My trip to
I am now home in my house, immersed in air conditioning and writing my final blog as a CAS in
When I am in the grocery store again, I will not be able to avoid comparing it to the Italian supermercato and open air markets. While there is amazing food to be found in the
The summer of 2009 in Italia has forever made and impression on me and I will never forget my experiences eating, spending time near the Pantheon, and everything in between. Arrivederci Roma.
In the first week of our seven-week trip, every time I saw a monument, either new or familiar, I would be excited to know that it was my neighbor or was in the city I would call home for half of my summer. In the last week of this trip, I have noticed that when I see a monument all I can think is, "this is the last time I will walk by here, at least for several years." I hate to think that I will be driving by local dumps in my hometown in just one day instead of randomly walking by the Pantheon, as I have so often done on this trip.
My last week in Rome has been jam-packed with finishing up shopping and site-seeing. To my surprise, I saw one of my favorite sites in Rome this week, the Bvlgari jewelry exhibit. Bvlgari is one of, if not the most, famous Italian jewelers. The exhibit of the exquisite jewels celebrates the legend's 125th anniversary. The setting at Palazzo delle Esposizioni makes the exhibit even better with its grand space and regal interior. The exhibition, entitled "Between History and Eternity: 1884-2009," showcases the finest pieces of jewelry from this company since its start so long ago. I saw all the jewels of famous celebrities from Elizabeth Taylor to Jessica Alba. Even though I was not allowed to take pictures in the exhibit, the jewels are forever in my mind. I do not think I will ever forget seeing over 177 carats of diamonds on one necklace for the rest of my life. Whenever I hear or see Bvlgari, I will think of myself walking though the exhibit when I was just a student in Rome.
From Rome to Barcelona, the foods I have enjoyed in Europe were amazing. From the day I got here to the day I am leaving, I will have enjoyed everything I chose to nourish myself with. This past weekend I went on a small jaunt to Barcelona, Spain, to get a quick taste of another city in Europe. Tapas are the most popular way of eating in Spain. Tapas are small dishes at reasonable prices that allow you to order a variety and try an array of foods. When I was at a tapas restaurant in Spain, we ordered everything from mussels to potatoes to sausage then topped it off with a sweet sangria to make the best Spanish dining experience.
When I got back to Rome this week, my class joined at our professors apartment for a wine and cheese tasting put on by an Italian native, named Lorenzo. It was the perfect end to a perfect trip. We got to try all different types of cheeses and jams with Italian breads. We also had Italian meats with different wines. As the main event, Lorenzo prepared us a fantastic pasta dish, an authentic Italian red sauce on rigatoni. I will miss everything about eating in Italy - the freshness, quality, and taste.
Famous tourist spots always have the best gimmicks to assist you in spending your Euros. In the Piazza della Rotonda, just outside the Pantheon, are two Romans decked out in gladiator attire. Everyday, they will be there ready to badger you to take a picture with them. If you choose to take a photo though, it will cost you 5 five euro per person. I think that is a terrible value since they are far from authentic looking in their synthetic capes. You are better off just getting a picture of yourself with the Pantheon and saving your money to spend on some delicious gelato right there in the piazza. Of course there will always be tourist ready to take their picture with the faux gladiators, so as long as people keep spending their money, the gladiators will be available for a photo shoot.
Another money trap right outside the Pantheon next to the gladiators is the table of souvenirs. These stands are popular all over town, but you will mostly find them in prime tourist locations such as this area. They have a range of trinkets, from statues to books, but they are all outrageously overpriced. One of the statues of the Colosseo available outside the Pantheon was going for 45 euro. These items are the quality of what would be available in a common dollar store in the 
Every summer in Rome, when the city gets too hot for nighttime eating, drinking, and dancing in the center of the city, the fun is moved down to the banks of the Tiber River. I was walking along the river last night and enjoying all the sights, sounds, and surprisingly the smells. From the Trastevere side of the river, just simply walk down the steep stairs and you will find yourself face-to-face with some unique Roman nightlife that almost any tourist would appreciate. Each bar and restaurant has a really cool set up along the river. They designed mini restaurants and bars specifically for their location on the river. Most of them have relaxing lounge style seating that is very inviting. When you are out at night after a scorching day in the Roman sun a cocktail, some light foods and a comfortable seat in the breeze of the river is all you need.
