A Couple of Days in Roma

We dropped off my mom's friend at the airport and off we went to the Borghese Gallery. We had to reserve tickets in advance to go. It was so amazing, Bernini's sculptures always show people in action. If you were to pause a moment in time, that is what it would be like. The scupture of Hades grabbing Persephone to take her down to the underworld is my favorite. Seeing the pain in her eyes as he takes her away, I felt it was all completely captured in this sculpture. I also really like another scupture of unrequited love; Apollo and Daphne. Daphne wants to live in the forest and not be wed but Apollo falls in love with her and chases after her. Right as he gets to her, she has her father turn her into a tree. It was interesting how in this sculpture, Daphne is so relieved she doesn't have to be with him as apposed to Persephone who is showing  a great look of despair and terror.
The next day, we went and saw this movie on Ancient Rome. It was very interesting. After that, we went to the Carnivale Parade. Carnavale is the two weeks before lent when you have to give something up. I am not religious but I have decided I am going to give something up. I have decided to give up Soda and being mean. This will be really hard for me. The parade was really fun except there was this kid who was blowing a horn in miranda's face and miranda looked like she was about to kill him.
Sunday, was kind of a chill out day. We went to some exhibits which had a section on Caravaggio. I really enjoy Caravaggio's works. I like how he can portray aging so well, from the wrinkles and aged look on the face to the old sagging  body. We also went to the Ferrari store, which was cool.

Little Note for Jesse Wooten

Hey Jesse, I just wanted to let you know that I love the book Roma. I am on the fourth story and I can't stop. I think all of the stories are really fascinating but the second story about the monster Cacus is really depressing.

Three Days In Rome

Wow, I have been so busy, I haven't had time to write much. Since Dawn my mom's friend is here, we have been doing lots of sightseeing. On Monday, we went back to Saint Peter's Square to see the basilica and walk to the cupola, the highest point of Rome. We walked 500 steps up and down; it was exhausting and yet really fun. This lady had a panic attack near the top and almost fainted, but she was okay.  Once, we got up to the top, we could see all of Rome. Seeing the Basilica for the second time I thought would be really boring, but it turned out it was really fun. Since I had studied many of the statues in there, such as the Pieta, I was able to catch things I hadn't noticed the first time.

On Tuesday, we went to the Colosseum and the Forum. I really enjoyed the Colosseum a lot. I think it might have something to do with the fact that there were some italian girls my age in the group but it was also fascinating. Our tour guide wasn't as good as before but I didn't really listen to her that much anyway. Then we went to the Forum, which was breathtakingly beautiful. I actually got to walk through all of it and it was worth it. The first time I saw it, we were tired because it was our first day in Rome, but this time I looked at the sights more closely. We went to the house of the vestal virgins, and I learned that if they couldn't keep their vows they would be buried alive. I was surprised about that. The Romans were just as brutal as every other traditional religious group it turns out.

On, Wednesday, we decided to make it a walking day. First, we went into the Trevi fountain and my sister and I threw coins into it. Then we went to the Piazza Navona to see the four rivers fountain and look at the artists painting. We kept on walking until we hit the "Isla Vista" of Rome, known as Campo De Fiori, which translates to The Field of Flowers. They have a bar there called "The Drunken Ship." They had a big farmers market where we got fresh fruits, vegetables, and amazing chocolate. We ate at a mozzarella bar where we tasted fresh bufalo mozzarella. The food was amazing. Afterwards, we went to the Fridgedarium where they take their amazing gelato and dip it in chocolate. It was hands down, the best gelato I have had in my life. Later, mom and David went out for their anniversary and Dawn took us back to St. Peter's at night. It was freezing cold and no one was there. When we walked back toward the castle, they were making a film there! Miranda and I might have gotten into one of the shots, but I'm not sure. It has been a great week so far, but Dawn leaves tomorrow. Dawn is catholic, so we are going to see some more churches today.  If you have watched the movie Angels and Demons, you will see what we do on a daily basis (Pantheon, Piazza del poppolo, saint peters church,  Piazza Navona, St angelo's castle).
Ciao Bella,

