Magic in the Moonlight: Rome at Night

In the transition from November to December, Rome became a magical place, filled with Christmas lights twinkling against the night sky. While completing my studio projects, I often found myself getting very tired just after sunset, and the best way to combat the drowsiness is to go out into the night and get some fresh air. For each of these outings, I took my camera and explored a different area of the city at night. There really isn't a lot more to say than that, so I guess this blog post is really going to be more of a photo montage.

So please enjoy the wonderful world of Rome at night through my camera lens.

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona

Outside the Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Castel Sant'Angelo

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Square

Along the Janiculum

Along the Janiculum

St. Peter's from the Janiculum

Along the Janiculum

Capitoline Hill

The Roman Forum

The House of the Vestels

The Colosseum

The Colosseum

You all know this one! Along the Tiber River

Victor Emmanuel Monument

Piazza del Popolo

There are few things more magical to see than a city at night. In the moonlight, and under the streetlights, the colours of the city blend into one. All one can see is the form of the buildings working together as one city, one place, one sense of being.  No matter what the city, you must always try to view it at night, to see the magic behind its form!

Ciao for now!

November in Rome

November in Rome was the first month that was actually spent entirely in Rome! An amazing novelty since all I feel I have done since getting to Italy is stay in Rome for a bit, go on a trip with my family, stay in Rome, travel to the south of Italy, and stay in Rome, travel to the north of Italy. Now, I had a whole month in Rome and I was not going to squander it. In November, we also started our final studio project. So there was quite a mix throughout the month of working on studio and crossing things off my Rome sight seeing bucket list. Also, the studio deadline is why this post is so late! But, what else is new...

So I won't talk about studio, because that wasn't due until December, so it's something to look forward to. But I will talk about some of the places I wandered to and made a point of seeing before I ran out of time. It is actually quite unbelievable how fast the time has gone by. I can't believe how quickly the first two months of term went by. And all of those place I have already seen. Anyways, enough reminiscing. On to something new!

One of the first places I crossed off my list of things to see in November was the Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome. Rome, being the religious capitol of the catholic church, has very few non-catholic cemeteries. In fact, there is only one. This cemetery is famous for having the graves of John Keats and Percy Shelley. And it is amazing. The way the light filters through the trees here is almost surreal in its beauty and the way it falls across the space. An odd sentiment to express about a cemetery, but I will show you some pictures, so you can see what I mean.

The Main Entrance

One of the friendly cats that lives here

The light filtering through the trees

John Keats' Grave

Side note: My neighbor cat decided it wanted to try its hand at skateboarding this month:

So cute!

Through the month we had a few class trips as well. The first of which was a day trip to the Priory of Malta. Within this compound are a few amazing feature. One of which is a secret keyhole through which you can look and see a perfectly framed view of St. Peter's Dome rising out of the city. Unfortunately, this view was impossible to photograph, so I sketched it! The other hidden gem of the Priory is the Piranesi church, Piranesi was an artist who studied Rome and drew imaginative reconstructions of what he believed the ruins he saw looked like in their prime. The church we saw is the only building Piranesi ever designed and had built. It was quite unique for the time period in which it was built.

Piranesi Church

The seemingly unfinished back of the alter, but it was not unfinished, it was the way he designed it

My Sketch of the Keyhole

After this trip, I spent a lot of time walking around central Rome. Central Rome is a marvelous place, and I don't think I would be able to see all of it unless I had a lifetime here. For the first few weeks of November, I spent a lot of time simply getting lost, picking new roads, and following them until I could find where I was again. There's all fumy phenomenon in Rome where no matter where you go, you tend to get back to one of three places: The Vatican, The Colosseum and The Pantheon. It's almost as though someone planned it that way! I blame Pope Sixtus the Fifth, and his Rome rearranging ways. Here are some of my pictures from these wanderings.

