The City of Bridges, Water, and Light (but mostly Water)

Yay! Two blog posts in a row! I've got to get caught up before I leave for Thanksgiving break, where I will be having new adventures in Paris!

I went to Venice this past Thursday-Saturday, a trip I had been wanting to take since I first found out I would be studying in Italy. The fact that I didn't happen to get around to going until just this past weekend meant two things: 1. I missed tourist season, so the city was relatively uncrowded (a positive) and 2. I was there during rainy season, so the weather was, well, a little rainy (a negative). But overall, I was very glad to go regardless. The city really is extraordinary, with its canals and boats instead of streets and cars.

Since I seem to be in a list-making mood, I think I'll continue on that track. Allow me to present my Top Ten Venice Experiences:

1. Visiting the Doge's Palace, a lavish Venetian-Gothic palace which used to be home to the Doge of Venice, the main authority of the city. We saw the doge's incredibly elaborate apartments, the courtyard bordered by St. Mark's, the prisons inside the palace, and the Bridge of Sighs connecting the two.

The palatial courtyard

2. Making our way to St. Mark's square by following some graffiti left on the walls of buildings by a surprisingly community-minded rebel.

Seems legit.

 3. Taking the vaporetto (Venice's public transportation system) down the Grand Canal.

Beats taking the bus!

4. Experiencing the rain (and flooding!) in Venice. This basically meant that everyone had to walk down the streets on these raised platforms to avoid the water where it was pretty high. The locals also all wore these bright yellow and orange plastic-bag-like things over their shoes to stay dry! (Luckily, the rain/flooding only happened on the last day we were in Venice).

St. Mark's Square flooded! (The ducks seemed to like it, though)

Raised platforms to avoid the water. (Look at all those yellow boots!)

5. Staying at a really cool hostel, and having meals where we got to meet people from all over the world, including a new friend from Amsterdam, a college student named Victor, who pronounced my name so it sounded more like 'Janey' than 'Jenny!'

6. Taking a mini-trip to one of Venice's islands, Murano, which is famous for glass-blowing and crafting. We saw so many beautiful shops there!

Murano, home to Venice's famous glass-blowers

7. Venice at sunset, and Venice at night.

When all the gondolas come out!

8. Finding a church which was apparently the place where an Indiana Jones movie was filmed.

9. Strolling through the Rialto Market, and crossing the Rialto Bridge - Venice's most famous.

Rialto Market, fresh fish anyone?

Rialto Bridge

10. Simply strolling around the beautiful city and seeing its amazing architecture! Every time you turn a corner, or go down a little street, there's something to see.

It wasn't the sunniest of days, but we made the best of it!

Basta pasta!

Three weeks left in Rome and we're all trying to cram as much as we can into the time we have left! That means both a lot of traveling and a lot of work, so it's just a whirlwind of activity in general over here. This post is about a week belated, but in keeping with chronological order I thought I'd describe last weekend's adventures before I get into what I did this week/weekend.

If I had to assign a defining characteristic to last weekend's activities, it would be pasta. Not that pasta isn't a defining charateristic of Italy in general, but it was particularly abundant that weekend.

Thursday night a group of us went to the Italian Film Festival, where they were screening the premiers of several movies. We happened to stumble upon the movie stars from the popular American film "Catching Fire" while they were walking down the red carpet. I'm not one to get particularly "star-struck" but I have to say it was a fun way to spend a night. The very best part came later though, when we went to a local restaurant renowned throughout JForce for its signature dish: pear pasta. And the pasta was ah-mazing! It was this kind of dumpling-like noodle filled with pear and served in cheese and carrot sauce, and it was by far one of the best things I have eaten in all of Italy. Which is saying a lot!

Friday was a day of more pasta, as some other friends took me out to dinner at a place called L'Archetto, famous for its 113 different kinds (yes, we counted) of spaghetti. I had spaghetti with this delicious kind of walnut sauce - really different but really good! The waiters there were very funny and also slipped me a bite of tiramisu when they learned it was my birthday! We spent the rest of the night out in Rome and I had a really good time; Rome is definitely an incredible place to celebrate a birthday!

