Author: Elizabeth Clapp

I’ve travelled a whole lot in the past month, so there’s a lot to catch up on.

February 21-27th:

This week went by really quickly (well, they all are at this point). Spent the first half of the week studying for the Italian quiz and Rome as Spectacle midterm, which both fell on Wednesday. The midterm wasn’t too bad (though I still haven’t seen my grade so who knows) and I was pretty pleased with how much I was able to remember, since it’s been a good 2+ years since I had to memorize buildings for a test.

Thursday was very busy- full of classes, an internship interview over Zoom, and packing up a week’s worth of clothes.

Then on Friday, the Northern Field Trip commenced at 7am. All 40-something of us piled into a charter bus and headed on our way. I’ll organize the field trip by days.

Day 1: Our first stop was Spoleto, where we walked around a bit, saw the Cathedral and the aqueduct, and had lunch. Loved the feel of the small town and the tiny arches in the streets.

We then stopped in Assisi. Loved the pink and tan color scheme of the buildings and roads, the mountain views, and the Basilica di San Francesco d’Assisi was gorgeous inside and out. Didn’t have a lot of time there though so had to walk through it quickly.

Finally we made it to Urbino at 6:30pm where we would spend the first night of the trip. We stayed in dormitory housing, which was the nicest little dorm set-up I think I’ve ever been in. Had delicious ravioli filled with Casciotta d’Urbino (cheese specific to the region) for dinner.

Day 2: We woke up a bit before 7am to snow! It’s the first time I’ve seen snow in about two years, I thought I missed my chance this year. It was very windy, and slippery wet snow though (the hilly, old roads were a bit hazardous). We started the day at the Ducal Palace for a tour. The best part of it was the basement- it felt kind of like a cavernous labyrinth, and it also had a really cool drawing exhibition inside.

We then traversed the slippery landscape to the nearby school (Il Magistero, I believe, part of Urbino University) designed by Giancarlo De Carlo. It’s unassuming on the outside but really cool on the inside, having some cool courtyard spaces, spiral stairs, and roof terraces. We talked a bit while in a lecture hall, and had time to sketch and find lunch on our own.

After getting our luggage from the dorm, we went to different dorms (can’t escape dorms even while abroad it seems)- the Collegi Urbino dorms also designed by Giancarlo De Carlo. We talked a bit in another lecture hall (also can’t escape lecture halls), then were able to wander around as we liked in the limited time we had. It was very empty and you could definitely tell the buildings could use some love and maintenance (especially when it comes to rainwater management hah).

We arrived in Mantua around 8pm, so the sun was set, and our hotel was kind of on the edge of town so it was a very empty Saturday night.

Day 3: The bus left for Verona at 8am, and we arrived around 9:30.

Went into the Castelvecchio Museum designed by Carlo Scarpa. After hearing about it so much in lecture it was cool to see it in person, though I feel like there is always a disconnect in my mind about how I imagined it versus what is the reality. Unfortunately the pedestrian entrance designed by Scarpa and third floor walkway (which has the view/approach the Equestrian Statue of Cangrande) was closed so that was a bit disappointing.

Left around 12:15 to do a walking tour around Verona. Saw the ‘Juliet’ balcony (from afar- not about to wait in line), lots of graffiti about love/love locks in the street, some outdoor tombs, waited way too long for a very good panini, saw a bank façade designed by Scarpa, and stumbled upon a Carnevale parade with horses and people dressed up.

We got back to Mantua to finally walk around in the daytime, unfortunately lots of things were closed or not wanting a large group of students to be admitted so we just saw the outside of some palaces. Did get to go inside of Rotunda di San Lorenzo and the Basilica di S. Andrea though. Ended class with some Carnevale confetti. Later that night had dinner at a little family restaurant (whole family was accounted for) and since we were the only ones there they gave us a great experience with free soup and lime sorbet, really nice.

February 28th-March 6th

Day 4: We spent some more time in Mantua, seeing the outside of the Ducal Palace, going inside some churches, and taking time to draw in S. Andrea.

After lunch we set off to Vicenza, arrived around 3pm. We walked around the historical center and saw several Palladio buildings for about two and a half hours. Had dinner- went to a burger restaurant (we miss our creature comforts of American food truthfully). It was a very good burger.

