Plowing Pompeii

I must first start by saying, “studies” have never been so fantastic! We learn about a monument, important city, important artist, etc. etc. on a Monday and Wednesday, and the following Tuesday and Thursday we travel to said historic importance. Learning has never felt so real or so alive. Every landscape I see, ruins that stand confidently in their deterioration, church that towers to the heavens with ornate walls and openings, I am find myself dumb-founded and consistently amazed.  I am developing a new, or rather, deeper love for art and the restoration of what was.  The focus of Italy is beauty. And to revive beauty into life again, reviving a legend, an artist, a life which once breathed onto the canvas or touched the marble rock in order to create the masterpieces that now serve as the cornerstones of cultural studies, that is incredible. As put by John Keats (a little something I learned in lecture today) “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” This is what the history and ruins and art and artists and people of Italy have taught me.

Week 3 we journeyed (as a class on program-sponsored field trips) to the cities of Ostia Antica, Pompeii, and Montecassino. It was almost surreal being able to walk in a place that was once teaming with life, and is now so historic and mummified. Once standing on the over-sized cobble stones, still grooved with the deep tracks from the busy wagon wheels and cart bulls pulling rich supplies, it was hard not to envision the lives that originally hurried along the streets. 

Our group of 20 girls was greated by a very lucky, very suave Italian tour guide, Stefano. I don’t think he was objecting too much to the uneven male-female ratio. He firstly introduced our tour by saying we would be moving by Italian-time, “piano piano”, or “slow slow”. Take your time. Enjoy. Absorb. Ok, I can so those things—check, check, and check. But, when one enters the first archway of Pompeii one will typically desire to move ahead quickly, as the introducing structures are more of a should-height cluster of stone squares, attached to eachother and all missing roofs, and all looking very much the same. One will typically be in search of the “meaty” stuff of Pompeii, as we see in history books (or as my Dad’s chosen source of knowledge, the History Channel).

Stefano led us through at a perfectly “piano piano” pace, explaining the meaning and importance behind some of the tiniest details. So here goes some factoids I found incredible about Pompeii:

-          It was not destroyed by the lava of the eruption…lava never came close to Pompeii. The city was destroyed completely by the heavy volcanic ash, hardened molten rocks which fell from the sky like tennis-sized hail, and carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s actually because of the ash that the city was so well preserved. Without it, we would hardly even know about Pompeii.

-          It was more of a resort town/getaway for the upper class Romans. So it had a total population of about 20,000. However, the time of the erruption was off-season for most vacationers, so only 2,000 were present in the city at the time it saw its last hours on earth. Another possible cause for the smaller number is a result of many actually fleeing the city out of fear.

-          There is no word in the Latin dictionary for “erruption”…so no one had a clue as to what was going on. The volcanoe actually pulsed for a full two days before it spewed its guts. It more so shook the earth than just boil over the whole time. There are written records of people praying to the gods for forgiveness, thinking the earth was just temporarily shaking due to their sins or lack of sacrifices. To them, it was an act of the gods, and nothing more.

-          Everyone had ample time to flee the city before the volcanoe errupted.

-          The famous casts of people “frozen” in time as the ash burned their lungs, are actually molded casts where archeologists would pour a liquid mold into the holes in the ash where body formations were when the ash fell, but disintigrated over time. So the casts were made by us, and didn’t actually exist before as if they were molten solid and then chiseled out (as I had originally thought).   

-          They found the bones of a pregnant woman, and the subsequent infant bones resting in the area of her stomach…both shocking and overwhelming to visualize when I saw the cast.

-          Pompeii was covered with ash, and then over time, due to the fertile organic material filled with organisms, lush green pastures grew on top. Over more time, a town was built on top. It was discovered when men were digging an irrigation system, but instead found perfectly perpendicular remnants of buildings and shops. The excavations began

-          Only 2/3 of the actual remains have been uncovered. The remainder is intentionally being left covered.

It was incredible. And shockingly enough, our first day without rain, so all in all, the experience was nearly perfect.  

To give a quick summary, and only just that, of the remainder of the trip, Ostia Antica and Montecassino were also cool…more ruins, a lot of graves, and cool above-ground burial huts which attach to the ground and continue as a rut in the ground in Ostia Antica, and a beautiful abbey in Montecassino which overlooked the Tuscan hills.  Everything back then was a massive undertaking, but inncredible to witness. 

 

No bologna ("bolonee") in Bologna ("Boloanya")

To my dear dear blog readers~

Firstly, if you are anyone outside my immediate family, I am humbled by your dedication and true love. Seccondly, apologies for the sudden MIA status. Apparently I have this disease which my parents have diagnosed me with since I was in second grade—Procrastination. Thirdly, it comes with legitimate cause, as I am long-winded for the sake of painting a literate word picture…these things take time. So enough with the prologue…here is life in Italia via the life of Becca Burslem.

