Are you sure the Battle of Marathon didn't take place in Rome?

Okay, so I'm going to admit, part one of this blog post won't be that interesting so in that manner, it won't be that long.

Basically, we had class yesterday (27 June). We had a lot of class yesterday. We had class from 10am to 3pm. I can't believe that after this week we'll almost be half done with the courses.

Finally, the more interesting part. In the evening after class , we went on an evening walk with the vague idea of walking to the Trevi Fountain to see it at night. I knew how to get there so we got there. After that, we thought of trying to find the Spanish Steps. We sort knew the general direction and we had a map so we started out in the direction that we thought would get us there. We were wrong; it didn't. BUT, we did happen upon Piazza Borghese which was pretty impressive at night. We looked up on the map where we were, we saw that we were close to the river, and then followed that back to Campo de Fiori. We were thoroughly tired when we got back.

The Trevi Fountain

The next day was the real marathon! We left at 8:30am for the Vatican and we got there at 9:00am whereupon we entered the Vatican Museums. Just a note that will be helpful in understanding the marathon-ness of the day: an hour with Ricardo feels about like three hours because he can manage to cram in about three times the information into your ear than a normal person. Of course there were discussions along the way to the Vatican so a 20-minute walk turned into about 40 minutes. There were two things that were great about going to the Vatican Museums with Ricardo specifically: first, we skipped a half-mile long line (literally) and then he reserved us a set of earpieces where he could talk to all of us without having to shout over the crowds. That was really nice that we didn't have to try and crowd around him in each room. At the Vatican Museums, we basically saw all the collections except the Egyptian collection. It was so impressive to see original works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Caravaggio, Dali, Chagall, and many others! One of my favorite things was the Stanze by Raphael. This was a set of four rooms that were painted by Raphael in the 16th century. They were amazing! This includes "The School of Athens" and it was amazing to see that in person. I really also liked to see the "Gallery of Maps" as well as tapestries based off of paintings by da Vinci and Raphael.

Tapestry Based Off of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"

"The Transfiguration" by Raphael

The Vatican Gardens

"The School of Athens" by Raphael

One of the First Maps of the New World

The Vatican Museum is set up really efficiently and I appreciate it. How it works is that you basically go through all the galleries (which are like hallways) to get to the Sistine Chapel and then you can go back into some other galleries or exit. It was a nice way to see pretty much everything.

The Sistine Chapel was really amazing! It was so strange to be in the place where Popes are chosen and where Napoleon was crowned Emperor. Michelangelo surely created a masterpiece. It was so strange to look up at the ceiling and see the finger of Adam reaching out to touch God. It was amazing to be there with Ricardo who was explaining everything in our ear the entire time and it really made me appreciate "The Last Judgment." It was so interesting to hear all the history behind the painting and the politics of it. Sadly, no pictures were allowed though.

After the Sistine Chapel, we made one last gallery visit and it was probably one of my favorites. We saw the Belvedere Garden and the gallery that holds all the statues unearthed around Rome that the Vatican owns. It was amazing to see these statues that are millennia old! People are still trying to represent the body in such a perfect way.

Just out of curiosity, I saw the Minnesota Boys Choir at the Vatican Museum as well as a group of "People to People" students.

Piazza Belvedere

Apollo del Belvedere

A Statue From the Belvedere

Bernini's Entertwining Stairs

We left the Vatican through Piazza San Pietro and walked back to Campo de Fiori where we had an hour break for lunch and gelato. After that, we had class for about three hours (with a break in the middle for program-purchased gelato.) Now, I'm exhausted and doing some laundry and looking forward to going to bed early tonight.

And, even in the Vatican, the exit is through the gift shop.

More pictures:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Two Arenas of Power in One City?

