Fascists, Fascists... Everywhere

Friday morning, the entire Villa went off to Rome for the weekend with our history Professor. The intent was to meet an Italian historian who specializes in urban development in Fascist history.. Yeah... not as exciting as it sounds. We went to out hotel first and got settled before heading out on a long... hot... bus ride 3 miles outside the city center to look at the EUR center forum where Mussolini sought to establish basically, a Fascist city center that reflected the modern ideology and the Roman roots of the fascist regime. All of the buildings are in white marble, very block like, orderly, systematic... boring... Especially because the entire complex is a business center now, so there isn't much exciting going on out there now anyway. We spent a while wandering around until it became clear that we weren't really listening anymore. So thankfully, unlike Linda (art history professor), we cut the afternoon short and were free to roam! Below is part of the Fascist complexIn our chunk of free time, Mar, Sarah and I went to a few churches that are 'must-sees' but I didn't have time to see last week. The picture below is Sant'Ignazio which has a funny story. The church commission wanted to build this new magnificent, opulent church in Rome. They built this gorgeous base with lots of gold and frescoes and sculpture... yet ironically, they ran out of money before they could finish the dome. So they hired a painter to paint an illusionist ceiling of a dome. Seen below. It's pretty good from one spot, but has gotten dirty and looks less and less like a dome and more like a painting.

Outside another church, Sant'Agnese, which is in front of the Fountain of the Four Rivers (well known Bernini sculptures mentioned in Angels and Demons) The church was beautiful but it was much more interesting outside because of the following story. Apparently, Bernini and the architect of the church, Borromini, were at artistic odds. Bernini thought the exterior of the church was hideous, so it is rumored that the figure behind me in the picture below was shielding his eyes from the ugly facade. I thought it was too funny, so I had to imitate that! (it really wasn't ugly...)
After a few churches, we had to stop at an internet cafe so Sarah could 'find' her parents later, while there I saw a nun on the net! It was just too funny, the juxtaposition of conservatism and technology!
That night, Sarah was supposed to meet her parents at the train station, but never found them (poverina!) so we all met up and went out to dinner and yum!!! My new favorite thing is artichokes... I've always loved them, but fried artichokes are famous in Rome, specifically in the Jewish Ghetto. I basically had artichokes at every meal in Rome... fabulous!!Then we got a couple of bottles of wine and settled down in our hotel room to watch a chick flick! What a night!

The next morning, we met with our historian again who took us on our first stop, the Vittorio Emanuele II monument. This part of the tour was actually fascinating because we saw the balcony where Mussolin greeted the crowds the the piazza. As he was describing fascist propaganda, a neofascist parade began in front of us. A bunch of crazy men in bright blue outfits on cars drove by with flags and played loud nationalistic music. Talk about good timing!!
The historian also told us that when the monument was built, and when Mussolini decided to 'set up camp' in the building by the Colosseum, he basically ruined the ancient Roman Forum. 80% of the forum was destroyed or covered by the creation of the monument and by the creation of the imperial road that leads from Mussolini's building straight to the Colosseum. It's so sad that so much was lost... but it introduces a good point, regardless of fascism... how do we balance modernizing with preserving history? Food for thought...I have to note here that I am not wearing a jacket.... It may not be particularly interesting to anyone, but the fact that finally, the weather was nice enough where I didn't need one! WOOT!!!!

After wandering around the Roman Forum, we went a few miles north of the city this time to the sports complex that Mussolini created to foster the new strong Italian man. Unfortunately, everything was closed, but we got a quick glimpse at the Olympic Stadium. While waiting for the historian to get his thoughts together and try and talk his way into the stadium, Sarah and I had to indulge ourselves in another photo montage... here's one from he selection of many! For the afternoon, Mariana and I wandered Via del Corso, got lunch and went shopping! Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain to get gelato at a world famous site that was 'discovered' by the NY Times. It was fantastic and such a wonderful day! We met up with two others to take the train back Saturday night so I could spend all day Sunday writing a paper... for my fascism class.... somehow I managed to relate pseudo-Futurist/Cubist art to the fascist regime! yeah!
A dopo!

Church Hopping on Monday

Since everything was closed the few days before, Monday was our opportunity to finally go into all the churches we missed! First stop was to visit one of my favorite Bernini's sculptures... The Ecstasy of St Theresa. It's so well studied, and yet many people often neglect how gorgeous the actual church is and the opposing statue across the chapel from Ecstasy. We wandered around he church before running over to Santa Maria del Popolo to try and see Caravaggio again. We made it there just before it closed and I was so excited to finally see both paintings! It seems odd to me that the paintings are actually positioned across from each other in a side chapel, not on display to see from the front... it's interesting that two such famous paintings are tucked back in a corner with a less than prime viewing position... nevertheless... AMAZING!!!
Our last stop in Rome was then the Trevi Fountain. It was super crowded but the fountain is soo cool! It's tucked away between a bunch of buildings, not out in the open. I got out 3 coins to try and get a picture of me throwing the coin in over my shoulder... this one was one of many :) Of course, I knew well that I would be returning to Rome the next weekend with my history professor, so it must work! right!?
Hopefully I will get to go back and really enjoy the history and the food and the weather next time! Anyone want to go back with me!?

