Roman Travels

I apologize for not updating the blog sooner, but it’s been difficult due to my travels in and around Rome. In the past week I’ve visited the neighboring region of Umbria twice and have had the opportunity to explore the city of Rome as extensively as I want.

Umbria

The weekend of the 6th served as the first study trip for the Rome Center. The school made all the preparations for us, including transportation, hotel, and, for the most part, our meals. We traveled to Rome’s neighboring region (akin to states in the United States), Umbria. The trip was three full days, from Friday to Sunday. We stayed in the town of Spoleto and we visited the towns of Spello, Perugia, and Bevagna.

Spoleto, Spello, and Perugia

Spoleto was our home base and our hotel was located there. It’s a small town in comparison to Rome, as were all the towns we visited, but there was still a lot to see. Perhaps my favorite part of Spoleto was the giant bridge, named Ponte delle Torri, that also doubled as an aqueduct. The bridge itself was 400 feet tall and almost that long. Seeing that bridge, which was about 800 years old, really brought history to life. I tried to imagine how it was built, and in doing so I appreciated the technology we have today.

We also toured the nearby towns of Spello and and Bevagna. Both of these towns each had their own unique characteristics. Bevanga had a number of artisan shops that we were able to tour. These included a medieval candle maker, a medieval/Renaissance silk maker, a medieval paper maker, and an ancient Roman coin mint. The town itself was nice, with narrow streets, little traffic, and a number of small shops that were off the beaten path. It was fun and, being close to Rome, it will be easy to go back if I choose to.

Spello was also a great town to tour. It was much hillier than Bevagna or Spoleto and it has a unique (and awesome) ‘flower culture,’ in which residents compete to have the nicest flowers outside their homes (see the photos). Such flowers led to some great scenes. The town itself is also situated on a hill and offers some amazing views if you feel like hiking a bit. The vistas I saw there rival views seen in the United States.

Overall, the weekend trip to Umbria was a great experience. It was a good primer on traveling and it offered us more to see than the “generic” sights of Rome. If we weren’t immersed in Italian culture yet, we surely were by the end of the trip.

Rome

Now that classes have started and I have settled into a more solid routine, I have had the opportunity to explore Rome, mostly on my own. My class schedule allows me, on most days, to leave campus and explore the city for most of the day and return in time for class. I certainly took advantage of that this past week when I explored Rome off the beaten path.

To detail all of my city travels would be cumbersome, so I’ll stick to my favorite parts. Last Wednesday, when I didn’t have class all day, I wandered down to Piazza Navona, which is about an hour from campus by bus and walking (it’s not far across the river from the Vatican for those who are familiar with the area). From the Piazza I walked down side streets looking for a 400 year old library I had researched. I eventually found the library and of course entered it. It was completely free of tourists and I could take my time looking around. See the photos below for more detail on the library.

On Thursday I had my first on-site Art in Rome class, which was at the ancient Roman Forum. There was a slight admission fee but it paid off. Our teacher, John Nicholson, has been teaching the class for several decades and knows all there is to know about the Forum (and in fact anywhere in Rome). It was amazing to be at the Forum for a class on the Forum. Instruction certainly occurred regarding certain architectural features that have survived the centuries, but it was also a history lesson. It’s difficult to describe the difference between a history lesson far removed from the site of an event’s occurrence and an on-site lesson. All I can say is that being on-site makes all the difference. It’s almost worth studying abroad just for that, if you’re as big a history nerd as I am, but studying abroad is good for other reasons as well.

Finally, on Friday (which is always an off day for traveling) I went back down to Piazza Navona, explored in more detail the area around the Pantheon, and ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant in a small piazza called Piazza dell’Oratorio. The night was made when I heard the lofty sounds of a violin echoing through the streets as I ate.

So far it’s been a good time in and around Rome. My next goal for exploring is to visit farther regions and cities like Tuscany, Florence, and Naples. Beyond that I plan on visiting other countries in Europe- after all, that’s what study abroad is for, right?