La Collina di Palatine di Foro Romana di Colosseo

Picking up where I left off, our group met on Saturday 7, March for our second day of orientation to the city at the Campidoglio. This is located at the top of the Capitoline Hill (one of the seven hills of Rome), and is designed by Michelangelo. The piazza is created by three buildings and the stairs that lead to them. The Capitoline Hill (or in English the Capitol Hill) was always a very strong political and governmental area of Rome.
Next, the school had bought us passes into both the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. The Forum is located in the valley between the Capitoline Hill and the Palatine Hill. The Forum was great, its really hard to imagine the scale to which the buildings were built. I tried to take pictures that had someone standing in them so it would be easier to understand the immense scale of the buildings. The Palatine Hill is where the emperors of Rome would have lived. It over looks both the Forum and the Circus Maximus. The hill top contains several gardens, a great view of the city, and the palace of the emperors. The palace seem to be a never ending. We would walk, and we would think ok we have seen a lot of the palace this has to be the end. Then we would turn and walk further, and there would be more palace to talk about. Everyone was so tired after this day because we had either been standing or walking for about seven hours. As the day came to a close we were all very excited to have the next day to ourselves, then we were told that our passes for the Forum and the Palatine was also good for the Coliseum. The only catch to that was that we had to go to the Coliseum the next day, since the the passes were only good for two day. I bet you can guess what we did on Sunday!
So Sunday, 8 March we did go to the Coliseum. I really enjoyed being in the space created by the walls of the Coliseum. Because the walls completely surround you it gives your a feeling of almost being held. It was the first time since being in Rome that it was easy for me to really see the building and not the building and everything around it. Also, it was the first time that we were able to occupy the space created by a building or structure, and it never fails that were you want to stand to be able to really feel the space you can't. For example, as much as I enjoyed being in the Coliseum and feeling the space it allowed me to, I still wanted to stand directly in the middle so that I could completely feel the grandeur of the space as a whole. We were able to walk up to a upper level of the Coliseum, and feel what it would have been like to sit in that space as a middle class Roman. Next we were able to occupy the space that senators and the emperors would have been, and see the difference between them and the middle class Romans. We were able to walk under the large barrel vaults and arches that supported the structure, and we also walked up the stairs that Romans would have walked. The only space we could not occupy was the center, or what it would have felt like to be a gladiator in the games. Slightly disappointing, but still a very impressive structure.

scuse scuse

Sorry it has been so long since I last blogged. The past week has been really busy, and a period of adjustment for me. I had planned on blogging at the end of each day, but I have realized that is not going to happen much. See I get home, eat dinner, and then fall into a food coma. So my new plan is to blog in the mornings before I start my new day. Ok, I know some of you are sitting there saying...."Nicole blog in the morning before going about her new day? I didn't think Nicole got up early.".... Well it seems that being here has made me a morning person. For the first six days I did not sleep longer than 6 hours a night. This was not by choice, but rather my body not allowing me to sleep. Needless to say, I was getting pretty upset by the fourth night of not sleeping at least 8 hours, but I am please to say that I have been sleeping longer and better the past few nights. Ok so now that everyone understands, maybe, why I have not blogged in oh about a week now, I promising that I will make a better attempt in the future.

Picture: Group Photo on the Spanish Steps...Can you find me?

il giorno corso di orientazione un

Today was our first day of classes. We walked from our apartment to studio this morning. It was a beautiful morning, cool and cloudy, but comfortable. The walk took about 25 minutes which is nice. We plan to walk everyday, except for those days that it is raining. On those days we will ride the tram into the city center.

This being our first day, we had a full day of orientation. We first met at the Rome Center (studio), then went on a walking tour of the surrounding area. The tour consisted of the Piazza Navona, Sant'Agnese Church, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (The Four Rivers Fountain), Church of Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza, The Pantheon, Church of Sant' Ignatius.

Piazza Navona, is a very large piazza that has been built upon the foundation ruins of a stadium that once stood there. The stadium was used for charratte games and other athletic events during the Roman Antiquity. Also, located in this piazza is Sant' Agnese Church and The Four Rivers Fountian.

