We Are CATHOLIC! (Saturday and Sunday)

Saturday and Sunday. the Gumm family became Catholic. On Saturday, we started the day by going to to Castel Sant'Angelo, a type of fort for the Pope when it isn't safe to stay in his Vatican.

Inside, we found dark tunnels leading upward toward hundreds of stairs, also leading upward toward the too. Once there, there is a restaurant that serves under a canopy of leaves with windows looking out toward Rome, a great place to eat! 

Afterward, we had reservations to see the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel. We took an exhaustive look at some of the greatest art the world has known. Here is just a short list of what is there, provided by Wikipedia:

• Several paintings by Caravaggio including the majestic Entombment (1602–1603)
• Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of St. Jerome in the Wilderness;
• Works by painters Fra Angelico, Giotto, Raphael, Nicolas Poussin and Titian;
• The red marble papal throne, formerly in the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano;
• Roman sculpture, tombstones, and inscriptions, including the Early Christian Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus and Dogmatic sarcophagus, and the epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus;
• The Raphael Rooms with many works by Raphael and his workshop, including the masterpiece The School of Athens
• Other Raphael masterpieces including "The Transfiguration".
• The Niccoline Chapel
• The Sistine Chapel
• The Gallery of Maps: topographical maps of the whole of Italy, painted on the walls by friar Ignazio Danti of Perugia, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII (1572–1585). It remains the world's largest pictorial geographical study.
• The frescoes and other works in the Borgia Apartment built for Pope Alexander VI (Borgia).

This was the most overwhelming thing I have ever done in my entire life. To look at a fine piece of art takes time. In this museum, there are hundreds upon hundreds of fine pieces of art. By the time we had entered the modern art section and saw that there were 54 rooms to traverse, I think we all agreed to just skip over these in order to finally see the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo's Creation of Adam lies precariously on the ceiling, as if extraordinarily common among the hundreds of other amazing paintings in the room. It's obnoxiously overwhelming. If you all want more detailed thoughts about these locations and what I saw or thought, please contact me. 

After this, however, we were all exhausted. I thought a nice break in the park would do us well, so we made our way to the Spanish Steps in order to go to Villa Borghese Park. This proved difficult, as the bus system never goes directly next to the Spanish Steps because there are usually a trillion people there. So, we got lost... But, we did finally make it. 

Mom, like a real trooper, took these steps like a champ, climbing like a mad(wo)man to the top. At the top, we rested, and then continued our walk to the Villa Borghese Park, where we could really rest. We were too tired to explore the entire park, but I take a tour of it on Wednesday, so i'll let you all know about it soon!

Like every day in Rome, Saturday was tiring, and the next day proved to be almost as overwhelming. On Sunday, a group of friends, my parents and I toured St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world. As soon as I can get my friend's laptop, I'll post pictures of my own, but until then, here is a picture of mass at the very front 1/4th of the church.

Yes, I attended mass at this church, a Latin mass. I had no idea what I was doing, but wow am I glad there was so much to look at. Interesting things I learned while there, however, is that those giant twisty beams in the middle is actually the PANTHEON's METAL that some Pope decided was good to stip and create this instead. When I found that out, I was angry. The Pantheon is one of the coolest things I have seen, oddly impressive despite being much smaller than this. Oh well, mass was fun and this church, like its museum, is filled with intensely interesting art.

After this, our group tried desperately to exit the church only to find a trillion people waiting outside to see the Pope, for he was making a speech at 12, right when our mass ended. And so, we were packed like sardines in a place this large:

We were stuck on that top-left part where we were being filted out of the Vatican. The entire place was packed with people, absolutely incredible. The Pope spoke from his apartment area in one of the buildings on right of this picture. He said some stuff in Latin, French, and even a little in English, blessing the crowd. Luckily everyone was relatively still for this, because if one person would have panicked from claustrophobia, we all would have been crushed. Ridiculous.

After this, we made our way back to my apartment near the southern side of the city. Mom and dad were happy to see where I lived, but there also happened to be Europe's largest market right outside, so we took a look around. I found this random picture online, but on the left is where I live! :D

The market extends for blocks with multiple layers, each display filled to the brim with both quality and awful everythings.

The rest of my day consisted of saying bye to my parents for the day, taking a nap, and desperately reading to catch up. Good times, goooood times.

The Gumm Family Invades Rome (Friday)

Friday was a fantastic day.