Saturday I jumped on a day-trip hosted by the campus ministry to Assisi. We left very early in the morning and took a bus a few hours out to the town. Assisi was absolutely beautiful; I suspect that visiting after tourist season helped, but the town was just so peaceful and lovely and, well, I suppose I can show you what I mean:

Welcome to Assisi

The courtyard outside the Basilica of St. Francis (the pope visited here in October)

Strolling about town

Pilgrims in Assisi

 Since it was hosted by campus ministry, two priests from JForce led the trip, which gave us some excellent insider views and information. First we visited the Basilica of St. Francis, which is built into the side of a hill. The basilica has two churches - the cave-like lower church and the elaborate Gothic upper church, as well as the crypt of St. Francis. After the tour, we actually had mass in the basilica, and then were set free to explore the town on our own. A few friends and I went to eat lunch in the main piazza in town, which was very nice (but maybe a little pigeon-infested)! Afterwards, a seminarian took us to see the place where St. Francis was born, near a small little church, and later we recombined as a big group to tour a few more churches (a main focus of Assisi).

One of the churches, Santa Maria degli Angeli, was particularly interesting. Inside the enormous church is the porziuncola, another, smaller church which was originally built on the site. So it was basically a church within a church. The tiny porziuncola was apparently the place where St. Francis lived and died, and around which he founded the Franciscan order. Since so many pilgrims came to the church after his death, the pope eventually ordered a much bigger church - the basilica - to be built around it without demolishing the church that was already there - hence the tiny porziuncola nested within the giant basilica. You never know what you might see in some of these Italian churches...

Santa Chiara, St. Clare's church

A small portion of the quite large Basilica of St. Francis

Santa Maria degli Angeli, home to the church within a church

We had time to chat with Friar Matteo, a young Franciscan brother at Santa Maria, about his life. He was very funny: he told us the story that when he learned Pope Francis had taken the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, he was so excited that he tackled one of the much older brothers to the ground. "But luckily he survived!"

By the time our tour was finished, it was getting dark, and we hopped back on the bus to go to dinner. Once again, the Italians took care of us, and we had an immense meal; I thought I was full after the first course, but there turned out to be about 5 more after it (including two dishes of pasta)! Luckily the friends I was sitting with provided the moral support so I could eat everything - and it was so delicious!

Sunday was spent prepping for my research presentation and working on papers for classes, so nothing much to report, but I was glad the presentation went so well on Tuesday. It also happened to be followed by another large meal of pasta (though I also got to try wild boar, so that's an interesting fact). I feel like I must apologize to anyone who has read this and is now hungry. What can I say? So much revolves around food here in Italy. If it's any consolation, I haven't had a really good American burger in a really long time...

Research Update

Hi everyone!
I'm hoping to have some time to do a post on last weekend's excursions in the near future, but I just wanted to quickly share an accomplishment from today.
We had our official Ricci Scholars presentations this evening, where we formally presented our projects as far as they have been completed this semester to our professors and research mentors. It was quite an intimidating situation for us all (especially me because I hate public speaking!!) but it went incredibly well and I just wanted to share that success.
It's easy to forget sometimes, among everything that's going on here in Rome, that this research program is the reason I'm here in the first place, so it feels really good to know that I am accomplishing what I ought to be, and to see the progress I have made on a project which was really just an idea not more than a few months ago.
I am so so thankful to be here and to have this amazing opportunity.
Also the huge dinners we have afterwards don't hurt either!
A dopo!

A Weekend in the 15th century

Rome has a notorious bus, and it's called the N6. It's the only bus you can take to and from the Monte Mario neighborhood after midnight and before 6am, and it is notorious because it seems to run on a schedule completely unknown and without reason (even more so than the typical Rome buses). My friends and I have had late nights where we've waited over an hour for this one bus to show up, regardless of the schedule that says it is supposed to run every 20 minutes. So, it was a very good start to our weekend trip on Friday when, the moment we arrived at the N6 stop (at five am in order to catch an early train) the bus immediately pulled up.

