Thursday, 4/24/03
Yesterday I got up at 6:15 to catch the architecture bus at 7am. We went to Urbino. The only thing good about that field trip was the Casa Natale Raffaelo. I went there all by myself, when we had free time before our museum reservation. The museum in Urbino was an endless collection of Madonnas and Bambinos; it bored me out of my mind, since one definite thing I've learned on this trip is that I don't like pre-Renaissance painting!
Kate told me she thought she'd seen every piece of Byzantine art (painting and mosaic) in the world. When I told her that she's probably only seen 1% of them, she nearly went nuts. Palazzo Ducale, that's hat the museum is called. I did get to see the original of "La Cita Ideale", which I've never overly liked, but it's important to Renaissance art history.
We also went to see some 1970s university dormitories, which where actually quite interesting, architecturally. But the worst thing about the trip was The Trip! 2 1/2 hours there and 2 1/2 hours back of winding through mountains on a bus! I think all of us were in one degree or another of motion sickness. Luckily, no one actually puked.
Friday, 4/25/03
Well, I'm about back on the top again, just like good old George "Babyface" Nelson, who was jumping for excitement about the electric chair. [in O Brother, Where Art Thou?]
Yesterday, Paolo's presentations were so far behind schedule that ours were rescheduled for 7pm. Our presentation went very well. Everyone else said that he talked more than they did, but he actually listened to our entire presentation and didn't talk overly much. I wouldn't have minded if he did; unlike most people, I love to listen to Paolo talk.
After dinner all the non-architecture people went out for ice cream, with their nice separate budget. When Dr. R announced that at dinner, Taeg stood up and said that the architecture students would get something even better later.
Saturday, 4/26/03
How much I have to write about, and I actually have time to do it! It's 4 in the afternoon, and I have no engagements. I'm in my favorite spot in the courtyard, at the top of the left flight of stairs, with a grand view of the courtyard to my left, the valley to my right, and the mountains beyond. I'm itching to write about today, but about yesterday as well, so I'd better go chronologically.
Yesterday morning I was lonely for some odd reason, and itching to go somewhere, but I hadn't gotten up early enough. So before lunch I brought my spiral up to this very spot and started writing nonsense. There was hardly anyone at lunch, and everyone was full of what happened at 4am the night before. Apparently, a big group got drunk and were having some kind of party in the computer lab. Somehow @@@ got the idea that ###, who she has had a thing with on and off this semester, liked ****. Now, according to her roommate, ### really does like ****, and he's always hanging out in their room and **** doesn't lead him on, but can't give him a firm "NO". So anyway, to prove his love for @@@, he got a chair from the dining hall, took it upstairs, and threw it at ****'s door, all the while yelling #$%^ ****!" over and over in a string of profanity. The chair knocked the door open, but luckily **** slept through it. About everyone else in the center woke up, though. What a way to prove your love! I guess it makes logical sense when you're drunk.
This morning I got up at 8:45 to catch the 9:30 bus. Cortona is one of my favorite towns in Italy. It was about the most successful day trip I've made. It's not much bigger than Castiglion, but it's all on the side of a mountain. From a distance, from the Val di Chiana, it looks like it's going to slide off the mountain. We walked through the town trying to find the church with the dead saint. Finally, Carmen asked someone, "Dove Santa Morto?" She found out that it was Santa Margherita, so after much more searching we finally understood that it was at the very top of the hill, and we had a nice scenic climb up.
The walk down was more worth it than the shriveled Saint Margaret. Carmen and I found an ideal field for frolicking. Valerie probably wanted to disown us at that point. I took lots of pictures on the way down, then we passed through the market. That was the best part. I saw this funky but cute shirt for only €5. I tried one on over my shirt and it actually fit! It was an XXL. Then the three of us rummaged through some silky scarves and I got a red one for me, and a black and white one for my sister, €2 each. Finally, when I passed some absolutely beautiful Chinese dresses, my blood nearly froze. There was a rack full of shirts and dresses, only €15! There was a black shirt that had dragons on it, but it was actually too big. The one that fit me the best was a dress, black with red designs on it. I tried it on when we got back, and I've never had a dress fit me better! That style usually makes my hips look enormous. In addition to the scarf, I got my sister a toy bow and arrow to indulge her dreams of being Galadriel and showing her moves to Legolas.
I told Valerie this morning that I was going to change my name to Leonarda DaVinci, because I want to learn how to fly.
On the way back from Cortona, the bus driver made a mistake and told us we had to get off at the bottom of the hill. Then, when we started walking up the hill and he started driving us, ready to pass us, I pointed at him and said, "What's this?" Valerie put her hands out to her sides and shrugged, giving him a look. He did the same thing back, like "Oops," but he pulled over and let us back on. It was really funny.
We got pizza in town before going back to Santa Chiara, and just as we got back, Dr. R was leaving! He actually missed his earlier train to Rome, and now was taking a taxi to the train station. It was lucky that we caught him.
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