We were being punished for not going to church on Easter....

Sunday was by far the most miserable weather when we were in Rome. It was raining from the beginning... of course... since we had planned on doing all our outdoor activities in Ancient Rome. Our first stop was the Colosseum. The line (despite the weather) was sooo long and wrapped around the Colosseum. We stood in line for almost 2 hours, soaking wet, trying to stay excited about seeing the inside! It was an uncomfortable experience, but made it in, just as the rain lightened up! The picture below is Therese and I once we were finally inside! In an attempt to keep my camera dry I cut out the actual Colosseum!It is such a neat environment and it would have been fascinating to get a more detailed history, or even a tour of the place. An unlike the Arena in Verona.. we didn't have the opportunity to do a photo montage of a Gladiator fight....
After wandering for a while and looking at the different exhibits in the Colosseum, we decided to get a quick lunch and take a quick, practically running tour of the Roman Forum. The sun finally came out and we got to see a little bit of it before we had to run up to the Villa Borghese for our appointment to see the Museum. We made our way and got to the Museum in just enough time to discover that the reservation never went through and the museum was booked for the afternoon... ugh! So instead, we wandered around the gardens and decided to go to Piazza del Popolo before the weather turned for the worse again. Santa Maria del Popolo is a famous church there with two of the most famous Caravaggio paintings, The Conversion of St Paul and the Crucifixion of St Peter. I was so excited to see them, but.... the church was closed! Surprise!!
At that point, we decided to give up and head back to our hotel to dry off and sleep the day off. Thankfully, there was a great pizzeria open in our neighborhood. We had a bottle of wine and some food, before watching Georgetown lose the basketball game... sniffle... a sad day...

Porn in Pompeii.... Day Two

Yeah, so the next day, we woke up uber early to take a train to Napoli, then another train to Pompeii. It was not the easiest process to get there, but well worth the long journey! (I never really realized how far Pompeii is from Rome!) Anyway, as mentioned before, the weather sucked and was raining pretty much the entire time, but the ruins were incredible! Pompeii is soooo huge and its like a maze... which made navigating interesting since our map was soaked and ripped about 10 minutes into our self guided tour!

This is me trying to be an ancient statue in the rain.... I think I survived better than the rest did!
Since we spent the whole day wandering through ruins, it's not necessary to recap everything, but the highlights included the Villa of Mysteries and of course, the ancient whore house with pornographic frescoes.
** Sorry for the graphic photos.... but I couldn't believe that they took the time to make pornographic frescoes! Those silly people from Pompeii, they must have been a riot... well until they all were covered in ash... hmm
That was all we did Friday since it takes so long to get there. Friday night we had to change hotels but we so excited to have comfortable warm beds and some English tv channels! Even if it meant I had to deal with the *way too flirtatious* hotel manager.

Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place....Day One

So this last weekend was Easter Break for Georgetown students. Like many Italians, I decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome for the holiday. Thursday night I took a train down to Rome and met my best friend from Georgetown, Therese, who is studying in Athens. I arrived and made my way through the graffiti filled streets around Roma Termini to the hotel. I got there early, and even though it was my 'break' from speaking Italian, I could not resist watching the soap opera we watch at Flavia's house each night! The rest of the night was uneventful considering we needed to rest before our epic 3 day tour of Rome.
The next morning, we found a small open air market for breakfast then headed over to Vatican City!!