Day 5: Another Carlo Scarpa day! Visited the Brion Cemetery from 9-11am. It was a really cool experience. They had recently restored and cleaned up the cemetery, though it was just our luck that the water door was out of service- since apparently the glass keeps cracking from the movement. This is another ‘always talked about in lecture’ project, which didn’t totally line up with my visualization of it, and was actually smaller than I thought it would be.

Then visited Villa Maser by Palladio. It’s still used by the family though so we could only see a small portion of the inside, with no photographs allowed. Afterwards we had the second group meal of the semester- a lunch of risotto that was a questionable grey color but deceivingly delicious.

To finish up the day we visited the Canova Museum by Scarpa, for about 2 hours. We had time to sketch and wander around. Touching on museum design again like my last update post, I think I enjoyed the experience and relationship between the architecture and art of the Canova Museum more than the Castelvecchio museum (but both are great don’t get me wrong). The Canova Museum with the white-on-white and simple forms gave the sculptures room to breathe and let you look at them as the subject of the space. Meanwhile Castelvecchio overpowered the artwork in a way, even with all the strategic placements and thoughtfully designed platforms/brackets to hold the art.
At any rate, we drove back to Vicenza for our last night there.

Day 6: Around 7:45am we began our journey to Venice! Had to ride a ferry with our luggage to make it to the hotel. We only had time to drop off our bags in the lobby before walking around. We took a little boat across the grand canal (all 40-something of us across 3 boats haha), saw St. Mark’s Square, and went inside Chiesa di San Moise.

We only had a fifteen minute ‘coffee break’ before going to the Olivetti showroom, designed by, you guessed it, Scarpa. This is another example I think of the architecture overpowering the thing it is trying to display, in this case typewriters, though I think they don’t mind- I’m sure having a showroom (or museum or anything) designed by Scarpa doesn’t hurt when it comes to getting visitors.

After 2:30pm we finally got a break to eat and explore for the rest of the day. We wandered around aimlessly for a bit- Venice is very fun to walk around. A combination of narrow but very nice alleyways, bridges of all sorts of shapes and sizes, and a complete lack of cars all equal a fun walking experience. Our Italian professor struck a deal with a gondolier which gave us a 30 euro discount, so me and four others took advantage of that to get the iconic gondola through a canal experience. We went on it near sunset and at low tide so it was very pretty (and smelly). Ended the day with some shrimp gnocchi at a local restaurant.

Venice is another place that I had envisioned in my head, so it was kind of surreal being there, where it didn’t align completely with my version of it (not a bad thing, I think it was mostly the fact that it clicked in my head- oh, this is a real place).

Day 7: Met up at 9:30am to visit the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, which had a first floor renovation designed by Scarpa. We spent a good chunk of time walking around, I really enjoyed seeing the stair connection down to the canal. A bit sad that they had the Scarpa bridge and his intended entrance inaccessible though.

We had the afternoon free again so a couple classmates and I (and we ran into quite a few others who had the same idea) took a ferry ride out to Murano, an island known for glassmaking, also where Carlo Scarpa learned to make glass before he started designing buildings. We went to the The Murano Glass Museum which went through the history and techniques of glassmaking, I think having seen ‘Blown Away’ on Netflix (would recommend) I have a greater interest/appreciation for the craft so it was neat seeing a whole museum about it. Afterwards we went into a lot of glass shops and even saw some glassmakers at work in their studio.

Ended the day with getting back to the mainland around 6pm, walking across the Rialto Bridge, and eating some lasagna.

Day 8: Last day! We had the morning off so went window shopping/ church looking to little success. Then at 11:15am we got on a ferry to get back to the bus.

In the afternoon we stopped by Giovanni Michelucci’s St.John Church by the Highway. I think it has been probably one of my favorite churches so far. I just really liked the forms/materials and honestly it has some unflattering angles on the outside but inside it was really cool.

Got back to Rome around 9pm. First and second orders of business was eating dinner and doing alllll of my laundry.

Saturday was a nice day off in Rome. Went on a couple walks, did some window shopping, caught up with a friend on a video call.

