The Apian Way

One of the best days in Rome came when all 16 students rented bikes and rode down the Apian Way out of Rome.  The instant we got on the bikes, all madness broke loose.  We all turned into little kids the second we had the freedom of two wheels.  We proceeded forth in a huge line of bicycles taking each road we went down by storm.  We were all ringing our bells in great musical glee the whole way.  Once we got out of town, we hopped onto the cobblestone Apian Way which has been a street ever since the Romans laid it down all those years ago.  It was a beautiful day of sun and a few clouds hanging on the hills off to the side.  We rode up and down hills and over rough rocks bumping up and down until our insides were jumbled to a good degree.  We took our bikes off road and cruised through pastures and valleys, rivers and off rocks.

Rome is home

Rome comes to grow on me, and I feel like it is home at times.  I know all the streets, and even gave some Italians directions in Italian the other day on how to get to a certain piazza.  I know the good places to eat, and I am learning more and more about the history, and ordering principles of the organization of the city.  I can link all the piazzas together in the mental map of the city, as well as figure out why the piazzas work so well as they do.  I do feel like we are learning so much here, multitudes more than in normal school.  I feel like traveling abroad particularly in search of architectural understanding should be a must for any such architecture student.  All those who skip it in their learning, are missing out on so much, seeing as how this trip is still just another stone in the learning of the world around us, a necessary help to letting us explore the rest of the world with such an inquisitive and discerning eye. 

The drawings have become of great importance to me and they process of doing them, truly brings you to that place.  Now whenever I look back in my sketchbook, it truly places me directly back in the place.  What the eye sees only goes so far, but what the eye sees, and the hand puts down in pen on paper, the mind can never forget.  I have been working on my methods of drawing, and it goes to show that it takes so much practice to get into your true style of drawing, because even now, I feel completely lost.  To learn how to take down in drawing the essence of the place, and the bare essentials of what make it what it is such a hard lens to see through, that I just see parts of it now and then.  I am getting there, the drawings come so much more freely now, and in looking at places and buildings, I see through the decoration and noise to what is guiding them and can start to just depict that.  Geometries start to map themselves onto buildings, and they explain themselves to me.  Also, the practice of putting pen to paper every day makes one become more and more accustomed to drawing everything one sees.  All of a sudden, you want to draw everything, not just the buildings, but the glasses on the table, and statues, and everything.  

Fabulous Fridays

So Rome holds in it a vast array of opportunities for adventure.  Many of the nights we had there consisted of bars and lots of wine, with plenty of interesting conversations in half Italian and meeting people from all over the world.  One night stands above the rest in its wildness.  This particular Friday, we were out doing our usual drawing assignments, when lunch came around, and we didn’t feel like going back out to draw, rather, Ryan, Loren, Sarah, and I set out to enjoy the evening and start the weekend off right.  First thing we set out to do was go enjoy the amazing cloudless day while the sun was still out.  We went to the new Richard Meier building by the Piazza del Popolo which had a great little fountain out front with an amazing place to lay about.  We took our shoes off and dangled our feet in the fountain relaxing to the enth degree.  After a brief nap, we set out to buy some wine to take up to the lookout above the Piazza for the sunset.  We picked up a bottle a piece and set out to pick out our spot.  

When we got up to the overlook, we knew right away, this was the place we wanted to be most in the world at that particular moment.  The sun was setting directly behind the dome of St. Peters with light even being able to seen through the clerestory windows of the building.  The sky turned blood red.  We cheersed to our mutual ecstasy at the moment we were in.  Then after the wine was gone and the sun was set, we set off to see what else we could come up with.  Just under the overlook was a series of fountains and such stuck into the wall which we knew we had to get to.  We climbed some fences and I scaled a few columns and inched along a cornice to get to where we wanted.  From there, we danced in the fountain and enjoyed mooning Rome and just generally having a good time. 

