So tonight my roomate Deborah and I we nt on a little adventure. We decided to go to the movies. There are a few theaters here that show movies in English so we went to the The Informant. The movie its self was okay, but it was great to watch something in English and the theater was very nice. I was even more excited about the movie when I relized they had fresh brewed ICE TEA. NOw it was lemon flavored so it was more like an Arnold Palmer (Ice Tea and lemonaid mixed together), but it was still amazing, esp when you consider it is the first thing I have had that resembled ice tea in nearly a month. We had a grea time and will def. do it again.
To all of you who are dying to see pics from Naples I promise they are coming.
Showing posts with label Naples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naples. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Another Big Weekend
This weekend was another big one. I traveled to the Bay of Naples on a class field trip. It was a lot of fun and we saw all the big sites. I took a lot of pictures and will try to get some posted for all of you in the next few days. We started out on Friday by taking a train to Naples. I was not all that impressed with the city of Naples its self. The city was dirty, smelled and looked old. Yes, everything here is old but most of it looks historic, but Naples looked run down 1930s old. It had lots of high rise condo buildings (high rise takes on a new meaning over hear, they were about 10 stories high), grafitti, and loud traffic.
While in Naples we visited an art museum that is located in an old palace. It had many interesting pieces of art from the 15 and 16 hundreds. Several of the rooms were left as they would have looked when the palace was being used as place a residence. We grabed some lunch and then went to an anthropological museum. It contained several pieces of art, sculpture, frescos, and other pieces that had be collected from sites such as pompii. Once we finsihed up there we all boarded our bus and wen to Sorento to check into the hotel.
The hotel was nice but the view and the area around it was even better. We were 1 block from the Mediteranian Sea, and surrounded by the beauty of a slower paced life out side of a major city. We ate dinner over looking the Med, Sea and spent the evening ahanging out in a pizza that over looked the sea as well.
Saturday we went to Pompei. I was amazed at how large it was and that is was not govered in ash and hardened lava. Once I took a moment to think about it, it made since. Of cource is wouldnt be covered with cooled lava and ash. The lava and ash are what protected it and what we see is what they found when they removed the ash. I did not know that Pompei was a such a large city though. It was apparently a tradign hub for souther Italy. Its proximity to the Med. Sea made it a vital trade center for the world.
After eating lunch at Pompei we all decided to go to the top of Mt. Vesuvious. We spent 9 Euro on a bus ticket to take us there and when when we arrived we had to pay another 5 Euro to climb to the top. The whole experiance is without a doubt a tourist trap, but it was ver interesting and worth it none the less. It was a very steep climb and we were all very tired by the time we made it back down to the bottom.
SOn sunday we visited a Palace that is know as the Little Versi because of its style and it gardens. It was a very interesting and beautiful palance, but haveing been to Versi I dont think they can even be compared. THese gardens were beautiful, but Versi was much prettier even when I was there in teh middle of March. (Perhaps I am becoming an travel snob, but whatever). The palace was very nice and a relaxing way to finish the tour.
This week should be pretty low key, but this weekend promisses to be another big adventure as we take a field trip to Orvieto. Dont ask me whywe are goign to Orvieto or why we are going because I dont know. I guess we will find out this weekend.
While in Naples we visited an art museum that is located in an old palace. It had many interesting pieces of art from the 15 and 16 hundreds. Several of the rooms were left as they would have looked when the palace was being used as place a residence. We grabed some lunch and then went to an anthropological museum. It contained several pieces of art, sculpture, frescos, and other pieces that had be collected from sites such as pompii. Once we finsihed up there we all boarded our bus and wen to Sorento to check into the hotel.
The hotel was nice but the view and the area around it was even better. We were 1 block from the Mediteranian Sea, and surrounded by the beauty of a slower paced life out side of a major city. We ate dinner over looking the Med, Sea and spent the evening ahanging out in a pizza that over looked the sea as well.
Saturday we went to Pompei. I was amazed at how large it was and that is was not govered in ash and hardened lava. Once I took a moment to think about it, it made since. Of cource is wouldnt be covered with cooled lava and ash. The lava and ash are what protected it and what we see is what they found when they removed the ash. I did not know that Pompei was a such a large city though. It was apparently a tradign hub for souther Italy. Its proximity to the Med. Sea made it a vital trade center for the world.
After eating lunch at Pompei we all decided to go to the top of Mt. Vesuvious. We spent 9 Euro on a bus ticket to take us there and when when we arrived we had to pay another 5 Euro to climb to the top. The whole experiance is without a doubt a tourist trap, but it was ver interesting and worth it none the less. It was a very steep climb and we were all very tired by the time we made it back down to the bottom.
