MC 390
Professor: Eric Petrie
Books: Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories/Discourses on Livy and other material by Leo Strauss, Harvey Mansfield, and others.
When Professor Petrie entered class the first day, he set up for us a three-part class. First, we were to read the Florentine Histories to get an understanding of how Rome’s form of government has changed and how new ways of ruling have arisen in Florence, the major power of the Renaissance. Second, we were to review Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy (Livy being the author of Rome’s Histories that we read in MC 272). This was to get us to see Machiavelli’s new regime he proposes for the new world. Third, we were to get to know more about the European Union and see if it aligns with Machiavelli’s proposed regime. This was a very tall order, and we all knew there was no way we were going to get to everything, but it was a refreshing difference from MC 272’s plan: learn how ancient Rome is different from us.
After finishing the course, we had good discussions on how Florence’s power is different than Rome’s and we learned all about Machiavelli’s new regime (Petrie’s favorite subject). We had a lecture and some material on the EU, but we hardly covered it at all. So, this is what I learned...
First is how Rome differs from Florence. When Rome was founded by Romulus, the city was given a myth that he was found in the forest suckling on a she-wolf, as if he was chosen by the gods to found Rome and Rome was destined to be great. Rome’s citizens were given the duty to protect the city with their life, and when great deeds were shown by any citizen, the populous was quick to praise. The reverse was also true, if a man demonstrated too much ambition, the plebs quickly turned against him until his public life was destroyed. The people’s deep passion for Rome was given new meaning when it was turned into a Republic and more power was given to the plebs. Faction began to plague Rome between the elite nobles and the plebs. The nobles felt that they had the right to rule because of their knowledge beyond the common man and their family blood line. The plebs thought that this was ridiculous and that they had every right to rule as well. This led to the Tribunate (kind of like our modern version of the House of Representatives -- it represents the people while the Senate is supposed to represent the elites). The only thing that could hold back the plebs was war, and the ability to rally all of Rome against a common enemy. Political leaders had to find ways to give to the public in order to gain power, but this often turned against them as their deeds were seen as mischievous. Over time, the people used their position in government to take more and more power from the nobles until they had a Caesar, one man that most liked to rule the entire kingdom. As dictators by blood line are never as good over time as a republic where the pool for talented rulers is larger, Rome began to fall because of its rulers’ inability to continue expansion and unite its people.
The power of Rome derived from its political system and the people’s ties to it. Rome decided to go to war because their state was under attack. If a Roman wanted to to gain power, he had to give to the people what they wanted: a monument to their god or some power in their government. Rome had an armed citizenry and a standing army at all times. It was able to dominate because it had its own physical power that it controlled. This armed citizenry also fought for honor, and if they returned victorious, they would be a hero and could gain political power.
Florence is a completely different beast. Machiavelli writes that Florence, having extreme factions beyond that of Rome, could have become the greatest power known to man. It could not unite these factions under one ruling order, and thus failed at becoming as great or greater than Rome. What is immediately interesting about this is the idea of greater factions leading to more power in the state. We often see faction between Democrats and Republicans as demonstrations of weakness -- America’s inability to get its act together and get something done. Machiavelli believes that these factions are what gives a republic strength. Instead of having a uniting political power, however, Florence had ruling merchants and guilds that became famously wealthy. The competing families often competed with each other and built huge cathedrals to demonstrate its wealth.
One family in particular was the Medici family. Think The Godfather on steroids. Here we have Giovanni Medici. He grew up with little but was able to start gaining wealth through banking. He was known for being extremely prudent and benevolent. These traits led his business to grow as more trusted members joined his bank. When people owed him money, he did not demand it, but instead had The Godfather speech: “there may be a time that I will ask you for help, that time may never come, but I expect you to help.” Giovanni’s son, Cosimo Medici, took all of Giovanni’s strengths and added a lot of ambition. The other wealthy families of Florence turned against him, but Cosimo began making deals with the political leaders and Cosimo turned the Medici family into the de facto rulers of Florence where his bank became the greatest in all of Italy. Today you see the Medici coat of arms everywhere in Florence. Even when you travel to Pisa, Venice, and Rome, you see the Medici’s “balls,” their coat of arms.
[picture]
Machiavelli is ultimately disappointed in the Medici what is assumed to be because they didn’t turn Florence into a Republic that could have rulers beyond their blood line. The Medici rule did not last long, and it did not unite Florence into a large power. Reasons for this go beyond the lack of a Republic. Florence did not hold its own army; it relied on other armies and mercenaries to battle for it. These armies were very weak, not because of their size or weaponry, but because they held no attachment to Florence and were not willing to die for it. Florence’s power was ultimately money and its ability to commission anything it wanted. The lack of political unity meant there lacked political power, so all power was through the merchants and guilds who could attract talent. One last reason why Florence was not able to become powerful is Christianity.
Machiavelli was fascinated with Christianity and its ability to become stronger when attacked. Christianity had no army and yet the Pope could walk into a state and declare it tyrannical, and the armed king would do nothing to resist and give up his power. In fact, the King’s guards would turn against him and side with the Pope. If a Christian leader was killed, he would often become a martyr and praised. Killing Christians only strengthened Christianity. This power was completely new and propelled Machiavelli to propose a new regime that could act like Christianity: Modern Western Republics.
Machiavelli’s idea starts with the assumption that the plebs will win. You must give all political power to the people and find other ways of controlling society, otherwise you risk creating a dictator like Rome. The easiest way to establish this republic is to “kill the sons of Brutus,” or “cut the nobles to pieces.” You must destroy every power in your way like Cosimo did, but then do it in the name of the people, and give all power to the people. From here, faction will automatically arise amongst the people fighting over who will rule granting the republic power -- a tie to the state. In Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” he write that when a prince confronts a republic, the only thing that you can do to ensure your rule is to kill every person in that republic. This is because they have tasted liberty and will die defending it. The people thus have their tie to the state and are willing to fight for it, even to die for their freedom (sound familiar?). Now, because elites will always be contending for power, the only way they can gain power is to appeal to the people. This regime must be created in a way where everyone’s efforts add to the whole. Instead of Florence where everyone gained for their own ambition, the new regime must have citizens that gain to benefit the state. Thus enters our modern liberal society where everyone’s efforts pool together to strengthen the state.
This new regime dreamt by Machiavelli came out of his frustrations with Florence and its inability to unite its factions, and his love of Rome. Rome didn’t quite do it right, however, as it needed to assume the people would win, and give them all power. It was the beginning to ideas like the modern corporation, the liberal society, and the United States of America. My next class, MC 371 will discuss the modern problems/fears of the liberal society. So we will see how far Machiavelli took us and where we can go from here. We are living in Machiavelli’s world.
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Rest of Florence -- Weeks 2 and 3 @_@
Our second week in Florence was, in general, much more quiet and relaxing. Our first week had been so hectic that we needed time to recover. The week’s activities included two lectures from another guest, Professor Lombardo. He is an Italian historian that focuses on the European Union. His first lecture was about Machiavelli and the second about the EU. Neither were terribly fascinating and it was difficult to understand what he was saying. He did, however, share an interesting story about Machiavelli arguing with friends over a few cents that he was owed while playing cards. His arguments were apparently incredibly intense and over very small subjects.
