Weekend Update

Titles are tricky. This one is a new post.

This friday is not one of the four Fridays when we have class. Last friday was. So 3 left. I'm taking advangtage of the long weekend and heading to Munich. Bus leaves in 3 hours. ETA in Munich: 15 hours. That's a long bus ride. We should be just getting out of the Alps by sunrise.

But I should also be sleeping. I'll update on Monday with a gorgeous picture if I'm not.

Weekly Update

time flies. It's been a week since my last post. I dont know where the time went. It's mostly been spent going to class, shooting photography assignments, and eating. ...Romans love to eat.
...and so do I.

A few things about Rome I may not have mentioned yet.

1)

Our apartment houses 6 guys.

And we share a VERY pink bathroom.However, It's always beautifully lit from 10-12 each day.

I took advantage of this and shot last week's still life assignment there. We were supposed to confine ourselves to one area (corner, wall, table, whatever). I chose the vicinity of the sink.

2)

Rome is the global home to scooters.

They're everywhere. They zip around you as if they were flies

and you were a fresh pile of manure.

...careful, don't step in it.

3) No, seriously, watch your step. Romans apparently love dogs. Everyone has one. Being a big city, the almost non-existence of grass means dogs go on the sidewalk or street. and about 95% of Rome doesn't clean up afterwards. ....I hope I don't disappoint anybody by a lack of picture on this one.

4) I go to the bar every morning. for breakfast. Though they also have alcohol, it generally serves the caffè purpose 90% of the time. Wanna go out for drinks, that's a pub.

A Good Piece of Tail

Eric and I went to dinner with two of the six girls we went out with one of the first nights in Rome. We made our way to the historic section of Trastevere. First restaurant we spotted looked really expensive. We stopped to look at the menu and saw it was relatively cheap. €5-7 per course. Pizzas from €2-4. (note to self: ever want inexpensive pizza, go to Carlo Menta's)

Per Antipasti, I started with the classic Bruschetta. Eric got anchovie fillets. His plate had 8-10 of them, so he was trying to get rid of some. Didnt wanna smell like fish all night. So I tried one. Pleasantly surprised. Much better than i expected. Actually quite enjoyable. So I had a second.

Per Primi Piatti - the house Pasta for me. Penne al Carlo Menta. Was really basic. Penne. Cream sauce. Peas. Good, but not great. Nothing special.

Per Secondi Piatti - a roman tradition: Oxtail for me. Coda alla vaccinara. I didnt know what to expect, but I was excited. I wound up with two large vertebrae on a plate covered in a red sauce. I wasn't really sure how to go about attacking this thing. It's similar to eating ribs, except with a fork, and much more difficult because the bone is shaped like a morbidly obese butterfly. The second one went much easier. Partly because I'd discovered easy spots to cut the meat off around the base; also because it was bigger and meatier so it came off the bone almost effortlessly. Tastes similar to shredded beef. Delicious.

Songs to download when i get home..

I'm writing this one for my own personal post-it note. If you happened to discover it, congratulations.

"last request" - paolo nutini
"people help the people" - cherry ghost
"when did your heart go missing" - rooney
"delivery" - babyshambles
"shadow of the day" - linkin park
"1973" - james blunt
"la" - old man river
"relax, take it easy" - mika
"love today"
"living darfur" - mattafix
"non siamo soli" - eros ramazzotti
"pictures of you" - the last goodnight
"break the night with colour" - richard ashcroft
"we just don't care" - john legend
"domani" - finley
"everything" - michael buble
"L'immenso" - Negramaro
"da quando sei arrivata tu" - fonosix
"ferro e cartone" - francesco renga
"sognami" - biagio antonacci
"misread" - kings of convenience
"angie" - verdena
"a prescindere" - ?
"apologize" - timbaland
"walking disaster" - sum 41
"rule the world" - take that
"my eyes" - travis
"wall fall down" - bedouin soundclash
"summer teenage girl" - canadians
"on my mind" - da ville
- El Kado

Oh Yeah! ...I'm in Rome

...Not that I ever really forgot. Or even that it's possible I could forget.