Then, we headed off for our next adventure, with a few more purchased bottles of Italy’s finest.  An adventure is indeed what we found.  We came across Hadrian’s tomb and just to the side of it was some loud music, and believe it or not, a gigantic ice rink.  We couldn’t pass up the chance to laugh at ourselves, so we finished off our drinks, laced up our skates, and proceeded to glide and fall all over the ice.  Sarah couldn’t quite help but fall every 2 minutes or so, and we all had a great time being ridiculous.  Ryan and I did some power slides on our stomachs, and called it a day when we were all quite covered in ice.

Then we headed for some pizza to regain our center of balances, and make plans for later in the night.  After dinner, we gather some more troops and the enlarged group of us head off out to a bar.  Going into the bar, I make a new friend with the help of my Roma scarf.  A Lazio fan (the other team in Rome) disliked my scarf and said I shouldn’t wear it not being from Italy, but just then, a Roma supporter came to my aid and spoke up for me and we proceeded to have a great time singing the Roma song and sharing a few beers. 

After having a few beers with the locals, and trying to strike up some conversations with some good looking Italian ladies, we decide to head off to do what Ryan and I had been planning for a long time.  We headed to the Trevi Fountain with La Dolce Vita in mind.  Upon getting there, we unfortunately find a cop car there at 2am, trying to ruin our fun.  So we head to the other side of the fountain, and there out of sight of the cops, take off our shoes and roll up our pants and hop in the fountain.  We wade around in the water, and I head over more to the center to find an overflowing part to wash my hair in.  We frolick in the water, and enjoy baptizing ourselves in the architect’s version of holy water.  Finally, we pull ourselves out of the water and start to dry off.  Then we finally pack it up to call it a night and rejoice in what was such a glorious Friday.

More Rome catchup

So in Rome, most of the weekdays consisted of a quick breakfast followed by an immense walking tour with our teacher Michele who had an incredible knowledge of the town, and a way of telling it to us that we could relate to, and understand the underlying principles.  We would walk from building to building drawing quick sketches and measuring our plans and sections the whole time.  We are training our eyes to see proportions and measure spaces as we walk through them to truly understand how everything is working together to allow people to use them, and be successful as an urban element.  It is a frantic day of listening to all he says, writing down the important parts, and then drawing the spaces to relate the notes to it.  This keeps us all at attention the whole morning, until its time to break for lunch when we say goodbye to Michele, and head off for some amazing food.  The majority of days are full of paninos, which are the lunch food of choice in all of Rome and pasta and other things thrown in at random.  Then post lunch, we split off to do what we like, going back to certain buildings to finish up our drawings and such as well as exploring wherever we feel like we need to go.  The whole day is taken up by this series of events with some dinner and drinking to finish up the day, and just a little bit of sleep. 

The Eternal City is a truly layered place in many ways.  Physically, the city is made up of so many layers, that to dig down 30 feet would reveal a floor of the medieval Rome of years before buried with river overflows and building over.  This is a big problem in the fact that no new construction can be undertaken without excavation and examination of all the ruins of the land before the insertion of footings and such.  In terms of socially, it is also very stratified with the typical tourist mixing with the fashion elite of Italy meandering through the Prada and Versace stores and the street vendors selling their various products to all that come down the street.  Some Italians remain unchanged by the propagation of tourists in their cities and continue their lives as if we weren’t here, and they are the ones I like.  To observe them go about their routines gives me a glimpse into the real lives here, whereas others have completely based their lives around tourism.  These are the people I avoid.  Eating in any of the major piazzas brings only a mix of English speaking tourists and rude waiters, whereas if you wander into the backstreets of the cities, you can find small places that only locals go to usually, and will be treated as such.  The food also follows in taste with Americanized overpriced food in the hotspots and local food indigenous to the people of the area waiting for those who will search for it.  

First days in Rome kinda Late

So,catch you up on what ive been up to here is a rewound bunch of moments, I wake up on Sunday morning for the second day in Rome, and we decide to go to mass at St. Peters Basilica.  Walking over to St. Peters means I have to cross the city, and the Tiber so I am just constantly looking everywhere and am constantly held in attention at the surroundings.  The Tiber River is the main defining feature of Rome and its life giving force, although today, it has been stuck between two gigantic retaining walls to stop the flooding (and essentially cut it off from the city completely).  The main part of Rome we are focusing on is in the main loop with the city spreading out past it in all directions. 

