Outside the Walls...

It’s been an adventure-packed week and a half since I last posted on here, and I’ve since ventured out of the city walls twice—a field trip to Ostia Antica and a weekend excursion to Viterbo.

Having finished two weeks of classes, I’ve adjusted to my daily routine and I really feel like I am living in Rome, not just visiting.  I am now friends with Florin, our barista at our favorite café, I know the shortcuts to our studio building without getting too lost and how to cross the streets (eek!), I can order pizza or gelato in Italian, and I figured out which 2 euro bottles of wine are the best.  I wouldn’t call myself a Pro-talian yet, but I’m getting there...ha!

Last Friday we took a field trip to Ostia Antica, the ancient port town outside of Rome.  Though much of the place appeared to be ‘just some more ruins’, with the help of Allan’s explanations and maps, we were able to understand what we were looking at (i.e., ancient bathrooms), and we lucked out with another perfectly sunny day.

On Saturday, I caught a train out of Rome with three friends—Eric, Dan, and Marissa—and headed for Viterbo, a small Medieval town that is still almost entirely enclosed by its massive defensive walls, and Civita di Bangnoregio, an almost-abandoned town built into/ontop of a mountain.  Once we arrived in Viterbo after a two-hour train ride from Rome, we realized that none of us had written down the name or address of our hotel…but we set off to find it anyways.  With the help of free wifi from a local bookstore and Marissa’s iTouch, we found our hotel, where we were able to get some directions to our real destination: Civita di Bangnoregio.  After some confusion at the bus station, we got on a bus and, despite our complete uncertainty, made it to Bagnoregio (insert ‘woohoo!’ here). 

The small town of Bagnoregio that lead to the Civita felt deserted, and we wandered around the streets, finding our way through winding alleyways that lead to magnificent views of the surrounding valley and mountains.  At the end of Bagnoregio, the Civita immerged in the distance, and we realized we had only an hour before the last bus would leave Bagnoregio—our only way back.   Feeling the pressure of being potentially stranded, we kept our eyes on the time and hiked up to the Civita. 

Over the last 800 years, Civita, which was founded by the Etruscans in 400 BC, has experienced major erosion around the outer edges of the town, turning it into an island that is only reachable by a long pedestrian path.  Because of its relative isolation from civilization, the architecture of Civita has remained more or less untouched for hundreds of years.  With almost no fellow-tourists in sight, it really felt like we had traveled back in time to a miniature Medieval town filled with amazing smells, herds of cats, and unusual architecture.  Thankfully, we made it back to Bagnoregio in time to catch the bus to Viterbo where we celebrated our successful adventure over a huge dinner and some bottles of wine. 

Last night, Marissa and I booked our spring break! Instead of going on the class field trip to Northern Italy in March,  I am going to spend a week in Capri participating in a design workshop with international architecture graduate students.  Marissa will then meet me in Naples and we’ll head off to the Amalfi Coast—Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, and everywhere between…

Allan showing us to use the ancient toilets

A statue at Ostia Antica

Mosaics at the baths at Ostia Antica

Remains of a tomb at Ostia Antica

Eric in Bagnoregio

Civita di Bagnoregio in the distance

Civita di Bagnoregio

This house fell off the cliffs, leaving just the facade

Street in the Civita

Ancient Civita oil mill, carved into the mountain

You talkin' to me?

Feeling Roman

“Tre cappuccini?”

The barista at the café just down the block from our apartment already knows our order. 

Starting each day with a cappuccino (and nutella-stuffed croissant) with my roommates, Liz and Marissa, is one of my most favorite parts of Roman life.  I’ve become more addicted to the buzz I get from the overwhelmingly cheerful atmosphere of the café than from the actual caffeine.

The first week of classes was a success. Mondays and Thursdays are packed with class hours for me, but the long hours of free time between classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (and no class on most Fridays!) makes up for it.  In just one week I’ve already learned so much about this city, but I’ve also realized how much I really don’t know about European history. 

