Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Tonight is my very last night and blog post from Rome. It feels so bittersweet. I feel so ready to be home, yet I do not want to leave.

Bravo: Most amazing trip of my life. All the sites I've seen and places I've had the opportunities to travel to. New friends I've made, and experiences we've had together. I'll get to see my family tomorrow and sleep in my own bed. Bravo #2: Yesterday I got to see the POPE!

Bruto: I got pooped on again, in my hair this time, and on my way to our exhibition of work from this semester. Bruto #2: I just plain old don't want to leave.

Interessante: Earlier tonight I brought my roommate Hayley with me on my favorite walk through Trastevere. What we realized is that I had been walking past the Tempietto which is where the martyrdom of St. Peter took place, and never realized it! I didn't have my camera, otherwise I would have taken a picture. Interessante #2: my roommate Hannah and I walked around Rome and saw the Mouth of Truth and St. Teresa in Ecastacy.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventure abroad!

A Week of Firsts and Lasts

This is my last week living in Rome. Knowing that I'm leaving is rather bittersweet. I am ready to be home with my family, yet it is going to be hard to leave the city I have come to call home these past four months.
Bravo: On Saturday my friends Megan, Becca, and I climbed to the top of St. Peters Basilica. In Rome it is illegal to build a structure taller than the dome, so from the top you can see the entire city and surrounding mountains. It was quite the view, especially when the sun set. Bravo #2: On Thursday we had a class field trip to the Galleria Borghesey where they are currently showing Caravaggio and Bacon. The exhibit was really thought provoking because the two artists are so different stylistically yet so similar in the thoughts behind the artwork. The gallery also boasts several bernini sculptures which had increadible detail.

Bruto: It has started to get "chilly" here (around 45 degrees). Then I checked the projected weather for when I get home is 20 with snow. I cried a little on the inside.

Interessante: I'm going to have the most laid back finals week of my life here. I have a project due tomorrow and a photography assignment due on Tuesday. Other than that I'm done, and all I have left to do is enjoy the rest of my time here!

I'd Rather Update my Blog than do Homework...

This past week finished off my Thanksgiving break and a half week of school.

Bravo: For my latest photography assignment I am merging pictures of flowers with industrial images. This required a trip to some beautiful botanical gardens and to a museum that is housed in an old electric plant.

Bruto: I got pretty lost on the way to the museum and ended up wandering for an hour... lots of walking

Interessante: I was the only person at both of the venues I went to for my project! Interessante #2: I feel like I've only been in Rome for a week and a half, yet today when I looked at my calendar I realized that I come home in 2 weeks!

Leone is to Sicily as Johnson is to Minnesota

My apologies for the tardiness of my blog posts! This past week my friend Lauri was here, I had a project due, and a final.

Bravo: Lauri and I went to the island of Sicily. Many of my family members lived there before moving to the United States. The island is mountainous and beautiful. Along the beach crushed red coral washes up with the waves leaving beautiful patterns on the sand. Bravo #2: It is always nice to have a guest, Lauri and I did many of the tourist things such as: Colosseum, Roman Fourm, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Via del Corso, The Vatican (including a tour of the underground necropolis which contains the tomb of Saint Peter, very cool), and many more things.

Bruto: Last weekend we went to the Adriatic side of Italy. We did not take it in to account that it is the tourist off season. Much of the town we went to was closed for the season. It was not quite what I expected.

Interessante: I've always known that my last name is very Italian and means lion. What I did not know is that it is a Sicilian name and that it is as common there as the last name Johnson is in Minnesota! The owner of the hostel we stayed at was surprised when we arrived that I did not speak Italian.

Poop, Literally

Today the inevitable happened, I got pooped on by a seagull. Never again will I hope for a "more interesting" week.

A Week Dominated by School

I have not had many interesting adventures this past week, just the monotony of school, I guess it can not be avoided, even in Rome.

Bravo: The weather in Rome has been really beautiful, it is still in the mid 60's ever day, with very little rain. Bravo #2: This weekend I attended a cooking class hosted by my art history professor who before becoming a professor was a professional chef. We spent eight hours eating some of the most delicious food.

Bruto: The birds are still in town and fly in swarms around dusk, pooping everywhere.

Interessante: On Sunday my roommate and I walked to a nearby flea market where I purchased 10 euro boots. I wanted to get an inexpensive pair so I would not have to worry about getting them dirty or scuffed. Well, I got exactly what I paid for, the "suede" does not really feel like suede and they have a lingering smell of gasoline. Cheap Cheap Cheap!

I know this weeks post has been pretty mundane, this coming weekend my friend Lauri is coming to visit and we are planning on taking a day trip to the Adriatic Coast, hopefully there will be a little more adventure to write about.

