November 24th-26th

Back in Rome we had a couple days to tour around the city before Thanksgiving break, so the first stop on Monday the 24th during History class was Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major).

The church is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The church is built on the Esquiline Hill and was built there to commemorate the Miracle of the Snows, which is also why the church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows (the Virgin Mary) and an apparition had by a local patrician and the pope. These events happened as the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the the patrician and the pope on the same night and instructed both them to go to the Esquiline Hill where in the morning they would find a plot of land covered in snow. The next morning the pope then led a procession to the spot indicated in the dream and discovered that snow had fallen on the Esquiline Hill. Since it was summer and snow never fell at that time in Rome, the pope deemed this miraculous occurrence a miracle and the patrician then funded the building of Santa Maria Maggiore.



An amazing mosaic depicting Christ crowning Mary as the Queen of Heaven.

The large column, originally from the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, stands alone in front of the church facade.
Then on Tuesday the 25th my Urbanism class visited the Baths of Diocletian. The amazing ancient structure of these Baths is still mostly intact, and a good portion of the Baths were redesigned by Michelangelo in the 16th century as the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. This is an interior view of the church's apse.

On Wednesday the 26th, my Theology class had an AMAZING opportunity with our professor Monsignor Wells to visit St. Peters Basilica and the scavi, or crypt, beneath the Basilica. First we visited the scavi underneath the Basilica, which was originally a burial ground of ancient Rome. Walking along the ancient streets between the mausoleums where the great Roman families were buried we were headed for some of the most hallowed ground in the known Catholic world- St. Peter's burial place. So after we got a quick tour of the rest of the scavi, we stopped at the resting place of St. Peter. The spot is directly underneath the Baldacchino of St. Peters which covers the main altar of the Basilica.

Another amazing feature of our personal tour with Monsignor Wells was that when we came up from the scavi and entered the Basilica we entered through the door underneath the Bernini sculpture depicted Pope Alexander VII.


Yes, I got to walk through that door.

Pretty good week leading up to my trip to Dublin for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!

Florence and Pisa Weekend Trip

The weekend of November 22nd-24th my friends and I decided to take a weekend away. So after only getting to visit Florence briefly on a school trip, we decided to return to the amazing city and see some of the stuff we missed.

So on Friday, November 21st, we arrived at night to the "hostel" in Florence. It turns out that the 4-person "hostel" room was a HUGE 4-person apartment that the owners simply gave us the key to. To end up in an apartment that had a kitchen with fridge, a TV, a sitting area, queen beds, and much more instead of a 4-person room with bunk beds was simply awesome.

So after spending the night enjoying the amenities of the hostel, early in the morning we went over to the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi, which is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world, was perfect at 7:30am in the morning- no tourists, no people talking, no tour guides with little flags- perfect.

The Gallery was truly amazing and it had some of the most famous works by painters and sculptures, including works by Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, and many others.

Since I couldn't take pictures inside, I happened to get a quick picture before we entered of the sign explaining not only that I couldn't take pictures but much, much more...

From the Uffizi Gallery, I also took a picture of the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), the famous bridge that crosses the Arno bridge in Florence. It truly is a marvel of engineering and architecture that has stood for centuries.

At the end of the walk through the Uffizi you end up on the roof of the palace and I got some great views of the Piazza della Signoria...

...and a view of the Duomo of Florence. This famous dome was designed by Brunelleschi and became one of the most impressive engineering and architectural domes constructed in the world. The distinctive octagonal design of the double-walled dome was never seen before, and Brunelleschi even had to design a mechanical hoist to bring the materials, mostly brick, up to construct the dome.

Another great view of the Ponte Vecchio.

So after walking around after the Uffizi Gallery, I HAD to introduce my friends to the amazing, only-available-in-Florence lunch of Lampredotto. After having Lampredotto with my professor when I was Florence before I took my friends to the same lunch stand and we all tried the Lampredotto. Yet again, trying to forget that Lampredotto is the fourth stomach of the cow, I had the unique Florentine lunch.

After lunch we went over to the Duomo and got to see the inside of the Gothic-style Florence Cathedral.

Then the four of us climbed Brunelleschi's famous dome and got to see Florence from the highest point in the city.


Later, as if the day hadn't already been packed with enough activities, we got a chance to catch the afternoon train to Pisa. The hour long train ride got us right to the city famous for its leaning tower.

The Piazza dei Miracoli is the major piazza in Pisa that includes the leaning tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistry. The piazza was packed with tourists, street salesmen, and people posing for the famous leaning tower photo, so I got a couple great pictures of my own.

Inside the Duomo.
Leaning tower as the sun set in Pisa.

I had to do it. I think turned out ok.

After returning to Florence, we got a chance to visit one of my most anticipated Florence night spots in Florence- Club Tenax. The club is considered the best in Italy and it truly lived up to its hype. The club was enormous, and the Saturday night "Nobody's Perfect" party was DJed by two of the world's best DJs.


Then on Sunday the 24th we got up early and went over to Academia dell'Arte, which is home to Michelangelo's famous sculptures including the Prisoners and, of course, David.

Michelangelo's prisoners were unfinished sculptures intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II, and are pictured here along the wall in the room leading up to the David.


After the Academia, we headed back to the hostel to check out and we got a chance to stop in the Piazza della Signoria where the Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo della Signoria), the town hall of Florence, stands.

Also in the Piazza della Signoria is the spectacular Loggia dei Lanzi. It is a great three-bay loggia that houses some great sculptures. The one below is The Rape of the Sabine Woman by the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne.


The weekend in Florence was great, and the city definitely lived up to its name as one of the greatest Renaissance cities in the world.

November 17th-21st

After Thanksgiving, we got right back to the grind with a History class Monday morning. We walked up to the Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo, and visited the church Santa Maria in Aracoeli. It was a beautiful church on top of the Capitoline hill, and it included a number of great frescoes and candeliers.

Also in the church is the central fresco by Pinturicchio in the S. Bernardino Chapel. The 15th century frescoe depicts the life of Saint Bernardino of Siena.

Another famous feature of the church is the wooden statue of the infant Jesus, carved in the 15th century of olive wood.