We also had another tour from Rocky Ruggiero on the Borgello Museum. In it, Rocky showed us his favorite room for sculpture in the world where we learned about the creation of The Gates of Paradise and saw two masterpiece sculptures by Donatello, his David and St. [name]. There was also a sculpture by Michelangelo depicting Bacchus. Rocky said that Michelangelo to make money as a teenager would sculpt statues in the Roman style, pour dirt on it, and then sell it as a Roman original. One buyer found out that it was not a Roman original when he went to clean the statue. Instead of punishing Michelangelo, he realized that he had a master with him and let him sculpt him a Bacchus, the god of wine. Michelangelo’s Bacchus was rejected when completed, however, because he depicted Bacchus as drunk with a wild face and teeth showing.
That friday, our professor canceled class because it was a holiday in Florence to celebrate St. John the Baptist. We spent the day relaxing, but that night we invited our professor over for dinner (I should say he invited himself when he found out that we liked the food we cooked). Dylan and I went all out cooking and Joe bought some fine Italian wine for the celebration. I made my version of bruchetta, grilled and buttered bread with melted mozzarella, tomato, and bell pepper on top. Dylan made his famous seasoned pasta where he puts a lot of spices, oils, and butter in the water before adding the pasta. He also made a red sauce to go along with it. We then bought a gelato cake for desert. It was a great time. After dinner, we all made our way toward the bridge in the middle of Florence to watch the amazing fireworks display. It was very crowded, but fantastic to be apart of a city as it celebrates.
The next day Joe, Dylan, and I got up early to go to Venice. Dylan had a friend that had been living there for a week and she met us at the train station to show us around. Venice is famous for being a city on water, and that means that all transportation is by water... slow moving, docking at every stop, water travel. This was great though as Venice could possibly be the most beautiful city I have seen. The water adds a polish to the characteristically worn buildings and bridges found in Italy. We took an hour-long bus ride that went around half of the city; a great introduction. We then went to St. Marco’s square where we climbed a tower there and saw the entire city. Afterward we went to the St. Marco Cathedral where, according to my dad, held the first dual choir loft on opposite sides of the church introducing music that echos itself from one loft to the other.
The rest of our day was spent visiting art museums that Rocky had recommended. In one we found one painting that gave us endless enjoyment. In the center was an old bearded man that was looking intensely at his spoon as if convincing himself that there really “is no spoon.” The other figure was at the left of the painting. He is holding an arrow and is about to strike a cat and dog as they fight. His arrow, however, looks like a Harry Potter wand, and his face is contorted and looks like he is yelling “AVADA KEDAVA!!” Dylan and I laughed for days about him. That night when we returned to Florence was White Night, where you can walk around with a 5 euro glass that you purchase from a restaurant, and then every other restaurant that you visit fills it with their house wine. There are also plenty of deals in the shops.
Sunday was spent recuperating from Saturday.
Our last week in Florence, this was it. We had to finish everything we had slacked off! We started with another lecture from Rocky Ruggiero (tired of him yet? IMPOSSIBLE!). He lectured on art history and gave us plenty to think about stylistically about pre-to-post Renaissance art. A group of us then asked if we could pay him for tours, and he said that he only had one spot open, and hour and a half on Tuesday. We took it and paid the money for him to guide us at Florence’s Academia where Michelangelo’s real david stands. The building was designed around the David, and it stands in a domed room that is built stylistically large, but structurally small to make David look larger than he actually is (17 feet tall).
Rocky told us more than I could ever remember about the David: about how the contract for it started before Michelangelo was born, and when he took it on it was already “badly sketched out” in the marble according to the patrons. Michelangelo took this started David and completed it for the top of a cathedral. When he was finished, the patrons decided that it was too good to be put far away, so they held a meeting with Italy’s greatest artists to decide where to put it. Leonardo da Vinci is recorded as saying that it should be put in some dark corner. It was decided, however, to place it outside Florence’s town hall where it stood for hundreds of years until finally moved to the museum to keep it from further damage. There is a large debate whether Michelangelo’s David depicts him before or after he killed David. The museum’s literature on the statue says that it is after he kills David. Rocky gave us this argument, and then told us why he thinks it is wrong. Between David’s sold stance to his face to the lack of Goliath’s head to several other features, Rocky gave a solid argument for why this David is looking straight at the giant for the first time, measuring up his opponent and getting ready to strike. I thought this before he said anything, and I think it’s true even more now. This David is looking at Goliath for the first time, I’m convinced. We also learned a lot about the tools Michelangelo used when sculpting, his obsession with the male body, and that he hated to waste marble, so some of his figures are giants that used all the edges of the blocks of marble he used. Phenomenal time at the Academia.
On Wednesday, we had a day trip to Sienna and St. Jimmy Johns (look up real name). Early in the morning, our class met at the train station and took an hour-long bus to Sienna. When we got there our tour guide brought us to a church dedicated to St. Catherine, the one who brought the pope back to Rome. We had our first introduction to relics here. This church had St. Catherine’s scull inside a golden display. This church also had one of John the Baptist’s fingers inside another golden display. I had already seen these types of golden displays on our trip, but I never made the connection that inside all of them were dead people’s body parts. The church with the most body parts is often the most decked-out in gold.
We soon left this church and began to travel around the inside of Sienna. The city is built on 3 tall hills and looks a lot bigger than it actually is because of them. It is also surrounded by walls that used to serve as protection, but Sienna hasn’t expanded much beyond 60,000 people, so there has been no need to destroy the walls. While we were there, Sienna was celebrating a horse race that they hold every year. The city is divided into districts and each district has a rider. The first district we entered was the goose district. Children decked out in green (the goose color) were running about the small streets in excitement, something was going on. Our tour guide explained how each child is born in a district and baptized there to become a goose, a snail, an elephant/tower, a unicorn, dragon, caterpillar, forest rhino thing, etc. These districts have allies and enemies. The goose are allies with the snail and they are enemies with the elephant. Deals are made between allies to take down their enemies in the horse race. If they fail to complete their deals, the rider shamed by the communities, and loses honor. If enemy districts get into a fight, if you get hurt or hurt an enemy, you are praised as a hero and gain honor. One time, however, a child was killed in a fight, and the entire city came to his funeral, lifted his casket toward the goose district so he could see it one more time, and buried honorably.
Sienna is an example of times lost in government, when people held a connection to where they lived beyond economic reasons or even familial reasons. These people were born in a district and they fought for their district. This is what Professor Craig in Rome was trying to get his students to understand about ancient Rome. Without a tie to where you live, what makes you act in its favor? What makes you care to help your community and stop trying to gain individual wealth? The answer lies in Machiavelli, the author we are reading for our Florence Class.