4 WEEKENDS ago I traveled with three other friends to the city of Bologna.  

“Bologna?” you say. Yes, Bologna; a rare city that does not often hit the “top 10 must-sees” of Italy, but is really a rare gem of sorts. We arrived in the city, filled with buildings, buildings, and more buildings, wondering where the Italian hills were. Well, although we had been recommended to visit this city, we did little research as to the terrain of the land, which was in fact, a city of cities. I was a little apprehensive as the shuttle brought us further and further from what we understood to be the “historic district” towards our hotel we got for a great rate. Great rate at a cost, I felt I would soon discover. Cost = far away from anything.

However, my traveling counterparts were more hopeful, and said that by the time morning came, we’d see the city and all its glory in the sunlight. (We had taken a pwer nap when we arrived, and by this time it was dark outside). We scoured the city and coveted over every boot shop we passed by. To accompany it terrain of city and cobblestone, Bologna is the wealthiest city in Italia (who’s to know?!). To accompany this reputation of wealth, a wealth of beautiful BOOTS! ‘Twas our main goal to acquire such beauty while we were in the city. The real notariety of the city, which most Italians associate it with, is the tortellini. So naturally, the first purchase of the trip had to be a big plate of authentic Bologna tortellini. Well, the Bolognese also capitalize on this, so after a 12€ dish of tortellini, which came at a shocking price but worth every cent (or euro cent). It costs to be an official tourist!

Stopped by a very promising boot shop, and were greated by an elderly woman, whom we quickly learned was extremely proud to be Italian…over the course of the next 45 minutes, we were greeted, spoken to in very quick Italian phrases, asked many questions, were found out that we understood 2% of everything she had just told us, and then somehow interpretted that what she said next included something like, “It is stupid that students come to Bologna, or just Italy, and don’t know our language. We are expected to know theirs, and they don’t even try. We do you not know Italian? Are you learning Italian? Why don’t you know more? It is stupid to come here and not know Italian!” We didn’t buy any boots there.

We came upon what we figured to be the central piazza by 10 p.m. (2200 european time). But no one seemed to be out, so we took that as a hint and headed back to the hotel, which we discovered was an easy 20 minute walk to all the hot spots and tourist sites, worries of out-of-reach-tourism was put to rest.

Saturday we awoke to a 3-tiered-table of all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, and cappuccinos served to us. The incredible rate for the hotel actually turned out to be incredible! I could hardly believe it! We stuffed our faces with crème croissants, two helpings of yogurt and granola (this is NOT the “dannon Lit N Fit” stuff either, Italians know how to do yogurt!), and a jelly danish, and of course cappuccinos. Throughout the course of the day, we conquered a HOT pair of boots, climbed one of the “Twin Towers”    , met a guy from Connecticut at the top (yes! What are the odds?! Old home sweet home), wandered the streets of the produce market, experienced produce so vibrant I was convinced they were a different kind, experienced the town festivale

  

  , and hit up the McDonalds “walk-through”!, 

but opted for the 1 euro pizza

. 

Cool facts to know:

-          The towers were built about 3^rd centurt A.D.

-          No one officially knows why; but they were used as defense mechanisms against enemies

-          One leaned so far over they had to chop off the top, for fear it would fall onto the civilians passing by (ancestors were NOT happy about this)

-          The remaining whole tower has 498 steps …that do NOT follow A.D.A. code to say the least. We scaled it WITH our hot new boots ON! Beauty is pain.

-          The higher the building/tower/church means the better/richer/more awesome you were….Bologna is obsessed with tall, old buildings. They are beautiful.

-          The church in the central Piazza is different than most churches, in that the interiors were made completely out of red terra cotta clay. Quite striking as the walls reach even higher than most churches, and were not the typical marble walls with mosaics we are now used to seeing.

That night we went to THE most amazing restaurant, which was recommended to us by the Connecticut student we met at the top of the tower. He said "it is a bit of a walk, but completely worth it. It isn't 'touristy', and only the locals know about it. It has incredible food for fairly cheap prices. Quaint and completely Italian", he said. It was everything he said and more. We enjoyed a 2 1/2 hour dinner, the customary timetable of Italian meals (which I have FULLY embraced with open arms), and laughed until our full bellies hurt. Complaining from the aching pain, we stopped into a Creperia Bar (also known as "Creeper Bar?!" to some unknown travelers named Ali who read too fast and jump to comclusions:) for a Nutella crepe. Mmm! Perfect remedy.

Sunday we visited the old University of Bologna, the first university in Italy. We took a tour of the museum portion, which happened to be FREE! YAY! Bologna has a principle that all museums should be free in order to not limit any student, civilian, or simple lover of learning of seeing beautiful art and history  . Worked out great for us. I appreciate Bologna for this. Neat thing I saw in the museum: whole room dedicated to the guy who was responsible for discovering that the muscular system contains an electric current and sends messages this way. The way he discovered it: eletrocuting disected frogs and watching their muscles twitch. Apparently he was heralded as a guinius; I found it a bit disturbing. BUT, there’s a huge statue of him to the left of the central piazza. Dad, you would like him; he tortured frogs;) 

Updates on weekends 3 & 4 coming tomorrow.