After leaving Santa Maria in Aracoeli, we moved on to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli on the Esquiline in Rome. The church is most famous for its marble sculpture of Moses sculpted by Michelangelo.

On Tuesday the 18th, I had drawing class where we went behind San Andrea della Valle, the church nearest my studio and hotel which happens to have the second biggest dome in Rome behind St. Peters.

Then Tuesday night we went out to the always fun Karoake night at Scholars, the local irish pub. In the picture, I am definitely belting out my own rendition of "I Want it That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. I was really good; I swear.

On Thursday the 20th, I had my Urbanism class with Ettore and we went to the Pantheon to study the marble interior. The assignment for the day was to paint an elevation of the Pantheon, including the marble columns, marble panels, and the coffered ceiling.

That Friday we had a daytrip to Hadrian's Villa. The great Roman emperor, who also happened to dabble in architecture and landscaping, designed this magnificent Villa in the countryside near Rome. The Villa included palaces, several thermae, theatre, temples, libraries, state rooms and quarters for courtiers, praeotrians and slaves. Here is a model that depicts the entire site, and you can see the great size of the site, as well as the combination of Roman building styles and landscaping.

One of the most amazing structures in the Villa is the Maritime Theatre It consists of a round portico with a barrel vault supported by pillars. Inside the portico was a ring-shaped pool with a central island. During the ancient times the island was connected to the portico by two drawbridges. Hadrian used the secluded island getaway as a way to have some time for himself away from the responsbilities of the Roman Empire.

A relaxing two weeks in Rome still thrills

Ok so I'm back to relive these first few weeks of November. They really have been great, so be ready for some ridiculous stories that only Rome can provide. Most of the stories are from random days from the past two weeks mostly because Nov. 3-7th week I had my first two midterms and Nov. 10-13th a time consuming one-week project that I was working on, and those happenings are not nearly as interesting.

Figure Drawing

So Wednesday morning, Nov. 5, we had a very unique, yet very useful figure drawing class in place of our typical Drawing class. Professor Piccolo, an artist renown for his artwork done in Italy, set up this particular class so that we would have a model to draw the human figure. Immediately, walking into the class we all knew this was going to be interesting, but, having done figure drawing once before Sophomore year, we were ready to try figure drawing again. So with my large pad of sketch paper, some charcoal sticks, and my goal to get better at figure drawing during this class period, I sat down and started drawing the model, Laura. Professor Piccolo pushed the class with only 30 second poses for the first 15 minutes, and then we slowed added time as we built up to a 5 minute drawing (shown below).
The drawing class proved to be a success, as it was clear by the end of class that I had in fact improved my figure drawing immensely. We've continued to master our figure drawing abilities in the Drawing class by drawing the beautiful sculptures, fountains, and various statues around the city. So this class was certainly only the beginning.

American Week

This past week has been marked with way more American activities than usual. In fact, in this past week alone I have played football twice, went to the Warner Bros. theater to see the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, eaten at McDonald's (yes, I caved), and even taken the bus to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Sports Saturday #1 and the Seminary

THE NORTH AMERICAN COLLEGE IS AMAZING! Sorry, but that exclamation needed to be said because the North American College, the home and school for the Seminarians studying for the priesthood, has every sportsman's dream - a brand new turf football/softball/soccer/kickball field, a lit basketball court, 2 tennis courts, a in-line hockey rink, and handball courts. I pretty much fell in love. On Saturday, November 8th, about 10 arkies and I made our way over to the North American College to play soccer and football with the seminarians. We played half-field 6 on 6 soccer with one of the seminarians named Jimmy. Then at 2:30pm a whole team of the seminarians came out to practice flag football for their Old Man-New Man game that is coming up in a month, and what better way to practice flag football than to play 11 sports starved arkies? So we started up our first ever game of flag football against the seminarians, and it did not start out well. In our defense, NONE of us realized that the seminarians played full contact, full field, full team, blitzing, running backs, linebacker, all-out football. And it took a little while to get used to. Our team fell behind 3 touchdowns to zero right from the start, and after awhile we just decided to mix up teams to make it more fair. Now that I know how to play their style of football, I PROMISE that next time we will hold our own.

Quantum of Solace and ND football

Not much to say except for this was the first Saturday night that I decided to just take it easy, and go see a movie at the American movie theater, Warner Bros. Theater. The movie was only okay, but it definitely felt like a very American evening, excluding the gelato I had after the movie. Then coming back from the movie at 2:30am we decided to watch the ND vs. Boston College football game that was on so late because the game was broadcast in primetime in Boston. So I watched the first half of the TERRIBLE football game (Jimmy Clausen had 4 interceptions), and went to bed after a somewhat dissapointing evening.

Wednesday Theology Class

The next exciting event was my Wednesday Theology Class where we went to St. John the Lateran, Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies, and the Baptistry of St. John the Lateran. The white marble facade of St. John the Lateran was particularly amazing. It is actually the main church of the Rome diocese, contrary to the more likely St. Peters, and was home to 162 popes.


Then the church of the Holy of Holies and the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem are very important pilgrimage churches that were built near the city walls of Rome around the time of the Edict of Milan, which legalized Christianity. It seems that Constantine wanted to build this churches to introduce the Christian faith to Rome, but he made sure to put the churches on the outskirts of the city so that the pagan citizens wouldn't be overwhelmed by the introduction of the new legalized religion.

The Holy of Holies was honestly a very unassuming, somewhat ugly building, but it actually had two of the most important relics of the Catholic Church. One, considered the most important relic of the Catholic Church, is the steps to the Court of Pilate in Jerusalem known as the Scala Santa, or Holy Staircase. The staircase is one of the only relics in the known world that was definitely touched by Jesus because the staircase was the staircase that Jesus must have walked on during his trial with Pontius Pilate. In order to show respect for the importance of the staircase, pilgrims and visitors choose not to walk on the stairs but to kneel/crawl up them. Then at the top of the stairs is the second great relic in the church, an image of the Archeiropoieta. The Archeiropoieta is an image of Christ that has been divinely created, and in the Holy of Holies the Archeiropoieta to see is an image of Christ that was begun by St. Luke and finished by Angels who completed the true image of Christ.

