This neglect has been preposterous. I should just start writing stuff down.
So, Ayla was already planning to take a trip to Naples and Capri, and since I wanted to go as well we went together- this had the added benefit of me not actually having to plan anything. We hopped on the train early Friday morning and got into Naples with plenty of time, we planned, to check into our hostel, see the Naples art museum, and visit a few castles and the like.
This, of course, never actually worked (and we quickly learned that planning is for people who expect and require everything to go perfectly) For starters, the street we had for the hostel's address appeared to not exist, off of the street it should have been. We asked a few Tabacchi (it means Tabaccho Shop, but they carry all kinds of things) if they knew, but since they had no idea, we tried asking a Farmacia (Pharmacy, that one's easy), thinking maybe they'd live in the area, as they tend to be family-run. The Farmacia actually ended up calling the hostel for us, which we were very grateful for (though we had to take the phone because the guy on the other end didn't speak Italian!) Turned out the road we were given was a side street off a side street, thus our difficulty in finding it off the main road.
Finally, we dumped off our backpacks and got back out to the city. We trekked to the art museum...at the top of a hill...which was fun. But we did not factor into the time we allowed for the musuem that we're two art majors. We spent the rest of the day in the museum. When we finally gave up finding that last painting we knew was there, we trekked down the cliff a bit, found a bus, and got back down to the main city. We wandered around for a bit, found somewhere to get some real Neopolitan Pizza, and then went back to the hostel and crashed.
Verdict on Naples: dirty, loud, not-Rome, but still enjoyable. Very lively.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A momentary diversion.
It has been brought to my attention that not everybody knows all the goodies that come with me having my photos in a Flickr gallery (especially a Flickr Pro gallery, thaaaaaank you Liz <3 <3 )
So, here is a further explanation. Clicking on a picture in my post will take you to that picture's Flickr page. Directly below the title is a button marked "all sizes". This does exactly what it says it does, and if you want to examine the steadiness of my hand you can download the original file of the picture here. (this is a Pro only feature, so thank Liz again.)
Now lets say you're more of the casual browser, and don't care to see the minute details of every single picture I deem important and Flickr-worthy. Back on that individual photo page there are a few Slideshows on the right. The top one is for my Photostream, which is just every photo I add to Flickr. The second is for my Fall Abroad set. This is more useful, despite that right now they're basically the same thing, because I can adjust the order of how the photos appear in the set, whereas I cannot in the photostream. Click on the arrow to see more thumbnails of pictures, or click the little projection screen icon for a classy little slideshow. Only problem, it cycles through the pictures (you can skip through them yourself, it's just annoying that it skips ahead on you.)
And last but not least, I've tagged every photo I've uploaded on the map. (Have I mentioned I love maps?) Its a yahoo map, so its not as sophisticated as google maps are, but it works well enough. You can access the map from any photo page (its in the small text on the right hand side) or the photostream page, but oddly enough it is elusive on the Sets page.
So there you go.
hard link to the Fall Abroad Set.
hard link to the slideshow.
hard link to the map.
So, here is a further explanation. Clicking on a picture in my post will take you to that picture's Flickr page. Directly below the title is a button marked "all sizes". This does exactly what it says it does, and if you want to examine the steadiness of my hand you can download the original file of the picture here. (this is a Pro only feature, so thank Liz again.)
Now lets say you're more of the casual browser, and don't care to see the minute details of every single picture I deem important and Flickr-worthy. Back on that individual photo page there are a few Slideshows on the right. The top one is for my Photostream, which is just every photo I add to Flickr. The second is for my Fall Abroad set. This is more useful, despite that right now they're basically the same thing, because I can adjust the order of how the photos appear in the set, whereas I cannot in the photostream. Click on the arrow to see more thumbnails of pictures, or click the little projection screen icon for a classy little slideshow. Only problem, it cycles through the pictures (you can skip through them yourself, it's just annoying that it skips ahead on you.)
