A Step Back in Time

This week we had only two days of class before our Thanksgiving break, but it was two days packed full of places to see and things to learn. All day Monday we spent touring different sites in Rome and soaking up the last bits of sites we could before our return home. One of the stops I enjoyed the most was the panoramic view of Rome from Janiculum Hill. Although today it is the second highest hill in Rome, it is not included as one of the Seven Hills of Rome because at the time the hills were named the boundaries of ancient Rome did not reach that far. While taking in the beautiful scene of Rome it was exciting being able to pinpoint all the places we’ve seen and experienced in our time here. From the top you can see Saint Peter’s Dome in the Vatican; the Colosseum; the Roman forum; and bell towers of churches all over. I was in awe of the picturesque view of red brick and white marble that stretched over the horizon of Rome for what seemed like an eternity. Being able to visit places off the beaten path, like Janiculum Hill, is one of the things I’ve come to value while being in this program. These scenes are unknown beauties that most tourists do not get the chance to experience, or even know of their existence.

The Group and Cinzia at Janiculum Hill with Rome behind us

After we were through admiring the breathtaking view and snapping a few pictures we headed off to another one of Rome’s hidden treasures near the Tiber River. We walked across the Ponte Fabricio Bridge, nicknamed “Bridge of the Four Heads” because of the four headed statues on either end, into the Jewish Ghetto. In ancient years the bridge was used by the Jewish community to cross into town because the Jews were not allowed to live in central Rome. Since the ghetto was walled-in the Christian community built a catholic church at the end of the bridge as a means to spread their faith to the Jewish residents. A few steps down from the church is a square called Largo 16 Ottobre 1943, named after the day the Nazi’s threatened to take the Jews to concentration camps if they didn’t come up with enough gold within 24 hours. The Jewish and non-Jewish communities met the demanded amount, but were taken away shortly after. The streets and apartments beside the square are still populated by the Jewish community and are lined with Jewish cuisine restaurants and shops. When we walked through the streets of the ghetto, knowing the history behind it, I couldn’t help but think of the people who took the same steps many years before and the emotions they must have felt at that time. One of Rome’s magical qualities is the feeling of walking through the streets as if you’re walking back in time to the ancient Roman days. There is now a 3D museum that helps you to visualize those ancient days. The R3WIND Museum is constructed in a way that makes visitors feel like they’re going on an archeological dig and then catapults them back in time to the gladiator days. We put on our 3D glasses and rewound to the old Roman days. We were greeted by a virtual, short, hefty man in a toga and followed him around the crowded streets of ancient Rome. I enjoyed the museum because it was a great way to better understand the architectural sites of the city today as well as try to experience what a normal day was like back then. The virtual tour guide took us to a market; town justice meeting; and a gladiator fight in the ring.

Lauren and me with our glasses on ready for the action.

I thought not only was the concept a well thought out plan, but it was well executed. All of the outfits designed fit each character perfectly, from the colors and designs of the togas to the armor and weapons for the gladiators. I’ve learned from Human Sciences that the look and make of the garment must coincide with the person or character wearing it in order to achieve the certain look required. Everything in the attire designed is done so for a particular reason; whether to send a certain message or feeling to the consumer, or in this situation, make a character role believable. Whatever the case may be the designer must have inspiration that can be derived from anything, such as a scenic overview of a massive city; the emotions felt when walking through streets with troubled history; or a walk back in time to the streets of ancient Rome.

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Aperitivo in Milano

Milan week turned out to be everything I expected and more. We began the week on Monday afternoon with a walking tour of the city guided by Cinzia. We saw beautiful sights such as the Duomo, the Galleria where the first Prada store in existence is located, and the infamous Via Napoleone where the new Armani Hotel and other luxury retail shops are located. We strolled along the elegant street alongside glamorous, impeccably dressed fashion models peeking into the windows of Dolce and Gabbana and Prada.

The Duomo of Milano
Tuesday we had the pleasure of meeting Professor Massimo (Max) Martignoni. He gave us a great lecture in which we were able to view some of the short films produced by his students from all over the world; he also taught us about seven influential Italian artists, architects, and designers of the early 20th century. Gio Ponti and Piero Portaluppi were two of the seven he put extra emphasis on. Both of these two men were pioneers in the design industry in Italy in the early 1900’s. Their work was revolutionary, and we were privileged to tour Milan with Professor Martigoni and see Ponti’s Pirelli tower, The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which was extremely surreal and awe inspiring to see in person, and Portaluppi’s villa designed and built in the 1930’s for the Necchi family.

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Wednesday we met another influential person in the Italian design industry, Stefano Formentini. We met him at the Portaluppi foundation and he gave us a lecture about styling and showed us a showreel of his work, which was so impressive. He has styled so many notable commercials from McDonald’s to energy companies. The process he depicted for us of an average commercial shoot from the aspect of a stylist was very interesting and surprising. I had no idea how much preparation went into the wardrobe alone. Every shade of hue and stripe on the fabric is intentional and designed to inflict a certain mood onto the audience. As a business student, especially in Marketing, I really appreciated learning about the production of advertisements. I fully realized in Milan how the science of business is truly the backbone of all things. We toured several fashion show rooms later in the afternoon. My favorite stop of the day was the Iceberg showroom. The designs were so original and the colors vibrant. It was neat to see how the College of Human Sciences and the College of Business blend so necessarily and perfectly together when it comes to fashion and design. This relationship was evident to me throughout the week. The designers provide the raw creativity and talent when it comes of the tangible designs, and the business people take care of the operations and efficiency, a form of creativity in its own way. We also had the very fun experience of a typical Milanese aperitivo Wednesday night with Stefano. The culture in Milan is so great, and this experience was the final culmination of a great week. Our last day, we went with Max to several interior design shops as well as a museum exhibit featuring the work of Alberto Burri. The exhibit was a fine example of Italian abstract art, and it was rewarding to walk around the museum and design shops with an expert of design history. All in all, Milan week was one of the things I was most looking forward to, and my expectations were exceeded. I learned about everything from fashion to interiors to commercial production, and I feel much more cultured after this week of teaching by such fine men in the design industry.