Thursday Urbanism Class- Colosseum

So for Urbanism class on Thursday, we went with Ettore into the Colosseum. When not getting harassed outside the Colosseum by every possible street vendor and person asking if we wanted to do a "crazy drunken pub crawl", the outside was just as amazing as ever in the morning light and then we got to go inside. After Ettore argued with the security at the entrance to get our tour group a discount, we walked throughout the Colosseum discussing it's importance during the history of the Roman Empire and its great example of Roman building techniques.


Pienza Presentation

Thursday, November 13 we presented our first week's work on the Pienza Project to the Vice Mayor and City Planner and Architect. It was a very hectic week getting all the designs, masterplans, perspectives, etc all together, but the presentation went very smoothly. (I even got McDonald's for the first time since I've been in Rome because the night before the presentation I was too busy running around organizing the teams of students that I needed a quick meal) Then on presentation day, I helped present the overall project along with two of my classmates, and after our presentation the Vice Mayor and City Planner were very pleased and excited about the masterplan of the city. The Vice Mayor had a great quote, "This is what Pienza should look like" basically saying that the masterplan we designed for the city is exactly what he thought it should be. And that was only after one week of work! So we still have another month to fine tune and develop the urban design for Pienza, but I am truly excited to get to work with such a fascinating and architectural wonder of a city. Here is a link to the wikipedia page about Pienza: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pienza.

In case I didn't give an quick synopsis of the project, the city of Pienza was interested in having our architecture program redesign the suburban sprawl of the city outside the city center. the urban development of Pienza is the name of the project, and our entire class is working to design the suburbs of the city into a more urban setting, including Italian city blocks, piazzas, monumental buildings, vistas of the tuscan countryside, and much more. I'll be sure to update our progress on this amazing project.

Eventually the project will be finished as our final project, and our professors will compile the final boards that we design for the city, along with the work of the University of Bologna students who are going to do the engineering design work, into a board book that we document our overall design for Pienza. Another great quote of the Vice Mayor was, "I will be the first to buy that book." What an exciting project!

Hard Rock Cafe

So as a special treat after the first review of the Pienza project, the Hard Rock Cafe offered the entire class a special discounted 4 course meal! It really was an American week with Football, a movie, McD's, and Hard Rock Cafe. The meal was great, and it was fun to go out with all 47 arkies.

BIG FRIDAY

So my roommate's twin brother Andrew, who is studying abroad in Paris, came to visit during the weekend of November 13th-16th. He actually came to Hard Rock Cafe with us on Thursday night, but the most fun day we had was on Friday.

After waking up late on Friday, my roommate Daniel and I met up with my roommate William and his twin brother Andrew. They had gone to the Colosseum and Roman Forums during the morning, and when we met up with them at lunchtime we ran right into a student rally that was shutting down the entire city center.

If you click on photo to enlarge it, you can clearly see the truck that is parked in THE MIDDLE OF THE MAIN ROAD OF ROME. Of the thousands of students blocking roads throughout Rome that day, a few of the students were holding up a huge banner that read "If you block our future, then we'll block the city". They were protesting the laws that the Prime Minister Berlusconi is trying to pass about privatizing education. His policies are completely ridiculous and would essentially cost thousands of teachers their jobs and thousands of students and families a lot of money.

So then to do some of the more touristy things with Andrew, we went with him to St. Peters to go inside the gigantic church and we even went to the top of the dome. It was truly amazing! Every time I go into St. Peters I am almost overwhelmed with the amazing sights and architecture that make the building so special. We got to see Michelangelo's sculpture Pieta depicting Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion.


Then getting up into the dome of St. Peters was possibly the best experience I've had in Rome so far. The dome towers over the entire city of Rome and to see the city from such an amazing vantage point on such an amazing building was almost overwhelming.



Sports Saturday and ND game

Then on Saturday, November 15th we got to go over to the North American College again and get some much needed physical activity in. We played full field 11 vs. 11 soccer with a few of the seminarians (of course Jimmy was back) and then went to play tennis. It was really great to get out run around with all the arkies. (pictured is us playing on the soccer field with the basketball court in the background, sadly I am not in the picture)


Then, after playing sports all afternoon, the seminarians were nice enough to let us stay and watch the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game because they get the air forces network feed. So we got to order pizza for dinner, watch the Notre Dame football game in their lounge, and Notre Dame won 27-21!

So these past two weeks have been all spent in Rome, but all jam-packed with activities and sights to see. Hope to be back soon!

Ciao!

My First Month and a Half = Long Blog Post

I don’t exactly know how to explain that I haven’t written on this blog for the first month of my year studying abroad in Rome, Italy, so I’m just going to completely avoid the subject. The only excuse I can offer is that it has been the most whirlwind, life-changing month in my life and I’m excited to tell you all about it.

Honestly, I’ve been dying to write in this blog for the entire month. It just seems that every day I end up doing the touristy stuff, the architecture stuff, the fun stuff, the amazing sight-seeing stuff, the traveling stuff, and, yes, even the housekeeping stuff (doing my laundry was interesting). I just couldn’t find the time to sit down and make it happen. So with the disclaimer that I will probably NEVER write this much in a blog post again (I prefer showing pictures with short paragraphs describing the best parts), please enjoy this post along with me as I re-live my first month and a half here in the eternal city and around Italy.

So the month has been jam-packed as you could imagine and in order to explain it all in a coherent way I am going to organize the month’s experiences into the different experiences/trips I’ve had so far.