Milan and Venice

This past week I went on a field trip to Milan and Venice. I remember thinking the Science Museum was an awesome field trip. This week just blew the Science Museum out of the water.

Bravo: In Milan I had the opportunity to tour the design work room of Achille Castiglioni. He has designed many famous products. His work space was so systematically organized! We had a tour led by his daughter who's personal insight was fascinating. He was such a logical thinker, everything had a specific purpose. Also while in Milan one of the art museums we went to had an exhibit on Frank Gehry, who happens to be one of my favorite architects. I loved being able to see his projects from conception to completion. I also got to see the ballet Giselle. After two days in Milan we took a three hour train to Venice. The minute you walk out of the train station you are greeted by a canal and water taxi stand. I have always known that the city is built on a marsh and uses canals rather than streets, but I don't think I ever anticipated how scenic it would be and also how many canals there actually are! The city is so beautiful, historic, and romantic, the architecture style is much more middle eastern than Rome. On Saturday my roommates and I sat along the main canal that runs through the city and had lunch over looking the water and basking in the sun. One of the days we took a longer boat ride out to the island of Murano, there we had the opportunity to watch an actual glass blower make a lamp as well as a tiny pony.

Bruto: Milan and Venice are both about a four hour train ride north of Rome, it was significantly colder. The temperature was definitely an issue during one of the art exhibits we saw in Venice because the venue it was in an old arsenal and was not heated.

Interessante: In the same exhibit that was not heated there was a piece of art that covered the majority of a wall (approximately 30'x30') made entirely of human hair. Grose. Interessante #2: November is the rainiest month in Venice. Due to its location and nature of what the city is built on the city often floods during this time of year. When we arrived the city it had not begun to flood but along all the sidewalks were platform sidewalks raised up about two feet off the original so that when it floods people will have a place to walk without their feet being completely submerged in water.

The Chase Over Italy With Mommy

Bravo: My mom was in town for five days (see post below). We did lots of fun things together, traveling to Florence (duomo, ponte veccio bridge, leather market, the david, etc) we went inside the pantheon and the colosseum, and went to the vatican museums. It was nice to have a new companion to see Rome with. Bravo #2: I just finished part of a semester long project, designing a lighting show room in Rome.

Bruto: BIRDS. It is mid migration season in rome and there are birds everywhere. They fly in droves, and are impossible to avoid. People walk with umbrellas to avoid getting pooped on and the streets are covered with stinky bird poop. Imagine the movie "Birds" and think 10 times worse (minus the killing nature of them). This morning I asked my professor, he said that they will stay for another 3 weeks!

Interessante: After searching for the "perfect boot" all week with my mom I found them two days after she leaves. Go figure. Interessante #2: time change in Italy happens a week before it does in the United States, so all week my time has been only 6 hours ahead versus the usual 7.

Mom on the loose

Guest Blog Post from Nora Leone

Bravo:
Gina and I can talk art together. All her art history classes make every walk through Rome a lesson in famous painting and sculpture. Throw in a little Roman history and a visitor like me can have a very pleasant day. It has been a very "Hinshaw-type" vacation so far. I sounded just like Grandpa CJ when I admitted I needed a nap on my first day, and Gina reminds me of Uncle Craig when she tells me art tid-bits. When we pondered if the 8 Euro was a fair price to pay to climb to the top of the dome in the famous Duomo in Florence, I could hear Hinshaws saying we came on vacation to see things, might as well pay!

Bruto:
Tired feet. Small coffees. Few public benches.

Interessante:
After Gina and I went through the Vatican museums, we searched the gift shops for the perfect thing to buy Grandma. Only later did I realize that none of them sold any Bibles.

In Plymouth, every store sells snacks at the counter. Home Depot, Walgreens, Block Buster, Holiday Gas Station . (I have only seen one gas station so far.) That isn't the case in Rome. I haven't noticed many snacks here. No one walks around with a carry-out coffee or soda, either.

A Craic Time in Ireland

Can this post just be one big Bravo? I just spent the most amazing weekend in Dublin.

Bravo: On Friday my roommates and I took a tour through the Irish country side, which was breathtaking. It was everything I had imagined the Irish country to be and more. Everything was so lush in comparison to Rome, which has almost no foliage. Our tour started with breakfast at an adorable breakfast/clothing shop, then brought us into the rolling hills covered in a light fog, where the Irish once collected turf ( similar to coal) before the weather changed. Next we stopped and looked at the Guinness estate, lastly drove on to walk through a graveyard that boasts the worlds oldest Celtic cross, and walked through a wooded path to look out over two lakes. That evening we stopped into the Temple Bar and had a pint. On Saturday I toured the city on a city walking tour, we saw everything from Saint Stevens Green to the layout of an ancient viking home (who we found out actually never had horns on their helmits) . After our walk we stopped for lunch and toured the Guinness storehouse. The whole experience was sublime.

