Mass at St Peter's Basilica & Campus Martius

 

Well today we started off the day by walking to the Vatican so that we could attend the nine o'clock mass. It was a very interesting experience to say the least. There are a couple of pretty devote Catholics in our group, but our group is more of a mixed bag when it comes to religion. Which always makes conversation around the dinner table never dull. Anyways back to the Vatican. Upon entering Vatican City you can see all these towering lamps that look like they light the way back to the Holy City. It is almost like the architecture is having a conversation with the rest of Rome letting it know that it has a safe place, a refuge in the Roman Catholic church.

  

After we waited in line for about ten minutes we saw these huge projection screen televisions, they were Panasonic no less. We then wondered if it was due to the huge overflow of people that try to see the Pope JP2 back in the day or the current Pope Benedict XVI. So we the proceeded to go through security and finally get to the doors of the Vatican for Mass. 

So after we got our snack we trekked on determining to find our group, yet we only found the annual Roman Marathon running right along the Vatican and the Tiber River.  This caused us to wait inordinately and made us even more impatient about finding our group and way back to the Campo di Fiori for our daily “Marching on Rome.” So we then make our way back to the Campus Martius and along the way Ramses and I have a nice conversation about religion, since it was the topic of the day. We agree on some stuff, disagree on others but at the end of the day it was a meaningful conversation. Which is rare to find in young people today. In my mind our conversation was reminiscent of a philosophical conversation with Socrates or Plato asking a priori type questions like “How can we know?” or “How can we know this with certainty?”

 

All I can say he is a very intelligent, caring young man who seeks out and desires knowledge, yet he tries to temper his passion for knowledge with a respect for all of humanity. It is very refreshing to see this in such a young researcher. It is nice to know that he just won’t try to create knowledge or data without sincerity for humanity.

 

 

 

I can truly say that being here in Rome has transformed all of us. This experience has changed some, some more so than others, some a little less. However people are always resistant to change, but that is only natural. Change is hard and 

So we are then walking along the road and all of a sudden we are in the Piazza di San Pietro come up to what is the It would have really nice to see His Papalness, but alas he was in Africa. 

Libertad & Travestre

Give us free! This was the our desire to see the city of Rome on our own during the day. I am really grateful that our instructor gave us a day off. It was just really nice to get out and spend a day exploring all that is Rome at our own leisure.

So today for our free day, we decided to go to the Villa Borghese and see the Galleria Borghese. It was truly a phenomenal place. There was so much artwork that I don't know where to begin. Word of advice to anyone that desires to go there, make sure that you get advanced reservations and arrive early. Otherwise you will not get in, because they are always sold out. If you are coming to Rome, this is the place that houses two of Bernini's most amazing sculptures of the biblical "David" and the anamorphic "Apollo and Daphne." It was really astounding to see the sculpture transition from female to tree. They were truly sights to behold. There was also this painting of David holding Goliath's head after he cut if off with a sword. Wow is all I got to say. You would see pictures on my blog about it, but they have strict no pictures policies. 

After the galleria, we walked around the park a little, then Sarah (L.) and I was talking about what would happen if I were to jump into the pond. Would anything happen to me besides getting frozen feet? Then she said "I'll do it." I said "Yeah, right?" She then said "Watch me!"  Below is the evidence that I was wrong, Ramses and Sarah are standing in the pond. Below is just a random picture of the Roman skyline near the Spanish Steps.  

For the fashionistas I have attached a couple of pictures of some world famous designers like Jimmy Choo and Prada. I saw many, many more but I didn't want my blog to be too commercial. That would hurt my reputation, gotta keep it gangsta. 

After all our traveling, we got really hungry so we dropped off our bags and headed across the bridge, across the Tiber river to Travestre. We (Toka, Sarah L., Vidang & me) went and got lunch at L' Antico Moro. Our lunch was authentic, service was good and the white house was decent. Plus it was very inexpensive. Then tried to look for the market, but it was already siesta time. So we then decided to look for these handmade leather bound books. We walked all over the city only to end up next door to the shop we was originally looking for. Plus during our journey we found this really cool cafe named Antilia. However the really cool thing about it was that rugby was playing on the big screen. They had really good  cappuccinos.  Oh well, it was a good day.  

   

The Spanish Steps & Gelato

Here is a group picture of us on top of the Spanish Steps. In the background you see the Roman skyline. It was very cool. From left to right are Vidang, Sarah (L.), Hai, Donna, Ramses, Jarred Danielle, Me and Toka.

As is our nightly custom here in Rome, we go for a evening stroll either before or after dinner to get some gelato. Tonight we stopped by the world famous Giolitti to pick some more of this delicious confection that is quite addictive, but not overtly sweet. You might be asking yourself “ Why on earth would people walk all over the city to get this? “Is it similar to ice cream?” Why yes it is. It is Italian ice cream, more like a high-end ice cream. Kind of like the Ferrari’s of ice cream. Italian ice cream made with milk is gelato and if it is made with water it is sorbet. More importantly it is usually made with fresh fruit or nuts. Below are two pictures of the group going into Giolitti. In the first picture is Danielle’s friend Katy, Ramses and Danielle. Then there are is Donna, Jarred and Hai all eating gelato.

The one of our classmates (Danielle) friends (Katy) guided us to the magnificent Spanish Steps. Along the way I was caught unaware to all the other monuments that I had missed. I believe I saw at least three obelisks. Because she was so gracious to show us the way to the beloved Spanish Steps, I decided to take some pictures of them and include them in my blog. From left to right (Danielle and Katy). 