But I was sitting in my Modern Middle East class listening to the British guy explain how Sunni/Shi'a differences are essentially more political than religious. To compare and contrast, he brought up Protestant/Catholic differences. One example was how "the Germans didn't want to pay taxes for that church over there" (pointing out the window).

..That church over there..

This is probably the only time in my life that I'll be able to hear someone nonchalantly refer to St. Peter's as "that church over there."

My Mission: no choice. Must Accept.

Assignment: 15 pictures.

My first class didnt start until 1530 today. ..but I was up bright and early at 0745. I had to head across 'town' to get my film (and Justin's) turned into slides for Photography. Laid-back Lorenzo - Photo Professor - said Speed Color will get your slides done in a couple hours. After looking up public transport directions, I hopped on the 8 tram, caught the 23 bus, 6 stops and two blocks later I was at Speed Color, slightly NE of St. Pete's, at 845. They open at nine. I wait.

0900: They open the gate. I explain I need slides. They say, Ok. 5pm, they'll be done. ...What?! I attempt to explain I have class at 5, and even worse, Justin has the earlier photography class at 1230. I ask if they can be done by 1130. After some discussion in Italian between the 3 people behind the counter attempting to aid the interlingual coversation, "OK, 1130."

I realized I forgot to look up return directions to get back home. I wandered to try and find the same bus line I came on, but it didnt return the same direction, and I didnt feel like having to complete the whole bus route to get back to where I needed to be. So I walk. Found myself at the Vatican. Remembering we'd struggled to find our way home from here before, I hopped the 870 up to campus, took the 75 down the hill to the 8 tram. Just before getting on the tram I randomly bumped into Justin on street. We agreed to meet at Speed Color at about 1100. I hopped the 8 tram to breakfast. 15 minutes after breakfast I began my 1/2 hour journey back to SC. I got there about 1/4 to 11. Delightful surprise. Slides were already done. Turned out great.

After the 3 hour photography class (5p-8p) I took the bus to the tram to home. I wound up on the tram behind two girls from class. I overheard them discussing their favorite pictures from class. Ego boost. Flat tires, Bicycle, Ivy, Spilled Grapes... 4 of the 8 or so favorites between the two of them turned out to be mine.

Adult Disneyland

Went with all the roommates plus change to Venice this weekend. It was fun, but I could never live there. Actually, staying in the area for a weekend was enough. Don't get me wrong - great time. But there's a reason the population's been on a continuous decline.

The city smells. Either literally like crap or like bad fish, depending where you are. It's hard to avoid.

The city is expensive. The only thing keeping it afloat is tourism. It's like a disneyland for grown-ups. Everything is overpriced, in an open attempt to rip people off, and we experienced a wide range in service quality. Most places were forgettably decent. Worth noting, though, are the best and worst.

Worst: the no-more-than-half-full place that kicked out the 8 of us after someone had asked (in Italian) if it would be ok if we just sat down for some drinks. One person was also ordering lunch, but when the order of one lunch and a liter of house wine went in, an angry guy, who wasn't our waiter nor the person who'd seated us, came out slamming our menus as he collected them, rudely telling us to leave because we hadn't ordered enough.

Best: we were on a mission to find a place to eat before seeing an amazing €20 performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Earlier we'd walked past this restaurant named after our roommate Rob. "da Roberto's." We happened to come across it again after passing up several other places that were either out of our budget or that didn't have outdoor seating. "da Roberto's" had waiters in white tuxedos providing excellent service and excellent food for about €15-18 after you throw in the cover charge, the service charge (see how Venice gets expensive quick?), and two bottles of wine between 6 people. Not only was it just a fantastic place in general, but after Rob asked if it would be possible to purchase a plate (printed with "da Roberto's" named and logo) , the waiter simply gave him one. free. ...and earned himself an extra €5 tip.