And last but not least, I've tagged every photo I've uploaded on the map. (Have I mentioned I love maps?) Its a yahoo map, so its not as sophisticated as google maps are, but it works well enough. You can access the map from any photo page (its in the small text on the right hand side) or the photostream page, but oddly enough it is elusive on the Sets page.
So there you go.
hard link to the Fall Abroad Set.
hard link to the slideshow.
hard link to the map.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Day 31 photos
We walked down what felt like the entire Via Appia Antica today. It turned out to be only a mile though, damn!
Along the way, we stopped in some museums, catacombs, ruins etc. (man, I love catacombs!)
Along the way, we stopped in some museums, catacombs, ruins etc. (man, I love catacombs!)
Day 30 photos
Class trip to St. John Lateran.
A shot of the old mosaics, some of the only stuff left from the original structure, in the Baptistery.
And, a photo of a St. John statue that may definitely be in the pool for the Photo Contest:
A shot of the old mosaics, some of the only stuff left from the original structure, in the Baptistery.
And, a photo of a St. John statue that may definitely be in the pool for the Photo Contest:
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Day 29 walk
Oh! I remember this! (That's saying something, it was almost a month ago)
View Larger Map
So! Went out, probably relatively early, with the intention of getting to the Capuchin crypt and drawing (with my new black paper and my conte crayons!) the, er, decorations there. It's really a hauntingly beautiful place. On my way there, though, I realized that as it was a Sunday, the crypt might not be open. I continued, but you can tell that I was not necessarily worried about getting there as I stopped to draw along the way.
The first one, I was kind of in an alley and had to keep flattening myself against the wall to let cars by. (this was as more my depth perception than anything else- Italian drivers can be crazy, but they don't hit things, and they had enough room) The second, I sat down on a little roadblock in front of an apartment building. It gave me a little more time to work, and a more comfortable position to work from. Some older guys came by to see what I was doing, and seemed surprised (or maybe just declarative, people can be dramatic) that I was using a pen. I was too, actually, but I feel a lot more comfortable sketching in pen now than I used to, and this day was when I realized that I didn't have to labor over things in an erasable medium. (hooray!)
I moved on, meandering. Though, when marking out my route later in the day, I am always surprised to see that I didn't actually meander as much as I think I have. I suppose that when I don't know where I am, even straight lines feel like meandering. But I was heading in a direction, so I did.
The confusing mess by Piazza Barberini is, indeed, confusing. I had to backtrack in order to find the chapel itself (it was halfway up the staircase to the church) and may have, ahem, been too proud to clearly backtrack in front of waiters, etc who had seen me minutes before. Thus, a bit of looping was required. Once finding the chapel, though, I found it inundated with tour groups! This was too much, especially for drawing purposes. So I snuck into the church proper, instead and drew some putti instead. (Dang putti, being everywhere)
These were no exception, though I found the first's face to be rather enchantingly serene- they're usually more...cherubic, shall we say. And the second was quite interestingly asleep.
After this artistic output, I decided home was best, but that I had enough sunlight/stamina for an indirect route. Thus, as is usually the case with these things, I ended up turned around, and then in the Villa Borghese. (This was back when I still carried a just-in-case map, but the Villa isn't on it, hah) I tried to situate myself via the setting sun, but after realizing that I was not only getting further and further away from things I might recognize, but that I had mixed up east and west again and was in fact going in the opposite direction, I turned back. Refusing to be distracted by streets named after Fellini, I took the street I knew and arrived back in civilization again. (Passing the American Embassy along the way, a fact I would angrily exclaim upon later when I realized they would have be useful for dropping off my absentee ballot.)
I doubt the rest of the day was eventful.
Except for the birds! Oh man, it was Hitchcockian in October, due to migration we assumed. Whichever reason, the birds went spastic, but the swirly flying patterns belied a cacophany and a snow flurry's more disgusting cousin. We quickly learned not to take routes with trees.
