Florence, Italy: The Marathon of Rome

Today I did a marathon trek through Rome. You may be thinking — that’s a lot of miles — and you’d be right (if talking in KMs). It wasn’t an actual marathon, but it was such an endurance challenge that it felt like one.

I’m starting the habit of leaving early whenever I go somewhere and don’t have to drive it myself. Today’s travel was by train in a short, less-than-two hour trip. The best part about these train rides: I got to sleep! I arrived in Rome at 9:30 and immediately set off on my whirlwind tour of the city. My first debacle was to decide which Metro pass to purchase. I solved it by getting a 24 hour pass with unlimited passages. (I think, in all, I saved 4 euros just by doing that).

I started the day with a list of things I wanted to see. They were all recommended to me by Father Jack of some of his favorite places from when he served in Rome. My first stop was St. Paul’s Outside the Walls. This basilica is the second largest in Rome (20 points if you know what the largest is!). If it’s the second biggest in the center of the Catholic church, you know it’s big! At the front of center nave were two statues: one on the left of St. Peter holding the keys to heaven, and one on the right of a balding (I know -comforting) St. Paul caught in a moment of looking stern while holding a sword. Overall the church was less intricate than many others I’ve seen. There wasn’t much in sides that distracts the attention from the center-front. Another great thing was the quality of its cloisters. It’s probably due to the rain, but the colors of the grass and flowers were SO bright. I can’t imagine taking breaks from classes (or worships) in those places — I wouldn’t want to go back.

The second stop was four Metro-stops down and a nice walk: Tre Fontani. This place of three fountains is set up as the site where Paul was beheaded. At first I couldn’t find it, but did find what Jack correctly called a “low-key” Marian shrine. This place was where Mary appeared to a communist; low-key is somewhat of an understatement. I walked up and all I could see was a tent around this grotto. It was only when I went inside of the tent, I saw that in it was a building around the shrine; still, definitely low-key. From there, I got directions to the Tre Fontani.

The highlights of the Tre Fontani were the signs. Call me irreverent, but knowing that it was the place where an event happened almost two millenia ago wasn’t as interesting for me as how it is treated today. The signs told it all! The site is set up for pilgrims and includes the trigger for the mind of a long and winding driveway into it to symbolize a greater amount travelled (think the first entrance to the Christian Conference Center and you understand). Before even starting on the driveway I read a sign in five different languages: “This is a sacred place where one venerates the memory of the martyrdom of the Apostle St. Paul. Visitors are welcome and kindly requested to behave conformly to the obvious rules of a holy place.” Walking about 20 meters on the driveway I came upon a statue of (who I think was) St. Benedict holding his right index finger up to his lips. I LOVED IT — for those who can’t read, the statue tells you enough. “The obvious rules of a holy place” are made obvious by the statue demonstrating it. Making my way past a building that looked like a monastery, I followed a path through a grove of trees to a little chapel at the end. Keep in mind that it was raining (A LOT) and the trees didn’t offer much of a canopy from the storm. I made it to the chapel and was hit by something I hadn’t heard (pun intended) in a while: silence. Most churches I enter have acoustics that echo a lot of the sounds: this one had them where it ripped them from the air: the two other people in the chapel walking around didn’t make a sound, even though the way they were walking probably should have. The chapel was beautiful. Behind the altar was a painting (which, I need to check – but I’m pretty sure was a Caravaggio — in either case: a baroque) that I think was actually the martyrdom of St. Peter (surprising since it wasn’t his site). The figure was being crucified upside down and was bending up and looking above at his feet. Like I said, I’ll need to check. The sign on the way out of the site was hilarious: Trappist Liquors for sale. That explained the quietness — not much else though! 😉

When I finished it was 1pm and I knew there was a chance some of the other places I wanted to go would be closed for siesta — so I went somewhere that I knew would be open: St. Peter’s. (For those wanting the 20 points, you should have guessed this one!) St. Peter’s was better the second time; I stood in line, and in the cathedral, for two hours. Like the last time, the building is still as huge and as impressive when you first walk in. Different from the last time, however, the sun wasn’t shining in the windows. I like it SO much better darker. It’s much more difficult to get good pictures, but the shadows behind all of the statues give them more emotion. The mosaic giant duplications of the great works (i.e. Raphael’s “Transfiguration” – my favorite) don’t look as good with the artificial lighting, but the rest seems even grander.