During these wanderings, I chose to go to Castel Sant' Angelo to visit the museum and see the view of the city. I must say, the view of the city was by far the best part of visiting the Castel. There's really not much more to say about that... So here's some pictures!

Castel Sant' Angelo

The View from the Roof

From Another Angle

The Castel Angel

Our second day trip this month was to the EUR. A modern piece of ROme built by Mussolini for the 1942 World Expo, which never happened, for obvious reasons. The buildings he chose to build here were reinterpretations of the monuments already existing in Rome. He built a conference centre modeled off of the Pantheon, an office building based on the Colosseum, and used the general urban fabric of ancient Rome to borrow architectonic elements from. But, the most interesting piece of art in this area was a carving on one of the buildings, depicting graphically a timeline of the city from the time of the emperors to Mussolini himself.

The Mural of the Roman Timeline

The Office Colosseum

The Pantheon Conference Centre

Marconi's Obelisk

Another place we visited on this day was Richard Meier's Jubilee Church. This church was deisgned for a competition in the year 2000 for the 2000th anniversary of Catholic Church. The church that won was an incredible feat of architecture, but why describe it, when I can just show you?

The Jubilee Church

The third day trip we had was a disaster. It was a morning visit to the Tiburtina Train Station in conjunction with the University of Washington Rome Program. Our professors made the mistake of telling my class that the visit was optional. So my roommate and I showed up, and of a class of 60, we were the only 2, while the entire University of Washington program of 25 was present. Our profs didn't even go, which is slightly sad. This was a rare opportunity to see modern architecture in Rome, and I am glad I took it!

The Cavour Monument

Tiburtina Station

And our final day trip within the city was through Baroque Rome. We took a tour of several churches built during the baroque area for the ever expanding Catholic population of the city. Some of which were quite beautiful, although not entirely my thing. Thee was one statue I remember learning about once, Theresa in Ecstasy. It was amazing to see it in person, because of the context. You always see the statue in pictures, but you never see the surroundings. The entire chapel of the church is geared around this statue, guiding the views of the visitor towards it.

Theresa in Ecstasy

The Church from another Angle

Finally, I went on an adventure along the Janiculum walking trail, one of the best panoramic views of city from above. It is also a very good link between my house and the Vatican City. After going through this incredible trail, I went and saw the Pope speak. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear much because there were lots of school children around and the moment the Pope started speaking English, they got bored and erupted into conversation. It was still an interesting experience.

Along the Janiculum

And again

The Pope on a Big Screen

The Pope, as close as I could zoom

The Pope in front of St. Peter's

Okay. That's it. No more November in Rome. I am tired of writing and the rest of it is all studio and deadlines. Which is a lie. I will post about my moonlight wanderings at another time. But for now, I am tired, I have been writing for hours and do not wish to write anymore.

Ciao for now!

Beyond the Walls of Rome: South Trip

This academic term in Rome has many perks, one of which being trips! For our Rome and the Campagna Course, we study ancient Rome and all of its triumphs. But the most interesting thing about this course, is that it is condensed into three weeks because the professor is also the Director of the school and can't stay in Rome for longer than that. Because of this accelerated timeline, our lectures are started with a five day trip to the South of Italy!

First stop: Cuma and Baia

Cuma... I don't quite remember. I do remember there being the remains of two temples here, nestled in the wilderness at the top of an outcropping of rocks. One day, these temples would have been visible from the sea just south of Naples.

Ruins of a Doric Temple

And Baia. Baia was truly incredible. In ancient Rome, Baia would have been the equivalent of a Spa Getaway. The place is filled small rooms that would have had water flowing through them. There was also a beautiful temple here. This temple was an incredible place, with perfect acoustics. We were told this was the perfect place to watch someone sing, so my classmates convinced me to.

Here's the video

Second Stop: Capri!

