Sette giorni
Venti due Caffè macchiato (approx. including making my own)
Quattro docce fredde
Cinque corse al supermercato
Quattro viaggi al compidoglio
Mi sento come sono stato qui per sempre
Here are the highlights/observations of the week
Living in Rome is starting to become a reality. Although I am in a category of my own between permanent resident and tourist, the Roman way of life is beginning to set in. My blending skills are improving. Here are the rules; keep conversations short, be confident when addressing others, use the Roman hand gesture when ordering two things (do not throw up a peace sign) and wear your backpack as little as possible. There's no guarantee that following the rules will make you look Italian, but most of the battle is not sticking out.
spotted, trying to blend
Architecturally this trip has been like none other. During our second walk about Rome with Eric and Marina, we were told that by the time our semester was over, we would know more about Rome than the Romans do, and I'm starting to see how this is possible. Discovering the city in a new perspective, analyzing buildings and piazzas in a purely functional ways, touring 5 of the 7 hills of Rome in one day, all of these will add to a greater understanding of how the city works. My mindset has already changed as I notice the virtual floor and the ceiling that the edges of a closed piazza make, or how changes in urban scale create spaces which are undeniably beautiful and adaptable. This trip is more about understanding why spaces and experiences bring forth certain human responses beyond simply looking at history or various drawings. This self discovery will allow each of us develop a sense for space making from live examples dating back to antiquity, an irreplaceable lesson.
I sometimes forget I'm in Rome and that everything we have learned about the city is actually here & within walking distance (wow, great realization Chris, but really). We all walk down the street normally, doing that thing we do, then we turn right and walk into San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane...I nearly fall over.
Today we end our tour in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four major papal basilicas in Rome commissioned by Pope Sixtus III. With classically Roman features, a tall and wide nave, an aisle on either side, and a semicircular apse at the end, the church is impressive and strong with beautifully detailed mosaics and surface patters. The whole experience of the interior is defined by reflecting gold surfaces with light shining in from a series of windows, the most magnificent of which are housed in the unassuming Borghese Chapel. Few words can describe what the pictures will convey
Italian food, oh how I love you. Let's begin with coffee, made to order, 70 Euro cents, stop it, it hurts. Best dish so far...it may have been the circumstance (because I was beyond hungry), but the simplest prosciutto and mozzarella panini in un piccolo ristorante vicino al circo massimo, tutti erano squisito. Italian grocery shopping makes me happy. I am also a little embarrassed to admit I am also becoming one of those people who measures my life in gelato. One thing I have found is that quality of the mixture is really what makes or breaks the whole gelato eating experience. The art of combination is becoming a passion.
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