Simon Schama Power of Art

is amazing. Finally, a documentery that shows Paul Gauguin in his true light:

http://www.booksplendour.com.au/gallery/classics/Gaugin/gauguin_piano.jpg

Merry Post-Christmas everyone and a happy impending New Year.

The Roman Conclusion

Molly McCormick’s Hits List of Rome: 

Top 20 Architectural Sites in Rome:

1. Pantheon
2. The Vatican City (Notably Bernini’s Piazza)
3. The Church of Al Quatri Fontani
4. Parco Della Musica
5. The Roman Forum
6. Castle Sant’Angelo
7. Villa Adriana
8. Catacombs of San Callisto
9. Montemartini Museum
10. Jubilee Church
11. Cerveteri
12. EUR
13. Via Leone XIII (Take the 870 Bus, to get the best view of the city)
14. Sant’ Agnes a Agone
15. Largo Argentina
16. Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale
17. Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio
18. Villa Pamphili
19. Grand Mosque
20. Capitoline Museum (Especially the Tabulareum) 

Top 10 Museums in Rome:

1. Villa Borghese
2. Capitoline Museum
3. Vatican Museum
4. Palazzo Della Expositione
5. Montemartini Museum
6. Barberini Museum
7. Museum at Castle Sant Angelo
8. Capuchin Crypts
9. Museo Nationale
10. Girabaldi Museum (Currently in the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II) 

Top 10 Food Joints in Rome:

1. Carlo Mentha Trattoria
2. Ostia Pucci Restorante
3. Super Pizza E…
4. Vocipelli
5. Café Quirino
6. Pizza Simone
7. Ristorante Chinoisese a Largo Argentina
8. La Cisterna
9. Botticelli’s Bar
10. Rosso Bar
    

Top 10 Sculptures in Rome:

1. Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)
2. La Pieta (Michelangelo)
3. Pluto and Persephone (Bernini)
4. David ( Michelangelo)
5. Laocoon (Unknown)
6. David (Bernini)
7. Venus Victrix (Canova)
8. Sleeping Hermaphrodite (Unknown, Not the Canova one…that one sucks. Sorry.)
9. The Boxer (Ancient Greek)
10. St. Cecelia (Maderno)
    

Top 10 Paintings in Rome:

1. Judith Slaying Holofernes (Caravaggio)
2. The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)
3. The Sistine Chapel…All of It ( mostly attributed to Michelangelo)
4. The School of Athens (Raphael)
5. La Fornarina (Raphael)
6. The Glorification of The Reign of Urban VIII (Cortona)
7. The Calling of St Matthew ( Caravaggio)
8. The Conversion of Saul (Caravaggio)
9. Triumph of St. Ignatius of Loyola (Pozzo)  
10. Maroon on Black (Mark Rothko, on loan from the Tate Modern, London) 

Cities (Both Italian and Abroad)

1. Rome
2. Paris/Versailles
3. Edinburgh
4. Venice
5. Glasgow
6. London
7. Munich
8. Florence
9. Cerveteri / Pompeii
10. Tivoli

So right now I’m on the plane heading back home, well at least I was when I wrote this, but let’s not get into technicalities. I’m not going to lie, I cried a little bit on the bus this morning leaving from AUR heading to the airport. But it’s not my fault, the sun was coming up over the mountains and the morning fog was clearing over the city and part of me was crushed in the wake of its beauty.

 I love Rome; I love every rock and every crevasse of that city. It can be so loud and so dirty, but it’s also the most amazing place in the world. I was one time reading a guidebook and it said, “Italy: probably the easiest place to fall in love with and the hardest to leave.” Completely true.

 Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to be going home, but part of me will always live in Italy. Whether it’s walking in the footsteps of the emperors at the Villa Adriana or getting chided by a nun on the #8 tram, Seeing Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne in person or eating a fried rice ball with mozzarella cheese in the middle, Rome has something for everything, and meant everything to me

The lists aforementioned and aforeseen were really really hard to make. There was so much that I loved that making a list, while fun and interesting for me personally, was completely pointless.
If you haven’t been to Rome, go. If you already been, go again. Now it’s time for me to fill out my customs card and eat this sandwich that has been staring me down for a good 15 minuets. 

