(Rome, Tivoli, and a little bit of Studio)
We’ve been here for almost two weeks now and I’m finally starting to figure out a thing or two. I’m not getting lost as often (well, you never really get lost when you’re constantly two blocks from the nearest ancient monument or piazza). My Italian is starting to warm back up again and I can pretty much buy something, order at a restaurant, or ask for directions without getting too much flak. It’s still very weird living in a big city, but I’m adjusting fairly well so far.
Last week was the beginning of all my classes. My history professor, Ingrid Rowland, is the hilarious genius daughter of a Nobel Prize winner. My Roman Urbanism professor, Ettore Mazzola, is a fashionable and fast-walking Roman architect with an unbelievable knowledge of how the city works. My sketching professor, Richard Piccolo, is a quirky and amazing Roman artist. My studio professor, Piotr Choynowski, is a quiet little Polish man who seems a bit lost at times, but we’re trying to help him out. All the classes involve a short lecture and at least a couple hours walking around the city, which is a much better way to learn about buildings than reading about them in books. I received at least a couple emails from people concerned about how much studying I’m actually doing in Rome, but trust me—we are actually doing work. I already cranked out my first studio project of the year—a week-long study of two little Roman piazze. My partner Ben Willis and I put together couple of nice watercolor-rendered sheets. Everyone in the class did amazing work for only having one week.
Friday we took a class field trip to Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa) and Villa D’este in Tivoli. Villa Adriana was the massive complex (really its own city) built by the emperor Hadrian. It’s mostly ruins and only about 9800 acres have been unearthed so far (it’s about three times that). It was insane. Villa D’este was the Villa that became home to one of the Cardinals in Tivoli. It is a huge architectural masterpiece with a mountaintop view of Rome—the whole thing. If its views aren’t enough, it has a multi-acre garden with a completely insane amount of fountains. They’re easily one of the greatest engineering feats I’ve ever seen (even on the History Channel) because the entire system is completely gravity-fed; there are no pumps. At one point there is a giant waterfall that forces water down into a deep underground pipe and shoots back up at least 40 feet into the air from a dozen fountains. Ridiculous. The food and wine in Tivoli aren’t bad either.
Random places I visited this week:
Tivoli, Villa Adriana, Villa D’este, Trajan’s Market, Piazza & Palazzo Venezia, The Pantheon (that’s a fairly regular occurence now), Circus Maximus, Il Museo della Civilita Romana (the Museum of Roman Civilization), many coffee bars, gelaterie, and pizzerie, and Sant’Andrea delle Valle.
Notable events:
Tivoli was amazing. Back in Rome I spent lots of time in studio working on the first project, so I wasn’t able to explore as much as the previous weekend, but it was good to get back to work. Cooked a few very tasty meals: Sicilian pesto pasta with rosemary chicken and salad, spinach tortellini in tomato basil sauce with some sautéed green beans on the side, and pear & cheese ravioli alfredo with garlic bread, sautéed green beans (again—so tasty), and a fruit salad. We’re becoming quite the chefs because it turns out we can make very good food for very cheap (each of those meals cost around €10 total—only €2 or about $3 when we split up the cost). Tereza and I at dinner at a little restaurant in front of the Pantheon the other night. Funny/cool waiter, great view, pretty good food, really good wine, and a not-too-shabby harp player in the background. La vita è bella…
Things I learned about Rome this week:
ﱀ Transportation—whether by foot, bicycle, motorino, or car—is just one giant game of Chicken. Traffic lights and signs are only suggestions. Keen peripheral vision is essential.
ﱀ Italian coffee is incredible.
ﱀ Italians have a completely different concept of “personal space.” They have absolutely no problem telling you what’s on their mind or standing right next to you (like 2 feet to your right) while you’re sketching at some piazza. Fortunately today the only comment I received was from an older woman who, while pointing to my sketch, said “È una buona prospettiva” (“It is a good perspective.”). Hopefully my professor thinks so tomorrow morning.
ﱀ Italians are very fashionable. I am not. That being said, I’m still not as poorly-dressed as the German tourists. Wow.
All right, that’s about it for this week. I’m traveling to Tuscany & Umbria (Florence, Siena, Pisa, Perugia, Assisi, Orvieto) this Friday for the next week or so. We’ll be doing lots of history work and sketching assignments, but if the hardest thing we have to do is explore the ins and outs of some gorgeous buildings, I think we’ll have a great time. I won’t have my computer with me, but I’ll have my phone if you need me. I’ll upload as many pictures from this past week as I can tonight. If I don’t label pictures, it’s most likely because I can’t think of a witty caption or I don’t know what the picture is of, so just use your imagination. The title of the album should at least tell you where it is. Ciao for now…
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2 comments:
I bet one of the German tourists was actually the Champ, you just didn't realize it at the time; that dirty, dirty kid
Baby, go visit the secret key hole. it's near the circuse maximus. go up the hill to the right of the circus maximus when walking away from the mouth of truth. it should be in most guide books. you won't be let down. i miss sleeping next to you.
guess which room mate this is.
here's a hint.
the night where everything was destroyed and no ones knows why
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