But I'm sure that was it.
View Larger Map
So! Went out, probably relatively early, with the intention of getting to the Capuchin crypt and drawing (with my new black paper and my conte crayons!) the, er, decorations there. It's really a hauntingly beautiful place. On my way there, though, I realized that as it was a Sunday, the crypt might not be open. I continued, but you can tell that I was not necessarily worried about getting there as I stopped to draw along the way.
The first one, I was kind of in an alley and had to keep flattening myself against the wall to let cars by. (this was as more my depth perception than anything else- Italian drivers can be crazy, but they don't hit things, and they had enough room) The second, I sat down on a little roadblock in front of an apartment building. It gave me a little more time to work, and a more comfortable position to work from. Some older guys came by to see what I was doing, and seemed surprised (or maybe just declarative, people can be dramatic) that I was using a pen. I was too, actually, but I feel a lot more comfortable sketching in pen now than I used to, and this day was when I realized that I didn't have to labor over things in an erasable medium. (hooray!)
I moved on, meandering. Though, when marking out my route later in the day, I am always surprised to see that I didn't actually meander as much as I think I have. I suppose that when I don't know where I am, even straight lines feel like meandering. But I was heading in a direction, so I did.
The confusing mess by Piazza Barberini is, indeed, confusing. I had to backtrack in order to find the chapel itself (it was halfway up the staircase to the church) and may have, ahem, been too proud to clearly backtrack in front of waiters, etc who had seen me minutes before. Thus, a bit of looping was required. Once finding the chapel, though, I found it inundated with tour groups! This was too much, especially for drawing purposes. So I snuck into the church proper, instead and drew some putti instead. (Dang putti, being everywhere)
These were no exception, though I found the first's face to be rather enchantingly serene- they're usually more...cherubic, shall we say. And the second was quite interestingly asleep.
After this artistic output, I decided home was best, but that I had enough sunlight/stamina for an indirect route. Thus, as is usually the case with these things, I ended up turned around, and then in the Villa Borghese. (This was back when I still carried a just-in-case map, but the Villa isn't on it, hah) I tried to situate myself via the setting sun, but after realizing that I was not only getting further and further away from things I might recognize, but that I had mixed up east and west again and was in fact going in the opposite direction, I turned back. Refusing to be distracted by streets named after Fellini, I took the street I knew and arrived back in civilization again. (Passing the American Embassy along the way, a fact I would angrily exclaim upon later when I realized they would have be useful for dropping off my absentee ballot.)
I doubt the rest of the day was eventful.
Except for the birds! Oh man, it was Hitchcockian in October, due to migration we assumed. Whichever reason, the birds went spastic, but the swirly flying patterns belied a cacophany and a snow flurry's more disgusting cousin. We quickly learned not to take routes with trees.
But I'm sure that was it.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Days 19-23
Day 19. The last day of Course 1. To celebrate, we went to a Mithraeum.
No, that was just for our presentation! Silly me. (I did get to climb some ancient roman stairs, though!)
So yes, Course 1 was over. We did still have a Final, though, for which I had to try to decipher my notes....can you tell where I started falling asleep?
And also a Travel Report, where I pulled my favourite act of all- turning in a piece of art for a non-art class.
I also got sick that weekend. Inevitably. But the final was shockingly manageable!
Now, onto Course 2!
No, that was just for our presentation! Silly me. (I did get to climb some ancient roman stairs, though!)
So yes, Course 1 was over. We did still have a Final, though, for which I had to try to decipher my notes....can you tell where I started falling asleep?
And also a Travel Report, where I pulled my favourite act of all- turning in a piece of art for a non-art class.
I also got sick that weekend. Inevitably. But the final was shockingly manageable!
Now, onto Course 2!
Day 17 Photos
Presentations at the Capitoline Museums and the Aqua Claudia.
(there are so few pictures from the museum because I decided to use my lunch break for its intended purpose- quelling my rumbling stomach.)
