Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Recap of the Past Few Weeks
Tuscany
A bunch of people from my program went on a sponsored trip to Tuscany two weekends ago. First, we went to the small town of Pienza where there were some really great views of the country.
Then, we went to the town of Montepulciano, which is known for its Tuscan wine.
At a medieval wine cellar, we got to look around as well as taste different wines and cheeses.
At the end of the day, we went to a really big restaurant that served us a huge meal – an appetizer (artichoke, cheese, and bruschetta), a first pasta dish with a tomato sauce, a second pasta dish with a white sauce, chicken and potatoes, dessert, coffee, and of course wine.
I also went to a wine-tasting class that the school offered where we had 3 red wines, 3 white wines, and 1 dessert wine. After comparing the different qualities of wine (some were very cheap while one cost over $100 for a bottle), it became pretty easy to tell which wines were good and which were bad.
Museums
For my on-site class, I went to the National Etruscan Museum in Villa Giulia last week, which was pretty interesting.
I also went to see the Picasso exhibit inside the Vittoriano (Victor Emmanuel II monument).
Villa Borghese Gardens
Villa Borghese is a huge park in northern Rome that doesn’t even seem like it’s a part of the city. There’s lots of buildings, museums, and other attractions including the zoo. I went there for a day with three friends and we rented a 4-person bicycle-car for an hour, which was a lot of fun.
Churches
I’ve been inside lots of churches, but one of the more recent ones was the Basilica di San Clemente. While the current basilica above ground is already very old and impressive, there’s archaeological ruins from an even older church below ground that dates back to the 300’s. It felt like a cave and was really cool to walk around in.
Classes are going well. For photography class yesterday, we met at the Colosseum and had to take photos of three different themes – “I am a tourist” (basically creepily taking pictures of other people), dark and light contrast, and different perspectives of the Colosseum.
For my on-site class tomorrow, we’re meeting at the Palentine Hill near the Forum. It’s great to be able to see the city while going to class. My Italian classes are hard, but not so bad.
At a bar the other night, I met a group of about 10 Italians and had a conversation with them for about a half hour completely in Italian, which was a lot of fun. It’s really easy to meet Italians if you say you’re from New York because they all think that NYC is amazing.
In terms of the rooming situation, my roommate Hans dropped out of the program and went back to the U.S. so now we have an extra bed. Overall, my roommates are great, but one of them is pretty ridiculous so I may move into Hans’ old bed after this weekend.
My February is going to be really busy – Navid and Liz from UMD are visiting from Spain this weekend, and then the next three weekends I will be going to Berlin, Venice, and Barcelona so I have a lot to look forward to.
A bunch of people from my program went on a sponsored trip to Tuscany two weekends ago. First, we went to the small town of Pienza where there were some really great views of the country.
Then, we went to the town of Montepulciano, which is known for its Tuscan wine.
At a medieval wine cellar, we got to look around as well as taste different wines and cheeses.
At the end of the day, we went to a really big restaurant that served us a huge meal – an appetizer (artichoke, cheese, and bruschetta), a first pasta dish with a tomato sauce, a second pasta dish with a white sauce, chicken and potatoes, dessert, coffee, and of course wine.
I also went to a wine-tasting class that the school offered where we had 3 red wines, 3 white wines, and 1 dessert wine. After comparing the different qualities of wine (some were very cheap while one cost over $100 for a bottle), it became pretty easy to tell which wines were good and which were bad.
Museums
For my on-site class, I went to the National Etruscan Museum in Villa Giulia last week, which was pretty interesting.
I also went to see the Picasso exhibit inside the Vittoriano (Victor Emmanuel II monument).
Villa Borghese Gardens
Villa Borghese is a huge park in northern Rome that doesn’t even seem like it’s a part of the city. There’s lots of buildings, museums, and other attractions including the zoo. I went there for a day with three friends and we rented a 4-person bicycle-car for an hour, which was a lot of fun.
Churches
I’ve been inside lots of churches, but one of the more recent ones was the Basilica di San Clemente. While the current basilica above ground is already very old and impressive, there’s archaeological ruins from an even older church below ground that dates back to the 300’s. It felt like a cave and was really cool to walk around in.
Classes are going well. For photography class yesterday, we met at the Colosseum and had to take photos of three different themes – “I am a tourist” (basically creepily taking pictures of other people), dark and light contrast, and different perspectives of the Colosseum.
For my on-site class tomorrow, we’re meeting at the Palentine Hill near the Forum. It’s great to be able to see the city while going to class. My Italian classes are hard, but not so bad.
At a bar the other night, I met a group of about 10 Italians and had a conversation with them for about a half hour completely in Italian, which was a lot of fun. It’s really easy to meet Italians if you say you’re from New York because they all think that NYC is amazing.
In terms of the rooming situation, my roommate Hans dropped out of the program and went back to the U.S. so now we have an extra bed. Overall, my roommates are great, but one of them is pretty ridiculous so I may move into Hans’ old bed after this weekend.
My February is going to be really busy – Navid and Liz from UMD are visiting from Spain this weekend, and then the next three weekends I will be going to Berlin, Venice, and Barcelona so I have a lot to look forward to.
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