Sunday was another day of travel, this time it was a small group of classmates and I going to Milan, mostly because it wasn’t part of the North trip so we were all curious. We arrived around 10:30am, walked around, ate Chinese food the first time in several months because they have a Chinatown in the city, also got bubble tea.

Went to the Triennale Milano design museum. I really enjoyed seeing some examples of Italian furniture and product design over the decades, since we don’t really talk about those things in class. Ended the day with some more Asian food, and a fortune cookie in Italian.

March 7-13th

The Milan trip continued into Monday, however we decided to take a day trip (yes, a day trip, from our spring break trip, from our study abroad program) to Como, on the shore of Lake Como. It was really gorgeous being surrounded by mountains, technically the foothills of the Alps I think. We were about one-hour walking distance from Switzerland but didn’t opt to go that far. Unfortunately all the museums and things were closed but we could still see the outsides of some Palaces/Villas. Saw swans, several seaplanes, and bought a lil model car Fiat. Grabbed some more bubble tea before getting on a 6:30pm train back to Milan. Also we figured out how to use the subway- it is definitely cleaner (and cheaper-though not by too much) than the NYC subway, but I like the ads more in New York.

Tuesday was the last day in Milan. It was an early morning- going to see the Last Supper at 8:15am, and we had to show up half an hour early for the 15 minute appointment. I think the Last Supper was bigger than I was expecting- I know the Mona Lisa is tiny compared to what most of us think for instance, so I was preparing myself.

Then afterwards we went onto the roof of the Duomo. A good portion of it was under scaffolding, but it was still a cool experience with a nice view. We ended the day with our train ride back to Rome, getting home around 9pm or so.

Wednesday was another break day, used for laundry and running errands to prepare for my next part of Spring Break…

On Thursday a friend and I set out to Puglia (the heel of the boot of Italy). It was a very long morning of a train, to a plane, to a bus, to another train. Our main attraction of the day was Ostuni, a completely white city right near the coast. It is definitely not tourist season yet, and perhaps for good reason because it was so cold and windy, so lots of places were closed and it was pretty empty people-wise. The layers of stairs found in the streets was really enjoyable to walk around in though. A highlight of the day was taking a Piaggio Ape down to the train station to catch our next train.

We arrived in Bari around 4pm, where we had a pretty relaxed night where we had dinner at a local restaurant.

Friday was another early morning- after some confusion we figured out the correct bus to take to the Grotte di Castellana. It was a pretty long bus ride, but we got to our tour in time. We went for the longer tour, about 2 hours and 2 miles long. The first and last cave ‘rooms’ were the coolest, though photography was only allowed in the first. Got lunch nearby, waited very long for the next bus to come but thankfully we were able to catch it and make it back to Bari around 5pm.

Got more bubble tea, got dinner- a vegan burger that was very good actually, got desert- Pasticciotto Lecceses which are little filled cakes that originated in Puglia. Very good.

Saturday was spent window-shopping, looking at the old city area of Bari, and filling in some time before catching our train to the airport, then flying back to Rome, and just barely (talking less than five minutes) catching our train back to Trastevere. Then had to walk half an hour home. Tiring to say the least, went to bed close to 8:30pm.

Sunday was a much calmer day spent in Rome, getting groceries, taking a walk in the nice weather. There has been a noticeable increase in tourists since we came back from the north field trip, that’s for sure.

March 14-20th

And just like that, the north field trip and spring break was over. Monday was back to class, with drawing, Italian, and a lecture.

We kicked off Tuesday bright and early with an overdue walking tour of the Imperial Forum. Then had design class in the afternoon.

On Wednesday I was treated to a free morning after a class got rescheduled. In the evening we had an interesting lecture about marble by an author/architect.

Thursday was a day half inside, half outside. First had a lecture and walking tour of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza (well, just the courtyard part since the church is closed except on Sundays). Then in Design, after our desk crit, my partner and I went to the Victor Emmanuel II Monument since our building design has to repurpose some of its marble as part of the design prompt from our instructor.

Saturday was a very full but very good day. Started off around 9:30am at the Capitoline Museums, at the insistent request of our professor on Tuesday. The museum houses a lot of cool relics from early Rome including sculptures and other art.