Our cartography class, taught by Allan Ceen, a map wizard who can tell you anything about everything in Rome, consists of weekly walks along ancient paths through the city.  This week, we retraced the Via Aurelia Vetus, a road that used to run straight from the Tiber River to the top of Janiculum Hill, one of the tallest hills in Rome, learning about the churches, piazzas, and sites along the way.  The walk ended at a park that overlooks the city where everyday a cannon is fired at noon, a tradition that began as a Pope’s attempt to get all of the bell towers on the same schedule.

On Friday, we took a field trip to Villa Adriana, Hadrian’s Villa, located in Tivoli, about 30 minutes outside of the city.  Once a retreat for Hadrian and thousands of his bureaucracy ‘friends’, the enormous Villa complex was made up of a series of connecting buildings and courtyards, most of which were designed by Hadrian himself.  The blend of styles and building techniques implies that Hadrian was greatly influenced by the architecture he saw in countries he visited during his reign. While some of the excavated buildings had been reconstructed, it was amazing to see how much was still standing after almost 2000 years.

Aside from cappuccino breakfasts and classes, I booked a trip to Viareggio, Italy with some of my friends to see the Carnivale parades and celebrations in February, and I look forward to planning more weekend trips and booking my spring break travels…any suggestions? I want to see it all!

Church of St. Agatha...her breasts that were removed
 as punishment appear in the  capital decoration

A fountain on our cartography walk

Preserved mosaic floor at Hadrian's Villa

Maritime Theater at Hadrian's Villa

Hadrian's thermal bath ruins

Caryatid statues

Hadrian's Canopo from 'behind'

View from overlook tower

Statue of Venus and ceiling remains at the Villa

Marissa in a recently-excavated ancient tunnel

Ciao, Roma!

After ten days of trekking through Rome, I've decided to stop putting off this blog and actually post something before I give up on starting a semester-abroad-blog all together.  So here it is: my first post (of hopefully many).

The adventures began the minute we set foot in Rome...after taking the train from the airport to Trastevere we asked someone at the station about taking a metro to our housing address and were advised to "Walk straight. You don't need a metro."  With huge bags on our back and rolling a fifty-pound suitcase each, we optimistically set off on the cobblestone streets...Two miles of walking later we arrived at our apartment (and decided we'd never take advice from the train station lady again). 

The apartment, which houses Penn State Architecture girls on the first floor, the boys on the second, and students from Woodbury on the third, has a large courtyard with clementine and lemon trees and a terrace looking over it where we've already spent many afternoons lounging in the sun with wine.  Our neighborhood, Trastevere, is just over the Tiber from the central part of Rome where our studio is located--a nice break from the bustling streets and piazzas of the city and a greater locals-to-tourists ratio. The streets are filled with small shops, cafes, bakeries, pizzerias, and markets selling fresh fruit and vegetables.

Last week, instead of starting classes, our Italian teachers led us on mini orientations around Rome, showing us how to get around on public transportation and giving us basic tips on Italian culture and life in Rome. We had plenty of time each day to explore the city on our own and so I have spent most afternoons and evenings walking for hours through winding streets and stumbling into famous buildings and monuments. To top it off, the weather has been perfect: sunny and in the mid-50's every day.

My favorite moments so far have been the ones you don't see coming...like arriving in Rome on Epiphany (Italian Christmas) and finding piazzas packed with festivals and markets, turning a corner and unsuspectingly seeing the Pantheon for the first time, catching the sunset from the top of a hill overlooking Rome, bumping into the Chinese New Year parade and celebration in Piazza del Popolo...the list goes on.  I am slowly learning to navigate the labyrinth of streets, but being lost in this city is almost more fun than knowing exactly where you are. 

While I've enjoyed our luxurious week of wandering around Rome with no real agenda, I am looking forward to starting classes (studio, architectural analysis, cartography, Italian language, and 'masters and monuments') this week. Stay tuned for 5 more months of  adventures...

On the way to our apartment

Statue in Villa Borghese

The Pantheon (our classrooms' next door neighbor)

Chinese New Year Parade in Piazza del Popolo

Top of the Trevi Fountain

Rome at sunset