It was, in fact, a good omen for our trip to the Tuscany region of Italy, where we visited the towns of Siena, Pisa, and Florence. I was particularly grateful that with all the train hopping we did to get from place to place, the trains were always right on time, and we didn't get lost anywhere along the way!

We started by going from Rome to Siena, about a two hour train trip, and because we left so ridiculously early, we arrived in Siena around 9am. I really liked the little town of Siena, which used to be a big rival of Florence in the medieval times. It was a very quaint little town; Near the center it has a large public square known as "Il Campo" where people just hang around and relax and traffic is not allowed.

We visited Siena's Duomo, a huge 13th century Gothic cathedral heaped with art. Inside the striped interior we saw a Michelangelo statue of St. Paul, Bernini sculptures, work by Donatello, and the Piccolomini Library, which was a fascinating little room filled with cases of these intricately decorated music scores and enclosed by walls painted with surprisingly vivid frescoes. After the duomo, we toured the city some more, stopping in some more churches and just wandering the streets to get a feel for the town. We also got pizza.

The Duomo and its six-story striped bell tower

Bella Siena

We hopped back on the train a few hours later and headed to Pisa, where our main goal was, of course, to see the Leaning Tower. The city itself was pretty nice, there were a lot of university students roaming around, and we did a little window shopping while making our way from the train station to the "Field of Miracles" - the name for the campus where the tower, the duomo, and its baptistry stands.

And it's very miraculous

We saw the leaning tower (which really does look quite precarious). Apparently three different architects worked on it over time, each one trying to add height to the tower in a way that would help angle it right-side up, with the final one plopping a belfry on top in the 14th century and calling it complete. Since that time all sorts of work has been done to help stabilize the tower and decrease its signature lean.

Is it just me, or does that look crooked to you?

While the tower is cool to see in person, I also enjoyed the site of the tourists around the tower - all attempting to "hold it up."

A behind-the-scenes look

We of course took our share of touristy photos as well, so I guess I shouldn't make fun.

 After Pisa, we headed to Florence, our main and final destination. We arrived in the evening, found our hostel, found our dinner, and went out to explore the city a little, though we really only stayed in the touristy, well-populated areas since we weren't familiar with Florence yet. We also made a Chinese friend who was staying at the hostel and I talked with him a lot because, coincidentally, he went to the Beijing university where I will be living next semester! He told me he liked it but he thought it was small (it's about the size of Loyola Chicago). He also gave me some tips on public transportation, and taught us all how to play the Chinese version of the card game "BS."

The next morning, we got up bright and early and ready to take on Florence. We started by going to the Accademia, the art gallery where they have Michelangelo's larger-than-life statue of David, as well as many other exciting art works. Next, we went to the duomo where we climbed the 463 steps to the top of Brunelleschi's dome for a marvelous view of the city:

Florence was the center of the Italian Renaissance, so it's just bursting with history and art. It's very different from Rome, where you see a lot of baroque art and churches; Florence is all about the Renaissance. While we toured the rest of the sites around the duomo - Giotto's tower, the baptistry, the crypt, the museum, and the inside of the duomo itself - we were surrounded by all sorts of remnants of the period. I've probably said this about Rome, but it really gives you a remarkable perspective of the history. If only we could have field trips like this in history classes at home...

The art is just mixed in with everything else in the city

But sometimes it's easy to feel as if you've just stepped into the Renaissance

Later that evening, we explored the city more, browsing the hundreds of stalls where all kinds of leather goods were sold, and walked down to Ponte Vecchio, the Old Bridge, which has, in one form or another, spanned that part of the Arno river since the Roman times. We also wandered up to to the Piazza Michelangelo in the evening which, though we had to climb up a large hill to get to, had a great view of the city from afar.

