As I was going to bed I got in one of those giddy moods, and Cady and Karin said I was a drunk, a non-alcoholic drunk. I don't remember what happened, except that at one point Cady suddenly started singing the screeching violins from Psycho, and I screamed, then half cried-half laughed. Very unsettling memories. Then a few minutes later we were talking about hearing ceiling sounds and the conversation shifted to rat fights in walls and ceilings. Cady was doing something in the bathroom and she suddenly popped around the wall and screeched at me like a rat! I screamed, and Karin screamed louder just because she was startled by my scream. Tammy next door banged on the wall for us to shut up.
Friday, 5/2/03
I'm finally on my way back to Rome, my favorite place in Italy. The only places that may rival it would be Capri or Venice.
Tuesday afternoon Morgan and I, as well as a couple of Kansas girls, went to CoCo Palm for gelati. I was dreadfully late to mixed media, as CoCo Palm didn't reopen until 4. But it was so worth it. I can't believe I never had gelato before that. It was divine, so divine that I even came back after dinner.
So I went to mixed media over an hour late, and did some work on my 3d model, cut up my collage and arranged it on my model. But I didn't finish because Paolo was too tired to help me. I'm going to miss Paolo so much. I think he's my favorite professor ever.
Later, Karin and Edit were going to the Velvet Underground for dancing (every Tuesday), and I decided to stop in just to see what it looked like. No one was there, so we decided to go look at the stars for a while. Me, Karin, Edit, and Kate went and got blankets and carried them up toward the tower. In the Piazza Municipale we actually passed the Mayor and were embarrassed because Edit and I both had blankets wrapped around us. Then it turned out the tower was gated off, so we went up a side road that dead ended at the top of the hill. We just laid the blankets down on the road, because no one else was around. We had a nice time, though the street lamp made it hard to see anything other than the big dipper.
Now comes the funny part. We went back to the Velvet and I went in to see what people looked like on the dance floor. But we still had the thick wool blankets. I was waiting for Kate because she only wanted to stay for a few minutes, but when she kept dancing I began to get self conscious, holding two huge blankets in the entry way of a pub where I was in view of everyone there. Then Jesus asked me what I was doing. Finally, I told Kate I would take her water and go. I went.
Wednesday I skidaddled to Firenze. We had round trip tickets to come and go as we chose, since there was no organized field trip that day. On my way, I remembered that I was supposed to meet with Paolo about our mixed media exhibit. I made a mental note to find him before dinner. My goal in Firenze was to just walk around the city and enjoy myself, and find a gift for my brother. I went to the Duomo one more time, hung around the Loggia de Lanzi, the Uffizzi, and went through the markets. I saw a spray paint artist by the Uffizzi. His paintings were absolutely beautiful, amazing. They were very surrealistic, most with some kind of body of water with a boat, and one or two planets in the space above. It was amazing how he could manipulate the spray paint with his tools into such detail.
When I got back right before dinner, I ran into Paolo and he told me that I had failed and my project had been put through the grinder. Only two people had showed up to class, and he was mad. But all the rest of us went after dinner to mount all our collages on chipboard and put them on easels for display.
We had a final the next morning. I came back from the exhibit to find Karin, because we were supposed to have a study group, but I couldn't find her anywhere. I was very frustrated after 30 minutes, and wouldn't go back to my room, so I sat in the dining hall with Idalia and Morgan, who were working on Sociology. At length Karin and Edit did show up. They had been in the Colorado studio talking to Jen about the Renaissance.
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Well, my final day in "The Eternal City" has come to a close. The first thing I got there was a pen. Now it's 6, and I'm completely exhausted. I planned on taking the 7:15 train back, but by 2:30 I was so tired I knew my legs could only tolerate the hour long walk to the train station.
Back to yesterday, after the final and lunch I took a nap then went to studio cleanup. We emptied and mopped the entire floor of our classroom building. I didn't mention before that we were renting those classrooms since the south wing of Santa Chiara was closed off, and there's a Priest who lives directly below our classrooms. On my way down the stairs one night, I was trying to find the light switch, and accidentally rang his doorbell! Luckily, I remembered "pardone" and "mi dispiace" and he understood that I needed the light. It was really embarrassing, but he is a kind old man.
May 1 is a festival day, so all this weekend the town is holding a carnival and market. Carmen, Cady, and I went to the carnival. It was small, in the playground next to the Piazza Garibaldi. The market we saw in the piazza was just farm equipment and we were disappointed until we discovered the rest of it up and down the main road alongside the arch. I got a beautiful white shirt for €5.
To today! I'm really glad I came again, though I didn't see anything amazing. I was just saying my own farewell to the city and getting to know different parts of it. First I stopped at Santa Maria della Vittoria to see Bernini's "Ecstasy of St. Teresa". It's supposed to be his masterpiece, but I was a little disappointed. The light from outside wasn't shining on it like it's supposed to, and it was too high to really see well.
Next I stopped in the Pantheon and the church next to it, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (with Bernini's elephant in front) then headed toward the Travastere to see Bramante's Tempietto. The Tempietto, where according to tradition Peter was crucified, is in a tiny courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio, which is on top of a high hill with good views of the entire city. Unfortunately, the Tempietto is closed for restoration, but I was able to get a photo of it through the gate. I ate lunch in a little grassy area next to the church.
The great thing about Rome, is that although it's a huge city and very touristy, it's still inviting, and has many quiet places hidden in it. Florence and Venice are fast paced, as is Rome, but there's no privacy in the other two, no place to eat lunch without masses passing by. There are so many monuments in Rome that span the city, that when walking between, you are sure to make several discoveries along the way. Every corner it seems has some mysterious ruin. And why is it that the banks of the Tiber even feel less exposed to the masses than the Arno? There are trees lining the Tiber, and large paved areas on the lower level of the water that feel removed from the rest of the city. "Roman Holiday" calendars are sold everywhere and I had to really restrain myself from buying one.
From the Tempietto I went to St. Peter's one more time. I just had to start heading in the general direction of the dome and ended up being cut off by the university. I didn't particularly like that part of town. But I got there. The cathedral didn't impress me as much this time, but I'm still glad I went. I think I love Bernini's piazza more. Probably because there are drinkable water fountains and I filled up my bottle and cooled my hands. It was an hour's walk back to Termini and my legs felt like they would fall off. But here I am, safe and sound, with twenty minutes until Castiglion.
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