Filling In Some of the Gaps Round 1

It's amazing how much easier it is to write a blog post when you don't have to figure it out in Italian. When I got to Rome my computer decided to go native and start talking to me in Italian. I'll try to fill in some of the missing days on my trip using the handy calendar they gave us... If I can find it. If not I'll use my packets of Latin literature of which there are many to reconstruct. Chronological order is probably a bust but who cares :)


The first weekend in Rome we left to drive to Sperlonga and Formia via charter bus. The bus drivers are amazing. They can get those things into places you wouldn't dream of trying to fit a buz in a million years. We reached Sperlonga where theres this awesome cave that Emp. Tiberious apparently was trapped in a rock fall at some point. Spelunca means cave in Latin, the name just changed a little over time. The villa lays at the bottom of the hill right next to the water. The cave sits to the left if you're facing the water. At the time of Tiberious there were many statues inside the cave the remnants of which now reside in the museum at the top of the hill. The central statue was said to turn on a large dias in the middle of the pool in the middle of the cave. The roof of the cave collapsed on one of Tiberious' dinner parties and while he wasn't injured others were not so lucky. We sat in the cave, the cut of the center still visible, the bricks of the dining dias still somewhat intact and read several accounts of the event. In the cave. Where it happened. This was rather typical of the whole LLIR (Living Latin in Rome) experience but also what made it so amazing. Standing somewhere translating a 2000 year old text in the place described in the text is not a feeling that can be described. It connects you with that past far more than sitting in any classroom laughing at Pliny's tactics or cursing Tacitus for being so damned laconic. I could almost hear the rocks rumble. 
After the cave, we were taken to a restaurant outside of Formia I believe. Somehow they were willing to feed all 40 of us an amazing 2 1/2 hour meal of sea food, pasta, and steak, (not to mention the wine), which the Paideia institute was gracious enough to pay for (the food, not the wine). Satiated and thoroughly stuffed we drifted down to the area where Cicero was assassinated on the Via Appia. We read some of the account and wandered around a bit. We went into another museum and saw some very intact amphora. Then we drove to Cicero's tomb and read a more detailed account of his death. There were tears. At this point we were completely exhausted so of course we drove to the beach and dove right into the Mediterranean. We swam for about an hour and a half then made the long, sticky drive back to Rome.
We had sunday's free for most of the program but there was usually an optional trip to go somewhere. I think this Sunday was actually free and we ended up just lounging around the house, shopping, and doing laundry.


Ok. Round one/week one complete. Four weeks to finish. Hah.

Some Special Moments and Napoli

Forgive me followers, its been too many days since my last Blog post. I think I've just passed the halfway mark of my trip which is hard for me to conceive of. The days fly by and I keep trying to keep track of them but the pictures are my best recourse. My flat has become home and sometimes when I wake up I almost forget that I'm in a different country. Sadly everything I'm doing here has taken a heavy toll on my online classes. Apparently my Latin is improving though. I was trying to think of what my favorite part of the trip so far has been. I can't find one specifically but here are some of them.

Campo de Fiori is kind of the Pearl Street of Rome. Its where everyone goes to hang out and go to the bars. Theres a big fountain in the middle where everyone sits. Its loud and crazy and fun, not to mention everyone here is gorgeous. We sat on the fountain drinking wine and nerding out on Latin until late into the night with the tinkling of water in the background.

We went walking on the Via Appia a few days ago. That road is about 2300 years old. Its a bit out of town and much of the stones have been replaced  but some of older ones are still there. Its beautiful out in the countryside, walking down the old stones, the road lined by trees. We sat at end of the road wrote stories of our trips to Rome, in Latin of course.

Sometimes you just have to take off and get lost to get to know a city. I jumped on the metro and got off after a little, no idea where I was. Turns out I was right next to the Italian International Library. I walked in the big austere front and got a cappuccino. Thats another thing about Italy. You just kinda get caps or espressos all the time. Its totally normal to have three or four a day. Everyone does it. So I get a cap and some how figure out how to get a library card. They don't mess around with their books there. You have to leave you're bags locked up outside and you need photo identification to get a library card. I walked in to the cool, de-humidified, filtered air and some how managed to walk right up to the shelf that held Virgil's Aeneid. Speaking of Virgil....

We went to Napoli for the weekend and stayed in 'Virgil's' villa outside of town. There was an amphitheater being excavated right outside. But when we first got to Napoli we went straight to Vesuvius and climbed to the top. This is not as easy as it sounds. Its basically straight up and there is no shade. They must make a killing selling water. You can see inside the volcano and out over the city which is hazy from pollution. We read Virgil's letter about the eruption which preserved Pompeii. He saw it happen and 2000 years later I read his description standing on the mountain that it came from. Yea. We walked back down to the bus and headed back to the villa where they made us all dinner which was amazingly delicious. I've never had tomatoes like that. Then a few of us got bottles of local wine and walked down to the amphitheater to sit under the stars and share them. The next day we woke up early and drove to Pompeii. Oh, thats another thing I've learned on this trip. How to sleep basically anywhere; on the bus, on the train, face down on a table, siting on a bench..... I think this is a good thing. I think. We walked down ancient roads into ancient houses with the ancient paint still on the walls. A whole city frozen in time. Its really amazing, theres no way to describe it. The metal grates are still visible in the windows in some places. You can see the 2ooo year old paint brush strokes in the paint on the walls. Oh, did I mention that we spoke nothing but Latin inside the walls? No? Well we swore an oath to use only Latin to get our ideas across for the entire time we were in Pompeii. Thats immersion for you. We left the city and went to cave of the Sybil. Exhausted we finally made it back to the villa and had another amazing dinner. I bounced between the amphitheater and the stone pingpong table in the back yard for the rest of the evening and collected a hefty assortment of mosquito bites. The next morning on Sunday we drove to Virgil's tomb and recited some of his work inside. That was probably one of the best parts of the whole trip for me. It brought tears to my eyes. We went to the museum after and I got to see the mosaic with Alexander the Great and Darius in it. Then we walked through the middle of Napoli to a pizzeria and ate lunch. I won't even try to describe the pizza to you. It wont do it justice and might actually be a sin. Then we walked in the city more and met our bus to take us to the train station to go back to Roma. It was about 38 in Napoli and humid. In Roma it was 40. Thats about 104 for those of you who don't want to do the conversion. What happened was this. We took the 4:30 train which should have been a 2 hour and 15 minute train ride. When we left Napoli all the seats were taken. Between the next two stops all the standing room was taken. You see the Euro cup final game between Spain and Italy started at 8:45 and everyone wanted to get back to Rome in time for the game. So every time the train stopped we spent about 15 minutes trying to either squeeze more people on the train or convince them they weren't getting on. The air conditioning went out about half way through. 3 and half hours later, when we finally pulled up to Termini in Rome, the people who were trying to get on the train to take it back to Napoli were flattened by the outpouring of sweat soaked exhausted people clambering out of the train. We finally made it home and then Italy lost the game. It was so sad. And now I have to go to class. More soon I hope.