The Colosseum

After my day after the Roman Forum and standing in the sun for four hours (when I daresay I may have gotten a little sunburned), it was nice to think of the Colosseum with its many arches to retreat from the sun. On Saturday 25 June, we visited the Colosseum as a class! We got up bright and early and left Campo de Fiori about 8:20am. Of course, Ricardo couldn't resist himself when walking to explain anything that he thought was fit. So, in that manner, a 20 minute walk, became 40 minutes. Our tickets to enter the Colosseum were at 9:08am, so it's good that he planned for his ability to recall facts and dates about basically any building, cobblestone, or street sign in Rome. We don't know how it does it or how he stays so excited and happy all the time! There are very few people like Ricardo in the world.

Anyway, we got to the Colosseum and were able to skip past the long line and enter up the steep stairs onto the first level concourse around the entirety of the Colosseum. The archeologist from our previous day at the Roman Forum joined us for our day at the Colosseum as well. We spent the next couple of hours imagining gladiatorial battles, crucifixions, great speeches by emperors, ship battles, and more. One thing that I thought was really impressive is that they are going to restore the whole Colosseum in the next ten years. Fittingly, we decided to watch "Gladiator" that night, but I don't believe anyone made it all the way through without falling asleep. I know I didn't.

After the Colosseum, we visited two churches in that general area. First: Basilica di San Clemente where we descended through four levels of buildings to the first century. We started off in the current Basilica which was stunning, of course, but then we descended down a flight of stairs a couple floors and we were now in the Basilica dating back a few centuries. It was amazing because it was basically the same layout, but it had been filled in and just upon for the current Basilica. After that, we trekked down a couple of flights more and we were now in what was a street that had a temple and school with some shops. Continuing down even further, we eventually reached two Roman houses from the first century that even had a natural spring running through them that we could still see today! It was hard to even fathom all the events that had occured in that geographical location over TWENTY centuries!

"Moses" by Michelangelo

Second: Chiesa di San Pietro in Vincoli or (Saint Peter in Chains) where we were able to see a great work by Michelangelo -- "Moses" and the chains that held St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem.

Everyone spent the rest of the afternoon lounging about and sleeping as it was the warmest it's been since coming to Rome (about 91º). Later in the evening, we ate dinner at a nearby restaurant in the Campo, ate gelato, went for a little bit of a walk, and attempted to watch "Gladiator."

Today, we had nothing planned, which was a little bit of a change. But of course, Ricardo recommended that we should go to Basilica San Pietro at the Vatican as we are unable to visit it as a group where he can effectively be heard. So naturally, half of us went there and the other half went to the beach. I decided to go to the Vatican. It's not much of a walk -- only about twenty minutes and it was pleasant and not too hot. We got to the Vatican and there were a lot of people! Although the line was long to get in, go through the metal detectors, and be checked for clothing appropriateness, it did not take long in line -- only about 20 minutes. Shortly after getting through the line, we heard a loud cheering in the Piazza so I'm assuming that the Pope made an appearance on his balcony, but I'm not sure. Inside the church is amazing! If I thought any other church I've ever seen before was extravagant, I was wrong. Saint Peter's definitely tops them all! Although I was amazed and I think that the church is important for all the history, artwork, and social significance, I could not help thinking how it was paid for. Why did so many people need to give up so much of their hard earned money so that a large "palacial" church in Rome could be built that they would never visit? It was also interesting several of the relics still housed in the church and how up people lined up for the chance to touch some of the less delicate ones. My favourite thing in the church was hearing the organ reverberate throughout the cavernous expanses of interior and seeing a couple of bodies of the Popes. Does that make me morbid? I guess dead bodies just fascinate me. I was going to go down into the Crypts, but they were not open when I was there so I guess that will be done a different day. We will be visiting the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel on Tuesday as a class.

Piazza San Pietro

Piazza San Pietro

One Frescoed Ceiling in Basilica San Pietro

The Dome of Basilica San Pietro

Basilica San Pietro

I spent the rest of the day reading for the next week of class and thinking about topics for my papers in the classes.

I don't think I'll ever forget how to spell Colosseum after this post.