With my sincere regards,

Margaret “Molly” Elizabeth-Brendan-Joan McCormick

Back when I was still....I was still in love.

The last day in Rome.

 What a great semester it's been, I don't know yet how to put it into words, maybe time and hindsight will allow me to have an accurate understanding. But right now, I feel like it's in the old movies when the couple is at the station and the woman is leaving and the man is chasing after her but then the platform stops and the train keeps going. I don't know if I'm on the train or the one chasing it, but I think the feeling is close to the same.

This morning I went with some fellow archi-holics to Rome's one and only Mosque. It was a really beautiful building, not because of the plan or the elevation (which were interesting, but not exactly overwhelming), in this case "God was in the Details". Since Mosques can't have any physical depictions of God (statues, paintings, etc.) the arches and the tiles have to serves as decoration. The tiles were interesting, mostly floral arrangements, but the arches are the ones who stole the show. They twisted around into something similar to northern gothic vaulted ceilings,

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/1052/865661.JPG

http://www.nycerome.com/rome-hotels-images/areas-of-rome-images/auditorium-area-pictures/mosque-in-rome.jpg

 but was still mimicing (or perhaps was being mimicked by) the large chandeliers hanging down from them.

http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2003/feb/europe_muslims/five/main.jpg


After that I walked by the Parco Della Musica, which I have talked about in great length previously. This time they had turned part of the building into a ice-skating rink and the other part into a house for "Babba Natale", If you can guess who that is. Hint: Kids were freaking out.
Then onto EUR.

EUR stands for *translated* Universal Exposition in Rome a plan conceived by Mussolini, begun in 1935 finished in 1942. The area is the best standing example of Fascist Architecture in Rome, or anywhere else really. The eerie overly-pristeen nature of the project comes from the combination of two rivaling architectural movements who wanted to get their foot in the door with the growing political party. On one side were the Neo-Classists, people who believed that the only way to be truly great was to embody the past, on the other side were the "Rationalists" who were the Italian students of Modernism.

As a side note, the requirements to be a "Modernist" in the field of Architecture essentially means that you have to follow, or at least respect, the teachings of Le Corbusier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

 However Italian architecture dose'nt really grasp the man who says "the house is a machine for living" so they take several of his ideas but fuse them with abstract concepts from Vitruvius and the Renaissance.

So by the combination of the Rationalists and the Neo-Classists we get EUR. The idea being that yes, we have all this great history, but we also have a great future. However the plan was never completely finished as the Fascists were ousted out of power in WWII. I had been by EUR once or twice before hand and had referenced ideas about it in a presentation I did, but I did'nt get a chance to really explore it until today.

When I was there, the whole area was almost deserted, It was like a sea of travertine and I was the only one there. The buildings (including the famous "square colosseum") had a stiffness to them that was unnatural.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/PalazzodellaCiviltaItaliana.jpg

But as near as I can tell in all the concept drawings I had seen of them, all of the buildings were shown with only a few scale people in them, not a large crowd, so maybe I was seeing them in the right setting it's just you, the travertine and the arches.

You can tell walking around that this is a work in progress, a failed work in progress. Almost like an allegory for Fascism in Italy on the whole. Not that it wasn't  interesting, but rather the area now lacks the sterness that the shapes are meant to convey. The colored apartment buildings of Rome are starting to sneak into this area and the regemented white shapes of EUR don't do well with competition.

People aren't supposed to live like the architects of EUR envisioned, they need to be more human. And in the end that's the problem with the buildings at EUR, they aren't built to Human-Scale. I mean they may have the proportions for doorways and steps, but just walking around you can tell these buildings aren't meant for people, they're meant for an idea.

I like the buildings there as objects, but I'm not convinced about them being livable spaces is I guess what i'm trying to say.

OK, so now it's past 11:20 and I have to be up tomorrow by 5:30..Goodnight all!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Stu Arbury of L.A. fame made this with the help of the good people at Office Max: It is now my Christmas Card...forever.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1341864237

I think it suits us perfectly.

I have one final left and hopefully I will look deep within my brain's heart to find the power to destroy it. 

Also! 