Our time in Sienna was short, and after a quick lunch we hopped on the bus and headed for St. Jimmy Johns. We dubbed it St. Jimmy Johns because we couldn’t figure out how to pronounce its real name. This city was built in the medieval period and when you walk into it, it’s as if you have traveled back hundreds of years to another land now lost. There were once 76 towers in the city, each for families wealthy enough to afford them. There remain only 13 towers, and I climbed the tallest. 200-some steps later, we were looking over the small city. Tuscany was the background full of fields and hills that reminded me a lot of Kansas. The city is tightly packed, each building with its own unique roof giving a wonderfully textured look. Ivy climbs up the walls of the stone buildings and streets branch off in every direction. The city is beautiful, and perhaps my favorite one I saw on my trip to Italy. The downside is that it’s very touristy, unless you go off the main rode. Overall, our last day-trip was our best.
Our last class was on Thursday and so we spent the rest of the day sleeping. Friday, Elli, Caryn, Dylan, Joe and I went to Pisa to visit its Duomo and Leaning Tower. We got some pretty amazing pictures, some of which will never see the light of facebook. Everything else is what you imagine, we saw the tower of Pisa, and it is leaning. It is really cool, but it is sad that an entire city is reduced to a very small section of tourism.
Dylan, Joe and I continued this trip to Carrara where (you guessed it) Rocky told us is where the marble mountains are that have been excavated for thousands of years. As a result, sides of the mountain are missing and snow-like marble shines through, giving the look of marble mountains. The government decided that they didn’t want to destroy the look of the mountain anymore, so they now hollow it out instead. To hold it up they place giant pillars all over the cave. Imagine something like the Mines of Moria from The Lord of the Rings. Sadly, Dylan, Joe and I couldn’t get to the mountains, so we spent the day in Carrara -- probably the most “average” Italian city we have been to with little to no tourism. We walked around the city enjoying our spotting of marble here and there and guess as to why the entire city isn’t steeped in marble everywhere. It was a great day.
The rest of my time in Florence was spent mostly with Dylan as we traveled around the city finishing our check list of “Things To Do In Florence.” I’ll have to ask him what we did Saturday, because I can’t remember. I know we went to the Florence Duomo museum and then bought chocolate at the Lyndt super store.
Sunday, however, was a day for the history books. Dylan and I walked through the two most expansive museums in Florence: The Uffizi and the Pitti Palace. Both were places of residence for the Medici family at different points of their rule, and both exhibit some of the most expansive collections of Renaissance art in the world. After both of those, we then walked across the city and up a huge hill to a Vespers gorgorian chant that happens every night at 5:30 right before mass. We then headed to Piazza Michelangelo to get a last view of the entire city. On our way home we visited the town hall Signoria, the Duomo, and ended the day with gelato at the park next to our apartment. What a day! That night, Joe and I packed up and left for our all-night train to Paris. Florence was over, and we were on to our next adventure!
We also had another tour from Rocky Ruggiero on the Borgello Museum. In it, Rocky showed us his favorite room for sculpture in the world where we learned about the creation of The Gates of Paradise and saw two masterpiece sculptures by Donatello, his David and St. [name]. There was also a sculpture by Michelangelo depicting Bacchus. Rocky said that Michelangelo to make money as a teenager would sculpt statues in the Roman style, pour dirt on it, and then sell it as a Roman original. One buyer found out that it was not a Roman original when he went to clean the statue. Instead of punishing Michelangelo, he realized that he had a master with him and let him sculpt him a Bacchus, the god of wine. Michelangelo’s Bacchus was rejected when completed, however, because he depicted Bacchus as drunk with a wild face and teeth showing.
That friday, our professor canceled class because it was a holiday in Florence to celebrate St. John the Baptist. We spent the day relaxing, but that night we invited our professor over for dinner (I should say he invited himself when he found out that we liked the food we cooked). Dylan and I went all out cooking and Joe bought some fine Italian wine for the celebration. I made my version of bruchetta, grilled and buttered bread with melted mozzarella, tomato, and bell pepper on top. Dylan made his famous seasoned pasta where he puts a lot of spices, oils, and butter in the water before adding the pasta. He also made a red sauce to go along with it. We then bought a gelato cake for desert. It was a great time. After dinner, we all made our way toward the bridge in the middle of Florence to watch the amazing fireworks display. It was very crowded, but fantastic to be apart of a city as it celebrates.
The next day Joe, Dylan, and I got up early to go to Venice. Dylan had a friend that had been living there for a week and she met us at the train station to show us around. Venice is famous for being a city on water, and that means that all transportation is by water... slow moving, docking at every stop, water travel. This was great though as Venice could possibly be the most beautiful city I have seen. The water adds a polish to the characteristically worn buildings and bridges found in Italy. We took an hour-long bus ride that went around half of the city; a great introduction. We then went to St. Marco’s square where we climbed a tower there and saw the entire city. Afterward we went to the St. Marco Cathedral where, according to my dad, held the first dual choir loft on opposite sides of the church introducing music that echos itself from one loft to the other.
The rest of our day was spent visiting art museums that Rocky had recommended. In one we found one painting that gave us endless enjoyment. In the center was an old bearded man that was looking intensely at his spoon as if convincing himself that there really “is no spoon.” The other figure was at the left of the painting. He is holding an arrow and is about to strike a cat and dog as they fight. His arrow, however, looks like a Harry Potter wand, and his face is contorted and looks like he is yelling “AVADA KEDAVA!!” Dylan and I laughed for days about him. That night when we returned to Florence was White Night, where you can walk around with a 5 euro glass that you purchase from a restaurant, and then every other restaurant that you visit fills it with their house wine. There are also plenty of deals in the shops.
Sunday was spent recuperating from Saturday.
Our last week in Florence, this was it. We had to finish everything we had slacked off! We started with another lecture from Rocky Ruggiero (tired of him yet? IMPOSSIBLE!). He lectured on art history and gave us plenty to think about stylistically about pre-to-post Renaissance art. A group of us then asked if we could pay him for tours, and he said that he only had one spot open, and hour and a half on Tuesday. We took it and paid the money for him to guide us at Florence’s Academia where Michelangelo’s real david stands. The building was designed around the David, and it stands in a domed room that is built stylistically large, but structurally small to make David look larger than he actually is (17 feet tall).
Rocky told us more than I could ever remember about the David: about how the contract for it started before Michelangelo was born, and when he took it on it was already “badly sketched out” in the marble according to the patrons. Michelangelo took this started David and completed it for the top of a cathedral. When he was finished, the patrons decided that it was too good to be put far away, so they held a meeting with Italy’s greatest artists to decide where to put it. Leonardo da Vinci is recorded as saying that it should be put in some dark corner. It was decided, however, to place it outside Florence’s town hall where it stood for hundreds of years until finally moved to the museum to keep it from further damage. There is a large debate whether Michelangelo’s David depicts him before or after he killed David. The museum’s literature on the statue says that it is after he kills David. Rocky gave us this argument, and then told us why he thinks it is wrong. Between David’s sold stance to his face to the lack of Goliath’s head to several other features, Rocky gave a solid argument for why this David is looking straight at the giant for the first time, measuring up his opponent and getting ready to strike. I thought this before he said anything, and I think it’s true even more now. This David is looking at Goliath for the first time, I’m convinced. We also learned a lot about the tools Michelangelo used when sculpting, his obsession with the male body, and that he hated to waste marble, so some of his figures are giants that used all the edges of the blocks of marble he used. Phenomenal time at the Academia.