Finding our "hostel" was an adventure. It was back on the mainland, so it required a bus. But we didnt know which stop and wound up going 2 stops farther than we should've. We crossed the street and waited for the bus going the other way. Walked 0.75 km from the correct bus stop down a street that didnt look like it had any hotels/hostels anywhere. Eventually we found the place and our room wound up being more like an 8 bed apartment than a hostel.

Obviously the city is visually beautiful. Most of the highlights are things I didn't experience when I first went with my family 2 years ago. View from atop the bell tower in St. Marks Square, Gondola ride, Vivaldi concerto, "da Roberto's," and the general nighttime atmosphere aided by live performances in St. Marks Square.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

On a side note: RyanAir didn't live up to the horror stories I'd read online. It's obvious why the flights are so cheap, but it gets you where you want to go.

Roma Traffic

At orientation the second day in Rome, one of the school officials was talking about safety.
#2 greatest risk: alcohol
#1 greatest risk: roman traffic

Yesterday morning I woke up at 745 to hit breakfast and make it to a 9am War and Peace in Rome class i was hoping to get into. Well, the class was full, so I got added History of the Modern Middle East instead. Anyway, Mod. Mid. East was this morning at 9, so I left my alarm set for the same time.

This morning I woke up to either a bus or ....the tram (it just ran by - it's a little louder than the buses. it was the tram). looked at my clock: 723. ..too early. back to sleep.

Later I wake up to the standard "Beep Beep" of a scooter honking - likely swerving its way thru traffic or honking because someone didnt notice the light was green. (This seems to happen at every other intersection.) I look at my clock. 842. $#!% ...turns out, since i hadn't touched my alarm since i woke up the day before and didn't have to reset it, I forgot to turn it on. I was showered, dressed, had contacts in and clean teeth by 848. Caught the #8 tram to the 44 bus. 44 bus up the hill to campus. Climbed up to the (european) 3rd floor (which means the 4th) and was in class by 905. The Professor (with such an ideal English accent that he really should be narrating a show on PBS or doing an interview for the history channel) had literally just started class. So I missed absolutely nothing, and it's all thanks to the #1 greatest risk in Rome.

(and don't worry mom, I caught breakfast after class)

Mario's

Remember Mario's? Return to "Welcome to Rome." ...now you remember. Eric and I went with six girls to Mario's. Mario's is a fairly "cheap" restaurant recommended by a res. grad. (one of a few 4-year AUR students who help out study abroad students). Amazing house wine. Smoothest wine i've ever tasted. 2 courses, plus bread and 2 liters of wine. ..well strike that, not everyone had two courses. I had two courses, bread, and 4 glasses of wine. ..or was it 5. Anyway. €10 for 2 liters of delicious wine. ...I must return to Mario's.

The only hiccup in the evening was when we got the bill and it read €159.50... It seemed a bit high, even for 8 people. Especially since Eric and I were the only ones who got 2 courses (not counted the 3 girls who got Bruschetta). We noticed the bill was way too high when people were rounding up what their meal should've cost, and we were still only at €105. We asked the waitress. she re-added it up... €89.50. MUCH better. ..and great wine.

I should've ordered the fish...

Yesterday was a day of rest. ...not because it was Sunday, but because I was on my feet/out and about for 15 of 17.5 hours between 11:30am and 5:00am the day before. ...in between - an hour and a half nap.

Slept in til half past noon. The rest of the day was spent discussing travel options and starting this blog. On the menu so far: Venice this weekend, Oktoberfest the last weekend it's running, and an AS Roma game sometime between now and the end of October.