After St. Peters, I went to the Gesu. The Gesu is the mother church of the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus – a Catholic male monastic order founded on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola). Many consider the Jesuits one of the more progressive orders of the Catholic church; the thing I saw in the Gesu definitely shows that. After entering I saw there was a large group of people at the front in the side chapel. I know that “tourist” visits aren’t allowed in churches during religious celebrations, so I looked, but didn’t see a priest or anyone officiating. It was a large group of people doing private devotions!

I sat in the back of the church and let it all soak in. Looking at the ceiling I heard something familiar and recognized the melody of the film “The Mission,” which is about South American Jesuits in the late 1700’s. I looked over to my right to see where it was coming from and WHOA — there was a giant widescreen flat-panel television in one of the small chapels along with a display on St. Ignatius and the Society. When I went over and looked, I also saw the display for St. Francis Xavier, giving information on his life. Apparently it’s the 400th Anniversary of something Xavier did (I’m not sure if it was his departure for India, his birth or what — I should probably check on that). After looking at those, I went back to sit down and just admired the ceiling. The ceilings and sides and fronts of all Baroque churches are amazing, this one included.

After going to the Gesu, I went to another Jesuit church: St. Ignatsio. I’d visited this church the first time I went to Rome, but I had to go back (it’s like St. Peter’s). Actually, it’s like it in so many ways: both are baroque, both are huge, and both look SO different with altered lighting. I didn’t like St. Ignatsio nearly as much as I did the first time. The lack of sun shining through the windows caused them to artificially light some of the areas: unconvincingly. I’m not sure if it was the type of bulbs they used or what, but compared to St. Peter’s and the Gesu, St. Ignatsio’s lighting didn’t have the warm glow of the others: it was a cold and artificial light. In any case, I still LOVE the ceiling frescos and made sure to get a better shot than I did the last time: this time — I did a 30″ exposure! For those familiar with cameras, it was at f22 with a 100 ISO. The result is incredibly clear and is really pretty to zoom up close in on the computer.

What I liked best about this visit was the time factor. I wasn’t being rushed around by others; I could visit at my own pace. With St. Ignatsio, I spent 20 minutes just sitting, praying and studying the frescos at the front of the sanctuary that I hadn’t even noticed the first time I came. Unfortunately the rain did make the entire trip cold and wet
. I also wasn’t able to make it to the Scavi or the Catacombs — but those are on the list for the next time I come to Rome. The return trip to Florence this evening was fun: especially since I got to catch up on sleep some more. The act of not transporting yourself is incredibly liberating; we’ll see if I say the same thing when I drive down to Ft. Worth in 13 days.

Florence, Italy: Return to Siena

Do you ever return somewhere and see it in such simpler terms? Whenever I return to a place I’ve lived, the streets that wound around so complicatedly seem simple; the pace of the place seems so less rushed. The return trips lose the magical “newness” of the first visit, but make up for that loss with a sense of familiarity. Siena is now one of those places.

I don’t want to imply that I know the city; by no means! The major sites aren’t intimidating for me anymore, however. When I first went to Siena, it was raining and cold. Earlier today, it was just cold.

I went via autobus. Surprisingly, the bus system isn’t as easy as I expected. You buy the tickets and board the bus whenever you want to (providing it’s going to the place you have a ticket for). Well, there’s a difference in the two busses to Siena: “diretta” and “rapida.” I’m still going to need to check to make sure I understand the difference, but I rode one on the way there and a different one on the return trip.

Departing for Siena I took the “diretta” bus, since I assumed it was the fastest. We went through about six towns on the way making several stops in each town. Imagine a city’s bus transport system and extend it across the province and that’s what this was. I’m not going to complain, since I normally like bus rides. It took a little longer, but it also allowed me more sleep time (something I do incredibly well on buses). At the end of the day I took the “rapida” back and there were only two stops — much better!

When I arrived in Siena I was a man on a mission. Dr. Plate, one of my Religion professors, is writing a work on different artist’s connotations of “horns.” (I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with him teaching at the “horn”-ed frog university — seriously, no sarcasm there.) In the Civic Museum in the City Hall is a room full of a fresco cycle by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The cycle is called “Good and Bad Government” and is the author’s (and town’s) implications of the cause-effect nature of the different governing styles. In it, the “tyrannus” of the bad government is a devil character with insane horns and teeth. My mission: to get a good picture that he might be able to use in publication. When I arrived at the museum, there were signs all over the place saying no photography allowed. Steathily, I got a couple of good ones, but they’re from the vantage point of the viewer (in my view, the correct one — since that’s where EVERYONE sees it from), which is lower and looking up. Just to be safe (and to make sure there was a backup plan), I got a print in the gift shop. :)

After that museum, I headed up to the Duomo. The Siena Duomo is one of the most complex and intricate buildings I’ve ever seen. Anyone who walked inside with ADD would be a disaster by the time they walked out. When I got to the Duomo, I was about to go up the steps and looked over and saw one of the nearby buildings is having a special exhibit on Raphael and Caravaggio. What was I going to say to that? “OKAY!!!”