My friends and I went to our last class of the week at the Accent Center and quickly went back to our apartments. I quickly ate lunch and waited excitedly for 3:00pm when I knew I would be meeting my parents at the Colosseum. They have been on a tour of Europe with my dad's Women's ensamble and vocal jazz ensamble. They left 2 days after I returned from my MSU finals, so I haven't had a lot of opportunities to enjoy their company for months (MSU finals really cut down on the visits home). Frankly, I am home sick, because home isn't really home without parents (love you too Jordan!).

So, at 2:30 I left, rode the tram and then walked to the Arch of Constantine, right next to the Colosseum. There, I waited, not knowing that my parents were already waiting on the hill for me next to the Arch. Our meeting was glorious. They had told me that they were ready for walking because that's what they have been doing the entire trip, but they weren't ready for ROME WALKING! Walking in Rome really takes a Roman spirit, one that descends from Greek mythology, radiating its strength through the veins of all who must traverse these cobbled streets. Naturally having that spirit in me, I took off explaining the the Colosseum to my parents and explaining what I had learned from our class's tour of it. (Sorry about pictures not fitting)



After that, we walked around Rome's Ancient City, including Palontine hill and the Forum.



We next moved on to the top of the monument to Victor Emanuel II, featured in my previous blog. Next, we visited Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio right next to it, another of the places our class toured. Then, we ate.



I can't even remember how (probably walking), but we traveled more to the center of Rome, where I showed mom and dad the Trevi fountain, Piazza Colonna, Piazza Di Montecitorio, the Pantheon, and the Piazza Navona, some of my favorite places in Rome (also, notice how small people are in these pictures).

Finally, we parted our ways and mom and dad walked back to their hotel. Let's just say our Roman spirits were hanging by a string... we were exhausted. 3:00pm-8:00pm we accomplished all of this. 5 hours of epic. More on our adventures tomorrow where you will find out how I broke our sink. :D

What Happened To Thursday?

On Friday, my parents came to Rome and I've been spending most of my time with them, but I now need to go back and write about Thursday. After class, a group of us decided to go to the top of Rome's gigantic monument to Vittorio Emanuel II, the first King of a united italy in the mid-19th century. We are able to walk up the first tiered platforms using the stairs, but to make it all the way up to where the horse-drawn carriages are, we had to take a long elevator ride up. When on top, you can see the entirety of Rome, a spectacular site. You can see the Colosseum at the back right, the Vatican toward the front left, where I live toward the back left, and the Vila Borghese gardens toward the front right (when on top facing the front of the monument).

After this visit, we all walked around the Forum some more, and then ran away from rain clouds, quickly making back to our apartments. The rest of the day was dedicated to rest. Ahh...

Our First Tour(s) =D

First of all, yesterday, I didn't blog because it was a day of rest. We had our first day of class, which was interesting. Took notes, probably made some folks angry, the usual first day for me in a James Madison class. After that, I basically zoned out on a tower defense game and read Livy's History of Rome. Sleeeeppp.

Today, however, was our class' first tour. We have one planned for each Wednesday, but 7 in total, so we had to cram 2 for today. Our goal was to complete a tour of Michelangelo's Capitoline Hill Plaza museum and Rome's ancient city, including the Forum and the Colosseum. When I mention these places, google them, they are amazing.

The Capitoline Hill Plaza was designed by Michelangelo for the arrival of King Charles V's arrival after the sack of Rome in 16th century. As such, it was designed as a spectacle of beauty, and is, indeed, beautiful. We found out that the court is designed to cut off view from ancient (sacked) Rome and forcing you to look at the Vatican. Pretty cool. The entire thing is a museum filled with hundreds of statues going through the history of Rome. The rooms they are in are also ridiculously detailed with paintings on the walls and 3D wall sculptures.

The Colosseum was impressive a couple days ago from the outside, but the inside is even more impressive. Our tour guide said many think it's not as big as they were expecting, but I thought it was incredibly big when considering when they built it. We went through the construction of brick and cement mixes with brick lining. It's thought that the Colosseum was actually coated in marble when in full use. We learned that the Italian word for sand is arena, and they put sand on the front-row standing area in the Colosseum, and thus we have Arenas. We saw drawings, or carvings from the audience of their favorite warriors, which put the entire experience into perspective. I imagined being there and watching a battle between animals and humans. I imagined the inside flooded with water for naval battles or naked women for enjoyment. I now want Rome to recreate the Colosseum and hold such events again... for me.

Finally, we had a small tour of the Forum, a center of public life in Rome with several political buildings. We found that Caesar had built a Senate building on top of an older Senate building in order to block off the rest of Rome and further create a rectangular Forum. He also used this building as a grand entrence to the people. We also saw where Caesar was cremated and flowers are still being laid there. His body, however, is somewhere else. We learned a lot of Caesar here. This was the least interesting place, mostly because I couldn't visualize the place, as it's a lot of ruins with little form. It is still oddly beautiful.

