We've seen so much since my last post, I don't even know where to begin. All of it has been incredible. I can't possibly recall the order in which we've experienced everything. We've descended into all of the imperial fora (which are off-limits to the public; I wish I could convey how cool it was to walk around in them), we've crawled through the Catacombs of St. Sebastian (the original "catacombs," from which the word itself is derived) and the Necropolis under the Vatican, where we saw St. Peter's supposed grave and bones. We've been in St. Peter's and to the top of it, and through all the Vatican museums; we've walked through the Campus Martius and wandered the sprawling Palace ruins above the palatine; we've been to two massive bath complexes and tons of churches - and on and and and on. All of it has been unbelievable, and I feel like I've learned so much. Roman culture seems almost familiar to me now.
But this trip is about more than academics, and the things we have done outside of our classwork have been just as cool. For one example: originally unbeknownst to us, Saturday happened to be the EuroPride festival, the yearly gay pride celebration for all of Europe, which, serendipitously, was being held in Rome this year. Even more unbelievably, Lady Gaga had accepted an invitation to speak and perform there. So, when we were done with our classwork that morning, we convened at the Circus Maximus, where the concert was to be held, and staked out a great seat as people began to stream in to the ancient racetrack (which has now been reduced to a long grassy strip, sort of like the mall in DC). It was hours until the performance so Jacque and I went over to the Colosseum and watched the parade wend its way around the stadium and down towards the Circus Maximus. There were thousands and thousands of people there, so much so that the floats were almost at a standstill due to the sea of people in the street. When we returned to the rest of the girls at the Circus Maximus, people had started to stream in from the end of the parade, though it would be another two hours before the performance began and the crowd would reach its estimated size of 1,000,000. The show started at 9:15 and Gaga came out at 9:30 to give an impassioned speech on civil rights. She then played her songs "Born This Way" and "Edge of Glory" on the piano. We were really excited and fortunate to have been there for all of that.
As far as the modern city goes...
I love it here. I love every aspect of it. I'm confident finding my way around, on foot or by bus; my mental map of the city has become very clear, so I don't think I could ever really manage to get lost. I've had fun meeting people and talking with shopkeepers and waiters and friendly-looking strangers. The city is incredibly beautiful, whether you're looking at ancient ruins or modern monumnets or churches or even apartment buildings - or a blend of all of them in one place. The weather has been perfect - hot with puffy clouds surfing overhead and an occassional breeze. I would live here in a second - I really do feel at home.
Today we went to the villa of the emperor Hadrian, some miles outside of the city. The estate was sprawling and must have been stunning in its prime. It has experienced 1800 years of looting, so the majority of what's left is brick walls and terraces, but even these humble remains beg one's wonder. Each building, each stairway, each arch or broken column hints at the majesty that once was, setting one's mind to reconstructing the ruined buildings. But even if one were devoid of imagination, just the location of the villa is worth a visit: it is situated on a plateau overlookig the countryside and beneath a tall green mountain to the slope of which several towns cling.
We leave Rome tomorrow, and I'll be very sad to leave it behind. I wish I could stay here forever. There's so much more to explore, so much culture to delve into, so many people to meet, so much fun still to be had. But we will be heading to the Naples area, with at least two very cool sites left to explore (Herculaneum and Pompeii), which will doubtless present their own incredible wonders.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
6 June: The house of Augustus, the Forum Romanum
(I feel the need to apologize for my lame writing on this blog... on reading over a post I realize it's very hasty, but I don't want to be spending all of my time here editing this thing so I'm just going to leave it as it is.)
This morning we started off marching through ruins up the Palatine hill to the house of Augustus Caesar, which is off-limits to the public, though we had permission. Our guide was a middle-aged Italian lady who only spoke Italian and was not very impressed with us, so we were pretty much left to figure things out on our own. The house was very humble - unremarkable, even - except for the really well-preserved frescoes on the walls. We saw (what we think is) his receiving room, his study, and his bedroom. They were pretty small but had roofs, probably restored, though a fresco was all over the top of his study so that must have been original. The readings Professor Donahue gave us noted that Augustus lived very humbly - supposedly in the same bedroom for 40 years - which matched up with the pretty standard ruins we were seeing. Though it was really fun to think, whether correctly or not, that we were in the living chambers of Augustus Caesar. Epic stuff!
Right afterwards we crossed the Palatine toward the Via Sacra (passing the Arch of Constantine with a great view of the Colosseum!) and descended to the Forum. It was, as last time, overwhelming. This time around I really got a sense of how crowded the forum must have been. There are ruins everywhere you step. Most of the brick remains were fronted with marble and stood at least one if not several stories high. By 200 AD - even by 30 AD! - it must have been incredibly crowded in that space. By year 1 AD, that area had been settled almost a thousand years already, and ruins of very ancient inhabitants have been found in the forum, giving you a sense that each new building project there would have built over something else. Crazy!
We were able to enter the Curia, which we couldn't in 2007, though it was sort of lame inside - just a huge, boxy brick building. There was, however, a remarkably good exhibit on Nero going on there, which was really fun to go through. We took our time with it and I really felt like I got a better insight of who he was in that short time. (Highlights: He tried have his mom killed several times, and succeeded; kicked his pregnant wife to death; loved theater and the arts and may have performed in drag; was actually beloved by the people even though the senate hated him.) The Temple of Romulus was also open this time around, which again was disappointing inside (more of the Nero exhibit here, though it wasn't as good). I guess it was adopted as a christian church somewhere along the line, so there are the remains of a basilica behind it and christian paintings on the walls. Most exciting was seeing the quarters of the Vestal Virgins, which I hadn't seen before. They were really well preserved and it was easy to see how they lived.