In the evening I got a last-minute ticket to the Turandot opera thanks to my Italian professor. I wasn’t originally in the selected number of people to go, but some tickets opened up and I ran (literally, and then used a taxi for the first time in my life) to the opportunity. It was really cool, but it definitely was not a traditional performance. The costumes and set are by Ai Weiwei which I thought was really cool, and the background was a projection of current day events like protests. The contrast between that and the opera was pretty interesting.

Sunday morning was also an early start, getting up around 8:30 to get to Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza to see the inside of the church before mass. Had to fill in some time though as it turns out it only opens at 10:45, and I only got a very quick peek of the inside of the church before mass started. Then stopped by Largo di Torre Argentina on the way home to photograph some cats (time well spent). Then ended the day by getting some Korean food with a group of classmates.

So that’s all I’ve been up to the last month. In this upcoming month we are doing a trip to the South and have a nice long weekend for Easter, which we normally don’t get, so I’m looking forward to that.

Thanks for reading!

Somehow it has been (a little over) one month since classes started this semester. Time has been moving fast. Here is a recap, I’m gonna put some things in bold in case you just want to skim, hah, I don’t blame you.

Overview:

Here are the classes I’m taking this semester:

Rome as Spectacle– scheduled mostly on Monday and Friday (sometimes one, sometimes both) which is a class comprised of 4 hour long walking tours with the very occasional in-studio lecture. I’d say that this is the ‘main course’ as far as the historical education part of the semester is concerned. We get these little tour guide headsets each class which I don’t think I have never used before, but they are wonderful since we are always walking in large groups and otherwise it would be impossible to hear the professor.

History of Modern Italian Architecture– comprised of mostly-weekly Monday lectures (and soon will be relevant on some of our field trips). I have found that it is overlapping a bit with the Legacy of Roman Form class from last semester, but I think is branching out more as the weeks progress.

Italian 2- on Monday and Friday (and now it seems to be on Monday and Wednesday- in case you couldn’t tell, the classes kind of change each week but there are patterns that emerge). It is a step-up in difficulty from last semester, I feel somewhat unprepared.

Drawing– 3 hour-long class on Tuesday typically (or Wednesday for some people- I think I like having it on Tuesday) where we go out into the city and draw in various places, up to 2 locations per class so far. We use giant A3 size sketchpads which are a hassle to tote around, and we aren’t always sketching somewhere that has places to sit so we have to hold them in one hand. Weather is also an important variable, it is a challenge to draw in the shade at 9am and your hand is going numb, also a bit of a problem when your assignment is to draw shadows but it is an overcast drizzly day. But overall it has been a fun class bringing me back to my middle or high school art class days, refreshing honestly. Can’t say I am the best but I am improving.

Design (of course, as always)- Biggest noticeable difference is that design class is scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday each week, instead of Monday and Thursday. This makes it so you feel a little less guilty doing things on the weekend (well for two reasons, because you have an ‘extra day’ [even though you have class all day Monday] to do design work, and also you’re studying abroad- might as well explore with what little ‘free’ time we have) but also makes the distance between the Tuesday and Thursday class more intense for getting things done. So Pros and Cons.

Urban Studies– Class that typically falls on a Wednesday but also ties in to other walking tours we take on Fridays. This is another class involving the history of Rome, though it is more chronological and is more focused in on the time periods of which things were built. We compile all of our notes, photos, and sketches into a collage for each time period which is a nice change in pace from our Urban Genealogies class from last semester that wanted more polished drawings.

Also each week we have mandatory covid testing in the studio, which is good for everyone’s safety since we are always so close together during class, and convenient that we don’t have to seek out a test ourselves.

Here is what the studio looks like, the inside and some views from the windows:

There might be less resources as far as printing and model-making go as compared to the Brooklyn campus, but after being online for an entire year, that is not much of a problem.

I think it is starting to wane, but in the first few weeks it felt like a summer camp or something (probably a similar feeling to when I was participating in first year orientation in 2018, living on my own for the first time, albeit in a dorm, in New York). Like we have the closeness of campers who are all in unfamiliar territory (and thus we are more inclined to hang out with one another, sometimes with people we didn’t interact with often back in Brooklyn) and who all have the same classes and schedule.

