Tag: rvg

When in Rome

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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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Ciao from Sicily

rletteri /

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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

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The Adventure Begins… Almost

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WE LEAVE IN THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, we’re only a little excited. And we hope you are too! This blog is the perfect place to keep up with our class while we’re in Italy! But first our group has to survive… I mean, complete 7 weeks of classes at Furman. Today we start the three-week-countdown to departure! So while we’re waiting here’s a little bit more about us…

We are 23 Furman students (21 girls and 2 boys to be exact!) and 4 Furman professors dedicating our spring semester to the in-depth study of Italy through History, Communications, Classics, and English. Sticking to the Liberal Arts tradition boasted by many aspects of Furman University, our group is first and foremost DIVERSE. About half of us are History, English, and Communications majors. And the rest represent areas like: Business, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Health Science, and Biology! Regardless of these differences, all of us have come together this term to study and explore the country of Italy: the history, the rhetoric, the influences that shaped its people and land, and the impact it has had on the the world.

Before we leave, we’ll have exams to take, presentations to make, and papers to turn in… But in three short weeks, we’ll board a plane to Rome and start the adventure we’ve been anticipating since last spring. Once in Italy, we will visit over 20 cities in 51 days (that’s just a tad over 7 weeks abroad by the way) experiencing everything from Ancient Rome to Facist Florence and Modern Milan!

We leave on February 26th and return on April 16th. In that time, we will be updating this blog to document our adventures. Don’t worry, we’ll post lots of pictures too! We hope you enjoy traveling through Italy with us! If you have questions or requests, please feel free to comment below.

Thanks so much for reading! We’ll post again soon. 🙂

~Rachel von Gnechten
Blog Team
Italy 2012