Overall, it was nice to have Professor Donahue there; he's really knowledgeable about the time period so he can answer a wide range of questions.
We meant to get into the prison by the Forum (the one St. Peter was supposedly held in) but it was closed for lunch (surprise). Instead we walked a ways to the Piazza Navona. Like the Trevi fountain and Spanish Steps, I found it pretty disappointing. There was very little there - just a big fountain with an obelisk, which was cool, and two smaller ones - and the shape of an old circus. Otherwise, it was a total tourist trap, with vendors set up every two feet, shady guys selling fake brand name merchandise who would literally pick up and run from the police when they approached, and all manner of silly tourist-gimmicks. The thick, syrupy concentration of tourists makes it feel like these sites are self-perpetuating for no reason: like the Phantom of the Opera, they're famous for being famous; people flock to them because it's something people flock to, not because they're more worthy of appreciation than other places in Rome.
Pardon the complaint - I guess I'm getting picky about which man-made marvels I most appreciate in this City of A Thousand Wonders. In the Piazza Navona, Zara, Elaine, Jacque and I just walked around, browsed artwork, got gelato and sat by the fountain, just people-watching. It was nice to have the break. We walked back to the Theater of Marcellus, past VE, and caught a ride back home.
Tomorrow we're going out of the city to look at some catacombs on the Appian Way.
This morning we started off marching through ruins up the Palatine hill to the house of Augustus Caesar, which is off-limits to the public, though we had permission. Our guide was a middle-aged Italian lady who only spoke Italian and was not very impressed with us, so we were pretty much left to figure things out on our own. The house was very humble - unremarkable, even - except for the really well-preserved frescoes on the walls. We saw (what we think is) his receiving room, his study, and his bedroom. They were pretty small but had roofs, probably restored, though a fresco was all over the top of his study so that must have been original. The readings Professor Donahue gave us noted that Augustus lived very humbly - supposedly in the same bedroom for 40 years - which matched up with the pretty standard ruins we were seeing. Though it was really fun to think, whether correctly or not, that we were in the living chambers of Augustus Caesar. Epic stuff!
Right afterwards we crossed the Palatine toward the Via Sacra (passing the Arch of Constantine with a great view of the Colosseum!) and descended to the Forum. It was, as last time, overwhelming. This time around I really got a sense of how crowded the forum must have been. There are ruins everywhere you step. Most of the brick remains were fronted with marble and stood at least one if not several stories high. By 200 AD - even by 30 AD! - it must have been incredibly crowded in that space. By year 1 AD, that area had been settled almost a thousand years already, and ruins of very ancient inhabitants have been found in the forum, giving you a sense that each new building project there would have built over something else. Crazy!
We were able to enter the Curia, which we couldn't in 2007, though it was sort of lame inside - just a huge, boxy brick building. There was, however, a remarkably good exhibit on Nero going on there, which was really fun to go through. We took our time with it and I really felt like I got a better insight of who he was in that short time. (Highlights: He tried have his mom killed several times, and succeeded; kicked his pregnant wife to death; loved theater and the arts and may have performed in drag; was actually beloved by the people even though the senate hated him.) The Temple of Romulus was also open this time around, which again was disappointing inside (more of the Nero exhibit here, though it wasn't as good). I guess it was adopted as a christian church somewhere along the line, so there are the remains of a basilica behind it and christian paintings on the walls. Most exciting was seeing the quarters of the Vestal Virgins, which I hadn't seen before. They were really well preserved and it was easy to see how they lived.
Overall, it was nice to have Professor Donahue there; he's really knowledgeable about the time period so he can answer a wide range of questions.
We meant to get into the prison by the Forum (the one St. Peter was supposedly held in) but it was closed for lunch (surprise). Instead we walked a ways to the Piazza Navona. Like the Trevi fountain and Spanish Steps, I found it pretty disappointing. There was very little there - just a big fountain with an obelisk, which was cool, and two smaller ones - and the shape of an old circus. Otherwise, it was a total tourist trap, with vendors set up every two feet, shady guys selling fake brand name merchandise who would literally pick up and run from the police when they approached, and all manner of silly tourist-gimmicks. The thick, syrupy concentration of tourists makes it feel like these sites are self-perpetuating for no reason: like the Phantom of the Opera, they're famous for being famous; people flock to them because it's something people flock to, not because they're more worthy of appreciation than other places in Rome.
Pardon the complaint - I guess I'm getting picky about which man-made marvels I most appreciate in this City of A Thousand Wonders. In the Piazza Navona, Zara, Elaine, Jacque and I just walked around, browsed artwork, got gelato and sat by the fountain, just people-watching. It was nice to have the break. We walked back to the Theater of Marcellus, past VE, and caught a ride back home.
Tomorrow we're going out of the city to look at some catacombs on the Appian Way.
