Just another weblog
/A lot of you have asked to see more pictures, so here are a few snapshots of the treasures we’ve seen over the past few days. Enjoy! -SH
Michelangelo’s Moses
One of the apostles in the church of St. John of Lateran
Statue in the baroque church built over the Diocletian baths
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Ciao from Roma! We arrived in Rome four days ago and have since been enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of our first big Italian city! Our hotel is located near Vatican City, just a 15 minute walk across the Tiber River to the heart of the capitol city! Our motto for this leg of travel has been: “When in Rome!”
We began our Roman adventures with a bus tour to acquaint ourselves with the main sights of the city. Before lunch we stopped by the Trevi Fountain to toss in a few coins in hopes of returning to Rome someday. A select few of us actually fulfilled this prediction from previous trips to Italy! The combination of fond memories and new experiences within our group was exciting to see.
As a group we have toured the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the famous Ara Pacis altar, to name a few. But beyond the tours, many of us have explored the city on our own to experience the shopping, urbanization, and nightlife typical of Rome. We have mastered navigation of the city by public transportation and on foot. And so far no one has been hit by the crazy Italian drivers who “sporadically follow traffic laws,” according to our guide book. At this point we’ve all had more than our share of cappuccinos and gelato too!
Long story short, we’re not homesick quite yet. But I think it’s safe to say we are all glad to be in one place for a while! Getting comfortable in Rome hasn’t been difficult, and the whole group is getting to know each other better as well! We are all learning a lot about the history and traditions of Italy, but there are lessons to learn about ourselves in the mix too! A general consensus has been to experience as much of the city as possible while we’re here. This is a once in a life time chance, and we all plan to spend it well. You know what they say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do!”
~Rachel
Blog Team
Italy 2012
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Hello everyone! We are now solidly into Week Two of our Italian adventure, and it has fallen to me to catch the blog world up with how we have been spending our days. First of all, I should clarify that we are, in fact, on mainland Italy. In order to get here, we took an overnight ferry from Sicily to Naples, which many people were worried about. Motion sickness is not to be taken lightly when you’re sharing a room that’s about 20 square feet total. But, as far as I know, not a single dinner was lost on the 12 hour ride! In fact, several people (myself included) said they actually slept better with the rocking of the boat.
Once we got to Naples, we had a long bus ride to our hotel in Vico Equense, where we got to stay for four whole nights! This may not seem like a lot, but since we have been doing a TON of travelling, it certainly felt like a long time. We also had our first full free day in Vico Equense. Several people went to Naples or Sorrento, and some stayed around the tiny city. We found laundry services and befriended the people who own a pub called Tito’s across the street from our hotel. It became our hangout spot in Vico Equense after our daily excursions, and we all enjoyed having a few “American” cocktails and appetizers there.
But we didn’t really spend too much time in the town itself, honestly. Besides our free day, we used the hotel as a jumping off point for excursions to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Cumae, and the Archaeological Museum of Naples. For all of these sights (which we saw in three jam-packed days), we had the same guide: Gianni. I can’t speak for the whole group, but I think most of us really enjoyed his informative and comical way of speaking about the things we were seeing.
I honestly don’t know how to express Pompeii, which we saw on our first day with Gianni, in words. Everyone knows about the plaster casts, but there is so much more to the city. Firstly, it is a full city, a fact which a lot of people overlook. We toured it from 9 am to almost 5 pm and we still hadn’t seen nearly all of the houses, shops, and theaters. Nonetheless, the tour felt comprehensive; we saw floor mosaics, original statues, and even an ancient brothel. It was mind-boggling to know that all of these buildings had been preserved for nearly 2000 years, almost exactly as they were.
Herculaneum, which was also destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, was very much like Pompeii but much smaller. We only spent half a day there and we saw almost everything. Cumae, meanwhile, was sort of a bust. We had to drive an hour from Herculaneum to get there, only to discover that the major site of this first Greek settlement was closed for renovation. We were all a little bummed out, but we still got to see an amazing view of the sea and surrounding cities in Cumae.
