Friday, April 24, 2009
Sabaudia and Sperlonga Along With One Unfortunate Week
Please forgive the lack of posts lately. We are finally winding down the semester and it seems that it passed all too quickly. This week has been hell. Absolute hell. And the more I look back on it, the more I realize how rough these last two months have been. A learning experience no doubt, but I'll be completely and brutally honest, I'm ready for home. I'm ready for some familiarity and some new faces. But this is not a pity post to tell everyone what a sad disposition I've had as of late, but rather an update on the GOOD things that have ocurred over the past few days.
Last wednesday, my class and I took a treck out to Hadrian's Villa and the Villa D'Este. The weather was perfect. We were in the sunshine all day long. Firstly at Hadrian's Villa, we traced around the steps of his ancient hodgepodge of buildings finally ending in the most famous spaces of the villa, a long rectilinear reflecting pool surrounded by ancient statues. I spent about an hour or so sketching one of my favorite statues there. He was my boyfriend for the day. From here, we took the coach into the small town of Tivoli and ventured to the Villa D'Este. The interior of the home on the villa was decorated with stylized frescoes of which I was truly not a fan. But I could appreciate them. The home had an unsual set up: long implied corridors that connected room to room and a thin rectangular footprint. But the main focus of the villa was the garden. They were a beautiful extent of green manicured bushes butted up next to dramatic fountains. I wish I had my camera this day. I didn't end up purchasing a new one until just a few days ago. (The following five photos are courtesy of Nicole Dennis.)
This past wednesday, we made it out to Sabaudia, a "fascist new town" outside of Rome along side the western coast. This town has turned into a summer resort and getaway for Romans. Unfortunately, I really don't admire fascist architecture so this part of our expedition was a little dull. However, for lunch, we piled on the coach bus and headed towards la mare (the sea). It was incredible to eat a rather mutilated sandwich on the beach. As Anthony Bourdain once said, "everything tastes better barefoot." I rolled up my jeans (not far enough as I found out later) and walked around in the sand. I even braved the water. It was cold, but standable. The sun had decided to stay behind the clouds that day, but it was lovely none the less.
We then piled in the coach, my jeans sandy and wet from my knees down, and headed to our final desitination - Sperlonga. This place was incredible. It was a small medieval village atop an outcrop of land jutting out into the Mediterranean. There were very few cars here for the streets were only wide enough to walk four abreast. But it was as if I were in a maze. The winding streets transformed slowly into staircases that would end abruptly at someone's front door. There were little alleyways covered by someone's apartment that framed a view of the city below. It was beautiful. Simply beautiful. Although, there was a sense of eerie emptiness as I walked down the deserted streets. I came to the conclusion that most of the apartments, judging from the large stacks of mail sitting outside the doorways, were summer homes for neighboring city dwellers. I wouldn't mind having a little summer apartment here. I even took a few pictures of the Vendesi (for sale) signs. (I did this for my folks, just in case they were interested in moving to Italy after they retire. Haha)
Last wednesday, my class and I took a treck out to Hadrian's Villa and the Villa D'Este. The weather was perfect. We were in the sunshine all day long. Firstly at Hadrian's Villa, we traced around the steps of his ancient hodgepodge of buildings finally ending in the most famous spaces of the villa, a long rectilinear reflecting pool surrounded by ancient statues. I spent about an hour or so sketching one of my favorite statues there. He was my boyfriend for the day. From here, we took the coach into the small town of Tivoli and ventured to the Villa D'Este. The interior of the home on the villa was decorated with stylized frescoes of which I was truly not a fan. But I could appreciate them. The home had an unsual set up: long implied corridors that connected room to room and a thin rectangular footprint. But the main focus of the villa was the garden. They were a beautiful extent of green manicured bushes butted up next to dramatic fountains. I wish I had my camera this day. I didn't end up purchasing a new one until just a few days ago. (The following five photos are courtesy of Nicole Dennis.)
