Futsal

Yesterday we got out of classes early so we went down to the Circo Massimo (circus Maximus) and played futsal (basically soccer) for a few hours. Then I broke into my apartment by climbing through gates and up two stories to get in my kitchen window (we forgot a key).

Good day

Sorrento-Capri

This weekend I was joined by three of my friends on a trip to the town of Sorrento and the Isle of Capri. These locations are pretty well known tourist stops in Italy but we were looking for an escape from the city and the chance to see these places without the crowds. The weather wasn't very cooperative as it was sunny when we left Roma, then continued to rain until we arrived back in Roma. However we still had an excellent time and experienced Capri and Sorrento in their non-traditional environment.

overview map of Italy with red dots at Roma and Sorrento

A close up!

After our review on Venerdi (friday) we took off the Termini station around 2. The trains in Italy are quite the time because there are 3 types of trains which each have at least 5 types of tickets. I resolved this problem by devoting an entire afternoon to surfing Italian train sites and trying to decipher the language as best I could. The train network in Italia is very good, running to all decent sized cities or tourist destinations for cheap. We spend E10.5 one way to Napoli (Naples) which is 50 cents cheaper than a ticket to get the Fiumicino airport outside of Roma.

The Isle of Capri

We took the slowest and cheapest train which took around 3 hours to Napoli, from there we discover that the second rail line we needed to travel, the Circumvesuviana was on strike, but only till 8 oclock (more of strikes later). So we went out onto the Napoli streets (not a good ideas.)

BRIEF NAPOLI DESCRIPTION!
dirty, ugly, lots of angry people, street vendors everywhere selling cheap stuff, busy, people everywhere, smells like burning and cotton candy, 100 mafia related murders in 2004, excellent pizza.

Thus at 8 we were forcing our way onto a train that was only meant to carry 1/2 the capacity. One hour later put us in the nice town of Sorrento.

Sorrento is great. Its a quintessential small tourist town situated along a 2 km long high cliff line with only a gorge to access the water. The first thing I noticed when I got off was how relaxed I was, the second was how I hadn't felt wind in 2 weeks. It was great, and exactly what we wanted. However it was late, so we went straight to the "hostel" for the night. Now the hostel we stayed at would be more appropriately described as a luxury hotel that happened to have cheap rates. We paid E25 a night which was only 5 more than a typical hostel would be and I will let the picture tell the rest of the story.

the lobby

Brief Sorrento description.
Beautiful, alive, friendly, wind, water, luxury hotels, angry dogs

The following morning we rose to catch a ferry to Capri. It was raining. The ferry ride was a quite 25 min. ride that gave us fun views of the coast just north of the Amalfi Coast.

arriving at Capri

Arriving in Capri we decided to climb Monte Solaro which is Capri's main summit at 580m (1900ft). It was raining still. Many many steps and winding paths brought us through lemon groves (which Capri and Sorrento are famous for) and unique houses.


After lots of panting and wet feet we arrived at the village of Anacapri, the higher neighbor to the town of Capri. We continued our winding path (we had no map) until we saw our target, which wasn't easy since the top was shrouded in clouds most of the time. We set off to blaze our own trail to the summit and not long after reached what we assumed was the summit since there was no where higher to go (we just found out that it was instead a small false summit, but significantly cooler since the only built thing was a cross). The top is usually reached by a chairlift. Visibility was around 30 feet if you were lucky and we had no orientation whatsoever.

the "summit"

hiking back down

After a hearty lunch of Nutella, crackers, and cheese we decided to head down to the Faraglioni Rocks via a different made up route. This was a bad idea since instead of finding the valley that cuts a narrow channel, we found the cliffs that drop 1000 feet to the sea. Also, in finding those we had to bushwhack through kiwi, fig, walnut, and many other "fun" head high shrubs.

this is a path

overlooking the Tyrrehnian Sea

It was a great time, after an hour of it we found ourselves very near to the place we started down from, thus we gave up and descended our ascent route. We did get to the rocks and as a victory toast we went into the only bar (bars in Italy and not just bars they are cafes as well) open and had victory ciocolatte (hot chocolate) which was simply heated chocolate pudding. We then decided we were wet enough and went back to the ferry only to find that they decided not to run until 6 which gave us 3 hours.

