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Close Observation

I decided to perform my close observation in one of my favorite places I have discovered in Rome. This spot is also very meaningful to me as it was one of the first churches I have ever been inside and to me, is the most beautiful church, both in the interior and exterior, I have seen yet. This church is the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In addition to its beauty, the church is located in a scenic and central spot.

I headed out with a group of about 10 others on a Friday at noon to do my close observation at the Santa Maria Maggiore. I sat on the steps of the fountain facing the church for twenty minutes to observe the people who entered the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. I had a notebook with me and kept track of the both the sex and ethnicity of every person who entered the basilica in the twenty-minute period I observed. I watched a total of 142 people enter the church. According to my statistics 47% of these guests were male and 53% were female. There was almost an equal number of women and men who entered the basilica. However, my observation was only on one particular day for a period of twenty minutes, I do not have enough information to conclude if the ratio of men to women who go into the church is generally so close to 50:50.

In addition to the guests’ sex, I also took note of their ethnicity. The breakdown is as follows: white – 77%, black – 5.5%, Asian – 5.5%, Hispanic – 6%, and other – 6%. While I once again cannot draw any finite conclusions because of the restraints of my observation period, it seems as though the majority of people who enter the basilica are white. This may be due to a higher population of white Romans residing in the local area and attending church regularly but is more likely due to a greater number of white tourists coming to visit the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.

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Pictures from our tour in Pompeii!

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Pictures from our day in Positano!

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Pictures from our afternoon at the beach in Sorrento!

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Photos from Paestum!

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Turning Point: Athens

Before this trip, I had never been to Europe before. All of my knowledge about Greece and Italy came from the glorified shows I had seen on TV and blockbuster movies I paid to watch on the big screen. When I thought about Greece, I pictured the entire country looking like Skopelos, where Mamma Mia (my favorite movie growing up) was filmed. While many of the Greek islands do resemble the set of Mamma Mia, Athens was far from it. I recall entering Athens for the first time on my ride in from the airport and questioning if I actually left home. The city of Athens looked very similar to my neighborhood in New York City; dark and congested with buildings and traffic. Instead of a coastal town with clear blue water and a bright blue sky like I was expecting, Athens was filled with tall, cluttered buildings and a dreary gray sky. I hopped out of the taxi and I immediately decided that I disliked Athens because it felt too much like home and did not even slightly look like what I expected it to.

Prior to our introductory walking tour, I had only been a block from the hotel to get a quick lunch after my nine hour flight. The few blocks I had walked myself all looked the same, lined with buildings and lit up ever so slightly by an overcast sky. However, once we set out on our walking tour, I realized that Athens had a little more to it than just buildings and cars. It was refreshing to see a few historical sights as well as the Acropolis from a distance. Going to sleep the first night, I felt a little better about this new situation I had gotten myself into but was still not particularly excited to spend the week in Athens.

However, everything changed for me on Wednesday when we visited the Parthenon. I woke up that morning to a sunny, rich blue sky without one cloud in sight. We had spent a good portion of the semester learning about the Parthenon and its history along with looking at many photos so I assumed it wouldn’t be that different to actually see it in person. But I was very wrong. Seeing the Parthenon with my own two eyes was a moment of clarity for me. It is a difficult feeling to describe but the easiest way to put it is that I could feel the Parthenon’s past inside of me. It is as though the history and the people who had set foot there before me were rushing through my veins. Visiting the Parthenon made me feel like a part of something bigger than just myself. Like my visit wasn’t just for me to be able to say “I saw the Parthenon!” but like my being there mattered to all of the people who came before me and will come after me.

My experience at the Parthenon made me reevaluate Athens as a whole and consider why I disliked it so strongly at first. I was so focused on how much Athens reminded me of New York City that I forgot to consider why we came to Athens in the first place: its history and relevance to our course. While that was my last full day in Athens, I look back on my time there with a smile on my face. I am grateful for my chance to have gotten to go to Athens and experience the culture with a group of friends to truly understand what we have been studying for the past couple of months.

Acropolis view from dinner the first night

Acropolis at night from sister hotel Plaka

At the Parthenon!