Justin, Rob, and I hit up breakfast this morning. It's included with our housing. Just around the corner. The woman behind the counter was explaining the options. We all got a version of a croissant. I asked for fruit for the 2nd option. She listed them: "apple, (something that sounded like) pish (like 'fish' with a 'p.' I thought she said something in italian), and banana." I got the apple. When we went to sit down, Justin goes "the second one was peach, in case you didn't catch it." Good to know, cuz I had no clue. We joked thru the meal about how i should've ordered the fish for breakfast. We were laughing until we were about cry.

Today was the first day of classes. ...and my monday schedule it rough. ...all of the classes I'm in have a lecture on Monday. I go straight thru from 14:00-20:00. Latin, Italian, and 3 hours of photography. I thought the latin would help with italian. ...instead, i think it'll just confuse me, so i might drop it and pick up another class.

La Notte Bianca 8.9.07

We woke up later than we intended - about 10:30. So Rob, JD, Eric and I caught our first meal at the free barbeque on campus at 11:15. After, Rob and I went to see more of Rome, heading north of campus thru the park on top of Monte Gianicolo where we caught this view of Rome:



We headed thru the shaded streets of the park, eventually heading down the north side of the hill to the Vatican. We checked out the Vatican. There's constantly running fountains all over Rome for drinking water. I was constantly filling my water bottle. I bought it from a vending machine on campus for €0.30 ...really makes the $1.00+ bottles in American vending machines look even more like a rip-off.

We waited at the Vatican to meet JD, Gwen, her roommate Lisa, and the rest of our roommates. It was taking forever. Apparently they got lost. The good news is Rob and Eric have cell phones over here, so we knew they weren't coming for a while. We took that time to check out the Castel Sant'Angelo area. The castle itself was €7 to get in. Since it was free later that night, we just walked along the river and back to the Vatican.

Starting at 20:00 was La Notte Bianca, where many museums are free and open all night, concerts go on all around the city, bars and streets are flooded with people. Rob's cousin who lives in Rome said an estimated 2 million people were expected for La Notte Bianca.

"Meet us at the left side of the Vatican"
"Where's that?"
"You know where you're walking towards the Vatican? ...it's on your left."

Finally we met the crew, we went back home to take a nap and gear up for a long night on the town. Public transportation was packed all night. We (everyone who'd met at the Vatican) piled into a bus like sardines and explored Castel Sant'Angelo for our first stop. From there, we worked our way thru overly-crowded streets across the city thru Piazza Navonna to the Trevi fountain, making an occasional pit-stop for beer to-go. After meeting the rest of Gwen's roommates and 2 of our own leaving, it was down Via del Corso to Piazza Venezia where tons of people were watching a live feed on a big screen of a concert that was going on in the forum. Nobody was moving, but eventually we made around the side of the forum. 3 of Gwen's roommates were dead-set on finding a bar (likely because they're 20, and they can finally drink legally here). The rest of us preferred taking in the experience on the streets.

JD made the best point of the night. We can grab a beer and legally walk the streets with it. "There's two million people here. This is the biggest bar we've ever been to." No need to find one to sit in.

We wandered the streets the rest of the night, eventually stuggling to find our way back home.

We finally made it to the 8 tram (which runs right down the street we live on). I thought we were packed like sardines on the way out. The ride back was so crowded, you could barely move your limbs. ...if there were pick-pockets on the tram, they might have gone home empty handed for the simple rest of not being able to move their arm enough to grab anything.

It was 5am when we finally made it back to our place.

Come si dice "Man-up"?

It's well-known that the hot water in Italy doesn't last long. The two guys who showered yesterday said the water got room temp at best, and only lasted a minute.

This morning I turned the water on. . . . Ice cold. I waited a minute. . . . still ice cold. absolutely no improvement. So I thought to myself, "man-up. just do it."

Water on.

Got wet. might have been 10 seconds. felt like 15 seconds. ...could have been as quick as 5.

Water off.
Soap up. Shampoo.
Water on.

Rinse. Probably another 15 seconds. Felt like 45.

