Friday, September 10, 2010:
I think our Friday schedule of working from 9-noon must just be a suggestion because we have yet to leave by noon! Cheri and I finished working with students at 2 pm. She had some things she thought she needed to do, but I still had my pass for the Roman Forum (which was still good today) and we (the art history class) didn’t have time to go down into the Forum yesterday. So, Cheri told me to go to the Forum and enjoy. We had plans to meet Brenda at 5:30 pm to go to the American movie theatre and see an English-speaking movie!
The Roman Forum was very interesting. Of course, there are a lot of ruins there! LOL! They must be stingy with maps, because I didn’t get one at the gate. I was halfway through before I found a interpretational map to let me know what I had been taking pictures of!
The altar where Julius Caesar’s body was cremated is in the Forum. People still leave flowers and notes on top of the spot.
The Temple of Vestal Virgins is there; it’s really neat, but there wasn’t a way to get a good look at it. I think I’ll actually have to go back! I might see it better from up high on Paletine Hill. In the ancient Roman religion, the "Vestal Virgins" were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome; they tended the sacred fire that could not be allowed to go out. The Vestals were freed of the usual social obligations to marry and rear children, and took a vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals that were off-limits to the male colleges of priests.
There were many areas I just didn’t have time to check out, like Circus Maximus, but I did make I it to the Stadium of Domitian or hippodrome (photo of the hippodrome on Thursday’s blog). The Roman Emperor Domitian (51-96 AD) had a passion for sport. He implemented the Capitoline Games in 86 AD, which were similar to the Olympic Games. The games were held every four years and included various athletic events, chariot races, and Gladiator fights, including ones between female and dwarf gladiators. I think we can still watch that on TV! There’s just so much to see; you could spend an entire two days looking at the three “attractions” – the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum.
I grabbed a sandwich to eat on the way to Brenda’s apartment. We took a bus to the theatre, but the bus took us on more of a “scenic” view, than a direct route! With all the years Cheri and Brenda have been here, I just follow them and figure they know what they are doing! As soon as the bus turned by the Spanish Steps, they thought “uh oh, we should have gotten off” but the next stop was so far away from where we wanted, we just stayed on and enjoyed the ride! We passed by the American Embassy, which is right across the street from the Hard Rock Cafe. Then, the bus travels through the Villa Borghese park, which is the largest park in Rome and called the “Park of Museums”. We ended up stopping at what everyone on board decided must have been the end of the route. We all got off and started walking down hill in the direction of Via del Corso (the name of a street), which is a big shopping area. We were headed to the movie, The American, starring George Clooney. The movie was set in Italy, which made it kind of fun. We ended up at the top of the Spanish Steps. I know I’ve walked down the Corso before, and I don’t know how I could have missed the Spanish Steps, but I did. There are tons of people around, so I was probably looking at where I was going and not paying attention to what was around me. One rule to follow in Rome: always look up! You never know what might be up there!
The Spanish Steps were amazing and the church at the top of the steps, the church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, was beautiful. The piazza at the bottom of the steps was packed with people. We headed down the street to the theatre. We had missed the movie we had planned to see, but it was showing an hour later, so we stopped and had a bite to eat at a sidewalk café near the theatre. The movie wasn’t at all what we expected, but it was still good. The theatre had assigned seating! I’m so used to just sitting wherever I want, but we had to find our row and seat number. There were lots of people sitting in the wrongs spots that had to move right before the movie started. It was a little cool once the movie let out. Everyone was wearing jackets and sweaters, but I thought it felt good. I did get a chill when we boarded the bus (yes, we took a bus home!) so I put my wrap on that I always have tied to my bag. Best thing – the bus we boarded took us straight home!
Sunday, September 12, 2010:
I’ve spent a lazy weekend. I woke up Saturday morning and my body was sore. I do have a very hard mattress (I’ve been looking for something to put on top of it!) but with all the running around I’ve done, I think I was just wore out. So, I decided to “be selfish” and stay home… and do homework! It was such a gorgeous day outside, I almost felt I had to go do something, and I really did feel like I was being selfish staying home! I did go to the Campo di Fiori Market to buy fruits and veggies. Once I got home I did a load of laundry, started sorting photos (by subject matter), then went to the Ghetto for lunch. Back upstairs to start another load of laundry, work on photos, tried to call a few people, and took a nap!
I did make it back to the Campo di Fiori Market later that night so I could photograph how the space is used at night. It was a lot of fun, and it was filled with people, but I didn’t stay too late, so it wouldn’t be too dark by the time I arrived home.
So far today, I’ve cleaned my apartment. I realized a few days ago that a lot of “soot” and dust and sand were blowing in through my bathroom window. That window doesn’t have shutters like the rest do because it is inset into the building. The dust is so fine, it is hard to sweep it all up, but I have a “Swiffer!” I decided I was going to have to close that window, at least on the really windy days. Earlier in the week, one of the students said they woke up to find a pigeon in their kitchen! It had flown in their kitchen window. I know I was sitting in my living room once when two pigeons landed on my window ledge, but they flew away when I started towards the window.
I see it's just 6 am Iowa time, so I'm going out into the world now! Been inside long enough; worked on homework long enough; haven't looked at my thesis, but it will rain some day! I found a "tour" of the Jewish Ghetto on line and it talked about some things I haven't seen, so I'm going to the hunt for them. The Ghetto is filled with people today; it should be fun!
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