See all of my pictures:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Of Popes and Men

The Colosseum

Yesterday, I was within twenty feet of the leader of one billion Catholics worldwide -- Pope Benedict XVI. "How did this come to be?" you may ask and to be completely honest, I'm not completely sure. The guys from my apartment and myself were walking towards the Pantheon to get some dinner at a restaurant we saw the night before when some other of our classmates called to inform us that the Pope was to be going by on a street by their apartment near the Colosseum in about an hour. We decided to grab some pizza (which was delicious, of course) quickly in lieu of a sit down dinner to walk over to see the Pope. We came to this tree lined street and it was completely blocked off by baricades and there were Vatican Guards everywhere, but hardly any people (which I didn't really expect)! They were all in matching suits with the same tie and pin in the lapel. I'm sure they must have had concealed weapons someplace as well. We staked out a spot right on the barricade and waited. There were loudspeakers in the trees the entire length of the boulevard and we could hear the entire service from the church where the procession was going. Sure enough, down the road in the distance, we began to see people with lit candles. In this procession were many groups of nuns, priests, monks, and normal people as well. Each group was dressed in a different style, but most of them included some sort of cape. Everyone was walking and carrying a candle! I'm not sure what the procession was for though. Finally, the Pope came, riding in the back of a modified GMC pickup. Parallel to the Pope, right next the barricades, were higher up Vatican Guards who seemed to scan the crowd looking for anyone who might run out into the street. There was no bulletproof glass and he sat there with a pensive look on his face looking ahead through the procession. Immediately after him, Vatican Guards linked arms the entire length of the street and walked behind him. Following them were people who joined the procession along the way. The entire procession lasted about 30 minutes. It was quite amazing!

Vatican Guards

Roman Police (With Swords)

Pope Benedict XVI

After the procession, we walked back past the colosseum to Campo de Fiori where we ate a great restaurant and shared a bottle of wine. It was a great evening to just sit out and enjoy the excellent street performers.

Previously that day (23 June), we had been on our first official visit around Rome to sites. We visited Piazza Farnese, which now houses the French Embassy, and Villa Farnesina (the Villa directly across the river from the Piazza where the Farnese family had their "country" escape.) We also visited the first art gallery in the world for the purpose of displaying art -- Galleria Spada. It has remained exactly the same since at least the sixteenth century. As always, Ricardo had much to say about everything but everything was interesting and I enjoyed all four hours of that visit.

Villa Farnese

Today (24 June), we started the day by walking to the Colosseum as a group. There we met an archeologist from Rome. She and Ricardo led us through acres and acres of the Roman Forum and tried to paint a picture of what it must have looked like 2000 years ago. It was quite amazing to see the different excavations happening right now and the many ruins of temples, basilicas, houses, and theatres. It was very cool to walk on the very road that the Roman Senators used 2000 years ago.

Me & The Roman Forum

Temple of Saturn

The Arch of Titus

Statue From Palatine Hill

The Colosseum

Me & The Roman Forum

After returning from the Forum, it was time for lunch, gelato and a little siesta before our group four-course dinner!

To All See My Pictures Visit:

Part I

Part II

A Little Bit of Class

View From My Apartment onto Campo de Fiori

UW Rome Center

Well, here it is: my daily schedule on class days (or so it seems).

1. Wake up about 8:30am

2. Get Ready and Eat Some Breakfast (Either Cereal & Yogurt in the apartment or fresh fruit from the market right outside my door with a cappucino freddo from the café downstairs.)

3. Go to Class (About 10am - 2pm)

4. Eat Lunch from a Bakery on Campo de Fiori (Either Pizza or a Sandwich)

5. Siesta and Homework Time! (3pm - 5pm or 6pm) -- Got to get out of the heat!

6. Dinner Time (7pm-8:30pm) -- Normally involves some sort of pizza, pasta, or salad in the general vicinity of Campo de Fiori.

7. Walk Around Town to Some Random Location & Gelato!

And there haven't been too many variations from that.

