yarn

Weave!

Knit!

They both look better in person

Piu'

These are Marjorie's photos from last weekend.

Those are niches for cinerary urns at Ostia.

Behind the theatre at Ostia.

Me, Julia and Chris at Tarquinia.

Rome: The very bridge where I saw Tom Cruise in 2005.

Basta

I had a mildly successful & wildly stressful weekend in Rome.

First, I went to buy my train ticket right after my travel buddy Marjorie had bought hers, and 2nd class was sold out. To take the same train as her, I had to pay for 1st class. I'm not going to say how much it cost, but I will say it wasn't worth it.

It then rained all over us in Ostia, the Roman port city. I took this picture of the amazing mosaic floors of the baths there, and promptly afterwards, my camera went dead.  We had dinner in a Spanish restaurant on the Tyrrenhian sea, but it was too cold to enjoy the beach.

Marjorie & I met up with Julia and Chris the next morning in Rome. We took a train out to Tarquinia, home of a famous Etruscan necropolis. I'm quickly learning that archeological destinations are usually not really destinations at all, and therefore there is never an easy way to get to them.  A "2 km walk" turned into a 4 km walk (uphill, along a highway), and what signs there were directing us to the site contradicted themselves several times. We finally made it, and it was worth it. 20 tombs for 6 euro. Google image search: Tarquinia.

Our hostel in Rome was terrible. The worst I've ever been to. I'm not going to elaborate because I want to forget about it. Thank God Chris & Julia had booked an entire room for 6 in a different hostel, Marjorie and I just stayed there.

There were more crazy things: money stuck in train ticket machines, late busses, catacombs. Basta.

My Conservation of Archeological Objects class is excellent. The class is taught by Renzo Giachetti, the conservator superstar of Riace Bronzes and Francois Vase fame. First assignment was to piece together one flower pot out of a pile of shards from 14 different pots. Somehow we did it. Here's mine, just about finished being glued back together.

Those are green beans. They're fagioli serpenti... snake beans. The past two Tuesdays I've gone to cooking classes taught by a lovely Italian lady. Thanks to her I'll be cooking fig jam and snakey beans for the rest of my days.

My flatmate Kristin taught me how to knit! I'm making it look like this on purpose (Google: rodarte knit spring 2008)

Jam

We went up on the hill on the other side of the Arno today. Visited the Church of San Miniato and walked around in the cypress trees. This is a photo from the front of the church. If you zoom in you can see the blue dome of the synagogue near our apartment. 

I made fig jam today. I'll eat it with pecorino cheese tomorrow.

Ravenna

Entering the Basilica of San Vitale, completed in 548 AD. It has an octagonal floor plan. Totally amazing.

Looking up inside the apse of San Vitale. Those gold mosaics are really famous.

The mosaic ceiling of the Baptistry of the Arians. That's Jesus, without a beard or anything to cover his private parts.

We hit all of the most important sites in Ravenna. This is an Early Christian bathtub. 

Just kidding. It's Theodoric's sarcophagus.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Fried Vegetables

I have started to fry random things I find in the market. These are zucchini flowers. What's next? Tripe?

Really though, Italians love to eat these... and I nailed them on the first try. I bet you can't wait for me to make them for you!

And the markets here are amazing. The food is superb, amazingly cheap, and if you ask any green grocer for "odori", they give you basil, celery and parsley... FOR FREE.

Weaving

First day of weaving class. Six hours long. I got frustrated, and because my piece has more warp threads than anyone else's, I'm the farthest behind. I hope it's worth it. 

That's not me in the blue dress, but that's my loom she's standing in front of.

Sept. 6-7

Went to the River Arno for the first time today. That's the Ponte Vecchio. It's an old bridge.

Me posing as a plump little sacrifice on an Etruscan altar at Fiesole.

The Roman amphitheater at Fiesole. Flatmate Kristin is in the stripes, Marjorie in lavender.

Via Fiesolana (my street) at night.

I went to Florence's Archeological Museum with high hopes. It turned out to be... scary. This is a photo of a dimly lit Egyptian gallery. There were no visitors. No one to hear me scream.

My roommate moved out! I was too wild for her. I have a single room now. Classes officially start tomorrow.

Days 3 & 4

On the left is an apartment building constructed within a Roman amphitheatre. Florence is old.

below that is the front door to the SACI school. That's Galileo's head, the building was dedicated to him way back when.

Below is the Duomo.

Under that is a photo of the opening reception of our program. Spot the guy in this photo. Yes there is only one. Basically, there are no men here.

Under that are scooters parked outside of an office building.

Day 1

before my flight

living room

two photos of my room and a view out my window

I have no idea how many hours I spent traveling yesterday, because I slept through almost all of it.  Then I slept 12 hours last night. I'll probably sleep another 12 tonight, and maybe take a nap. My flatmates and I are all just pooped. And bored.

But orientation starts today! Which forces us to go out and do things. So far there has been no reason to leave the apartment. It's clean, air conditioned and has wireless internet. 

I noticed that I've been talking in a deeper voice since I've been here. When I got to thinking about it, it seems like I just do it to strangers/people I don't know well. I once had a kid I just met compliment me on having a nice voice, and I thought, "Really, I don't always sound like this." I hope that everyone who's reading this has heard me get shrill.  Or maybe you haven't noticed.

More to come...