The exhibit was great, which surprised me. Both of those artists’ best works are in the painting exhibit in the Vatican, and aren’t going anywhere. Luckily, they each had enough great ones that this exhibit showcased them nicely. They could have set the museum up better; I ended up doing the gallery backwards (luckily my audio headset was programmable) because when I tried from the front all of the paths were blocked off. Making it through the labyrinth of the 3-story museum was the biggest accomplishment of the day.

After finishing that exhibit, I went to the Duomo. Most cathedrals are busy year-round. Florence’s recently got to the point where the line doesn’t exist. Siena, apparently, has been there for a while. When I went, there were less than 20 people in the entire cathedral! The last time I went it had somewhere around 400 people. The low-tourism season is THE time to visit these places! It’s also better to visit at the end because I could see the specific works we’d talked about in my Art History class. Jeremy, the Accent excursions coordinator, had given us a great tour before, but this time I could move around in the cathedral and take my time.

Mid-afternoon I decided I’d seen enough and headed back to Florence. When I got to Siena it was overcast and foggy at times. When I left, it was a deep blue sky without a chance of rain — just the kind of weather to return to Florence with. :)

Florence, Italy: The Deep Blue Darkness – Fourth Technology Casualty Averted

Last night the general theme was blue. No matter where I turned, blue was the color that kept sticking out to me. At 10:30 I walked out of the apartment and was committed to procrastinating some more. My last paper I have to write in my Undergraduate career was due this morning and I’d already made great progress (700/1500 words) when I left.

Stepping out of the apartment I knew something was different. There was a blue light cast on all of the cars on the street. Normally it wouldn’t have been shocking since the blue light of the bike store I live over is always on. Still, it never had this intense of a blue cast before. Then I noticed it: the street lights were all out. Power was on in the apartments along the street, but the city’s street lights were out. Even though I recognize their importance (safety), I wish it happened more often. The street was gorgeous with the golden light pollution in the clouds above meshing with the intense neon blue of the bike shop’s light below. Also, without the street lights, the street seemed quieter; it may simply have been my subconscience filling in less details — in any case: I loved it.

I slowly made my way to the internet cafe, just enjoying the calmness. At the cafe I talked to my mom on instant messenger and did a system update on my laptop. Before I go any further, you should know that it’s always a good idea to get the complete and latest system updates from your software vendor. It’s also a great idea to at least know where your operating system recovery disk is located, and if traveling overseas, to make sure to take it with you. You never know when a computer geek will be able to help you abroad …

After the system updates finished downloading, waited until it said it was in the last moments of finishing the installation. Then I did it: I closed my Powerbook and returned to my apartment. I opened it back up and within five seconds popped up a screen telling me that I needed to do a manual restart because the computer had frozen. MY computer crashed? No way; I knew it was definitely the case, though. Perhaps it’s karma, but earlier that day I’d been telling my classmates that my computer had only crashed twice in the 2.5 years I’ve had it. I’d only seen this screen once before and I knew it wasn’t good.

When I restarted, it did the normal screen telling me it was starting the operating system software. Then, it went to a blue screen and started doing it again; and again; and again. In messing with my computer during the system update, I created an infinite loop in the startup cycle. It was NOT a pretty sight! What was even worse was that my paper, which I’d worked so hard on, was inaccessible and there was no chance I would be able to repair my computer AND type up the paper before it was due today.

Brett, my roommate, let me use his computer to type up my paper once again from scratch. Before starting on my second version, I let my computer keep going through its cycle in the event that it fixed itself. The only thing visible throughout the process was the blue screen. This blue light was completely opposite of the blue haze I’d seen earlier in the night; the blue was stressful instead of calming.

I started the paper at 11:50. An hour into it (12:50), I’d written 700 words. 25 minutes later (1:15) I’d written 1000. At 2:00am, the paper was done and was SO much better than the first version. The laptop crashing may have been a blessing in disguise: my last paper I wrote in college wasn’t a piece of crap!

This morning I woke up and went to the Accent Center and attempted to back things up before I repaired the operating system. I was able to boot the computer off of the DVD and back-up a couple of things to my external flash drive. Then came the moment of truth: I told the restore software to create an archive of the system before restoring off of the disk image. Almost an hour and a half later and the system was fully restored without my losing ANY files! :)