The Faraglioni Rocks

caffe

With those three hours we decided to hang out at the pebble beach next door. This beach wasnt anything spectacular except that it had the most beautiful color. Bleached white rocks and blue blue water (even while raining) made for a fun wade. To waste some time we got in touch with our architectural roots and built some arches, which we then needed to make a seawall fort to protect. The Napoli Bay light up as the sun went down, and we rode the ferry home dripping wet from getting hit by many very large waves.

capri beach

evening

To top the day off we went to a nice restaurant and got the cheapest pizzas and pasta (mine was Sicilian!) there was and a nice bottle of wine. It was a good day, and it was still raining!

With not much left we lingered around Sorrento for a few hours the next day and then rode the train back only to stop for a quick pizza run in Napoli (really, don't go there). Then we were home in Roma, and it made me appreciate it even more!

Dog Parks, Cat Sancturaries, and the Darker side of Roma

ciao!

Massive update time. Im going to keep this relatively short for both our sakes.


The urban fabric of Roma is a very interesting thing to study, and through the study of it these last two weeks I have found that the way people use the space can be categorized into one of three areas, the Dog park, the Cat Sanctuary, or the Dark side.

Title I: Cat Sanctuaries
We will start off with the Cat Sanctuary. This is the entry level tourist destinations of Roma. The forum, the coliseum, the pantheon, the hills, st. peters, etc, etc..... These are the areas that everyone that comes to Roma for a week spends all their time running to and from in a desperate attempt to see all 874 churches, 1923 temples, and 273 random unexplainable ruins. Its what people think of when they hear Roma. This is the first level of Roma, and these are the places that the cat population of the city live.

a cat and ben in a villa

a coliseum

Title II: Dog Parks
Unlike the Cat Sanctuaries the Dog Parks are for the residents to experience. These are the spaces that were at one time magnicifent and enriching to view by said resident but have now become a park that they use to get outside and walk their dogs. Examples include Castel San'Angelo, the Circo Massimo, and the Villas. This is the outdoor spaces that the local use to run and relax.

a church

a villa

Title III: The Darker Side
And then there is the dark side of Roma. This is the lowest level for people. And it cannot be defined by place, but instead by person. It is the umbrella sellers that will sell you an umbrella for 15 cents just to feel like they are making money, its the street preformers, its the Romas, the beggers, the thieves. This is the most interesting part of Roma, and I will now elaborate.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a Romas camp, which is the proper term for Gypsies. I had no idea what it was going to be like, all we were told was that they were celebrating something similar to christmas eve for them and that if we wanted to join we could shuttle outside the city to their camp. Now after being lost for quite some time we finally arrived and found that their camp was situated on the empty space between an on ramp and the highway. It was small, it was full of trailers, and the best house was run off a generator only at special occasions. But it was their home. Now Im not going to give you a history of the Romany people but I really would encourage you to look it up, its facinating stuff. Basically they are nomadic, and this group hails from Uzbekistan. They are squatters and have no rights to their land, unlike in the US. If the government gets sick of them, then they have to pack up and leave.

Their way of living is very family based and they are not accepted by the general Italian public. Though they get public education they are looked down upon. Their jobs are begging, and selling scrap metal. They are wonderful.

These people welcomed all 10 of us into their small house (read:shack) and sat us down to what is likely the most amazing meal I have ever eaten. In the traditional italian fashion the table was covered with small plates all holding a seperate dish and it was a free for all to eat. Personally, I started of with a very olivy salad, then I had a rice/fish wrapped in cabbage, then I had a cheese platter, then some bread, then some for of meat... then sauteed eggplant and zuccini, followed by more questionable meat, after that I had another rice roll (very good), and then we started the main course which was a sort of pork roast with another form of bread, followed by a shot of cafe (coffee) and a desert breag which was raisins and cake like. I was very full. Afterwards we had a dance party in one of their bedrooms to the sound of american popmusic which was the only english any of the spoke. Then we attempted to socialize until we realized with missed our train back to the city and had to get back another way. There was about 15 people from two families that are with us and they were wonderful. Ferro (one of our profs) said after we thanked them profusely that this was a wonderful gift to them, the gift of having people care enough about them to celebrate a holiday with them. I guess sometimes just knowing people are aware of your existence can be the greatest feeling. We departed with everyone smiling and promises to come again. It was a beautiful night.