After we got back, a group of us wanted to see The Hangover 2. So, we went out, got Gelato, went to the movie theatre, and found that it was only in Italian. So, instead, we got wine. Got to go!

                                                         
TLDR
 - had a tour of an amazing museum.
 - saw the inside of the Colosseum, it was 0_0
 - saw some ancient ruins, learned a lot about Roman history. :D
 - drinking wine... :O

Too Tired To BLOG!

I'm too tired to blog right now, so i'm going to quickly give a run-down of today so I don't forget. Come back later for an edited version with more detail.

1. Woke up at 8 to shower for our orientation.
2. Walked 45 minutes to our class where we learned about Rome and "cultural" things like how Italians don't understand service and are rude. Also learned that Accent, the company that runs our trip is amazing and is capable of handling any problem we have.
3. Class went from 10-12 where we then walked 45 minutes back to our room, dropped off our packets, went shopping, I bought food, it was expensive, walked back to our room. Died.
4. Walked back to the Accent Center at 3:00pm for another class about Italian at 4. It was a 2 hour crash course in simple phrases and we got material about it. Our professor was cool and I picked it up fairly fast because it's similar to Spanish. After, our professor took us to a Gelataria for gelato where I almost forgot to pay because I was trying to speak Italian. On the way, however, an old man on a bike was ringing his bell for us to move. I, being completely dead in the mind, ignored it and got a good poke from the man as he passed me. It was pretty funny stuff.
5. After, a small group of us, Caryn, Elli, Kari, Joe, and I, decided to continue our massive tour of the city. Here is an incomplete list of everything we saw, i'll go into more detail about them later.
1. Piazza Navona
2. Pantheon
3. Trevi Fountain
4. Spanish Steps
5. Villa Borghese
6. Monument to Vittorio Manuelle
6. In between the Villa Borghese and the monument, we went out to eat and had some italian pizza. Fun times!
7. After that, we saw a crazy woman on a street who had a scary grouchy voice. She seemed to be cursing us, and sounded a lot like this. I couldn't get over how amazing seeing this woman was... so COOL!
8. On our walk back to the room, just a bit ago, our group got on a tram because we couldn't walk. On this tram sat a bearded man, with his foot on the chair next to him. I stood next to his foot. This man began spitting, spitting, spitting all over his seat, including the one where his foot was on. I tried desperately to ignore it, and most were giving him disgusted, but wow... it was hard. He then preceded to make a gun gesture with his hand, pulling back on his thumb to reload, he shot the people around him making explosion noises. Then, it seemed he had detonated himself, because he too exploded. By the end of our ride, he was shouting... something... I'm not really sure. But I thought he was becoming more violent, so we quickly exited the tram knowing that we could walk once more. 
9. I'm back in my room, it's 11:45, and I do not want to know how much I walked today... Guhhh... 

On the Second Day, Brandon Rested... and saw the Colosseum.

Very early in the morning Rome sprang to life. Cars seemed to be stalling, hammer clanking noises began, and soon, the murmurs of a crowd formed... it was market day right outside our apartment building. This was no ordinary market, definitely not one you would see in the United States. This thing stretched blocks and blocks, jammed pack full of sellers with items ranging from ethernet cords to antique furniture, from confederate flags to fancy hats. In comparison, I remember being amazed at the market in Charleston, South Carolina, which consisted of a 3 or 4 large buildings, about two blocks in length. This market was easily three or four times the size, 100 times the diversity. Naturally, we all had to visit.

After our time at the market, Joe, David, and I decided that enough time had passed and that we needed to see the Colosseum. And so, being the epic adventurers that we are, took off in a direction with the goal of finding the Colosseum. On the way, we stumbled upon the Circus Maximus, Palatine Hill, and the Arch of Constantine. We soon realized that Rome was a city where there was so much history, simply walking meant you could run into literally thousands of years of history. You can set a destination to see something, but the things you pass along the way are just as interesting, if not more because you didn't expect them. I can't wait to see what we pass when we go to the Spanish Steps.

In any matter, the Colosseum did not disappoint. It is absolutely massive, much larger that what you would imagine in the pictures, at least for me. Seeing the craftsmanship... eh, that word doesn't do these masterpieces justice, is overwhelming. How did they create these buildings? And how have they lasted this long? We plan on going back in order to do a more thorough exploration, because it began to rain soon after we arrived.

