Feb. 29

Still haven't gotten around to getting my camera back. Instead, I'm watching the USA-Italy soccer game with Gio and Claudio. The game is being played in Genoa, and an instructor in my program works with Rai, the Italian equivalent of NBC, ABC and CBS all rolled into one giant station. He offered to give me and my other soccer-loving friends free tickets if we find a way there. The only problem is geographical: Genoa is a 5-hour train ride away. I hope Fede comes back soon, if the US wins. I don't feel comfortable gloating to two middle-aged artists about a comparatively, and literally, meaningless soccer game. Only Fede would understand.

I got home from class around 5pm. I had a nice snack of bread, olive oil and parmigiano-reggiano. In the EU, Parmigiano-Reggiano is a registered trademark. Not only does it have to meet certain standards, but it also must originate from the region around the Parma province. The olive oil I had was bought in one of the biggest food canisters you've seen. It comes from a farm just north of Rome. I bet we go through nearly 30 gallons of the stuff a week in this apartment alone. Well, maybe a little less. But you get the point. What I'm trying to tell you is that my afternoon snack was very good.

The rest of my night has been spent eating a delicious dinner of pasta with broccoli, then a sort of smorgasbord with mozzarella, tiny onions, apples, wine, slightly stale bread, salad (with only olive oil and salt, forget about thousand island), a couple bananas, some German chocolate wafers, and was topped off with a shot of "raisin wine." I know very little of alcohol except that it exists and that I sometimes drink it. This may be a common type of alcohol, but I'd guess it is primarily used for baking. It smelled oddly similar to vanilla extract.

Earlier today I bought an International Herald Times (produced by the New York Times) and the current issue of The Economist. I hadn't realized how much I missed news. I'll probably read them for the rest of the night.

TIME OUT

USA just scored a goal. I yelled, threw my arms up, and quickly realized Giovanna and Claudio are bigger fans than I thought. I may have just initiated WWIII.


TIME IN

After dinner I tried to help Giovanna with her new Samsung Galaxy phone. I always thought helping my own parents with technology was a challenge, but helping my Italian mom with her Italian language phone while she's yelling instructions in Italian was quite an experience. About thirty minutes had passed before it ended with her yelling "BASTA!" (Enough) and announcing "I desire a cigarette!" I don't blame her. I almost asked her for one myself and I've never even smoked before.

Tomorrow I have a field study near Piazza Venezia. We're exploring another forum with Gianna. I think I'm slowly becoming his favorite student. I ask him relevant questions about archaeology, such as who funds these digs (it's the federal government), instead of trying to impress him with limited knowledge like most students do. Everyone in the class is a self-proclaimed expert on archaeology. I, however, just claim to be an expert on being critical of other people's questions. The process of becoming #1 could be much further along if only an alarm at the Roman Forum hadn't gone off for 30 minutes. I think he overheard the comment I made to another student where I questioned Julius Caesar's intent when installing such an annoying alarm. It may not be correlated, but immediately after he smoked an entire cigarette in two drags. That's how I know he's a real Italian. I believe "La Dolce Vita" requires being a proficient smoker.

Well, it's about time to bury my face back into The Economist.

P.S. Final: USA 1 - Italy 0

Viale di Trastevere

Still don't have my camera.

Instead I'll update you on my feelings towards the street I live on.

I live on Piazza Ippolito Nievo. My legal team is advising me not to release my exact address, but it's a small section on the southern end of the relevant portion of Viale di Trastevere. The literal name of the street is "Avenue of Across the Tiber." VdT is the main road in Trastevere. Google map it. When you see in guidebooks that The Trast, as only I call it, is a seedy area (lookin' at you, Rick Steves), that is due almost entirely to VdT. It is fairly trashy and filled with Middle Eastern street vendors. Since the birthrate in Italy is around 1.5 (2.0 is the level of perfect replacement), a large amount of immigration is necessary for the economy to have sustained growth. Nevertheless, Italians don't like the idea of immigration very much. Claudio once mentioned how many immigrants, particularly Asians, live in Rome. I didn't notice at first but after walking down VdT I can see why many Italians aren't completely on board with heavy immigration. I'm not saying it's a bad street because it is filled with foreigners. I'm saying it's a bad street because the trash they leave behind when they pack up their vans of goodies for the night after absolutely no one stopped to buy their junk. About 2,700 years ago Rome was a very small village that existed entirely because it was located on a river and at the border between two city-states. Or was it two nations? I didn't pay attention very well in class last week... Anyway, Trastevere was the port for the Etruscans and other foreigners coming to Rome. So Trastevere has apparently been home to foreigners like myself and the street vendors for well over two millennia. But, if you just go a block off the eyesore that is VdT, you see the beautiful, quintessential Italy, filled with cobblestoned roads, bakeries, cheese markets, butchers, and everything else you can dream of. Trastevere is Rome. Rome before tourism. There is nothing fake about my neighborhood, with the exception of the three or four American universities. So far, the best bread, cheese, pizza and Trattoria (with the exception of Cacio e Pepe in Prati) have been on, or near, Via del Moro in Trastevere. Don't believe it when someone like Rick Steves tells you The Trast is a less than ideal place to visit. Sure, we don't have the Pantheon, Colosseum, or anything famous besides a Santa Maria. And really, *everyone* has a famous Santa Maria, am I right?  But if you're looking for the real Rome, it's the only place to visit. Just don't cross into The Trast on Ponte Garibaldi.