*Small side note* This is so I don't have to include it throughout the blog, but the weather was miserable in Rome, we were really only dry when we were asleep in our beds at night... hence the title of the blog (from Singing in the Rain) It rained everywhere we went except for a few moments of sunshine... stupid stupid rain...
This is me as a not so Pius pope... :)
So anyway, the line at the Vatican was already wrapping around the neighborhood, so we waited for a little more than an hour to go into the Museums! It thankfully wasn't as crowded as I expected it to be but still not any where close to being empty! Once inside, we made our way through the various exhibits, seeing all the gorgeous statues (without their penises of course... silly Pope...) Finally, after hours of wandering, we got to the Raphael rooms and I got to see the School of Athens!!!!!!!!! Oh man... it's so neat to finally see something you've studying for years and truly appreciate everything about it.
After the Raphael rooms, we climbed up some stairs and get to enter the Sistine Chapel!!! I must say, the room is pretty overwhelming, almost too overwhelming to absorb it all! I really wish I could see it by myself and have a chance to lie down on the floor and just look at every detail! Almost makes me jealous of the Cardinals and Pope who get the opportunity to see the room without hundreds of other Tourists!! After the exhausting run through of the museums, we braved the weather to go see St Peters Square!
There was a line to get into the basilica wrapping all the way around the piazza, but we got in it anyway. We were a little more than half way through the line when we realized that the line was only for people who had tickets to see Good Friday mass! We got kicked out of line and decided to drown our sorrows (and dry off) in a coffee shop with some hot chocolate. By the time we finished and went back to the piazza, the line was gone and they were letting in the general public to see part of the basilica that wasn't blocked off for mass! So despite the seemingly bad luck, we still made it in! Unfortunately, we couldn't see a lot because of all the people watching mass (the Pieta was also blocked off), but I got to listen to part of Good Friday mass and even get a glimpse of the Pope!
After our adventure in the Vatican, we walked over to the Castel Sant'Angelo. It was like my own little Angels and Demons mini tour! Then off to Piazza Navona to see the Fountain of the Four Rivers. The main fountain was unfortunately covered with scaffolding, but eh... what can you do!Then we went to the Pantheon where we were lucky enough to make it in before they closed! It was raining pretty hard at this point, but it was kind of neat to see the rain come down through the oculus of the dome! We only got a few minutes before they actually began turning the lights out on us! So we headed over to a small restaurant across from the Pantheon for dinner! We even got some free limoncello for dessert! (yeah for being girls in a restaurant full of male waiters :)

Intimisimi's in Orvieto

This past Friday, Mar, Sarah and I traveled two hours out to Orvieto, a small town south of Florence. I would never have thought to go there if it wasn't for Miss Button, who studied there last semester with the UofA. All I have to say, is thank goodness she told me to go there! It probably is my favorite place I've traveled to this semester! Thankfully, unlike the rest of the week, the weather was so gorgeous! 70 degrees, sunny, perfetto! Oriveto is the typical, adorable, Italian town on a hill, surrounded by rolling vineyards and villas!
We took some pictures then decided just to spend the rest of the morning wandering around and exploring all the little wine/oil/clothes shops. Despite the fact that the town is small, they have a surprising number of commercial stores, like the Intimisimi. In Italy, there are underwear stores about as often as there are Starbucks in the States. We decided it was about time that we actually entered one... it was actually pretty funny because Italians have very different tastes than Americans do. We wandered out to the edge of the town to see the valley and I could not take enough pictures! It was too beautiful!
We then found a fantastic place for lunch and ordered bruschette, zuppa, and of course.... VINO! The three of us get along so well and had such a blast with a little bit of wine added! After il pranzo, we decided it was time to head over to the Duomo! Orvieto's Duomo is incredibly famous for its facade and definitely lived up to the hype!To make it even better, I saw a group of UofA students playing soccer next to the Duomo... I recognized the basketball shorts and nearly squealed! Anyway, after I got over the excitement of seeing people somehow connected to me in a foreign country, we went into the duomo and spent almost an hour in front of the famous frescoes, absorbing all we could from them as Mar read from her guide book about them. We then got some gelato and made our way back to the train ride... a nice leisurely ride.. until two american girls decided to sit next to us and talk really loudly! Who knew, I can spot Americans everywhere I go and they almost annoy me now.. just because so many of the American girls here don't make any effort to blend in and carry on having loud, personal conversations in public places... anyway...
It was a wonderfully relaxing day for once! Before I head off to Rome for Easter!

Au Revoir Paris!

On our last day in Paris, we basically touched on all the leftover sights of Paris. In the morning we went to the Musee Arme and say Napoleon's tomb. It was strange to see such a huge tomb for such a little man... and a disappointment because most of the museum was closed off. Because it was closed off, we didn't get to see a lot of Napoleon's personal things, or his horse, which is actually preserved and stuffed! I must admit I wanted to see it just because it's such a strange idea! After a leisurely lunch in a little park, we headed toward San Chapelle, which is basically a cathedral associated with the Justice building that is made mostly of stained glass.
After wandering around for a while, we decided to take a metro trip up to the 19th arrondissement (or region) where a famous church Sacre Couer is located on the top of a hill. The region is also known for being the home to the Moulin Rouge and the infamous sex shops of Paris. The church was fantastic! The most beautiful view of the city with soaring mosaics and funny street performers.
The actual streets leading to the Moulin Rouge were not as fantastic. Every other shop was either a sex shop or a live show location, all of which include crude pictures or creepy men who stand out front and try to get people to come inside for a show. The images were certainly enough and when one man baa'ed like a sheep at us and made a rude gesture with his hands at us... we picked up our pace! Finally we arrived at the destination and it honestly was not as fabulous as in the movie... yet we took our pictures nevertheless!!
After an exhausting vacation (can I even call it that?) Sarah and I made our plans to return to the villa on Sunday! Overall it was an incredible break, expensive, but worth every moment! I was pretty excited by the end to have my own clean bed and to eat some of Flavia's home cooked meals!
Until next time... ciao ragazzi!