on our walk to school, right after we cross over the Tiber river.
My apologies to all of you out there who have been checking in for updates. I haven't had any time to come into the Rome center to update this thing! But, as promised, I have TONS of pictures to share with all of you from the first week of class/site visits. Let's start with all of those.
The first day, we went to the Palatine hill, where the very first Roman civilization started in about 700 BCE.
this is the entrance to the Palatine hill.
Roman aqueduct near the entrance.
this statue was amazing.....look at how intricate the carving is!
view of the city from the Palatine
site of the huts of Romulus and Remus!
house of the first Roman emperor, Augustus!
the CHID group.
from the Palatine, looking onto the Roman forum!
On Tuesday, we went to the Roman forum.
me and my roommates, from the left is Sammie, me, Ashley Rose, and MacKenzie.
us in front of the Colusseum, waiting to get into the Roman forum.
the triumphal arch of Titus, built to represent the success of his 71 AD triumph over the Jews.
Basilica Nova, also called the Basilica of Constantine, a perfect illustration of the Roman innovation of the arch/barrel vault/dome. This basilica was the models for half of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican...the top half was modeled after the Pantheon!
representing CHID!!! Professore said he is going to send this to the CHID office. :)
this building has its original bronze doors from the 2nd or 3rd century!
the columns in the back here were rebuilt by Mussolini.
looking towards the arch of Septimus Severus. Not incredibly historically significant, just really cool to look at.
house of the vestal virgins.
temple of the divine Julius Caesar.
Mamertime Prison!
Profe told us that when this prison was in operation, the Romans would throw their prisoners down this hole after returning to the city on their Triumphal March. Once in the chamber, they would either starve to death or be strangled and then.....
they were thrown out this door which lead to the great drain (cloaca maxima) that lead to the Tiber river. Not a nice way to go!
the Capitoline hill....plaza designed by Michaelangelo. I was very excited to finally see this because I have studied this in many art history classes!
ORIGINAL foundation of the Temple of Jupiter! Soooo cool.
overlooking the forum. Amazing.
Yesterday, Wednesday, Jan. 7, we went to a place called Ostia Antica, an ancient port city from the Roman empire. I can say with much certainty that it was one of the coolest places I have ever been. It started out as a castrum, meaning that it was a military camp. In ancient Roman fashion, all of the roads in castrums were ordered axially, with the largest most important road marking the North-South axis. Ostia Antica was significant because of its strategic location for defense and trade. The ruins are all that is left of the 6th century BC city. We took a bus and two trains to get there, and the trip was about 40 minutes from Rome. It could have been because of the drizzly weather, but there were very, very few people visiting the site when we were there. I found this much preferrable because it gave me lots of time and space to walk around and think about what it would have been like to live in a city like this.
that is Profe in the beret. Easily the coolest professor i have ever had.
bath house.
theatre.
domus (typical Roman house)
the main road running on the N-S axis.
public latrine.
capital, before it was moved to Rome.
us!
everyone doing their best Rocky impression :)
other side of the theatre
I loved Ostia Antica!!! If you ever find yourself in Rome, please go.
Before we went to Ostia yesterday, a friend of Profe's named Bill (originally from Texas but has lived in Rome for something like 30 years working as a caterer) gave us a tour of the Campo de'Fiori market.
I enjoyed learning where to get meat, bread, salumi, cheese, and general groceries. Later that night, he did a cooking demo for us and we had a group dinner. Profe had told me beforehand (since he knows that I'm a "foodie"/cook) that I could talk to Bill and let him know what I was interested in learning how to make and that he would try to prepare it for us. I tried to talk to Bill during the market tour but he kind of blew me off and prepared instead what he thought was good. He made penne arrabiata (decent), chicken piccata (pretty good), a salad of fennel, arugula, blood orange, and pomegranate seeds (no dressing, apparently the blood orange suffices...i didn't eat this) and panna cotta flavored with espresso (I didn't eat this either, not a big panna cotta fan). It was nice to have a big group dinner together but I was disappointed he didn't cook anything a little more advanced. However, I understand that not everyone in the group is an experienced cook so he wanted to make sure he showed us how to make things that we could easily recreate.
I haven't had a chance to cook in the apartment yet as we are missing some crucial kitchen implements (i.e., stock pot, non-serrated knife, cutting board....dish towels...), but we are supposed to get them by next week.
Today was a pretty low-key day. The girls and I slept in and I walked around Trestevere and went to a nearby art supply store. Part of our credit here in Rome is a self-directed research project, so I've decided that I want to focus (of course) on art and do sketches along with my 6-8 page paper. I got a sketch book and a journal (we are required to keep one..), some pencils, and an eraser. When I got back we had a leisurely lunch at a little restaurant that we pass on the way to class. The food was decent. I wanted pizza, but by the time we got to the restaurant, they weren't serving it anymore. Instead, I ate rigatoni in a tomato cream sauce with mushrooms, zucchini, and eggplant. It was good but I probably won't go back. The other day Profe suggested a nice restaurant for me to try called Trattoria Moderna, which I'm thinking of trying solo sometime this weekend perhaps. Also, Profe and I discovered that there is a Picasso exhibit going on near the Capitoline hill...I'm thinking of hitting that tomorrow!!!!
Besides all of the historical sites, I took a few pictures for Dad......
remote controlled F1 car..........pretty cool.
also, saw this Smart Car and thought the color was really cool!!!
Ciao everyone!
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