ROMA, GIORNA 1

While here in Italy, one of our required courses is called "Reading Cities", and it's basically a course where we meet every Tuesday before a weekend trip, then proceed on said weekend trip to a beautiful Italian city where we get guided tours to all of their beautiful monuments and architectural sites. From there we're supposed to turn in a sketch book of about two sketches dissecting certain buildings we've visited and how they relate into the fabric of the city.

Our first trip was a four-day trip to Rome. This means we got to miss all of our classes on Thursday to take one of the nice high speed trains to Rome. So I'll be breaking this trip up into separate posts from each of the days that we were there, and I'll try to get them up as promptly as possible. Please bear with me as studio work and other class work is picking up, and I'll be writing late at night now, if I get the chance to write at all.
Now that I've made that simple PSA, back to Rome.

When arrived, we went to our hotel to drop off our luggage (because we clearly needed to bring a lot to last us through four days of Italian weather and mishaps), and then headed off to see the neighborhood and get some lunch.

Our hotel was right down the street from Piazza Navona that has the very famous Fountain of the Four Rivers. 

I remember reading about this during class, and I'm in awe that I got to stand in front of it.

We had lunch at a small restaurant, and when I say lunch I really mean that we had delicious pizza. It did come with a coke, so I was pretty excited because I haven't had soda since I've gotten here. It's the little things sometimes.

My lovely lunch pals. Pam and Theresa were there too, just beside me.

After lunch we had our first real tour of the trip, which was of the Vatican Museums. You may remember this name from the post I wrote about our fancy book signing and the free steak. It's the same museums, but we unfortunately did not run into the Father from that night. We did get a pretty neat tour of some of the museums. And I say some because the title is plural, and they mean it. There are loads of buildings in the Vatican complex and most of them are being used now as Museums. But I'll just stick to telling you about the main ones. The two main places we visited were the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. 

We had stunning views while walking from one museum to the next.

Our guide mainly talked about the frescoes on the wall, but I mean, look at this ceiling. That deserves it's time in the sun. Literally. Because it's gorgeous when the sun hits it.

Ahh finally, St. Peters. Get ready for the roof and dome shots. 

But before the dome shots, look at Michelangelo's work. Stunning. 

Ok, here are the dome shots.

And again...

Enough of that. I got to see the Baldacchino! I've studied this in both and art history and an architecture setting, so it's a twice as exciting, right? 

I have plenty of pictures from St. Peter's, but unfortunately none from the Sistine Chapel because photos are forbidden in there. And for that I am really regretful, but I have a fun little surprise for you guys so that you can see the beautiful work done by Michelangelo, just as we did. Click here.

 

As we stepped outside, we were in the most incredible spot to watch the sun set.

But poor Rachel was a little chilly and tired. Can you tell?

So we set off to our hotel room to get off of our feet and work on our studio precedent studies late into the night. Oh the exciting lives we live. Wait, we actually do right now.

LARGO

Largo, in Italian, is a word that its self doesn't quite know the meaning, just like the largo that I am in the process of designing for my studio class. It is mainly just a large space that most would then just classify as a piazza. Except that it's not used as a piazza, or really at all. And thus our task. 

The project we've been assigned for this semester is to re-design the Largo Annigoni and also add (and design) a Gastronomy Center to the piazza. Site analysis for this project was crucial since we know nothing of the culture of the area or how it really works. And the very in-depth (and I'm serious about in-depth, we had to create an entire booklet) made sure that we were well versed with the area and the problems that we would have to find solutions for to make it a workable space.

Site analysis was the first step, and next we are into an in-depth version of precedent studies. Since we are designing two portions to the piazza, both types of projects we are unfamiliar with, we have to find our own successful piazzas and city buildings that can be related to our project constraints and conditions. These individual precedents are also going to give our teachers a sense of our styles and  stylistic eyes, since we're also unfamiliar with each other. 

Even simply the set-up of the studio is unfamiliar to me. Our University implemented inter-disciplinary studios for the architecture and interior design programs during the first year, but those started the year after mine. For the first time with our Florence program, they've also introduced inter-disciplinary studios, one of which I am in.

New city. New language. New studio.

Wish me luck!

A BRIEF TRIP TO NARNIA

...essentially.

This past Saturday, my roommate Rachel and I decided to make the short 2 hour train ride to a small town called Castiglione del Largo. Since it's primarily a vacationing spot, it was pretty barren of tourists, so we got to see it in it's natural beauty. And the day couldn't have been any more perfect for this day trip.

