Viale Di Trastevere

First Saturday night in Rome, which obviously means that it gets crowded. It kind of reminds me of State College on a football weekend, just add a lot more people! I say this because it's an influx of people into a specific area for a specific reason, in this case tourism. Anyways, I had to make the trek down to the classroom tonight to fix a scheduling issue for the second summer session, which I did (no worries mom and dad). As I was walking, Viale de Trastevere was bustling! Suddenly, it seemed like more street vendors decided to open up for the weekend. Everywhere I walked, something was being cooked and the whole road smelled fantastic! I did notice something that bothered me from day one, and still did tonight. I keep catching the locals staring at me and I don't mean a simple glance. I am talking that they look at me as we approach, then they turn their head as I pass and give that last little glance to make sure I know they are watching. Of course, after I noticed this the first time I started looking back to see how often it happens. This has led to a few unfortunate "eye-meetings" and a very sincere "grazie" from me. I guess that's what you get when they know that you are an American. Also, this comes along with the territory that we are in. Trastevere is, as a few guidebooks point out, the non-tourist part of Rome. This makes it all the more interesting for Brian, Dom, Cole, Jared and myself. We are living among the locals, and we couldn't be happier!

First Week in Rome Done!

Good morning everyone! It's a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning in Rome! Last night our power went out..so we hung in our apartment by candlelight and just chatted. After a while we went out and got some Gelatti and then Jared and I went back and just hung out, while Dom, Cole, and Brian rode the tram down to the city and then walked to the Colosseum. They said it was great! When we woke up this morning our power was on, Cole fixed it by going into the basement and flipping some switches. After we all got ready this morning we walked down and met everyone at the museum. It was a great time. The art was amazing, and we even got to see the original Marble Faun, which is one of the books we are reading by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I took some pretty decent pictures at the museum, so I will post a few. The view from inside the museum looking out at the Forum was great. We even got on top of the building and got the best view of Rome yet. Right now I am sitting in the school typing this, since my internet time is few and far between. I apologize if all the blog posts seem to be on the same day, but they're actually from various times throughout the week. I'll try to make sure that I specify which day is which. After this we'll be heading back and hanging out. No class tomorrow so I'm sure we'll find something to do tonight. We are going to try and watch the Penguins game tomorrow, all the other ones have been on so I'm sure this will as well. I swear Jared and I are the only Penguins fans here. Hopefully they win. Go Pens! Ciao!

Photography in Rome

I have found a photo gallery at the bottom of the hill where our road meets Viale De Trastevere. I plan on going there tomorrow (Saturday) so I will, without a doubt, report back what I find! Another great example of the photography scene in Rome!

Roman Fountains

I have discovered something so simple so yet so affective with the water fountains throughout town! The water normally flows from steel like pipe that is connected to a fire hydrant looking thing (see picture), and sometimes if you just want a drink you have to bend down and get your knees a little dirty in order to taste this great water. But the other day I noticed that about 2 inches up the pipe from the end is a tiny hole, maybe 1/4 of an inch in diameter, and I had no idea what it did. So last night as we’re sitting at dinner I see a local resident (I know this by the speech and dress) go up to the fountain, place his thumb over the main hole and voila, the water is forced up through the little hole and you have a perfect water fountain, just like in the United States. Okay, so it’s nothing like the United States cause these are on the streets, but the water is now more accessible and you don’t have to get your jeans dirty on the ground. I tried it out last night on my walk home when no one was around incase it didn’t work. Well, it worked fine, but the pressure was really high and it went all over a very nice Smart Car parked right in front of the fountain. It’s just water, so I doubt the owner would care. It needed washed anyways! Ciao!

Roman Nights

Thursday’s (May 15th) dinner consisted of 20 people in one restaurant, as you can guess this was a great idea! All the CAS students went to Campo Di Fiori to eat and socialize. It really let us all get to know each other a little bit more. After that, we hit up an American style bar for a drink and watch soccer, as usual. The walk home from Campo to my apartment takes about 50 minutes, but it was a great night for this! I hope we can do more dinners like this, but with the exchange rate this might be difficult. Ciao, for now!