June 5th: Vittorio Emanuele, Baths of Diocletian
Yesterday, Sunday the 5th, was our first free day. Four of us spent it by heading first to the "Wedding Cake," the Monumento Nazionale di Vittorio Emanuele, in which are some museums commemorating Italy's history since it's unification in the later 1800s. It was fun to have done, but it turned out to be sort of disappointing. We didn't know any Italian history, so we only recognized two or three names, and didn't care about most of the exhibits (tons and tons of Italian flags, uniforms, guns, other weird little relics with a very nationalistic flair). The museum felt very nationalistic, like you would expect to find in Soviet Russia - probably a remnant of the fact that the museum was built under Mussolini and the Italian Fascist government. There's an elevator to the top of the monument, which would have been awesome, but the girls didn't want to pay for it, understandably, so we left.
We walked down the road to a weird little site - la Bocca della Verita', the Mouth of Truth. It's a giant medieval manhole cover with a face on it outside a church. You're supposed to stick your hand in - legend has it that it will clamp down on a liar. We did so unscathed, and marched back up the Capitoline to the Piazza Venezia just in front of Vittorio Emmanuele. We walked down the main street radiating out from VE, which was the first totally commercial street we'd been to. It was lined completely with shops, so we had fun going into a bunch of them. By chance, we ran into the other three girls in our group (a bizarre coincidence - we have no communication and we're in a city of 3,000,000), but then split up for lunch again. Zara wanted to see The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_Saint_Teresa), so we walked about a mile northeast. The church it's in was closed (the Italians shut down for several hours in the middle of the day for lunch. It's the most frustrating thing!), so we wandered off and happened on a famous plaza - the Piazza della Repubblica (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_della_Repubblica_(Roma)). On the left, we spotted a big brick Roman ruin, predictably deteriorating. We didn't know what it was but decided it was big enough to be worth checking out.
Well, we blindly walked inside... to find a soaring, majestic, ornate basilica hiding in the ruins of an old Roman bath complex. It turns out that we had found the Baths of Diocletian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baths_of_Diocletian), in it's renaissance reincarnation, the Basilica of Saint Maria of the Angels and Martyrs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_degli_Angeli_e_dei_Martiri). Unbelievably, this bath complex, built around 300 AD, was bigger than the Baths of Caracalla - and was the largest bath complex in the world. Its footprint is still visible from the sky today, giving a glimpse into how the entire neighborhood around the present-day basilica was once part of this (and therefore given its shape by) this complex. The basilica we found now occupies one of the largest rooms of the former baths, and retains eight of the original columns used to support the ceiling. Other than that, you would never know that this incredible piece of architecture looked like a dilapidated ruin on the outside. The renovation of the baths, which had been out of use for around 1000 years, fell to Michelangelo, and became his last architectural project. I would say he did a pretty good job with it.
We exited the basilica and walked back to the church with the sculpture of St. Teresa, which was open again. But a man at the door asking for money refused to let the girls in the church, seeming to cite their skirts as inappropriate. I went in to take pictures for them, and the man admitted me after I coughed up a euro. A minute later, he let the girls in too, leading us to suspect he was simply a conniving gypsy, not a representative of the church. The Ecstasy was pretty cool - a work of Bernini. I'm not a huge art critic so I don't know what else to say about it, but the walls around it were cool - the stone had been carved so as to bend traditional 2D space, with some sculptures running over or into others.
Finally we went home. It rained, but we survived, as I had brought a rain jacket and umbrella.
That night we went back to the restaurant we had been the night before. (Accidentally - some of the girls wanted to explore new areas/eateries, but the group seems to have some navigational issues. I made the executive decision to stay when we passed; the sun was setting, the girls had lost themselves several times already, the walk was about a mile downhill on a road that may not have had sidewalks in an area we'd never been. There was some tension at first, but...) We ended up having an even better time last night than we did the night before. Marizio was flattered that we had returned with even more people (all seven of us were here this time), and throughout the course of the night, provided us with bruschetta, two rounds of lemoncello shots, and nutella pizza "as a gift" to us. Maurizio tutored me for the second time on how to eat my spaghetti properly (I had carbonara this time); he asked all of our names (which he uniformly mispronounced). Hilariously, he also had me translating for all the English-speaking tourists all night. The attractive waiter/bartender was there again, and after awhile he caught on that we were all talking about him. He ran with it - he took a shot with us (at Maurizio's insistence) and willingly posed for photos at the end of the night. As we left (almost four hours later!) he kissed all the girls on the cheek. They were so excited! (Alas, I only got a handshake... :[ ) On top of all the free stuff Maurizio had given us, he vastly undercharged us again, and refused our money when we offered him more. We left with him urging us to come back, which we promised to do soon.
We walked down the road to a weird little site - la Bocca della Verita', the Mouth of Truth. It's a giant medieval manhole cover with a face on it outside a church. You're supposed to stick your hand in - legend has it that it will clamp down on a liar. We did so unscathed, and marched back up the Capitoline to the Piazza Venezia just in front of Vittorio Emmanuele. We walked down the main street radiating out from VE, which was the first totally commercial street we'd been to. It was lined completely with shops, so we had fun going into a bunch of them. By chance, we ran into the other three girls in our group (a bizarre coincidence - we have no communication and we're in a city of 3,000,000), but then split up for lunch again. Zara wanted to see The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_Saint_Teresa), so we walked about a mile northeast. The church it's in was closed (the Italians shut down for several hours in the middle of the day for lunch. It's the most frustrating thing!), so we wandered off and happened on a famous plaza - the Piazza della Repubblica (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_della_Repubblica_(Roma)). On the left, we spotted a big brick Roman ruin, predictably deteriorating. We didn't know what it was but decided it was big enough to be worth checking out.