The Colosseum & St Peter in Chains

Well today we trekked out to the precipice of all that is male and patriarchal. We had the distinct privilege of going to see Holy Grail of sporting arenas the Roman Colosseum. You can see pictures of our class being instructed by our very own UW Classics instructor, super cool Professor Stroup. She is a very passionate about what she does. She is a real life Indiana Jones.

We were in the home of all things Gladiator.      
This is the same place that Bruce Lee stomped Chuck Norris in "Return of the Dragon" and Russell Crowe killed Joaquin Phoenix in "Gladiator." This place is truly amazing! Like most tourist attractions they have a bookstore where you can buy souvenirs, books and trinkets. It was truly a site to see. In this picture with me is Vidang (left) and Sarah (right).

Then we went to see St Peter in Chains due to his highness Ramses the first. This is a picture of Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses. In Ramses most humble opinion, he says this is the pinnacle of sculptural excellence. While I don't disagree with Ramses, I like his Moses better than his David. But I don't know enough or seen enough sculpture to make an informed decision.

Ciao! 



More Photos of Rome

Bonjourno Blogosphere. If you click on this link you can see some of my handiwork with my little digital camera. However this picture is of me next to a column of the Pantheon. One cannot truly appreciate or know the scale of Roman architecture unless one visits Rome. These spatial relationships are killing me mentally. I just keep thinking about how much wealth and labor it took to build these monumental places. I won't try to get on my soap box, I will spare you that for another day and time. But I am willing to talk about it with whomever would like to converse about these things. 

Another cool piece of non-traditional or classical Roman art is the street type "tagging" or graffiti that I like. Here is one that my man Toka found on one of the alley walls, so I couldn't resist taking a snapshot. I hope you enjoy it. Plus I have included another photo that is a piece of cool art that is actually a bottles of wine with one of my heroes Ernesto "Che" Guevara. I actually took the photo through the window the first day I was here. Ironically, there were bottles of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini in the same window. I also took a picture of them but I left them off my blog. You have to contact to get a picture of them. Our shuttle bus driver from the airport seemed really high on Mussolini.   

The Trevi Fountain was really cool. It always has throngs of people there, even people hustling tripods, souvenirs and flowers. Even at the Colosseum there were people dressed like Roman gladiators hustling pictures of them with swords at people's throats... It begs the question does it trivialize or marginalize people or is it just another way to hustle to make ends meet in the tourist game. Click on the link below to see one of my albums. 

HERE

Ciao!

Jonathan

Just a glimpse of Roma

Hey all,

I just wanted to give you all a glimpse of Roma and all its splendor. I may or may not be in most of the pictures, but I will be in some of them for the sure purpose of scaling. So that you know the SCALE of how they do in Roma because they do it BIG! 

We went to the Capitoline Museum. Here is a very famous picture from Carveggio entitled "The Fortune Teller."  The other picture is me and the Roman Forum in the background. One picture here is of me sitting on one of the fountain ledges in the Capitoline Museum. I won't tell all that is in the picture, I will explain that all when I get home. 

On our way to Ostia Antica there was this pyramid built next to the Aurelian walls and next to the walls are the city gates (they look like a castle). The top picture is a secret temple in Ostia Antica for the Cult of Mithras. Then there is a picture of Mithras killing the bull. Then there is the picture of me posing next to a column in the Ostia Forum.

We came back later that day and relaxed before we headed out on our nightly Gelato runs. We went to this really old (100 year old) world famous Gelato store called Giolitti Gelateria. Trust me, me weren't the least bit disappointed. Even though we waited in line for what seemed like a half hour. They have their signature gelato that is called "After Eight." It looks like some bright green, nuclear waste that Homer Simpson would play with and eat. But it tasted like Andes after dinner chocolate mints.   You can peep out there store at their website. I will try to go get a picture next time.  http://www.giolitti.it/english/home.html 

Please notice the picture of the Pantheon I shot last night with my camera. It has a night feature. When I used this featured it created this reflective nature that caused the moon to appear. I didn't believe it at first so I look up in the sky and to my amazement I couldn't find the moon in the sky at all. Pretty cool. I love my camera... Anyways that is enough for now, I must get ready for afternoon class. So have a great day. I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Ciao,

Jonathan

Authentic Cappuccino

Here is a picture of me getting a cappuccino this morning for breakfast. Check out the whipped artwork. What a city of artisans Rome is. 

Why oh why did i need cappuccino? Why did I have a MC Lyte flashback in Rome? Maybe it is my love affair with those lovely caffeinated beverages... 

Kudos to Ramses for sending me this ice picture via his iPhone. I'm still kind of scared to use it in fear of having a ridiculous bill... 

I will blog more later... I have class in a few minutes...

Ciao...

Ciao baby!

Hello all,

I just wanted to say ciao (hello) from the beautiful city that is Rome! This place is beyond words. It has really left me speechless as we were touching down at the Leonardo Da Vinci International airport. I finally got my passport stamped! 

Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone that I am doing well and missing my beautiful wife Michelle (me lub u!), and all my friends and family in the 253 (Tacoma) Wagner's, Duong's and anyone else that knows me in the 206 (My UW family) and 314 (Coby's, Haynes, and Sangsters) area codes... U know who you are. I would post some photos, but my beloved sister has not returned my usb cord for my camera. For lunch we had real Italian pizza, it was truly amazing! I will try to post some more later.

Peace, love, and prayers,

Jonathan