Capri is by far my favourite place in Italy. It's a small island located off the Amulfi Coast that is incredibly beautiful. Nestled between two peaks, the town of Capri lies at the centre of the island. To get to it, you have to climb straight uphill for 15 minutes (25 if you are my roommates, but I got some amazing pictures while I waited for them!). From here, you can go to either of the two peaks, but we chose the "architectural" one (of course). After 45 minutes of walking along a mountain trail with picturesque ocean views framed by trees to the right, we were rewarded for our efforts with a view of the Villa Maloparte. Unfortunately, it's still privately owned, so we couldn't go down to see it! About half an hour beyond this, we met our Nemesis. 700 stairs, Straight up. So, we climbed! About halfway up, there was a "landing" which actually turned out to be a cave with an ancient temple in it. From here, we departed for the second half of the stairs, and lunch in the town. After lunch, we retraced our steps around the trails to find a set of stairs leading down to the most beautiful private beach I have ever seen. We got mattresses, drinks and just lounged around in the sun until it was time to head for the boat back to our hotel on the mainland.

The Amulfi Coast

On the Capri Trails

Arco Naturale

Swimming at the Private Beach

Third Stop: Pompei

Well, who doesn't know Pompei? The Roman city perfectly preserved (almost) by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The interesting thing about Pompei was that it was not the lava that killed the people and buried the town. For a day or two after the eruption, the people of Pompei watched as Vesuvius decimated their neighbors to the north, but on the second day, the winds changed. This blew a cloud of poisonous gas and soot south of the volcano, blanketing Pompei and its surrounding area. Today, you can walk through the streets as they once were, even see some of the graffiti from many years ago. Some of the houses have even been restored to amazing conditions, where you can walk around and see it as it was seen before the eruption. One of these houses was the house of Happy Julie, which archaeology tells us was a brothel. This house had marble columns, showing the wealth of Julie, the owner. Unfortunately, the house was closed, but when has that ever stopped an architecture student? I don't understand why so much time would be spent restoring something, only to block people from seeing it. Another house that was restored impeccably was the Villa of Mysteries. This was a small villa located outside of the city walls, and contained within it a room decorated with a fresco for which the house is named. This fresco depicted the induction of a woman into a cult, a cult within which the penalty for revealing the secrets of induction into it warranted death. Why was this fresco allowed to stay, and who painted it? All interesting questions, all unanswered, hence the mystery!

Roman Forum in Pompei

House of Happy Julie

Negatives of human bodies discovered in the hardened ash

Villa of Mysteries

Fourth Stop: Paestum

For the entirety of this trip, we stayed in a beautiful beach town called Paestum. Paestum is a unique place, because it sits on a rock, floating in a marsh. Because of this, the area is not affected by earthquakes. The ancient Greeks figured this out early, and built three temples here. These temples, each dedicated to the the gods, are the best preserved in the world because they have not had to deal with earthquakes over the years. It is unknown who the temples are dedicated to, but there is speculation that two are for Hera, the Goddess of Motherhood. Paestum is also known for Buffalo Mozzarella. We saw all the water buffalos on the way to the temples, and were told to buy the cheese for lunch, so we did! We bought sandwiches and had a lovely picnic on the beach, followed by swimming and relaxation!

Paestum Beach at Night

Doric Temple at Paestum

Doric Temple at Paestum

Doric Temple at Paestum

The Diver, a Fresco Painting from the Inside of an Atruscan Tomb at Paestum

Last Stop: Sperlonga

Sperlonga was a beautiful stop on the way back to Rome after a wonderful trip. In Sperlonga is a Villa famous from antiquity, the Villa Tiberius. This Villa has a cave located beside the ocean, in which the owner once hosted Tiberius, the Emperor of Rome, for dinner. This cave was connected to the Villa by a series of tunnels and acted as  a formal dining room. Sperlonga also has a beautiful beach where we spent the afternoon and took a class of picture of the 60 students who made it through the 4 years of school that proceeded our Rome Term.

Villa Tiberius 

Ocean at Sperlonga

And after these 5 days were done, we headed back to Rome for October!

Ciao for now!