First Weeks in Rome- September 10-25^th

On September 10^th, the entire class of 46 architecture students (arkies) and I embarked on our year-long study abroad program in Rome, Italy. We took the 8 hour overnight flight out of Chicago with Iberia Airlines and it connected in Madrid, Spain before we got to Rome. The flight was pretty straightforward until we got to Madrid. The group was just the entire group of arkies (there was no administration) and the connecting flight in Madrid turned out to be a crazy experience. It turned out that the flight from Chicago was about half an hour late getting into Madrid and we only had 1 hour to get to the next flight. So in a half hour we had to get from one gate in the Madrid airport to another, which sounds pretty easy right? Well the Madrid airport was set up in such a fashion that the big boards with the flight times and gate numbers were only located AFTER security check points and each group of gates (the A’s, B’s, etc) had it own SEPARATE security check point. Essentially our group of 47 just chose the gate letter that was on our tickets and started going through security. As the group started going through the security check point, the guards started making each and every person pour out their water bottles. This proved to take some time. Then as the first few people got past the checkpoint and looked at one of the big boards, we soon found out that the gate had changed from the one that was on our tickets and we had to go to another gate and security check point to do this process all over again. I ended up being one of the first people out of security and I rushed to the gate (already 15 minutes late) to try to stall the plane. As me and a few other people got there the attendant was a little confused and a little angry that 47 people were missing/late. So I tried to explain the situation, the late flight, the security, etc, to the attendant, she continued to yell at me to “Get on the plane”, “Hurry, hurry” And (my favorite) “plane will leave”. So I refused to get on the plane until all the arkies made it, and once we all got on the plane there was an entire cabin full of angry Europeans wondering why the flight was delayed a half hour for a bunch of young American students. Welcome to Europe!

The first weekend was amazing because it all happened so fast and Rome is probably the best city to get completely lost in. We immediately checked into the hotel, Albergo del Sole, got our room assignments and went to throw our luggage down. The hotel is the best because we live in your basic hotel room with 3 people and a bathroom AND they treat us the same as every guest by changing our sheets and towels and cleaning up every day. It’s pretty nice. The hotel also has the best location because it is in the oldest district of Rome and we are literally 50 yards from Campo de’ Fiori and a 5 minute walk from the Pantheon.

Then the studio we basically live and work in is just 5 minutes away from the hotel, right by the Pantheon, and it is a renovated 16^th century palazzo that has been converted into a studio, lounge, administration area, computer lab, lecture hall, library, seminar room, kitchen, etc. All the basic stuff we need to do actual schoolwork while in Rome.

So we got into Rome on Thursday and the next day we had meetings and introductions and things, but Saturday we jumped out of bed and did Rome in a day basically. Some of the arkies and I walked all over Rome taking pictures and getting to know the city. On our way toward the Colosseum, we stopped at the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II in downtown Rome. Victor Emmanuel was the first king of unified Italy, and inside the building is the museum of the reunification of Italy. The museum was really fascinating because it had all the paintings, objects, busts, statues, etc from the reunification of Italy in the 19^th century. The building itself was probably the best part because it was built into the Capitoline Hill, made of pure marble, and it had amazing stairways, large Corinthian columns, and a some amazing sculptures on top. The views from the top of the building were also great because you could see the old district of Rome which included all the Forums, the Colosseum, etc. The picture at the top of the blog was taken from the top of the Monument that first day.

Then as we continued walking toward the Colosseum past all the Forums, in true Roman fashion, we kind of stumbled upon the Piazza del Campidoglio (that's me walking up the stairs on the left) which is the Piazza designed by Michelangelo for the Roman city hall. I actually did a project on the windows of the Palazzi around the Campidoglio freshman year at Notre Dame so getting to see the Palazzi in person was pretty great. To get up to the Piazza you have to walk up a series of elongated, slightly sloped steps called “Concordata” and at the top of the steps the three buildings designed by Michelangelo form a trapezoidal shaped piazza.

Finally, our group got to the Colosseum and on the walk there we honestly saw AT LEAST 8 wedding parties taking pictures at the various monuments, forums, triumphal arch, etc. I guess getting married in Rome goes hand in hand with dragging your entire wedding party around the city to take pictures in front of everything. Anyway, we finally got to the Colosseum and it was great to be one of the thousands of tourists checking out the amazing structure that has been a part of Rome for centuries.

The next day was Sunday and we had a sort of mass and Notre Dame dinner/dessert kind of party and the administration got us this amazing Roman pizza and drinks.

Faculty

So to best explain my experience with classes this semester, I would like to show you some pictures of (from left to right) the head administrator of the program, Aida della Longa, the History of Architecture professor, Ingrid Rowland, my studio and Urbanism in Rome professor, Ettore Maria Mazzola, and another studio professor, Lucien Steil.

Now you know how great it is to be around these amazing people. While being some of the most knowledgable, successful, and interesting people I have ever met, they are truly the most down to earth faculty imaginable. I am very lucky to be spending a year with them. On the left, Aida della Longa is the head administrator of the program, and, besides being a Roman and helping us with our Italian and school needs, she is one of the most patient, nice woman I have ever met. She really runs the program with a loose grip and treats us like adults in Italy, but can be stern when needed. Then second from left is Ingrid Rowland. Make sure to read about her amazing background below and read about the Lampradotto story in the Florence section (she is the best!). Then third from the left is Ettore Mazzola who you will soon read all about because is possible my favorite professor of all time, I have him for three classes, and his already given me some great memories from Rome. Then on the right is Lucien Steil. He is one of the three studio professors (Ettore is another and Fabio Pauloetti is the third), he is from Luxembourg, and he is one of the most cultured, fun, and interesting professors I have ever met. He really brings a different charm and personality to the program, and I don't know what it would be like without having him around. Probably, way less interesting.

Classes

Monday was the first day of classes and I immediately found out how much I LOVE taking classes in Rome. The first class on have on Monday mornings is History of Roman Architecture with Ingrid Rowland. Ingrid Rowland is basically a walking, talking encyclopedia of Mediterranean art and architecture. She is an amazing professor and person who knows everything there is to know on the topics of Italian (especially Etruscan) art and architecture history. She is the daughter of a noble prize winner, and she has written a ton of books on different subjects related to classical art and architecture.

