We had Thanksgiving in the Cenci! It was delicious and huge, but kind of overwhelming. It made me really pretty homesick though. And pretty sleepy.
On Friday we had an all day art history class to Hadrians villa. It was a really beautiful day - there was something in the air that made it feel not just like a warm day in the fall but actually like spring. Like winter had happened but was now over. It was strange and maybe a little unnerving.
Yesterday it rained all day. I went for a nice walk, but otherwise I've just been working in studio all weekend. It's hard to believe that this semester is almost over. I'm kind of a little stressed about all of it.
This morning I got up kind of early and went to another service at S. Cecilia. It was really beautiful this time - I don't know if there was something special about this week, but the music was different. This time all the nuns had instruments - There was a flute, a mandolin, a drum and some shaky thing that looked like an abacus. It was so beautiful.
Sunday, November 25
Thursday, November 22
San Paolo
I got my hands on a bicycle!
I forgot to mention, i guess, in the last post that I went to porta portese and got a bike. It was fairly cheap and came with a basket, lock and helmet. (dont worry mom) It has working brakes and everything. Traffic is kind of scary, but it's not all that different from Boston and there are enough charming little side streets that I can maneuver fairly easily.
Anyway, it's totally liberating. The other day I went way down south, past Testaccio and found San Paolo cathedral. I don't know how I didn't know about this place - It's probably the biggest open space I have ever seen and I definitely need to go back when I have more time. Since it was so out of the way, too, it was almost completely empty. It was really great to be able to just go, though, and I'm now going to be able to feel more grounded in Rome, as opposed to being on a really long vacation.
Tonight is Thanksgiving! I'm thrilled. I woke up early this morning to make Tiramisu and I hope it turns out okay. I'm really glad my class is at a different time than everyone elses because the kitchens are going to be absolutely nuts in a few minutes.
I forgot to mention, i guess, in the last post that I went to porta portese and got a bike. It was fairly cheap and came with a basket, lock and helmet. (dont worry mom) It has working brakes and everything. Traffic is kind of scary, but it's not all that different from Boston and there are enough charming little side streets that I can maneuver fairly easily.
Anyway, it's totally liberating. The other day I went way down south, past Testaccio and found San Paolo cathedral. I don't know how I didn't know about this place - It's probably the biggest open space I have ever seen and I definitely need to go back when I have more time. Since it was so out of the way, too, it was almost completely empty. It was really great to be able to just go, though, and I'm now going to be able to feel more grounded in Rome, as opposed to being on a really long vacation.
Tonight is Thanksgiving! I'm thrilled. I woke up early this morning to make Tiramisu and I hope it turns out okay. I'm really glad my class is at a different time than everyone elses because the kitchens are going to be absolutely nuts in a few minutes.
Sunday, November 18
Calcio
It's coming to the end of this weekend, and I am so tired. I don't really even know why, but my body is just beat.
Yesterday Italiaidea, the school through which we take Italian, organized a soccer tournament between themselves and all the places they teach. We went and we played (not me, I just spectated), but needless to say a bunch of skinny American art students were no match for young, fit Italian men who had been playing soccer since they could walk. It was really quite amusing. During the halftime the other team did drills and passes and whatever i don't understand, while our team collapsed and wheezed and had a smoke. We lost 7-1.
I'll put up pictures as soon as I get them.
This morning I woke up and went to Porta Portese, which is always stressful. Porta Portese is the giant giant flea market on Sunday mornings and it's always packed and gross but you can get some pretty good stuff. I got a scarf with ducks on it.
I forgot to mention the other day - Monday or Tuesday I think - we took a trip to the American Academy in Rome to see the studios there. They accept 30 or so fellows a year and really, their situation is very much like ours (only a little fancier.) So we saw some art. Some of it was really good, and it was really comforting to see and talk to these established artists going through very much the same transitional issues as we are.
Yesterday Italiaidea, the school through which we take Italian, organized a soccer tournament between themselves and all the places they teach. We went and we played (not me, I just spectated), but needless to say a bunch of skinny American art students were no match for young, fit Italian men who had been playing soccer since they could walk. It was really quite amusing. During the halftime the other team did drills and passes and whatever i don't understand, while our team collapsed and wheezed and had a smoke. We lost 7-1.
I'll put up pictures as soon as I get them.
This morning I woke up and went to Porta Portese, which is always stressful. Porta Portese is the giant giant flea market on Sunday mornings and it's always packed and gross but you can get some pretty good stuff. I got a scarf with ducks on it.