I'm not going to bombard you all with more pictures of the countryside, mainly because there weren't many good shots since we were in tunnels literally cutting through mountains most of the time. But I did get my first glimpse at snow capped mountain. The skier side of me squealed a bit.

It's not the best shot, but I think you all get the point.

Basically what we did all day was wonder around the city and marvel at how absolutely gorgeous every inch of it was.

We did stop and eat lunch at this small shop, in the part of the town walled in at the top, that had some absolutely delicious food for only €1. If you ever go there, find this place. And some of the workers there speak English, so they're very accommodating.

The rest of the time there we explored the city, and we wandered around it's massive tree grove. They had a little path, that was barely visible, but it took you down into the grove and away from the main paths.

 It was really a quaint, intimate, little place that we found. And then while wondering through these trees, we stumbled upon one lone light post. Rachel and I both stopped and giggled because we were both thinking of Narnia and the light post where Lucy met Mr. Tumnus. Which is also ironic because in the entry to our apartment there is a tiny boy statue that we've nick-named Mr. Tumnus.

Tangent aside, the scenery was gorgeous. And right behind the lamppost was a walkway that took us down towards the lake.

This is the view we had when we reached the bottom and looked back up at the fortress. 

This was our close up view of lake. I don't even need to say it, but it was stunning. 

And there was no one around so we kept our tradition of taking selfies in front of the places we go to visit. We were incredibly cold, so forgive us for how our faces look. 

THERE IS SUCH AS THING AS A FREE DINNER

My roommate, Christian, came home one Sunday after going to mass with some friends, and approached us about an event she was invited to. It was an supposedly a lecture on art in the vatican museums by a father who works in the Vatican and recently wrote a book about some of the art pieces and their religious relevance. Since I'm not only a Christian but an art history major also I was pretty interested, as was my other roommate, Rachel. The only stipulation was that we had to dress well. Christian had brought nice clothes, but Rachel and I hadn't, since we packed what we'd normally wear during a semester. So when the day of the lecture came around, our outfits were a bit...interesting.

We got there when the invitation had prescribed, but the first hour or so was essentially mingling time, and we didn't know anyone except a fellow architecture student who came by himself. So we entertained ourselves by reading the literature provided about the author.

Let me now explain a little more about what the event actually was. Sure, it was a lecture, but it was also for the "patrons" who are people, mostly from the US, who donate money to help restore the art in the Vatican museums and get special benefits for it such as this exclusive lecture (we had our names on a list and everything). We were even informed that we were currently in the previous residence of a former pope.  

There was also a fancy professor man who gave a lecture in Italian and then the father translates for us.

All in all it was a very interesting time.

Oh wait, the food. Ah how could anyone forget?! The even had been catered and we stuck around to see if the food after the lecture was any different from the food before. It was all served finger-food style, but it was beyond delicious. They were even handing out steak! There was also an open bar, but who cares about that when there's steak?!

Essentially I finally got my authentic Italian meal from a top-class chef, and it was free.

And then as we were leaving (the coat check gentleman put my coat on for me. *Swoon*) we decided to play around with the gigantic mirror installed at the base of the stairs that does a convincingly good job at creating the illusion of a larger room that is actually present.

I call this "Selfie Generation", although no one took selfies better than kings.

UPDATE

It's been almost a week since I've last written on here, so I figured I'd catch everyone up on what my week's been like.

So since my one and only Monday class was cancelled last week, I had it for the first time this week. Needless to say I'm super excited about that class. It's called Video, Media, and Architecture and it's essentially about how architecture can be showcased, explained, or displayed in different media forms. My teacher seems super passionate about it, which helps get me excited about it. Not to mention the first lecturer (we have a lecture series here that we're required to attend, but I'd still probably go because these professionals are going to be amazing) is an architect who turned...director? He makes a lot of videos about architecture now. I'm pretty excited to see what he has to say. I hadn't even heard of videos being used instead of renderings before coming here, so I'm really grateful for this experience.

Fast-forward to Wednesday, my day without any classes. I woke up early to do some laundry since it wasn't supposed to rain that day. And my roommate was going to put in a load after me. Because of that I decided to use the setting on the washing machine that excludes the last cycle that essentially just spins the clothes. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT LESSON FOLKS. Do not do this. Ever. I opened the door once my clothes were done and water came just pouring out. So I got to spend most of my morning moping up the floors and wringing out my clothes. At least it didn't rain.