So the group of about 8 of us cross the river and proceed to walk down the main thoroughfare that leads up to St. Peters that is perfectly on axis with it and is marked with repetitive markers on the side to lead you in to land at the doorstep.  Upon entering the big oval piazza in front of the church, the pure scale of everything hits you in the face with a bat.  The columns are all so large, that they dwarf everybody, and the statues on top of them are 3 to 4 times life size.  After drooling for a bit, we proceed inside, and sit down in the rows of pews of the central church for all of the Catholic Church with the Pope living next door.  Right before the mass starts, an attendee comes up and asks us where we are from.  We think he is going to kick us out for not being Italian or something and begrudgingly say Los Angeles, to which he replies something unexpected.  He asks us if four of us would like to be part of the ceremony…………  Of course we would………….  So Pat, Matt, Michael, and I walk up with the man to the front of the whole  church to the main alter and he tells us all the goings on that we do, and we sit in the front row to wait our time.  First row seats for god.  So there is the usual procession of singing and prayers and all sorts of stuff, then we get up and take the various things we were assigned to the main priest in the center of the church.  Standing there under a huge cupola, everybody’s eyes on me, looking at the priest and handing him the sacred oil in one of the most important churches in Italy, was certainly a memorable experience.  Sitting in the front row also had its perks in the fact that I was so close to the amazing sculpture behind the altar with the sunrays and clouds lifting up a huge chair all cast in gold and bronze. 

So the whole procession is coming to an end and the light starts to hit the window so perfectly that the sun beams streaming into the church from the nave to our left and illuminated two marble statues so perfectly, that they looked like they were coming to life.  It was a magical moment, and one to look back on fondly.

Then we finish up, and we all mill about the church looking at all the various sculptures and such, the highlight of which is La Pietta Michaelangelo’s sculpture of Mary and Jesus that was so soft and flowy that it stood head and shoulders above the rest.  Then as we were all congregating around the door, we hear a ruckus coming from outside, and head out to see what it is.  The overwhelming piazza that seemed so daunting as we arrived had been completely filled with people.  We had no idea what was going on, until Jim pointed up to the little window with a red sash in front of it, with the Pope himself addressing the crowd.  Apparently it was his address to the community for a recent goings on with the universities and the strained ties with the church and education.  Anyways, the Pope is a Rockstar.  People chant his name and every time he said something memorable, they cheered and went wild. 

After all this, we head off to go to our soccer game.  We hop on the bus and know immediately that we are going the right direction, because everyone on the bus is decked head to toe in AS Roma gear.  The stadium is huge and new and well designed with a huge space frame around the perimeter above holding sun shades and things and the whole stadium is in an uproar when we walk in.  It isn’t a sold out crowd, but the Roma section makes up for it with huge flags waving everywhere and smoke bombs going off all the time.   The Roma song comes on and a sea of scarves raise up with every man woman, and child singing along to every word.  (In Italy, you can change your job, your friends, even sometimes your family, but you can never change your team so these people are Roma fans for life).  There is such undying devotion here for the soccer teams, that it truly brings all the people of the towns together in support.  This is an effect that has yet to catch on to such a severe degree in the US.  There are teams that come sort of close, but nothing compares to the unyielding support of these soccer towns.  Roma won 2-0 to the crowds delight, and everyone piled back onto the busses to go home.

