What's In a Name?

So I was sitting in my Art and Architecture class on Monday of this past week, as my professor was listing off some of the important artists from the Renaissance: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatallo. I found it amusing that I accidentally named my little stuffed turtle after a famous artist who was revered by Michelangelo. Then she jokingly made a reference to the Mutant Ninja Turtles being named after all of these artists. My jaw dropped. When I had never watched the Mutant Ninja Turtles before and had no idea that I had named my stuffed turtle after a ninja turtle. Everyone got the biggest laugh over my ignorance of such iconic turtles. LOL! I thought it was pretty funny though, the irony of it all! Congrats to Donatello for having such famous roots :)

Hold on to Your Togas, We are going to Greece: Part 1

At the end of September, we were in the death throws of several midterms: West Civ I and Western Theo Trad, topped off by an Art and Arch Quiz. Sad to say, but by the end of these midterms and homework for other classes many of us were thinking that a weekend of hibernation would be perfect rather than a fast-paced ten days in Greece. Thankfully by the time we woke up at five on Friday to get on our buses that would take us to the coast and to our ferry. Our Ferry was the "Superfast XII" and once aboard, most of us proceeded to go right to sleep. In our defense most of us had been up later studying for exams, doing laundry, packing and the bus ride was more than five hours long. After a delightful nap, we enjoyed a dinner of Greek spaghetti. After dinner I walked around the cruise -like ship and talked with friends while enjoying one of the best cups of hot chocolate I have ever had. (Mom- you would have loved it!) That night I slept so well because the rocking of the boat made me drowsy to begin with. The next morning, everyone got up and packed up and prepared to get off the ferry at Patras, Greece. At the port of Patras, we dragged our bags off the boat and dumped them unceremoniously onto a bus…yes I said another bus. I had signed up for bus number 2 which we called the Alphabus. In order to be able to do roll call on our buses more quickly we were each assigned a number. ( I was number 7, it’s a good number :) ) During the ten days we had to do roll with numbers, we would have our RA on the bus time us and we did roll call with 23 people in less than 15 sec. It got to be a game itself. After everyone got settled in their seats, we would get really quiet to hear the first person yell "ONE!" After we got on our Greek buses for the first time, we drove for a little while before we got to the first stop on our epic trip! Stay Tuned for more parts :)

Living in Rome

Now that I have been in the Eternal City for more than a month, being a part of the culture here seems very natural. (Never thought I'd say that) Taking the metro into Rome for a study break or to help at the Soup Kitchen run by a convent of nuns near St. Peter's Basilica seems so normal. And being able to spend the afternoon at a cafe in the square in front of the Pope's summer residence is a typical way to spend any free time.

Navigating around is also not such a problem anymore. I remember the first time I took the metro, I was convinced nothing had ever seemed scarier. Now its a walk in the park :) But I think the biggest factor to leaving in Rome is knowing what is normal for the city itself. There is a grace that Rome has preserved that excites and inspires while remembering that it is the Eternal City. Its so amazing!

A few weeks ago we were in the city for an Art and Arch on-site lecture at the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Over our lunch break we were able to go off on our own. That was when I realized how much I love Rome.

Well I would love to write more...but I have two papers to write and a midterm to study for tomorrow :)

Enjoy the pictures!!

Compania: A Little Piece of Heaven on the Italian Coast

So after Cinque Terre, I was almost completely convinced that there are no beaches that could rivel the amazing glory and aqua water of Cinque...I was wrong. The Amalfi Coast is at least as beautiful (Sorry Cinque Terre).

As a class, we traveled from Rome by bus to Monte Cassino, had several tours, on-site lectures and were able to look around on our own. On the way up the mountain please keep in account that we are in buses which are being driven through an extremely windy road with several views straight down the mountain...We were all relieved to reach the top in one piece! I was awed by the amazing view and by the fact that this place is even real. The view that you get from the Abbey is impressive.Since my dad is a historian at heart, I was familiar with Monte Cassino's role in WWII and seeing the Polish cemetery was an impressive reminder of the history.