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Saturday 7/27 & Sunday 7/28

This weekend ten of us took a trip down to Naples. Five of us were on a train that was severely delayed so it took us 3.5 hours to get there instead of the 1 hour and 10 minutes it was supposed to take. We arrived around 12:30pm and walked a little under a mile to our Airbnb. I expected Naples to resemble the pictures I had seen of Southern Italy (like Sorrento and Capri) but instead it was dark and dirty, quite like my neighborhood in New York City. We had booked a kayak tour ahead of time so we walked down to the beach to meet up with our tour guide at 3. However, due to the overcast skies and strong current, we were not able to depart on our kayak tour. We decided to stay at the beach despite the weather and had a well-needed relaxing afternoon. We swam and took pictures on my GoPro (included below). The beaches closed at 5 so we headed back to our Airbnb to clean off. Tara, Audrey, and I decided to stay in and cook dinner for ourselves instead of joining the others in going to a restaurant. Down the street from our Airbnb were a few supermarkets so we picked up a package of spaghetti and a jar of presto to cook a delicious meal. Back at the Airbnb we all worked together to cook and as we were finishing up eating, the others returned from dinner. We all stayed in for the night, playing music, talking, and enjoying each other’s company.

Many of us had plans to visit Capri on Sunday but when we woke up early to catch our 7am ferry, a few people decided not to join any longer. Tara, Audrey, Grace, Zach S., and I braved the dreary weather and early morning and walked 1.5 miles to the ferry port. We were told that there was a 50/50 chance our ferry to Capri would depart and an even slimmer chance that our ferry would return back to Naples in the evening. We figured it was the right decision to not wait for the ferry to possibly leave, and if it did leave to easily get stuck on Capri, so we walked the 1.5 miles back to the Airbnb. Disappointed in how our weekend was turning out and the city of Naples itself, all 10 of us changed our train tickets for an earlier departure and returned back to Rome in the early afternoon instead of late night. Although the weekend didn’t live up to our expectations in any way, we had a great time bonding with each other and I view it as a test of our strength and resilience.

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Friday 7/26

We took a day trip to Orvieto today and it was one of my favorite days on the trip yet! Orvieto is such a small, quaint, and cute town with incredible views. We started off our morning early with a 7:30 train to Orvieto. Upon arrival, we boarded the funicular and took a short ride up to the medieval Italian hill town. First we entered the Pozzo di San Patrizio and took in the amazing view of Orvieto at ground level from above. We then stopped for a coffee break where I enjoyed a latte fredo for one euro. After the coffee we walked to the other side of the town to see the view from that side as well. On our walk, we visited a shop selling original ceramics which was very nice to see. We visited the Duomo as well as the San Brizio Chapel where we saw beautiful frescos and the Corporale Chapel where Melissa sang a beautiful hymn in Italian. We then stopped for a delicious gelato (the best I’ve had in Italy up to date) before setting out for some free time. I went out shopping with a group of friends for some new jewelry. We unfortunately didn’t find anything we liked enough to buy but we enjoyed looking around in all of the cute little shops Orvieto is home to. We had a tasty pizza lunch before going on our ways for some more free time. Tara and I found a nice bar right off of the main road where we sat down for a cup of coffee accompanied by a playlist of throwbacks. We made our way back to the funicular where we met up with the rest of the group for our trip back to Rome. I spent the train ride back napping and once we got back to the hotel, Gal, Grace, and I had a nice and cheap pasta dinner at a nearby restaurant. This was one of my favorite days of the trip so far because it was filled with history, yummy food, and great company in a new city!