I gotta admit, I was looking for a picture at the Aqua Claudia, just so I could tag it on my map.
(there are so few pictures from the museum because I decided to use my lunch break for its intended purpose- quelling my rumbling stomach.)
I gotta admit, I was looking for a picture at the Aqua Claudia, just so I could tag it on my map.
Day 16
Saturday being our day of departure from the Villa, we drove one mile over to visit the ruins of Cumae, said ruins consisting of several temples and Vergil's cave of the sibyl. As our resident Latin scholar would mutter, the fake one. Which is good, considering how disappointing it was (it wasn't even a true cave!)
Yet exploring ruins is never a bad thing, so our disappointment quickly vanished. Don't-fall signs and fences were ignored and clambered over as well, which is always fun.
Sadly, I was not able to climb that ancient staircase. There were only bits of two stairs left, and they looked slightly precarious.
After some cavorting, we boarded the bus to go back home.
Yet exploring ruins is never a bad thing, so our disappointment quickly vanished. Don't-fall signs and fences were ignored and clambered over as well, which is always fun.
Sadly, I was not able to climb that ancient staircase. There were only bits of two stairs left, and they looked slightly precarious.
After some cavorting, we boarded the bus to go back home.
Day 15 Pictures
Pompeii
Archeological Museum
Caracalla, Older and Younger
Two of Marcus Aurelius, who always appears to be rolling his eyes...
Most Venuses are a little more staid than this, heh.
Archeological Museum
Caracalla, Older and Younger
Two of Marcus Aurelius, who always appears to be rolling his eyes...
Most Venuses are a little more staid than this, heh.
Day 15
There are extra pictures for this post, to make up for the previous day's woeful lack of pictorial representation. Don't worry. (there would have been extra pictures regardless)
Friday we went to a ruin site and a museum as is our rote extended-excursion. But the ruins happened to be POMPEII and the museum happened to be the NATIONAL ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM. It was a day worthy of italic caps indeed.
We had to wake up freakishly early to jump on the bus to arrive at Pompeii at an hour not totally swarming with tourists. This hour is approximately 9:30 am. We were to meet back at the bus at 11:30 am, a paltry two hours later when confronted with the entirety of Pompeii. So confront Pompeii we did, though hardly the entire thing and with probably much more confrontation than the excavation security intended, considering that the tours only stop in front of the houses and never go through them. Such a waste. I, for one, made it my goal to climb every set of accessible Ancient Roman stairs in my accessible vicinity. (this dream was first realized at Paestum, actually, where there was a rather magnificent staircase just waiting for me to clamber up it) Said Pompeian stairs were frequently only plural by a margin, but still. We (myself and two friends) meandered through villas and gaped at wall paintings (wall paintings!! extant ancient roman frescoes!!) and generally had a blast.
Unfortunately, we did eventually find ourselves on the main thoroughfares and dodging tour groups, but by then we were running out of time and had a more direct path in mind. (a path they were all milling around in) We ended up running through the forum, pretty much, making a detour to visit the house of ill repute that was so packed with tours the first time we had to swing by again in hopes of a lull (there wasn't one, but we pushed our way in anyway) and then dashing down the streets in hope of catching the last theatre before we had to leave. I would not, mind you, recommend any kind of dashing on any roman road, ancient or not, as they tend to be cobblestones of the most ankle-breaking kind. Me and mine are fine, much to my honest but greatful surprise.
En route to the theatre we ran into the professor and those who toured around with him, and a few other tagalongs joined us (there's no fear of being late when you are accompanied by the professor) After a cursory entrance and viewing of the amphitheater we decided to forge our own path, by which I mean push through brush, jump down a ledge, and hop a fence, in order to return by some modicum of the correct time. Once ensconced in our transportation, complete with warm sandwiches provided by the Villa and then left carelessly in a hot bus, we were shuttled to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli.