I absolutely love Ricardo's class! He knows so much, he is a great lecturer, and his class is really engaging! It's a great combination of Roman History, Art History, and just generally interesting information.

One thing that did interrupt the normal routine was a little mishap with my debit card -- it seems I cannot escape at least one per trip abroad. I was using an ATM at a partner bank of Bank of America and it was working just fine, but then the card got stuck in the machine (because it was broken, apparently) and it wouldn't give it back to me and the transcation was cancelled (luckily). It told me "Take it in 30 seconds or it will be retained." I didn't get it out so I had to leave my debit card there. I got back to the apartment and called my bank and asked if they could do anything. They said that they could cancel the card and reissue it, but I said that they should wait in case I could get the card back from the local bank in the morning. They agreed, but said it would be slightly unlikely because in the USA, if an ATM retains a card, it is immediately destroyed. Well, I thought it was worth a shot, so I went to the Deutsche Bank this morning and got my card back -- intact! I just had to present my passport for identification. The man at the bank said that they actually retained about five cards last night. I went to try it at a different ATM, but it was declined. I called the bank again and got it sorted out because apparently a fraud alert hold was put on my account when the card was retained so I needed to get that taken off. So now... I have my card and it still works! I don't have to deal with the bank getting to send me another debit card overseas or having to wire money to myself at a local bank. Fun times in the world of Peder!

One thing out of the ordinary today was that we watched a film for my anthropology/literature class -- "The Merchant of Venice." After that, several of us took a walk to the Trevi Fountain and got pizza and gelato along the way. I can say that the Trevi Fountain is one of my new favourite places in Rome!

The Trevi Fountain

Me at the Trevi Fountain

Tomorrow, we'll be going on site visits around Rome for Ricardo's class.

The Beginning...

After my whirlwind day of arriving in Rome and being extremely tired, it was pretty nice to have a full night of sleep.

We started the day of 18 June by having a short meeting about some class logistics in our classroom in the Rome Center. The classroom is pretty big with big windows and I think that my two to four hours in that room four times a week should be pretty bearable. We were then taken to a café which is actually right below our apartment where the program bought us espresson and marmalade-filled croissants. Immediately after this breakfast, one of my teachers, Ricardo de Mambro Santos, took us on a tour of our vicinity in Rome. He is truly amazing! He knows so much about EVERYTHING and I feel really lucky to have him as a teacher. He originally from Brazil so he knows Portugese, but he moved to Italy where he completed he education and then studied and worked for 22 years -- mostly in Rome. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Washington and now he is on the faculty of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

The Fountain of the Four Rivers

On this tour, we started by exploring Piazza Navona -- which was built in the shape of a horse-racing track and the buildings are built from that stone. In this Piazza is where the "Fountain of Four Rivers" by Bernini is located. We also were able to visit the Brazilian embassy, which is located on this Piazza, to see a gallery which had an amazing frescoed ceiling. We continued the tour by walking behind the Pantheon to a church (Santa Maria Sopra Minerva) which had one of the least known, but most amazing, statues by Michelangelo (this one had been censored several times -- the latest time by the fascists). Of course Ricardo could tell us anything we wanted to know -- maybe even more than that -- about anything in the church so we spent a considerable amount of time there.

Statue by Michelangelo

Walking through the streets of Rome with Ricardo is pretty amazing. We could be walking down any street and he will stop and then explain that there is a line on a wall with a date showing where the Tiber river rose to in 1840 and explain the entire history of flooding in Rome. He may also point to the smallest fresco on a wall outside and explain it's entire history starting in 1520. It's pretty amazing. With him, each building has a story and he knows it! I've seen the building which housed the first art academy in the world and then the first location of the University of Rome (the third oldest university in the world).