On Wednesday, we had a day trip to Sienna and St. Jimmy Johns (look up real name). Early in the morning, our class met at the train station and took an hour-long bus to Sienna. When we got there our tour guide brought us to a church dedicated to St. Catherine, the one who brought the pope back to Rome. We had our first introduction to relics here. This church had St. Catherine’s scull inside a golden display. This church also had one of John the Baptist’s fingers inside another golden display. I had already seen these types of golden displays on our trip, but I never made the connection that inside all of them were dead people’s body parts. The church with the most body parts is often the most decked-out in gold.
We soon left this church and began to travel around the inside of Sienna. The city is built on 3 tall hills and looks a lot bigger than it actually is because of them. It is also surrounded by walls that used to serve as protection, but Sienna hasn’t expanded much beyond 60,000 people, so there has been no need to destroy the walls. While we were there, Sienna was celebrating a horse race that they hold every year. The city is divided into districts and each district has a rider. The first district we entered was the goose district. Children decked out in green (the goose color) were running about the small streets in excitement, something was going on. Our tour guide explained how each child is born in a district and baptized there to become a goose, a snail, an elephant/tower, a unicorn, dragon, caterpillar, forest rhino thing, etc. These districts have allies and enemies. The goose are allies with the snail and they are enemies with the elephant. Deals are made between allies to take down their enemies in the horse race. If they fail to complete their deals, the rider shamed by the communities, and loses honor. If enemy districts get into a fight, if you get hurt or hurt an enemy, you are praised as a hero and gain honor. One time, however, a child was killed in a fight, and the entire city came to his funeral, lifted his casket toward the goose district so he could see it one more time, and buried honorably.
Sienna is an example of times lost in government, when people held a connection to where they lived beyond economic reasons or even familial reasons. These people were born in a district and they fought for their district. This is what Professor Craig in Rome was trying to get his students to understand about ancient Rome. Without a tie to where you live, what makes you act in its favor? What makes you care to help your community and stop trying to gain individual wealth? The answer lies in Machiavelli, the author we are reading for our Florence Class.
Our time in Sienna was short, and after a quick lunch we hopped on the bus and headed for St. Jimmy Johns. We dubbed it St. Jimmy Johns because we couldn’t figure out how to pronounce its real name. This city was built in the medieval period and when you walk into it, it’s as if you have traveled back hundreds of years to another land now lost. There were once 76 towers in the city, each for families wealthy enough to afford them. There remain only 13 towers, and I climbed the tallest. 200-some steps later, we were looking over the small city. Tuscany was the background full of fields and hills that reminded me a lot of Kansas. The city is tightly packed, each building with its own unique roof giving a wonderfully textured look. Ivy climbs up the walls of the stone buildings and streets branch off in every direction. The city is beautiful, and perhaps my favorite one I saw on my trip to Italy. The downside is that it’s very touristy, unless you go off the main rode. Overall, our last day-trip was our best.
Our last class was on Thursday and so we spent the rest of the day sleeping. Friday, Elli, Caryn, Dylan, Joe and I went to Pisa to visit its Duomo and Leaning Tower. We got some pretty amazing pictures, some of which will never see the light of facebook. Everything else is what you imagine, we saw the tower of Pisa, and it is leaning. It is really cool, but it is sad that an entire city is reduced to a very small section of tourism.
Dylan, Joe and I continued this trip to Carrara where (you guessed it) Rocky told us is where the marble mountains are that have been excavated for thousands of years. As a result, sides of the mountain are missing and snow-like marble shines through, giving the look of marble mountains. The government decided that they didn’t want to destroy the look of the mountain anymore, so they now hollow it out instead. To hold it up they place giant pillars all over the cave. Imagine something like the Mines of Moria from The Lord of the Rings. Sadly, Dylan, Joe and I couldn’t get to the mountains, so we spent the day in Carrara -- probably the most “average” Italian city we have been to with little to no tourism. We walked around the city enjoying our spotting of marble here and there and guess as to why the entire city isn’t steeped in marble everywhere. It was a great day.
The rest of my time in Florence was spent mostly with Dylan as we traveled around the city finishing our check list of “Things To Do In Florence.” I’ll have to ask him what we did Saturday, because I can’t remember. I know we went to the Florence Duomo museum and then bought chocolate at the Lyndt super store.
Sunday, however, was a day for the history books. Dylan and I walked through the two most expansive museums in Florence: The Uffizi and the Pitti Palace. Both were places of residence for the Medici family at different points of their rule, and both exhibit some of the most expansive collections of Renaissance art in the world. After both of those, we then walked across the city and up a huge hill to a Vespers gorgorian chant that happens every night at 5:30 right before mass. We then headed to Piazza Michelangelo to get a last view of the entire city. On our way home we visited the town hall Signoria, the Duomo, and ended the day with gelato at the park next to our apartment. What a day! That night, Joe and I packed up and left for our all-night train to Paris. Florence was over, and we were on to our next adventure!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Florence: I can't believe I only got through the first week because I've been writing for hours edition!!!
When I first entered Florence from the train station, the first things I noticed were that the buildings were a few stories shorter than they were in Rome and there were fewer people with less traffic. These alone put my mind to ease, something I didn't realize was actually bothering me -- the ridiculously small rodes and very tall buildings of Rome. Florence, as a whole, is more beautiful than Rome. It, however, has fewer locales to visit, especially ones of the "so much money went into this I can't even believe this exists" kind. Florence is more clean and more compact than Rome, which is also very nice. It core of the city, however, is still ridiculously touristy. In fact, there are around 400,000 people in Rome, yet, at any given time, there are around a million tourists.
I was disappointed that we weren't going to really ever see Florence how the Florentines see it (if that is even possible), but then I realized that we live far away from the core tourists. Our apartment is to the north of Florence, east of the train station. We have our windows open all the time (it's hot) and we get to hear Florentines in their apartments living. What we hear is often loud discussion, some American music, some (what sounds like) Ukulele, a lot of techno/club music, some low-pitched woman singing, and the sounds of clanking and general living. While this is little substitute, it is cool to hear.
