South Trip!

Our trip this week was our long South Trip. We were all very excited to see the Sea and get some sun in the warmer weather down south.  

I started my week out, unfortunately, with a fever which sent me back to my bed Tuesday morning. We were scheduled to leave Wednesday morning, so I was not to happy about that. Luckily for me, it was only a day fever, and after many hours of sleep I was feeling much better and was ready for the bus at 8:30 the next morning.  The trip down was so beautiful.  The countryside is filled with so many little towns and beautiful mountains.  Most of my fellow students slept all the way down to our destination, so I took some time to observe the landscape and scenery. 

We arrived in Paestum, to our first glimpses of the Greek temples. These temples and ruins are just as old as the ones which stand upon the Acropolis.  The one closest to the entrance is the Temple of Ceres (500 BC). The two standing side by side, opposite of Ceres, are the Temple of Neptune (450 BC) and the Temple of Hera (550 BC).  The ruins in between the temples were once a Forum and residential quarter, along with an amphitheater.  When we first arrived in Italy we had all expressed that learning in a classroom, while educational, does not give you the experiences to truly understand what you are studying. The ability to see with your own eyes and feel the roughness or smoothness of the stone or marble with your own fingers is an unparalleled experience. 

Once we had explored every nook and cranny of Paestum we climbed back on the bus and drove to our hotel in Pompeii.  Dinner was provided for us in the hotel restaurant, which opened up just for us (given that it is not tourist season most places are closed). 

In the dark of the night, we could not see where our hotel was located in regards to the ruins of Pompeii.  The next morning when we were supposed to meet our tour guide, we walked for maybe 10 minutes down the hill and we were at the main entrance.  Pompeii was a large port city, back when the sea came up that high, and was mainly a commercial city.  The small residential quarter was filled with the wealthy shop owners of the city.  The city was destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted as buried the town in piles of ash.  The slaves who were left behind to guard the city died of asphixiation.  There were 3 cities destroyed when the volcano erupted, Two destroyed by ash and one by mud.  The ruins of Pompeii are mostly stone because the ash burned the wood that was there.  Some of the roofs have been rebuilt based on what was found at the city buried in mud, where the wood was preserved.  Our guide, whose name I believe started with a “P”, was a very nice man.  He spoke very loudly so we could all hear him (we were in a group of 33).  We walked around the perimeter as he explained about the burial sites lining the outskirts of the city.  We entered first into a courtyard, which then led to a very large amphitheater.  From there we walked throught the residential part of the city and explored one of the many houses.  From there we saw many of the shops and even a brothel.  He led us to the main forum, where the ruins of the temples are and we saw the remains of 2 slaves, which have been put in casts to show their final positions.  We also viewed the ruins of the temple of Apollo, the sun god. 

Our plan after we finished our tour was to climb the mighty volcano itself and look inside of it. There is a trail that leads to the top which we had looked up online.  Unfortunately, given that it had snowed a great deal on the mountain the week before, the trail was closed and we could not go on it.  So our group decided to make another choice.  Our plan had originally been to visit the Archeological Museum in Naples the next day, but given there was so much time left in the day we decided to condense it all into one day.

My first impression of Naples: Dirty.  When you visit Italy or live here (as I do), it is important to know that most of the money in Italy is in the Northern regions.  The southern parts are filled with more poverty and crime.  Therefore the cities are much more condensed and filled with trash and grafitti.  Let’s just say I did not want to stay in Naples any longer than I had to. The place scared me. We arrived at the Archeological Museum with two hours to explore before they began closing.  Most of the rooms in the museum are filled with pieces of statues from various places that have then had plaster added to them to show what the piece looked like when it was first carved.  Most you can tell had noses missing or an arm, or even a head.  I think it was good that we went to the museum on the same day as Pompeii, because much of the upper floor in filled with pieces from Pompeii.  Many of the mosaic floors have been moved and preserved as well as some bronze statues and even an entire “secret room” is filled with all the artifacts from the brothels. 

We returned from Naples that night and journeyed to find dinner.  The journey took us through some not so awesome parts of Pompeii, but we finally found sustenance. 

The next morning we all boarded the bus for Sorrento.  When we arrived we were dismissed to find our way for the weekend and we were supposed to return the Saturday night at 7:30 to catch the return trip. 

Our group of ten hopped on the bus to Amalfi and headed on our way.  When we reached the other side of the mountain we were met with an amazing view of the Sea.  The bus from Sorrento to Amalfi is about a two hour ride, even though it is only 26 km away.  The road winds along the coast passing through all of the coastal town on roads that are very small and were not made for a bus.  It is a beautiful drive though. 

Amalfi is an amazing little coastal town!  Berta booked a hostel that was right on the water! So the view from our balconies was all water! It was gorgeous!

We dropped our stuff off and headed for the beach.  The water was freezing but we all took our shoes off and rolled our pants up anyway.  After that we all walked to the Cathedral in the middle of town.  This church is absolutely gorgeous! When we arrived we told the priest that we were “gli studenti di architecturo” and he suddenly became very excited. He took us up to the altar and showed us where the oldest parts of the building had been covered when they changed the church from a Baroque style to a Romanesque style.  He also took us into the cloister and museum in the back to show us where they had actually built over the frescos and sculptures.

We spent the rest of the day in our hotel admiring the view, and we cooked dinner in the room which was supplied with a kitchen.  (We made carbonara!)

The next morning we took the 6:20 bus back to Sorrento and then took the ferry to the Isle of Capri.  The island is divided into two sides: Capri and AnaCapri.  This little island is very much a tourist destination and I wish we had seen it during the late spring when the island apparently comes to life. But when we were there all the shops were closed and there were not very many people.  We followed one of the trails leading out of town and hiked all the way around the Capri side of the island.  The views were gorgeous and the water was so clear and blue.  Once we made it back to town we took the bus to AnaCapri and visited Villa San Michele which Marco had told us to visit.  After that we made our way back down to the ferry (running the dock to catch the boat) and then we meandered our way around Sorrento, grabbing some Gelato while we waited for the bus back.

