La Dolce Vita

                                           Me standing in the light of the oculus... inside the pantheon

                                                             Interior of the Pantheon

 The Pantheon at Night

 The oculus of the Pantheon

Piazza Navona at Night and the 4 Rivers Fountain

The night walk started with us people watching in the Campo Di Fiori, where we then had dinner and then walked to the Piazza Navona, Followed by drinks and the Italy's best Gelato near the Pantheon... We then got a little lost trying to find the Trevi fountain... and a long windy way of finding our hostel... sometime around 4 am.... a long... but beautiful night.  The Pantheon shots above are from both that night and the next morning... they don't let you in the Pantheon at night. The piazza outside the pantheon and that walk was my favorite part of the Rome trip.

When in Rome....

                                          Arch of Constantine

                                        They really should watch what you do at the tomb of Cecilia Metele

                              Me and the Arch of Constantine.... look how red my hair is turning...

                                        Me and Trajan's Column....

                                                    The monument to Victor Emmanuel II

Rome.. The first night we bumbled around Rome… looking for a night life that didn’t exist any where near where we were.  The following morning we took to the streets heading to the Colosseum.  The main group went into the behemoth… while Angela and I walked to streets slowly to the Circus Maximus, where we met back up with Mike.  We journeyed further onward to the Appian Way.  The Appian Way was a bit like false advertising to me.  In the books and postcards it shows a beautiful old large stoned basalt road, the original one used by the Romans to enter and exit the city.  The current Appian Way is actually a narrow road lined by a wall on each side where the drivers nearly kill you if you don’t stay inside the 1 foot curb.  But in a very cool way are the original catacombs from the 2nd and 3rd centuries... I have no pictures of these...since they didn't let us take pictures... but... Mike did steal a few shots... so I'll see if I can get a few off of him.  .... up next walking the streets of Rome at Night!

amidst the towers of San Gimignano

On Friday we left Capitignano early to trek it out to San Gimignano.  San Gimignano is a quaint little medieval city.  The city has a unique silhouette, it has dozens of tall towers…. Remnants from it’s days making and dying bolts of fabric.  We went into a couple of churches, but couldn’t go in the really tall tower because it was closed for cleaning… booo.   I truly loved this city..  We could wander down very small streets and then into shops selling everything from leather to meat.  After San Gimignano we hurried over to Siena… where I walked the city with a very heavy bag.  We caught our first train towards Rome here.  The train ride was… interesting.  It was very crowded… so crowded in fact I got the pleasure of standing for the duration of the ride.  For added fun the train had no lights… so as we began going through tunnels we’d be plunged into pitch-blackness.  Since I was standing next to my friend Angela’s seat I took advantage of the darkness to pull a “Euro Trip moment”… mi scuzi mi scuzi,.,,,,,it made me laugh to the point that I was crying on the floor of the train. The second train was even worse… we had seats but no air-conditioning… or windows that would open… It was so hot this past weekend that I literally started to melt. 

Some random snippets

 

The painting that I did yesterday... and touched up today... with a glare :( ...the cost to make this painting was one tick's life...

              my first attempt at landscape painting in oils... it's only 3x4 inches... uber small.

 Me getting my kitten fix... the cat here has 2 very adorable kittens... I managed to wrangle on of them.

 Me and My friends at the bar(in Italy bar means cafe..not bar) waiting for our bus in Faenza.  Si Chiami (their names) from left to right are: Angela, Tracy, Mike, Nick...and you know that last bozo.

Friday's Dinner..... Roasted Chicken rubbed under the skin with fresh basil and rosemary, and buttery seasoned potatoes... delicious doesn't begin to describe it.  The wine on the table is all made on premises, from the mini-vineyard on the hill below us. ... It is made in the local Tuscan style and even for being from last fall is quite palatable.

So, there a good possibility that I may be going to Rome this weekend. Our trip to Ravenna was so successful that my friends who went with me really want to see the cool extra stuff in Rome that I won't get a chance to see when I travel there at the end of next month with Todd.  I may be hijacking their trip since I'll be by passing all the highlights... but they seem very excited by the idea... and who am I to let them down. Friday our class is going to San Gimigiano in the morning, followed by Siena at night.  After our touring there we will hop a train to Rome and spend two nights in a youth hostel.  All added up it will be about 90 euros ($150) to do the trip...not counting food and extras.  Not terribly bad I think. So, a busy weekend ahead of me. ........ the following weekend.. I'm going to trip it to Switzerland... more about that later.

Sunday's festival and Production

                                                          Woman Dressed Up at Festival

                                          Chimney Sweeps

                                             Me at the Grounds of La Pietra, before the show

Sunday Borgo San Lorenzo, the local town, had a festival where everyone dressed up from the early 1900s.  It was fantastic.  The chimney sweeps were the best.  There were people baking in ovens on the street and impromptu dancing.  After the festival we went into Florence to watch the NYU production of As You Like It.  The play was done by a very small troop, only 5 people, and was preformed on the grounds of La Pietra, a beautiful and old estate. 

Some more pictures of Capitigano's grounds.

                                                        Looking up at Capitigano

                                                              Road leading up to Capitigano

These views were recently the subject of a few paintings.... doing the last view I got a tick in a very uncomfortable place.....mmm... so we got to go this morning to the Farmacia in Borgo to get stuff to remove the tick... the striking similarity between the tick and a spider made the whole experience very unnerving.  However, the lunch today was homemade ravioli....and Massimo is prepping chicken for dinner.  So today could still end up to be a very good day. 

