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.