John

My week in Florence and Venice

What a week! I had the greatest time on our first trip. We started off by taking a tour bus through Tuscany until we got to the Banfi Winery. We took a tour of the winery and learned about how everything was made from a guide. Then, we walked up to where the tasting room was and had some wine. It was so much fun to get to know the students. After the tasting, we kept on driving until we got to Pienza. We got into his little town at Siesta, so virtually nothing was open except two places. The food was really good but the town was wet and cold. So, we all got back on the bus and kept on driving until we were in Florence.
Once we were in Florence, we checked into our really inhospitable hotel. I won't go into the details of that.  After that, we went to dinner. The next day, we had a lot of art tours lined up. We went to the Uffizi Museum, a former office, which the grand dukes of Florence turned into a beautiful art museum. This museum had so much to offer and so many great paintings. Then we got lunch and after lunch, we went to the Pitti palace, a palace for the grand dukes of Florence. The grand dukes of Florence were from a family called the Medicis. The Medicis pretty much owned Florence and ran it. Another man named Pitti, who was a banker, built himself a small little place which was bought by the medicis and turned into a grand palace. The whole place was filled with art. Later, at another museum, we saw the David sculpture. I couldn't believe how magnificent it was. It surpassed my expectations...it's huge!

The next day, we got on the train to Venice and before we knew it we were there. That day was the opening ceremonies of carnival. Carnival is the week before lent, which is when you have to give something up. Before lent, everyone wants to celebrate and have some fun before they give something up. Everyone wears costumes and masks and parades through the street. We got a gondola ride before the opening ceremonies, it was so cool. The guy, named Fabio, sang songs and told us about landmarks. After the Ride, we went to the opening ceremonies where a fountain was filled with wine and people drank it. It was too far away for us to drink it or else I would have.

On our last day, we went to the basilica, to check out the mosaics. They had tons and tons of gold mosaics, which were beautiful. After that, we went to the Palazzo Ducale with a couple of the students. They had a lot of grand art but the thing I liked the most was the dungeons and the medieval weapons.
My trip went really well and I can't wait for the next one.
Ciao Bella,

John

Castel De Saint Angelo

Today, we went back to the Castel De Saint Angelo. We went there after doing lots of HOMEWORK. The castle is awesome; it supposedly has a secret passage from St Peters and the popes would come hide in the castle when the country was under siege. The Castle was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrien and when you climb to the top, you can see all of Rome.
I started my book Roma this week, it is amazing. All of the stories are very well written and I find my eyes glued to the pages.
We have been having the students over for dinner in groups of five. Every night we make something different. We have made Caccio y Pepe, Canneloni with ricotta, and Rigatoni. Miranda and I give them a tour of the house after dinner. Two of the students went to SBMS, which is also very cool.

Tomorrow, We leave for Florence and Venice; I shall tell you about it when we get back.

A Day at the Museum

This is what Miranda likes to do when she is at a museum

A Weekend in Roma

I had a fantastic weekend In Roma. On Saturday, we went to the national museum of Rome. There, they have sculptures of the Roman emperors. They tried to make them realistic instead of perfect like the greek sculptures. So if someone was bald or had a big nose, they showed it. The museum had a giant bronze sculpture of the goddess Minerva (Athena.) I took a picture with a flash accidentally, and the guard yelled at me. I think the picture came out great though. I also really liked the mosaics on the top floor of this museum; they showed stories of different greek and roman myths. On Sunday we went to the synagogue. We had to walk a long way on the Tiber river, but it was worth it because it was really interesting to learn about the history of the Jews in Rome. There was a lot of security around the synagogue because of threats of violence. We learned about what happened to Roman jews during world war 2. The nazis demanded that roman jews pay them five kilos of gold. When they raised the money and gave it to them, the nazis still rounded up Jews and sent them to concentration camps. Some priests and nuns helped hide them, but others tried to force them to convert. We also learned about how the pope last year came to the synagogue to meet with the head rabbi.