The weekend was amazing, and we were all exhausted at the end. So needless to say, I do not remember the 5 hours drive back home. J

Firenze, Da Una Parte

Well, we are still stuck in freezing weather.  It is Saturday here in Orvieto, and yesterday Mother Nature again dealt us a chilling blow.  We received another 6 inches of snow, just when the last batch had finally melted.

But, This is a happy blog! For yesterday was our first trip to Florence! And luckily, it was snowing everywhere except there.  But it was still very very chilly.  We arrived at about 9:45 at Firenze Santa Maria Nouvella Station. We were expected to meet Marco, our professor, at 10:30 outside the bell tower of the Duomo.  We walked along Via Panzani in anticipation of getting our first glimpse of the Duomo.

We moved past the baptistery, and into the piazza. Our eyes astounded at the amazing site before us.

We moved out of the cold and into the interior. To be honest, I did not find the interior as adorned as I thought. Most of the ornamentation has been moved to the Museum.  The Main thing that they could not move was of course the Dome.  The paintings on the Dome are exquisite! They are truly worth seeing.  The depictions of the Last Judgement are quite different than the wall of the Sistine Chapel, but still amazing.

After the Duomo, we walked toward Santa Croce.  On the way we passed one of the best art supply shops in Florence, Zecchi.  We also passed the chapel and former home of Dante Alighieri, a famous Italian Poet.
By the time we reached Santa Croce, not a one of us could feel our toes. The wind was unrelenting.  When we hit the open Piazza in front of the beautiful church, it hit us full blast, and we all thought "Can we get inside now?"

If I could sum up Santa Croce in a few words, I would use Marco's Words, "A Really Expensive Cemetery." The Church itself is very old. The facade does not match the rest of the building.  The inside is filled with many  tombs and funeral monuments to honor the rich and famous of Florence.  They include Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, just to name a few.  I was very excited to see the frescoes on the inside behind the altar, but they were covered in scaffolding for renovations.

 This is the Pazzi Chapel, done by Brunelleschi, the same man who designed the Dome for the Duomo.

After finishing at Santa Croce, We were dismissed and Berta and I wandered to find someplace warm to eat. We found a small pizzeria and had some warm pasta.  She had lasagna and I had Ravioli with black cabbage.  We mapped out what we wanted to see, given it was freezing we put preference on something inside.  We settled on the Galleria Dell'Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's David.  We planned our route and headed on our way.

We decided to take a touristy detour and try and find the door to the Jersey Shore house.  On the way we came across the Fountain of Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio, and the Loggia dei Lanzi.  The Piazza also has a large replica of David in it. I was very excited because I knew we would soon be seeing the real thing!

Oh, we did find the door by the way. :-)

We walked past the Duomo once more, and headed down Via Ricasoli towards the Accademia.  Once inside we knew immediately where we wanted to go.  The other paintings were cool and all, but we knew what we were really there to see.  We came around the corner and there he was.  We both were in awe. He was way bigger than we thought he was, at least 3 times bigger. He is truly amazing though. The detail put into him! It is astonishing to imagine that the same person who carved this massive piece of stone also painted the Sistine Chapel and designed the Dome of St. Peter's.  I now understand why my Mom is so obsessed with him. You have to see these things with your own two eyes to understand.  No pictures could do any of them justice.

P.S. Pictures of David are not allowed. But I'm Sneaky Sneaky... ;-)

Next week starting Wednesday we are visiting Paestum, Pompeii, Naples and the Almafi Coast! Hopefully it will be warmer there than it is here!

-M

Roma! Part Due

It has snowed in Italy! One of the worse storms in many years came through this week, dumping 4-6 inches of snow on the region of Umbria.  So needless to say our trip to Assisi on Friday was cancelled.  We were all presented with a 3 day weekend in which we had to entertain ourselves.  Originally there was talks of flights to Dublin, or maybe a weekend trip to Greece. But Berta and I's thoughts lay somewhere closer. We had originally planned on returning to Rome on our way back from our 3 day trip to Naples. But when presented with a 3 day weekend we couldn't resist.  We booked a hostel on Friday, which was located close to the Vatican, and caught the evening train to Rome.  We arrived later than expected (our train was delayed) and walked in the cold to our hostel, passing the snow covered Vatican on the way.

The next morning we got up early and walked all the way around the city walls to the entrance of the Museo Vaticani.  We only stood in line for about 20 minutes, as the line was very short because of the cold.  The anticipation for something I had heard about since I was little was intense! I was beyond excited! Pictures could never do the Grandeur of these halls justice.  The history and craftsmanship of the sculptures and ceilings and, and, and, well just everything! It is truly amazing to behold.

Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take pictures in Sistine Chapel.  It was breathtaking to see.  The paintings seem to pop off of the walls and ceiling.  There are so many details to see that when you think you have scrutinized all of them, you see a new one.  It was simply amazing.

After the Museum, we walked back around to the Basilica and stood in the very long line to get in. We were not prepared for the amazing sight that met our eyes.  You can learn about it all you want, but to truly be there was awe inspiring. 

After exploring there we made our we over to St. Peter in Chains.  This small church contains a great works of art, The Moses.  He was very impressive to see.

The next day we took the bus to Piazza Venezia.  We then meandered our way up the Corso all the way to Piazza del Popolo.  This Square has many statues, 2 churches, and a fountain with an obelisk.  It is a large square.  I did not get any pictures of it, unfortunately.

This coming weekend it is off to Florence!! Can't wait!

-M