This morning, we checked out of our hotel and said goodbye to Vico Equense. We drove to the Archaeological Museum in Naples, which really tied together all of the things we had seen. For example, many of the original mosaics, frescoes, and statues from Pompeii and Herculaneum were there. It was a three hour tour, led by Gianni, before lunch and a long bus ride to Rome.
Something I’m noticing as we continue on with our trip is that we aren’t only going in geographic order from Southern Italy to Northern, but also in a quasi-chronological fashion. We’ve seen so many things about the ancient Greeks and Romans in such a short time, and now we’ll be touring such famous Roman imperial sites as The Coliseum and the Forum. It’s so hard to grasp all the things we are learning about, but the order in which we see them is really helping me out!
We’ll be in Rome for two whole weeks, so expect many blog posts from us while we’re touring this amazing and historic city!
– Lacey
Blog Team
Italy 2012
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A little more than a week ago, I never could have imagined we would see and experience some of the things we have in the last few days. Eating octopus and swordfish, exploring two-thousand-year-old ruins, wandering through cities and hiking mountains… it’s been an amazing adventure! Italy is such an incredible country, and almost every day we’ve been here has been better and more beautiful than the last.
We’re still in the “classical” phase of the trip, so the sights we’ve explored have mostly been from ancient Greek and Roman history. Last Wednesday we left Agrigento for Syracuse, and on the way we stopped at a 4th-century Roman villa with the largest collection of classical mosaics anywhere in the world. In Syracuse and Taormina, we visited crumbling temples and enormous Greek theaters. This country has such an amazingly rich history, and I’m finding it fascinating to actually visit the places and monuments we studied in class earlier this semester!
Now that we’ve gotten over our jet lag, most of us are adjusting to the slower Italian pace of life. In America, many people seem to rush through their days and their lives, seldom taking the time to just relax and enjoy the day. Here, businesses close at midday, and people take a few hours just to eat, rest, and enjoy their time with the people they love. A few days ago, a few friends and I gave it a try. We sat outside at a restaurant by the water, talking and eating, barely noticing the three hours that passed us by. This entire lifestyle is truly incredible, and a part of me wishes me never had to leave!
For me—and, I know, for many others—the highlight of the trip has been Taormina. The city was built into the side of a mountain, and our hotel had the kind of view poets used to write about. Mount Etna towers over the horizon, covered in snow, almost too beautiful to be real. As the sun sets, stars and city lights burn against the darkening sky, and the Mediterranean Sea spreads off into eternity. It is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and words and pictures can never begin to capture it. Honestly, I don’t think anything can ever top that experience… but I’ve said that before on this trip and been proven wrong. I just can’t get over how amazing this country is! Now, we’ve left Sicily and arrived in mainland Italy, and I can’t wait to see what adventures await us in the days and weeks to come!
– Brian
Blog Team
Italy 2012
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We’re on our second day in Italy and I think we’re already getting the hang of this world travel thing! Today we are journeying to the southeastern coast of Sicily to hang out in Siracusa for a day or two. But yesterday, we toured the ancient world of Agrigento… Here’s a little summary of that adventure!
After tasting some Italian breakfast, we boarded our private motor coach and took a short drive to the Valley of the Temples. Our tour guide, Giovanna (fluent in at least 4 different languages!) showed us around the site of four large temples dating back to around 500 BC. The first is traditionally known to have venerated Juno (or Hera in Greek). We sat as we listened to Giovanna explain the rituals surrounding this archaic spot and were shocked to discover that our seats were actually the ruins of a giant sacrificial altar! The second temple, traditionally associated with Concordia, was the most complete of the ruins we viewed. Giovanna even showed us a human skull buried in the dust and history of an area that has not yet been excavated! Then we walked to the Temple of Heracles and had a chance to explore the ruins on our own for a bit, before moving on to the Temple of Zeus. This final site, though the largest of the four temples, was in near complete ruin, but still sparked our interest as visitors to the ancient world frozen in time.