Ravenna.... more than amazing

                                                        Interior of San Vitale

                                              Exterior of San Vitale

                                           Different colored glass at the Mosaic Arts Store

Today we went into Ravenna, the mecca of byzantine mosaic art.  San Vitale was beautiful, but the Mausoleum was breathtaking, literally.   I made some videos and took a lot of pictures.  I will add some to this post. We also had a leisurely lunch at a pizzeria and a sweet break at a Gelateria. I bought a very nice emerald and pearl bracelet.  I also took a mini excursion to a local supermarket.. that was a trip all in itself.  Tomorrow we will be going to a festival in Borgo, where people dress in Renaissance period clothes.  After dinner tomorrow we are going to a town near Florence to watch an English presentation of As You Like It.   Can't wait!

Proof I was in Germany

I had a layover in Germany on my way to Italy.  I have proof that I was really there...

extra photos for you...

Here are two photos from my trip to Florence: Church of San Lorenzo and the Duomo.  Also there are two pictures from Capitigano: the view from the pool (not that it's warm enough to swim in) and the silhouette of Jodi (roommate) looking out the dining room window.  Yes, Vicki you may paint it.  I thought instantly of your show, just give me source credit.   My favorite part of this photo are the reflections in the finestra (Italian for window).  I just finished my second painting of the day.  I feel very good about the progress that I am making.  I have about an hour of free time coming up.  So, I think I'm going to write some postcards.  Keep your eyes open in the next two weeks for them to be coming in the mail.  Also, I'll send anybody something, reciprocate if you will... if they send me a letter or something better.  

Sunrise at the villa

I got up early this morning to paint the sunrise... rather my paranoia about spiders got me up at 4:50 am... and woke Jodi up... *sorry Jodi*... so we got up to paint the sunrise... the most beautiful sunrise in history... and my painting isn't too bad either.  I'll post my painting as soon as I have uploaded the pictures.  After my painting session I flooded our bathroom and bedroom...a nice gift from an overflowing shower.  I used maybe 20 towels, ones we had laying around the room.  In a moment of desperation I ran down stairs, arms over flowing with towels, and in my broken Italian tried to tell our caretaker Maria about the flood...and how we needed new towels.  I might have fixed the internet this morning... I'm trying to upload a video... we'll see if it actually uploads or not... if not I'll try to put up a photo for you guys *no video..but the photo is of me and Tracy, with our Duomo Dome umbrellas, in front of the Duomo in Florence*.   If this continues to be the case then I will only be able to upload videos at internet cafes, most likely only once a week.  It's been an exciting day so far, at only 8:09 am: spiders, sunrises, awesome painting, floods and fixing the internet.   Tomorrow we're off to Florence... alora (that means "then") we are going to go into Lucca for a day-trip on Saturday.  Lucca, if you watch Borgias was the city the French army decimated, and it's the only Italian city with the original medieval city wall still intact. You can actually rent bikes and ride along on the top of wall, looking down on the city and the valley.  Sounds like it will be a fun day.  *special thanks to Anja's mom who suggested it, as her "favorite place in Italy"* 

How about a tour of the place.

We have internet now so I should be posting a bit more frequently.... however... it's not strong enough to post videos... sad I know.. So I will post videos when I can get to internet cafes on day trips...   We went into Florence yesterday... hence the new post.  I will post some pictures from that trip tomorrow.  We will also be doing a Giotto tour of Florence on Thursday.  So lots to come.  We also had our first day of painting today.  Despite my fears I didn't do terribly bad.  Sergei (my painting instructor...yes I'm learning painting from a Russian teacher in Italy) said that I get an A for my work for the day.  YAY! My Italian language skills are also coming around nicely.  I helped a bunch of the students here today purchase cell phones at the local store, and I use every chance I can to speak with the fluent speakers here.  I'd say for just doing a little bit of audio "How to Speak Italian" I've been more than successful on our outings. Anywho... I smell the best tasting food in the world, our cook Massimo is an aspiring chef and he tests out all his dishes on us... say good-bye to the 16 pounds I managed to lose.   This food is too good practice portion control... not a joke.. best food ever.  I may take some pictures of tonight's dinner just to prove it to you.
Ciao!

Arrival!!!!

I’m loving Italy. It’s taking me a bit to upload since a storm knocked the satellite dish, that gives internet to the villa, out of alignment. Until the company comes out to repair it I’ll only be able to upload from cyber cafes…when we go into town. As I’m sure you can see from my photos that’s not in walking distance. The food is amazing and I feel like I’m living in a painting….a painting where people eat slowly, but drive entirely too quickly…in very small cars. Classes start tomorrow. The students here with me are great. I have two roommates: Jodi and Alisha. They’re pretty cool.. I think we’ll get along well. We took a walk this morning into the upper hills beyond the villa. The views around the farms up there are fantastic. There is also a small little church called San Cresci. Apparently the original Saint Creci lived there before he was martyred in the 4^th century, and that was his church. The same church that I saw a young couple who was just married coming running out of, while church bells rang. Capitigano itself was an outpost for the Romans… The Romans!... like 1AD! And in the middle ages the room I’m staying in was one of the bedrooms for the nuns who used the building as a convent. …and they believe that the Etruscans lived on this hill. They say that the Cyprus trees were considered holy, because of their shape, and they were used to create spiritual barriers. The trees completely surround Capitigano, so this hilltop was most likely the site of an Etruscan temple…. I am blown away by the fact that the area that I’m casually lounging back typing on a computer on is so historic.

The night before....

I took a moment last night to film what I'm packing... as it turned out I had to buy an extra duffel at the airport, since my checked luggage was 15 pounds over the limit.. that's ok... it's a very nice duffel.  Enjoy the video.  I fly out in T-Minus one hour.  Currently I'm sitting in the terminal at Dulles airport and talking to Todd on phone as he drives home from dropping me off.  Wish me a safe flight... and I'll get back to you all after I land.