Water off.
Shiver.
Dry-off.
Shiver more.

The water temp never changed. Boiler turned on? Yup. So we called the repair man. Turns out our boiler was broken (each individual apt. has their own). Showers have been great since.

We found a supermarket a couple blocks away. Grabbed the essentials. Detergent. TP. Paper towels. I grabbed 2 boxes of pasta. €0.39 each. Jar of sauce. €0.70. Paper towels are on me. €1.65. Total spent on the first trip to the supermarket: just over €3. Nice.

Later, using the few italian phrases I've learned so far, I went to the tiny shop below our apartment that sells pastas, meats, and cheeses. I wanted a good cheese for my pasta, but staring at the displays, i couldn't see any parmesean, so it was time to start asking the man behind the counter.

1st Question: Parla inglese?
- - - a little.

a few seconds of hesitation: i think i can do this in Italian.
: vorrei...
- - Vorrei? (he seemed surprised. ..like, you just asked me if i speak english. Now you're speaking italian, not english).
: Vorrei un buona formaggio ....uh.... per pasta.

He turned around to the shelf behind him - probably why i didnt see the parmesean - grabbed a block of it. Broke off a piece and had me taste it.
- - Bene?
: Si, Bene!

He took out his knife and sized it up in several different spots to ask how much I wanted. He took a guess with his knife and asked
- - Bene?
The shape made a good sized wedge - bigger than the small triangles you buy in the dairy section back in the states.
: Si
He sliced off my chuck, weighed it, printed off the price, wrapped it in paper, and gave it to me to take to the register (which basically means I had to turn around. Small store).

Label read Parmesean Reggiano. That's the "high-class" stuff. Even more expensive back home. €4.50 I paid about 1/2 price and got more cheese than what you'd typically buy in the states. Good stuff. gotta love Italy.

Eric and I made pasta for dinner while the other guys went out to eat again. Topped off our pasta with the newly purchased cheese. Tasty.

JD, Gwen, Rob, and I went out exploring the city, making our way over to Circo Massimo, because it was all lit up for La Notte Bianca.

Circo Massimo from one end

Circo Massimo from the side

We came back hungry just after midnight, so I started to boil some water to make the rest of the pasta I'd bought. After the water was boiling, Gwen took care of it the rest of the way.
- - - €0.39 and I don't have to cook it? Thanks for my food? No, Thank you Gwen! You can cook our dinner any time. - - -

Welcome to Rome

I have no idea how long the flight was, but I got into Rome somewhere around 9:45 local time. I grabbed my bags and found the table to meet reps. from AUR. Inside 10 minutes, I was in a van with 4 other guys. One by one (well, actually 2 at one stop) they were dropped off at their apartments. When I was to only one left in the van, we went to caompus to pick up my other 2 roommates who'd been in Rome for 1 & 3 days each, along with JD's girlfriend and Rob's cousin.

Roommates (part one):

I room with JD. He's from the Philly area, goes to Penn State. His girlfriend, Gwen, is also studying here for the semester. Easy to get along with. He'd be a great guy if he wasn't from Penn State. ...did I mention there's a bit of a friendly Big Ten rivalry in our room? (I think he's just jealous of Wisconsin's #5 ranking - though after just squeezing by UNLV, i think i'll pull back a little on the trash-talk we've been dishing back and forth.)

Rob is from Atlantic City. He has Italian born parents and a bunch of family in southern italy and a cousin in Rome.

After we got settled in our apartment, Rob's cousin took us around Trastevere. We ate a typicaly slow italian lunch at a place we found while exploring the neighborhood. A small beer, bruschetta, pizza or pasta, and espresso all for €10. Pizza was more food, so i went with that over the pasta. Took the leftover 1/2 back to our fridge. I didnt realize it at the time, but that was my 3rd time having pizza out of 4 meals.