Duomo di Orvieto

Duomo di Orvieto

San Brizio Chapel

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Wednesday 7/24

Today we visited the Catacombs of Priscilla. The catacombs are divided into two layers, the lower layer being the newer layer as it was dug more recently in order to accommodate more bodies. A woman named Priscilla donated the land for the catacombs to be built and around 40,000 people were buried there. As the catacombs are underground they are dark and cold, giving off a mysterious and spooky vibe. As we walked around the catacombs we learned that wealthier families had “bedrooms” where they could all be buried together as opposed to the holes/slots in the wall made of volcanic rock where the majority of people were buried. Bodies were wrapped in linen then put in the wall and closed in by bricks or marble in order to seal the tombs. An ancient red pigment was typically used to dedicate the tombs to their inhabitants. Many of the “bedrooms” and nicer areas holding wealthier people tended to have symbols and stories representing resurrection engraved on the walls and ceilings. For example the fish symbolizes resurrection through the story of Jonah who was eaten by a fish and stayed in the fish for 3 days before coming out of the fish and being “born again.” While the Catacombs of Priscilla were highly functional in olden times and served as a place to house the remains of those who have passed, there are hardly any bodies left there today. This is because invaders excavated the tombs in search of gold but instead found bodies and did not seal the tombs back up. Later on, more tombs were invaded to steal pieces of bone because many believed that the bones belonged to martyrs and saints and wanted to keep them as relics. Unfortunately we could not take pictures in the catacombs but it was very special to be able to walk through them myself and experience it first hand.

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Monday 7/22

We started off the morning at San Francesco a Ripa and got to see Bernini’s Blessed Ludovica Albertoni in person. I then tested my abilities in taking public transportation and took the bus to the Saint Peter’s Basilica in order to complete my Bernini In Situ assignment. The wait to enter the Basilica was long and sunny, but very worth it. The inside was huge and beautiful! I was surrounded by so much Bernini. After a semester full of reading about Bernini’s works, I greatly appreciated getting to see them in person today. While I looked at all of the grand sculptures in Saint Peter’s Basilica, I focused on the Chair of Saint Peter and Saint Longinus. I found it interesting how I was able to see two of Bernini’s sculptures which utilize the effects of natural light (the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni and the Chair of Saint Peter) in one day. Afterwards I took another bus back to the hotel and went out on a gelato run with a few friends before starting to work on the assignment. In the evening, a group of us ventured out in search of Mexican food. We found ourselves in Mezcaleria Callejon and I learned that Italy does not do Mexican food justice.

The Chair of Saint Peter

Saint Longinus

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Friday 7/19

Today we ventured out into Rome on a scavenger hunt. My team consisted of Caitlin (our team leader), Marnie, Nicole, Abbey, Zach S., and me. I enjoyed working together with my peers and getting to know them better while exploring Rome. One of my favorite spots from the scavenger hunt was the Forum Boarium. This forum was a lot smaller and felt more personal than the Roman Forum. The Forum Boarium, the oldest forum in Rome, sits amongst the popular Palatine Hill, Capitoline Hill, and Aventine Hill. We encountered a small round temple known as the Temple of Hercules Victor. I really liked the designs on this temple and the round architecture it has. Another favorite spot of mine on the scavenger hunt was the Bocca della Veritá. I have seen this location depicted before in the film Roman Holiday. It is supposed to act as a lie detector, closing its mouth on the hands of those telling a lie. Marnie and I recreated the scene from Roman Holiday here for a photo. After a few more spots, we made our way up the Aventine Hill. Here we looked through the keyhole in a large wooden door to see a beautiful sight: the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica about 100 feet away. A short walk away, we visited the Basilica of Santa Sabina. The interior was very modest and simple but still stunning. This scavenger hunt was a great way to explore different parts of Rome with friends!

Forum Boarium

Mouth of Truth

Basilica of Santa Sabina

Keyhole

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Thursday 7/18

Today we ventured out on a walking tour of Rome with Dr. White and Prof. Melissa. First we visited the Quattro Fontane which was commissioned by Sixtus V and represent the River Tiber, the River Aniene, strength, and chastity. We then differentiated Borromini’s Church of San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane from Bernini's Church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale and explored inside the latter. We made a stop at the Piazza del Quirinale designed by Sixtus V before going to the Trevi Fountain. There we threw coins in to signify our return to Rome someday and following the fountain we stopped for coffee in one of Rome’s “two” coffee shops, Tazza D’Oro. We visited the Pantheon, a former temple and now church and then tried the coffee at Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé. The Romans divide themselves between both coffee shops, so I had a caffe latte at both places in order to choose my favorite, which is Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé. Afterwards, Dr. White treated us to gelato at her favorite gelateria in Rome, Cremeria Monteforte. The gelato was delicious and I intend to go back there. We then stopped at a large marketplace where I sampled many kinds of black truffle products, olive oils, and cheeses and bought a shawl for future visits to formal places. Sydney, Alex, and I navigated our way back to the hotel a little after noon and enjoyed our walk. We passed the Roman Forum again and marveled in its beauty once again after learning about everyone’s favorite part of the Forum during yesterday’s meeting. I spent the rest of the afternoon resting before having dinner and the Opera!