When I was walking along with some of the girls from the PSU nutrition program, we saw people eating french fries and immediately had a craving. When we found the stand we had a great surprise, they were also selling fried calamari in the same fashion. All they did was fill a cone shaped paper holder with your choice and throw in a skewer to eat it with as you walked the bank. I have yet to come across somewhere in the United States that sells calamari along side of french fries on a river bank at 11p.m. We also came across a lovely fruit stand with a watermelon carved to resemble the Colosseo (which is pictured above). Everyday I am in Italy, I find something better and better about the foods available in this wonderful country.
As a mini-project in class here in Rome, we discussed the rhetoric of maps and then designed our own walks through Rome and drew out our route. I decided to use Michelangelo as my theme. My walk begins at Piazza San Bernardo at the "Moses Fountain." It is officially known as the Fontana dell'Acqua Felice, but commonly called the Moses Fountain by tourists. According to my guidebook, the fountain was sculpted by either Prospero Bresciano or Leonardo Sormani. This fountain is a "clumsy" attempt at recreating Michelangelo's Moses that is our last stop this walk. I thought it would be interesting to compare the difference in the skill of the replica and the real sculpture.
From the fontana, the walking route goes south down the Via Torino. On the way to our next destination, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, we pass the sprawling Piazza della Repubblica and the large black fountain in the center. Once we arrive at the basilica at the end of Via Torino, we will see the chapel inside that Michelangelo designed, called the Sforza Chapel. Even though it was built by Giacomo della Porta, it still has the style and inspiration of Michelangelo.
Next, we will pass through the Piazza Della Esquilino and head southwest down Via Cavour. About halfway between Piazza Della Esquilino and Via Dei Fori Imperiali, we will make a left onto Via Annibaldi. We will arrive at Piazza San Pietro in Vincoli and the church that houses Michelangelo's statue of Moses will be on the left. Besides this skillfully crafted marble statue, there is a relinquary of the chains that supposedly shackled Saint Peter in the Mammertine Prison. The prison is also a location we visited in our first days of class in Rome.
On May 25, 2009, I wrote about the fountain in my favorite piazza, Piazza della Rotonda. Looking back, I think I left out some important details. Today, I was in the piazza just spending some time observing tourists and seeing what else was going on. I decided to snap a few more pictures of the area. When I was photographing the fountain I got closer than usual and I thought about the sculpture around the obelisk. From a distance, the fountain is beautiful - I noticed the decent size, the tall obelisk, the running water. When I got up closer to photograph it in more detail I noticed the carvings should not be described as beautiful.
after an insane man making a creepy face. The dolphins themselves look just as freakish as the man. The whole fountain in finer detail has a very odd style. When you look up a little higher it appears that a demented fish is spraying you with water. Regardless of how odd the sculpture is, I still enjoy and appreciate the talent of the artist and the great condition it is in for its age, almost 435 years old!
Beyond all the delicious wines and cocktails in Italy, spremuta is my favorite drink here. This delicious drink is the freshly squeezed juice of either oranges, lemons, or grapefruits. I have found this lovely drink at most bars around the city. In some of the supermercati, you can find some in a jug, but obviously this will not be as fresh as the juice you watch the barrista squeeze or make in the juicer at a bar.
I was in the Piazza Della Rotonda today observing the place I have chosen to focus some of my blogs on each week. It was a particularly gorgeous day outside at the piazza; there just a couple wispy clouds in the sky and the sun was down on all of the tourists. I was sitting at the fountain taking all the action of the area in.
After the drunken mess left by the boozers that were out drinking late in the piazza is all cleaned up, Campo de' Fiori turns into a gourmet chef's dream. Early in the morning, many vendors set up there tents and stalls and get ready to sell the residents and tourists of Rome the freshest ingredients around. I always found the State College, Pennsylvania, farmers market to be a great treat once or twice a week, but, obviously, the Campo market blows that out of the water.
This market is nothing like any produce section you will find in a grocery store. It is probably the best one I have ever seen. Not only are does it offer ripe fruits and vegetables, but it also has fresh herbs (to the left), meats, cheeses, and flowers. To the north end of the market you can also find clothing and gifts as well as a stand with all the kitchen gadgets you need to cook your fresh purchases.