In the afternoon, on Monday and Thursday, we have studio class which is a 5 hour class that basically is where we do all our designing, drafting, and architectural work. My professor is Ettore Mazzola (that is a picture of him goofing around with my friend Sam) who is a renowned architect in Rome, owns and operates his own firm, and is a prominent writer on Urbanism in Rome (I'm actally reading one of his books right now). He studied and lives in Rome and basically knows everything about the Urbanism in Rome and the typical construction methods in Roman Architecture. Ettore is probably my favorite professor because he is the most knowledgeable, personable, and overall great professor in the program here. His passion and excellence in architecture has helped me learn from him, and he has helped me learn and appreciate all the architecture and urbanism of Roman Architecture. Here’s a short anecdote that describes how amazing Ettore is: During the first class, he started the class by talking all about the syllabus and the curriculum and just reading off the information about studio. Then, after realizing that we were all sitting there wondering if our new professor for 10 hours a week was going to be a boring, tough professor, he looked up and smiled saying, “Anyway, we will have fun this semester too. And don’t call me Professor Mazzola, my name is Ettore and I want you to call me Ettore.” We all started laughing, and Ettore immediately changed his disposition and presented the thesis that he did when he was studying architecture all about the urbanism of Rome.

Wednesday morning I have Drawing class with Richard Piccolo. This third year in Rome is centered on the architecture and design aspects of Rome and its architecture, so to fully appreciate the architecture of the city (and to increase our drawing skills) we have this drawing class. The class consists of drawing different buildings throughout Rome in perspective, analytique, and analysis drawings. Each week we have an in-class drawing and an out-of-class drawing, and so far we have drawn some amazing buildings around Rome, including the Pantheon and the Tempietto.

Wednesday afternoon I have Theology class with Monsignor Wells. The Theology class in Rome is pretty special because we are in the Catholic capital of the world and are able to actually visit, tour, and learn about religious buildings that we learn about. It is a really special class.

Thursday morning I have Urbanism with Ettore Mazzola again. It is great to have Ettore for a second class because I feel like I can learn so much from him during the course of the year. He tends to walk us around the city during this class, but instead of walking, in order to save time, he does a combination of speed walking and sprinting that forces the entire class to try to keep up. He is truly an Italian as he cuts across streets, walks through crowds, and halts traffic so we can cross.

Tuesday, Fridays, and the Weekends are pretty amazing. I don’t have class on any of these days, so Monday, Thursday-Saturday nights my roommate and I tend to check out Rome after dark. To the right is a picture of Saint Peters afterdark, which conincidentaly has the BEST gelato place anywhere. The gelateria is called Old Bridge, and they give you gelato the size of your head for 3 euros. It's Amazing! The nightlife here is also amazing because no matter what day it is the entire city is alive. Even on Sunday nights the bars and clubs are all packed, people are hanging out in the piazzas, Italian eat their late dinners, and the streets are just crowded with people. It is something special to live in such a cultural, active city.

Roma Soccer Game

The first Tuesday we were in Rome there was a Roma vs. CLR Cluj (Romania) match in the UEFA Champions League soccer. We found a ticket booth that sold 15 euro tickets, so my friends and I immediately jumped on the opportunity to see a game. The match was in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, which is an 81,000 person stadium that hosted the 1960 Olympics. Let’s just say that the experience was definitely worth staying up late on a Tuesday night. The passion for the Roma team was AMAZING. The entire crowd of around 50,000 Romans was yelling, singing, clapping, cheering, and booing every little part of the game. We were just grateful to be a part of all the action and amazing activities that were going on around us. The players themselves were amazing, but it turned out that Roma lost to this Romanian team 2-1 and it was one of the biggest upsets in the recent Champions League history. Even Totti, one of Roma most beloved players, made a dramatic entrance into the game during the second half to try to spark the team, but they still fell to the Romanians. On a side note, this was also our first experience with riding the bus in Rome. We asked the hotel front desk guy the best way to get to the stadium and he told us to take the bus from the station near our hotel. Once on the bus we punched our 1 euro ticket and basically followed all the Roma jerseys to the game. However, after a few minutes on the bus we realized that absolutely NO OTHER ITALIAN punched their bus ticket. It seems that the bus system in Italy is somewhat flawed in that they expect you to punch your 1 euro bus ticket, but they never actually check so no Italians use the tickets. So while all the Italians were riding the bus for free, we actually punched the ticket on the way to the game but on the way back we decided to act Italian and simply take the free ride.

Friday Day Trip 1

Since the entire school has no Friday classes, the administration plans Friday day trips that happen on most of the Fridays. The first Friday trip was to Viterbo, Italy where we were to see the town, sketch the piazzas, and just get out and see small town Italy. The trip would’ve been completely laid back and fun except for the fact that it was raining the ENTIRE day and we still got a tour of the city and decided to sketch under a loggia so we wouldn’t get our drawings soaked. The town was really quaint and interesting, but the best part of the day was on the bus ride home we stopped in another small Italian town to see the Duomo, large basilica, that was strategically placed on the pilgrimage route to Rome. Once inside the basilica we toured the building and then the groundskeeper talked to our professors and decided to take us into the Sacristy of the Basilica. Inside the Sacristy were a bunch of amazing frescoes and artwork from the 6^th century, and THEN the groundskeeper went into a cabinet inside the Sacristy and pulled out a parchment with the Pope seal from the 3^rd century! He even handled it with his hands like it was no big deal. It was pretty amazing.

Umbria/ Tuscany, Week Trip 1

From September 26^th - October 3^rd the entire class went on a weeklong trip to Umbria and Tuscany, the two regions in the northern part of Italy. The trip lasted 8 days, including the weekends, and we went to Orvieto, Citta di Castello, Perugia, Montepulciano, Arezzo, Siena, and Florence.

Orvieto

So the first day was kind of crazy, as we woke up at 6am, packed, and all piled on a huge tour bus that would be our home for the next 8 days. We arrived in Orvieto, Italy and, realizing that this was a small town in northern Italy, wondered what exactly we would be touring. As we took the inclined railway up the steep slope of the hill, similar to the one in Pittsburgh, we started wondering to the main piazza of the town and we ran right into the ENORMOUS Duomo. It turned out that the Duomo in Orvieto was an amazing basilica built out of travertine and housing an amazing collection of frescoes and murals that were great to see. The Duomo sat overlooking the town, which turned out to have some amazing urban spaces and a very religious setting. The other great aspect of Orvieto was the amazing views that were available from the city walls. The view of the Tuscan countryside was fantastic. Seeing all the vineyards, coutry villas, and everything Tuscan really makes you just want to stay. Even the underground of the city was pretty spectacular because the Etruscans foundations of the city were about 10 meters below the surface, so the restaurant we ate for lunch was carved into the caverns below. What a great lunch!