Well, we blindly walked inside... to find a soaring, majestic, ornate basilica hiding in the ruins of an old Roman bath complex. It turns out that we had found the Baths of Diocletian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baths_of_Diocletian), in it's renaissance reincarnation, the Basilica of Saint Maria of the Angels and Martyrs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_degli_Angeli_e_dei_Martiri). Unbelievably, this bath complex, built around 300 AD, was bigger than the Baths of Caracalla - and was the largest bath complex in the world. Its footprint is still visible from the sky today, giving a glimpse into how the entire neighborhood around the present-day basilica was once part of this (and therefore given its shape by) this complex. The basilica we found now occupies one of the largest rooms of the former baths, and retains eight of the original columns used to support the ceiling. Other than that, you would never know that this incredible piece of architecture looked like a dilapidated ruin on the outside. The renovation of the baths, which had been out of use for around 1000 years, fell to Michelangelo, and became his last architectural project. I would say he did a pretty good job with it.
We exited the basilica and walked back to the church with the sculpture of St. Teresa, which was open again. But a man at the door asking for money refused to let the girls in the church, seeming to cite their skirts as inappropriate. I went in to take pictures for them, and the man admitted me after I coughed up a euro. A minute later, he let the girls in too, leading us to suspect he was simply a conniving gypsy, not a representative of the church. The Ecstasy was pretty cool - a work of Bernini. I'm not a huge art critic so I don't know what else to say about it, but the walls around it were cool - the stone had been carved so as to bend traditional 2D space, with some sculptures running over or into others.
Finally we went home. It rained, but we survived, as I had brought a rain jacket and umbrella.
That night we went back to the restaurant we had been the night before. (Accidentally - some of the girls wanted to explore new areas/eateries, but the group seems to have some navigational issues. I made the executive decision to stay when we passed; the sun was setting, the girls had lost themselves several times already, the walk was about a mile downhill on a road that may not have had sidewalks in an area we'd never been. There was some tension at first, but...) We ended up having an even better time last night than we did the night before. Marizio was flattered that we had returned with even more people (all seven of us were here this time), and throughout the course of the night, provided us with bruschetta, two rounds of lemoncello shots, and nutella pizza "as a gift" to us. Maurizio tutored me for the second time on how to eat my spaghetti properly (I had carbonara this time); he asked all of our names (which he uniformly mispronounced). Hilariously, he also had me translating for all the English-speaking tourists all night. The attractive waiter/bartender was there again, and after awhile he caught on that we were all talking about him. He ran with it - he took a shot with us (at Maurizio's insistence) and willingly posed for photos at the end of the night. As we left (almost four hours later!) he kissed all the girls on the cheek. They were so excited! (Alas, I only got a handshake... :[ ) On top of all the free stuff Maurizio had given us, he vastly undercharged us again, and refused our money when we offered him more. We left with him urging us to come back, which we promised to do soon.
June 4th: Baths of Caracalla, Keats-Shelley House
It's hard to keep up with all this blogging!
Saturday, the 4th, we started the morning by descending into the ruins of a roman housing complex under a church by the Palatine hill. It was cool, and a real cave-y, underground-y feel, and pretty complex. It had been built over/through three or four times before a church was placed on top of it in the middle ages, so there were doorways and walls and niches and stairs and windows all over the place, and it was impossible to figure out which part had been part of which complex at any given time. There were some frescoes on the wall that were intact.
Then we headed over to the Circus Maximus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_Maximus), the place where the Romans used to have their beloved chariot-races. It was... disappointing. Almost nothing is left of it, although it retains its shape (a very skinny ellipse) as a grassy strip. The grass in the center of what would have been the road is worn away, suggesting it's a popular jogging site today. Across the Circus Maximus are the impressive ruins of the old palaces atop the Palatine hill, which we'll see up close eventually. We went up from the CM to the Aventine hill, which was and is residential, to a park where we got a great view of the city.
After that we walked about a mile down to the Baths of Caracalla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baths_of_Caracalla), which is a GIGANTIC bath complex from 200ish AD that was, crazily, built in 4 years. A substantial part of the ruins are still standing, allowing visitors to walk through. Apparently the baths used to be a big public gathering place, where people would go for fun in their free time. (Most Romans probably didn't have baths, so bathing was a communal thing.) It was surrounded by shops, so it was also like a mall. The ruins were truly awe inspiring - the biggest I'd ever seen.
Later, a few of us made our way across the city to the Trevi Fountain (bleh, tourist trap, sketchy people, hot), and the Spanish Steps (also overrated). I managed to not be kidnapped
Saturday, the 4th, we started the morning by descending into the ruins of a roman housing complex under a church by the Palatine hill. It was cool, and a real cave-y, underground-y feel, and pretty complex. It had been built over/through three or four times before a church was placed on top of it in the middle ages, so there were doorways and walls and niches and stairs and windows all over the place, and it was impossible to figure out which part had been part of which complex at any given time. There were some frescoes on the wall that were intact.
Then we headed over to the Circus Maximus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_Maximus), the place where the Romans used to have their beloved chariot-races. It was... disappointing. Almost nothing is left of it, although it retains its shape (a very skinny ellipse) as a grassy strip. The grass in the center of what would have been the road is worn away, suggesting it's a popular jogging site today. Across the Circus Maximus are the impressive ruins of the old palaces atop the Palatine hill, which we'll see up close eventually. We went up from the CM to the Aventine hill, which was and is residential, to a park where we got a great view of the city.