As with mostly all main tourist areas there is shopping located in the immediate vicinity. There are many shops around the Pantheon that attract many customers each day. It is ironic that you have the Pantheon as the centerpiece of this area that is a temple and free to enter. Then, around the sacred artifact, you have many businesses with high prices ready to take your money. Of course, it is like that wherever you go in a popular tourist area, but I expected it to be different in Rome. I didn't expect a can of Coca-cola to be 4 euro (roughly 5.60 US dollars) just because it is near some ancient ruins but location is everything!
Today my abroad program went on a little jaunt to Ostia Antica. The metro from Piramide to Ostica Antica was a quick and easy way to get to the site of the ancient ruins. It was hard at first to really think of the place as more than a pile of bricks but with a closer look (and a quick reading of the signs) the layout of the town became more clear.
functioned way back when. It is helpful that there are no modern monuments or buildings near you while you are observing the ruins; I almost got the feeling that I was in a city that crumbled apart not too long ago. My favorite parts of the remains were the mosaic floors that once adorned people's homes and bath houses. They were a pretty sight compared to the mostly brick and dirt views elsewhere. When you see this ancient art you get an appreciation for the talented people who poured their heart and soul into their homes.
Before my three-day jaunt to Firenze (Florence), many people told me that I should definitely order a steak when going out at dinner. Apparently the Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine-style steak) is one of the most popular and delicious meat plates in the area. Naturally, I had to try it, so Nicole and I split a steak because they are a healthy portion for two people (and the cost is much better when you only pay half - about 18 euro each).
On Saturday night we found a cozy, little Italian restaurant called Trattoria Il Bargello. (We are pictured above with the owner who I quoted in the title.) We picked it because it looked small and personal; it was nothing like the tourist trap near the market that we picked the night before. We ordered the Bistecca alla Fiorentina and it was delicious. Perfectly cooked, seasoned to perfection, and more than enough to fill us up.
There are constantly people around the Pantheon at Piazza della Rotonda. Over the past four weeks, I have been observing this specific place at all times of the day. One thing about this piazza that I know for certain is that it is undoubtedly a main tourist attraction. Especially in the late afternoon, hundreds of people congregate to take pictures of the Pantheon or to sit down to have a drink or light refreshment.
I visited the
The birds chirping made me feel like I was listening to a soundtrack in a spa. I read some of the epitaphs written in English and I also looked at the ages at which people passed away. I saw one stone that had a beautifully carved baby resting near a cross only to read that it was an infant of only two months of age laid to rest below. The nicely manicured foliage in this cemetery was one of its best qualities. The vibrantly colored flowers all around the plots made you not think about lives rather than their deaths as they rested in peace.
The Via Veneto is a street known in the past for hosting many celebrities and socialites taking a holiday in Roma. This magnolia tree-lined street has many lavish four and five star hotels and extravagant restaurants that can cost over 100 euro for two. I tried out a trendy place called TUNA with my cousin Jeana, in celebration of her birthday.
This week my cousin was in
The rooms were luxurious. They had soft beds and printed fabric everywhere. It was nice to have air conditioning during the hot afternoon siesta. Also, this is definitely a great place for tourists to stay as you have views of the Pantheon (that is, if you get a front room) and within walking distance to many other touristy sites like the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. I think the Sole lived up to its four star rating because the location, accomodations, and service were great!
Today I went to the parade that commemorates the Festa Della Republica or Festival of the Republic. June 2 is a national holiday that happens every year in honor of the anniversary of Italy taking on a republican form of government. For the past week I Roma getting ready for the festivities which began with a bike race on Sunday. All along the Via Fori Imperiali (the major street that runs past the Colosseo) there were bleachers for people to sit and barricades to keep the crowds out of the streets.
The onlookers of the parade clapped and cheered for the different branches of the military as they marched by. There were marching bands strategically placed between the shouting marchers that loudly played Italian anthems. There was one group in particular that I found the most amusing - they had feathered heads and were running past the front of Il Vittoriano while skillfully playing instruments. Today made me want to become an Italian citizen; the moral was inspiring.
There must be hundreds of gelaterie in Rome. I do not go down many streets (especially in touristy areas) that do not have at least one place serving gelato. If you didn't know, gelato is an extremely popular Italian ice cream. There are many flavors to choose from. My favorite thing to do is mix two flavors together when I cannot choose (chocolate and strawberry work perfectly together).
