Pennsylvania, Anyone?

Although it is a relative ghost town around midnight, Piazza Navona was in full swing when we walked through it last night around 22:00. There were people hanging out near the fountains, and music blaring as we reached our cross street. This was because some guys had taped a flat cardboard box to the cobblestones and were breakdancing all over it. As much fun as I think it would be to learn to breakdance, cobblelstones and headspins just wouldn't mix well for me.

We were strolling through Navona to head to what many people dub the Penn State bar. Boticelli's is located right in between Via di Parione and Via di Santa Maria dell' Anima, and it is a fun place to just sit, relax, and hang out. It's a cozy atmosphere where we didn't have to scream to be heard over the music; actual conversations could be had. We went for a little bit and got a feeling of home, with many American colleges' penants hanging throughout the bar. A recurring theme was Penn State and in the last Stanley Cup series, a Pens game was playing. Being able to walk in and say hi to Giovanni, who remembered us, made us feel like we had carried a little piece of PA with us to Roma.

Navona at Night

On these weekend night that my friends and I go out, it's not surprising for us to see people hanging around statues and monuments with store bought beverages having a good time. This is most notable in Campo de' Fiori, where throngs of people crowd around Giordano Bruno any given night to catch up with friends, stop for a few to figure out their next move, or just sit and people watch.

If one would like to see a stark contrast to this, simply walk a few streets to Piazza Navona. My friends and I walked through there at around midnight last night, and coming from the lively piazza of Campo de' Fiori, Navona looked like a ghost town. In the famous piazza's defense, Campo de' Fiori is surrounded by bars and restaurants open until late, whereas Navona attractions had all shut down.

Even though no one was throwing themselves over the fountains, there were a few stragglers chatting on the benches. Walking through was pretty amazing; we were able to catch the piazza in a rare state of solitude, although we did liven it up for the few minutes that we strolled through, as seen by the fabulous poses of Sam, Aimee, Joe and Jackie.

Campeones! Campeones! Ole! Ole! Ole!

The Super Bowl is a huge day for American football; it's one of the most watched things on television, and advertisers pay millions of dollars for a 30 second commercial clip. Across the Atlantic, today was the equivalent of that, just with a different kind of fútbol.

At 20:45 tonight, the championship game of the UEFA league kicked off between FC Barcelona of Spain and Manchester United of England. Soccer is the king of sports in Europe, and since the game was being held at Stadio Olimpico, it was no surprise for us to see fans trickling in throughout the week for tonight's matchup.

The girls and I decided to go to a bar in Campo de' Fiori to catch the game, and were surprised to find out that the entire city of Rome had stopped serving alcohol, beginning Tuesday at 23:00 and ending Thursday morning at 06:00. This really put it into perspective how integral alcohol is in American sports, most notably with tailgating.

FC Barcelona prevailed 2-0 in a game that lasted just over 90 minutes, ending around 22:45. Despite not being able to buy any celebratory brewskis, the Barça fans still found a way to show their joy. As we were walking home, there were kids jumping and splashing around in one of the many fountains in Rome, and I'm sure the same thing was happening all over the city. Although it is illegal and the Carabinieri followed close behind, it was still fun to see people getting so excited over sports. Normally, these fountains are only for aesthetics, and sometimes to fill up a water bottle or two.

Being in Roma, I'm not able to watch the Phillies play and I have to catch up with all of my sports information online, but tonight I got to experience it firsthand.

Maybe I didn't get to actually go to the game - 2000,00 euro for a ticket is a little too rich for my blood - but I was able to stand amongst the fans chanting Barça! Barça! Barça! and feel the love all the same.

A Really, Really Detailed Recap. Mi Dispiace.

I realized I haven't written about my life in Roma yet, so I'm going to give a recap of what's been going on for the past few weeks.

The first week was a time to settle in, have orientations, start the first few classes, etc. It wasn't too taxing, other than all of us getting our bearings in our new home. We all walked around taking in the sights, trying to see as much as we could as soon as we could. Luckily, I walk by Il Colosseo, Il Foro Romano, and Il Vittorio every day on my way to class, and later that first week a few of my classmates and I went to Il Fontana di Trevi, the Spanish Steps, and Rome's equivalent of 5th Avenue, Via Condotti. That was our first Thursday, and we realized we would miss the Grey's Anatomy season finale. We set out to figure a way to see it, and Sam (housemate) came to our rescue when her dad suggested watching it in real time with a special program. We woke up at 3am to watch 2 hours of American television, something we haven't been able to do since, and without giving anything away, it was well worth it.