We also stocked back up on groceries that day, which made me super excited because I'm really enjoying cooking for myself here. My roommate Rachel and I are always asking each other "What are you making for dinner tonight?" It's like a therapeutic relaxation time for us.

After Thurdsday classes it's the weekend here. So after dinner I went next door to my best friends apartment and we had Megan and Lizz night. If you have not seen "Just Friends" starring Ryan Reynolds, I suggest you do, and listen carefully to even background music. Because it's utterly hilarious, and not too cheesy at all. I repeat, this is not a chick-flick. Men can watch.

Then this morning we "slept-in", which was about 9:30/10 because who wants to waste time here by sleeping. Then Rachel and I set off on a mission. 1. We desperately needed to get here some waterproof boots; her poor feet have been suffering in rainy Florence since we got here. 2. I wanted a new satchel/bag as a souvenir and because mine broke.

The first place we went was the market by our architecture site. We wanted to compare prices for veggies and fruits that we buy, and just to look about. But we ended up buying other things. I was able to snag a pair of wool knee-high socks for only €3, while Rachel finally got a pair of slippers, which she had been yearning for in out apartment. Then we say a stand that had €1 shirts, so of course we couldn't pass those up. We each got two, which are in the wash as I write this because we're so excited to be able to wear them! Then I found the perfect bag at a stand (that literally only had male clothing items and bags; if you know me, this isn't surprising at all) that was only €35, which is really good for a quality bag here in Italy. But at this point we still hadn't found Rachel a pair of boots that she liked and that we inexpensive.

So we then headed to a part of town we had only briefly explored to buy groceries. It was loaded with shoe stores, but most of the boots were bedazzled or €50+. To add a bit of perspective that, it's about $75. So we kept walking, and finally stumbled upon a store with minimal bedazzling and shoes for €20 max. We actually found a pair of fully non-bedazzled boots and called it a day.

It was only 12:30 and we had a pretty successful morning. I'd say we're using our long weekends well.

Later tonight we're going to an architecture lecture, that I may or may not write about later. And then tomorrow some of us our taking a day trip, so you will all be well informed on that as soon as I can catch my breath this coming week.

I also hope to write a bit about what my studio project is specifically so that I can update properly on my progress. So, that should also be up shortly. For now, back to photoshop.

Ciao!

LEARNING THE ITALIAN BUS AND TRAIN SYSTEM...I MEAN, TRAVELING....

How many of you are excited for this one? Any one? Bueller? Ok cool, here goes.

So as I said in an earlier post, I was traveling outside of Florence this weekend for the first time. On Friday I went with my two roommates to Pisa, and then on Saturday I went with one of my roommates and three other friends to "Volterra" (I'll explain the quotations in the post about)

Getting to Pisa we had decided to take the train; and because my one roommate wanted to try, we scheduled the train that would cause us to switch between trains to get to Pisa. Now, Pisa has two different train stations, so I chose the station that was closest to the Piazza del Duomo (that's the big area where the leaning tower is for those of you non-technical termed folk). Little did I know that this station was a bit...how should I say this...janky. Regardless, we got to Pisa just fine, train switching and all, and head off to find the complex. Here are some pictures that I took, uber tourist style, of the train and ride into Pisa.

That's one of my roommates, Christian, on the left. Our train was actually pretty nice. 

 Finally leaving the station! 

Seeing the cities from outside of them was just so beautiful.

 Fortunately the station was literally right down the street, and it was a short walk. Unfortunately it was pretty much pouring. But most of the things that you would look at in Pisa are indoors. So as soon as we got there we headed for the ticket office to find out how much it would be for the museums and such.

They actually offer a pretty sweet deal for 7 Euro that gets you into two places of your choice and then the Cathedral. So we chose the Fresco Museum and the Baptistery. We hit up the Fresco Museum first, because that was attached to the ticket office. It contained the old frescos that (and this is just the jist of what I got) were all around the cemetery complex. A lot of the time the fresco was worn away, but I felt like that revealed some of the most interesting parts because when the top layer is worn away you can see the charcoal outlines of what the artist had originally done or test-sketched. It tells a lot more than just their final painting.

I also just found the building these fresos were housed in to be super interesting.

I tried to get all artsy with this shot.

So after we marveled at the frescos for a while, and I enjoyed the people being torn apart in the judgement fresco scene, we headed over to the increadibly monstrous and absolutely gorgeous Cathedral. And this was the first thing I noticed when I stepped through the door.

I mean, look at that ceiling. 

