CHICKENING OUT AT ST. PETER'S

After visiting my love, the Pantheon, we were free in Rome, with the only instruction "be in class on Monday". Me and a few KStaters decided to visit St. Peter's before the spring, pre-Easter crowds arrived. The museum and Sistine Chapel are still on the to do list.


You will notice a trend with my pictures: the Corinthian column. They're my favorite detail and a fascinating exploration of the differences of various structures.



The most difficult thing in Rome to photography is the baldacchino at St. Peters--the giant bronze structure over the main altar is ALWAYS blurry because of the overhead windows. But a slight miracle:



Most of the bronze doors on churches in Rome and the surrounding areas are recreations or 'modern' additions, as the Vatican needed so much bronze to create this giant piece, that it simply melted down 'pagan' church doors and coins. Then my adventurous group got down to the mission of our visit: climbing the cupola of St. Peters. 230+ plus stairs take you to roof of St. Peters, where you look up at the dome.



You cross the roof to get to the next few stairs inside the main dome of St. Peters.

This is where my adventure stopped:



Yes, that's the baldacchino below me. Holy height. A small, fenced in walkway wraps around the main dome of St. Peter's and leads over to the next stairs into the dome's double shell. I turned green at the height, sucked up to the wall, and wouldn't move. So Renae and Chris went on, while I scurried down the 'up' stairs. Sigh. Maybe next time, when I know what's coming at me I'll be able to do it.

We spent a good amount of time in St. Peter's, taking it all in before the rain began. So in a slight drizzle, we headed for the Metro to the trainstation. Our aching feet were telling us it was time to head home, so we caught the 645 train home, sleeping most of the way.

FINALLY!

My first visit to Rome in 2004 came with a very, very, very big disappointment: I was too busy searching for a public W.C. that I ran past the Pantheon without going inside. THE PANTHEON, people. MY MOST FAVORITE ancient building yet.

So at long last, our guided tour ended at...the Pantheon.


I hugged the Pantheon this time, just so it knows how much I love it.



Imagine building this in the 2nd century, and you'll understand my obsession. After all, it was the biggest pure concrete structure until the 20th century. It was the biggest dome in the world until the 1400's. It is STILL the largest unreinforced solid concrete dome in the world. Love.



142 feet across of pure gorgeous.

WHEN IN ROME...

We took our first class Friday field trip to Rome, where we took an intellectual tour with our fantastic professor, Marco. He showed us the sites and shortcuts that most folks don't see, which I found fascinating. We only visited the tiniest fraction of what Rome has to offer, and as it's only an hour train ride away from Orvieto, we were left with quite the list of things to revisit. This "antipasto" to Rome (as Marco called it) was much better than my last trip to Rome, as we literally did Rome in a day in the burning heat of June. It's nice to know that this time I can truly absorb all there is to offer, hidden within the graffiti and chaos.

We started off at the Colosseum, but we're on our own to visit the interior...next time Rome, next time.



Despite our 7AM departure from Orvieto (thus up at 545, I was excited.



Then onto the Roman Forum.


Rome is a fascinating example of how the big city deals with the countless layers of history surrounding them. Giant streets cut through archeologically rich areas, and thousands rush by without even noticing the incredible beauty and mystery right around them. On the side of the Roman Forum, I paused for a moment to discover a pile of 'junk':



Marco showed us the quick way up the back of the Mayor's office to the Capitol area by Michelangelo.

UNDERGROUND!

We spent our Wednesday studio touring the underground city of Orvieto. The city, as it's known today, sits atop over 1200 underground man-made rooms--used as far back as the Etruscan era, revamped in the Middle Ages, and used even today. Our apartment building on Via Clementini sits over 2 large underground constructions, one of which is accessible from our main entry and now used to hold roof tiles, brooms, etc.

The entry way to the tour of only a few of these spaces:



Windows from the caves opened onto the southern cliff face of Orvieto...



And the final turn of the tour took us up a tiny, steep staircase where you had to bend over, squeeze through a few twists, and pray your slightly claustrophobic self wouldn't hyperventilate in front of the whole group (perhaps just me...). Eventually you 'popped up' from what looked like a trap door into the WWII era bomb shelter carved under our study center (the former city hospital).

