The Vatican, for real this time.

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(Bridge leading into the Vatican - abandon all hope, ye who enter here).

On Saturday Katy and I attempted to go to the Vatican, key word here being attempted. It's a really nice ~1.3 mile walk, and we got there around noon not really knowing what to expect. What we were hit with were people. Lots and lots of people. Quite literally, with no exaggeration, the line to get into St. Peter's Basilica was half a mile long (basically the length of the square). So we decided to try out the museum, which meant walking along the outer walls of the Vatican City. Except then...we couldn't find the entrance. There was a group entrance, an online reservation entrance, but no regular one. We ended up just sketching in the main square for a little while, and totally won a battle with a fake British man trying to get us to go on a fake tour. In the end, we decided to go back during the week when it would be less busy.

(Me in front of Laocoon!)

Which leads us to today! After our art history lecture this morning (which was surprisingly relevant to everything we saw in the museum), Katy and I headed back to the Vatican with Molly and Jamie in tow. It could not have been more perfect - there were zero lines. This could also be because it was a very cloudy/overcast day. In the museum, we basically got to see a year's worth of art history classes in two hours. Sculptures that we've been seeing in slide-shows and presentations and books - in real life. First up was the pointing Augustus statue, then the Laocoon, then the Belvedere torso (I will scan sketches soon). The museum was kind of like Ikea in that it funnels you through the entire place until you reach the warehouse, which in this case was the Sistine Chapel. We walked through rooms of funerary heads, bronzes, paintings, Raphael's most famous frescoes, and so much more, ending up at la Cappella Sistina.

(Some random awesome hallway).

Before you enter the Sistine Chapel, there is a fairly tall staircase that you have to climb first, so my heart was already pumping, then turning the corner into the chapel...I felt a strange mixture of nerves, excitement, and awe. We stayed there for nearly an hour, staring at the ceiling from all possible vantage points. I just could not comprehend how Michelangelo painted it. Like I know the technicalities and logistics but...he was a genius. Sadly no pictures were allowed, but it was so dark in there that photos wouldn't have come out well anyway. Oh and there were these silly guards whose only job was to tell people not to take photos and to make everyone be quiet periodically. At one point my brain actually went into mental processing overload, where I had absorbed too many beautiful things and couldn't take any more in.

(Pieta).

After escaping the maze-like exit of the museum, we headed back to St. Peter's Basilica, and walked right in with no line. It was almost funny picturing all those people waiting for hours and hours on Saturday. The first thing you see when entering the museum is Michelangelo's Pieta, another beautiful thing that I can't believe was made by human hands. Then we walked around the perimeter of the basilica, which was elaborately decorated. The main altar was enough to make a skeptical atheist believe...I don't know, something. Then we got to giggle at the Swiss guards, and finally headed out for the walk home.

(St. Peter's Basilica).

And now, I need to study Italian, read for art history, and finish my map project. A domani!

Thoughts, in no particular order.

The Trevi Fountain, when being cleaned, is quite anti-climactic, especially when being seen for the first time. When it actually has water however, it is incredible.

The January sales (government mandated) are pretty great. Zara!

Does no one eat chicken here? Why is it always so hard for me to find? Just makes my day so much better when I do find it. Almost bought/ate rabbit. That was scary, but also funny.

We are all going to become coffee addicts.

"Do things that quicken the heart." - John Terry, from his Q&A after a film screening on Thursday.

Base restaurants on how cute their doors and entrances are.

Marbled paper. Just...marbled paper.

People are fascinated with artists.

I have a guitar!!

Cappuccini & cornetti everyday.

Dance-offs to Brazilian songs with Italian shoe saleswomen do not always, but may, bring in new customers.

Do not go to the Vatican on a Saturday. Do not go to the Vatican on a Saturday. I repeat, donotgototheVaticanonaSaturday.

There will always be skeevy men trying to sell you things.

Flea markets, especially the mile-long Porta Portese, are exciting, smelly, loud, and awesome.

Not being sarcastic in any way, I love the pigeons here.

Things I have cooked so far:

Fresh tomato sauce
Caprese salad
Caramelized mushroom & onions
Chicken & broccoli
Pasta carbonara
SO MUCH PASTA.

Will update soon with art :)

End of orientation & First day of class!