As soon as the rain began, tens of entrepreneurs came out from the crevices ready to sell helpless travelers umbrellas. Joe and I refused, but David was smart and bought one for 4 euros, accidentally haggling the seller down from 5 euros.  I wonder if we could have gotten one for less.

After we returned a little before 5pm, I ate a little, and began resting. My internal clock is all messed up and all of this walking is exhausting, but definitely worth it. At 7:30 my professor gathered the troops for a little information meeting about what's going on. Not much happened except Professor Craig was beaming with excitement, rocking back and forth already enjoying Rome all too much.

After we returned, I retired for the night and decided to focus on my blog (which I sort of failed at doing). David came in a little after and we bagan talking more about our majors and monkey balloon tower defense, and who knows what else. We stayed up until a little after 1am playing that monkey game, which was excellent. Another good, productive, yet a bit more restful day.

Captain's Log: Day 1

My first day in Italy was ridiculous. Joe and I arrived by airplane at 9am Rome time, and we failed at getting any significant sleep on the plane. We did not realize that there would only be a 4 hour night while on the plane. I suppose going 300mph due east would shorten the dark hours quite a bit. It was bright out by the time we saw land again. Spain looked like a murky soup of land and water, and seeing the Mediterranean Sea with Spain's outline was cool. Italy, from the air, looks to have a lot of tightly packed cities in the crevices of hills and mountains. Orange also seems to be the color of choice for roofs... hmm...

In any matter, we made it to Rome, got our luggage, quickly moved through customs, and neared the exit where we met our first Italian. He was standing at the door and asked me if I needed a taxi. I said yes, and he ushered Joe and me to follow him. He helped us with our luggage and and we entered the taxi. alone. no one else was there. I, thinking back to my beloved CCP class, quickly thought I was being trafficked. After a short wait, the driver came back and we made our way to Rome (while Joe and I carefully looked to make sure we could remember where we were going and that our driver was following all signs to Rome). Of course we overpaid, and of course he dropped us seemingly nowhere near our destination, but hey, WE WERE IN THE CENTER OF ROME! In all honesty, the entertainment of the drive was worth it. Romans drive as if there are no laws prohibiting their advancement. Lanes are ignored, lights are suggestions, cars are mere barriers to pass, there are no speed limits. We almost ran over an old woman who was walking across the street, but instead we had to brake as if we had met a brick wall. We passed a red light, but then our driver realized that there was indeed traffic that could kill us, so he quickly reversed to where law required him. We almost missed a turn, but instead of slowing down, our driver sped up, passed the car in our way, braked in front of it, and then wildly turned into the exit while dodging the ramp railing directly in front of us. There are more examples, but these will do.

After we were abandoned in the streets of Rome, we had to find this piazza dell'orologio. Sadly, we had no idea where it was. We walked several blocks down the street asking different Italians with different knowledges of English only to find that we had been dropped off in exactly the right place, but we had to go to the back of the plaza in order to find the office we were looking for. Once there we had a small orientation, then were taxied off to our apartments, had another small orientation, and were allowed to go up to our rooms. 80 steps later, we found our apartments to be spacious and amazing. There are five of us living together, but we have two bedrooms, a lounge, a full kitchen, a full bathroom, and a connecting entry way. Each room, except the bathroom, has a balcony. WOW.

After we got situated, a few of us decided to go to the nearby market and buy some food. We did, and I got some lovely mozzarella to go on the pasta and bread we decided to share. Once back to the room, it was finally time for some sleep. Sadly, this was short-lived as our friends had made us pasta with some great wine we had bought. In a desperate attempt to remain awake for the rest of the day, Joe and I decided that we should try and find the Accent building by foot, as we did not want to pay for a taxi or wait for the tram (although there is a really cool road for it that cars randomly decide to use instead of their own dedicated lanes). The building is easily found once you have been there, and is just down our main street a thousand blocks and then you follow the Tiber River another thousand blocks, eh... it's about an hour walk.

Instead of going to the Accent building, however, Joe and I made our way to the Vatican and St. Peter's Square (Joe is Catholic). This being our first major destination, I was very much in awe. The square is a huge oval court yard surrounded by pillars and tens of statues. In the center is an obelisk statue, but the main attraction is the gigantic dome building standing at the end of the courtyard. We didn't walk too close, but we are going back later to spend much more time exploring. Absolutely phenomenal.

We met back at our room at 8pm for some dinner. By this point I was nearing extreme exhaustion, but I was excited for my first night in Rome. After much walking and talking, we found a small restaurant that was serving outdoors. Sadly, all the tables were taken, but we happily ate inside. I got spinach and mushroom ravioli with a butter sauce. It was very good, but let's just say that I am still waiting for a severely overpriced, overly amazing meal in Italy.