Our first day in Florence was spent trying to get to know the place. We walked around the city, marveling at its more homey feel (many said they could see themselves living here). Then, we walked into Florence's Duomo (Cathedral). It's the third largest Church in the world and was the dome that beat the Pantheon's as the world's largest after almost 1,500 years where it held the title for almost another 500 years. It remains the world's largest brick dome (while the Pantheon remains the world's largest cement dome). It's construction is very interesting. The main body of the church stood for over 30 years before work started on the dome, because no one knew how to build it. Luckily, Filippo Brunelleschi found a way after studying the Pantheon (there is a lot of interesting stuff to know about Brunelleschi, including his rival Ghiberti (who made the Gates of Paradise -- the most famous doors in the world -- that are on the Duomo's baptistry) and Cosimo de' Medici (the main family member of the most powerful man in Italy that started the Renaissance, he is also the main subject of my study here in Florence in how to build a new republic) so ask if you want to know more!).
Anyway, after more walking around Florence, we decided to head back to the apartment. And then it happened. Pauly D from the Jersey Shore with a team of cameras and others came down the alley and passed us. Jersey Shore was in Florence with us.
The first week in Florence was ridiculously busy. Professor Petrie was double-loading our days with 3 hour classes plus a lecture or excursion every day. We also happen to live the farthest away from our classroom at Accent, so we averaged about 2 hours walking just to and from these events. On Tuesday, our first day of classes, we met the person that would define our interest in Florence: Rocky Ruggiero (you can see him in this History Channel documentary here!). His first lecture to us was titled "The History of Florence" but it was much more about the art history of Florence. Interestingly, art and history go hand-in-hand in Florence where you can see who rules and what kind of rule is happening depending on what contracts are being made to artists. We learned about just how many famous people came from Florence: Dante, Boccaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Niccolò Machiavelli (the author of our class book, The Florentine Histories), Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Donatello, Galileo. We also learned a lot about Florence's medieval roots as it emerged into the Renaissance powerhouse it became.
Rocky Ruggiero met us the next morning for a tour of the Medici Chapel called San Lorenzo, a patron saint of the family. I wrote a short response essay on this place, so here it is:
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
After this, we had class, and after that, our Professor wanted to eat out with David, Dylan, Joe, and me. The place we wanted to go opened at 7, and it was only 5. So, he offered to open his apartment's garden for some wine and conversation. I could tell he was trying to get to know each of us individually beyond the classroom. We finished talking at about 7:40 and finally went to go eat. The place we went is the best I've had yet in Italy, and it was cheap. I ordered a plate of spinach and cheese ravioli with octopus for 10 euro. It was fantastic. We stayed, ate, and talked until 11:00. We spent 6 hours with our professor after a 3 hour class. We had a blast.
On Thursday, we toured the Uffizi Art Gallery, which was actually an office building built by the Medici where the top floor was designed to display their art collection. The entire thing is now a museum that sections off its work by period and artist. It is one of the best collections of Renaissance art in the world, and is probably the best museum I have been to on this trip. We had a new tour guide, an Australian girl, who did a good job describing the changes in art throughout the period. We began the tour outside the Palazzo Vecchio, the city center where Michelangelo's David sat until it was replaced later on with a copy. As we waited, the entire cast from Jersey Shore were in the square getting a tour outside the Palazzo Vecchio. Their tour guide was wearing a top hat and a blazer and was pretty animated while talking. The rest of the cast stood traditionally with crossed arms and bored looks. It was pretty funny.
Inside the Uffizi we began with the medieval times and saw the transformation of how man expresses himself, his surrounding nature, and heaven above. We often think that artists from the past couldn't pain well, so that is why a lot of it looks weird. This, however, is not always the case, as artists searched for a way to express heavenly figures. In their attempts, they made exaggerated features that made characters like the Virgin Mary with Baby that look very odd. They were, however, heavenly figures that extended beyond human mortality. As the human condition began to increase, however, humans and heavenly figures began to show more and more similarities. Once the Renaissance hit with Da Vinci, he painted the first angel with actual bird feathers in his Annunciation.
Soon, it was not necessary to paint about religion at all, and normal humans could be the focus. One famous example is Francesca's Duke Federico da Montefeltro and Duchess Battista Sforza of Urbino. This painting had two sides to it, a front (as seen below), and a back which had a zoomed out image of these two people riding toward each other in carriages. This was one of my favorite pieces because of that.
Wikipedia: Here is only a small selection from the world-class collection of paintings:
After that, we make it to the Duomo, but decide to climb the tower next to it. Several hundred stairs later, we see the entirety of Florence surrounded by mountains. We are in a bowl. No wonder it's so hot here...
I was disappointed that we weren't going to really ever see Florence how the Florentines see it (if that is even possible), but then I realized that we live far away from the core tourists. Our apartment is to the north of Florence, east of the train station. We have our windows open all the time (it's hot) and we get to hear Florentines in their apartments living. What we hear is often loud discussion, some American music, some (what sounds like) Ukulele, a lot of techno/club music, some low-pitched woman singing, and the sounds of clanking and general living. While this is little substitute, it is cool to hear.
Our first day in Florence was spent trying to get to know the place. We walked around the city, marveling at its more homey feel (many said they could see themselves living here). Then, we walked into Florence's Duomo (Cathedral). It's the third largest Church in the world and was the dome that beat the Pantheon's as the world's largest after almost 1,500 years where it held the title for almost another 500 years. It remains the world's largest brick dome (while the Pantheon remains the world's largest cement dome). It's construction is very interesting. The main body of the church stood for over 30 years before work started on the dome, because no one knew how to build it. Luckily, Filippo Brunelleschi found a way after studying the Pantheon (there is a lot of interesting stuff to know about Brunelleschi, including his rival Ghiberti (who made the Gates of Paradise -- the most famous doors in the world -- that are on the Duomo's baptistry) and Cosimo de' Medici (the main family member of the most powerful man in Italy that started the Renaissance, he is also the main subject of my study here in Florence in how to build a new republic) so ask if you want to know more!).
Anyway, after more walking around Florence, we decided to head back to the apartment. And then it happened. Pauly D from the Jersey Shore with a team of cameras and others came down the alley and passed us. Jersey Shore was in Florence with us.
The first week in Florence was ridiculously busy. Professor Petrie was double-loading our days with 3 hour classes plus a lecture or excursion every day. We also happen to live the farthest away from our classroom at Accent, so we averaged about 2 hours walking just to and from these events. On Tuesday, our first day of classes, we met the person that would define our interest in Florence: Rocky Ruggiero (you can see him in this History Channel documentary here!). His first lecture to us was titled "The History of Florence" but it was much more about the art history of Florence. Interestingly, art and history go hand-in-hand in Florence where you can see who rules and what kind of rule is happening depending on what contracts are being made to artists. We learned about just how many famous people came from Florence: Dante, Boccaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Niccolò Machiavelli (the author of our class book, The Florentine Histories), Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Donatello, Galileo. We also learned a lot about Florence's medieval roots as it emerged into the Renaissance powerhouse it became.
Rocky Ruggiero met us the next morning for a tour of the Medici Chapel called San Lorenzo, a patron saint of the family. I wrote a short response essay on this place, so here it is:
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
The class tour to the Medici Chapel has been, so far, the most interesting tour during my trip to Italy. The chapel consists of the Sagrestia Nuova (the New Sacristy) and the Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of the Princes). These are both attached to the Basilica of San Lorenzo, where Cosimo de’ Medici is buried in the center under large amounts of porphyry, a substance that only occurred once on the planet, in Egypt, and no loner exists in nature.