That is the darker side of Roma, and in my opinion, its far more beautiful than and 2000 year old ruins could ever be.

Massive Update!

Ok, so this isnt the massive update but its coming so I wanted to give yall a little teaser for the upcoming titles to get excited for them! As usual school started this week and in the normal architecture way we got loaded with work, we already had a mock review and we have a real one this friday so things have been busy. Anyways, I should be getting around to getting some of these titles out in the next few days! So here they are.

Cat Sanctuaries
Dog Parks
The Darker Side of Roma
Academic Life
Living in Montecatini
Project 0 Mapping Roma

ciao

un gelato!

ciao amiche!

Today was another big day to explore the city. I had a studio orientation meeting in the morning which consisted of the faculty explaining some things about Roma. Highlights included... Going to markets to buy stuff, get robbed, and then buy the same thing back only to realize its a brick in the box instead of what you thought you bought; police officer scam artists dressed up and asking for your money and ID; angry gelato (ice cream) sellers; drunken stabbings; and lots of overall love. Ferro one of our main Roma faculty insisted that cops were mean no matter if you were in Roma or Ames, and Karen, another faculty, resisted and told her side of Roma. Basically the underlying theme was... Dont get drunk because Italian culture really looks down on it, and dont do anything stupid, and if you do one of the above then be nice to the police so they give you a phone call so one of the faculty can save you. They we split into studios, I am in Chris Klings studio first. Chris is a resident of Roma and is teaching a studio about urban space, specifically the market environment. Our first assignment is to walk from studio to different assigned spaces, ours being Santo Stefano Rotondo. This space is interesting because its the first christian example of a centralized plan, built in the 5th century AD. They didn't give us any more detail then that.

Afterwards Ben and I decided to walk west towards the Castel Sant'Angelo which sits just east of the Vatican City, right on the Tiber. This building was erected in 139 AD originally to house the remains of Emperor Hadrian. Right out front is the Pons Aeilus which is a bride with angels holding aloft piece from the Passion of Christ. In 401 the mausoleum was turned into a fortress to defend against the Gauls (french) under Alaric. They succeeded in conquering Roma in 410 and looted large amounts of the mausoleum. In the 14th century it was converted into a full out fortress and connected to St. Peters Basilica for pope refugee purposes. It is now converted to a museum and has phenomenal views of all Roma! We arrive at the upper terrace at sunset and stayed until it was dark and the city was light, it was breathtaking. Roma, is a large city.

I wont want to attack this... can you find me!

Another thing to note is how American culture is represented in Italy. Americans themselves are not highly regarded, however most of the music I have heard is American Pop songs. And Will Smith has his picture all over the place, including buses. There are a lot of American made products, pharmaceuticals, foods... There is definitely a strong American influence.

people ice staking to blasting american music

I will leave you with night time pictures of Roma from atop the Sant'Angelo.

the domes of historic roma center

archangel Michael sheathing his sword after the plague ends in 510

Castel Sant'Angelo

the Vatican City

Buonosera!

giorno due (day two)

ciao amiche!

Day two started late in Roma as I finally caught up on my sleep after 15 hours of much needed rest. Today was a Roma tour fest. In the afternoon I went and saw the Monumento A Vittorio Emanuele II who was the first King of the united Italy in 1861. This building became a focal point at the end of world war I when they added the tomb of the unknown soldier. This act was very memorable to many italian families since nearly a million italian soldiers were killed or wounded, many of them never seeing a proper burial. Emanuele's grandson, Victor Emanuele III became the leader in both world wars and supporter of Mussolini until nearly the end of his reign. Italy as a monarchy ended shortly after 1946 largely due to his rule. The build was full of art work from Italys violent past and had great view of the city and roman forum.

each providence has a lady represented on this

a view down via del corso, a "large" steet in Roma

After we took some time to explore the vast Roman Forum. We stumbled across the Mamertine Prison which is where Saint Peter was held by the romans. This was a pretty sorry place to be held. With only a hole to exit through this was just one of a series of cells that were rather wet and equiped only with a small hole of water which St. Peter used to baptise his fellow prisoners.