January 17-23rd:

First week of class!

In this first week it was all about introducing the classes. For Drawing we went into the Santa Maria in Trastevere church near studio (as shown in a previous photo from the studio’s window). Design class had us go and investigate several possible precedents. Under the instruction that the precedents had to be visited between the Tuesday and Thursday class, I walked 45 minutes to the Baths of Diocletian by myself on Wednesday and went to the basically-empty museum when it opened at 2pm. And then visited Trajan’s Market in the rain at 9:30am the next day when it opened. And then during design class in the afternoon… we ended up going to the Baths of Diocletian anyway, impromptu. This time we got in for free (gah I paid for the first time). There I go, walking 45 minutes back and forth again. Also had the ‘Welcome Dinner’ on Wednesday which felt fancy since it was served in courses. Tried wine for the first time (meh), as well as tiramisu (pretty good!).

On Saturday, I went to the Bramante Cloister for a drawing assignment. Then got invited to have a great homemade dinner on Saturday at two of my professors’ apartment alongside some of my classmates (they have been running/teaching in the program for many years and each semester make dinner for the students). Tried pistachio ice cream for the first time (at least that I know of), and there was also panna flavored ice cream- delicious (and now I am on the hunt for panna [literally means cream] flavored things).

On Sunday a few classmates and I went to Ostia Antica via the metro. It’s a huge archeological site that “should be as popular as Pompeii,” said my Rome as Spectacle professor upon hearing that we had visited. Pretty cool! I love seeing tiles and mosaics that are still intact. Having ruins with flooring just helps my mind see it more easily as a building that once was.

January 24-30th:

Visited Vatican City once again for the Rome as Spectacle class on Monday. Went into St. Peter’s Basilica. I am trying my best to appreciate the fact that the places we go aren’t as busy as usual, though I won’t really be able to appreciate it fully until I see just how dense it gets (also seeing photos of these places crowded pre-covid is enlightening).

Then on Tuesday drew in Piazza della Minerva (freezing cold in the shade), and Piazza Navona (much better temperature in the sun). Urban Studies on Wednesday had us walk around Campus Martius/Field of Mars and Forum Boarium. Got a really good panini at L’Antica Salumeria (and thus my love of sandwiches has been revitalized).

Thursday, went to Trajan’s Market again, this time to photograph more intently the doorways. Also went to the grocery store- I really like grocery shopping here, it is always interesting what I can find. On this occasion I tried Smarties, which are chocolate as compared to the American candy of the same name, and not very good chocolate at that (at least to my American taste buds), would not recommend.

On Friday classmates and I had to perform in Italian a small scene from Rigoletto- this will be forever imprinted in my mind whenever Mantova is mentioned. Also bought an Italian SIM card, here’s hoping it works as I need it until May.

Then on Saturday I took a daytrip to Pisa! It isn’t on the itinerary for any of the school field trips, and got invited by a group of classmates to go, so I figured I should take advantage of the “free” time I have before design kicks into higher gear. Left home about 6:30am, then travelled to the train station, and went on my first fancy high speed train, arriving around 10am. It was definitely a touristy area. We mostly stuck around the Leaning Tower, and paid to go to the surrounding museums/buildings and climb the tower right before the sunset which provided pretty views from the top. It wasn’t too bad of a climb, just very narrow and a few slippery stairs here and there. Got back home around 12:20am.

On Sunday I went to Trajan’s Market for the third time, paying like always, just to learn that apparently architecture students can get into free (gahhhhhhhhhhhh). There goes 30 euros from all my visits. We went to get more photos for photogrammetry scans for design class. I mean, at least each time I visit I see something new. Also got sideswiped in the face by a pigeon. It was just not my day.

January 31- February 6th:

Walked about 40 minutes all the way to the Vatican Museums for the Rome as Spectacle class. Saw most notably the Sistine Chapel and the School of Athens frescos, as well as a bunch of priceless works of art that I am sure I don’t know the names of. Weird seeing things that I have only ever seen in prints or photos, now in real life. Like closing a gap or something, seeing how big something is, in full context (can relate this to seeing Starry Night in the MoMA). Also broke my glasses in the museum agh, part of the rim chipped. They always fall off my face because of my mask, since they don’t rest properly on my nose. The glasses are still useable (and I brought a spare pair), but I really liked those frames so I’m bummed. Then right after the museum had a 2 hour lecture. Exhausting day.