Sistene Chapel and Saint Angelo's castle

Today was the big day, the day we went to the Sistene Chapel. We had to get up really early at 8:30 to beat the rush. The first thing we went to see was Michelangelo's Pieta in Saint Peter's church. I learned that a pieta means a scene involving mary holding the dead jesus in her arms. This sculpture was really beautiful because it expresses the true emotions on Mary's face as she looks away at her son's life less body. How could Michelangelo carve such a beautiful scene out of marble? Then we got to the Sistene chapel and it was truly amazing. He had to hang from a scaffold to paint all of those beautiful paintings. My sister got yelled at for trying to take a photograph of the chapel in all of its glory. The guards came up and yelled at her "No Photo, No Photo!!!!" They also say SHHH if you try to talk because it is a church and you have to act holy which is hard for me. You also can't wear any revealing type of clothing. So, I was a little bit worried I might get kicked out.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Roma

I haven't been able to do much sightseeing since I am in an Italian class for beginners. I have learned many important phrases to help me in everyday life. Even Though I haven't been going sightseeing, I have had many memorable experiences on these days. On Monday I got to try Cacho y Pepe, the thing Anthony Bordain raved about in his show which made me want it so badly. It was delicious, completely surpassed my expectations of it. Such a simple recipe but yet so amazingly perfect and exquisite. On Tuesday, I finally bought a soccer ball so I can play along the river and in the park. Today, I went to class again and then I went to a place where a lot of people busk and got a picture of a funny skeleton man.

A Sunday In Rome

We had a late start since we all woke up at twelve but we got out of the house and went to the park. At the Piazza del Popolo, they had a Chinese new year festival. Everyone was dancing and they had performers. We passed the Piazza and went to the park. To get to the zoo we had to grow through a kid area for walking dogs and riding bikes. It was really cool to see all of the dogs. Once, we reached the zoo it took forever to get in but we finally did. All of the animals were so cool and it was very fun. After the Zoo, we went to a restaurant and all got pizza. I got a primavera pizza (not like from before, this one had parsley and parmasean and tomatoes). It was exquisite but I couldn't finish all of it, so we took it home. It was a very calm and relaxing day and I can't wait for my first day of italian language class.
Ciao,

John Champagne

Saint Peter's Square

Many people say that the pope is the one who holds up the Roman Catholic Church but no, It is John Champagne

This cat looks like it is mad at me

2nd Day In Roma

It was a great day in Roma today. We walked down to the bus station and got a ride to the Colosseum, we got tickets for a tour and when we started the tour we ran into a couple of students on the trip with us.   They took the tour with us and we learned all about what had happened there. After that we walked over to the forum where we walked through all of the ruins of the old roman empire. We then went for lunch at a little place just off the Via Del Corso. The food was really good and it was right next to the spanish steps, so we went to check those out after lunch. The spanish steps weren't that cool and it was extremely crowded. Overall, I had a great day.

my first day in rome

Wow, what a fun day in Rome. I couldn't find my bag full of camera equipment so I don't have any pictures for today, so I will just describe it to you. We started walking down from our apartment until we got to this little coffee shop where the hot chocolate was nothing like in the US. It was thick and creamy and delicious. We walked all the way until we got to the fountain of four rivers which was very elegant. We were all hungry so we went to a pizza place and I got a primavera pizza (white cheddar, tomato and prosciutto). After lunch, we went to the Pantheon which was fascinating. The architectual design was alluring and brilliant. I bet that not a lot of people get the feel of how magnificent it is. My first day went great and I can't wait for tomorrow.
Arrivederci,
John Champagne