In the context of MC 390 and our reading of Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories, the tour of the Medici Chapel was paramount to our understanding. In class, it has been expressed that Machiavelli placed the most importance on his fourth and fifth books in his Florentine Histories [note: this turned out to not be true]. These books speak directly about the events surrounding Cosimo’s rise and the Medici rule as the de facto rulers of Florence during the Italian Renaissance. This would suggest Cosimo’s importance to Machiavelli’s main themes of unification of faction and even the stability of republics. Cosimo’s importance to Florence would have been lost for us without this tour.
The first thing we entered on our tour was the Chapel of the Princes. Inside were walls covered in multi-colored marble, including entire pillars of porphyry. Along the walls rested sarcophagi, elevated above the people, as if suggesting the dead’s superiority over the living. These dead, however, were the Medici’s dead, and consisted of many superior Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Sculpted above each sarcophagi was the Medici coat of arms: a shield with five red balls, a blue ball on top, and a crown enwreathing the top of the shield. These men were royalty.
The Florentine Histories shows that this was not always true. Giovanni, the father of Cosimo, lacked the ambition of his son and prided himself on making decisions that pleased the people. Professor Ruggiero described Giovanni as under attack from the old wealth of Florence when they would say “who do you think you are?” Giovanni thus had to be very careful with his wealth. This was demonstrated in the New and Old Sacristies that we visited next.
The New Sacristy was Michelangelo’s first attempt at architecture. His work was apparently bold and unprecedented for the time. Professor Ruggiero urged the class to start with the floor plan, which consisted of two spaces with a 4:1 ratio. The larger space was reserved for Michelangelo’s art and sculptures and the smaller for the Medici family to worship. In the larger space, Michelangelo created four statues to represent the four times of day: day, night, dawn, and dusk. While day was a huge, awake man looking over his shoulder, night was forward, looking downward, and had odd cones pointedly representing the breasts of a woman. Dawn and dusk also had similar opposites both with each other and the day and night statues. Behind and above these statues rested more sarcophagi, again elevated, but this time with statues representing dead persons. Along the wall opposite the smaller room for service were two men with the Virgin Mary between them. The men beside her were looking at her directly. The statues of the dead Medici may also have been looking at Mary, but this is unclear, as one statue is so obviously looking at a door where a human would enter. If this were true, Michelangelo would have been creating a room more in line with Baroque-period design, where balance is traded for theatricality and performance. Sadly, Michelangelo never finished this room and it was finished by a close friend of his. It is unclear whether that friend completed the room correctly or not.
The Old Sacristy was a simple room designed by Brunelleschi. He was the first to portray the openness of Roman architecture indoors with white walls acting as space, rather than the ornate Gothic style. This style continued into the Basilica of San Lorenzo, where, in the center of the simplicity, a giant circle of porphyry lay where Cosimo’s grave is. Understanding Cosimo as the center of this Medici infrastructure is paramount to understanding Machiavelli’s work with Cosimo in his Florentine Histories.
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- After this, we had class, and after that, our Professor wanted to eat out with David, Dylan, Joe, and me. The place we wanted to go opened at 7, and it was only 5. So, he offered to open his apartment's garden for some wine and conversation. I could tell he was trying to get to know each of us individually beyond the classroom. We finished talking at about 7:40 and finally went to go eat. The place we went is the best I've had yet in Italy, and it was cheap. I ordered a plate of spinach and cheese ravioli with octopus for 10 euro. It was fantastic. We stayed, ate, and talked until 11:00. We spent 6 hours with our professor after a 3 hour class. We had a blast.
On Thursday, we toured the Uffizi Art Gallery, which was actually an office building built by the Medici where the top floor was designed to display their art collection. The entire thing is now a museum that sections off its work by period and artist. It is one of the best collections of Renaissance art in the world, and is probably the best museum I have been to on this trip. We had a new tour guide, an Australian girl, who did a good job describing the changes in art throughout the period. We began the tour outside the Palazzo Vecchio, the city center where Michelangelo's David sat until it was replaced later on with a copy. As we waited, the entire cast from Jersey Shore were in the square getting a tour outside the Palazzo Vecchio. Their tour guide was wearing a top hat and a blazer and was pretty animated while talking. The rest of the cast stood traditionally with crossed arms and bored looks. It was pretty funny.
Inside the Uffizi we began with the medieval times and saw the transformation of how man expresses himself, his surrounding nature, and heaven above. We often think that artists from the past couldn't pain well, so that is why a lot of it looks weird. This, however, is not always the case, as artists searched for a way to express heavenly figures. In their attempts, they made exaggerated features that made characters like the Virgin Mary with Baby that look very odd. They were, however, heavenly figures that extended beyond human mortality. As the human condition began to increase, however, humans and heavenly figures began to show more and more similarities. Once the Renaissance hit with Da Vinci, he painted the first angel with actual bird feathers in his Annunciation.
Soon, it was not necessary to paint about religion at all, and normal humans could be the focus. One famous example is Francesca's Duke Federico da Montefeltro and Duchess Battista Sforza of Urbino. This painting had two sides to it, a front (as seen below), and a back which had a zoomed out image of these two people riding toward each other in carriages. This was one of my favorite pieces because of that.
Wikipedia: Here is only a small selection from the world-class collection of paintings:
- Leonardo da Vinci (The Annunciation, The Adoration of the Magi)
- Sandro Botticelli (Primavera, The Birth of Venus, The Adoration of the Magi and others)
- Giotto (The Ognissanti Madonna, Badia Polyptych)
- Titian (Flora, Venus of Urbino)
- Michelangelo (The Doni Tondo)
- Raphael (Madonna of the Goldfinch, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi)
- Cimabue (Maestà)
- Duccio (Maestà)
- Simone Martini (The Annunciation)
- Paolo Uccello (The Battle of San Romano)
- Piero della Francesca (Diptych of Duke Federico da Montefeltro and Duchess Battista Sforza of Urbino)
- Fra Filippo Lippi (Madonna with Child and Two Angels, Incoronation of the Virgin)
- Andrea del Verrocchio (The Baptism of Christ)
- Hugo van der Goes (The Portinari Triptych)
- Piero di Cosimo (Perseus Freeing Andromeda)
- Albrecht Dürer (The Adoration of the Magi)
- Parmigianino (The Madonna of the Long Neck)
- Caravaggio (Bacchus, The Sacrifice of Isaac, Medusa)
- Artemisia Gentileschi (Judith and Holofernes)
- Rembrandt Van Rijn (Selfportrait as a Young Man, Selfportrait as an Old Man, Portrait of an Old Man)
The collection also contains some ancient sculptures, such as the Arrotino and the Two Wrestlers.