This past wednesday, we made it out to Sabaudia, a "fascist new town" outside of Rome along side the western coast. This town has turned into a summer resort and getaway for Romans. Unfortunately, I really don't admire fascist architecture so this part of our expedition was a little dull. However, for lunch, we piled on the coach bus and headed towards la mare (the sea). It was incredible to eat a rather mutilated sandwich on the beach. As Anthony Bourdain once said, "everything tastes better barefoot." I rolled up my jeans (not far enough as I found out later) and walked around in the sand. I even braved the water. It was cold, but standable. The sun had decided to stay behind the clouds that day, but it was lovely none the less.
We then piled in the coach, my jeans sandy and wet from my knees down, and headed to our final desitination - Sperlonga. This place was incredible. It was a small medieval village atop an outcrop of land jutting out into the Mediterranean. There were very few cars here for the streets were only wide enough to walk four abreast. But it was as if I were in a maze. The winding streets transformed slowly into staircases that would end abruptly at someone's front door. There were little alleyways covered by someone's apartment that framed a view of the city below. It was beautiful. Simply beautiful. Although, there was a sense of eerie emptiness as I walked down the deserted streets. I came to the conclusion that most of the apartments, judging from the large stacks of mail sitting outside the doorways, were summer homes for neighboring city dwellers. I wouldn't mind having a little summer apartment here. I even took a few pictures of the Vendesi (for sale) signs. (I did this for my folks, just in case they were interested in moving to Italy after they retire. Haha)
Monday, April 13, 2009
Life in Rome
Interesting article about the alcoholic night life of Rome.
http://reallyrome.com/blog/2007/06/27/drunken-debauchery-in-rome/
Beautiful video of what's called an arrontino. Or a knife sharpener. I've actually heard this man yelling out from the streets. At first, funny enough, I thought it was someone calling out for their lost child. It wasn't until I found this video that I put two and two together. Take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Hv29Gh5FQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Freallyrome%2Ecom%2Fblog%2F&feature=player_embedded
http://reallyrome.com/blog/2007/06/27/drunken-debauchery-in-rome/
Beautiful video of what's called an arrontino. Or a knife sharpener. I've actually heard this man yelling out from the streets. At first, funny enough, I thought it was someone calling out for their lost child. It wasn't until I found this video that I put two and two together. Take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Hv29Gh5FQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Freallyrome%2Ecom%2Fblog%2F&feature=player_embedded
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A Day in the Sun
Firstly, Happy Easter everyone! Today has been rather slow, but in the best way possible. Three of us made our way to the Pamphili Gardens atop the Genicolo Hill. It was quite a sight to behold. I saw one of the most incredible vistas out across the Roman cityscape. I'm not feeling well so I'm cutting this post short. I'm afraid I'm fighting a bit of a cold. I guess it's about that time of year; things are blooming and the temperature is changing. I hope to have a better report soon.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Earthquake
Just so everyone knows up front and foremost, I AM ALIVE AND A. OK. Hope this clears up an initial questions you may have. Oddly enough, my roomates and I slept through the whole thing. And to be completely honest, you all probably know more about what's going on than we do. News is not readily accessible (in english) here so that makes things a little difficult. As far as we know the death toll is over 200 but in a small town outside of Rome, L'Aquila. Yes, the effects were felt here. Many of my classmates said they awoke startled and udderly befuddled. A friend of mine stated that it was a similar sensation to being completely and overly intoxicated, but he hadn't had anything to drink that evening. Just today, believe it or not, there was a aftershock wave that occured roughly around 7.30. I had just returned home from a run and a small, forshortened (will explain later) yoga session in Circo Massimo. I had taken a seat at the kitchen table with my computer, contently checking my email, facebook, and whatnot when the table began to sway. I though at first it was my roomate typing or writing causing the table to shake, but I look over and she was doing neither and the shaking continued. I thought too that maybe I was a little dizzy from my run, but then realized that the clothes hanging to dry were swaying and I was moving slightly to and fro. It was as if I was on an old suspension bridge and someone on the other side started to swing it back and forth. Make sense? It didn't last more than 5 to 10 seconds, but even within that short period of time, it made me feel nauseus. It was not a pleasant experience to say the least. A little nerve-wracking as well when I suddenly heard concerned voices in the stairwell. Did the neighbors know something we didn't? Either way, it was a thrilling experience and nothing bad came from it. We're all still in one piece.