Tuesday was hourly comic day, so I documented my day hour-by-hour as per tradition, though it was a pretty chill day of just Drawing and Design class. Wednesday was a lecture about the Pantheon, then walked there afterward and got yet another panini. Thursday was a design day, also bought some snacks afterwards from the grocery store.

Friday, February 4th, was my 22nd birthday! It was also the start of the Florence field trip. Woke up 6am to walk all the way to the train station. The train ride was about an hour and a half, then we dove right into Rome as Spectacle class as we were hauling our luggage to the hotel. Didn’t get a chance to rest and just dropped off our bags, and continued class until 2pm. Saw the Baptistery and Cathedral. The off-white walls of the Cathedral with just the dome painted…. ah, chef’s kiss, it was a breath of fresh air. Don’t get me wrong, St. Peter’s Basilica is beautiful and ornate, but a lot to take in. Overwhelming. But the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was a nice balance. The exterior too was great with the different colors of marble- green and pink surprisingly working together, in patterns pleasing to the eye. And the reddish dome is iconic, of course. During the coffee break I got a chocolate filled doughnut of sorts at Caffè Gilli, which is 43 years older than the United States, just funny to me. After lunch we went to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. I really thought the museum design was great, recreating the façade of the Cathedral with the original statues on the inside of the museum. I took a class about the history of museums last year which also touched on the design of museums, so I am just living it up honestly. Then went to the Basilica di Santa Croce, which houses the tombs of Machiavelli (we meet again), Galileo, and Michelangelo. Afterwards we finally got to go inside the hotel and unwind. Went to dinner at 7:30- finally got to celebrate my birthday a little bit! Got really good ravioli, tried truffles for the first time in the form of truffle fries (verdict- not bad. don’t completely get the hype though), and got a ‘flourless’ chocolate cake slice with cream cheese pudding and a birthday candle (delicious!).

Saturday was day 2 of Florence. Went to the Hospital of the Innocents (just the outside) and had time to sketch. Went into the La Basilica di San Lorenzo, which had interesting museum exhibit going on with wax guts of people and animals. Then Museo delle Cappelle Medicee, with the Medici Chapels. Loved the stone inlays in the The Chapel of the Princes. Looking up felt like a kaleidoscope. The New Sacristy by Michelangelo was also cool to see, especially since we were just talking about it in lecture the other day. I liked the depictions of Dawn, Dusk, Night, and Day. Got a really good panini from Dal Vinaio. Walked around the Piazza della Signoria, Piazzale degli Uffizi, went across the Ponte Vecchio (so cool), went into several churches along the way. Also the sun finally came out! It had been overcast and drizzly up until the afternoon. Could finally see some natural light flooding into the churches. After class concluded, got some free gelato courtesy of one of the Pratt staff who heard it had been my birthday. It was so kind of her, also I got sung happy birthday to in Italian. Then a couple hours later me and some classmates went to a restaurant for dinner that was recommended to us by the professors the day before, and surprise surprise, the professors were also there for dinner.

Sunday was the last day of Florence, and also the only day without class. Went to the Galleria Palatina and Galleria d’Arte Moderna at the Pitti Palace right when they opened. I just wish it had more furniture still in place, which would also better indicate the usage of each room. I love love love house museums where I can imagine living in them (not that I would ever be so rich), but this was definitely more of a gallery, though with the paintings still in their palace style organization stacked on the wall (also talked about in my museum class last year) it was still cool to see. Had a nice sit-down lunch in the Piazza della Signoria. Went window shopping for a little bit to wait before our timed entry to Brunelleschi’s Dome! I was kind of anxious all day since I heard that it was difficult, but luckily it didn’t trigger any vertigo or claustrophobia in me. There were like 400 or so steps, many spiraling in a tight space, some in between the two layers of the dome so the walls are sloped. At the top there was a great view, it completely blows away the view from the weekend before at Pisa. Afterwards grabbed some gelato before getting luggage and making it back to the train station. Got back to Rome around 7:30pm and walked home all the way from the train station. Long, but good weekend! Probably one of my most interesting birthdays, that is for sure.

