Ciao, Inverno

 Goodbye, Winter

Yes, I am giving you all full permission to be completely jealous of the 70 degree weather I am having here.  I heard you got more snow.

Monday morning my Theology class was on sight.  The first church we met at, according to Rick Steves, is referred to as "The Bone Church".  The actual church is above where the bones are kept, but the crypt is very creepy.  I did not enjoy this at all.  Whoever decided it would be a good idea to dismember all the bones from each other (even the vertebrae were piece by piece) was seriously stage twelve mentally unstable.  Naturally, the people that work there have to be also.  I'm sorry this section might not be coherent, but I'm having trouble describing the workings of a psychotic artist's brain (if you can call it a brain).  The woman who was telling us  no pictures, no talking, no whatever, warned us that we need to be respectful because there were thousands of people sleeping.  Sleeping?  seriously, you have the audacity to put bones into designs, yes, lamps were hung by femur bones, floral arrangements included ribs, finger bones, pelvic parts, small child hanging down from the ceiling encircled by a nifty little design of the vertebrae, and you are going to say they are sleeping?  It was a weird experience.  I didn't like it all.  I won't go back.  I felt too close to the dead people's body parts.  Catholic? How about satanic?

The next few churches were beautiful.  I was running late in the morning and forgot my camera, but I'm going to try and go back to take pictures.  Not of the bone church, of the other normal, beautiful, non creepy churches that we went to.

Tuesday was more wine tasting.  This time the wine was Tuscan, it was good; again I liked the cheaper one better, it tasted more natural. This was because of the way it was aged, though, not because it was cheaper.  I feel like I could write a book on wine and wine tasting now. I know many of you (mainly my aunts) love wine, and I can't wait to tell you all about the process and how the grapes are made, and how you can learn so much from the label alone.  I'm thinking of changing my major from speech pathology to wine studies...another few years in Italy?  I don't think I'd mind that.  Taste wine as a profession?  I don't think I'd mind that either.

Wednesday for my on site Art in Rome class we first went to San Clemente.  It is a three story church that has been excavated. Obviously, the lower in level you go, the older the church is.  The church is named after San Clement (big surprise) who was the third in line of the papal succession.  (about 91-101 AD).  [I am using writing this blog as studying for my Art in Rome test on Wednesday, so be prepared for a lot of information]  Some early Christian historians identify him as the Clement mentioned by St. Paul in his Letter to the Phillipians.

The lowest level can be dated back to the  first century AD.  The lowest level was most likely not always a church, but at some point in time was possibly occupied by a Christian community because of the layout being is basilica form.    The second level dates back to the fourth century, however it suffered severe damage.  The present church, built in the eleventh century is absolutely gorgeous.  There is a type of mosaic, called a cosmati, in one of the adjacent  chapels.   The Dome is beautiful and tells the story of Christ on the Cross.  Below the arms of the cross are Mary and St. John.  Doves surround the Dome.  There are twelve, and although doves have numerous significances in the catholic church, here they represented the twelve apostles.  
The final stop for the day was at San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter's in Chains).  There are two important things in this church:

1.  The tomb of Julius II...the tomb isn't so much important as the Moses sculpture that is underneath it.  The sculpture was crafted by Michaelangelo. 
2.  Supposedly the two chains that St. Peter was bound with miraculously bound together, an are now in a shrine there. It was really cool to see.

Thursday was more wine.  Actually, it was our last wine tasting class.  This time we had wines from Piedemont. It's on the border with France, so they were quite different.  (Although still made the traditional Italian way).  They were both high in cost, but I liked the one that didn't smell like flowers.  Most of you probably know that when getting a strong wiff of flowers I immediately think of wakes, which makes me think of dead people, which is my great fear, thus resulting in hyperventilating (just kidding, it's not that much of a phobia), but I liked the one that smelled like wood.  It reminded me of Door County.....which by the way...come visit me up there this summer, because I will once again be a waitress at JJ's.

Fr. Al took 18 of us to a pizza place in Trastevere for dinner.  It was absolutely delicious.  I had grilled peppers on mine, and it was fantastic.  We had wine with dinner and lemoncello for dessert.  We were separated into three tables due to space.  I ended up sitting with 4 guys I didn't know very well, and it was nice to meet new people.  We stayed downtown for awhile after which was fun.

And now Friday, oh Friday, I love not having classes.   It was a gorgeous day so my friend, Mary Beth, and I went downtown to see somethings we hadn't.  We went to Bocca della Vertita (Mouth of Truth).  It has a very interesting history as it was built on the site where Romulus and Remus were said to have founded Rome.  Legend has it you stick you hand in the mouth and it will bite you if you're a liar.  Hands are still on!  [forgot my camera Friday too, so I'll steal those pics as soon as possible].  If you've ever seen Roman Holiday (Vacanza Romana) with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, there is a scene with them sticking their hands in it.  Fun fact, I suppose.  

Next we went to the Knights of Malta Piazza.   In the piazza there are so many members of the carabineri holding their machine guns, looking young, probably about my age, and smiling.  It's funny that they are so much friendlier than the police, because all they need to do is point that thing at you, and BAMMM you're a goner, but maybe that's why they're happy....they have all the power in every situation.  Unless they get upset with each other.  Anyway, you're probably wondering why I went to this particular place, well it wasn't for the machine guns.  I like my head, thank you very much.  Except I have noticed I have a larger head for my body structure than normal, but anyway there is this beautiful view of St. Peter's.  To see the view you look through a key hole.  I'm not exaggerating at all here, it's just a key hole, but you have a picture perfect view.  Except you can't really take a picture through a keyhole.  It was really amazing.  Especially with the sun out and the skies blue!


Thoughts and Information that you might not find useful at all.  Or Perhaps, you'll find it life changing.  (My guess it's the first)

1.  The landings of the Spanish Steps represent the Holy Trinity.  [I thought that was pretty neat]

2.  I was talking with the Dean here (he's a very interesting man...super super tall, hilarious, mid 40s, Dutch...(If ya ain't dutch, you ain't much!!), the man was knighted (although he hasn't told us why), and he speaks about four billion languages.  Anyway, I was talking to him about my difficulty speaking Italian.  How I can carry on a conversation with a stranger on the street, but Maria Palladino terrifies me, and my mind always goes blank.  His advice:   "Laura, I think that you need to have a glass or two of wine before you ever enter her class, because it will get your thoughts flowing better".  Now, this is nice advice,  but I was surprised to hear it from the dean; anyway, something needs to get the thoughts flowing better, but I have Italian in the middle of the day, so that may not be the best option.  He said that's how he learned the language.

3.  You get to see my pretty face live in 8.5 weeks.  Please don't wish that to go too fast.  You can always talk to me on skype, but video is not really an option.