So ….. a lot has been going on. So a brief update on goings on:
On Sunday I woke up at 5am and left the Stoker's house at 6am to get to the airport. Mr. Stoker took me to the airport and then I checked in for my 8am flight. I got to Rome at noon and met up with my professoressa. We waited for some of the other students and then made our way over to the hotel/apartments. We had some time to settle in and then we went for a walk to the Spanish steps and then Cinzia (my professor) treated us to gelato. then we went back to the hotel and had dinner in the restaurant there, and then went to bed afterward.
On Monday we went to the catacombs and got to see these pretty elaborate tunnels built by the early Christians. I visited the same catacombs last time I was in Rome but it was pouring rain that day. After that we went on a walk in the neighborhood on a road called the Appian way. It is a road that was originally built around 100-300 AD by the Romans. It is still in existence and the foundation is so good that major highways were built directly on top of it in some places. After that we went to a WWII memorial. The story behind the memorial is that in 1944 there were some italians who were tired of Nazi rule in Italy and so they managed to kill 33 Nazi soldiers in Rome. When Hitler found out he said the Italians needed to be punished. So He ordered that 10 Italians would be killed for every Nazi soldier that had died. Some people were abducted off the streets others were Jewish Italians etc and they were taken to some caves just outside the city and were shot, then the caves were caved in to hide the bodies. 330 people were killed that day. Later, the caves were found and excavated and the bodies buried in a special memorial cemetery next to the caves.
After these visits we were free for the rest of the day. We went exploring mostly and bought some gelato. (obviously)
On Tuesday we went to a church called St. Peter in Chains. This church has the chains that Peter was held captive with during his imprisonment in Rome. It also has the tomb commissioned by the Pope to Michelangelo which has the famous Moses on it. After this we went inside the Colosseum and then toured the Forum. Afterward we were free to do as we pleased. I went with a group to find some good pizza. Afterward me and one of the guys broke off from the group and walked around the Castel d'San Angelo and the Vatican. We stopped at the hotel to get our homework and then went to the Piazza del Popolo to do our work. I started drawing and some little kids came up to watch eventually one of them asked if he could draw with me. So now my sketchbook has a very nice drawing by Riccardo of his friend Ludovica and a few other things :)
On Sunday I woke up at 5am and left the Stoker's house at 6am to get to the airport. Mr. Stoker took me to the airport and then I checked in for my 8am flight. I got to Rome at noon and met up with my professoressa. We waited for some of the other students and then made our way over to the hotel/apartments. We had some time to settle in and then we went for a walk to the Spanish steps and then Cinzia (my professor) treated us to gelato. then we went back to the hotel and had dinner in the restaurant there, and then went to bed afterward.
On Monday we went to the catacombs and got to see these pretty elaborate tunnels built by the early Christians. I visited the same catacombs last time I was in Rome but it was pouring rain that day. After that we went on a walk in the neighborhood on a road called the Appian way. It is a road that was originally built around 100-300 AD by the Romans. It is still in existence and the foundation is so good that major highways were built directly on top of it in some places. After that we went to a WWII memorial. The story behind the memorial is that in 1944 there were some italians who were tired of Nazi rule in Italy and so they managed to kill 33 Nazi soldiers in Rome. When Hitler found out he said the Italians needed to be punished. So He ordered that 10 Italians would be killed for every Nazi soldier that had died. Some people were abducted off the streets others were Jewish Italians etc and they were taken to some caves just outside the city and were shot, then the caves were caved in to hide the bodies. 330 people were killed that day. Later, the caves were found and excavated and the bodies buried in a special memorial cemetery next to the caves.
After these visits we were free for the rest of the day. We went exploring mostly and bought some gelato. (obviously)
On Tuesday we went to a church called St. Peter in Chains. This church has the chains that Peter was held captive with during his imprisonment in Rome. It also has the tomb commissioned by the Pope to Michelangelo which has the famous Moses on it. After this we went inside the Colosseum and then toured the Forum. Afterward we were free to do as we pleased. I went with a group to find some good pizza. Afterward me and one of the guys broke off from the group and walked around the Castel d'San Angelo and the Vatican. We stopped at the hotel to get our homework and then went to the Piazza del Popolo to do our work. I started drawing and some little kids came up to watch eventually one of them asked if he could draw with me. So now my sketchbook has a very nice drawing by Riccardo of his friend Ludovica and a few other things :)