The museum, though vast, was mostly under construction, it seemed. Regardless, it held not only more ancient roman wall paintings, but famous ancient roman wall paintings! Like Sappho's! There were also, you know, the Farnese Sculptures and hallways and hallways of imperial busts and cult statues and the ilk. It was truly impressive, despite the renovation distractions. The gift shop was disappointingly lacking, though, as they had neither postcards of Sappho's portrait nor the Farnese Sculptures, undoubtedly some of their most well-known acquisitions.
That night at the Villa was preposterously hilarious, in part because one should never be able to play one's professor in wine-pong, nor have one's TA/Italian instructor mediate a game of flip-cup. And yet...
Friday we went to a ruin site and a museum as is our rote extended-excursion. But the ruins happened to be POMPEII and the museum happened to be the NATIONAL ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM. It was a day worthy of italic caps indeed.
We had to wake up freakishly early to jump on the bus to arrive at Pompeii at an hour not totally swarming with tourists. This hour is approximately 9:30 am. We were to meet back at the bus at 11:30 am, a paltry two hours later when confronted with the entirety of Pompeii. So confront Pompeii we did, though hardly the entire thing and with probably much more confrontation than the excavation security intended, considering that the tours only stop in front of the houses and never go through them. Such a waste. I, for one, made it my goal to climb every set of accessible Ancient Roman stairs in my accessible vicinity. (this dream was first realized at Paestum, actually, where there was a rather magnificent staircase just waiting for me to clamber up it) Said Pompeian stairs were frequently only plural by a margin, but still. We (myself and two friends) meandered through villas and gaped at wall paintings (wall paintings!! extant ancient roman frescoes!!) and generally had a blast.
Unfortunately, we did eventually find ourselves on the main thoroughfares and dodging tour groups, but by then we were running out of time and had a more direct path in mind. (a path they were all milling around in) We ended up running through the forum, pretty much, making a detour to visit the house of ill repute that was so packed with tours the first time we had to swing by again in hopes of a lull (there wasn't one, but we pushed our way in anyway) and then dashing down the streets in hope of catching the last theatre before we had to leave. I would not, mind you, recommend any kind of dashing on any roman road, ancient or not, as they tend to be cobblestones of the most ankle-breaking kind. Me and mine are fine, much to my honest but greatful surprise.
En route to the theatre we ran into the professor and those who toured around with him, and a few other tagalongs joined us (there's no fear of being late when you are accompanied by the professor) After a cursory entrance and viewing of the amphitheater we decided to forge our own path, by which I mean push through brush, jump down a ledge, and hop a fence, in order to return by some modicum of the correct time. Once ensconced in our transportation, complete with warm sandwiches provided by the Villa and then left carelessly in a hot bus, we were shuttled to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli.
The museum, though vast, was mostly under construction, it seemed. Regardless, it held not only more ancient roman wall paintings, but famous ancient roman wall paintings! Like Sappho's! There were also, you know, the Farnese Sculptures and hallways and hallways of imperial busts and cult statues and the ilk. It was truly impressive, despite the renovation distractions. The gift shop was disappointingly lacking, though, as they had neither postcards of Sappho's portrait nor the Farnese Sculptures, undoubtedly some of their most well-known acquisitions.
That night at the Villa was preposterously hilarious, in part because one should never be able to play one's professor in wine-pong, nor have one's TA/Italian instructor mediate a game of flip-cup. And yet...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Day 14
At this point I'm writing about things that took place two weeks previous. Disgraceful!
Thursday we began our journey to lands far away...well, just Naples, but it sure takes a while by bus. We stopped in the middle of nowhere first, ostensibly just for lunch. Much to our surprise, the restaurant was attached to a museum attached to an ancient ruins site. I suppose these things happen, but generally I prefer to be warned about it first. For one, I did not bring my camera with me to lunch, so the glories of Paestum will have to remain shrouded for you all. I mean, you could go to the wikipedia page, but I know you're only here for the pictures. You'll have to move along.