And this ceiling.

And this ceiling too.

This one too. But also the incredibly gorgeous pastel-like paintings that adroned the walls. I was taken aback as an art-history minor. My jaw dropped. Literally.

I just.....Do I even need to speak about the beauty of this?

And then the architect in me marveled at the groin vaults. The engineering in these things are fantastic. And they're so beautiful too.

This was outside the Cathedral looking up. The colonade was so beautiful, even under a dreary sky. 

Then we headed over to the Baptistery. It's a small building, but it's known for the domes acoustics. Not to mention it's yet another beautiful building, with great views, that probably gets overlooked because of the leaning tower. 

Bravo to whomever decided to add the lighting to the vaults like that. it was absolutely beautiful. 

And then we took this lovely dungeion-like staircase to the upper area, where we were lucky enough to hear a guard perform a vocal demonstation inthe center of the dome so we could hear the acoutsitcs of it.

Fantastic view from the top.

And there's the little nugget of the leaning tower. I, personally, was not all that impressed when I saw it. 

So after seeing everything, we still had super long before our train back to Florence, so we started off using our extra time to sit down and eat some good, authentic, Italian pizza in Pisa. We spend at least a good hour and a half in this small pizzeria, and still had time to spare. So we walked around the complex some more and then hung out in the Fresco museum and took advantage of the free video about the leanign tower of Pisa. Although the grumpy museum ticket man gave us some looks. I was cold, and wet, and going to utilize it as much as possible. So once the buildings started to close, we headed back to our train station and sat on a bench and read until our train got there. And that was basically the Pisa trip. I'd deem it a success because I very much enjoyed it. There isn't much to do there, and the people that work there are super grumpy, but there is no denyign the brilliance of the buildings there. 

The next day, we headed ona bus off to Siena. From there, we had heard that we would be able to get a bus to Volterra. But when we finally got to Siena and asked about the bus to Volterra (approx 11am) we were told that there wouldn't be a bus until about 1:40pm, and we may not get a bus back to Siena that same night. That was a tough blow for first thing in the morning. Thankfully, Pam had researched a town that was close to Volterra, and Volterra-like, called San Gimigniano. So we asked about that town, and luck seemed to be on our side! There was a bus in about 40 minutes that we could take, and buses were definitely coming back to Siena that same day. 

We bought our tickets, got on the bus, and were off to San Gimigniano! This bus ride gave even better views of the country-side than the train did. It was another gloomy day, but I did the best I could at capturing the gorgeous Tuscany expanse. 

This was one of my favorite pictures. I just love these trees, and I don't quite know why. 

The town was a walled-in fortress and once we stepped through the entrance, this was the quaint view that we saw.

Do you see that well in the center of the plaza? I was joking about them buring witches at the stake there, but this town had TWO torture museums, so I'm going to assume that I was pretty spot-on. 

LOTR: The Two Towers....Just kidding.

When we got to high enough points in the city and could step outside the walls, we were greeting with incredible views like this. They were mind-blowing and no picture could ever entire capture the beauty that we saw. 

So after eating some more delicious pizza, and wondering around a the souvenir shops (because the real shops were to expensive for us to even dream about) we were hoping to catch a 3:40pm bus back to Siena, so we could catch a 5pm bus back to Florence and be home in time to cook dinner and rest before church the next day. Unfortunately we read the schedule wrong, and since it was a Saturday the buses were running less. It was about 4pm and the next bus wouldn't come until 7:40pm, and even then we wouldn't get back to Siena in enough time to catch a bus to Florence for the night. It was cold and rainy and we couldn't just sit outside until 7pm anyways, so a few of us headed back into the city to talk to the lovely people that the tourist agency and figure out our best options. Fortunately the people there are super helpful and lovely and told us an better route to a different city, where we could then take a bus straight the Florence. The best part was that we could use the two return bus tickets we had already purchased. And within another 40 minutes we were on a bus headed back towards a bus that would take us back towards home. 

It is now well noted that trains can be planned in advance to outlying cities much easier, and that if a bus is cheaper, times and alternate routes should definitely be well researched. 

Then today, Rachel and I braved taking a Florence city bus to check out another church. It was later concluded that this was by far the simplest means of transportation to non-walkable areas. By far. 

Either way, I consider our traveling a success. We didn't die, get lost, or stranded. We got to see some amazing things, and just experience life a bit more. And I'd say we all gained a little bit of caution and felt the need for better planning. It was good to get the kinks out of the way while being not too far from our homes.