Day 4: Rome Part 2, Vatican City, SACI welcome dinner

We awoke early and gathered our things, eager to catch the Metro and arrive to the Vatican City tour early. Today I became certain that I will never visit Europe and specifically Italy during the summer, if I have any choice. Certain places within Vatican City were too crowded for my comfort, but nothing compared to what our students see when they travel in May. The Metro station was packed with people commuting to work. Anyone who complains about having to walk from a far parking lot at HPU needs to recheck their reality. Again, I emphasize that Italian people can eat (almost) as much as they want because they walk so much in getting from one place to another. Scooters and bicycles are much more popular in Florence than in Rome, so much of Rome rides the Metro and then walks. Scott pointed out that Roman officials had plans to build more Metro lines. Yet whenever they dug, they eventually ran into something old/ancient. They would commission an archeological dig/study to extract the item(s). They would be continue digging and within days/weeks they would find something else. Eventually, they abandoned their plans for a complex Metro system.

Since his other trips to Vatican City were during busy in-season months, Scott recommended that we reserve an appointment with a tour guide. He also noted that all of the tour guides he had seen so far were terrible. Not enthusiastic about what they were showing and talking about. And of course the tour is 3+ hours, so it's pretty crappy to get a bad guide. On that crisp morning, we met Simona from www.darkrome.com. I include her name and agency because she was very good. In fact, we will likely contact her agency directly and request her. Highly recommended. Thanks to Aladdin for helping us find her!

Since it was low season, we only had 6 people in our group, which on an in-season day could be as many as 20 or more. Our tour-mates were a couple from Pennsylvania who were living in Slovenia after U.S. Steel opened a site there. He was the CFO of U.S. Steel in Euroasia. The other two were father and daughter from Chicago, but the father was currently working in Egypt, and he had spent time working with the legal setup of U.S. Steel in Slovenia. Again, a small world.

I cannot begin to describe to you what I saw in the Vatican. There were simply too many stories to repeat:
- Michelangelo thumbing his nose at the pope
- Bathtub size = wealth
- Statues being melted down for weapons
- Vatican buying art to art donations to the Vatican
- Fresco creation
- Light and dark illusions
- Welcoming the 7 muses
- Controversy of how art was cleaned
- Controversy of how art was resealed (egg white vs. chemical)
- Architecture
- Julius II and his name choice
- Connections to Egyptian culture, art, and building materials
- Why God's backside was painted over the altar
- How Michelangelo developed as a painter during his first major project
Instead, I'll give you photos:












What I can say is that the Vatican City is like a different country inside the city of Rome. We passed through metal detectors, we had to present proof that we belonged there, and we were subject to their laws while we were there. Everything except showing our passports. Of course using my incredible organization skills (no, really!) I had printed multiple copies of everything, including our tour tickets for the Vatican. The hitch is that in my 5-minute spree for the Rome trip, I didn't grab the tickets. Thanks to Chris for quickly finding the .pdf, saving it as a .jpg, and dropping it into a Word document, so we could print it at an internet cafe. FYI: Roman internet cafes don't have Adobe Reader to open a .pdf.

Much of the tour was a prelude to the "good stuff," including 1) The School of Athens by Raphael(?) that showed the welcoming of the 7 muses into the Vatican City and 2) the Sistine Chapel. We would later see how this welcoming is reflected in the welcoming of astronomy into Florence by the Medici family. And the Sistine Chapel speaks for itself. It's just something you have to see. You have to stand there yourself, silent except for your constantly overwhelming thoughts, and examine every part of the great work. Standing there, I flashed back to the movie Mona Lisa Smile, where Kathryn Watson is asked by her department chair whether she has ever been to the Sistine Chapel, stood there and examined its power. Her response: "I've never been to Europe." But we know she will go, she will see for herself its wonder, the skill and time it required. (Perhaps more incredible than the 4 years it took to create was the 12 years it took to clean.)

There are a hundred hidden stories and hidden meanings and complex relationships among figures of power at that time, this time, and every period of time in between. So many that not for incredibly talented art historians like Mary Beckinsale, its many secrets would be lost.

