We headed out early on Wednesday morning with a visit to the Roman mosque, just outside of the city. We had to take a train to get there, but we had some issues. We kept riding back and forth around the stop we wanted, each time realizing that we had somehow missed it and trying to go back. We finally figured out that the stop we wanted was closed; eventually we just picked a close stop and walked the rest of the way.
The mosque has a very different feel from any of the churches that we've been in so far. You take off you shoes and step into a huge, carpeted space. The building is only about ten years old, so it still seems very new (and smells slightly like new carpet). The walls are decorated with floral designs and calligraphy, and the modern while columns reach up toward the high ceiling. All the light in the mosque was natural, coming from little windows all over the ceiling and in the walls. It definitely felt different than a church, but no less peaceful. Some of the female students grumbled as we learned about the separate female sections on either side of the main floor. I'm sure the mosques in Istanbul will be even more amazing!
In the afternoon, we had an art history class in Trastevere - right near our apartment! We visited two very similar churches, Santa Maria in Trastevere and San Chrysogono nearby. They are very old, but were redone by two cardinal nephews in a battle for supremacy to see who could spend more money on the gold of the ceilings. I could really tell the age of the churches from the styles of the mosaics that were still present on the altar wall - very much Medieval style. The ceilings were simply spectacular: high, gold, and incredibly ornate, perhaps a little too much so. After the churches, we headed up the hill in Trastevere to the lookout my roommates and I climbed last weekend. This time, we focused on the huge fountain on the crest of the hill, the Aqua Paola. It was a Baroque reconstruction of an ancient Roman aqueduct, and the fountain teems with symbols celebrating Paul V, the Borghese pope. Lisa hinted that if we wanted to risk the consequences and take a dip in a fountain, this would be the fountain to do it in.
Getting home was very short, and we were grateful for that. In the evening, the four of us went to a neighborhood bar and watched the Spain-Germany soccer game. We were the first ones there, but it filled up really quickly. A group of German students was there as well, and they knew only a few words of English: "Oh shit!" and "What the f***!" We heard those a lot, because Germany lost. Spain totally deserved to win, though. It was a good game. The final is on Sunday; we'll definitely watch that too.
On Thursday, we had two classes, which were actually very talkative for a change. Our last real days of "class time" before our presentations! Nothing major to talk about on Thursday.
On Friday, we had an early art history class, traveling to the Palazzo Barberini. On the way, we saw the Trevi fountain, which is built into the side of a building and supposedly has the purest water in Rome. We all threw three coins into the fountain over our left shoulders to ensure that we would come back to Rome. At the palazzo, we heard a family presentation and a presentation on the palazzo. It's now a museum, so we were able to go inside and look around: it was mostly Renaissance paintings. Pretty cool, but rather small as well. The highlights for Lisa were the several paintings by Caravaggio; personally, I'm not sure I'm such a fan. His paintings are all very dark, and can be violent, like his version of Judith and Halofernes. Afterward, Lisa took us out for coffee at her favorite Roman coffee shop, and then we listened to a presentation on Galileo (a little more interesting for those of us who are science students).
The afternoon was productive as we worked on our projects. We made cannelloni ourselves; Sarah and I stuffed the pasta with ricotta while Catherine and Kristin made the tomato sauce. Surprisingly, it was not as hard as I thought it would be, and all the dishes were the kind that wash up really easily. After dinner, we decided to be adventurous and go down to the tent city that lines the Tiber river. It took us nearly half an hour to wander down its length (it was huge!). There were lots of bars and restaurants with tables along the river (which looks a lot nicer when it's dark and you can't see how dirty it is). I saw my first Tex-Mex and sushi restaurants in Rome. Interspersed with the bars were stalls selling clothes, jewelry, books, shells, purses, and all manner of miscellaneous things, as well as carnival-like stalls (shoot-the-can type things, mostly). There were Foosball tables and hookah pipes. Even though it was fairly early by Roman standards (10:00), it was still crowded and we had to push our way through. We saw a stall selling all manner of candy and dried fruits, and I restrained myself even though I really wanted to get some. We sat down at one of the bars and looked out over the river, talking and people-watching. It was a lot of fun; I don't think there's anything comparable to it in Seattle.
Today is project-work time! This evening, we're having a potluck dinner at the guys' apartment.
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