Pantheon & Trevi

These pictures were taken January 10th. It was our second day of exploration, and first day of exploration during the actual day. The plan was to go see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

 View of the Tiber River during the day. It’s usually a meeting ground for a variety of Rome’s birds.
 There are a number of bridges crossing the river about every quarter mile or so. This is a shot of one island in the middle of the river. On it is a hospital.
 This is one of many trams that runs through Rome. It’s almost like an above ground subway. They come about every 15 minutes and provide transportation from one block to the next for the busy working class of Rome and us exhausted students after a long day of sight seeing. These cannot be found in NYC and so I was impressed…underground subways can be sketchy. I’d much rather take one above ground and be able to look out while I travel.

 

 These two photos are just some buildings that can be seen as you walk towards central Rome from the outskirts.
 This is a photo of absinthe, something that can definitely not be found in the States cause as everyone knows it’s illegal. It’s approximately 45-74% alcohol and from what I heard tastes like drinking nail polish remover. Yuck, I think I’ll stick to wine.
Funny story, I took this photo before realizing that this was the back of the Pantheon. I just thought it was another cool looking building. Little did I know.
 Coming upon the Pantheon from the left side.
 The Pantheon! Pantheon means temple consecrated to all gods. It was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus and was rebuilt in 126 AD but the emperor Hadrian.  It is one of the best-preserved buildings in Rome today. It’s been used continuously since its erection but has been a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Santa Maria Rotonda since the 7th century.
 I’m pretty sure its physically impossible to get a photo of yourself and the Pantheon without also getting at least 25 other people in it. It’s always poppin’ around the Pantheon.
 This is a fountain that can be found facing the Pantheon. It was designed by Giacomo Della Porta in 1575 and sculpted out of marble by Leonardo Sormani. In 1886 the original marble figures were removed, and replaced with copies by Luigi Amici. To see the originals you must travel to the Museum of Rome.
 Horse carriages are a common sight around the heart of Rome.
 The pillars are seriously huge.
 And tall.
 Everything is so meticulously and mathematically detailed.
 Entrance…
 Looking out…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 All these pictures pretty much speak for themselves. The inside of the Pantheon is elaborate decorated with all kinds of artwork from ceiling to floor.
 These are gladiator guys that hang out outside the Pantheon. They may look fun but you definitely don’t want to take your photo with them. They’ll grab your camera and wont return it until you pay them what they ask. Sometimes Rome seems pretty hostile to me.
 There was some live music in the Piazza where the Pantheon is located. This definitely reminded me of home…plus they were playing Coldplay. (Most of the restaurants and stores that I’ve been in actually play American music which I find really strange.)

 

 Big beautiful churches can always be found tucked away in between busy streets. We happened to stumble upon this one on our way from the Pantheon to the Trevi fountain. Couldn’t tell ya much about it.
This one can be found on Via Del Corso, which is a main shopping street that runs though the heart of Rome. It reminds me a lot of Broadway in NYC. This the street that we take to get to the Trevi fountain….and sometimes more importantly H&M and other stores.
This is the entrance to an indoor shopping mall off of Via Del Corso.
More Via Del Corso…
Don’t be surprised if you see this around every turn…
We made it to the Trevi Fountain! It was the only monument that was larger than I had expected and was absolutely as gorgeous and magnificent as I imagined and as the pictures portrayed it. It too was surrounded by modern looking, sometimes-grimey buildings on every side. Not to mention was was buzzing with people from all over the world taking pictures and making wishes (even in the off season for tourism). There are also men walking around with roses here…you don’t wanna accept one. They’ll trick you into thinking its free and then make you pay for it. If you can tune out the world and focus on the fountain though…its breathtaking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photostory: First Exploration!

This is going to be more of a photo story of our first trip into the center of Rome to explore. By this time my roommate Mariana had also arrived so the three of us met up with our friend Tylar and hit the streets!