Citta di Castello

That same night we boarded the bus and took the 1.5 hour ride to Citta di Castello where we stayed in a very nice 4 star hotel. It didn’t take much to realize that since we were traveling around the country with our professors and some of the administration that we would be staying in very nice hotels with all the amenities, including free continental breakfast every morning. However, Citta di Castello was like a ghost town. On a FRIDAY NIGHT, we may have seen about 50 people walking around the entire town. For entertainment, we walked from one side of the city to the other side of the city, touching the city walls as we went. Pretty boring, and we stayed here for the next two nights. We actually met a really nice girl from the town on the first night, and we immediately asked her why the town was so quiet on a Friday night. Her response was priceless: “Have you seen 28 Days Later? Monday nights, it’s like that.” And we immediately understood that she was trying to say that the town is even quieter on Monday nights, much like the 28 Days Later where zombies take over a small town and kill all the townspeople.

Perugia

After leaving Citta di Castello in the morning, we drove to Perugia which is the capital of Umbria, a northern region in Italy. The town is pretty amazing because it has had Umbrian, Etruscan, and Italian settlements since 3^rd century BC. We got to tour with Ingrid Rowland, which made it extra special because she is probably the most notable Etruscan scholar in the world; she is probably one of only a handful of people in the world who can speak and read Etruscan. So we learned all about the Umbrian and Etruscan roots of the city, and even got to do a drawing assignment of the Piazza Maggiore in the heart of the city (There is the picture of me drawing up top, and the Piazza Maggiore that I was drawing is below) A HUGE side note, and an ongoing joke with Ingrid, is the hairstyles of the teenagers in Perugia. As we walked around the city the hairstyles of some of the young students was HILARIOUS. They had more Mohawk, hair styled, shaved writing, long locks, ponytail, spiked hair, etc combinations than you could possibly imagine. It was great. Another amazing side note was that I got to try Perugia Chocolate while in the capital city. Perugian chocolate is famous for how rich and creamy it is, so our Professor Rowland decided to make sure to have us stop in a café and get a famous Perugian Hot Chocolate. Oh, it was unbelievable.

Gubbio

Another early Etruscan settlement from early BC centuries, Gubbio was a town situated on the side of mountain. The town itself was a marvel of urban design while taking into account the topography and drastic change in height. We did a detailed section of the town cutting through the mountain and the major piazza and palazzi. There was also a massive Palazzo dei Consoli that had a museum and was a marvel of construction on the hillside. Also, we got some great pictures from on top the mountain.

Montepulciano

Next up we went to Montepulciano, another hillside town, and the fortifications and outer walls of the city were immediately noticeable as we pulled up. Montepulciano was more a climb than a walk during the tour, but we soon found out that besides the number of small, beautiful churches in Montepulciano (one pictured to the right) that Montepulciano wine is famous around northern Italy and we immediately decided that we had to find “Vino Nobile” or the nobel wine that was made famous in Montepulciano. So after the tours ended around lunch time, the professors and students alike heading out to the various enoteca, or wine bars, in the city to taste test and possibly purchase bottles of the Vino Nobile. While some students chose to buy high priced quantities of Vino Nobile to send home, I simply taste tested the wine until I had tried every taste and type of wine available. I have to say that so far Vino Nobile, 2002 (Aged 6 years), Red wine, Blue Label was by far the best (I feel like such a wine connoisseur).

Siena

So for the next two days the group headed over to Siena, which is one of my favorite cities when I had visited Italy with the family 6 years ago. The city planning and urban design that Siena implemented is astounding. All the professors made sure to remind us that the Piazza Grande, with the tall Campanile, tower, and Palazzo Comunale, was probably the best example of urban space in all of Italy. So to make sure I fully soaked in the amazing design of the piazza, I actually took a short nap on the Piazza Grande during our lunch break.

As we toured the maze of Siena and took in the sights of one of the greatest cities from Italian history, Siena was second to Florence as a major banking city, we got to see some of the Palazzi and the Duomo that are particularly amazing. The Duomo in Siena is possibly one of the most amazing collections of Renaissance art, design, furniture design, frescoes, and sculptures that I have ever seen. Almost the entire basilica was a maze of roped off exhibits featuring amazing art and design from the Renaissance period.

Florence

Then for the next two days we were in Florence, which was basically the couple days EVERYONE was waiting for on the trip. After being to Florence the first time, the second time is even more special as you get to appreciate the art and architecture that much more. We got to see the Duomo, the Baptistry, and the Palazzo della Signoria with the clock tower. Each and every basilica and palazzo that we toured had just an overwhelming collection of Renaissance art. I can’t even begin to explain the beautiful piece of artwork, sculpture, and interior design that the most famous Renaissance paintings and architects worked on. Florence was just such a special city. We even met some architecture students from Gonzaga and they had nothing but amazing stories and advice for us on what to do and see around the city.

A GREAT story from the trip to Florence was while we were touring the Palazzo della Signoria and Professor Ingrid Rowland had mentioned during the walk through the building that Lampradotto was a delicacy in Florence and they didn't eat it anywhere else in the world. Immediately my roommates and I were intrigued. So we asked Ingrid exactly what Lampradotto was and she immediately answered that Lampradotto was the excess meat of the cow, basically the meat that is not eaten when the cow is butchered because it is part of the fourth stomach of the cow. The entire class was pretty disgusted, but the three of us thought, "When in Florence...". So after the tour we went up to Ingrid and asked her if she could show us a Lampradotto place where we could get the Florence specialty. She immediately said, "I know a great Lampradotto stand, follow me. So we followed her through the backstreets of Florence to this little stand sitting in the middle of street, and sure enough the first thing on the menu was Lampradotto. We thanked her for directing us to the stand until she interrupted by saying, "I'm really glad you guys mentioned getting Lampradotto. I don't think I've had it in years, so I think I'll join you." What a surprise! Anyway, Lampradotto really wasn't that bad. They actually smother the meat in hot sauce, salt, pepper, all types of seasonings, onions, etc to mask the taste a bit, so it was pretty flavorful. So while I had Lampradotto for the first and possibly the last time in my life, I got to enjoy it with my two friends and one of the greatest professors Italian history has ever seen.