Final Drawing Series 

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/Final-Drawing-Series-1-72008976

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/Final-Drawing-Series-2-72009018

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/Final-Drawing-Series-3-72009054

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/Final-Drawing-Series-4-72009164

Roma E Amore OR I draw me some sluts and virgins

Face Paint and Wisdom

"i feel like i need to write a letter:

dear rome,

you have your art, your history, your food, now give me back my molly.

sincerely,

renee"

-Renee Farrah

Today a mime (you know the kind with the face-paint and the devil-may-care attitude) made fun of me on Via Del Corso when I was finishing up my Christmas shopping. He made a face at me and mimiced my walk while I was trying to ignore him, I saw him farther back on the street and I thought what anyone in my situation would have thought: "dammit...a mime" and tried to devise a way to avoid him. However seeing no other opportunity at the time, I tried to ignore him...failed. If living in Rome has taught me anything it's to never make eye contact with a mime, especially when you're trying to elude them.

The Dead and The Living

    So on Saturday I got up pretty early for what was enivitably going to be a very, very long day. We (and by we, I mean, Tabitha Rachel Andy and myself) were all going out to the town of Cerveteri, about an hour outside of Rome by bus. Why? To see Etruscan Tumuli.

    A Tumulus is a type of burial mound that can be found all over they world through many different regional variations. You might know the bee-hive huts of Ireland or perhaps those of the Hallstatt found in Austria. While there are many different kinds of Tumuli, the idea is basically the same. Underground burial sites that are made larger by adding dirt on top. However what was interesting about the Etruscan Tumuli was their complex floor plans (mostly based on the houses the Etruscans would have lived in), not to mention that many of them were amazingly well preserved.

The Etruscans were the Pre-Roman people of Italy, from which we derive the name "Tuscany" they were a people who were greatly influenced culturally by the Greek Colonies in the South, but were still unique from the other cultures around them. Sadly, much of their culture was lost, or rather, absorbed when the early Romans conquered them (a fate that is prone to happen to those without centeralized government). After which the Etruscans were characterized by the far more austere Romans as being loud, crude, liberal and down-right coarse people whom the Roman's had had the good sense to eliminate. But in a more positive light, you could call them people who were into life, food and love. (a very early indication of the Italian people themselves)

Much of what we know about Etruscan life is what we learned through their deaths. Hence the field trip.

The Tumuli had a large variety in size and shape The simplest being a rectangular cut-out of the stone, the most elaborate being full-scale houses. The most famous of these being the "Tomb of the Reliefs"

http://www.tronchin.com/Art1A/lecture11_files/image015.jpg

But my favorite was not the "tomb of the reliefs" but the one right next to it; which featured a secret passage that went under the stairs and led into another burial chamber. That one was amazing because when you walk by it on ground level you see a small well-like hole and then when you're down in the secret room, it's your only source of light. I'm thinking maybe they would use it to burn fires underground and have a place for the smoke to go. That...or to scare children, really either one would work.

In Cerveteri there were over 60 tombs you could walk in (we may have gone in some that were restricted..but I brought my waterproof boots to Italy for this very reason), many of which with paintings like the one seen above. Also, there was a snack bar...in the Tumuli grouds...ok. sure. why not. I ate there, the lasangna was delicious.

Sadly all of the urns had been either taken out, stolen or destroyed. Which is a shame because while i'm usually creeped out by cemetaries and death somehow an urn that looks like this:

http://www.puc-rio.br/louvre/images/iager05.jpg
http://www.bicciculture.com/bChome/wp-content/uploads/etruscan_couple.jpg

is a little less eerie.

The best part is when Tabitha and I were walking around on the upper level through a series of mounds, we eventually climbed to the top of one and got the most amazing view of the ocean on the left and the mountains on the right. Just past the Tumuli was a vineyard..Sometimes I love this place so much it hurts. A list? lets?

1) Wine
2) Beautiful
3) Ancient History
4) Architecture
5) Etruscans
6) there were also cows there...i guess.

So overall a very cool trip.

On our way back Andy noticed that there was a crypt he had visited for class one day was still open, so we hurried and went inside. Well, I suppose this must have been a burial-themed day because while the Etruscan Tumuli had no bodies in it, this crypt was entirely made of human bones.

This Crypt is better known as the Capuchin Cemetary.

as close as the spelling is to Cappuchino, this crypt was not, in reality, a fluffy delicous coffee beverage. The crypt houses the bones of over 4,000 monks in 6 small rooms. The reason so many of them wished to be burried there was that the dirt that lines the crypt was brought over from Jerusalem in the early part of the 1500's. However 4000 people take up a lot of space so the monks decided to take the remains and create intricate patterns with the bones.