Thoughts of Rome

Im still in Como working away on my new project and finishing up my drawings from Rome and Florence, and generally fitting into the Como life.  My days consist of waking up around 8:40 and rushing for a shower and a quick breakfast to get out the door by 9:05ish.  Then its time for studio and I head off toward the lake and our studios which are located in Villa Olmo on the top floor first window to the left of the center.  It is about a 20 minute walk through town through the small streets packed with old houses and lots of shops down to the lake past the Terrangi WWI monument and the Volta Temple, then along the amazingly beautiful lake for about 10 minutes finally arriving at the park outside of our studio which usually has people milling about in it enjoying their mornings as well.  Then we have studio all day with a 2 hour lunch break which I walk back to the apartment for lunch or hit a cafe for a pizza or something like that.  Then at 6:30 we get kicked out of our studio and head on home to start cooking up some dinner.  I crack open a bottle of wine and dance along to the music while cooking and then enjoy dinner usually with a bunch of others who all bring their food as well.  Needless to say, we eat really well.  Then its time to draw some more or watch a movie and whatnot or read the paper in Italian and such until its time for bed.  We often go to bars when theres a good soccer game on or for apertivo where if you buy a drink, you get free food all night.  A pretty amazing day full of incredible scenery, attempts to pick apart Italian language, and amazing food, and well i guess some work too.

Villa Olmo

So, at this very moment, I am sitting in Villa Olmo (one of the most impressive villas on Lake Como) which is to serve as my studio.

I have just finished my whirlwind trip through Rome, Florence, and Cinque Terra, and now get settle in to Como for two weeks of studio and try to make it feel like home.  I will stop living out of hotel rooms and be in my apartment for a bit.  This also means that I have the internet now, and can tell you all of my affairs.  

So after I arrived in Rome, I was still jetlagged much to my disbelief.  I wanted so much to go out and explore, but the first two nights found me asleep by 7 or 8pm.  But the third day and the ones following were much better.  Sleep or not, during the day we make the best of it.  My first day there, I decided to make my over to the Sistine Chapel.  It would be the best way to kick off my stay in the Eternal City.  I roll over the Tiber River and up the long corridor to St. Peters, Michaelangelo's great intervention, and walk off to the side of the building to find the burried wonder.  In the museum, I venture through the halls and rooms, looking at all the busts and paintings that have found their way through the years.  Getting through the series of rooms, I thought I had missed the chapel when I found a small sign in the corner calling my name.  I followed down dingy stairs and turns and twists, and found my way into the world wonder coming out the service entrance oops.  The second I looked up at that ceiling, I was hit like a ton of bricks.  For the next three hours, I could do nothing but crane my neck up and look like towards the heavenly ceiling.  I can't start to talk about it, everywhere you looked and every detail you saw seemed to bring greatness into reach.  It was so mind numbingly beautiful that it put me in awe of the human achievement of it, and made me want to achieve so much the same.  

All in all, it was an amazing way to kick off my trip.  I couldn't stop grinning the entire time, my trip had already paid itself off.  After the museum, we set off to pick up our soccer tickets for the following day, Roma was to do battle with C.......... I don't remember.  On the way to the ticket vendor, I ran into the Pantheon head on for the first time and it is HUGE.  I had always thought the piazza in front of it was quite large, but it was only about 1 1/2 the size of the facade of the building.  The facade is so daunting that the space compells you.  You are simply overtaken with the pure magnitude and longevity of the building, given that it is the best kept building from the Roman times.  The building has been completely isolated from all that is around sits amidst its nest among the neighboring buildings, having forced itself in there.  

I had seen two things I had only glanced at in books that so completely overwhelmed me, that the trip seemed to seem rather full of wonder being that it was my first day.  Just to cap off the day, Ryan, Aren, and I went for some gelato while sitting on the Spanish Steps, which were so packed, that you had to wheedle your way into them with great care.  People always rave about the gelato, and it is all true.  Ice cream doesn't compare to the light fluffy wonder that is gelato.  We went back for seconds and tried all the varieties we could get our hands on.  We made our way up to the top of the steps, and overlooked the mayhem of the throng of people to take it all in.  While there looking down, the bells in the Church of the Trinity at the top started ringing.  I meandered on in for a glimpse, and caught the tail end of a mass with an incredible choir singing an incredible song in which I understood a handfull of words.  Finally, having seen so much and tried our hand at Italian enough, we decided to call it a day and went off to bed.