SOn sunday we visited a Palace that is know as the Little Versi because of its style and it gardens. It was a very interesting and beautiful palance, but haveing been to Versi I dont think they can even be compared. THese gardens were beautiful, but Versi was much prettier even when I was there in teh middle of March. (Perhaps I am becoming an travel snob, but whatever). The palace was very nice and a relaxing way to finish the tour.
This week should be pretty low key, but this weekend promisses to be another big adventure as we take a field trip to Orvieto. Dont ask me whywe are goign to Orvieto or why we are going because I dont know. I guess we will find out this weekend.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Fun Week!
Well I have had another fun week here in Rome and am gearing up for another great weekend! Chancelor Gearhart, the Chancelor of the University of Arkansas, was here this week to sign an agreement to extend the university's partnership with Roma Tre University here in Rome. He spent some time experiancing class with us and we had a very nice reception last time to honor his presance and the 20th anniversary of the Rome Study Center. It is always nice to have a familer face around and his was no exception. He and his wife are very friendly and I was glad to see them again. It has been great fun to work with him over the past year and a half. In my option this trip is just another example of how he dedicated to the students and a moto of Students First. With only 10 students in the program this semester and only 7 being form Arkansas he could have choosen to come next semester or sent a representative on his behalf, but instead he came to see and visit the program himself.
Beyond the Chancelor's visit there have been many other great adventures this week. I started out the week by visiting The Forum as part of class and since my ticket also included the colloseum I sept the afternoon visiting the coloseum. Both were very interesting and I took about 100 pictures. It is neat to see the years of history litterally stacked on top of one another and think about what the forum must have been like in its prime. Admitedly after a few hours it all just starts to look like old ruble and debry, but if you can stay focused one could spend years studying all there is to see in the forum.
Yesterday was spent enjoying 3 very interesting churches. The first was the oldest round church in the world. The second was a colliester, and the 3rd was a site where 3 different churches had been built on top of one another over the years. Each of these sites were different and unique and I truely enjoyed it. The fact that it was a perfect day weather wise doesnt hurt either.
Today we visited the modern art museum. While the museum its self was wonderful, class was misserable. We spent an hour getting there becasue it was far away and our teacher didnt really know hwere she was going. Once we got there we enjoyed the museum for about an hour which is nice to get a little taste but not enough to truely enjoy the museum. With about an hour and a half left in class we begin to head back to the ROme center knowign that when we returned our professor had a lengthy lecture she intended to give. After a long walk, 2 bus rides and another hour we made it back. At this point we only had about 25 minutes of class left and thought surelly swh waws just goign to let us go because there wasnt time for the lecture, but no! Instead she shortened her lecture to about an hour and let us out of class a half hour late. Needless to say none of us were very happy becasue we all had lunch plans and all of my classmates had class they had to get to as well.
The best part of the week is still to come. We leave tomarrow for the Bay of Naples, and will spend the weekend there. We are going to see Sorento, Pompei, and several other amazing sites. It should be a wonderful weekend!
Best of luck to all my friends in ASG this weekend at your retreat. Work hard and have fun; I hear Tammy, Erica, and Jessica have been working very hard this week to make it a productive and fun time!
Beyond the Chancelor's visit there have been many other great adventures this week. I started out the week by visiting The Forum as part of class and since my ticket also included the colloseum I sept the afternoon visiting the coloseum. Both were very interesting and I took about 100 pictures. It is neat to see the years of history litterally stacked on top of one another and think about what the forum must have been like in its prime. Admitedly after a few hours it all just starts to look like old ruble and debry, but if you can stay focused one could spend years studying all there is to see in the forum.
Yesterday was spent enjoying 3 very interesting churches. The first was the oldest round church in the world. The second was a colliester, and the 3rd was a site where 3 different churches had been built on top of one another over the years. Each of these sites were different and unique and I truely enjoyed it. The fact that it was a perfect day weather wise doesnt hurt either.
Today we visited the modern art museum. While the museum its self was wonderful, class was misserable. We spent an hour getting there becasue it was far away and our teacher didnt really know hwere she was going. Once we got there we enjoyed the museum for about an hour which is nice to get a little taste but not enough to truely enjoy the museum. With about an hour and a half left in class we begin to head back to the ROme center knowign that when we returned our professor had a lengthy lecture she intended to give. After a long walk, 2 bus rides and another hour we made it back. At this point we only had about 25 minutes of class left and thought surelly swh waws just goign to let us go because there wasnt time for the lecture, but no! Instead she shortened her lecture to about an hour and let us out of class a half hour late. Needless to say none of us were very happy becasue we all had lunch plans and all of my classmates had class they had to get to as well.
The best part of the week is still to come. We leave tomarrow for the Bay of Naples, and will spend the weekend there. We are going to see Sorento, Pompei, and several other amazing sites. It should be a wonderful weekend!
Best of luck to all my friends in ASG this weekend at your retreat. Work hard and have fun; I hear Tammy, Erica, and Jessica have been working very hard this week to make it a productive and fun time!
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