It's strange, creepy and downright wierd, but also intriquingly and morbidly beautiful. Granted the whole time we were in there I thought I might pee my pants, but I had heard about it and I'm glad I got to see it.

Here are some pictures (Be forwarned, very creepy):

http://www.stuardtclarkesrome.com/CAPUC2.JPG
http://www.qsov.com/Italy2005/018CapuchinCrypt1.jpg
http://www.qsov.com/Italy2005/019CapuchinCrypt2.jpg

After all that Hullaballoo we decided to get a nice dinner, you know, to get the creepy out. I had the first legitamate chicken sandwich I had had in four months.

This morning I went to the Porta Portese Market and bought Christmas presents....counterfeit? possibly. cool? very much so.

Mith Otolgee

Here is part of my mythology paper, specifically the myth-part. The other part is analysis..but I think we've all had enough of that.

Minerva and the Web

Minerva was walking once on a bright and dusty beach. The day was brilliant white and the sea hissed with hushed satisfaction. The goddess had just finished helping scientists in a nearby valley perfect their latest invention; a stronger computer. They had called Minerva there to receive her blessing (or at least her consent) on their product. Having seen the wonders man was capable of in the name of knowledge had pleased the goddess greatly. So to reward herself, she walked along the shore, to revel in the greatness the gods could create.

 By and by Athena found a piece of driftwood from which she could best admire the pretty scene. When she sat upon it, a gleam brought on by the bright day caught her eye. It was her long-since-finished handiwork that stared back at her. A grey spider’s web was dangling in the knob of the pale wood; usually this site would have been barely visible but not today. Athena admired the beauty of the weaving and felt the surge of victory over her once arrogant foe. She went so far as to mock the spider;

“Where is your brilliance now Arachne? You, insect who once sought to challenge Minerva herself. Ha! Even now, long after our contest is over, I am still a goddess and you are still as you ever were, insignificant.”

 Just then a harsh wind blew the weaving of the web and the spider was left to clutch to the driftwood. When the wind had passed, the spider’s work was gone and the insect began again. As Minerva watched the spider continue on its mercenary drudge, she began to feel guilty. How could man help but be foolish, it being a creature with such a miserable fate, having to be born human? To work and work, to live and die, to love and hate in all too short a time. Was it their fault they were so foolish? Could anything be done to help them? Moved by pity Athena decided to aid man, and a smile crossed her face as she looked upon the web.

So, all the gods were called to discuss Athena’s new plan. She proposed an idea to connect all the people of the earth, by means of a web, believing that this net would stop man from making the same mistakes over and over again by sharing information with one another. If only this had happened earlier, then perhaps Arachne would have learned the mistake of Niobe, or Niobe learn the mistake of Medusa, Medusa the mistake of Marsyas. But such was sadly not the case.  

Each god said that they would contribute what they knew, or what they wanted people to know, for gods must also have their secrets. When it was near complete, wicked and listless Discordia felt that all was going far too well so she slyly spoke too loud “Who will guard this wonderful new web we are making? Surely, whoever does will have to be powerful and wise. For this will be as large as the whole world. ” All the Gods began to think of how powerful and wise they were, and then Mars spoke.

“This will help us fight wars in the future, to share strategies, control weapons even to launch attacks, I should control it.”

At this Hermes frowned “No, this will be more for Trade than for War, Mars. For what system of communication is not used for commerce? If anything, I should control it, I am the messenger of trade.”

“For Trade?” laughed Apollo “Trade of music perhaps. With a tool like this, the musician can play anywhere in the world, even long after the sound has stopped.”   

Ceres then said “Those matters are trivial; this is a creation of great purpose. With this people can keep records of Nature. They can know when a frost is coming from the north, a storm from the south; this will help them understand the physical world.”

Neptune, who above all, lives to surprise sailors with sudden storms, feared that man would grow to know his tricks. “Man should not know the thoughts of the gods…I should guard it, to make sure our important secrets are not released.”