Following Monte Cassino, we hoped back on the buses and took off for Pompeii. Again impressive and horrific at the same time. Our professors gave tours through the ruins of the port town of Pompeii which is incredibly well preserved. It's one things to always hear about Mt. Vesuvius and how horrible it was; but seeing the bodies preserved with all the horrors of suffocation. I know this is hard to think about but it is a strong reminder that people are still the same. I think most people think of the "people back then" as being somehow different even if we can't pinpoint it. Really they are just as human and normal as we all are. Pompeii made history alive, even in the death of the town.

I know that last part was border-lining on depressing but...after that we went to a five star hotel and had an amazing dinner. After which we slept long and peacefully then rose early the next day to catch a boat and tour the Amalfi Coast, with several stops along the way. While we were on the boat we sang some great rounds and finished up with a singing competition between two groups on the upper deck. It was great and many memories were made as well.

The Amalfi Coast is just to beautiful to try to describe in words. So just check out the pictures!!

Lastly after another night at our amazing hotel, we went to Paestum, Italy were two of the oldest Greek temples are...And yes I did just say that the oldest Greek temples are in Italy. Its rather long and complicated, but basically the Greek city-states colonized many places throughout the Mediterranean. Paestum is one of them! There are three temples: Hera I and II as well as a Temple to Athena. All of which are mind-blowing in regards to their size and architecture.

Basically our school is amazing for planning such a trip!

Cinque Terre: A Trip to Wow Anyone!

For my first long weekend trip, myself along with six friends traveled to Cinque Terre, a beautiful series of of fishing villages along the western coast of Italy. It was gorgeous!
We started at the top village of Monterossa and hiked down: swimming, eating gelato, sleeping and drinking cappuccino. I cannot explain how beautiful it was!
Our hike was pretty good exercise and those gelatos were well-deserved!

After all that exhausting exercise, we found a small rental apartment and crashed for the night! I don't know that last time I slept that soundly and I am pretty sure I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in.

The next day we again started with cappuccinos and set off to walk around before we took the train to the next town in the Cinque Terre area. Throughout all of this, we were confronted with the most breath-taking landscape I've ever seen. It made me understand why Cinque Terre has become such a tourist trap.

Either way, that weekend was amazing and enjoy the pictures!

A Beautiful afternoon in Castelli Romani

This afternoon after an brief introduction to each of our classes, we embarked on a beautiful afternoon trip through a series of mountain villages that surround an inactive volcanic lake. First of all everything was so incredibly beautiful that it was hard to take it all in! But I got delicious Caffe Viennese gelato and sampled some of the local strawberries that that area is known for. (They are tiny but definitely pack a lot of flavor!)

After all of our driving around these mountain towns, one of which called Casteli Gandalfo includes the summer residence of Pope Benedict XVI, complete with Swiss Guards!

The afternoon was wrapped up with a filling and cultural traditional meal at De Agnese. Then I went wading in the lake, unfortunately because it was dark I didn't want to try swimming but I plan to revisit this close locale!

Walking Tour of Rome

In order to more quickly get over the dreadful fatigue induced by jet-lag, the professors planned an early morning. By early I mean breakfast at 5:30 AM! Actually it wasn't that bad.

After a cultural Italian breakfast of pastries, yogurt and espresso (oh yes), we were all bused off into the busy, metropolitan area of the city.

It was so much fun to explore the historic areas as well as visit religious sites such as St. Peter's Basilica. Only in Rome can you find such a combination of religion, history and culture. With a touch of gelato of course.

After walking around for about three hours in the bright Mediterranean sun, we were hot and sweaty. After being in Rome for two days I finally got to try to communicate on my own. There were city workers handing out bottled water. I was standing behind the gentleman who was handing out the water so I started out with "excuse" and then was able with hand gestures and I got my normal water bottle!! (In Italy, the water is mineral water so it has bubbles in it and tastes different...)

Overall the day was amazing and it cemented for me that I am in ROME!