Ponte Vecchio

We saved the Uffizi Gallery, the home of the greatest collection of Italian painting, for Sunday morning when we knew the lines would be smaller. Since we got there early, we skipped the lines completely and were able to spend a good three hours browsing the gallery. I saw artwork by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael (so basically, all the ninja turtles) and of course the famous Botticelli paintings among many, many others. When you exit the gallery, there is a
courtyard full of statues of famous Renaissance characters such as Galileo, Lorenzo Medici, Machiavelli, Donatello leading right up to the river where you can catch more great views.

We got on our train back to JForce shortly afterward, this time heading straight for Rome, and arrived back to our home in Rome in time for dinner (and, unfortunately, homework). But I'm not complaining too much considering this is how I spend my weekends....

Five-Hundred Fountains

Another day, another day-trip. This past weekend I visted Tivoli, a small town just outside of Rome and home to one of the most gorgeous places I've ever seen: The Villa d'Este.

The villa was commissioned by a Cardinal d'Este when he became the governor of Tivoli in the mid-1500s, which makes it a prime example of Renaissance architecture and the elaborate Italian Renaissance gardens of the time... and they are quite elaborate. There are over 500 fountains in the gardens alone, from tiny little spouting fountains, to remarkably huge waterfall-wannabes. The whole place was quite incredible, so I thought I'd share some pictures:

Fontana di Tivoli

The Rometta fountain

Le Cento Fontane (The Hundred Fountains)

View from the Villa

The whole time I was there I felt like I'd stepped into a painting

But seriously...

Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, and Naples

I have a little catching up to do on reporting my 'adventures,' and I will attempt to do so over the next week now that midterms are over (though I can't believe we're actually past the midterm already)!

Two weeks ago a few friends and I took a train south of Rome to visit Pompeii and Naples. I will describe the events that occurred on this journey in a tale of ancient civilization, archeology, and pizza.

Oh yeah, and there was a volcano too.

Pompeii is a really fascinating archeological site. The original city, which was thought to have been established around the 6th century BC, became a very prosperous Roman city, particularly in the years of the peaceful Pax Romana. The city was destroyed, buried under ash after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, but as a result it was extremely well-preserved. Walking the streets of ancient Pompeii (which is actually quite extensive) and seeing the remains of all the houses and public buildings was quite an experience. What struck me most about Pompeii was the fact that the ruins so clearly resemble the actual city - you can tell which streets housed the rich and the poor, identify where people cooked their food, see the remains of frescoes or mosaics in ancient villas - it's very different than the typical ruins of Rome which are not as preserved.

 

For awhile, this dog was acting as our tour guide.

We spent several hours wandering the site of ancient Pompeii, which is large enough that it's actually quite possible to get lost (at least with my sense of direction...) and then we headed into the actual city of Pompeii to get lunch and replenish our energy to prepare for...

Climbing Mount Vesuvius! We didn't actually climb the entire way of course, since that apparently takes about 6 hours to do, but after catching a bus which went up a decent ways, we climbed the rest of the way to the very top, which was still a pretty substantial climb.

Climbing buddies!

At the top of a volcano

On our way back down, the bus we were on had to pull over thanks to mechanical issues, and we had to wait an extra 45 minutes for another bus to come rescue us. So we were stranded on a volcano for a bit, which isn't something that happens every day...

We headed into Naples for dinner. We didn't have too much time to explore the city itself (partially thanks to the bus break-down), but I thought it had a very urban vibe, much different than Rome. Our main goal in Naples was, of course, the famous Neapolitan pizza, which wasn't too hard to find. We all ordered and ended up getting these huge pizzas, which we took turns sharing and tasting. It was easily some of the most delicious pizza I have ever tried, and as an added bonus, we got to take home the leftovers, which was definitely preferable to dining hall food the next day!

And see how happy it made me?

We were the good kind of exhausted when we got back to campus, and I slept in the next day and then went out with a friend to spend the afternoon sketching in the city. Rome is so picturesque and we had no trouble finding inspiration! So that was another weekend spent in Italy. More to come soon!