On Friday, we went to Santa Croce where tombs (and fake tombs) to some of Florence's most beloved citizens reside. Some include Machiavelli, Dante, Michelangelo, and Galileo. This was pretty neat to see. Saturday we rested, visited with friends, and went to the Duomo for mass. Then, we had another dinner out with our professor. On Sunday, however, things pick up: I lock myself in my room. The door handle fell off and the door slammed shut because of the wind while I was in the rest room. We were supposed to be meeting some friends for a Latin/music mass, when it happened. It took about 30 minutes, buy Dylan finally got me out after holding an ironing board out the window next to my room so I could put the door handle on it. Then, it was as simple as putting the handle back and turning the knob. Pretty funny stuff.After that, we make it to the Duomo, but decide to climb the tower next to it. Several hundred stairs later, we see the entirety of Florence surrounded by mountains. We are in a bowl. No wonder it's so hot here...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
When in Rome...
Since my last blog, I have finished my stay in Rome and am now living in Florence. Here, I will try and summarize the rest of my amazing experience in Rome.
Since my last blog, I have finished my stay in Rome and am now living in Florence. Here, I will try and summarize the rest of my amazing experience in Rome.
MC 272: My last blog was sadly a negative depiction of my class in Rome. Yes, I did end up not enjoying my professor, but class became better once I stopped giving my opinion in class. Soon after I wrote my last blog, my professor and I had a good conversation and from then on, we were fine. I'm disappointed in the class, but not in Rome.
June 1st -- Villa Borghese | Wikipedia Page |
The Villa Borghese is a lot like Central Park in New York City. It’s a gigantic park in the middle of Rome with events happening all the time. Near the back of the Villa Borghese is the Galleria Borghese, a museum of the collected art of the powerful Borghese family in Rome. It’s basically a house created to show off the Borghese wealth and has tall ceilings with frescos on all the ceilings, paintings against the walls, and statues in the middle of the rooms. These paintings and statues, however, are some of the most amazing I have ever seen. Examples:
Everyone knows of Michelangelo’s David, but what about Bernini’s --
This is Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne -- Here Apollo is swooning after Daphne while she is in the middle of transforming into a tree. To see the detail up close is astounding.
This final Bernini is the Rape of Proserpine -- The most amazing part is in Proserpine’s leg, where Pluto’s hand is grasping it. It seems impossible that these are made of stone, it looks like flesh up close.Check out the Wikipedia Page to see more on work from Caravaggio, Raphael, and more.
June 2nd -- Republic Day
June 2nd was the Italian Republic's 65th anniversary. This was a pretty cool day. Normally the streets are packed with cars and the tram is filled, window-to-window, with people. Not on Republic Day. It seemed most people had the day off and those who were up were probably at the parade near the Victor Emanuele building for the parade. Sadly, our class conflicted with most of the festivities, but we did get to catch them on television. It looked to be a large military display demonstrating long range missiles, tanks, speed boats, battalions of troops on horses, on foot, with instruments, and more. It ended with a group of 9 planes that sprayed green, white, and red streams to form a giant Italian flag in the sky. Pretty cool stuff.
There was also a car accident this day. We were talking toward our apartment when we heard the horrible squealing of tires followed by a crash. The two men involved jumped out and began arguing in their suits. It was fun to watch, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar in the States.
June 3rd -- CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB
There was also a car accident this day. We were talking toward our apartment when we heard the horrible squealing of tires followed by a crash. The two men involved jumped out and began arguing in their suits. It was fun to watch, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar in the States.
June 3rd -- CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB
After class on Friday, a group of us decided to climb to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica, or the Vatican. It cost 5 euros to walk to the top or 7 euros to take the elevator. So, we took the stairs, of course. This was quite the ordeal as we climbed hundreds of stairs that spiraled around up and up and up. A few minutes later, we reached the base of the dome and walked inside to see the vatican church far, far below. We were able to appreciate the mosaic art in the dome that is unseeable from the ground, all beautifully done. After this, we decided to climb some more to the very top of the Basilica, on top of the dome. As we began our assent, the walls began to close in around us, up, and up we went. As we continued, the walls began to bend toward us, demonstrating that we were literally in the walls of the dome. This gave the illusion that we walking on the walls and could fall at any time. One of the coolest climbs I have ever had. After this there were some very tight spiral staircases to the top with a single, thick rope in the middle to hang onto. Finally, we made it to the top and saw the most breathtaking view of Rome we have seen yet. We could see the entire city and the landscape around it. I wish my camera worked so I could show you all the pictures I took. After the climb up the vatican, we went back to our apartments, packed for our early train to Naples the next day, and fell asleep.
June 4th -- NAPLES and POMPEII
Yhe train to Naples was a simple 2 hour trip very early in the morning. When we got to the station, we were surprised to find that no one was there to check our tickets. We awkwardly climbed aboard the train, found some seats, and sat down. Little did we know that we had chosen the only 1st class car, while everything else was 2nd class, which our tickets mandated. After the train had begun, we realized this, and made the effort to move (even though no one ended up checking our tickets). We traveled to the very front of the train where we sat near a loud family with children, and attempted to sleep. Magically, 2 hours later, we were in Naples. I was now on a vacation from my vacation... wow.
Naples has a completely different feel to in than Rome. While Rome is for the tourists, Naples is far more gritty, with trash flowing through the streets, graffiti lining all walls (even the beautiful churches *tear*), and people... oh wow! PEOPLE LIVING THEIR LIVES. This was the coolest part about Naples, seeing Italian families -- children with bikes, groups of women in one area, and groups of men in another area, both discussing loudly. Anyway, we stayed in a hostel where the person who checked us in took advantage of our political knowledge to catch up on United States politics. After we checked in, we immediately headed back to the train station to grab tickets for Pompeii. I was now on a vacation from my vacation... from my vacation. 0_0
Pompeii was phenomenal. Most people know the tale of Pompeii being buried by the ash of the volcano, Mount Vesuvius. Naturally, my theme song for the place was “Blow” by Ke$ha -- “this place about to blowwwwohhohohohohhohhohhh.” Sadly, I know this song all too well from working in the Cafe at Michigan State and had it stuck in my head the entire time. After some digging by archeologists, what is left of Pompeii is amazing. You may be imagining some ancient ruins that aren’t all that impressive. Oh no, Pompeii is a city of ruins... and by city, I mean 1.5 miles in length city. There were houses, shops, theaters, and amphitheaters. Most everything was missing its roof, but it still felt like a city with walls and roads and buildings. After this, we struggled back to our hostel, and passed out with ease.
June 5th -- Pizza and Drizzle
When we woke the next morning, it was drizzling outside -- our first rainy day in Italy. Luckily it wasn’t hard, so we braved the weather and began to walk around Naples. Naples is known for inventing the modern Pizza and thus everyone who comes needs to get pizza. So, naturally, we searched for a good restaurant to eat pizza. While most in our group agreed that what we found was some of the best they had ever had, I am clearly spoiled by Chicago. It was fantastic though, and I even got to try a pizza with corn on it.