Finally getting my camera back today. Left it at someone's apartment. I'll get the pictures up by tonight (your afternoon).

Late Sunday Night

Just got back from Amalfi Coast/Capri. These trips keep getting better and more beautiful. There has to be a point where it all stops, but luckily it hasn't yet. Pictures and more words to come tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Change of Plans...

Just bought two Rick Steves guidebooks. I'm getting inspired to travel on my own now. Maybe I'll skip out on London and Barcelona and travel the Alps by myself.

Italian

Saw this on my walk through the IES neighborhood. This is The Professor's favorite scene in Rome.

Feb. 21

Low 60's here in Rome. With sun. Finally felt like spring. My early class with the really good professor took us on a walk through the neighborhood by our school. (Technically all teachers here are instructors, so the elderly lady who teaches Roman architecture will now be known as The Professor. She is the only teacher here good enough to profess at the U of I. She's awesome.) The Professor pointed out so many things that most Romans probably don't even know. For example, there is a building with artwork from 700 years ago two blocks from my school. One of the only buildings in Rome to have it. We went on several streets, a few of which have been in use for 1000 years. Gianni's class was alright. I'm going to the Forum with him Thursday. Tomorrow I have a field study at a church in Trastevere for my Renaissance class. Thursday is also my Economics class. So far I've answered every question in the class. It's pretty annoying. There are two other Econ majors in there but they must not have paid attention in Intermediate Macroeconomics class. This class is pretty much Remedial Macroeconomics.

On the way back from school I went by Gio's favorite bakery. Goodness gracious they have good bread. I ate a slice with olive oil right when I got back. Then I ate three more. Amazing. I also got some potato and olive oil pizza. Just warmed it up and inhaled it. Pretty thick. Very good. Tonight I'm going to Paige and Ali's apartment to cook/eat dinner.

Late last night me and Tally got a trip to Amalfi Coast booked. We're leaving early Friday morning on a slow train to Naples. From the train station, we will ride in a private van to Pompei, take a self-guided tour for 2-3 hours, then the driver will take us to our hostel in Atrani. We will be there two nights, in 2 private rooms. The weather will supposedly be mid-60's and sunny. Prefect. I'm bringing shorts. Also, our spring break trip is starting to take shape. I'm hoping I just go with 3 or 4 people. Too many people can be a major hassle. Tentatively, we will take a train to Bari, a ferry to Croatia, stay in Croatia for 2 nights. Then fly to the Greek Isles for 3-5 days. Go to Athens (if it's standing) for a day, and then fly to Istanbul. I'm most excited for Istanbul. I read an article in either the NYT or WSJ about how it's becoming the Paris of Eastern Europe. From Istanbul we will fly back to Roma. The time spent in certain cities and countries will likely change, but we have from Thursday evening to the next Sunday night. Hopefully we wake up in Croatia Friday.

I'll probably skip out on Tally and Alex's Barcelona trip. I need to make my pilgrimage to Switzerland for the scenery and fondue. I've decided not to ski because it's too expensive, and the Swiss Alps don't have many bunny hills for a novice like myself.

Amalfi Coast

Florence Pt. 1

We got into Florence around noon on Saturday. Walked straight to the river past the American Consulate.

Pretty cloudy day, just like most days here in the supposedly sunny Mediterranean.

Alex, Myself, and Max in front of the Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), built in 1345, is now filled with gold and jewelry shops. In order to maintain its prestige, Cosimo Medici banned meat markets from the bridge in 1593. 

Sausage pizza from Gusta Pizza. Very good sausage, pizza was alright.

Original location of the David statue is just left of the door. A replica is there now.

Fake David.

Duomo. Massive.

Baptistry

Replica of famed door to the Baptistry

Inside of the Duomo. It's probably about twice as big as this picture would leave you to believe

This was taken after I had walked up nearly 300 stairs. The walk up was a little grueling. In doing so, I realized I am not afraid of heights. Rather, I am afraid of falling and the weightless feeling you get when falling. Very afraid. I had issues walking around the inside of the bass of the dome. All of the stairs were in very small caverns. A girl I went with is claustrophobic, so no matter where we were in our journey to the top of Florence, there was someone freaking out.

This view was incredible. I wish it would have been sunny, but it was still breathtaking. We were up here for maybe 30 minutes. We couldn't bring ourselves to leave until we got a call from the girl we were staying with telling us to meet her.

Max, Tally, Alex, Me

If you look very closely, you can see individual chairs in those large dark rectangles. This is the area where I was freaking out. I had Alex take this picture. I was staring at the wall.

Tools used to build the dome. The dome was built later than the base. No one could figure out how to build a dome that big for a long time. I learned the story in my Roman Architecture class this morning. I'd recommend wikipediaing it.

A LITTLE SUN!

Santa Croce. Michelangelo and Galileo are buried here.

The view from the girl's apartment we stayed in. Perfect location.

More to come...