After that we walked about a mile down to the Baths of Caracalla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baths_of_Caracalla), which is a GIGANTIC bath complex from 200ish AD that was, crazily, built in 4 years. A substantial part of the ruins are still standing, allowing visitors to walk through. Apparently the baths used to be a big public gathering place, where people would go for fun in their free time. (Most Romans probably didn't have baths, so bathing was a communal thing.) It was surrounded by shops, so it was also like a mall. The ruins were truly awe inspiring - the biggest I'd ever seen.
Later, a few of us made our way across the city to the Trevi Fountain (bleh, tourist trap, sketchy people, hot), and the Spanish Steps (also overrated). I managed to not be kidnapped
Friday, June 3, 2011
Jun 3: Tomb Raiders; Open-mouthed at Ostia
I had the terrible misfortune of not properly setting my alarm last night, so I was woken up at the very end of breakfast, and had to scarf down some bread and cereal as everyone filed out of the room. Without time for even a shower (I was so gross from yesterday already!) I had to throw clothes on and join everyone at the entrance to the Centro. We got on a bus and headed for the Pyramid of Cestius, which is a large pyramid in the southwest part of the city built a few decades BC by some guy with a lot of money who was into the whole Egypt-fad (this was just after the Cleopatra scandal... clearly Egypt was all the rage). Unlike yesterday, we managed to board the bus in the right direction, and made it there by 8:40.
Our appointment was for 9, but we didn't see anyone at the gate. Wondering if there was another way in, we circled the block and entered into the Protestant cemetery, where I had really wanted to visit anyway: it is the burial place of two of the six great Romantic Poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. We saw their graves, which were very quiet things set in a gorgeous, crowded graveyard.
But an entrance to the level of the pyramid was not to be found here.
I managed to lose the group, and figured I would circle back to the gate on the other side of the block to see if they had regrouped there. They hadn't, but I met a man named Franco on the other side of the gate, who said he, too, was looking for a group of Americans - our group! He spotted them in the graveyard and had me call them over. While we waited for them to circle the block to us, I had my first successful Italian conversation with Franco, who is the custodian of the pyramid and the museum across the street (a medieval fortress that, hilariously, is literally in the middle of the road). The group arrived, and though I think Franco was annoyed at Prof. Donahue for not showing up on time (even though I tried to explain that we had been early), he liked me, so he stayed friendly. He led us down to the pyramid and through the door into its inner depths. Through a cramped passageway we entered into the burial chamber. It was a bare room with simple pictures on the walls and some graffiti. Any objects that once were housed here have long been removed. Another passageway leads out of the tomb and was bored by intruders in the middle ages. The one we came through was dug in the 1700s.
After exiting the pyramid, we left Franco and got onto the subway, which brought us several miles west of Rome to the ancient port city of Ostia. In its heyday between 200 BC and 300 AD, it had housed 50,000 people, and was a crucial trading point for the city of Rome. In later centuries it became a resort town for the rich, but in the end had simply been abandoned. It was covered until the 1800s, when minor excavations begun, which reached full force in the 20th century. The ruins are incredibly preserved, mostly made of brick, stone, and concrete.
The most astounding thing about Ostia, hands down, was how unbelievably huge it was. As we walked through the streets, we realized it just went on and on and on. Since it had been abandoned, nothing had ever been built over it, and the entire city had been preserved. We followed the general path of the main road through the city, which runs east to west (though we were going east), from the sea towards Rome along the ancient route of the Tiber. We explored baths, warehouses, shops and homes. I climbed through a perilous looking hole in the wall up to the second story of a house, then up a nearly disintegrated staircase to stand on the broken walls of the second story. This is where we got our first good glimpse of the city.
When we descended, we saw some more baths, with incredibly preserved murals, then walked over an open field area. We discovered tunnels beneath it, which we figured were used to heat the bathhouses. The tunnels were really scary - pitch black in many places, with bats flying about, frightened by our noise and camera flashes. It was an Indiana Jones moment.
Above ground again, we came to the ancient theater, which had been partially restored. Past that was another big field with the ruins of a temple to Vulcan in the middle. We picnicked here in the shade, posed on the steps of the old temple, and prowled the perimeter of the quad. Merchants' storefronts had surrounded the square, as evidenced by murals in the ground depicting the type of trade that took place at each stall. It was really cool to see, and gave us a sense of the type of business that went on here, as well as vivid images of a bustling port marketplace.
We saw an ancient bar/tavern, an apartment complex (where we got another great vista), then proceeded to the ancient capitol building. Three walls of this structure still stand, and they are quite high and formidable. In front of it is a decrepit colonnade and another little quad. Past this area we simply walked around, in and out of houses, up and down stairs, over fallen columns, through overgrown walkways, into dark cellars and, always, up any staircase we could find - in tact or otherwise. But heat got the better of us, and, low on water, we retreated to the visitor's center. Here we visited a small museum made up entirely of busts and marble statues. Then we walked back through ancient Ostia to the subway.
This time, the goddess of the bus system did not smile on us, as we got on one bus, barely made our stop, walked several blocks to another, only to get on the right bus going in the wrong direction. We stuck it out on this one until it hit its last stop and reversed direction. At least we got to circle around the Colosseum!