Just a quick aside about the shortened yoga session... I was minding my own business, did a lap or two around Circo Massimo, and picked a grassy spot to do a few sun salutations (yoga series of stretches). After about three rounds in, a dog comes three feet from where I stood, squated, and took an enormous crap. I couldn't help but laugh about it. I packed up my sweatshirt and did a couple more rounds around the circus and headed home.
Tomorrow we are once again heading out of Rome. More to come. Goodnight for now.
Just a quick aside about the shortened yoga session... I was minding my own business, did a lap or two around Circo Massimo, and picked a grassy spot to do a few sun salutations (yoga series of stretches). After about three rounds in, a dog comes three feet from where I stood, squated, and took an enormous crap. I couldn't help but laugh about it. I packed up my sweatshirt and did a couple more rounds around the circus and headed home.
Tomorrow we are once again heading out of Rome. More to come. Goodnight for now.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
DivinPeccato
Divin Peccato - essentially "Divine Sin". I've marked today as the day I've experienced the best meal in Italy yet. I've made a local friend here who has helped me out with the purse situation and has showed me some of the in's and out's of Italian culture. Because I was here for the weekend by my lonesome, he took me out for wine last night. We split a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, a beautifully flavorful red wine, not too dry, and gets better with every sip. I've done a little bit of researching about this wine and it's extremely well known as well as pricey. There's been a bit of scandal behind it as well. If you're interested, check the Wikipedia link below to read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunello_di_Montalcino
We met in Piazza Navona and made our way to Campo dei Fiori, a central hub for bar night life. It's a completely pedestrian area surrounded by bars and ristoranti. We found a lively little wine bar whose menu, strangely enough, didn't actually have any wine. But my friend negotiated a bottle of Brunello down by ten euro. We sat for a couple hours, chatted, and people watched (a special, perfected Italian skill). He introduced me to a Tuscan cigar. Long and thin in comparison to the cigaro cubano that I have grown accustomed to smoking. But deliciously flavorful nonetheless.
Today began around noon, finally convincing myself to roll out of bed. We went to lunch today and as I said before, this was by far, no holds bar, the best meal I've had in Italy, if not ever. It began with a complimentary flute of proseco (spelling?), a light, fruity, sparkling white wine. A delicious way to cleanse the palatte. Once again, my friend ordered us a bottle of wine. He's two for two on the amazing wine selection scale. We settled on white since both of us were in the mood for piatti di mare (I really hope I spelled that right) or a seafood plate. The first dish brought out was a plate of mussels and clams swimming in an incredible garlic, parsley, and lemon sauce. It wasn't oily like a lot of seafood dishes can be, for it wasn't swimming in a butter sauce. I had never had mussels before, but I must say, I'm hooked. The dish was incredible. After attempting to soak up as much of the sauce with bread as we could, our main pasta dishes followed. My friend had a lobster pasta with half a lobster that was later dubbed "Marvin." I ordered a pasta with calamari and olives. It had bits of tomato and covered in bread crumbs to give it an unbelievable texture. After the two dishes AND the wine (can't forget about that one. It complimented the meal perfectly), I was grinning like an idiot. I was in food heaven. We decided on a dessert, but the server gave us his recommendation of an apple tart with honey and somehow the two are (stored?) near hay that gives it a completely new depth of flavor. The plate was brought out and I dove in. I think I heard angels from the near by St. Peter's Basilica singing when I took the first bite. It was heaven on a plate. And to get back to DivinPeccato, the name of the ristorante, I've learned that it truly is a sin to eat that well.
