Friday - Part B

Wow, this has been quite the day. I was mad that I had slept away a good portion of the morning, but I think I definitely made up for it in my afternoon exploration. After lunch I went to update and check email and whatnot. Then I went back, planned out a semi-organized route and hit the road. I decided first that I would practice getting to my school again just to make sure I wouldn’t get completely lost on Monday when my classes actually started.
I walked around with a little more confidence since I at least had some idea of where I was going. I even listened to music on my way to the subway! Then I put it away since I was afraid I would either lose my concentration and get lost or do something stupid like not notice that someone’s hand was down my pocket trying to steal my wallet. I made it to my school just fine in almost exactly 40 minutes. Since I had the entire afternoon for exploring I decided to have a look around Piazza Bologna. Romans tend to orient themselves with land marks and they usually use the Piazzas where the metro stops are (or at least that’s what it feels like). I didn’t find too much other than cool architecture (which is always good), a Volvo dealership, and lots of shops that had extremely pleasant aromas coming out of them.
I got back on the Metro and decided to head back toward the center to do some more touristy sight seeing. After getting on the A line I thought I would go back to where Francesco had taken me so I could take pictures of the Forum and the Fontana del Vitro, but alas, I was a sucker and stopped and the Piazza Rippublica first. This is where you get off to find the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. It took a long time to find. First I just started looking around taking pictures of anything I thought was cool (which proved to be a lot of things). Every time I would walk past a street, some interesting façade or sculpture would catch my eye and I would go in search of the next best shot. I kept walking down one street until I came to a very large building that I either think was San Pietro or the Spanish Steps. I’m not sure so I have to ask one of my friends what it was because I could not find a sign or anything to tell me.
I walked to the other side of the square and back again for about an hour and a half until finally I got my nerve up and decided to ask someone where it was. “Scusata’me, dov’e il Teatro dell’Opera?” After asking this to three different people and getting answers completely in Italian (which was daunting but kind of cool that I actually asked my question correctly), I finally found it. Even in its humble state, it was beautiful. A simple front with a small sort of quasi-courtyard in front of the marquise made out of granite and marble. Over the marquise was a bust of what I am guessing is the Muses. It was glorious. I went up to the biglietti (tickets) window to look at the program and to see what was showing. This apparently is also the place where the Ballet de Russe has many performances. The operas were ones I had not heard of except Pagliacci which still had not been sold out like the many of the others. The Ballet had just finished a set of French ballets from Debussy (Les pre midi de un’faun) and Petrushka by Stravinsky. Last month they did a recreation of Stravinsky’s Les Sacre du Printemps which I would have given anything to have seen.
After looking around I just kind of stood in the center of the square and soaked up everything around me. Each street seemed to have its own personality and each had something interesting that never failed to catch my eye. Of course I already knew this city was old, but what I didn’t know and certainly didn’t expect is that it feels old. The vibes shooting up through my body from the cracked and craggy streets, even the newer streets are just radiating with age and history. I have never been to a city where the newer looking complexes just look, out of place, even now after how many years of modernization. I also think Rome likes getting looked at. Certainly the people of Ancient Rome desired to be seen as glorious, and I think that attitude lives on in the walls of Romes walls and more than 105,000 churches (I found that out through Francesco). It’s a thrilling feeling.
After walking around for a very long time I decided that I was quite tired and headed back for Villa. It’s really like people can smell “American” on you. I really think it’s because I’m so pale and technically to Italians, I would be considered blond. But as I said earlier in my posts, not all Italians are the stereotypical dark skinned and black haired people we think of them as. But still, I believe my German roots completely give me away, and also probably how much I look at everything. I made it back in one piece and took a quick nap before dinner. Dinner was an event because both Frencesco’s (who speak probably the best English of the students) are out of town for the weekend, so I was left to defend myself at the dinner table. My friend who I am helping with English, Antonio, was my main conversation buddy and helped me talk to the rest of the table but for the most part they just all helped me stumble through my Italian. I think it’s sort of a game to them. I was invited to go out with some of the guys after choir practice. They are apparently going to be my designated “tour guides” – complete with gelato, of course.

This was before we went out. That comes next.