Discussion #2 Annmarie At Vatican City

 Today we took a bus ride to Vatican City. Immediately, we were surrounded by arguably the best architecture both countries had to offer. Our group had the same idea of immediately heading towards St Peter's Basilica. Inside, I was entranced by every individual art piece. Each one was handcrafted with immense attention to detail. Paintings covered every square inch of the ceiling with gave the atmosphere darker lighting adding to the tranquil experience. An array of sculptures also covered the perimeter of the basilica. Some were made of stone that so perfectly etched the way clothing lies on real flesh. The metalwork is equally crafted and well maintained. My personal favorite is the arrangement of cherubs on the many pillars inside. Each is unique in appearance and yet they all fit perfectly as a whole. 

The Basicilia was also offering the chance to tour inside the Tomb of the Popes. Each Pope buried there had their own individually crafted resting place. Some had a metal sculpture of the body placed on top. This gave the feeling that I was personally attending their own funeral in real-time. I respected the Vatican's wishes and did not take any photographs of these Tombs. I encourage everyone to at least attempt to visit them to fully respect the effort the artist took to craft each piece as well as the Vatican's effort to preserve such precious pieces of history and culture alike. 

Discussion #1 Annmarie

 Due to unforeseen circumstances, I did not get the chance to visit Pompeii. I did, however, get the chance to explore the city of Sorrento a bit longer than my classmates. Unlike Rome, Sorrento was a beach town but equally filled with life. There were tons of small businesses selling everything you needed. A few of our group members and I bought a drink called limoncello. It is an alcoholic beverage made from lemon zest and is mainly produced along this coastline. To fit this theme, a lot of the shops sold other lemon-themed merch. Glass stores sold different kitchen equipment with lemons painted all over. A few stores had different styles of lemon salt and pepper shakers. Clothing stores had lemons on every clothing imaginable.  In every shop I have been to, the owners took pride in their stock and were more than happy to chat with me. Though I personally did not experience this, two of my classmates were handed an assortment of drinks and snacks to try. I was allowed to touch clothes, and hold different bottles of limoncello to decide what one I wanted. The store clerk was very happy to have me take my time and carefully pick out what bottles I would want to bring home. After deciding on two bottles, the owner carefully wrapped each individual bottle. The wrapping was so tender despite her wrapping with a speed that only comes with years of experience. You can tell she loved her job and all her customers. 

Discussion Topics

 Slight change of plans for discussion topics, as we discussed at Ostia today:

During our time in Rome, contribute a total of 5 posts (the first post about Villa Giulia / Pompeii plus 4 additional posts), each one discussing an experience that you have had of viewing a site / object / etc. Be sure to read your classmates' posts and respond to at least two using the comments.

Change for the final paper:

Choose one object, structure, or site, and analyze the viewing experience. For students in AWS 324, compare and contrast the viewing experience of three objects / structures / sites.

Travel Blog: Day in Capri (5/26/2022)

 Today (5/26/2022), We woke up to take a ferry from Sorrento to Capri called the Blitz, which was my first time on a big boat!! It was so exciting and relaxing to be on a boat traveling across the ocean to Capri. feeling the wind on my face, seeing the boat bubble the water, and smelling the fresh air, were all amazing feelings. I don't remember how long the boat ride was but no matter how long it could have been I would have happily stayed on that boat. Once arriving in Capri we then transferred onto a smaller boat to take a tour around the whole island. We saw many important rock forms, arches, and places known on Capri. It took about an hour to travel around the whole island and I'll admit the water nearby was not the greatest smelling, yet the riding the waves and feeling the bumps and swaying made me giggle and smile, feeling like I was on a ride at an amusement park. Once we finished the tour we went into this cave where the water was a shining blue due to the sunlight reflecting onto the white sand on the bottom. The cave had like a pool of water in it, reminded me of a mermaid's pool so enchanting. we had to go on smaller boats to enter the cave as it was a small entrance but the man directing the boat sang, sounded like a male siren luring us in with his amazing angelic voice. To end the day in Capri we got free time to shop and eat, but also go to the beach which the food and shopping was expensive but the beach was surely a sight to see. Around 5 pm we made our way back to Rome going from Capri to Naples on a ferry then a two hour bus drive back to the hotel in Rome. All in all, it was an experience I'll never forget, and will hopefully go on more boats again soon. 

