I finally have time to blog!
On Monday, we went to the Vatican, which was quite the adventure. We got there at about 2 and realized that the line was REALLY REALLY long.
We started by waiting in line, but then Lisa took us out of line and brought us into the "reservations" line...even though we didn't technically have a reservation. We all got inside, but the guards stopped Lisa and took her aside. We waited for about 20 minutes, anticipating getting deported from the Vatican, but all turned out well when Lisa turned up with tickets and headsets for us all! I think the Vatican on Monday was probably the most crowded museum I have ever been in. We looked at the Renaissance and Baroque painting gallery, the sculpture gallery, the hall of maps, the tapestry gallery, and eventually the Sistine Chapel! The hall of maps was very cool, with huge depictions of different areas of Italy at different points in time. It was impossible, given the crowds, to stay together as a group, but Lisa kept in touch with us via our headsets to give us interesting things to look at. The Sistine Chapel itself, while very cool, was not quite (in my opinion) all that it was hyped up to be. That is probably because of all the people; if we had been there by ourselves, and it had been completely silent, maybe I would have felt the awe that I should. Regardless, it was very beautiful, but I was glad to get out at the end.
I find it funny that the Swiss Guards still wear their original heinous uniforms, even if they have lots of modern weapons at hand if they are needed. I feel a sense of pride when I heard the presentation about them; even though I'm only a little Swiss, it's still part of my heritage. Supposedly they tend to marry tourists.After the Vatican, Kristin, Sarah, and I got gelato at Old Bridge Gelateria near the Vatican (we'd heard that it was good). It was very cheap and they gave us three flavors - blueberry yogurt, coffee, and chocolate for me - which were all great! Not worth traveling all the way to the Vatican on a whim for, though. In the evening, we watched a documentary called "L'Orchestre di Piazza Vittoria" about the formation of an international orchestra in the immigrant neighborhood of Rome. Very cool, considering my musical background.
Tuesday was a laid-back day. It was St. Peter and Paul day, so most of the shops and markets were closed. We had one class in the morning, but the rest of the day we just hung around doing homework and reading. We took a study break in the afternoon to check out a gelato place near our apartment.
Oh, and on Tuesday, the plumber came and fixed our problem with the kitchen bathroom! Hooray!
Wednesday, we spent the morning at the market at Piazza Vittorio (the immigrant neighborhood). While they did have clothing and shoes, what we really were interested in was the food! SO MANY different kinds of fruits and vegetables, some of which I had never seen before (spiky zucchini-like veggies, and huge baseball-bat-sized lime green squash things)! The fish-sellers displayed all their wares with heads, including octopi and eels and other things I didn't know what they were. We got rice, couscous, lentils, coconut milk, eggplants, zucchini, potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, parsley, peaches, tomatoes, and dish detergent (I think that was it...) and all of it cost us probably about 20 euros - SO CHEAP. We had to haul it all back with us, but it was totally worth it! On the way back to our apartment, we stopped at a travel agent and bought train tickets to Florence for this weekend. We're going for the day on Saturday. We checked into reservations to see Michelangelo's David, but they're all full, so we may or may not see the icon of Firenze, depending on the line.In the afternoon, we stopped for gelato on the way to art history class (pineapple and strawberry from the caffe near our apartment) and then I was ready to give my presentation! It was very hot and sunny, but not unbearable, and the class managed to sit in the shade on the steps of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill while I gave my presentation (the written paper will be posted here in a few days). All in all, it went very well! I think I talked for about the right amount of time and covered everything that I had intended to.
After my presentation, we went into the Capitoline Museums, which house ancient Greek and Roman art, including the famed Capitoline She-Wolf, the original Marcus Aurelius bronze statue, and the HUGE head and hand of Constantine. In my opinion, these ancient statues are a lot more interesting than the paintings of the Renaissance and the Baroque. I feel like I could have spent more time there, but in any case we went through it fairly quickly. The rooms full of ancient busts were very cool. In addition, the Palazzo Senatorio is built on the ruins of the ancient Tabularium, or record-keeping building for the Romans, which overlooks the Roman Forum. We were able to go down to the Tabularium, and the view of the Forum is gorgeous! You get a much better perspective of the ruins from up on the hill above it.
After the museum, it was getting late, so we booked it over to the Castel Sant'Angelo, near the Vatican. On the way, Lisa brought us to her favorite gelateria and bought us all gelato! Artisan flavors, probably the best gelato so far! We all want to go back because we want to try all the flavors. Unfortunately, when we got to the Castel Sant'Angelo it had just closed, so we couldn't go up into it. However, we still heard a presentation about it before heading back home.Today, we had two classes. The most exciting thing today was that I tried a new pastry from Forno in the Campo de' Fiori, with ricotta and orange (VERY good! I'll have to try more of their pastries). No gelato today, to compensate for the two gelatos yesterday.
We have completed over halfway of our time in Rome!
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