February 7-13th:

Had another Rome as Spectacle walking tour right off the bat on Monday morning, this time back in Rome about Palaces and Villas. We went by several and into Villa Farnesina. One of the first rooms was being restored so got to peek and see some restoration work which was cool. Had a cheeseburger for lunch to add some variety into my diet. Then on Tuesday we went to the Temple of Hercules for drawing class, it was an ideal drawing spot with sunlight and benches, as long as we ignored the sound of the grass being mowed right by us. Went to the grocery store after design class, this time trying out their take on chicken nuggets, or as it was directly translated “morsels of breaded chicken”. Not bad. Wednesday was a Medieval walking tour for Urban Studies class, though not a whole lot remains in its medieval form in Rome. Thursday was mostly spent working on design and in design class. Friday was a very long day, with us walking essentially from 9 to 5pm. We continued the Rome as Spectacle class with more Villa and Gardens, taking a bus to Villa Giulia. Didn’t go inside the museum part but walked around the courtyard. Then went on a tram to the Porta Maggiore for another walking tour around the Esquiline Hill. Ended the day with a nice meal at a restaurant (Popi Popi- another professor recommendation) and tried a fried artichoke for the first time, actually delicious.

Saturday we got to celebrate my roommate’s birthday by going to Villa Borghese. We walked there starting at around 7am- early morning. We started at the end of the museum and worked our way back to avoid the crowd. Really wonderful art there, and it felt like we had kind of been transported away from the city. Went on a row boat for the first time and stumbled upon an overlook to Piazza del Popolo. From there we walked down the hill and walked down a Tridente road to our lunch location.

February 14-20th:

Monday was a walking tour starting at Michelangelo’s Campidoglio Piazza. Went into a couple of churches including Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli and Santa Maria Maggiore. The middle of the week was pretty typical class in studio. On Friday afternoon we had a class walking tour beginning at Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, and ending at Circus Maximus. We covered a lot of Renaissance buildings out and about, also fragments of aqueducts and the Aurelian wall on the Caelian Hill. I think one of the coolest churches we’ve seen so far has been Santo Stefano Rotondo. I just loved how they kept swatches of the old floor revealed, and I liked the centralized floor plan.

On Saturday I took a walk by myself up to Villa Doria Pamphili and went around the park and some nature trails (got my steps in for the Pikmin Bloom community day hehe).

To conclude, here are some miscellaneous reflections so far-
In some ways I am overwhelmed by both living in the moment while also trying to document everything (through various mediums- photographs, drawing, writing, taking notes). This is something I know I will be asked about until the end of time (okay, slight exaggeration but I still ask my mom about her brief study abroad travels in the 1980’s) and as I draw and write I think of myself in the future looking back at these things. I am living in my memory as I am making it.

This is kind of what I hoped first year would be like, as far as the history classes go. How I would have loved to take walking tours around New York every week- I only remember going on one as part of a class. Though the dynamic I think has shifted here, allowing us to take more time taking these walking tours- design instead of being the dominant class has kind of stepped back (at least for now) and let the other classes breathe as well. Also New York weather is less pleasurable during a big chunk of when classes are in session in late fall/winter/early spring. But I still think I would have liked my first year classes to engage the city a bit more, or even going on slightly longer field trips to nearby cities. We are surrounded by historical and interesting buildings in the northeast but hardly go out and see them.

Lastly, this is definitely the most I’ve consistently walked in my entire life. I’m averaging around 10,000 steps a day, and some days I get in over 20,000. I’ve never had so many blisters haha but I do think I’m also eating better, and more for each meal. So I’m interested in seeing how I go back to my more sedentary lifestyle at home or New York.

So that has been my first month of classes so far! I have been so busy and have learned and seen so much already. Now I actually have to take my first midterms this upcoming week, gah.

In the next month we are going on a field trip up North for a week, followed directly by Spring Break. I currently have no plans for Spring Break but I am sure I will find something to do or somewhere to go.

Thanks as always for reading!