After all that has happened within the past couple weeks, things have finally taken a turn for the better. Maybe just for this weekend. But nevertheless, I had a fun-filled adventured of a weekend and hopefully there will be a repeat in the future.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunello_di_Montalcino
We met in Piazza Navona and made our way to Campo dei Fiori, a central hub for bar night life. It's a completely pedestrian area surrounded by bars and ristoranti. We found a lively little wine bar whose menu, strangely enough, didn't actually have any wine. But my friend negotiated a bottle of Brunello down by ten euro. We sat for a couple hours, chatted, and people watched (a special, perfected Italian skill). He introduced me to a Tuscan cigar. Long and thin in comparison to the cigaro cubano that I have grown accustomed to smoking. But deliciously flavorful nonetheless.
Today began around noon, finally convincing myself to roll out of bed. We went to lunch today and as I said before, this was by far, no holds bar, the best meal I've had in Italy, if not ever. It began with a complimentary flute of proseco (spelling?), a light, fruity, sparkling white wine. A delicious way to cleanse the palatte. Once again, my friend ordered us a bottle of wine. He's two for two on the amazing wine selection scale. We settled on white since both of us were in the mood for piatti di mare (I really hope I spelled that right) or a seafood plate. The first dish brought out was a plate of mussels and clams swimming in an incredible garlic, parsley, and lemon sauce. It wasn't oily like a lot of seafood dishes can be, for it wasn't swimming in a butter sauce. I had never had mussels before, but I must say, I'm hooked. The dish was incredible. After attempting to soak up as much of the sauce with bread as we could, our main pasta dishes followed. My friend had a lobster pasta with half a lobster that was later dubbed "Marvin." I ordered a pasta with calamari and olives. It had bits of tomato and covered in bread crumbs to give it an unbelievable texture. After the two dishes AND the wine (can't forget about that one. It complimented the meal perfectly), I was grinning like an idiot. I was in food heaven. We decided on a dessert, but the server gave us his recommendation of an apple tart with honey and somehow the two are (stored?) near hay that gives it a completely new depth of flavor. The plate was brought out and I dove in. I think I heard angels from the near by St. Peter's Basilica singing when I took the first bite. It was heaven on a plate. And to get back to DivinPeccato, the name of the ristorante, I've learned that it truly is a sin to eat that well.
After all that has happened within the past couple weeks, things have finally taken a turn for the better. Maybe just for this weekend. But nevertheless, I had a fun-filled adventured of a weekend and hopefully there will be a repeat in the future.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
I Dug My Toes in the Sand.
Another weekend spent alone. However, unlike two weekends ago, I decided to actually do something with my time here. Rome is finally beginning to see spring, with temperatures reaching 16 and 17 degrees C. Although there are a few clouds out, some appearing rather threatening, it's sunny, breezy, and finally comfortable for the most part. I headed to Lido di Ostia today (the Roman beach). I'm presently sitting on an old, algea covered, concrete who knows what with my toes burried in the sand, listening to the waves. (Yes, this was written on paper before typed). Occasionally, a boat may pass causing the waves to wash over my feet. It's obviously not summer; the water can't be over 65 degress F. But nevertheless, I made it to the Mediterranean. I packed my lunch today, the usual sandwich of salami and spinach, sans hard boiled uove (egg). I even packed a small plastic bottle of my favorite cheap vino rosso. The beach is pleasantly deserted, leaving me to my thoughts. Fortunately for my class and me, we were given a month long metro/bus pass. There just so happens to be a metro line running all the way to Ostia. Essentially, tuition paid for an unlimited amount of beach trips. Maybe one night I can come out here (Ostia) for some fantastic seafood. I've been feeling some shrimp lately.
The water here is comparable to that of the Atlantic: cold until summer, a little murky, and the occasional batch of seaweed. But I can't complain. I'm getting some sun and relaxing for a bit. It's a good thing too. Our month long architecture project begins next week.