Finally, in the neighborhood of the Centro, we got some gelato (coconut! so delicious!), then mobbed the Centro's showers. After dinner (delicious as always), we headed out to a nearby park just to explore. (Well, I went to explore. According to the girls, they needed to walk off all the delicious carbs they'd just consumed.)
We wanted to go out to shop or do something touristy, like see the Trevi fountain, but decided we were just too tired tonight.
Tomorrow should be a light day - we only have stuff to do in the morning. Sunday is a day off. The weekend should be fun!
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| The road was built around the pyramid, so it is literally on a street corner. (The base of the pyramid is about 20 ft below present-day ground level.) |
Our appointment was for 9, but we didn't see anyone at the gate. Wondering if there was another way in, we circled the block and entered into the Protestant cemetery, where I had really wanted to visit anyway: it is the burial place of two of the six great Romantic Poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. We saw their graves, which were very quiet things set in a gorgeous, crowded graveyard.
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| This past semester I took a seminar on Shelley. He drowned off the coast of Italy. |
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| Keats's grave doesn't say his name. He died in Rome on his way to visit Shelley, who had invited him to stay with him and Mary while Keats recovered from illness. |
But an entrance to the level of the pyramid was not to be found here.
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| The base of the pyramid was inaccessible from the graveyard, though we got a good sense of scale. |
I managed to lose the group, and figured I would circle back to the gate on the other side of the block to see if they had regrouped there. They hadn't, but I met a man named Franco on the other side of the gate, who said he, too, was looking for a group of Americans - our group! He spotted them in the graveyard and had me call them over. While we waited for them to circle the block to us, I had my first successful Italian conversation with Franco, who is the custodian of the pyramid and the museum across the street (a medieval fortress that, hilariously, is literally in the middle of the road). The group arrived, and though I think Franco was annoyed at Prof. Donahue for not showing up on time (even though I tried to explain that we had been early), he liked me, so he stayed friendly. He led us down to the pyramid and through the door into its inner depths. Through a cramped passageway we entered into the burial chamber. It was a bare room with simple pictures on the walls and some graffiti. Any objects that once were housed here have long been removed. Another passageway leads out of the tomb and was bored by intruders in the middle ages. The one we came through was dug in the 1700s.
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| Sitting in what was probably once a niche where a statue of Cestius sat. |
After exiting the pyramid, we left Franco and got onto the subway, which brought us several miles west of Rome to the ancient port city of Ostia. In its heyday between 200 BC and 300 AD, it had housed 50,000 people, and was a crucial trading point for the city of Rome. In later centuries it became a resort town for the rich, but in the end had simply been abandoned. It was covered until the 1800s, when minor excavations begun, which reached full force in the 20th century. The ruins are incredibly preserved, mostly made of brick, stone, and concrete.
The most astounding thing about Ostia, hands down, was how unbelievably huge it was. As we walked through the streets, we realized it just went on and on and on. Since it had been abandoned, nothing had ever been built over it, and the entire city had been preserved. We followed the general path of the main road through the city, which runs east to west (though we were going east), from the sea towards Rome along the ancient route of the Tiber. We explored baths, warehouses, shops and homes. I climbed through a perilous looking hole in the wall up to the second story of a house, then up a nearly disintegrated staircase to stand on the broken walls of the second story. This is where we got our first good glimpse of the city.
When we descended, we saw some more baths, with incredibly preserved murals, then walked over an open field area. We discovered tunnels beneath it, which we figured were used to heat the bathhouses. The tunnels were really scary - pitch black in many places, with bats flying about, frightened by our noise and camera flashes. It was an Indiana Jones moment.
Above ground again, we came to the ancient theater, which had been partially restored. Past that was another big field with the ruins of a temple to Vulcan in the middle. We picnicked here in the shade, posed on the steps of the old temple, and prowled the perimeter of the quad. Merchants' storefronts had surrounded the square, as evidenced by murals in the ground depicting the type of trade that took place at each stall. It was really cool to see, and gave us a sense of the type of business that went on here, as well as vivid images of a bustling port marketplace.
We saw an ancient bar/tavern, an apartment complex (where we got another great vista), then proceeded to the ancient capitol building. Three walls of this structure still stand, and they are quite high and formidable. In front of it is a decrepit colonnade and another little quad. Past this area we simply walked around, in and out of houses, up and down stairs, over fallen columns, through overgrown walkways, into dark cellars and, always, up any staircase we could find - in tact or otherwise. But heat got the better of us, and, low on water, we retreated to the visitor's center. Here we visited a small museum made up entirely of busts and marble statues. Then we walked back through ancient Ostia to the subway.
This time, the goddess of the bus system did not smile on us, as we got on one bus, barely made our stop, walked several blocks to another, only to get on the right bus going in the wrong direction. We stuck it out on this one until it hit its last stop and reversed direction. At least we got to circle around the Colosseum!
Finally, in the neighborhood of the Centro, we got some gelato (coconut! so delicious!), then mobbed the Centro's showers. After dinner (delicious as always), we headed out to a nearby park just to explore. (Well, I went to explore. According to the girls, they needed to walk off all the delicious carbs they'd just consumed.)
We wanted to go out to shop or do something touristy, like see the Trevi fountain, but decided we were just too tired tonight.
Tomorrow should be a light day - we only have stuff to do in the morning. Sunday is a day off. The weekend should be fun!