Before long all the gods were fighting about who should be the one in charge of this web. Venus claimed it would be the best way for people to find matches. Bacchus claimed it would be best for spreading the rules of drinking games. Juno insisted that she was the queen of the gods, so therefore should have control of this second world, since her husband controlled the first. Pluto did not much care either way, all the wisdom men could gain would not save them from his inevitable fate. Minerva was furious that someone would presume they could control what was her idea. Surprisingly Jupiter refrained from the fight, “I have one world to be king of already” he chuckled “there is no need for me to have another.” Eventually the scene became exactly what Discordia wanted; a bitter and loud argument.  

The clouds shook and darkened with the anger of the gods. Eventually Minerva, frustrated with the pettiness of her family, asked Jupiter to make a decision. For his word was law. At this he considered what each one had said.

“This web,” he began “will be everything, so it is not for any one god to control. Each one of us has had a part in it, each one of us will control it in our own ways. However, we cannot allow man to grow too wise from our knowledge.” Jupiter then looked at Discordia, who had been standing behind Mars, lest anyone know she started the argument.

“You, you are the most necessary for this project to work. Spread your skills about this web, once it is given to man. Confuse the facts, cut the connections, when they least expect it. Do not act too much, so man does not give up on the web, just enough. Always make man doubt the facts on this web, perhaps they are, perhaps they are not.”

Minerva was angered by this; her idea was first fought over and now was being turned against those she was trying to help.

“How can you allow this father? This web was supposed to make men wiser, not more confused.”

Jupiter then asked her:

“What would happen if man was to suddenly receive everything we gods have without working for it?”

Then she understood. To simply give man all the answers to life would make him lazy and arrogant, true knowledge must be worked for. Minerva then thought of Arachne, the inspiration for her great endeavor and realized that Jupiter was right. Man should not grow arrogant, to exact revenge on the world would be exhausting.

 When they had finished with their work, they decided that they could not just hand down the web all at one time. For this is not how a web is woven. To weave a web strings must be pulled at attached all over.

 The Gods handed down their strings to many people. From the mechanical city of Pittsburg, to the rolling skies of Santa Monica, farther still to the ends of the earth, to Asia, to Africa, to Europe, to all over. To scientists, to artists, to musicians, to students and to politicians. The politicians would later claim that the gods had handed it directly down to them, even to go so far to say that they had created it, but as we all know, that is ridiculous. Each person contributed what they knew in addition to what the Gods had put in. Slowly but surely the web grew stronger, and as it grew more and more people became attached to it, thus fulfilling the dream of Minerva to connect men to one another, to share information, stories, lessons, etc. Once the web had taken root, the gods left it mostly to man so that he may continue to maintain and expand the web, but they always kept an eye on it. However, while the other gods go about their regular business, the one goddess who is always involved is Discordia. Do not think man so wise as that he must always be kept in check by the Gods; man often spreads his own wrong information, believing it to be true. One can always count on man to argue a point until it is certain he is completely wrong. But, whenever man gets a little too close to being completely right in any field and it is then when Discordia steps in.

Palazzo delle Esposizioni

Today's rant will be about how the:

Palazzo delle Esposizioni = awesome.

While this museum is by far the most "Americanized" museum (that's right including the Ara Pacis..believe it!) in Rome, it's surprisingly one of my favorites. The whole museum only focuses on two to three artists at a time, and they get a multiple room set-up, so you can get really into each one. The other cool thing about it is that they take from a lot of different sources. When I went today it was a focus on :

Mark Rothko

http://webexhibits.org/colorart/i/abstract/Rothko,-Untitled,-Seagra-01.jpg

and

Stanley Kubrick

http://www.acmi.net.au/experience/images/img_kubrick_hero.jpg

both amazing exhibits.

I like Mark Rothko, I'm putting that out there. A lot of people don't like him, and in truth, I can see why. Rothko's Art can often be categorized as being "background" art. They lack dramatic subject matter and it's almost as if the human element of a Rothko is not the painting, but the people looking at it. It's probably this de-humanized humanity that I like most about him: his work is something raw and emotional and exsistential all at the same time and it's pretty hard to have all three.

