to leave it drove right on past where we were. Okay, so here is where the travel plans begin to unravel. We find out that we were waiting in the wrong spot so for the next 45 minutes we wait at the right bus stop and then shove our way on to the crowded 4:00 pm bus back to Salerno. Our train leaves at 5:50 so we’re cutting it a bit close but we think we’ll make it back on time. Wrong. Our hour bus ride turns into a 3 hour bus ride due to Labor Day traffic so when we get to the train station we have 20 minutes until the next train to Rome leaves (luckily). Unfortunately, we didn’t know we could call at least an hour before our original train left to switch tickets so we all had to buy new return tickets home. Fortunately, this train was empty and we got a whole car to ourselves. When we arrive at Termini we realize that the buses aren’t running on the normal schedule (because it’s Labor Day) and make the half hour walk home. Looking back on the day there are some pretty funny stories but at the time we were too exhausted to realize it. 

This past week of school was exhausting but rewarding at the same time. Monday we took a day trip to Orvieto, Tuesday was a classroom day, Wednesday we went to the Vatican (for 6 hours) and Thursday we visited the Caravaggio exhibit. There are so many more stories from this week but I think pictures will be better than more story telling. 

The Cathedral in Orvieto.

Amazing masonry at the Cathedral.

View from Orvieto. I should mention that you can only reach Orvieto by tram because it is located on a plateau. And it’s very windy up there!

On our way home from Orvieto we stopped at this tiny town called Civita di Bagnoregio. We ate homemade bruschetta with olive oil that the family makes. It was the best olive oil I’ve ever tasted!

One of our main focuses at the Vatican was Raphael’s Transfiguration altarpiece. We also discussed Raphael’s Stanza della Segnatura, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and some of the antiquity sculptures in the Belvedere Courtyard.

Also, as a nice break from school some of us went out for Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo. Although ridiculously over priced it was quite tasty and a nice change from pasta.

The next two weeks I’ll be swamped with papers but I’ll post more photos soon. Only four more weeks until I’m home - can’t believe it! 

Here I am, finishing up the 5th week out of 10 here in Rome. Have I really been gone this long? I guess when you’re site seeing 4 days a week for school and then exploring on your own on the three day weekends (not to mention all the reading we do to prepare for class) the weeks fly by. 

Last week we visited The Oratory of the Gonfalone (private oratory of the Gonfalone confraternity), Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Prassede, Santa Pudenziana, Santa Maria in Trastevere and Santa Cecilia. This week included the church of the Gesù (focusing on the architecture and chapels), the high altar at Santa Cecilia (Stefano Maderno’s Santa Cecilia sculpture), Santa Maria in Vallicella (commonly called Chiesa Nuova), and tomorrow’s class will visit Palazzo Venezia, church of San Marco, Palazzo della Cancelleria and Sant'Agostino. 

You think I’d be burned out on churches, or at least have become a Catholic by now but we approach each church, painting, site with a different issue at hand so class is always fresh and boredom has not crept into lectures. However, we have now completed two midterms (short answer and long essay question format) and for a mental break, and to celebrate my 21st birthday, 13 of us are going down to the Amalfi coast for some R&R on the beach. The first day we will be in Salerno (not for the beach but because we’re getting down to the coast late Thursday night) and then Friday (my birthday!) and Saturday we’ll be in Atrani (returning Saturday night). I can’t wait to see the southern part of Italy and to be near the sea again. 

Okay, enough talking - picture time. More details to come after this weekend.

Side chapel ceiling mosaic in Santa Prassede.

View from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo.

Late 13th century frescoes at Santa Cecilia.

Audrey Hepburn+Birds=awesome Roman graffiti.

My friend Tess came to visit! Night walk to the Trevi.

Vintage sunglasses at the Trastevere flea market.

Santa Cecilia.

Chiesa Nuova. 

Okay, so really there are three more days before it’s my birthday but already the celebrations have begun. Well, aside from my midterm tomorrow. The most near and dear people to my heart (aside from Eli who I’m convinced will show up in a hot air balloon for my birthday or something) have sent me the sweetest birthday cards! I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to my Mom and Dad, Munner, Grandma, Logan and Zoe for brightening my day(s). Not that I needed anything more for my birthday (21 in Rome on the beach) but these cards really are the cherry on top (for a lack of a better metaphor). Love and miss you guys.