Today (Friday) we visited the Cript Dei Cippucinni, which is a crypt where 3,000 monks are now “housed.” By housed I mean, theire skeletons are on display here. For 1 euro you can go in (no pictures please!) and look at the bones of these monks. Full skeletons, some with open mouths as if gasping for air, are located throughout the five or so chambers. It was pretty interesting! After that we climbed up towards the Spanish Steps where I got ripped off 15 euro by some gentleman who made me a “gift” bracelet, then charged me and refused the answer “non.” So I paid him. It’s part of the experience! You live, you learn, right? I know how to handle that situation now. After that we went to an overlook on top of one of Rome’s 7 hills and viewed the Vatican from afar. Amazing! Finally, Dom, Jared and I stopped in Giorgio Armani to look at suit prices. To us, this was entertainment. For only 1,450 euro ($2,300) you can have a fantastic suit! I don’t think I’ll be shopping there anytime soon, it’s a little out of my price range. After that we walked back and I made bruchetta and have been hanging out, reading, and enjoying the sounds of Rome right outside my apartment. Ciao!

Roman Water Fountains

When Jared and I arrived on Sunday morning and made our way into Trastevere, we noticed randomly placed fountains that just seemed to pop up out of the ground. As we sat down for a break we noticed that the locals were actually drinking from these old, cement fountains. Seeing as how we were all interested in how the water tasted, we made Brian try it! Once he gave us the okay, we "dove" right in. For almost a week now, we've been enjoying this water that is gravity fed from the hills north and south of town. Without doubt, this is the best water I have ever had. It may be the fact that I know where it is coming from, but oh well. Throughout the summer I will be looking into these fountains and what they mean for modern day Romans, and modern day Tourists, as well as a little history behind the.

Photography in Rome

As you all probably know, I'm a (new) photo geek. The Collegian back at Penn State helped shape me into that. Anyways, photography in Rome is huge. This most likely comes as no surprise. With thousands of monuments, paintings, scenic areas and other interest points, there is no shortage of stuff to photograph. I've noticed that most people in Rome (not just the Romans) are shooting with Nikons, which scares me because I'm a Canon kind of guy! There is also no shortage of large format D-SLRs (digital- single lens reflex) cameras, which is what I use. So I feel like I fit in! I've also been seeing more and more professional looking photographers as I walk around, which is always good to see. These people can give me ideas on what to shoot, how to shoot it, and even a peek into how photography in Italy is viewed.

Viale Di Trastevere

The main street in Trastevere (Viale Di Trastevere) is a very busy place. Considering that my apartment is about 1 block away from this main road, I decided that spending some time this summer looking at exactly how this road is used for modern day Romans. I'm not just talking about driving, thats a whole different story. The road is used as a social space for, what seems to be, most Romans. Lining this street are various bars, pubs, restaurants, shops and markets. The most popular places on this street seem to be the bars (coffee bars). They are literally lining this road, with 3-5 every block for the whole 2-3 mile long road. It's truly amazing. They bars don't just stop there, they spill out into the street were the Romans seem to gather on sunny mornings and cool evenings. The sounds of the tram that runs along the road only adds to the uniqueness of this space. Also, it is a main artery into the heart of downtown Rome. The road consists of 3 lanes. The 2 outside lanes are for driving (they drive on the left side, just like the United States) only, although we sometimes do walk in the road as the sidewalks tend to be crowded at certain times. The inside lane, in between the 2 driving lanes is designed for trams and emergency vehicles only, but an occasional taxi driver or moped driver will use it for a convenient, less busy drive to town. Throughout the summer I will be looking at various aspects of this street.

Classes and Town

The first lectures of the summer began today, and they went rather well. We discussed The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne, after that we had a 3 hour break which will be ending soon. A few of us walked up to The Pantheon, The Trevi Fountain and the surrounding area to grab some lunch and just take another look at a part of the city we had not been to yet. The Pantheon is an amazing structure. The outsides of some of the buildings here are nothing noteworthy, until you step inside. The outside of The Pantheon, minus the pillars, is nothing but gray stone. Massive, nonetheless. Once inside it seems to come alive with hundreds of people all looking up at the amazing ceiling with its opening to the sky. Trevi fountain is also very interesting, but we'll talk more about that later this summer. For the next few hours we will be viewing Italian neo-realist films and then heading back to our apartment where we'll be hanging out, doing some work, and possibly dinner with the girls. Ciao.

