Welcome back to Rome! It's been hot here, but that hasn't stopped us from exploring and learning all about our surroundings. We had a jam-packed weekend learning about the history around us! Our academic endeavors started at the Capitoline Museum, where we walked around the museum as a group and learned about the history of the statues, and ...
Saturday, we were given a free day to recuperate and rest. I mostly hung out in our apartments which are four apartments of around eight people each set up in a residential building. In the evening we went to dinner as a group to this place that you get an all you can eat type of buffet when you buy a drink. The food was surprisingly good for ...
Today in art history we visited the museum of contemporary art. Our counselor had a friend who worked there and gave us a tour which was fascinating. He explained the meanings behind these rooms that together made a sort of sculpture. After the museum, I took a long nap because of all the full days we've had. Tonight was a master chef, each ...
On Tuesday in art history, we traveled across the Ponte Vecchio a bridge in Florence and visited a modern art exhibit. Our teacher taught us the timeline of the different stages of art starting at the medieval time up to today with contemporary art. In addition, he taught us different art movements in-between. After history, for a few hours, I ...
We have arrived in Italy! While very different from Athens, Rome has been exquisite so far. The buildings are my favorite part so far; the architecture is beautiful. Since arriving, we have had a busy schedule. We went on a day trip to Naples, where we explored the National Archeological Museum. In preparation for our final exam, we searched ...
On Wednesday evening we went to a ceramics studio to learn about the history of ceramics in Italy. The artist, Enzo, taught us how to paint a traditional Florentine design on our plates. It was quite stressful to try and get it right but in the end, our plates looked almost professional. For Art History class on Thursday, we had a private ...
I admit, when I signed up to go to the opera, I had no idea what I was in for. I didn’t even know the name of the opera we were seeing, not that the name would have helped me. It was only afterward that I learned that Madama Butterfly is apparently a very famous opera. The Opera was not exactly what I was expecting. For one thing, the ...
We arrived in Rome four days ago and have been super busy! We kicked off our time in Italy with a visit to Pompeii, the ancient roman city that was buried under the explosion of a nearby volcano almost 2000 years ago. We got to walk around the old ruins, amazingly preserved by the volcano ash. Many of us had our first real Italian pizza at ...
On Saturday morning we took a bus to San Gimignano to climb the old medieval towers left in the city. It was a beautiful quaint town and the view from the top of the tower was breathtaking. We had time for lunch and before we left we stopped to get gelato at an award-winning gelateria, which was delicious. Then we traveled a short bit to ...
15 July, Wednesday An eventful Florentine day, filled with history. During my afternoon art history course, we went to the Academia. Michelangelo’s David has to been seen to be believed and I could have happily spent the entire class looking at it. It’s amazing to think that we are looking at an object that has lasted for hundreds of years ...