Discussion 1: Pompeii

In Pompeii seeing the palestra, where the Romans played their sports and did their exercise in the nude, the viewing experience was all-around look being able to be there to see the location. It was amazing to see it all in one area and look at it from all angles from how big the field was and learn more about where they would enjoy their time. they were surrounded by columns and had a vast green area to be on. Being in the nude they could be more exposed to the air and made it easier for them to play without restraints of clothing. I felt like this was an amazing experience and place to see. 

Rome Day One

 Today was our first day in Rome and many of the groups' first time abroad! After the seven-hour flight, we were ready to stretch our legs and explore. That is exactly what happened too! Our tour guide immediately took us on a journey to see all the best archeological features of Rome. Plants surrounded quite a few of the sites which only added to the beauty. The air was so fresh and cool that it added so much to the experience. My personal favorite was the Trevi Fountain. It was in the center of tons of small stores, gelato shops, and restaurants. The best feature was the water fountain attached. We all needed a drink so it was highly convenient to fill up our bottles on an as-needed basis.

After our tour, it was lunchtime. Everyone in my group went to a small sandwich shop. I personally enjoyed a prosciutto sandwich topped with lettuce and mozzarella. There were over seven options so everyone had something to fit their taste preference. It was so filling it lasted me until dinner.
At dinner, we first started off with two appetizers. The waitress had around 4 plates of assorted meats and cheeses. Alongside this, we had white pizza. Imagine a pizza with only oil and herbs topped. It made a great addition to the meats and cheeses. For the main course, we had a choice of three different kinds of pasta. I enjoyed a carbonara dish with thick slices of bacon on top. Every component was freshly made, I could even taste the individual ingredient and enjoyed how it all came together. Finally, our dessert came. Fresh strawberries out of a cup for each of us! The light fresh flavors really balanced out well with the strong taste of pasta. It was a day none of us will forget, and our bellies won't either!

Class Discussion #1- Samantha Cantrell

     While I enjoyed visiting both Villa Giulia and the ruins of Pompei, they were vastly different experiences.  Pompei was an incredibly immersive experience that allows visitors to imagine not only the terror experienced by its residents during the tragic volcanic eruption, but also helps to see them as normal people with their own lives and routines.  Viewing artifacts within their actual, practical context was a sobering reminder of the fragility of life, but it was also interesting to see hundreds of people walking the same streets that thousands did years ago.  In spite of the thousands of years that separate us, being able to experience art and history in context was a reminder that we are still connected to those that lived before us.  This humanization is often lost within more carefully curated environments since we don't get to see the more mundane and messy aspects of everyday life, but Pompei allows us to see people from the past simply as that: people like us.

     With that said, I also enjoyed the variety of ways objects were displayed in Villa Giulia.  By changing the configuration of items within their display, the curators have kept things visually interesting to intrigue you to read more about them (that is, if you don't experience the language barrier of the majority of the descriptions being written in Italian), although some were crowded and overwhelming.  Still, I appreciated that by viewing collections of similar items together, I could see the connections between different groups of people and how they have influenced each other.  Unfortunately, since a lot of the displays featured a large number of artifacts within a small space, it was difficult to focus on the importance of any specific objects or to view them in detail.  While more curated environments certainly have their benefits, I did not find the same connection to the objects and their history at Villa Giulia as I did at Pompei.