Today was a great day! This morning Dom, Cole, and myself woke up rather early and walked to class. What a beautiful morning for the 45-minute walk! Once there we had two orientation sessions, and then we went to visit a church just down the cobble-stoned street from our classroom. The church was beautiful! The paintings on the inside of the church were made to play with human eye, and in turn the images on the ceilings of the high church appeared to be 3-D. Outside of this specific church was a Piazza in which various shows occur throughout the year. I can’t get over the fact of how life in Rome is lived. Narrow streets. Crowded streets. A population density like nothing in the United States. The town is amazing, but confusing at the same time. None of this seems to faze the people who live here, though. I guess after a while you grow accustomed to the crowded, busy lifestyle. Anyways, after our church visit Dom, Cole and myself decided that the Colosseum was something that we had to see as soon as possible. So, with a 20 minute walk through some of the most historic ruins in the entire world, we stood in front of the Colosseum. We literally just touched the concrete of the stadium and the surrounding structures as we thought about what actually happened here, and what it meant in present day Rome to the present day Romans. To them, this is the perfect place to earn a few Euros. Everything from 20 postcards for 1 Euro, to 5 Euro for your picture with an “authentic” roman gladiator, it seemed, to me at least, that this was not the “right” place for this type of stuff to be going on. I have the same feelings though about the men and women who stand outside of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. and sell t-shirts that say “I saw the Lincoln Memorial!”, there has to be a better place for this to happen. But again, it’s been this way for years and years and us humans are stubborn when it comes to changing our habits and our way of life (especially when it comes to making some money). As we walked back towards Via De Parrasio we kept to the outskirts of Trastevere in hopes of finding some new places to check out on our next dinner excursion, of course there are hundreds of them scattered about town, each just as unique as the one next door. Tonight me and the four other roommates are going to have dinner at some other Penn State students apartments down the street as we plan our trip to Paris for next weekend.

Today was the first day that we all got to meet each other. Jared met me outside my little apartment first thing this morning and we took a taxi over to Penn States class space in the middle of the city center. After we picked up our room keys we headed down to Via De Parassio and met our other 3 roommates, Dom, Bryan, and Cole. We decided that taking a nap would be the best thing considering they had just arrived earlier this morning. After our 4 hour naps, we cleaned up and headed out to our second real Italian meal. Pizza and wine. That’s what the meal included. Nothing like a real Italian Pizza! After that we started walking down Vial de Trastevere and happen to run into 4 other Penn State students. It was Allisons 21st birthday so we decided to head down to try and find a bar to grab a drink with her. To no avail, Rome is not the town to go out for a drink on a Monday night. We eventually found a little bar and ran into a few other American students from just outside Seattle. After a few drinks we walked back to our apartment in the rain, and just hung out and planned where we wanted to travel on our three-day weekends. Tomorrow we have our orientation meetings and eventually grocery shopping for the first time! Should be interesting…

Rome!

Day one. Done and gone! It took forever to get here, but it's totally worth it. Jared and I met up at the airport, which worked out perfectly seeing as we shared the 75 euro taxi ride (about $116) to the city center. These high prices are due to the fact that gas is at about $12/gallon. And we thought $3.69 was bad! I thought that having a couple grand saved up would be enough for 7 weeks, but it's looking like that might not be the case. Anyways, when Jared and I arrived in Trastevere we went to his hotel to check in but we were too early, so we went to mine. It's get better because I had the wrong address so I missed the guy the first time (who I was renting the studio apartment off of) and had to wait 3 hours to meet up again. So Jared and I went to some little cafe and had lunch. Food was cheap. A meal cost me $3, which is nice considering traveling around town is not cheap at all. After that, Jared and I decided to take yet another taxi to the Stadio Olimpico and watch AS Roma play Atalanta...which they won easily 2-1. On the way back from the game we saw some guy riding a motorcycle get hit by a car and slide a pretty decent distant. After he got up (bruised and hurting) he got into an argument, all in Italian, with the other driver and then asked Jared and I for our opinions about calling the police/ambulance and about the accident in general. Of course Jared and I don't speak great Italian (read: no Italian) so we just held the bike up for him while they argued, then we left. Unknown to us, we were walking in the wrong direction for a good 40 minutes. As you can probably guess, this led to yet another taxi ride and another 15 euro trip. Anyways, we went back to Jared's and just hung out, then I walked back through a bustling Roma night! Lot's going on outside. Random spickets are placed throughout town that flow all the time with fresh water, so it seems as if they turn into social spots at night, as well as the bridges and Piazzas and other gathering areas. So that does it for day one. Tomorrow is when everyone else arrives and we start getting things going.