1. Church bells are always ringing.
2. When you say Washington people think D.C. When you say West Coast it doesn’t help much.
3. If you laugh at your bad Italian whoever you are speaking with will laugh as well but they’ll know it was an ernest attempt.
4. Not shopping in a grocery store is awesome.
5. Dogs do not like to be walked in Rome.
6. Nothing smells better than orange blossoms.

I have neglected my travel updates so here are some photos to tide you over until I have time to update you in depth on this past week’s adventures. (Tomorrow is the last school day of week four, what?!)

Graffiti along the Tiber.

Fire-breathing in the Campo.

Wine tasting at L'Angolo Divino.

Apse mosaic at Santa Pudenziana. We were taken up where the organ is to view the mosaic up close.

House in an old wall? Totally normal.

I hope to be as awesome and stylish as this woman when I’m her age.

Okay, off to explore Castel Sant'Angelo! More to come soon.

I’ve been here for almost a month now and I’m coming to realize that the feeling of being settled here will never come. Not that I’m complaining - I mean it in the sense that I see something new every day and with each site visit or walk around the city I am awe struck at the beauty and history here. Despite the fact that I’ll have spent 9 weeks in Rome I’m pretty sure I’ll leave still feeling like I didn’t get to see everything I had planned. Also, I don’t know how Romans get things done in a timely manner because every time I leave the house I get distracted taking pictures of buildings, plants, people or food and at least double the time of my trip. I know I’m the tourist here but still, how could you not stop and stare at some of these things? 

Yesterday was the discovery of all discoveries. My roommate Mara and I went to go look at the church on which she is presenting, The Gesù, and what do I see when I look up? This.

 The exquisite ceiling fresco by Baciccia. Here he has gone beyond the bounds of the frame by pulling the plaster outside of the center molding and continued to paint the scene (using extreme foreshortening) of the Triumph of the Name of Jesus. I remember seeing a slide of this ceiling in my Art History class a year ago and thinking to myself “Now THAT is a ceiling”. I knew I had to see it. However, summer came and the details of my studies slipped away and I forgot what church the ceiling was located in. Funny how life works. As of now this is definitely my favorite thing I have seen, well, I guess it and the Laocoön.

As for school, this week we studied the Saint Anne altarpiece in Sant'Agostino, Michelangelo’s Risen Christ, the Pantheon, the Ara Pacis, Santa Costanza and Sant'Agnese fuori le mura. School is brimming over with information but we are constantly synthesizing themes throughout the courses to create a better understanding of the development in art and what was happening in Italy through the different artistic, social, political and religious changes.

In other news we have been having a great time on the weekends taking walks and this Sunday we threw a birthday party for one of the guys in the group. The three day weekends make up for the intensive school week and let us see parts of Rome that we won’t be visiting through class. Another highlight was the mexican dinner our roommate, Shannon, made for us - needless to say we’re getting a bit burned out on pasta every night. And because we are in Rome I guess it was inevitable that the boys living in the apartment on the first floor of our building (I should mention here that four out of the six apartments in the building are UW students) threw a toga party the other night. When in Rome dress as the Romans dressed?

Tonight we are having a cooking class from a man who moved here from America and works as a personal chef for embassies, weddings, private parties, etc. Every quarter the UW Rome Center brings in him to give each subject a cooking class. This morning we met him and he took us around the Campo de’ Fiori market and specialty stores (butcher, fish store, pork store, bakery, cheese co-op) to tell us more about what is offered in and special to Rome. Aside from the interesting selection of things at the butcher (tail, full rabbits, lungs - not for the faint of heart) we also saw this,

swordfish, tasted some delicious salami and jerky, ate a slice of pizza bianca and became acquainted with the in season fruits and vegetables. And this was all before 9 am. 

Now I’m off to nap and rest up for our cooking class and yet another birthday party following dinner. Speaking of birthdays, 15 days and counting until my 21st!

Miss and love you all!