Sant' Agnese Church is a church built by Borromini during the Baroque period. Inside you will find very eleborate marble and decorations. The Four Rivers Fountain was built by Bernini, who is a rival of Borromini. The foutain depicts the four great rivers know to the world at this time and the county in which they are located. The Nile River represent Africa, the Danube represents Europe, the Plata represents South America, and the Ganges represents Asia.

The Church of Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza is where the first university in Rome was located. It has since moved to another part of the city, but remains the largest univeristy in Rome. This is an unusual building because of the experimentation with convex and concave curves. This church was also built by Borromini, and the exterior and interior designs do not relate at all.

The Pantheon was fantastic to see, since we had been studying it in Auburn. The scale of the entire building is just unbelieveable, please look closely in the pictures to the size of the building in comparison to people. This was rebuilt by Hadrian, and incorporates the use of concrete. The oculus at the top acts as a natural sundial, and projects light around the building at different times of the day.

Lastly we looked at the Church of Sant' Ignatius and the piazza in front of it. This church is absolutely crazy. There is a rediculus perspectival painting on the barrel vault, and the dome of the church is another perspectival painting, and instead of an actual dome is a flat ceiling.

We ate lunch at a place close to the Pantheon, I had pizza and it was great. After lunch we met back at the Rome Center. At this point we were given keys to the studio places along with a tour. After our first day of classes came to a close, we found ourselves asking many questions before returning to our apartments.

















Pictures: a) Piazza Navona and Sant' Agnese b) The Four Rivers Foutain (Danube River) c) Sant' Ivo d) Looking back at the entrance to Sant' Ivo e) Pediment of The Pantheon f) The Pantheon g) Oculus Sundial h) Scale Figure i) Amy, Katie, Ashley, Me inside The Pantheon j) Sant' Ignatius k) Interior Altar l) Interior Barrel Vault with Perspectival Painting m) Painted Dome n) This last one is for my Grandmas, because if they live in Roma this is whats I imagine they would look like.

gli arrivi

My adventure began early Wednesday, March 4th.I left for the Atlanta airport at 7 am central time. There were three legs to my trip, the first being a flight from Atlanta to Detroit, the second being a flight from Detroit to Amsterdam, and the third being a flight from Amsterdam to Roma.

As I left Atlanta I was very excited to be beginning my adventure to Roma. As we began landing in Detroit, I was very disappointed with what I saw out the window. From the plane you could see the vast urban sprawl, the flat terrain, and brown grass. The city seemed as it lacked
life.

We did not stay long in Detroit, only about 90 minutes. We soon boarded a huge plane to fly across the Atlantic. This is when I felt my trip was becoming more real than an idea. I had never flown across a vast body of water, nor to another country. The flight was long, almost 8 hours, but I watched a couple of movies slept a little. Amy and I had the middle four seats to ourselves so we were able to stretch out a bit, which was very nice. When we landed in Amsterdam, we had a longer layover of 5 hours. The airport in Amsterdam is the largest airport I have ever seen. It took us about 15 minutes to taxi until the gate at the terminal. I did not understand why until we got off the plane. Once in the terminal, I realized the size of the airport. To give you an ideal, terminal D had gates 1-97, and that was only one terminal.The layover gave us time to explore the airport, which seemed more like a mall than an airport, and rest a bit. Most of us took naps while we waited at our terminal. I was disappointed with Amsterdam, mostly because of the time of year Im told, it was very foggy the entire time we were there. We could barely see the building past the airport from the terminal. As we flew out, some of the cloud and fog did break long enough for me to see a vast land of green meadows. The vibrant green grass gave the feeling of life, and made want to return to this place someday.

The flight from Amsterdam to Roma was only about 2 hours long, but seemed much shorter than that. I slept the whole way, but made sure to wake up for the snack. You have to take advantage of the free food options. As we began our desent into Roma, I could see the bright green grass and the togographical changes from my small window. I knew that Roma would be full of life, and that I would grow to love the place I would call home for the next two months.

Pictures: a) The group at the terminal in Atlanta b) Amy reading her Italian Phrase Book on the plane from Detroit to Amsterdam c) Alan and Jonathan talking in the Amsterdam Airport