Leaving the Chapel, I was almost afraid to offer my initial reaction to Scott, for fear of offending his craft. "I thought it would be bigger." Not the ceiling size or the height of the room, but the width of the room on the ground level. I thought the Sistine Chapel frescos would cover part of the ceiling in an area of a much larger cathedral. But I couldn't criticize the strength of the colors, the skill required to paint fresco on a sloping ceiling, overemphasis of some figures or body parts and underemphasis of others to make them look in proportion from the ground.

With a visit to American University of Rome still ahead of us, and our feet throbbing we walked quickly through the rest of the Vatican tour, stopping only to purchase study abroad table materials and mailing a couple of postcards home (upon request), postmarked Vatican City.

We caught a taxi to AUR, where I gave instructions in Italian, or more accurately SpanItal since I studied Spanish rather than Italian. "Via Pietro Roselli en Travesere," and I pointed at my mark on the map. It is pure coincidence that he took us to the wrong place - the Pietro Roselli Hotel. Travesere is an area across the river from historic Rome, but on the same side of the river as Vatican City. I was first suspicious when we crossed to the wrong side of the river. He asked for our map again and began fussing, at himself or us I couldn't tell. We eventually made our way back across the river and to our destination. When he couldn't make change for my 20 Euro bill for the 12 Euro charge, he accepted 10 instead. Perhaps feeling bad that he got us lost, but much more likely because he just wanted rid of us. Mary later advised us that many of the taxi drivers are illerate and, therefore, struggle with maps. I don't think that was the case with our driver. Instead, I think he just thought English-speaking tourists would be going to a hotel rather than a middle-of-nowhere school for undergraduates.

The school is not actually in the middle of nowhere, but it's a long way from any of the Metro stops. That's the drawback. The major location perk I suppose is that the building is in a less touristy part of Rome, which surely comes with lower property costs. Also a perk is that the AUR building is the tallest in Rome and the views from the upper terraces are breath-taking. Great inspiration for an artist or inspiration to study for a student in any major. Thinking that we could walk through the campus and take photos without announcing ourselves was a mistake. In fact, my first hint should have been when I saw that SACI in Florence was a buzz-in building. So instead of going through nonchalantly, we found ourselves waiting to meet with James Lynn, Dean/VP of student services. He was welcoming and accommodating, despite having just left a meeting where a student was expelled. He gave us a quick tour and praised Donna Anderson and their study abroad relationship with UWP. He also gave us some advice about where HPU students should (and should not) live when studying at AUR, which has no residence halls. It was well worth the visit, and I think our students will enjoy the student gathering areas and the commraderie. My question for Donna will be about academic rigor. Perhaps we peeked in on classes working on an informal assignment or students using a classroom for group study, but the structure appeared a bit loose.

Photos of AUR:







After leaving AUR, we caught a taxi back to the Termini (also in Italian) or our train back to Florence. Before leaving we grabbed lunch at Mr. Panini. Pretty good, and actually cheaper than McDonalds. Hard to believe.

I was so tired from walking, standing, walking, and walking some more. I fell asleep on the train. It was dark when we arrived. We walked the 4 blocks back to Hotel Globus and had plenty of time to shower, change, and walk to the ____ for dinner with Mary (SACI president), Jules Maidoff (SACI founder), David ____ (dean for student services) and other SACI Consortium members.

After 3 hours and 4 courses of food, I was exhausted and very full. I had discovered days before that I love the salami-type ham with fennel. And it was very difficult to leave a piece on the plate, even when you know you should have stopped eating 20 minutes ago. The wine flowed and so did the water (naturale and frizzante). One big difference between American dinners and Italian dinners is the amount of liquid that is consumed. Italian people eat a lot of dry food; even the soups are thick. However, they don't drink much. All water is bottled, 1 to 1.5 L. Several times I felt like I could turn up a couple of bottles of water and drink them myself. That doesn't win friends or influence people, so instead I supplemented with repeated trips to the mini-supermarket a block from the hotel.

In our SACI welcome packet, we were given a cookbook, recipes compiled from the Italian grandmothers of SACI staff, faculty, and friends. I can't wait to get home and recreate some of these culinary masterpieces for my friends and family!

Back to the hotel after dinner at 10:30pm.

- Desperately need sleep and a foot rub! Yes, enough said.