Busy busy busy! On Saturday we took the bus and the subway to the Aqueduct Park at the edge of the city. It's a crazy long park, something like 5 km, with the ancient aqueducts around the border. We had a couple hours to wander around and sketch, and it was a beautiful day - perfect weather. Could not have been better - it was maybe 60-65 degrees? And as evidence, I got a sunburn. Worth it. There was dog poo everywhere but that also meant there were DOGS everywhere...to pet and love. They also had ponies. And there were farms with sheep and cows. It was strange, the light there felt very different. It had an ethereal quality.

Nick decided for us that we would walk back to Porta Maggiore (where my group started our scavenger hunt), following the aqueducts the whole way because they lead into the city. It was about a 5 mile walk, but I didn't even realize it felt that long. Towards the end, we stopped at a club that we are going to be exhibiting at in March (clubs during the day are so weird), and then took the bus back to the Cenci. It was about a 3 hour walk total.

The final day of Orientation, Sunday, we headed out extra early to Lake Albano, a lake in the crater of Mt. Jutiper, a volcano just outside the city. We met a group from the Rome spelunking team, who took us through the ancient drainage tunnel for the lake. It was a 1.6km walk under the mountain, in pitch blackness, with only our flashlights to light the way. At times the ceiling was so low we were basically squatting through. Good thing we had helmets! I hit my head constantly (times when being tall is a downside). There was a lot of water, and sadly a rock ripped through one of my rainboots, making it entirely useless. My right foot was completely dry but my left boot was filled with freezing mountain water! It was quite an adventure though - my first time spelunking!

After the caving, we headed up the mountain to this little commune called Ariccia, which is famous for its porchetta - roasted suckling pig. They brought it already cut up (thank god, I probably wouldn't have been able to eat it having seen its head), and it was the most delicious pork I have ever eaten. They also served us grilled vegetables, fresh bread and mozzarella.

THEN....THEN....there was a DONKEY RACE! What! I got unreasonably excited. I guess every year this town holds this festival where the younger teenage boys race donkeys up the main avenue...yeah. My camera died right beforehand, so even though it sounds like I'm maybe making this up, I swear it happened.

Yesterday was our first day of Italian class! It's about a 20 minute walk from the Cenci. We have to walk right past the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. My teacher's name is Mira, and it was so much fun. We practiced the alphabet and pronunciation. I just wish the class was longer and more days, but it's really good. I spent the rest of the day running errands and spending a ton of money, but most of it was a one-time expense, like a cell phone and art supplies.

I'm definitely getting more settled in - learning more about our location, how to get places, cooking a little more. Also got my studio space all set up, which is a relief.

That's about all for now!

Orientation Cont.

A few days have passed, and everything is still scary and strange but also wonderfully exciting. My grand metaphor the other day was that Rome is like an acquaintance - someone I just met, whose company I enjoy but I only see in the hallway every now and then. By next week, we'll have hung out more and get out of the "gettin' to know ya" phase. And then we'll be best buddies, and I'll never want to leave. It may sound cheesy, but accurate, right? Because even though Rome may be touristy in places, it is still very much ITALIAN. Which is intimidating. The younger crowd generally speaks a good amount of english, but older people - definitely not. And the second you step away from an attraction, all you will find is italiano. So I'm still adjusting to such a drastic change in culture. I am however, having quite the love affair with gelato!

Thursday was a walking tour adventure with our chief critic, Nick. I don't think any of us knew exactly what he'd be getting us into! First we took the bus from L'argo Argentina (more commonly known to us as CAT SANCTUARY because it is an excavated ruin infested with cats, and there is a little group that takes care of them and you can go pet them) to the international area, kinda like a Roman China town. We peeked into a huge fresh market that I want to go back to! Then we walked to a park to an ancient aquaduct/shrine ruin, Palazzo Vittorio. We started heading down what was the "city road" for the Roman republic - using our trusty Nolli maps (haha...ha...ha). The Nolli map is from the 1700s, so is quite outdated but very beautifully created. We stopped in a church, then got to see the crypt in San Martino, which was pretty awesome. Might I add that since Nick is an architect...most of our touring has been architecture-based, which is a lot to take in for us illustration and painting majors. Of course it is super interesting, but a ton of information to handle all at once! Also he power walks. Fast.