 Via della Penitenza is the name of the street in Trastevere where our apartment complex is located. As you can see the street name is engraved right into the stone. This is the way pretty much all streets are identified in the city. I think it’s a pretty cool idea because the street corners aren’t littered with big metal signs.
 One of the first things I noticed about Rome were the cars. I’d estimate that about 75% of the cars I’ve seen have been smart cars varying from small to really small. Everyone else either drives a fancy sports car or a Vespa. This car is always parked at the end of our street and makes me smile every time I see it.
 This is the road I commonly walk down to get to campus, it’s also the way to get the central Rome.
 This is the entrance to the Guarini Campus. It’s the more Roman-like of the two campuses. I prefer it above the Tiber Campus because it’s characterized by lots of winding stairs, almost every hallway and doorway is an arch, it has lots of outdoor places to sit, big beautiful plants everywhere and when you get to the top theres a pretty decent view of Trastevere.
 More mopeds…
 I’m not sure if this has some meaningful name, but we like to refer to it as “the arch.” I’ve been told that it’s one of the oldest in all of Rome. We have to pass under it to get pretty much anywhere. It’s also just really pretty and makes me remember that the arch is a keystone (literally meaning central summit of an arch that locks the whole together) feature of Roman architecture and life.

 

 

 La Boccacia! Our favorite pizza place!
 The famous Tiber River that runs through Rome.
 This is a typical sight around most turns, not complaining…

 

For all my jewish friends out there, we stumbled upon a synagogue! Trastevere is actually right next to the Jewish ghetto of Rome. Since it’s no longer a place of hostility, you can stroll through and witness the still-strong Jewish presence.

 

 This was a huge menorah outside of the synagogue.

 

 More kitties at the cat sanctuary!
 This is a better picture of the actual ruins that the cat sanctuary is located on.

 

The one thing about Rome is that it’s basically a huge interactive museum. You can walk from historic place to historic place but unlike the buildings in Washington DC or Philly, there are no signs saying what anything is! We can only guess or google what everything is. That being said, I’m not exactly sure what these are the ruins of but they’re located right off the sidewalk and are surrounded by modern (if you can even say that here) buildings. It’s pretty weird walking along seeing more modern-looking buildings and then all the sudden seeing ancient ruins.

 

 

 

 

 This building is called Alter of the Fatherland, made by the Italian Parliament in 1878. It is a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, who was the first king of unified Italy. He is depicted on a horse in front of the building. The two woman on either side of him are depictions of the goddess Victoria.

 

 

These are the ruins of the Roman Forum. It is made up of several ancient government buildings. It was the site of triumphant processions and elections; it was the place where public speeches and criminal trials were held, and was the nucleus of commercial affairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Seeing the Colosseum at night definitely made it more magical for me. Being lit up made it stand out more against the backdrop of the city. The other photos are of the arch of Constantine. It was made by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constatine I’s victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312 AD.

Roomies!

Dinner by the Colosseum!

Tylar!

Orientation & the First Supper

In the middle of the night my roommate Emily arrived! It was an interesting, half-awake first conversation. Now we were just waiting for one more roommate.

It felt like in the first couple days that I was in Rome I learned more about the United States than I did about Italy. Most of the schools people said they were from I had never even heard of before, but I guess its not like anyone knew of SUNY New Paltz either…of course they’d heard of New York. For the first couple of days I was here I didn’t meet a single person from NY but I met people from Oregon, Illinois, Texas, Minnesota and…well some other states that are located in central America that I cant remember. All I know is that I thought to myself, “Wow, people live there?” (I’m terrible, I know). Point is, I was really exposed to my east coast mentality for the first time. It’s cool to think about other places even within the United States, but who knew I’d be experiencing it in Rome.

The first couple of days in Rome were governed by a long list of orientation activities including obtaining a permit to stay, a campus tour and a very quick walk around central Rome to get a gist of how to use public transportation. All the activities were surprisingly… uninformative. We all really had to learn these things by just getting out there and doing it ourselves.

This are a few photos I took on our way too fast walk through the center of Rome. Later I went back with my roommates and actually took it all in.

 

 

On the ruins of the building where Julius Caesar was murdered (“Et tu Brutus?” yeah that guy)….well now, there’s a cat sanctuary there. Being a crazy cat lover, I couldn’t have been happier. I heard someone say that there are Italians that think it’s disrespectful and are trying close the cat sanctuary. I vote that it stays…think of the kitties. (Unless of course when it closes I can take them all home).