SUNSHINE!

After a day of light rain and the thickest fog I think I've ever seen (we couldn't see the tops of the towers or churches, as if they just disappeared) the sunshine returned, giving the Duomo's gold mosaic tiles an incredible shine.

MELANZANA!

Our first venture to the market on Saturday morning was a bit overwhelming, as most of the venders don't speak English and we still have no idea how to communicate, since everything is sold and priced by the kilo.

So instead of buying individual/pounds of apples, you buy a fraction/whole kilo of apples...confusing, as I still have no concept of how much 2.2lbs of apples really is.

We did succeed in getting everything we need for a fabuloso dinner, eggplant! I was pretty proud that without any clue, I was able to create an edible sauce from the bland, straight-up tomato sauce we had purchased from the supermarket. So Renae and I enjoyed our first meal, the 900 dishes messed to create it, and a bottle of local regional wine purchased from the most adorable and enthusiastic Italian grandpa.

Orvieto has a gorgeous 6k path around the base of the city. Lydia, Renae and I tackled the first 1/3 of it on our lazy Sunday.

We stumbled upon a vicious battle between Roman soldiers after climbing approximately 40000 stairs back into the city.



The annual Carnivale celebrations have brought little celebrities into the streets of Orvieto, including the likes of:

MegaMan, Zorro, SpiderMan, Hello Kitty, and as seen refereeing Ceasar's battle above, the Devil.

Quartiere di Serancia: TUBULAR DUDE!

This post is dedicated to my brother, who always hogged the best of the Ninja Turtles when we were little.

Apparently I was destined for my neighborhood, as I learned my way home by following the ninja turtles graffiti that creates a PERFECT trail home.

This vandal was enthusiastic, as this is only touches the start of the walk home.



And of course, my favorite:



Baroque Cowabonga.

On the Torre del Moro

Welcome to our apartment on Via Clementini!

How Many More Stairs?!

We climbed the Torre del Moro on Thursday for a better view of the city (in hopes figuring out the streets...no more getting lost!)

The facade of the gothic Duomo, just next to our Study Center.

F-O-G spells pain in the butt.

After the late night 'your KC flight is canceled' call, my super traveler roommate Renae calls United and by some miracle, we score some of the last direct flight tickets to Dulles. So K-State is dividing and...well...potentially conquering.

3 Groups, 1 Goal: make our international flight.

The other groups are hopping from Chicago to Philly to maybe DC, and with airline perfection (a rare pheonomenon) will arrive with 40 minutes.

And despite my 5 person group's 'lucky' break, we're still forced to negotiate Dulles in under 2 hours. And from what I've heard, Dulles may rival the standard DMV for the coveted title of Inefficient Hell on Earth.

So now Renae and I are gearing up for the sprint across Dulles. I'm psyching myself up for some serious moving sidewalk negotiating. I'll throw elbows. I'll handle security check with a world record for rapid efficiency (I'm prepped and rocking Velcro shoes. They're orange and quite spectacular). I'll even distribute granola bars and save the straggling, famished KStaters! All on 2 hours of sleep.

2 hours? Why of course, as no one can possibly expect me to have NOT been packing at the very last minute, forsaking sleep. All in the effort to stuff all 49.5 pounds into my suitcase (a victorious 1/2 pound roundhouse kick in the face of astronomical fees!)

Tune in for the enthralling sequel, in which this leading lady answers the most baffling of airport mysteries:
-Will she be defeated by the endless length of Dulles Airport?!
-Will she become a European nudist after her baggage disappears into the abyss of United Airlines impromptu flight changes?!
-Will only the 5 of us be forced to attempt finding our non-English speaking charter bus driver, when our leading lady's limited Italian skills mean she only knows how to ask "how much is this eggplant?" !

Countdown: 4 days!

Instead of starting packing, I've set this up. Clearly a more productive choice, si?

(Appreciate the color scheme...it took my indecisive self hours to pick.)