Jun 2: Our first explorations
Is this really our third day? It feels like we've been here a week!
Yesterday, the 2nd, was a special day for Italy. It was the celebration of the republic, akin to our 4th of July. This year they are also celebrating 150 years since the unification of Italy, so we were expecting big things. Well... we were disappointed. There was a parade, but it was strictly military - not much more than a procession of units and marching bands and some antique military vehicles. The coolest part was that some planes flew overhead three or four times at low altitude streaming green, red, and white smoke (the colors of the flag). Other than that, there didn't seem to be any celebration at all. Very strange!
We started off the day by descending to the banks of the Tiber, which has been enclosed in very steep walled embankments to prevent its flooding of the city (a frequent historical occurrence). We stood beside a 2000 year old bridge leading to the Tiber island before crossing it. The island is home to a functioning (religious?) hospital and a gorgeous Catholic cathedral. (You may remember the island from its appearance at the end of Angels & Demons.) Then we visited a round temple just beside the Tiber, supposedly one of the oldest Roman temples to use marble. You can't enter and it's looking pretty beat, but it was cool. We surveyed a small old arch with curious history, and a really beat up four-sided arch beside it.
Then we headed over to the Theater of Marcellus, which looks very much like a mini-Colosseum, except for the very noticeable exception that an apartment building has been placed on the third story. Evidently, building housing complexes on top of ancient Roman ruins is something the Italians don't think twice about. Across from the theater were some cool old temple ruins, with a few freestanding tall pillars.
We stayed and watched the parade awhile before heading up the road, up the ancient Capitoline hill. At the top of the hill, today, is the Monumento Nazionale, which is a HUGE marble monument (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Vittorio_Emanuele_II). We picnicked in its shadow while the parade ended and watched Italians and tourists go about their day. Then we ascended the Capitoline in earnest, up to the piazza constructed by Michelangelo, centering on a statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse. We visited the Aracoeli, a bizarre and beautiful cathedral at a very high point on the hill, just behind the Monumento Nazionale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Aracoeli).
Then we went into one of the national museums in the plaza, where we saw a lot of really cool original sculptures and busts. In that museum are the only existing foundations of the Temple to Jupiter which once occupied the hill. The Temple was absolutely massive, and was built in 500 BC, so it's really a shame that so little/nothing is left of it except for a few drawings and descriptions and a few foundations of one corner.
At the top of the museum we got an incredible view of Rome. Before leaving, we stopped by the ruins of an ancient shopping center/apartment complex that is literally leaning against the monumento nazionale and the stairs to the Aracoeli. Finally, beat, we headed back home, showered, and ate dinner. After dinner, just at sunset, we walked past the American Academy to an awesome park on the Janiculum hill overlooking Rome.
Yesterday, the 2nd, was a special day for Italy. It was the celebration of the republic, akin to our 4th of July. This year they are also celebrating 150 years since the unification of Italy, so we were expecting big things. Well... we were disappointed. There was a parade, but it was strictly military - not much more than a procession of units and marching bands and some antique military vehicles. The coolest part was that some planes flew overhead three or four times at low altitude streaming green, red, and white smoke (the colors of the flag). Other than that, there didn't seem to be any celebration at all. Very strange!
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| The Italian Colors fly over the Monumento Nazionale |
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| Looking down the Tiber. The island is the land on the left. |
Then we headed over to the Theater of Marcellus, which looks very much like a mini-Colosseum, except for the very noticeable exception that an apartment building has been placed on the third story. Evidently, building housing complexes on top of ancient Roman ruins is something the Italians don't think twice about. Across from the theater were some cool old temple ruins, with a few freestanding tall pillars.
We stayed and watched the parade awhile before heading up the road, up the ancient Capitoline hill. At the top of the hill, today, is the Monumento Nazionale, which is a HUGE marble monument (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Vittorio_Emanuele_II). We picnicked in its shadow while the parade ended and watched Italians and tourists go about their day. Then we ascended the Capitoline in earnest, up to the piazza constructed by Michelangelo, centering on a statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse. We visited the Aracoeli, a bizarre and beautiful cathedral at a very high point on the hill, just behind the Monumento Nazionale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Aracoeli).
Then we went into one of the national museums in the plaza, where we saw a lot of really cool original sculptures and busts. In that museum are the only existing foundations of the Temple to Jupiter which once occupied the hill. The Temple was absolutely massive, and was built in 500 BC, so it's really a shame that so little/nothing is left of it except for a few drawings and descriptions and a few foundations of one corner.
At the top of the museum we got an incredible view of Rome. Before leaving, we stopped by the ruins of an ancient shopping center/apartment complex that is literally leaning against the monumento nazionale and the stairs to the Aracoeli. Finally, beat, we headed back home, showered, and ate dinner. After dinner, just at sunset, we walked past the American Academy to an awesome park on the Janiculum hill overlooking Rome.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
1 giugno: Arrival
Yesterday evening I departed Newark airport to Lisbon on TAP Portugal airlines with no huge incidents. Serendipitously, another girl on the Rome & Pompeii trip, my friend Zara Stasi, happened to be on the same flight, which made the flight experience much more comfortable. The plane was certainly not the classiest ride but we encountered no turbulence. I made friends with the guy sitting next to me, Josh, who works for John Deere and was flying to Lisbon for a product launch. The conversation made the flight easy. Sleep escaped me, but I was fortunate enough to see the horizon light up rainbow before the sun rose. Lisbon looks incredibly beautiful from the air. We touched down on the tarmac while the sun was halfway over the horizon. The flight got in late, so within 45 minutes we were on our next flight to Rome (after meeting another girl on our flight who would be studying abroad in Florence, and a couple on their honeymoon, who recommended I check out the secret room in some prestigious Naples museum housing ancient pornographic murals). The second flight was nearly as empty as the first was full. A few patches of rough turbulence, one or two screaming babies, but I was able to nap and we got to Rome without incident. (Oh - this was also the first time I've heard Portuguese spoken. It's interesting! It sounds surprisingly like French, and also reminded me weirdly of Esperanto. Maybe it's all the x's in the middle of the words.)