I'm also aware that they're just big blocks of color, but it's not what the colors are, it's how they make you feel.

something like:

http://time-blog.com/looking_around/Mark-Rothko-No-14-1960-7893.jpg

is completey different from

http://www.doctorhugo.org/synaesthesia/art/WhiteOverRed.jpg

even though it's esentially the exact same set up. Also you have to get really really close to a Rothko to get the full effect, it's hard to explain, but sometimes the color connections in his work is even more important than the colors themselves. Looking at it , It's almost the inverse of impressionism; as you sometimes have to squint and stand back to figure out a Monet, to figure out a Rothko you got to get really really close and look really really hard.

But as good as the Rothko exhibit was, the Stanley Kubrick exposition was extraordinary. Kubrick is the director behind:

Dr. Strangelove OR How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon
The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Spartacus
Lolita
Eyes Wide Shut

Just to name a few.  They had clips from all the movies focusing on his ideas in each one, props, and interviews with Kubrick about each of his films. We even saw the space-baby and one of the sets they used for shooting 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Very very cool.

Sadly they did'nt have the Mario Ceroli exhibit up anymore when I got there, a big bummer.

http://www.romeguide.it/mostre/foto_database/1674.jpg

Ceroli reminds me of an earlier Ray Smith:

http://www.raysmithart.force9.co.uk/images/main/11RED1.jpg

Also this was my last week of classes, next week is finals and right now it's a little too surreal that I will be leaving Rome in less than 10 days, so I'm trying not to think too much about it but here are some things that I am looking forward to when I go home:

Friends and Family
Mexican Food
My Car
Microwaves
Having the dollar be worth something
Having a stronger grasp on the language

Here are some things I will miss when I leave Rome

The Art
The Architecture
The Food
The Weather
....i'm just going to stop before I get too sad.

Miss you guys and see you soon!

I surrender to the stawberry ice cream

Sorry for the lack of update, Kate and Ted were in town this week and they took first priority. But now that they have headed back to the good old U.S. of A. I'm going to fill you in on their stay:

The first night she was here was Kate's Birthday so that night we had planned a dinner in Trestevere, however I met them before hand right after my drawing class which happened to take place in the Forum. We decided to meet in the Piazza of the Capitoline Museum right next to Marcus. Maybe it's a sign that I've really come to love Rome and all it's crevaces because Kate and Ted got lost in trying to find me.
If I remember correctly her exact words were:

"Why did you pick a museum that's impossible to find?"

I completely forgot that I was in a foreign place and that they speak a different language and so naturally assumed that she would be able to find it no problem. Up the hill...hidden behind a huge building...in a busy part of a strange city. The fault was mine, but it was a surreal feeling. Especially because i'm leaving in a week and a half. So after we retreived one another we went into the Capitoline. It does have the best view of the Forum...ever. Man I bet those guys who worked in the Tabularium were lucky. After that we went to a photography exhibit and got some lunch. It was at this point I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. How many times do I get to see my sister in Rome?  Answer: Not a lot. We walked around a little and I showed them some churches, Piazza Navona and, of course, the Pantheon we took our time in each place and I caught up on the news from home.

For dinner that night we went to a restraunt in Trestevere and did Kate's 25th up right.

The next day we left early from the Termini station heading to Naples. Naples is an interesting city..i'll put it like that. Parts of it are interesting and intriguing. Other parts make you fear for your mortal being. Their tram system I think was my favorite, it's less like a tram and more like a sideways elevator that goes through the mountain by means of a pully system. We walked around the downtown area and while the opera was only 10 euros, it started in 2 min and lasted 4 hours so by my math it was:

 4h(10e*3/ 2m)= meh.

Instead we went into the Castle Nuovo and checked that out. There was actually a number of really cool things in there. There was one part where they had done restorations on a catacomb and had put glass over it, a few skeletons were prominently displayed. A "memento mori" if ever you saw one. The main hall was where the city council of Naples meets. We read the description of it which was paraphrased as:

There was once beautiful frescoes: destroyed by fire
Amazing mosaics: stolen in war
A choir loft: hit by cannonfire
and a spiral staircase: now in disrepair.

It leads me to think, man, what a great movie that would be if it happened all at once. Also what a creul thing to do to promise beautiful things just to deny you a colon later..lame Naples, lame.  We walked out and at this point realized that Naples after dark is very different from Naples in the light. The city at nightfall turn to a ghostown were the shadow people eye you and grip with the decision on whether or not to turn the night into a story they tell later. In short; i'm glad Ted was with us. Fed up with maps eventually we just grabbed a taxi, got some dinner and went back to the hotel. It should be noted that one of the places we ate at gave Kate and I menus that did'nt have prices on it. Ted got one with prices on it. This was clearly done on purpose and it may be the most sexist thing that has ever happened to me.