That weekend we stayed in the city and went to the Capitoline Museums, climbed the Aracoeli Staircase, and spent some time in Trastevere. All were very cool; I loved seeing the history and conquering the stairs. Sunday I went to Mass at Basilica di San Clemente, and although I couldn't understand anything other than the sign of the cross, I really enjoyed it. The main road, Via dei Fori Imperiali was closed for Race for the Cure, so it was awesome to be able to walk down it without the zooming mopeds or honking cars.

Our second week here we really got into class, discussing our readings and doing our journals and blog entries, but we also took some "field trips" as a class and on our own. We visited the Pantheon, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and Sant' Ignazio on Tuesday and then the girls all headed to Campo de' Fiori for the open market. After that, Sam, Aimee, Jackie (all roommates) and I went to Piazza del Popolo and Pincio Gardens, which are all the way at the top of the Via del Corso, a main road. On our way back, our tired feet took us to Giolitti, a famous gelato place. Although my order got a tad messed up because I don't understand Italian, it was still delicious. The is, until I ate like a child and spilled some cherry and cream on my white shirt. I'll never learn.

We had big plans for Wednesday, until it became incredibly hot and the thought of planning our weekend took over. The girls and I planned a trip to a town near Sorrento, at Marina del Cantone. Thursday we went to the Vatican to see Saint Peter's Basilica, which was just unbelieveable to actually see it in person. The six students in my program wanted to go to the Museum, but decided to grab lunch first to fuel our bodies for the no doubt long trip inside. After paying at least 10 euro a person for a slice of pizza and a drink, we were told the museum was closed due to it being a Holy Day (Ascension Thursday). We didn't want to leave on such a sour not, so we decided to climb to the top of the dome. After a short elevator ride and 320 winding, narrow steps, we got out and had a panoramic view of the amazing city we are calling home.

Thankfully we didn't have class on Friday so we were able to go away for the weekend. Here is a little recap of how our Friday went:
1. Woke at 4:45 to be out by 5:30 to catch the 6:12 train to Napoli
2. Information boards were broken, so we missed our train, only after just jumping off the wrong one as it started rolling away
3.Finally made a train at 8:15, which went pretty smoothly
4. Took another train from Napoli to Sorrento, filled with an accordion playing teenage gypsy and a breastfeeding woman, both coming right up and asking for money. Also, a third gypsy decided it was too hot so she took off her pants and showed everyone her black training bra and undies
5. Train broke down for 20 minutes, 5 stops from Sorrento
6. Get to the station, only to have to board a bus for what we thought was a 20 minute ride. It was 50
7. Reach our destination, the Villagio Nettuno Resort, only to find that all the restaurants and markets are closed for siesta, and there are hundreds of jellyfish, deeming the sea untouchable
8. Later on, we got some good sandwiches and gelato in our stomachs, shared a bottle of wine, and got ready for a better weekend than our hilariously frustrating Friday

We spent all day Saturday on Isola di Capri, which was absolutely gorgeous. We had to have climbed at least 500 stairs to reach the top of the island and the main town, but it was well worth it. After getting our fill of the town, we headed back down for food and relaxation, and finally some swimming. Saturday night was the same as Friday; we came home from our excursion, showered in our private bungalows, grabbed some pizza (did you expect anything else?), and hung around beautiful scenery.

Sunday was another travel day, although it was admittedly much smoother than Friday. We got back to Termini and our our walk back to the apartment, Aimee, Sam, and I saw Tony Parker and Eva Longoria lunching. We were starstruck and couldn't stop talking about it the whole way home. After almost 60 hours of being away, we were home in Rome and our beds were calling us louder than ever.

Yesterday was a low key day; we had class from 9-11 and broke for about two and a half hours, in which we grabbed some food for our growling stomachs. Joe, Jackie, and I walked around Piazza della Rotunda until we had to get back for a class movie. The computer wasn't working, so we got to go home early where the weekend caught up with me and I hit the bed for a good 3 hours.