The only sad part of the city of Florence was that our itinerary did not include time to go up in Brunelleschi’s dome, part of the Duomo, or to get into the Academia dell’Arte, the museum that houses the real David sculpture, so it looks like we just might have to make a weekend trip back.

Pienza

The trip ended at the same town of Pienza in northern Italy, which is the site of our final, month-long project for this semester. The city was originally built up by Pope Pius II who was a member of the Piccolomini family. He was born in the same town of Corsignano which was located here, and then when he decided to rebuilt the city he renamed it Pienza after himself and the Piccolomini family. So obviously we visited the Palazzo Piccolomini and the Duomo, which were situated on the hillside in amazing piazza that the town was centered around. Then we spent the entire afternoon sketching, measuring, and analyzing the town and the urban spaces of the city so that we could prepare for our project that would come toward the end of the semester.

Finally, getting back to Rome in the late hours of Friday night, we immediately tossed our luggage down and made ourselves our staple dinner of spaghetti with sausage and mashed potatoes- it felt good to be home.

Rome for Two Weeks in October

After returning to Rome from the weeklong trip, it was back to the normal grind as we immediately started work on our new architecture project, designing an urban revitalization master plan and a casa a schiera for a small part of Rome. The project centered on the Piazza dei Coronari which was a historical piazza along the Via dei Coronari, which was a pilgrimage route to St. Peters, but was drastically changed during the Fascist reign of Italy. The project turned out to be an amazing process of designing and incorporating our architecture designs into the larger urban space of Rome. Getting to know the typical urban architecture of Rome, and using metric, was especially challenging but once the project got underway it was an amazing experience.

One of the best memories from the span of two weeks during the project was that Ettore, my professor, had previously allowed our studio group to use AutoCAD, the typical computer drafting software, to draft our master plan and even our individual work and we needed to print off the designs onto the watercolor paper that we would eventually render for the final design. So to print off the designs on watercolor paper, my group member Taylor and I went to Ettore’s house to print the sheets. On the way over to Ettore’s, a past student of the Rome Studies Program, Andy, met us and walked with us to meet Ettore across the river. While we heard amazing stories from the year Andy was in Rome, we also discussed our appreciation and excitement to visit Ettore in his home. We both had known that Ettore had designed his own home, and we were lucky to be able to visit and use his equipment. But the visit turned out to be even better than expected. Immediately after meeting Ettore, he drove us to his house and walked us into his home. Right away he was showing us the finer details of his design and the overall layout of his home, and I was awestruck by the beauty and detail that he put into every nook and cranny of the home. The design was amazing and we continued to compliment him as we toured the home and then sat down to print our designs. Next thing we know his gracious wife is making us Italian coffee and later brought us cookies and limoncello, which is a sort of lemon flavored liquor that is typical in Rome. So great! Then after printing the sheets and thanking him profusely, we rode the bus back to studio and heard even more stories from Andy about how Ettore played soccer with the students among other things. So I decided then and there that Ettore definitely needs to play soccer with us in the near future, and my studio professor needs to stay the same for the entire year.

Ostia

Another great get-away from the two-week studio project was when one of our typical Friday day trips was canceled. Once we heard that the trip was canceled, a group of friends and I immediately looked at the weather and transportation to the beach town of Ostia. Now, I have never lived less than an hour away from a beach in my life, so to pay a 1 euro Metro ride to Ostia, with the ride taking 30 minutes, it was an amazing day. The beach was so picturesque, and since it was a 80 degree Friday in mid-October the beach was practically ours. We laid out, went swimming, ate lunch at the beach, and just frolicked in the open air for the entire day. It was perfect. Honestly, since it has "dropped" to the mid-60s in November we have already made plans to make the Friday Ostia trips a staple of the Spring Semester.

Friday Day Trip 2

The second Friday day trip consisted of visiting the small towns of Bagnaia and Caprarola in the province of Viterbo in northern Italy. The two towns were both fascinating in their separate ways. Bagnaia had one of the most beautiful gardens and villa settings that I’ve seen. The garden had signs everywhere that stated it was up for “Most beautiful garden in Rome 2009” and the beauty of the hedges, fountains, waterfalls, colonnades, and artwork definitely proved its worth. We toured the grounds and then sat to watercolor and sketch the picturesque landscape. Next we went to Caprarola, which is a smaller town that is more or less bare except for the MASSIVE Villa Farnese which was built by a Cardinal Farnese to be his country villa. The villa was amazing with grand spiral staircases, murals, and frescoes that filled the home. The villa was in the shape of a pentagon, so the architectural design took advantage of the poche spaces and odd shape of the villa to form a brilliant piece of architecture. Even the casino, essentially a storehouse and garden in the backyard, was amazing. When you can include beautiful statues, a flowing waterfall, hedge mazes, and funny fountain tricks in your small, little casino, then you know you have a place in Italian history.

Emilio Romagna/Veneto, Week Trip 2

So after working straight through October 20^th to 23^rd making sure that the urban revitalization and casa a schiera project turned out well, the next weeklong trip left on October 24^th. The trip was especially exciting for everyone because we would have plenty of free time and no homework to worry about since we had just finished our last project. The trip lasted for 8 days and the itinerary had Bologna, Mantova, Verona, Vicenza, and Venice all on the list.

