Roma, Italia-the first 2 weeks, abbreviated

10.11.2008

Roma, Italia

Ahhhh! As usual, we’ve been in Rome for 2 weeks now and I haven’t written. So I’m writing!

Our apartment is amazing. There are 11 of us (Sarah B, Me, and Jeff in 1 room, Heath, Lyndon, Brandon, and Adam Bruce in another, and Liz, Rachel, Caitlin, and Vivan in the 3rd). Each room has its own bathroom, and we all share a living room/kitchen combo, which is pretty much where we all hang out. There are also 2 tiny balconies, one off the girl’s bathroom, and one in the central light shaft. Everyone in our apartment gets along really well, the roommate situations are great, and we’re pretty much one big happy family. We switch off cooking every night, and people are good about setting aside non-meat portions for me, and so far all the meals have been great. We right down our recipes, take pictures, and are planning on making a book at the end of the semester, too!

Our first night in town (we arrived late afternoon), Cinzia brought us to a restaurant owned by her friend, so we got a group rate on 2 appetizers, pasta with veggies, bread, and wine. Delicious! The following Monday (we arrived on Saturday) she gave us a walking tour of the area: good places for bread, tea, groceries, books, drawing supplies, journals, pharmacies, etc. Everywhere we went, she knew people, too. Even just people on the street! We now all go to the local Forno for bread and pizza-they always have a wide variety of types, all delicious, and you can easily spend under 2 € on lunch. We’ve recently discovered Bacanalle, a good place around the corner for panini. Also, the Forno has another store across the street that sells cold (but delicious) panini with plenty of veggie options (squash blossoms, eggplant, tomato, etc.) Cinzia also showed us a great cheese place down the street; I bought “Bastardo del Grappa” and it was quite tasty.

Our apartment is situated on the Campo de’ Fiori, which Monday through Saturday, 5am-2pm has a farmer’s market. Right at my fingertips is fresh produce, fish (if I wanted I could buy a whole swordfish), meat, cheese, spices, sun dried tomatoes, scarves, hats, Murano glass, kitchen supplies, dried fruit, flowers, pasta, wine, olive oil, and various vinegars and sauces. If you know me at all, you know that I’m in heaven. Walking outside every morning to buy a peach for my cereal is amazing. Many of the shop keepers (stand keepers?) have gotten to know us too, and give us deals.

Again, since I’m late in updating, much of this will just be random tidbits of stories that I can remember, in no particular order. Just a forewarning.

One night after dinner, we were all just sitting around with not much to do, so we decided to go see the Colosseum at night (I actually have yet to visit it by day). We set out with map in hand, a group of about 6 or so. We got a bit turned around and ended up walking by some ruins (which we later found out to be the Teatro Marcello), Viv yelling “These ruins aren’t on my map! Where are we?!” We ended up walking by the Piazza Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo. Of course we had to stop and take tons of sweet night pictures and just experience the space. We’ve taken to calling moments like this “Holy Shit Rome” moments…where something amazing happens, or you just literally stumble on some amazing architecture, and you can only say…holy shit! Anyway, the Campidoglio was amazing, as we had studied it in depth in our history course freshman year. I didn’t even remember where it was and certainly didn’t expect to stumble upon it on my way to the Coliseum…I love this town.

After the Campidoglio, we passed the monument to Vittorio Emanuele (Italy’s first king) in Piazza Venezia (Venice Square), which was beautifully lit up, but gated off. We turned the corner, looked down the street, and bam, there was the Colosseum . Just…chilling there. Along the way, we also passed by the Roman Forum. (Yes, you read that right.) We finally made it to the Colosseum , and I swear I almost cried. Standing in front of this colossal, wicked old, history-filled building that is famous the world around was unlike anything I’ve ever felt. After I got over the initial shock, I began photographing, since it too was well lit along the arches. We ended up walking around the whole thing, sometimes from a distance and sometime right up on the two steps at its foot.

Our first full day in Rome, a Sunday, our whole apartment went to a massive flea market. This thing went on for miles, and we didn’t even turn down the side streets. It was really cool at first, but all the stands got quite repetitive after about 10 or 15 minutes. It was fun to just get out into the city and walk around, though. I also found a few power adapters, which is handy cause at the time I only one that shocked you any time you take it out of the wall. Jeff got a button-down shirt and Rachel bought a cool old wooden box, but other than that I don’t think anyone bought much. We all made it out with our wallets though, which was quite an accomplishment in a crowded place like that.

One day after Italian class, we had 3 hours before studio started at 2. Most people went to our site for our next studio (Piazza Venezia) to sketch, but Liz and I decided that since we hadn’t been to the Pantheon, it was high time we checked it out. We had walked by it one day in history class, but hadn’t actually had time to go in. So we went. The portico is enormous, such a larger scale than I had ever realized…and actually the same goes for the inside. When we were inside there was great lighting, so we got the typical sweet pictures. I had fun playing with funky angles as well and trying to make the pictures look distorted when they actually weren’t. We ran into a woman whose son and niece both go to RPI (the niece just started architecture!)…what a small world. We enjoyed the space, but didn’t stay too long because we had things to do before class and hey, we can come back any time we want! I love living in Rome and being in that sort of mentality. J I’m definitely going back without my camera and only a sketchbook in hand soon.

Yesterday morning (Saturday), Liz and I went out and decided to go shopping: markets, shops, wherever. We ended up walking along the Papal Way, because Viv and Caitlin told us about some fun antique and second hand shops. We walked for a while and did a lot of browsing. I ended up buying a scarf, and she got 2 of the same for friends. It’s a light, super soft, simply knit scarf with a pretty lace detail, and I found one in my favorite shade of orange. Some of the stores we went into were really swanky and just sad because there was no way we’d ever be able to afford anything inside, but some stores were funky second hand stores filled with old leather purses, boots, and random clothes. All the shop keepers smoked, so these places just smelled of leather and cigarettes…it all felt very local Italian, it was great. I’ve been looking for a pair of boots to buy at some point during the semester and keeping a list of requirements in my head. Well, on our way back from shopping, Liz and I found my boots. They come a little bit past my ankle, have some heel but aren’t too pointy, and are a brushed leather suedey deep purple. I wore them last night when we went out, and they were comfy for walking over the cobblestones (quite a feat) and dancing…basically, my boots are amazing and I looked hot in them (I paired them with my yellow and purple dress that I got this summer in Troy).

PICTURES: the market in the Campo + the Colosseum at night (more to come once I get more organized!)