One last post...

Ciao, America! It’s crazy to think how three weeks have already passed and that we are all now preparing for the upcoming spring semester. On the ride home from the airport, my family bombarded me with questions and as tired and jet lagged as I was, I was eager to answer them all. Italy was more fascinating than I had expected, and I am I anxious to watch all the movies that have been filmed around the country.

Below is a photo from our last night in our beloved Roma at the Trevi Fountain. As the story goes, you are supposed to throw a coin over your shoulder on your last day in the city to ensure that you return. So I suppose for all of us who did so, we can all look forward to another adventure in Rome someday.

First night home

It was a bittersweet return home to the U.S from Rome. I've already grown accustomed to using grazie and prego instead of thank you and you're welcome! I think its safe to say most everyone returned home with a heavier suitcase or two besides Greg. I hope everyone catches up on sleep and has a safe trip back to Elon! See you all soon!

Arriviamo presto!

We're at the airport ready to go. A warning to all those picking us up, there seems to be more luggage this go around. The students are armed with lots of new knowledge, experiences and friendships, and they're quick with a Grazie!
Lynn and I are looking forward to reading the reflection essays over the next few weeks. But not before we've had a really good night's sleep!!

Ciao, a presto!

Facist Rome

Today we took the metro to Eur which is just outside of Rome to experience facism in Rome. One of the buildings we saw was a square colisseum and many of the students took the long trek up the stairs to get a closer look. We also when to a museum which had a model of ancient Rome dating back to 100BC. We had the afternoon to ourselves so Hannah, Rhi and I went shopping around Trevi Fountain! On our walk back to the hotel we saw a Michael Jackson impersonator and he was actually very talented at the moon walk!

Bittersweet Last Day

What a bittersweet day it is. I cannot believe we are leaving Italy tomorrow! It seems like only yesterday that we were exploring the ruins of Ostia, climbing through the Colosseum, and seeing Saint Peters Basilica. We will end our course tonight with a final group dinner and tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain. This course was an amazing experience. Today our course ended with the Roman Civilization Museum that taught us about Mussolini and Fascism. Although I am going to miss Italy, especially the food, I am ready to go home and see my family.

Ciao Ciao Italia

Jaclyn

Rome Revisited

We've been back in Rome now for 5 days and it already feels like home again. We've surprised ourselves as a class at how well we feel we can navigate a foreign city after such a short amount of time spent here.

My research partner, Kassi, and I finally got to present on the Borghese family and Gianlorenzo Bernini's artwork on Thursday (see Lynn's photo upload below). The Galleria Borghese was (not surprisingly) my favorite Italian museum. The knowledge I gained during my research on the family and their patronage of artists and the familial connection with the church made touring the galleria more valuable because I comprehended much more of what I was looking at.

However, yesterday's Vatican Scavi, Saint Peter's Basilica and museum tour were a close second. Stepping into the Vatican City was a surreal experience, and I think I was the last person in the museum that day. Kyle, Alyssa and I particularly enjoyed the contemporary art exhibit- something I wasn't expecting from the Vatican Museum. I wrote down a bunch of the artists to look into when I get home because I liked the work so much. There were so many tour groups in walking around that I was able to eavesdrop and get some free information about some of the frescoes in the Hall of Constantine that made me appreciate the artwork even more. Stepping into the Sistine Chapel has probably been the highlight of the week so far. ( And I feel so lucky to be able to say that last week the highlight was touring Pompeii, another incredible experience) I studied Raphael's work in high school art history courses but it was still jarring to see them in person. I was taken aback by the size- in my mind it was this larger than life church but it was really just a quaint chapel that happened to be covered in some of the world's most iconic paintings.

Today we saw the Victor Emanuelle Monument and the Risorgimento Museum. Inside there was an exhibit of flags of Italy which was interesting to see the history of their flag- which was particularly relevant to the theme of the day " The emergence of Italy". I personally found this interesting to contrast to the United States especially because America's flag has been edited so many times to accommodate different states in our "emergence". You were able to take a walking tour around the terrace that had beautiful views of Rome and short explanations of it's architecture.