We met the other students and Professor Donahue while we waited 30 mins for our last arrival. Then the day got exciting. You may have heard that Italian drivers have a reputation of sorts. If that is the case, then we certainly got a dose of real Italia this morning. Our driver was beyond aggressive on the road - to the point of recklessness - and there were at least three times I remember coming within inches of hitting another car or person. After awhile everyone stopped smiling nervously at each other about it and we all fixed our gaze on the buildings passing by, deeply in need of a distraction from the sustained near-death experience taking place on the road. (By the way, the driver stopped to fill up the little van we were in - it came out to 120 Euro. And we think we have it bad at $4.30 a gallon!)
We survived the trip to the Centro. It's a beautiful building that blends right in with the other ones around here. It has a small entrance courtyard, a little lobby, a computer lab with maybe 10 modern Macs, a beautiful library, a classroom with two pianos and a couple guitars, and a spacious garden with two fountains, several trees, a ping pong table and a spot for barbecuing. Our rooms are simple but satisfying. This room is smaller than my dorm room but has a bed, a nice wide sink, a wardrobe with drawers,a desk and a huge bookshelf - so it's really better off furniture-wise than what we have at William and Mary. (I would kill just for the sink!) The window is wide and opens right up to a view of the street below. There are two showers in the men's bath with blissfully hot water, two stalls and three sinks. In short, it's a really awesome living space.
I put my stuff away, showered, and went out in search of a few of the girls, who had gone out for pizza. I didn't find them but I enjoyed my short walk of a couple blocks on my own. Explored the garden and the rooftop terrace, played some music with Jessica, then had an excellent nap. We were explained the rules of the Centro by Franco, the very very nice director here, and were called down to dinner. Here we ate in the same room as some of the kids from Duke who are also staying here at present, though they were at a different table and we didn't interact. Dinner was unbelievably good - fresh bread, pasta alfredo, pasta with tomato sauce, a vegetable medley, a small salad with pulled beef mixed in, beans, and fresh-baked blueberry cake. All of us ate until we were stuffed. After dinner I met two guys from Duke who are here for a week.
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| The courtyard at the entrance to the Centro |
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| My room is the first full window at top |
We survived the trip to the Centro. It's a beautiful building that blends right in with the other ones around here. It has a small entrance courtyard, a little lobby, a computer lab with maybe 10 modern Macs, a beautiful library, a classroom with two pianos and a couple guitars, and a spacious garden with two fountains, several trees, a ping pong table and a spot for barbecuing. Our rooms are simple but satisfying. This room is smaller than my dorm room but has a bed, a nice wide sink, a wardrobe with drawers,a desk and a huge bookshelf - so it's really better off furniture-wise than what we have at William and Mary. (I would kill just for the sink!) The window is wide and opens right up to a view of the street below. There are two showers in the men's bath with blissfully hot water, two stalls and three sinks. In short, it's a really awesome living space.
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| Jessica inspects the spiral staircase to the garden |
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| The view from my window |
I put my stuff away, showered, and went out in search of a few of the girls, who had gone out for pizza. I didn't find them but I enjoyed my short walk of a couple blocks on my own. Explored the garden and the rooftop terrace, played some music with Jessica, then had an excellent nap. We were explained the rules of the Centro by Franco, the very very nice director here, and were called down to dinner. Here we ate in the same room as some of the kids from Duke who are also staying here at present, though they were at a different table and we didn't interact. Dinner was unbelievably good - fresh bread, pasta alfredo, pasta with tomato sauce, a vegetable medley, a small salad with pulled beef mixed in, beans, and fresh-baked blueberry cake. All of us ate until we were stuffed. After dinner I met two guys from Duke who are here for a week.
As I said, the director here, Franco, and his wife Pina are molto molto simpatico and incredibly welcoming. I'm really pleased with the facility here - I could live here for a whole semester without a second thought. I'm sorry I'm not!
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| A fountain in the garden |
Tomorrow I guess we're going to the island in the Tiber. Apparently tomorrow is the Festa della Repubblica, the equivalent of the Italian 4th of July, so we are promised parades and speeches and planes and what-have-you - although I understand that we'll (unfortunately!) be trying to keep away from it all, capitalizing on the absence of other visitors in the places we'll be visiting. It should be an interesting day.
I'm dying to use my Italian. I had a short conversation with Pina, and she seemed pleased with me (although I had to slip into English a few times), and I've been happy to find that I can understand most of the advertisements on the street. A cartoon was on in Italian on Cartoon Network and I probably followed along with 30% of it, which I was happy with. I'm really hoping to hone my language skills in the next three weeks.
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| Getting to know each other! |
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