After the crypt, which maybe I should explain is not where the church keeps its dead bodies (that's in the floor in the main altar area), but is used more as a storage space, so there was a ton of ancient stones and fragments from sculptures and things just left down there. But anyway, with Nick's CRAZY AWESOME CONNECTIONS, we got to go into the Roman Forum, in the the Nerva (?) area!! No one is usually down there, and we had a lot of time to just wander, sketch, and absorb where exactly we were. Still feels unreal. Everything here is so surreal! What is my life right now! For dinner, Astrid, Mariana, Alma (my new studio mates!), William, Christina, and I got dinner at a restaurant...with a name...I can't remember. Christina took us there, and it was soooo good. I had pasta carbonara, the real way. In the US carbonara is pasta covered in cream sauce with peas and bacon. The italian way is when the pasta first comes out, while it is still hot, they put parmesan and a raw egg in it, so the heat from the pasta cooks the egg and makes a sauce with the cheese. Then they add pancetta, which is pork belly, which is basically bacon.

Friday was quite the adventure. We were split into groups of 4, and each given a list like a scavenger hunt, that would take us from one end of Rome to another. By walking. Yeah. Take a second to let that sit in. First we (Alma, Hamed, Eda, and I) took a bus to Porta Maggiore in the very eastern (or southern?) end of Rome. The clues were mostly numbers from the Nolli map, which is incredibly difficult to decipher, since a lot of the roads either don't exist anymore or have been built over or added to and...yeah, we cheated with my modern map a lot. We were doing really well for the first few...we crossed through "aqueduct city", which was a long wall of aqueducts, then to the church of San Croce. The next thing we had to find was a Roman tomb that is now...an orange tree in an apartment complex. (Thanks, Nolli.) Next was the clue...."FASSI...el palazzo de FREDDO!!!" Or, the cold palace. After asking a few people directions to the cold palace, it became obvious that was a clue, not the place. And so we stumbled upon FASSI, the first gelataria in Italy. Pretty cool. Except it was closed, so we could not get any gelato. We skipped the next clue because we really could not figure it out, unfortunately.

This is when we got lost and started walking in what felt like infinite circles, only to find out that we had been in the right place the first time. Might I add that our last clue was a specific place at noon, and we were under the impression that we had to finish by then, so we were rushing like mad and not really taking everything in like we were evidently supposed to be doing. But next we had to take the country road - remember earlier I said we took the city road? this was a parallel route that used to go through farms and villas instead of the city - to the university, then cross a pedestrian bridge across the forum. And this is where we became hopelessly frustrated. After walking for 4 hours, relying on the Nolli map that was strangely inaccurate around the Forum, we just got lunch to refuel. Then it was time to find the Arch of Titus - well, we found an arch that we suspected was Titus, walked around more, only to learn that it was indeed Titus. Check! Next - "follow the stations to Bonaventura." This one was a little confusing. We have to actually be inside the Forum, we learned. Which costs like $14, and was already closed when we figured out this clue. Oh well. We'll go back!

Next was "Where is Geta?" with a corresponding number on the Nolli map. The route took us past Circo Massimo, where the Romans held their chariot races and other games. Pretty awesome. We found the gate, still don't know where Geta is though haha. It was just a gate attached to a church, though there must have been something more. Nearing the end of our list, kinda, was "put your hand in the drain cover", which we found out was the Mouth of Truth, a huge stone circle with a face carved into it. You stick your hand in it, and if you are an honest person you're fine, but if you are a liar it will bite your hand off. Haha! So we stuck our hands in the stone mouth, and came out unscathed :) Then we got to take a nice stroll along the Tiber river at sunset, looking for the ancient port. I need to add here that we had been walking since 8 AM, and it was now about 4 PM. Very exhausted, but the river is beautiful at sunset. We crossed the river into Trastevere, found our next clue, which was an old cinema. And the last few clues took us into downtown Trastevere, one of my favorite places so far. It is so perfect there. We couldn't find the last three, and were incredibly frustrated/burnt out, as it was around 6 pm by now, and so decided to call it a day, get gelato, and continue on Monday.

And so ends a 10 hour walk across Rome. It was quite an intense experience, but I had a great group and in retrospect it was an unforgettable and crazy adventure. Tomorrow (actually TODAY, but I wrote this last night. Will update about the rest of orientation in a couple days!) - another architecture tour with Nick.

First 2 Days (primi due giorni)

I think?? My Italian is terrible. Need that class so bad.