Giovanna also showed us a few natural “sculptures” that overlap the ancient and modern worlds: trees! Valley of the Temples is home to several olive trees that have survived since times of old. The descendants of these trees can be found all over Sicily, spanning the gap between past and present. Also in bloom during the winter are the beautiful almond trees dotting the entire valley. These must be related to the cherry trees we love back home in the South, with the same white and pink blossoms we see every spring! A festival celebrating the start of almond blooming season occurs in early February, so we came just in time to see the peak of the season! The valley also holds both male and female pistachio trees. Though out of season right now, Giovanna told us how the two species of the same tree need each other to survive. The male trees fertilize their female counterparts and don’t attract bugs, while the female trees produce fruit and keep the pistachio population afloat amidst the attacks of nature.
All in all we learned a lot about the history of Sicily yesterday! In addition, we had our first authentic Sicilian pizza experience and got to explore the city after lunch. We all agree that the four-course meals and obvious language barrier might take some getting used to… but so far, Italy has been treating us well! We’ll write more soon, when we can take our eyes off the beautiful Sicilian countryside! Thanks for reading and as always, comment below if you have questions or comments!
~Rachel
Italy Blog Team
2012
/Just a quick heads up that we’ve made it to the hotel in Agrigento! We’re all slap happy and tired and more than a little bit haggard, but we’re all here (and so is all of our luggage!). More details to follow as soon as one of our staff writers can form a semi-coherent sentence.
-Italy 2012 Crew
/Hello, all! Here’s our itinerary for the trip so you can all keep up with us.
/This week, we 23 Italian adventurers are in the midst of something. Something which every college student has experienced, and which every college student has survived (or so I’m told): a Hell week. A Hell week is defined as a 5 to 7 day period in a college student’s life where, through no fault of his or her own, enormous amounts of work seem to have piled up and must be dealt with quickly. Hell weeks are often characterized by large amounts of bad coffee, falling asleep in random places, and being forcibly removed from the library at closing time. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve personally run into quite a few familiar faces on my own late-night coffee runs.
Following a test last Friday, our last week of classes has consisted of 3 papers: a 4-6 page one about some aspect of the Shakespeare plays we have read this term; a 5-page one about how Fascism impacted Italian culture; and a 10-12 page paper comparing any aspect of Venetian, Florentine, or Roman civilization with that same aspect of one of the other two cities. So it’s safe to say that we’re all working on very different topics and time periods, from Fascism to Renaissance Florence to 18th century Venice. It’s a TON of work to try to accomplish in one week, but we’re being helped a lot by our professors. Several of our classes have been cancelled this week, and the extra time is a life-saver.
But, amidst all the crazy paper-writing and sleep-deprived commiseration, something else is happening. Time is passing. The trip is getting closer, even if we don’ have much time to be excited about it. Last night, while I was hunkering down on the 6th page of one of my papers, the clock changed from 11:59 pm to midnight. My friend, who is also going on the trip, looked at me and said: “You know what that means? 3 days!”
3 days! 3 days until the 23 of us, along with 2 of our professors, will be on a plane to Italy! Despite all of the work, the mood in our classes is changing. We’re beginning to realize that this is really happening, and that the past six weeks of papers, presentations, reading, and extra class have all been worth it. Concrete details are emerging. We found out some of the menus for what we’ll be eating next week (yes, NEXT WEEK!), and some of us are already planning side trips to places like London and Switzerland. We’ve all been discussing the weather and what we’ll be packing to combat it. Last minute details are being attended to: banks have been called, shoes have been waterproofed, and driving arrangements to the airport have been made.
We really are leaving! In 3 days, no less! So arrivederci America; the next time you hear from us, we’ll (finally) be in beautiful, beautiful Italia.
– Lacey Brantley
Blog Team
Italy 2012
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