Wilson College Does Rome: Day Two (May 24)

As our first day waking up in Rome, today was jam-packed full of experiences to immerse us in its culture and history. After a fairly early bedtime to beat the jet lag, we awoke refreshed and ready to explore the city as the Romans do. Many of us enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before meeting to take the tram (many students’ first experience with public transportation in a foreign country) to Trastevere, a region of the city across the Tiber River. Once we were there, we walked past several shops and restaurants (Photo 1) to learn about eating and shopping like an Italian. We discussed various considerations to keep in mind when eating on a budget, including the signs of a tourist-oriented restaurant versus a more authentic one (like whether the menu is in English or Italian), popular dishes to consider, typical price ranges, and so on. We also visited an Italian grocery store, which are typically much smaller and more specialized than American supermarkets, since Italians tend to shop more frequently for what they need on a day-by-day basis rather than for several weeks at a time. Since their stores have a smaller, more focused selection of products, many shop at markets with vendors that set up every day selling fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat and fish, and more, which we visited next. After taking a break to rehydrate with water from one of Rome’s many water fountains, we moved to an area with several budget-friendly lunch options, where I purchased pizza sold by the slice which is priced according to weight. We then learned more about the occasionally unpredictable nature of public transportation, since the tram line we planned to take was not running. One bus ride, a tram, and a short walk later, we made it to the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia (Photo 2). This beautiful museum is dedicated to the history of the Etruscans, the people who inhabited part of the Roman Empire before it was overtaken. Many of their displays focused on items found in graves, which they used to recreate tombs that had been found, including paintings on tomb walls (Photo 3) and objects that would have been significant within their daily life. We were able to look at artwork that showed influences from other cultures, including Greece and several Eastern civilizations. After taking some time to explore the museum, we returned to the hotel via a short walk and a bus ride, and the group split to experience the city independently. I spent some time exploring the streets near the hotel, and eventually purchased gelato from Rome’s oldest (and one of its most popular) gelaterias. We then returned to the hotel to rest after a long day, and to begin preparations for tomorrow’s trip to Pompei.

 

ryan class discussion #1

 After visiting the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia and exploring the archeological location of Pompeii, it became clearer that curated experience often focus on specific attitudes and practices of ancient cultures through displayed artifacts while being on an archaeological site gives a broader vision of ancient life and culture.

The National Etruscan Museum had vast amounts of funerary artifacts that displayed not only the practices that were carried out for funerals but also broader attitudes towards the importance of the after life or even relationships through the sarcophagus seen here. Seeing specific artifacts, how they were used, and the historical/cultural context in which they were used can allow one to develop a better understanding of intricate ancient cultures and their practices, though, like any interpretation of ancient ideas, may be misconstrued by a modern perspective.

On the other hand, Pompeii, being less of a curated space and more of an on-site archeological experience, contained many artifacts “collected” essentially as they would have been found in the ancient city. The buildings, fountains, graffiti, even the street itself, all acted to construct a general view of what daily life might have looked like for the lives of Pompeiians of varying classes. Rather than mainly focusing on specific attitudes and practices, this on-site experience allows one to get an understanding of how ancient Pompeii actually operated. It also gives an overview of various cultural aspects of the city, whether that be religion through various temples, entertainment through the baths/art/stadium, or even food culture with the bakery and granary.

Both curated and on-site experiences have the potential to give powerful knowledge but each distributes their information /knowledge in a different way.

Class Discussion Assignment #1

 While at Villa Giulia today, we talked about the different ways in which we encounter and look at art and the ways our visual experience of ancient art objects are constructed by museums. Write a 250+ word post considering one viewing experience from our visit to Giulia or Pompeii. You could also, if you like, compare and contrast the viewing experience in both places.

After writing your blog post, read your classmates' posts and make at least two substantive replies.

Blog post due Thursday, May 26

Class Discussion

 We will also be  using this blog for our class discussions while in Italy. Discussion topics will be posted here; my expectation is that you will post a 250+ word initial post and at least 2 substantive responses to your classmates.

Please be sure to label all discussion posts with the label "Class Discussion".

T - 1 Day!

 Tomorrow we will be leaving for Italy! Check back here for daily updates about our travels and adventures!

Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day Scrapbook Assignment

Ciao a tutti! The assignment: Students will read Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day. Using our class blog, they will create a “scrapbook” of their trip, posting at least 15 pictures and observations that relate to the readings from the book.

Each post should include:

• a picture (it could be of something ancient or modern, as long as it connects to the reading)
• a quote / reference from Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day
• a brief explanation of the connection (between 1 sentence and 1 paragraph)

Please create your posts here, using the label "Scrapbook" (You can select this from the Post Settings menu to the right).