So truthfully, today was really my first day of class. My class is now only seven people consisting of three women from Germany, one girl from Brazil (who is only 18 and can speak fluently in Portugese, Spanish, French and English, so Italian really is no big deal to her), one guy from Japan who is learning Italian so he can make better business for his jewelry line, a woman from English (near Brussels), and of course, me. It is a pretty cool class and we work well together. Our teacher, Laura, is very nice and is kind enough to annunciate and speak slowly to make sure we all understand. I get the slight sense that I’m the underdog in this room, save for maybe the guy from Japan, but it’s a good environment for me to be in since I work best under pressure. In the end, it’s fun and even in though it’s only my first real day, I think I’m going to enjoy the challenge.
After class I rushed back to Villa to catch the end of lunch. There were other guys who also came late so luckily, I did not have to eat alone. Antonio said today would be our first trek out together for him to show me Rome. We decided to meet at 4 and so we did. It was incredible how much he knows about Rome and its history. It makes sense of course that he would know so much since he is about to finish his degree in art history, but even so, this guy is a complete encyclopedia to Ancient Rome. We started at San Pietro (St. Peter’s Basilica). Never in my life have I seen such an amazing man made structure. Certainly the collaboration between Michelangelo and Bernini caught some essence of God and the workings of Heaven in this great hall of artistic masterpiece. I say masterpiece in the singular since in this place, there is no collection of art, but rather, the entire place is a work of art in and of itself. Every painting, sculpture, statue, wall, ceiling, marble floor piece, column, etc. was simply a part of a grand piece of creativity and unworldly imagination.
Perhaps the most startling part of this place was the vibes. They truly came up through the floor, from the walls, down from the ceilings, everywhere. After walking around the basilica, we ventured down into the tombs where there are many popes and cardinals laid to rest, including John Paul II. Certainly you at some point in your life have felt grass between your toes or sand piling up around your feet, or even snow freezing yet plush beneath your soles. This was the feeling of the vibes coming from this place. They were so thick, so full of silent history wanting to come alive, so rich in emotion and understanding and anger and confusion and happiness, defeat, victory and a myriad of human emotion that it was if they had some sort of tangibility. It was elating and unnerving at the same time.
After this, we ventured to many other places including Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum (WOW!!), the Pantheon, the Forum, Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghese, and also (finally!) Giolitti’s!! Piazza Venezia (which I had found on my own a couple days ago) was much more interesting (although I’m amazed that it could be since I thought that just looking at it was cool) with an art historian telling me all about it. He told me all about the different ruins and what they used to be and of course the history behind them. We then walked down to the Colosseum (which is right behind Piazza Venezia) which I then got a huge earful of history on that. The Colosseum really is all they say it is. Not only is it made amazing by the fact that it is surrounded by such a historically rich area, but it’s just, huge and amazing and old and just, cool. We didn’t go inside because it is apparently 8 Euros and I told him I could go by myself sometime.
After the Colosseum we headed over to Giolitti’s!! I was very excited to finally be going to the oldest (and supposedly best) gelateria in Rome. Amazingly, it was not as crowded as it has been every time I have passed it so we got our gelato relatively quickly. I had strachiaterra (I think it might be chocolate chip but I’m not really sure, all I really know is that it was really good), biscotto (cookies), and frutta di bosca (blackberry). Yes, if you were wondering, it really is all it’s cracked up to be and it was by far and away the best gelato I have had yet. Most gelaterias put a big scoop of fresh whipped cream on top of your gelato and of course Giolitti’s is no exception. However, they also don’t skimp. I’m sure on this cone (yes, cone) there had to have been at least half a pint of gelato if not slightly more and of course a huge dollop of cream. Sadly (or perhaps luckily) when we walked out, my dollop of cream slid off my gelato and onto my shoe (luckily not my new ones). But even creamless, it was amazing.
We then headed for Spanish Steps which nearly killed me as I had just eaten my weight in gelato. But we climbed to the top and then walked along the outer edge of Villa Borghese which is a huge park in Rome that lies against a huge hill that overlooks the city. There is a spot in front of a huge garden where there lies a terrace, and on this terrace, you can take a perfect panoramic shot of practically all of Rome. I think this made up for me forgetting my camera in Ariccia. Bellissimo. We headed back to Villa while talking of politics and our favorite periods in history and periods of art and music. It was truly a wonderful day and certainly one I cannot forget or keep out of my mind.
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