 

Arrivederci!

First weekend of the semester and the buzz began as to wear we would travel to our first excursion opportunity. Well, most of us just decided to go to Rome. HA! “Just.” It’s only Roma! No big deal. It was a “short”, 2-day weekend (in regards to our usual 3-day weekends, sometimes 3 ½ if we’re allowed to leave Thursday evening), so we had to stay nearby. And next weekend will be our official “Rome Scavenger Hunt” where we will have to answer/de-code questions based on historical sites and take a picture in front of it. It’s stressful work I tell you! On a timeline and for a grade. Somehow I think we’ll make it.

The day started with a torrential down pour and a group of 17 girls (backbacks and rolling suitcases in hand) running from tabacchi to tabacchi in search of train tickets to make the 10 a.m. trip to Rome. Contrary to popular Italian belief, train tickets are not fully stocked at every tabacchi in town for every train ride going to Rome. We discovered this to our dismay, coming closer and closer to the departure time. By 9:55, five of the girls had found tickets and were on the train. Leaving 12 of us in the dust…or rain, that day, until we found the final stop for tickets. We run in in a hurry like full-blooded Americans, hustling for diecisette treno bigliette! We book it to the train station a block down (and a few slippery cobblestones later) and made it in the nick.  We caught our breath, sat for a bit laughing about the whole deal, and realized the train wasn’t moving. Hmmm. Did we run for nothing? Twenty minutes later, our question was answered, as the train departed perfectly on time, for the 10:20 departure. Awesome.

Figuring out the termini once the train dropped us off was quite comical, everyone kinda of wandering around, trying to interpret the blue and red signs. I, of course, whipped out my handy dandy traveling tourist guide, complete with every question a tourist could think of, and led us successfully no further than when we stepped off the train. I’m so glad I had it ready! One (or two) rides later, we made it into the Piazza di Spagna in the heart of Rome.

Olivia and me...TRYING to look like we know what we're doing!

When I climbed the stairs into the sunlight of raining Rome, my heart stopped. I realized, I’m finally in ROME! I’m STANDING in ROME! Complete with the Spanish steps, a fountain before us, roasted nuts on every corner (these ain’t just New York peanuts, either, they’re the largest nuts I’ve ever seen!), Trevi fountain six blocks North west, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel directly in front of us, and of course, an American Express to our left. And of course, who could miss the row of horse-and-buggy waiting for the classic tourists, or the gladiator impersonator waiting for you to take a picture and tip him 2 euros?

  In the Piazza di Spangna

We each split off onto our own journey, with varied group sizes, mine consisting or myself and Ali.  We asked eachother, “where to?” and we both responded, “who knows?” Perfecto! We began the day by ordering cappucchinos (much frothier and twice the size of those in Ariccia), and heading down the equivalent of America’s Rodeo Drive. Realizing we would be spending a whole day window-shopping and lusting after the untouchable fashion, we headed down another direction with steaming trattorias, sunglass shops, and crackling old apartamentes. Everything was breathtaking. We proceeded to hit up every shop that seemed to strike our eye, or simply had that glowing word on the window/my middle name— “SALDI” (SALE!). This weekend was the end of the winter sales.

However, we were not in Rome to merely shop, so we journeyed into three churches, the Trevi Fountain (after seven different attempts for directions and two hours later!), Piazza del Quirinale, and a couple other momunments we couldn’t identify, but were sure they’d be on our list for next week’s assignment…so we took pictures of them anywayJ. Two gelatos,

 200 pictures, and 2,000 wrong turns later, we found ourselves exhausted and having had the time of our lives.

Trattorias all over the streets of Rome. 

Ali enjoying her panino: eggplant, pomodoro, e formaggio...Mmmm!

    

Inside the church next to the Trevi Fountain.

Although some decided to stay overnight to get the full Roman experience, half of us returned to the Palace. I returned with Mary Hester and Sara Beth to catch the 8:20 train. Trying to change our luck from the morning events, we arrived with ample time, not a worry, and tickets out and ready. Jabbing the whole way home about stories, shops, and people, we arrived at the destination feeling proud of ourselves for maneuvering effectively around the city and homeward bound. Then Sara Beth mentioned she didn’t quite recognize the place, and I said, “O sure, I remember the graffiti concrete pillars!”

Mary Hester recognized the lake, Lake Albano, but something didn’t seem quite like home…until Sara Beth read the sign at the front of the train stop: “Castel Gondolfo”. Perfect. We all 

looked at eachother, and at that instant, looked back at the train, as the doors shut at that moment and chugged away. Look back at eachother, look at the sign. Begin to gasp, then cry, then muster a laugh. Then laugh hysterically. One hour, two rounds of “These are a Few of My Favorite Things” (from Sound of Music), and three sets of frozen toes later, our train arrived headed back to Ariccia, and we started jumping for joy. I have never felt so at home in Ariccia before!      

 Mary Hester and me passing the time for the next train.