 

 

 

 

I’m not going to go into depth about what these building are right now because at the time I took these pictures I had no idea what they were either. I’ll talk more about them when I post better photos later.

Rome is full of the types of things you would see in NYC. Some common sights around both cities are street performers, vendors selling knock off bags and iPhone cases, homeless people, graffiti and the likes. Although it wasn’t a total culture shock for me, I was still taken back. I guess I’d never really thought about what Rome was like outside of its most famous monuments (how naive of me). As we approached the Colosseum I felt a big wave of disappointment flood over me. Somethings just aren’t how you imagine them to be from the medias portrayal of them…see below:

First, understand that Gladiator is one of my most favorite movies of all time. I know that this movie is completely fictional but its the best visual representation of ancient Rome that I can recall. Not only was the Colosseum surrounded on all sides by city but it was under construction. Poo =[ I know this is the way it always was, even in ancient times. To me it almost felt disrespectful, like a flower in a garbage can (thats a dramatic metaphor but the first one that comes to mind). Don’t get me wrong, the Colosseum alone is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my entire life but taking into account the surrounding landscape…it initially didn’t live up to my expectations…thanks popular media.

 

One thing that did not disappoint was my first Italian meal. Wow! I did stick to my comfort zone a little bit by ordering penne alla vodka but it was better than anything I’d ever tasted in America. This was also my first time legally purchasing and drinking alcohol.
I’m going to talk about drinking a little bit because its definitely something that I spent a lot of time thinking about before coming here. Everyone is going to tell you something different about legally drinking so its better to just feel it out when you’re living it. I feel like everyone assumes that us underaged students will go crazy once we reach a country where we can legally drink (I’ve witnessed this more than once and its not all fun and games). It doesn’t have to be this way.
One of the first horror stories we had to absorb upon arrival was about a kid who died last semester after he fell off a bridge onto concrete while he was drunk. Another story, from this semester, that even reached the states is about a student that was last seen at a bar (in Campo di Fiori, where we usually go to drink) and was found dead a few days later. There have been stories about muggings and girls who were raped and it’s not just a scare tactic, here it’s real. If you study in Italy, it’s really important to remember that you’re in a country thats going through a financial crisis, there are a lot of unemployed young people here and they don’t see you as a nice American student, they see you as a target. If you study somewhere else, just be aware of the way people view Americans and take steps to not put yourself in a vulnerable situation. I always walk places with other people and I don’t get blackout drunk. Be careful. Thats my rant about that. No more serious stuff now.

The First Night is the Loneliest

The first day I arrived in Rome my other two roommates were not here yet. At an orientation meeting for our building I made friends with a girl and we made plans to meet up later and go explore a little bit.

The part of Rome that we live in is called Trastevere, or Old Rome. It’s located in southwest Rome below the Vatican and left of the Tiber River. It’s characterized by cobble stone roads and narrow streets.

When we met up we had no working phones, no idea where we were or where we were going. All we had was a hard to read map provided to us by the school. As it turns out…I discovered that I actually love walking around with no destination. At home I’m always glued to google maps on my iPhone. All that was about to change.

Heres are a few pictures I took on my first night of exploration around Trastevere…

These are all photographs of restaurants. Almost every restaurant in Trastevere (or Rome for that matter) has an outdoor seating area, sometimes fully equipped with awnings due to the common occurrence of rain. They’re all lovely and adorable and for the most part their menu items are pretty similar. They’re all absolutely delicious and if you search around, most are relatively affordable. (Not to say that I’ve tried every single restaurant, pshh I wish, but from what I’ve experienced so far these are my observations).