The hotel we stayed in was amazing. If for whatever reason you find yourself stranded in Naples: San Francesco al Monte. Remember that. San Francesco had once been a monasatry, but after all the monks moved out it was converted into a hotel high in the hills. The view was spectacular and from the top floor balchony you could see the castle, the historic distric and (after it had finished raining) all the way to the other side of the bay. That night I took a bath, I havent had one of those in months and let me tell you the awkward fitting shower I have in Rome never seemed less appealing after that bath. There were jets in the tub as well as bath salts. I felt like a new person.

The next morning we were having breakfast when we heard a commotion comming from a few streets down. Ted asked me what I thought it might be, I said I thought it might be a strike because the person on the megaphone sounded oppressed. ( I learned about foreshadowing in high school and always thought it was a little rediculous of a concept..until now. )

After that we went downstairs to ask the conceirge what was the best train to take to Pompeii. He replied:

"Small problem today, there is no transportation."
"In Naples?"
"In Italy."
"ahh..I see."

Transportation Strikes...all across Italy...all day.

So when Kate came to Italy she only really wanted to see one thing, that one thing you ask? Pompeii, everything after that was icing. A few years ago she had tried to go and see the ancient city however scene and situation forbade it. Naturally this second time she would not be denied. We went through the options and decided that the best route for us to take if we wanted to see the Pompeii and get back to Rome in one day would be to rent a car. and drive it. in Naples. awesome.

Kate took the reigns of the car because she was the only one of us who could drive stick. Sitting in that car was probably in my top ten most terrifying experiences of my life. The only reason anyone should ever drive in Naples is if they are training to compete in a demolition derby. (This is a thought shared by the Fromer's guidebook.) The streets were tiny, people were moving unbelievably fast and the hills are steep and unforgiving. Eventually we made it to the Autostrada and went to Pompeii. The Autostrada reminded me a little of Mario Kart 64, specifically the Princess Peach level. We just had to watch for the green turtleshells and we'd be fine.

We finally made it to Pompeii and thanks to the Transportation strike, we were three of the total 20 people who had come that day. Having the whole place to ourselves was unbelievable. I loved it. Kate got a little teary-eyed and Ted believes in a past life he was a Pompeiian wine bartender. The first time around the ruins had been impressive but now that no one was there it was more etherial. Suddenly there was a sense of loss that I had not had before and the whispering hisses of death crept into my thoughts. Then Ted tripped on the stones and I was back to reality.

We headed back to Rome. By the time we got into the city it was pitch black Kate was nervous, I had bit my lips so much that they threatended to bleed and Ted was doing his best with the map. Eventually we got to Termini Station and tried our best to find the Avis sign, only later to discover that the car drop off was three blocks down in a parking garage on the seventh floor...oh Rome.

After that experience we decided to drink til it was funny.

The next day we went to the Villa Borghese and I loved it all over again. Kate is a huge Bernini fan and Ted was starting to get into it to, Her favorite was Apollo and Daphne, Ted's was Pluto and Proserpina. Then we went to the big sites off of the Via del corso, The Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain. We then walked back along the tiber towards Castle St. Angelo and towards the Vatican. That night reminded me that walking at night in Rome is amazingly different from walking alone in Naples, as in, i'm not fearing for my life.

On Sunday we went to market in the morning. Originally there had been some bus miscommunication but that was bound to happen eventually. However when we got to the market my sister was impressed with the amount of stuff they had there. She was exspecting it to be much scarier than it was, I specifically avoided those areas of the market.

We met up for dinner later and they told me about the Forum and the Colloseum and I ate lasagna.

On monday we made our goodbyes, I wished I could have spent the day with them, as they were going to the Vatican but I had to unfortunately go to class.

I'm sad they had to leave, but I'll see them again soon and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm really missing some things back home, drive-thru Taco Bell, the Simpsons in english and yes...bathtubs. It hurts to think of leaving sunkissed Rome,  but it has to be done. Then back into the open arms of Winter Washington go I.