An example of work by Alberto Burri

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Week Nine - L'Esperienza

Well here we are at the end of week nine, and at the risk of sounding like a cliché-machine, I’m going to go ahead and say that our time here really has flown by. The events and lessons of this week were a little more laid-back and less hectic, giving me ample time to contemplate my literary masterpiece of a weblog.

Me writing this weblog


Actually, this week was one of my favorites lecture-wise. We had a good amount of language lessons, which I enjoy and Marco’s descriptions of his first-hand experiences during World War II in Italy were really amazing. We started our week in the palace with a philosophy lesson from Rossella, followed by a fashion lecture from Maurizio, a little info on branding in preparation for next week in Milan. On Tuesday, we did some preparation lecture for the trip to Nettuno the next day with Marco, featuring some of the stories aforementioned. Later we worked on our World Food Program video projects, by the way, maximum props to my team mates Anna and Erin because we finished our top-notch video that day check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_qVoECbihI All I can say is that it’s too bad that there is no more video contest, because we would have been on a flight to Africa now for sure. The next lecture day consisted of a lecture on Italian cinema by Romina and a tour of the exhibition featuring some of the films of the late Italian director Dino Risi. We saw a few clips from his movies, all very entertaining and funny stuff. When I become fluent in Italian, I think I’ll pick up a few of his greatest hits at Best Buy.


Dino Risi


Wednesday, we took the bus to Nettuno to see the World War II cemetery, the burial site of American soldiers who died in Italy during the battles from Sicily to Rome. The cemetery is actually U.S.-owned, a gift from the Italian government after the war and is beautifully well kept. Walking along the thousands of marble Latin crosses and stars of David in the rain that day (it was fitting that the day before was Veterans Day) gave me a sense of pride and gratitude for the work that these men had done for my country, Italy and the rest of the world.


Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial


I think it would be completely fair to say that Italy is a culinary Mecca, and I am now making my pilgrimage. It seems that everything that comes of the earth here is more flavorful and all-around awesome then I had ever thought possible. This has lead to the creation of the simple and fantastic Mediterranean-style dishes for which Italy is known. I have been given the privilege of being able to work and observe in the Hotel Villa Aricia kitchen over the course of this semester (I actually went two nights this week), and I have learned quite a bit about cooking in Italy. In addition, to my invaluable hands-on culinary experience on Friday, I gained a little more culinary knowledge when we took our second field trip of the week to an olive oil factory near Genzano for some good old fashioned olive pulverizing. It’s amazing how people have been manufacturing olive oil here for thousands of years and with the exception of the use of mechanical machinery, giant robot arms and little to no beasts of burden, the process has not changed a bit. I witnessed the creation of olive oil from the trees to the bins to the milling to the press and eventually to my stomach, it was great.


Exactly like this...


... and then this,


Ahh, the finished product. Thanks Tom.

Well, I learned a bit, had a little fun, made food and ate food, I can’t complain about a successful week. Thanks week nine, it’s been fun, now hopefully Auburn will beat Georgia tomorrow…

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Back in Italy!

Since we were all exhausted from travels from the mid-term break, it was so nice to get back to Ariccia. We all missed our beds in the hotel so much! We were so excited to see each other and we stayed up late talking about our ventures all over Europe!
On Tuesday we had the privilege of having Francesco Petrucci, who is THE Baroque expert of Italy, if not all of Europe, give us a tour of the Borghese Gallery in Rome. Francesco is the curator of the Chigi Palace and we are so fortunate to know him and be taught by him. We usually see him when we are in the palace for class and he refers to us as the "Chigi babies."
In the Borghese Gallery, we saw some of the most amazing sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco's infinite knowledge on Bernini (not only on his works, but on his life, family, etc.) made the sculptures really come to life. There were even sculptures that Bernini completed when he was eleven years old! Other paintings in the gallery were "David with the Head of Goliath"by Caravaggio. The painting is actually a self portrait of Caravaggio (as Goliath) after he was accused of murder and fled from Rome. He sent the painting to the papal court as a request for pardon. He was pardoned, but sadly he died before the news reached him.

David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio

Thursday we finally got to visit the Vatican City! We've all been looking forward to this and Susanna was our tour guide. One of the wonderful things about the Joseph S. Bruno Auburn Abroad in Italy program is that our teachers, who have become our friends, are our tour guides. Also, since they live and work in Ariccia and Rome, they have connections all over the city. One of Susanna's friends is a restorer in the Vatican and he was working on an ancient mosaic. We got to go behind the scenes and see them working on the intricate design to preserve the original tiles. We met the restorer and got to watch his tedious work as he chiseled the tiny replacement tiles into the exact shape so they would fit exactly in the tiny missing spot of the mosaic.

The group with the two restorers, plus Cinzia and Susanna.

Susanna showed us around the Vatican Museum, and all of our necks are sore from looking up at the ceiling in amazement of the intricate detail of every inch. The Sistine Chapel couldn't have been more amazing and the vastness of St. Peter's Basilica left us all speechless. It made me feel so incredibly small as I made my way around the nave looking at the sculptures, paintings, and mosaics.

St. Peter's Basilica. Bernini designed this nave and only the Pope can give perform mass here.

As we were walking through St. Peter's square, Susanna showed us the pope's window, and we knew he was there because his shudder were open. The only thing that would have made the day even more unbelievable would have been for Pope Benedict to wave to us from his window!

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