Afterward, the gang wanted to go to a bar and be ridiculously loud and stereotypical American college kids. Oddly, there were no bars to be found, so we settled for a Gelato diner that also sold alcohol. I had a cappuccino gelato and a blonde german beer. Both were good, even though I normally dislike beers. We had a good time talking about how obvious it was that Romans hated us, and how crazy everyone was, and how everyone was trying to take our money. It is no wonder why they hated us though. We don't speak their language, we take forever with our money, we are often loud and annoying, we never know what to order for food, we can't tip well, we don't want whatever it is they are handing out, etc. etc. Basically, Romans don't make strides to serve Americans, and so we have mutual hate for each other. Sad.

Once we returned to the room a little past midnight, I passed out. We have one window and a balcony, we opened both, had a cross breeze, and the noises of the city rocked me to sleep. How wonderful.

Once Upon An Airport...

Here I am with Joe Popek in the airport waiting for our flight. I have been given 20 minutes of free internet access which is oh so generous! Both Joe and I are nervous, but check-in was pretty simple. I think it can be summarized by one security person who asked if we were going to Rome. Joe and I looked at each other and said... "yes."

Wow, we're going to Rome. @_@

In the Beginning...

Tonight my family watched a fantastic film called 84 Charing Cross Road about New York writer Helene Hanff's passion for English literature and her correspondence with Frank Doel, the owner of a small antique book shop in London. She displays a unique passion for great literature shown by her trite humor and unique tastes. I recommend that anyone reading this should watch this movie. For those who care, I would rate it a 9/10, and those who care know how high of a rating that is for me.

In the film, Hanff desires above all else to visit London and walk the streets that she knows so much about through books. One particular line caught my attention when Hanff describes a conversation between her and a newspaperman. She says that the man told her that "tourists go to London with preconceived notions. I told him I'd go looking for the England of English literature, and he said: 'Then it's there.'" I now lay in my bed next to Machiavelli's Florentine Histories wondering what my preconceived notions of Italy are (I have yet to read about their "Histories"). What will I find when I go? I know Italians are under a lot of financial trouble and require aid from the EU and IMF. This has led to a lot of cuts in governmental programs and a lot of public unrest. Will I find Italy to be a state of protesting and poverty? I know that Italy has an incredible history in art, architecture, and science. I most surely will marvel at the anchientness of these histories, knowing full well that they no longer prosper as they once did. 

My goal of these blogs is to write about what I have read about and what I have experienced in Italy, the first to please my Professors, the second to please my family and friends. I also want to communicate to my friends and family what I have learned at James Madison College, something I find hard to do. This is my first trip outside the United States and I want to do it justice. 

I am going with my friend Joe Popek. We share a Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy (PTCD) major and have learned about "the greats": Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Hobbes, Locke, Smith, god knows who else. This is the first of my two majors, and it seeks to "sort out values and principles that have been most important to mankind." So far, we have learned about such fascinating topics as JUSTICE, the SENTIMENTS OF ALL HUMANS, PRUDENCE, MORALITY, THE ENDS OF GOVERNMENT, and again... only god knows what else. My other major is Comparative Cultures and Politics (CCP). This is the craziest major ever conceived. Honestly, my best description of it would include some mix of existentialism, cultural relativism, power relations, knowledge production, and understanding that YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! This major has ruined every movie, ever... even fiction. :(

Basically, my first major tells me what the great Westerners believed to be the best way of living, and my second tells me that all of that is hopelessly wrong. Wait... not only is it wrong, but it adds to our perception of knowledge that we use to justify what is correct and then we use that to justify our actions. Politically, my first major consists of mostly Republicans, and my second, almost exclusively Democrats. By the end of 4 years, I will surely be crazy. However, I will use both of these majors to describe my events in Italy, and maybe you will learn more about what I study at James Madison College.

This brings me back to that excellent film, 84 Charing Cross Road. It is a movie abound places imagined, never experienced both through letters and books. As I begin to read Machiavelli's Florentine Histories, I continue my imagining of Italy. When I step off the plane in Rome, I begin my experience of Italy. You however, read this probably not knowing or experiencing much about Italy except through popular representations largely circulated in the United States, such as THE COLOSSEUM, THE MONA LISA, and THE POPE!! I will try to bring interesting things I find in Italy to this blog, hopefully something that changes all of our perceptions of Italy! Wouldn't that be cool? 

With that, my first post is done. Sorry it was so long. I'll try to make them shorter and less pretentious. I'm usually not good at writing and not sounding pretentious. Maybe i'll add in more emoticons! =D