Roommates (part two):

Eric - from Minneapolis, goes to Boston College
Justin - from St. Louis
Craig - from Upstate NY

In the evening, we met up with a bunch of other study abroad students @ campus for a walking tour - we thought just of Trastevere - to find the best places to dine, drink, and enjoy gelato. Jay - one of the 4-year students leading the tour - pointed us to his favorite restaurant - Mario's. After crossing the river, going thru Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navonna, and passing the Pantheon, we realized we were only going farther and farther away. Eric and I decided to turn back and try to find Mario's where we were supposed to meet the rest of the crew who'd turned back earlier to go to our apartment to try and meet Rob (who was out with his cousin). Initially, we had an hour and a half to meet them at Mario's. By the time we got to that area, only 20 of that initial 90 minutes remained. so we skipped Mario's and after unsuccesfully hunting for a place with Paninis, I settled on pizza ......for a 4th time in 5 meals.

We eventually met the rest of the roommates and enjoyed the first night in with a few cold beers on the steps of a fountain in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Departure

Chicago - 11:45 am Central

After a 3 hour drive and saying goodbye to my parents, I walked thru the door of Terminal 2 at O'Hare. After finding my gate, it was time to find lunch. I passed up several $10 lunch options, finally settling on a decent airport meal at Pizzeria Uno for $5.

...didn't know it then, but pizza wasn't exactly the best choice.

Philly - 5:00 pm Eastern

After a smooth, fairly spacious flight to Philly, I had no more than one hour to get to the other side of the airport. ...and I was hungry against - it was sorta dinner time. I think i was already losing my sense of time. I found my gate. McDonalds was staring me in the face right across from my gate. That was the last thing I wanted, so I headed all the way back toward the beginning of concourse F where I'd passed a food court. Most of it was more fast food and ice cream. I guessed I had no more than 20 minutes to get back to the gate.. I picked the shortest line ...more pizza. After eating quick, I made my way all the way to the end of the concourse where my gate was. By the time I got back, they were 1/2 was done boarding. But my section didnt board until the very end, so no worries.

US Airways - Somewhere over the Atlantic.
Time: ...i've lost all sense of time by this point

I had an aisle seat in the middle section of the plane - 4 seats across the middle. At the other end sat a seasoned visitor to Italy. She'd been to Italy several times already. Once upon a time, she supposedly turned her 6 week trip into almost a year-long visit. It looked like she was on an AARP tour. There were a ton of gray heads in the few rows behind and in front of me.

Next to the seasoned traveler sat beautiful Miss Hawaii. ...well, not really, but she could have been. She was headed to Siena for a semester and had her Italy travel book out, picking out cities she wanted to visit. The seasoned traveler suggested the "small Tuscan towns." I nearly choked on my in-flight dinner when Miss Hawaii responded with, "Now... where would they be."

- - Maybe it was her traveling for 10 hours longer than I had been (having flown from Hawaii to Phoenx to Philly and now onto Rome) that was getting to her head. ...or maybe Miss Teen South Carolina should get Miss Hawaii a map.. - -

But the seasoned traveler didn't seem rattled or surprised. She simply responded with a kind "Look in your book under Tuscany."
- - - Who woulda thought. Tuscan towns are in Tuscany. ...since when?? - - -

After going in and out of sleep for the rest of the flight, I finally heard the captain say we've begun our descent and we'd be landing in just under an hour. At this point, I was awake for good. One of the AARP travelers across the aisle tapped me on the shoulder and commended me on the amazing job I did sleeping thru the flight. He sounded like he wanted to begin a quest for the fountain of youth; he "didn't sleep a wink" What can I say? I like to sleep. and I'm good at it.

Let's Start at the Beginning

I already feel like I'm retelling the same story, and I've only talked to like 5 people. So to save my breath, ...or fingers, and to aid my memory, my stories will be found here.

...It's actually Sept. 9, but i've cheated and edited the date so the rest of my stories up til now have the right date on them.