We then roamed (get it!) the rest of the forum, though we couldnt get down into it. Its pretty amazing to see the technology in person that they had 2000 years ago, especially things that are still intacted like the Traiani Forum, more famous because of Emperor Trajan (Trajans Column, Trajans Market, etc...)

trajans column

After a brief jaunt for a studio meeting I continued to explore and went to see the River Tiber (very fast), the Teatre di Marcello (very crumbly), and the Coliseum (very archy). The Tiber river is interesting since is basically the entire drainage for the city of Roma, which probably has about one tree per mile. Because of this the levels fluctuate quite a bit (they were almost 30 feet higher just a few weeks ago!). We went to the Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island) the large island south of the historical roman city center. This houses a large ospedale (hospital) and that's about it. The Teatro di Marcello is a very interesting building to me and one I will be using for my independent study (which is about Italian theatres and how their design and space was influenced by culture and politics). This was build by 12 BC and was one of the first three built theatres in Roma. The third tier was reconstructed during Mussolini's reign and used as apartments for government officials.


Historical Roma is made up of seven hills, the Quirnial, Viminal, Esquiline, Capitoline, Palatine, Caelian, and Aventine. The Palatine hill is the centermost of these and is the mythical place where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. Roma is named after Romulus who killed his brother and founded the city. Anyways, its a big hill, and I walked around the whole thing...

Back to the Coliseum. This is a fascinating building for many reasons. It was finished in 70 AD and origionally called the Flavian Ampitheatre, used to killing lions, Christians, gladiators, slaves, whoever... The Church took power of the Coliseum in the 17th century to preserve it, many ideas were used, make it into a wool factory for prostitutes, use it for bull fights, or just preserve it and keep people from using it as a quarry. More recently it stood as a symbol for protest against the death penalty in Italy, and since the death penalties abolishment it is bathed in both white and gold light. The white is normal, the gold is used when anywhere in the world someone is released from the death penalty of the jurisdiction is abolished.

this is an arch

this is a coliseum

Anyways, it was a full day. I stopped by the Trevi Fountain again from my first Italian gelato (ice cream) which was amazing and drank some of the fountain water! And that concluded day two.

buononotte

a beginning

Studying abroad has always been something I have wanted to do. I didn't have my heart set on coming to Rome right away however as time progressed, and I began to understand the advantages of the program, I became evermore excited to start. As usual the first adventure happened in transit. After arriving in Milan, Italy the airport closed which forced us to spend fourteen long hours staring at each other through the night. By the time we arrived in Rome the next morning it had been over 36 hours of travel and less than one hour of sleep. However my architecture all-nighter training pulled me through without any mess. As we came into Fiumicino on the last leg of the flight I could look east at the Appenines mountains which make up the backbone of Italy; and west to the Mediteranean Sea. Rome is in a geographical wonderland, nestled in rolling flatlands with both mountain and sea within grasp. If Rome was Ames, Boon would be the Med. and Neveda (IA) would be the mountains. I was very happy.

The next valuable lesson we learned was about traffic patterns in Italy. We got a taxi to bring us to the housing office where we needed to get our keys. To sum the drive up, Italians take every sign, light, or other vehicle as a suggestion for what to do, and that is all. In order to get through the throngs of Vespas our driver would nearly nudge them out of their lanes and onto the shoulder. This excitment was mixed with the odd combination of American pop music and 2000 year old buildings out your window.

After finally getting to our apartment it was time to settle in and attempt a grocery store run. On the way to the store we passed the Pantheon which sits about a block from where I live. Its a big building. I cannot describe how big it is until you stand inside it. So unfortunatly thats one of the many sights I will have to pass on my way to studio everyday. The next challenge came at the store in identifying what products were what. I took around 20 min. trying to pick out the butter (still not sure if I got the right one). My food selecting now is the great variety of potatoes or pasta. I think I also got some milk, bread, and possibly soup mix???? Thankfully food costs were less than I expected them to be, very similar to those in Iowa (except in euros).

So here I am now, the rest of my roommates are still drifting in, I live in a 10 person apartment. The food is in one of the three refridgerators and we figured out how to turn the water heater on, now all we have to do is figure out why its leaking!

ciao from Romatrevi fountain