Our goal for the day was to visit the two castles in Naples, but both sadly were closed for the day. Thankfully, there were some churches open to see, such as the Doumo. Other than that, we spent the day walking around next to the coast line in the drizzle exploring Naples. With little else to do in the small time we had, we caught an early train back to Rome, and trip that took 3 hours. The reason for this increased time probably had something to do with the fact that every inch of the train was crammed with people. At one point, a baby started to cry, and the mother couldn’t console it. The father asked for someone to please give up their seat. My friend Dylan immediately stood up, raised his hand, and gave his seat to the mother and child. The father was so thankful that he not only shook Dylan’s hand about 5 times, but also hugged him when we were all off the train. This is ROMAN VIRTUE!
June WHAT? -- The Blur of Rome
For the life of me, I cannot remember what day we did what from here on out. We started revisiting a lot of sites, wrapping up the final stretch of our class, and just began to live in Rome. I think I can say that I toured Rome for 2 weeks, and lived in it for 1 week. New places that we visited include an outdoor market outside the Castle St. Angelo, the Mausoleum of Augustus (the first emperor of Rome), the Alter of Augustan Peace, the Piazza del Popolo (saw more incredibly famous Caravaggio paintings -- The Conversion of Saul and the Crucifixion of Peter -- and Bernini sculptures).
I do know that on Wednesday, June 8th, we went to the ancient port city of Rome, Ostia Antica. While not as preserved as Pompeii (most of the walls were gone with only foundation and stone left), it was incredibly preserved. There were even some buildings that were refinished to look how they were supposed to in ancient times. Basically, this city was loaded -- it had a sauna, a bar, a sun room with glass, and a section of the city dedicated to the dead. Our tour guide was fantastic. He is a historian from Stanford who had that stereotypical calming voice of a scholar. He had a lot of information to delve out, that's for sure.
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CONTINUED NOW:
Later in the week, a group of us returned to the Palentine hill in order to take more extensive photos of the area. This time we weren't with a tour guide, so we spent hours visiting the ruins. We went back to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum as well. It was a good wrap-up in the city, as the ancient ruins were my favorite part. Many times I would look at the ruins with domes in the background and think of Naboo from Starwars.
That friday, we had a class dinner that was paid for by our professors Craig and Petrie. Professor Petrie had just gotten to Rome and came to dinner after a quick nap. You could tell he was exhausted. Dinner was nice, even with a TV right above our heads that was showing some kind of funniest home video show. It distracted all those who were facing it, but was fun to watch my friend's reactions. Afterward, we all traveled to the Vatican for one last group photo. After this, the entire group, including Professor Petrie, went to the bar for one last night of fun in Rome. Great time.
Now, with Professor Petrie in town not knowing anything about Rome, he was very insistant that someone take him to the best places in Rome, and there is no better collection of Roman statues and art than in the Vatican museum. The next day when Dylan, Joe and I took him there, we were surprised to see Petrie rush through as if he didn't want to see any of it. He stopped at a few statues and paintings here and there: one of a man sticking a sword in his head (which is now called the PTCD major statue), one called The Nile that disgusted him, and lastly what is now dubbed the PTCD room, Raphael's "School of Athens." Other things he stopped to take pictures of were the window views to the outside of the Vatican. He told us that there is an excellent painter who went to the Louvre and when asked what he liked, he said they had some nice window views. He then continued to take pictures of the Vatican's window views. Everything else he skipped, probably because of his fear of crowds. The Sistine Chapel was as awfully crowded as ever, so that too was mostly skipped after a few minutes at attempting to enjoy it. Afterward, we four had a fantastic lunch and talked mostly about the upcoming Florence class. It was a great time.
Sunday was our last day in Rome. Like every Sunday, the market magically appeared in the morning when we woke up. I went down one last time to see all the illegal branding and shoddy consumer electronics. I almost bought a wallet, but decided to wait for Florence to get a real leather one (now being here and seeing their expense, I may just stick to the one I have :P). In all, it was a relaxing Sunday getting ready for Florence.
The next morning we got up incredibly early to please those in the group who were worried about getting to the train station on time. We awoke at 6:30, got the the train station at 7:15, and waited until much later to get our tickets and for our train to finally leave. After a quick 1 hour 30 minute train ride, we were in Florence! A taxi ride and some stairs later, we were in our new apartment, a much more homey and inviting living quarters. The rest of our day we had our orientation to Florence.
We were out of Rome and into Florence. A new city awaited.
CONTINUED NOW:
Later in the week, a group of us returned to the Palentine hill in order to take more extensive photos of the area. This time we weren't with a tour guide, so we spent hours visiting the ruins. We went back to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum as well. It was a good wrap-up in the city, as the ancient ruins were my favorite part. Many times I would look at the ruins with domes in the background and think of Naboo from Starwars.
That friday, we had a class dinner that was paid for by our professors Craig and Petrie. Professor Petrie had just gotten to Rome and came to dinner after a quick nap. You could tell he was exhausted. Dinner was nice, even with a TV right above our heads that was showing some kind of funniest home video show. It distracted all those who were facing it, but was fun to watch my friend's reactions. Afterward, we all traveled to the Vatican for one last group photo. After this, the entire group, including Professor Petrie, went to the bar for one last night of fun in Rome. Great time.
Now, with Professor Petrie in town not knowing anything about Rome, he was very insistant that someone take him to the best places in Rome, and there is no better collection of Roman statues and art than in the Vatican museum. The next day when Dylan, Joe and I took him there, we were surprised to see Petrie rush through as if he didn't want to see any of it. He stopped at a few statues and paintings here and there: one of a man sticking a sword in his head (which is now called the PTCD major statue), one called The Nile that disgusted him, and lastly what is now dubbed the PTCD room, Raphael's "School of Athens." Other things he stopped to take pictures of were the window views to the outside of the Vatican. He told us that there is an excellent painter who went to the Louvre and when asked what he liked, he said they had some nice window views. He then continued to take pictures of the Vatican's window views. Everything else he skipped, probably because of his fear of crowds. The Sistine Chapel was as awfully crowded as ever, so that too was mostly skipped after a few minutes at attempting to enjoy it. Afterward, we four had a fantastic lunch and talked mostly about the upcoming Florence class. It was a great time.
Sunday was our last day in Rome. Like every Sunday, the market magically appeared in the morning when we woke up. I went down one last time to see all the illegal branding and shoddy consumer electronics. I almost bought a wallet, but decided to wait for Florence to get a real leather one (now being here and seeing their expense, I may just stick to the one I have :P). In all, it was a relaxing Sunday getting ready for Florence.
The next morning we got up incredibly early to please those in the group who were worried about getting to the train station on time. We awoke at 6:30, got the the train station at 7:15, and waited until much later to get our tickets and for our train to finally leave. After a quick 1 hour 30 minute train ride, we were in Florence! A taxi ride and some stairs later, we were in our new apartment, a much more homey and inviting living quarters. The rest of our day we had our orientation to Florence.
We were out of Rome and into Florence. A new city awaited.
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