Piazza del Quirinale

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

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Tuesday 7/16

Today was our first full day in Rome! I started off my morning bright and early with breakfast at 8:00 am before heading out to see the Colosseum at 8:30. My group walked around the Colosseum together taking in the beautiful architecture and reflecting on its rich history which we have discussed throughout class. After taking photos of and with the Colosseum, a few friends and I headed out in search of some gelato for lunch. We ended up at a delicious shop called Gustando Roma and then walked back to the hotel with our gelato in hand. After returning to the hotel, I took some time to rest before meeting up with my group to work on the day’s assignment. For dinner, Audrey and I explored nearby restaurants in search of some tasty and cheap authentic Italian food. We found Ristorante Santi two and a half blocks away and enjoyed the best Italian food we have had yet! 

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Weekend travels to Skopelos!

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Friday 7/12

I awoke this morning excited for our visit to Cape Sounion. We reunited with our tour guide from Wednesday, Nani, on the bus. The bus ride to Cape Sounion was longer than the other bus rides we had taken throughout the week but Nani shared plenty of stories and facts with us to keep us entertained and engaged. Upon arriving at the Cape, we were greeted with gorgeous views of the Ionian Sea and Aegian Sea, as well as the point where the two seas meet. Nani showed us around the Temple of Poseidon which architecturally resembled the Parthenon and Temple of Aphaia with its Doric style columns and marble finish. After our tour of Cape Sounion, we enjoyed a group lunch at a restaurant on the water before departing for our weekend trips. Following lunch, I, along with 11 other girls, boarded the van heading to Mantoudi to catch our ferry to Glossa. I had never heard of any of these ports/places in Greece before planning my trip to Skopelos. I felt that planning the trip allowed me to further my knowledge of Greek geography as it is not easy to get to Skopelos from Athens. After a 3 hour van ride to Mantoudi, we exchanged our confirmations for ferry tickets. We arrived in Glossa port after a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride and we took the local bus service from Glossa to Skopelos Town. After a relaxing dinner in town, we made our way back to Semina’s House (the local home we stayed in) to meet our host for the weekend. Although the fit in the house was tight (4 beds and 1 bathroom for 12 girls) we were able to make the most of our first night in each other’s company, ready to explore a new part of Greece together over the weekend!

Temple of Poseidon

Skopelos Town

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Wednesday 7/10

Today we visited the highly anticipated Parthenon atop the Acropolis Hill. Acropolis means high point of the city, and the Parthenon and Acropolis Hill can be seen from everywhere in Athens. It was amazing to be able to see the Parthenon after researching it during the semester and presenting on it in front of the class. I enjoyed learning even more about the Parthenon and Acropolis with our tour guide Nani. In fact, I learned that the Parthenon used to be called the temple of 100-foot length. In addition to seeing these famous sites, it was great to learn more about them following our tour at the Acropolis Museum. I was able to see and appreciate many statues as well as the Parthenon marble statues. Listening to Nani speak about the statues was very helpful in my understanding of the Parthenon Statues debate. I was able to more clearly develop and express my opinion on the matter. I enjoyed the debate we had in the evening and found it very interesting to hear everybody else’s opinions and arguments regarding the Parthenon Statues. After the debate, London, Marnie, Audrey, Lexi, Tara, and I headed over to the Plaka Hotel to further discuss the statues and work on assignment 2. Afterwards we navigated our way around Athens in search of some tasty gelato. We ended up in the Main Square and we were able to appreciate local night life in Athens. We were also able to find our way back to the hotel without using directions so we were impressed with ourselves and our new knowledge of the streets in Athens!