So it's been two whole days in Rome now. Yesterday was a complete blur - the whole travel period feels it like it never happened. We had a 7 hour flight from Boston to Frankfurt. The verdict: German flight attendants are sassy. And adorable. I couldn't sleep at all, sadly. Planes are so strange. Time doesn't exist. Neither do taxes, good food, or my hearing. Since our first flight was delayed by an hour, we only had a half hour layover in Germany, then it was onto Rome! I managed to sleep about an hour, then Nick (chief critic), Ezio (art history teacher/mentor extraordinaire), and Christina (RA) met us at the airport. Half an hour bus ride later landed us at the tallest point in Rome to overlook the city:

The name of this place escapes me, we were all so exhausted, but it was incredible - definitely a great way to begin our semester. After this, it was off to the Cenci! I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I will. Soon. It is a beautiful 16th century building that's a complete labyrinth and going to take some time to figure out. And of course it has its quirks, being from the 1500s and all. Like a lack of heat. And light. But it is beautiful, nonetheless. We are living directly in the center of the city, in the historic district on the edge of the Jewish ghetto, which is the oldest Jewish community in the world.

After arriving at the Cenci, we had the afternoon free to get settled in and wander around a little. Molly, Katy, Jamie, Susie, and I found some lunch at a touristy place, but it was food and we were starving and disoriented. Then we walked for a little bit and stumbled on ancient Rome. And when I say stumbled, I mean we turned a corner and there were a ton of people taking pictures of something, and upon further inspection, that something was the Roman Forum, with the Colosseum in the distance.

Is this real life?? Everything looks and feels like I'm in a movie set. We had a little pizza party back at the Cenci, then I crashed in bed at 7:30. And woke up at 7:30. 12 hours of sleep, ohhh yeah.

First impressions: unreal, COLD, stop being so American, learn more Italian, wish I brought more stuff. Things I could really use: slippers, a robe, cell phone/SIM, groceries, peanut butter.

This morning Susie, Katy, Jamie and I had our first Italian breakfast! We met Nadia, the housekeeper, in the morning and managed to have a complete conversation even though she doesn't speak much English and we barely speak Italian. She told us to go to BonBar around the corner for un cappuccino e un cornetto, which we did - YUM.

After breakfast, we had a day full of informative presentations and practical things like where to buy groceries, cell phones, post office, etc. etc. Then Susie, Katy, Jamie, and I headed to Trastevere, a neighborhood across the river, for dinner. We found the restaurant that we were looking for, but there was a long line (meaning it's good), but we were so hungry that we decided to find somewhere else and go back to Agosto's at another time. The place we ended up at was good too though! We had bruschetta and crochettas (I have no idea if I'm spelling any of this right) for aperitivo, then I had a pork chop which was yummy!

This is looking at the Tiber river on a bridge crossing into Trastevere.

So far, Rome has been a whirlwind. I don't know what to think about anything! Time for bed.

Onward Forth

Hello to anyone reading this blog! Family, friends, professors, miscellaneous travelers. For anyone who doesn't know me, my name is Stephanie and I am embarking on the Rhode Island School of Design's European Honors Program for the Spring 2012 semester! (Sounds fancy, doesn't it?) I will be keeping a record here of photos, thoughts, and really...anything I might want to write about and share. So stick around, I'm sure it will be an adventure!


Countdown to Rome: 4 days.

Commence packing!

I've never been great at packing. Especially now, trying to condense my life for the next five months into one suitcase (well, plus a carry-on [technicalities]) is proving to be a great challenge. All those liberal arts majors have it easy, all they have to worry about is clothes and miscellaneous items. But art students have to pack art supplies too! On top of everything else! Also, this is not helping the situation:

If you can't tell from the terrible quality photobooth picture, that is my rabbit Jordan sitting on my carry-on suitcase. He has a tendency to "join in" the packing process. Let's observe:

Jordan circa April, 2009, when I was packing for a trip to Spain. He thought he was being so helpful. And another:

That one is from September 2009, when I was packing for college. Packing won't ever feel the same without a fluffy bunny trying to tag along!

Otherwise...I came down with a cold on Monday and am trying to scare it away with massive amounts of Jell-O, naps, and marathons of How I Met Your Mother. But it looks like I'm going to be sitting on the 7-hour flight infecting everyone like it's a freshman dormitory. C'est la vie! Oh wait...questa è la vita! Yeah? Yeahhhh?

See y'all in Rome ;)