Pantheon

After all of these amazing sites, it was time for the Pantheon. Walking in the Pantheon, Ricardo told us to not look up until we were in the exact center. Looking up to gaze upon the largest open dome (possibly largest dome) in the world was pretty astounding! We continued around the Pantheon with Ricardo pointing out the tomb of Raphael to us and then explaining why the statues were several different colors (additions throughout time to Christianize them). On this tour, we finished by seeing different parts remaining of the Temple of Hadrian.

The rest of the day continued a siesta, course reading, a three-course group dinner, a walk across the river to Trestevere (a district in Rome), a midnight walk from our appartment to Vatican City (about 20 minutes away), and then a 1am gelato stop.

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

After being in Rome for a couple of days, of course I became acclimated to the time quickly so I slept in on 19 June to a more normal time of 10am. I spent the morning and early afternoon reading for class on Monday.

At 1pm, the class took a trip to an excavation site of a Roman House in Palazzo Valentini. It was one of the most amazing exhibits I've ever seen! First you walk into this normal building, but then you descend down a couple of levels and you start walking on this glass floor. Below you is the excavated ruins of a Roman House from the times of the Roman Empire! It was huge! Glass floors cover the whole thing and you are pretty high above the ruins (about 10 feet). They use multiple projectors and lights in each room with a narrating voice to explain the many features of the room. They use the projectors to fill in the ruins to what it possibly could have looked like. It was amazing to see the baths of the house, a swimming pool, the largest staircase EVER excavated (even larger than the ones in Pompeii), wonderful mosaics on the floor, a rubbish heap with dishes and even a meal remaing, a head from a statue of Minerva from the fourth century BC, and more! After this amazing tour, it was time for a quick gelato stop supplied by the program. This time the flavours I chose were Lemon, Peach, and Pineapple -- each great separately, and together a great combination! It was definitely the hottest day so far in Rome so that meant it was reading and siesta time indoors. I finished my reading and then napped until about 7:30pm. We then went out to a restaurant near the Campo where I ordered Pizza Margherita (tomato sauce, basil, and mounds of fresh Mozzarella). After this, the people from my apartment walked to one of the other student apartments by the Colosseum. It was pretty amazing to see that and the other ruins at night!

Colosseum

Now, I'm back writing this post before my first day of class tomorrow.

Buona Giornata e Benvenuti a Roma

Campo de Fiori (Where My Apartment is Located)

I made it! That was pretty much the purpose of this post. I haven't done much yet in Rome, but it was an adventure getting here. I left Seattle at 8:20am on 16 June whereupon I flew to Chicago (I flew over Brookings/Hendricks/Marshall on the way there) and then to Montrèal. However, my flight was delayed from Chicago to Montrèal about forty-five minutes and I didn't have much of a layover in Montrèal so I knew it was going to be close. I got off the plane in Montrèal and then proceeded to run through the airport, through the international connections customs, and then to the gate. Luckily, there were about 15 other people in my same situation so they held the plane for us. I arrived in Rome, where I met up with someone else participating in my program, and then we got a taxi to take us to the UW Rome Center. I spent the rest of my 17 June picking up my Italian cell phone, eating some great carbonara, unpacking, finding where the ATM is, picking up some necessities for the apartment from the store, and generally exploring the area. Now I've been basically awake for 32 hours so it's about time to get some sleep. Tomorrow I will be having a short orientation and going on a guided tour of Rome with one of my professors.

If you are interesting in finding out more about where I am: http://depts.washington.edu/roma/

Here is the map: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?ftid=0x132f604f5c680b07:0x32a4fb783f5a4a8&q=95+Piazza+Biscione&hl=en&sll=41.895409,12.472942&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ie=UTF8&ll=41.899386,12.463324&spn=0,0&t=h&z=16

If you need to contact me, email or Facebook is best, but I will also have the following phone numbers (and SMS is much cheaper than a phone call):

Italy (17 June - 22 July): + 39 33 34 53 01 57

Europe (ca. 22 July - ca. 29 July): +1 206 612 0054

Norway (ca. 29 July - 10 August): +47 46 84 81 06