Today was a busy one. As a class, we saw the Colosseum, Basilica di San Clemente, and San Giovanni in Laternano. Our two TAs, Mia and Una, our teach Dr. Browne, Jackie and I all decided to go to Scala Santa, the holy staircase. These 28 stairs are said to have been the ones Jesus Christ ascended on his way to Pontius Pilate during his trial, and no feet can ever touch the stairs. They have been covered by wooden boards, and if one wishes to go up the stairs, one must go up on one's knees. Jackie and I decided to do this, and although it hurt a bit, we were both really glad we completed it. After hitting home for some food, Jackie and I went to Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum. Unlike during class, we were able to walk inside and throughout these ancient places. Seeing where the gladiators and animal were kept before the fights was pretty ridiculous, and it's hard to imagine such things ever happened.

We came back and were home for about 3 hours before we decided to go to the beach soccer game on Viale Aventino, played between Brasil and Italia. It was an exciting game; Italia came back to tie it at 5, but then Brasil prevailed in extra time. This free game was part of the European Champions Cup week, which culminates in the game between Manchester United and Barcelona tomorrow night.

I apologize for what looks to be a novel, but hopefully now I won't wait two weeks to write about my life. Love and Miss you all!

Water, Water Everywhere

A set of the many things Rome is famous for are its ancient aqueducts, some of which are still in use today. Back in the 2nd century BC, Rome's city wells were no longer delivering the water needed to keep the city running, so a series of aqueducts were built to bring in water from surrounding hillsides. The largest aqueduct was Aqua Novus, which stretched around 59 miles outside the city.

The aqueducts worked by collecting water from a spring in the hills to a reservoir. This built up pressure and guaranteed a steady supply to the city. The brilliant engineering tactics allowed for each Roman citizen at the time to have about 1 cubic meter of water each day, which is more than what most city residents see today.

Because of these aqueducts, Rome has fountains located all over the city continuously flowing with clean water. Locals and tourists are able to pop open their empty water bottles and fill them up, use the fountain to clean their hands or slash their faces, or plug a hole in the bottom of many to allow the water to squirt up like the water fountains we're used to.

One such fountain right outside my classroom, called Il Fontana del Facchino, is also a famed "talking fountain." These talking fountains and statues were used for political satire and some would actually respond to each other all across the city. The practice is generally dead, but one can sometimes still find a fountain starting a conversation.

1. "Fountains of Rome." Avventure Belissime - Italy Tours, Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Pompeii, Amalfi Tours & Shore Excursions. 25 May 2009 .

2. Publishing, DK. Rome (Eyewitness Travel Guides). New York: DK Travel, 2006.

3. "Roman Aqueducts." UNRV History - Roman Empire. 25 May 2009 .

Markets at Navona

When I first got to Piazza Navona, there was a tent erected right in the middle with what appeared to be a little bookshop inside. Of course, I would never pass up the opportunity to look through books, even if they were all in Italian and I had no idea what I was looking at. I strolled through the inside and came out on the other when I stumbled over all the artists creating and selling their work.

Piazza Navona was once a place filled with fresh fruits and vegetables on weekday mornings. The open air market that now fills up the middle of Campo de' Fiori was moved from Piazza Navona. However, Navona wasn't the first place it stood; the market was originally in the Campodoglio.

Today, there aren't food markets found there, but around Christmastime there is its famous Christmas market with goodies for people of all ages to enjoy. I would have liked to have seen such a thing, but even now the beauty of the piazza resonates with every step, regardless of what is situated inside.

1. "Piazza Navona, monuments of Rome, art, itineraries." Activitaly, guide in Rome and Italy. 25 May 2009 .

2. Publishing, DK. Rome (Eyewitness Travel Guides). New York: DK Travel, 2006.

Piazza della Rotunda

One thing that gets overlooked when stepping into Piazza della Rotunda is the fountain directly across from the Pantheon. Although I wasn't able to find it's exact name, the fountain was designed and built in 1575 by Giacomo Della Porta under the commissioning of Pope Gregory XIII.

In 1711, Pope Clement XI had the vase that stood in the middle replaced by an obelisk. This obelisk was another Egyptian one, in honor of Pharaoh Ramses II and taken from the Temple of Isis.

Today, many people can be seen lounging on the stairs leading up to it while waiting on their companions or when taking a break from all of the walking around in hot Rome. It is a nice place to relax and people watch, and even splash yourself with the cool water when the temperature creeps toward unbearable.

1. "Picturesque Piazza della Rotonda at the Pantheon in Rome �." Bed and Breakfast Little Italy and Chaplin Hostel in Rome. 16 Apr. 2009. 25 May 2009 .