At the time, we thought this is just a random fountain and church that we stumbled upon after getting some gelato (of course the first thing I bought in Italy was gelato). Earlier in the semester, I couldn’t really tell you anything about it other than that its somewhere in Trastevere. Now after living here longer I know that the Basilica is called Santa Maria and it is located in Piazza Santa Maria. It was made in the 4th century AD. It’s one of the oldest churches in the city and possibly the first to openly celebrate mass. You can still attend mass here, in fact my roommate went this morning for Palm Sunday.
This is one of many bridges crossing the Tiber River. The water is definitely cleaner than the Hudson River but I’m still not sure I would swim in it. Apparently, the news showed a bunch of Italians who were jumping off a bridge into the river one summer.
More restaurants. I can tell you that this one is located close to the river because its named after the bridge Ponte Sisto, one that we frequently cross to get to Campo di Fiori…which is basically an entire plaza of just bars.

Since my roommates weren’t here yet and I was still in shock that I left my entire world behind me and was in a completely new place….I put on Friends (my favorite bedtime show) and fell asleep.

What an exhausting first day, and I was only just getting started…

 

From New York to Roma

Soooo, where to even begin? 

I think I’m going to start off by writing a little bit about where I come from, since none of this matters unless you understand a little bit about me. I grew up in New Paltz. Although its made up of scenic mountain ranges, it’s only about a 30 minute drive from NYC, so I’ve been there quite a few times and know what city life is like.

I attend SUNY New Paltz (yeah, I know I went really far). I spent all of freshman year and half of my sophomore year living in the basement of my childhood home, with my parents of course. For the most part I hung out with my other high school friends who had also stayed home. The common consensus is that anyone who stays in New Paltz never gets out of New Paltz. You get stuck there and can never escape. Those who do get out are lucky. Unfortunately, I was one of those people that had a harder time branching out. At last I decided it was time to get the heck out of there and just go for it. Of course it was a little nerve recking and a lot scary but I was up for the adventure. I knew that no matter what all my family and friends back home would be waiting for me and I actually got a lot closer with everyone back home upon leaving. (A good way to find out who your real friends are is to study abroad.) Now I’ve been living in Rome for almost four months. Tada!

This blog is definitely going to have a small town girl to city girl theme, bear with me…Now on to the fun stuff! I am starting this blog a lot late so I’ll try my best to remember everything thats happened.

My flight from Newark, New Jersey left at 9:20pm on January 6th. Leaving my parents at the security point was surprisingly easy for me. There were no tears just excitement and happiness. Plus I knew I was going to text them in about 20 minutes. As I stood on the security line by myself, no longer able to see my parents I got my first wave of reality. I was really going to Rome! My hands were shaking and my heart was racing. I finally got to my seat on the plane and tried to calm some of my nerves with some music. The hospitality of British Airlines honestly surprised me although I had to pass up on dinner (to nervous to eat). I did manage to sleep however (I’ve never had a hard time with that). After catching myself drooling on the seat a couple times we finally started to land. I had a layover in a very lousy, rainy London that hardly lasted 30 minutes (of running through Heathrow) and then I was off to Rome! On the flight from London to Rome I was lucky enough to have a window seat…but of course I fell asleep. BUT, not before taking this picture of….well I’m not really sure what it’s of…it was a long day okay.

 

Bam! We landed in Rome! When I left NY is was bundled in a big sweater, two pairs of leggings, socks, leg warmers, a scarf and a hat. Rome on Tuesday January 7th was experiencing a beautiful sunny day. The temperature was somewhere in the 50’s although to this girl it felt at least 75. Needless to say I was a sweaty mess by the time I finally reached my apartment in Rome. Plus side, my apartment is beautiful!

I have two roommates and we all share one big bedroom. This is my space. We were provided with a desk, lamp, closet, sheets and a confortmer, a pillow, towels and a cork board. I’ve always been the kind of person who surrounds myself with posters, nic-nacs, tapestries and billions of pillows so this was definitely a change. I’ve come to like the simple life I think.

This is what its like looking up at the apartments from the courtyard. Super fancy.

We were also generously given some pasta and snacks for our first couple of days before we were able to hit the grocery store.

I was a lot of things when I got to Rome: nervous, hot, exhausted, not at all hungry (I don’t think I really ate for the first 3 days I was here), excited, a tad lonely, but mostly I was FREE. I’ve never felt so independent and liberated in my entire life. No parents, no rules (well there were some), and the beautiful city of Rome at my fingertips to be explored whenever I pleased. I was stoked.