I can't believe tomorrow is our last full day in Rome! I'm excited to start getting into more contemporary history when we talk about fascist Rome. Will report back tomorrow! Ciao!

Moving into Modern Rome...

Today was another beautiful day in Rome! We have been so lucky with the weather and had the opportunity to venture through the city today while enjoying the sunshine and warm air. Can't beat 60 degrees!

Our main attractions of the day was the Victor Emmanuelle Monument and the Risorgimento Museum. This is a huge, and relatively new building, that sits right in the middle of the city. Known as the "typewriter" or the "wedding cake" to many people, both Italians and locals, the building is massive and towers over all of the other buildings in the area, especially the well-known attractions with ancient significance, like the Forum, the Colosseum, and Trajan's Markets - all things we have seen and learned about during our time in Rome! The building was created in dedication to the first king of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuelle. The kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861. The white marble building is quite the site to see, with huge columns, tons of steps, and beautiful statues.

Tomorrow, we have another busy day - our last full day... can you believe it? We do not know where the time has gone, but in a couple days, we will be homeward bound with our brains filled with new information and our lives filled with new and wonderful experiences. A presto - see you soon!

Today was Vatican Friday!! First we went to the scavi which are the excavations of the necropolis underneath the St. Peter Basilica. Next we went up to the basilica which was gorgeous! Rhi, Hannah and I learned what the four pillars of the rellics where all about next we went to the Vatican museum is in with the Sistine Chapel which was breath taking. The school of Athens was one of the most beautiful and intricate paintings we saw today. It was painted by Raphael during the Renaissance. We only have two more days in Rome! It is hard to believe that the three weeks have gone by so fast! See all of you soon!

Crossing the Street on Study Abroad

Baroque Rome

Buena sera! Today our focus was on Baroque Rome. We first went to the Galleria Borghese where we saw several works of art by the famous Bernini. His famous sculptures include Apollo and Daphne and David, among many others with unique vulgarity and expressions. Then we visited many churches that reflected Baroque Roman architecture and art. Baroque art focuses a lot on fooling the eye to believe realistic images. We saw examples of this in the beautiful artwork on the ceiling of Santa Maria della Vittoria and Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola. We have been keeping very busy and tomorrow should be an exciting day when we visit Saint Peter’s and the Vatican Museums.

Ciao,

Jaclyn

ROMEin' Around

Salve! We have been very busy since our return to Rome on Tuesday, savoring every last minute that we have in this beautiful country we have come to call home over the past several weeks. We have learned about the Renaissance in Rome, as well as Baroque Rome since returning to the city, visiting several churches and viewing many art forms. Another exciting highlight we had was a story session with Vernon Silver, a reporter for Bloomberg News and the author of The Lost Chalice. Our bellies are filled with magnificent pasta, cheeses, and pizza and we are fueled up for our last three days (only three... wow) in Rome. In the meantime, here are a few fun things we have done and sights we have seen.

Castel of Sant Angelo

San Pietro in Montorio

St. Peter's Basilica... we will be visiting here tomorrow, so check back for more!

A presto!

Caitlin

Fontana di Trevi!

We know it's not our last night (thank goodness!) but we took the class to the Trevi Fountain today and it seems most of them like it here as many have thrown Euro over their shoulder, making a promise to come back! More from the students about what we really did on Baroque Thursday later...

A photo below of the Trevi promise and a little teaser from our walking tour of Baroque architecture, San Carlo alla Quattro Fontana.

Presentation at the Villa Borghese: Baroque Thursday

Renaissance Wednesday

Among today's sites . . . Bramante's Tempietto.

Rome-ward bound!

Today we return to Rome - and we enter Rome at the same point in history where Rome was "reborn". As someone who studies the Middle Ages I like to think of Rome as alive and kicking this whole time but our course experienced the Middle Ages in Salerno, Spoleto, Assisi, and Siena. Not bad! Stay tuned as our students learn how Rome was reshaped in the Renaissance, Baroque and Modern periods! And yep, there will be a new timeline.

Andiamo!

Evan Gatti

The photo below shows our students snoozing as we make our way go Rome. They are going to need the rest. We'll do the rest of the course a piedi! (on foot!)