I forgot to mention the other day - Monday or Tuesday I think - we took a trip to the American Academy in Rome to see the studios there. They accept 30 or so fellows a year and really, their situation is very much like ours (only a little fancier.) So we saw some art. Some of it was really good, and it was really comforting to see and talk to these established artists going through very much the same transitional issues as we are.
Friday, November 16
Rain.
Today's art history class (a tour, as it's friday) was exhausting. We started out at Trajan's market, which is now in a museum but is mostly exposed, so it was cold and raining on us. It was fairly interesting, but I'm gonna be honest, I was not so excited to be there.
From there we walked aallll the way to Ara Pacis, which normally isn't a bad walk (maybe a mile?) but again, cold and rain. That was really interesting (and inside) and we learned all about how all these monuments (Ara Pacis, the Obelisk, etc.) have been recovered, restored and often moved during the fascist period. I'd already been to Ara Pacis - it's where the Valentino show was in September. It was really beautiful. Ara Pacis was an altar to peace, and is covered in really incredible portrait reliefs and decoration.
And from there to the pantheon. Again, been there, but not with a guide. It's on the way to class so I pass it pretty much always.
There was another tour next to us, and the tour guide looked like some gangly american kid who, when describing Raphael's tomb said "This guy was a great artist and everything but he was also a super celebrity. Like, really super celebrity. Like we're talking Brangelina here.".
I was not alone in wanting to smack him.
He was reported later to have also compared Raphael to Jim Morrison.
Aaaanyway, when we got back there was a silkscreen demo, but I was so tired that I sat through the first half to get the general idea and then had to go to sleep.
From there we walked aallll the way to Ara Pacis, which normally isn't a bad walk (maybe a mile?) but again, cold and rain. That was really interesting (and inside) and we learned all about how all these monuments (Ara Pacis, the Obelisk, etc.) have been recovered, restored and often moved during the fascist period. I'd already been to Ara Pacis - it's where the Valentino show was in September. It was really beautiful. Ara Pacis was an altar to peace, and is covered in really incredible portrait reliefs and decoration.
And from there to the pantheon. Again, been there, but not with a guide. It's on the way to class so I pass it pretty much always.
There was another tour next to us, and the tour guide looked like some gangly american kid who, when describing Raphael's tomb said "This guy was a great artist and everything but he was also a super celebrity. Like, really super celebrity. Like we're talking Brangelina here.".
I was not alone in wanting to smack him.
He was reported later to have also compared Raphael to Jim Morrison.
Aaaanyway, when we got back there was a silkscreen demo, but I was so tired that I sat through the first half to get the general idea and then had to go to sleep.
Monday, November 12
Thursday, November 8
Sei brava!
Not a whole lot going on right now. I've had class as usual for the past week. Midterms are coming up, got an Italian test and a paper on monday. I've also been doing a little bit of painting. Open figure drawing yesterday was long poses, so I brought down my paints. It was really nice, good to feel in practice again.
I went the day before yesterday to a showing of Dr. Strangelove. I'd seen it, but a long time ago. Palazzo dei Esposizioni is having a Kubrick show, and every night they play a movie. It's mostly Americans that go, but it's nice. They also are having a Rothko show, which I went to today against my will. I ended up really enjoying it though, in spite of myself. I never thought I liked Rothko but the paintings obviously are very different in photographs.
Yesterday I went over to Sant'Ignazio - I don't know if this is the same place Nana was telling me about, but it was beautiful anyway. It was really huge and ornate, but kind of hidden away so it was really empty. I sat there for a little while sewing and a little old lady came up and touched my face and said "OH sei brava!" and a whole bunch of other stuff I couldn't udnerstand. It was really cute.
Translation: Sei Brava = You're good! (well behaved, etc)
I went the day before yesterday to a showing of Dr. Strangelove. I'd seen it, but a long time ago. Palazzo dei Esposizioni is having a Kubrick show, and every night they play a movie. It's mostly Americans that go, but it's nice. They also are having a Rothko show, which I went to today against my will. I ended up really enjoying it though, in spite of myself. I never thought I liked Rothko but the paintings obviously are very different in photographs.
Yesterday I went over to Sant'Ignazio - I don't know if this is the same place Nana was telling me about, but it was beautiful anyway. It was really huge and ornate, but kind of hidden away so it was really empty. I sat there for a little while sewing and a little old lady came up and touched my face and said "OH sei brava!" and a whole bunch of other stuff I couldn't udnerstand. It was really cute.
Translation: Sei Brava = You're good! (well behaved, etc)
Sunday, November 4
Starlings
Around this time every fall in Rome there are thousands of Starlings that come in the evening to exercise and then rest. It's really beautiful, but the whole city starts to smell pretty bad. I took some videos but couldn't get them to work, so I found this instead -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22birds.t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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