After Paestum we all got back on the bus and shuttled ourselves to the Villa Vergilia, a rather nice little place that is aparently the Italian residence of the Vergil society or something equally astounding. A university provided-dinner and several bottles of wine later, we all dragged ourselves up to the lounge-ish area to listen to me expound upon my text presentation. I couldn't tell if the wine helped or hindered my grade via the professor, but i was glad to have it over with regardless.
We then played a couple games of Mafia (oho, we're in Naples! and we're playing Mafia! oh, we're so funny!) and in general lounged about.
Thursday we began our journey to lands far away...well, just Naples, but it sure takes a while by bus. We stopped in the middle of nowhere first, ostensibly just for lunch. Much to our surprise, the restaurant was attached to a museum attached to an ancient ruins site. I suppose these things happen, but generally I prefer to be warned about it first. For one, I did not bring my camera with me to lunch, so the glories of Paestum will have to remain shrouded for you all. I mean, you could go to the wikipedia page, but I know you're only here for the pictures. You'll have to move along.
After Paestum we all got back on the bus and shuttled ourselves to the Villa Vergilia, a rather nice little place that is aparently the Italian residence of the Vergil society or something equally astounding. A university provided-dinner and several bottles of wine later, we all dragged ourselves up to the lounge-ish area to listen to me expound upon my text presentation. I couldn't tell if the wine helped or hindered my grade via the professor, but i was glad to have it over with regardless.
We then played a couple games of Mafia (oho, we're in Naples! and we're playing Mafia! oh, we're so funny!) and in general lounged about.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Day 10 Photos
The church:
The bridge:
(this is after the second day of painting, though. still unfinished)
The bridge:
(this is after the second day of painting, though. still unfinished)
Day 10
Man I've been wanting to post Day 10 for a while now. Did I mention I like maps?
View Larger Map
I might have mentioned that I like walking.
The day plan was, as I think I mentioned before, to sketch. Sketch, sketch, sketch, sketch, sketch.
In the end, I spent a few hours working on one painting and then the rest wandering around Rome. Also not a bad plan. Also on the not-itinerary were finding an Awesome Baroque Church, giving directions to Italians, and mostly trying madly (and vainly) to avoid not only the Wedding Cake, but the tourist throngs. This proves problematic in Rome on a sunny sunday, but I was valiant, even once braving the Disneyland Crowd around the Trevi Fountain (though the first time I attempted I balked at the visible crowd a block away and headed directly opposite) The loop I made was unintentional, though amusing when I realized it. I also stepped inside the Gesu (though Mass appeared to be starting so I quickly disappeared) and ran into my Civ Professor, who, characteristically, gave me a slight wave and continued on. I ate lunch, well, 'lunch', it was more second lunch and the sun was going down anyway, in a park looking out over a piazza, and meandered home.
All in all, an excellent day.
View Larger Map
I might have mentioned that I like walking.
The day plan was, as I think I mentioned before, to sketch. Sketch, sketch, sketch, sketch, sketch.
In the end, I spent a few hours working on one painting and then the rest wandering around Rome. Also not a bad plan. Also on the not-itinerary were finding an Awesome Baroque Church, giving directions to Italians, and mostly trying madly (and vainly) to avoid not only the Wedding Cake, but the tourist throngs. This proves problematic in Rome on a sunny sunday, but I was valiant, even once braving the Disneyland Crowd around the Trevi Fountain (though the first time I attempted I balked at the visible crowd a block away and headed directly opposite) The loop I made was unintentional, though amusing when I realized it. I also stepped inside the Gesu (though Mass appeared to be starting so I quickly disappeared) and ran into my Civ Professor, who, characteristically, gave me a slight wave and continued on. I ate lunch, well, 'lunch', it was more second lunch and the sun was going down anyway, in a park looking out over a piazza, and meandered home.
All in all, an excellent day.
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