This next week, my class is taking an excusion to the crypts and ancient circus below St. Peter's Basilica. I cannot tell you how tremendously excited I am about partaking in this event. I've studied a bit about this area. It's layered and littered with ancient history.
I forgot to mention the shells here. They are completely intact. All of them. I guess this is due to the lack of drastic changing of tides unlike the Atlantic.
This week has been rather slow. After the presentations of the charrette projects, we pretty much had the rest of the week off with the exception of the drawing class. My British friend came back into town this week (remember me telling you about the group Nicole and I ran into a few weeks ago at the Trevi Fountain?). We grabbed some beers and relaxed in a piazza one evening. It's pretty exciting that I've made some international connections. Strange but still exciting. I met a girl on the bus today named Rebecca. She's from Delaware and studied in Rome for a semester. She's now studying in Milan but in Rome for the weekend. She says she misses Rome tremendously. Milan, as she tells me, has become so westernized while Rome still maintains a mediterranean feel. She helped me find my way to the train station, oddly enough. It was such a mess due to some concert/march/protest/who knows what all the red hats and banners were. Either way, I made it Piramide so I could change to the S. Paulo stop in oder to make it to Ostia. It was refreshing to stumble across someone who spoke English and Italian so she could easily ask why the busses weren't running normally. Just makes me crave to learn italian that much more.
I've tried Italian gum for the first time today. Tastes like peppermind but has the consistancy of a chewed starburst. Fantastic.
I've been so frustrated with myself lately. Things haven't been going in my favor but it seems when I have more work, I feel more focussed, more together, and not strewn all over the city.
Tonight is hamburger night! I went to the store this morning and found the cheapest hamburger meat and buns I could find. For a total of maybe three euros, I've got two patties and two fantastic oil rolls. I even got some chips to go with it. Now if only I could find some baked beans. I'm ready for my siesta!
The water here is comparable to that of the Atlantic: cold until summer, a little murky, and the occasional batch of seaweed. But I can't complain. I'm getting some sun and relaxing for a bit. It's a good thing too. Our month long architecture project begins next week.
This next week, my class is taking an excusion to the crypts and ancient circus below St. Peter's Basilica. I cannot tell you how tremendously excited I am about partaking in this event. I've studied a bit about this area. It's layered and littered with ancient history.
I forgot to mention the shells here. They are completely intact. All of them. I guess this is due to the lack of drastic changing of tides unlike the Atlantic.
This week has been rather slow. After the presentations of the charrette projects, we pretty much had the rest of the week off with the exception of the drawing class. My British friend came back into town this week (remember me telling you about the group Nicole and I ran into a few weeks ago at the Trevi Fountain?). We grabbed some beers and relaxed in a piazza one evening. It's pretty exciting that I've made some international connections. Strange but still exciting. I met a girl on the bus today named Rebecca. She's from Delaware and studied in Rome for a semester. She's now studying in Milan but in Rome for the weekend. She says she misses Rome tremendously. Milan, as she tells me, has become so westernized while Rome still maintains a mediterranean feel. She helped me find my way to the train station, oddly enough. It was such a mess due to some concert/march/protest/who knows what all the red hats and banners were. Either way, I made it Piramide so I could change to the S. Paulo stop in oder to make it to Ostia. It was refreshing to stumble across someone who spoke English and Italian so she could easily ask why the busses weren't running normally. Just makes me crave to learn italian that much more.
I've tried Italian gum for the first time today. Tastes like peppermind but has the consistancy of a chewed starburst. Fantastic.
I've been so frustrated with myself lately. Things haven't been going in my favor but it seems when I have more work, I feel more focussed, more together, and not strewn all over the city.
Tonight is hamburger night! I went to the store this morning and found the cheapest hamburger meat and buns I could find. For a total of maybe three euros, I've got two patties and two fantastic oil rolls. I even got some chips to go with it. Now if only I could find some baked beans. I'm ready for my siesta!
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