Quick Week

03/07/11, 03/08/11, 03/09/11, 03/10/11, 03/11/11

     After several weekends of traveling, my exhaustion finally caught up with me this week. It was a low week in terms of class work and the only thing school wise I had due this week was one Italian quiz on Thursday afternoon. Other than that, class was pretty monotonous this week. On Tuesday for our Layers of Rome class, we went to the Church of San Pietro Montorio located along the Janicolo Hill. This church served as a transitioning period into more Renaissance style architecture. The location of the church itself has a very significant meaning. It is said to have been the location of St. Peter’s inverted crucification. When translation is done, St. Peter was said to have been crucified at a place equidistant between two pointy objects, which many translate to the two original pyramids of Rome. This place just so happens to be the location of this church. The main difference between this church and the architecture of past churches we’ve looked at is evident by its Renaissance style. During the Renaissance, architecture was very proportionate and balanced, often using geometrical elements to give it further meaning. 

Church of San Pietro Montorio

     On Thursday, as part of our project with the Italian students from Roma Tre, my roommate Kelly and I went to meet the Italian student we were paired with and she was to show us a part of Rome unknown to tourists. From there, we help her to make sure her translation into English for the website is proper and in return, she helps us translate Italian to English in the video we have to make for the end of the semester project. We were to meet her at the metro stop Policlinico at 9:30, meaning we had to be out of our apartment by 8:45 to get there on time. For once, we made it there on time after taking a tram, bus and a metro! I’ve never used public transportation more in my life than in this semester. It has it’s ups and downs, the locations are very convenient, but the crowds of people on them have the ability to make or break your morning. Unfortunately, this was one morning where it started off our day on the wrong foot because every source of transportation was sardined and you couldn’t move and were constantly pushed. When we finally arrived at where we were meeting our friend, Marianna, she was nearly 40 minutes late and said it was traffic, as do most Italians when they aren’t on time. She took us to a museum called the Casina delle Civette, which was an older house focused on Liberty Art. As we walked through the surrounding area and saw several houses around it and the gardens, I couldn’t help but wish I lived in an area such as this! The houses were gorgeous and looked as though they belonged in Napa Valley, California. Our trip ended with a stop for a cappuccino where Marianna treated both Kelly and I. We are very lucky that she is so nice and helpful! She even offered to cook us dinner one night after our spring break, I am definitely going to take her up on that! 

Park surrounding the museum

Casina delle Civette

This picture doesn't quite capture it, but I want my house to look like this one day...

Example of Liberty Art

Beautiful Park surrounding the area

     Other than that, I took this week as a major resting period. Many of my roommates and other people in the program went out several times this week to take advantage of limited schoolwork. I made the attempt two nights to go out and even showered, did my make-up, etc., only to fall asleep in my bed before going out. I think it was a sign that I needed a week off to fully catch up and prepare myself for the week to come! On Friday class got out earlier than normal and it was a beautiful day out. My friend Ashley and I didn’t want the day to slip away so we decided to just wander around Rome for about an hour and a half and then walked back to our apartment. After we got home, we all spent the evening relaxing and packing to leave for Belgium the following morning for the Sensation White concert in Hasselt!