Bologna

The first couple days were spent in Bologna, which is the capital of Emilio-Romagna region of Italy and the region is known for its food. That first morning we took a quick tour of the Piazza Maggiore, the main piazza which included the spectacular Sant’ Andrea and Duomo, and the colonnades of the city. The main architectural feature of Bologna was the massive expanses of colonnades that covered all the walkways of the city. The basic reason behind the expanses of colonnades is that Bologna is home to the oldest university in the world. So the residents of the city realized that with all the university students living in the city that they could easily build out their home, sitting on colonnades, and put apartments above that they could rent out to students. Then after touring these parts of the city, we were told that Bologna is famous for its tortellini pasta dish, so we immediately headed for the closest and most recommended tortellini restaurant. Let me tell you that in Bologna tortellini is the way to go. It was delicious! For the rest of the day we spent our spare time checking out the city’s urban design and sketching the various colonnades. That night however was a fun night in Bologna because we got to have a Pizza party with the students from the University of Bologna studying architectural engineering. The University of Bologna students are collaborating with us on the Pienza project, and one of our professors Fabio has a close relationship with the school so we got to meet all the students and enjoy a great pizza and wine filled dinner. The next day we toured more of the city, but on the third day we headed off to Mantova.

Mantova

We had a quick stop in Mantova on Sunday afternoon so we could see some of the work of Giulio Romano, a famous architect who studied under Raphael. Giulio Romano is famous for his work throughout Italy, but some of his most notable designs he did for himself in the form of his country villa, Palazzo del Te. The Palazzo del Te was a really exciting trip because we have learned all about the Palazzo in various history classes, and to see the changed he made to the orders really was a sight. Also, Giulio Romano had a number of frescoes and art displayed throughout the Palazzo, not to mention the secret garden in the backyard that gave the Palazzo an even greater quality. Oh and there was a park outside the Palazzo, so once our tour group was finished and we were waiting for the other group we decided to attempt to play soccer and ride tricycles with the kids playing in the park. However, we soon found out that speaking with children about playing on soccer teams and riding their tricycles just resulted in them yelling at us to go away. So we watched soccer instead.

Verona

That Sunday night we went to Verona, the city made famous by Romeo and Juliet, and instead of the quiet, small town I expected we happily came upon a bustling, amazing city that was full of life and Italian charm.

That night we wondered around the heart of the city in the Piazza Bra which happened to have this amazing festival going on. The festival basically consisted of my friends and me trying all different types of salami, watching the locals interact and bargain for stuff, and then purchasing the cheap, but well-known, white wine of Verona. Such a great find. The next day we formally toured the city, including the Piazza Bra, Piazza Erbe, and the Roman Arena. Each site had its own amazing story, including the fact that the Roman Arena was smaller, but more intact that the Colosseum. So Verona was an amazing surprise, even though some of the tourism comes from a fictional play. Seriously, the town has houses, balconies, and stories to try and keep Romeo and Juliet fans visiting the city.

Vicenza

Vicenza was the next city on the list, and the main reason we came to visit Vicenza was to see the work of Andrea Palladio, one of the most influential Italian architects. Vicenza was made famous by Palladio because he designed a number of buildings and Villas for the rich patrons of Venice. First, we saw the Teatro Olimpico, one of Palladio’s last designs before he died, and it was a marvel of theatre design. Palladio designed the entire theater to be acoustically and visually sound, down to the last angle. The stage was set up so that the views of the town were in an amazing perspective view that made you feel like you had the best seat in the house no matter where you were sitting. The theatre really was an architectural marvel. Next, we went to the Villa Barbaro where we had to put on booties over our shoes so that we wouldn’t mess up the marble floors of the Villa. The villa is actually still owned by a family, but we got to tour the centrally planned Villa that had an amazing setting on top of a hill in the countryside. Then, we hopped back on the bus and drove to the Villa Cornaro. The Villa Cornaro was one of my favorite buildings on the trip, and we got a personal tour from the owner of the household. She knew the entire history of the Cornaro family and all the small details of the house like the back of her hand. It really was great to get the special tour and hear all about the house and the family history. Finally, we reached the pinnacle of the Palladio tour as we drove to the Villa Rotonda. This Villa, designed by Palladio, is one of his most famous designs because of not only the architectural significance of the Villa but also the artistic and theatrical significance (the Villa has been depicted in Italian movies and historical plays). So we got to enjoy the Wednesday afternoon touring and sketching the Villa Rotonda.

Venice

Finally, after 6 days of traveling around northern Italy, the entire group was ready to get to Venice. We had to take the train from Vicenza because the only way to get to Venice is by boat or train, and we made it to the city by dinner time on Wednesday night. Getting to eat dinner and have free time in

Venice for the first night was PERFECT. It was great to finally relax and settle down, especially in such an amazing city. We wandered around the city checking out the Piazza San Marco and the Rialto bridge at night, and then by late Wednesday night we headed back to the hotel only to find that a party had broken out. Apparently, the hotel manager, Andy, decided to throw a small party for the 47 students who were taking over the entire hotel. He supplied the drinks, snacks, and music and the entire group of students ended up staying up late in the hotel enjoying our small get-together hosted by Andy. Then the next day we woke up early to tour the Piazza San Marco, including San Marco, the Campanile, and Palazzo Ducale, and then we toured the city including the Rialto Bridge and later the churches designed by Palladio, San Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore. The couple days spent in Venice was almost indescribable. We crossed countless bridges, got lost a bunch of times, got caught in a flood of Piazza San Marco, rode the Vaporetti, or boats, made friends with the locals, and even got a sampling of the local red wine. The city is truly spectacular not only for its scenic value, but the architectural and structural elements that make the city possible are truly one of a kind.

Back in Rome and Halloween

Now that I’ve been back in Rome for a couple days it has been great to settle back into the routine. We’ve already gotten back into cooking in the kitchen, going to class, and we’ve even started our Pienza project which will be due at the end of the semester. Halloween over the weekend was amazing. I dressed up like a lifeguard because it really was the best I could do in a few short hours after returning from the trip. Even more fun was Saturday night when our whole class decided to repeat Halloween and dress up like another person in architecture. So we each drew names out of a hat, dressed up like that person, and basically gave them a hard time the entire night. It really made for a night of fun and hilarious pictures, as we acted and posed like the other person. I have my midterms coming up this week, so I should probably head off to study. I will continue to write on the blog as much as possible as this amazing year continues, but I will never write much and will include a lot of pictures.

I’ll be back soon!

Ciao!