Bruto: I had to leave Ireland, and to make the matter worse my flight was at 7am.

Interessante: After spending some time in Ireland, my roommates and I noticed that several brochures and people using the term "craic", we could not figure out what this word meant. At Temple Bar I asked our bartender (who had the thickest accent I encountered)what the word meant. He told me craic means to have a good time. The whole trip to Ireland definitely was a craic time.

Italian Cinema: A Truly Cultural Event

I know it has been a while, but it has been a rather busy week, two tests and homework, etc. Anyway,

Bravo: It is starting to feel like fall here, the leaves are starting to change a bit and the breeze has picked up which is refreshing rather than chill because the temperature is still high 70's to low 80's every day and has in general been pretty sunny. Bravo #2: on Saturday, at a restaurant down the street from my apartment I had quite possibly the best lasagna ever.

Bruto: I have 16 rendered perspective drawings due by Wednesday... yuck.

Interessante: On Saturday night my roommate Hayley and I decided since we weren't going out that we should go see a movie. We found a theater that was playing Inglorious Bastards in English. We get to the theater, which is actually very close to our apartment, purchase tickets to find that there are assigned seats. The movie begins. The English version of the movie is only one third English, the rest is in French and German with English subtitles. Well, in Italy, the English part was still in English, but the the French and German parts had Italian subtitles. It was a bit of a struggle to understand what was going on during the French part because my french is pretty limited. The German part was a total loss becuase I understand no German with the exception of the word for "no" so I was stuck trying to read the Italian subtitles! Interessante #2: On Saturday morning I decided I wanted to take a yoga class. It didn't occur to me that the class was going to be taught in Italian. I probably looked like the biggest spaz ever trying to look at the people around me to figure out what was going on.

Food Findings

This post does not really have a Brovo, Bruto, Interessante substance to it, other than a Bravo of all the food is delicious! It is more of two funny food findings.

Food Finding #1: Yesterday as I was out, trying to kill time while the grocery store opened I realized how incredibly hungry I was. I decided to swing past a bakery and grab a croissant or something small to tide me over till dinner. What I bought was something that looked like a popover. Upon further inspection and consumption, I found that a "Baba" is not an Italian version of a popover, but rather a yeast pastry soaked in rum. It was quite a shock and the pastry was rather untasty.

Food Finding #2: After this summers costco/huge bags of spinach/spinach in every food my mom prepared at home, I thought I would be revealed to not have to eat so much of it when in Rome. Only when I realized that I couldn't find spinach in any of the grocery stores or markets did I begin to miss it. Today I finally found some at the grocery store. I was so excited I almost hugged the bag.

Sorrento, Capri, Herculaneum, and Nasty Naples

This past weekend I visited all four of the above listed places. I can't think of a better, more beautiful weekend.

Bravo: The whole weekend was in general was pretty wonderful. Sorrento was warm and sunny. The first hostel we stayed had kiwi vines covering trellises lining walk up to the main office. The second hostel we stayed at over looked the ocean and was perched atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were about a million slanted stairs to get to the water and boulders below. On one of the days we took a20 minute boat ride to the island of Capri. The beauty of Sorrento was topped by that of Capri ten fold, especially after taking a chair lift to the top of the island. The water was bright blue, you could not distinguish where the water ended and the sky began. To end the day the group I went with and I went swimming in the ocean. Bravo #2: For a class field trip we traveled to the town of Herculaneum. Herculaneum is similar to Pompeii in that it is a town that was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, but it is much closer to the volcano (which is still smoldering), making its demise due to hot lava and poison gasses rather than an ash, as was the case with Pompeii. The town is very well preserved and it was definitely a highlight of my weekend to get to walk around a town that began in the 4th century BCE.

Bruto: My professor described Napels as "Nasty Naples" and it was well... dirty. We went to a museum that had many interesting exhibits and artifacts (frescoes and gladiator armour), but outside the museum the city was dirty. Our professors were constantly reminding us that we should be on the look-out for pick pockets at all times. Our school group, professors included, got lost, were smushed on a packed city bus, and missed our train due to poor planning. Bruto #2: I thought the reason there were no screens on windows in Europe was because there weren't bugs. Boy was I wrong! There were no bugs because it was too stinking hot. Now that it has cooled down the mosquitoes have been in full force. The last time I have had this many mosquito bites may have been at Camp Christmas tree when I was in 4th grade.

Interessante: I packed my whole trips worth of clothes, toiletries, etc. into my pink school back pack.

From the Hills of Umbria to the Walls of the Vatican

Bravo: This past weekend I took a day trip to a town called Assisi in Umbria. It was quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever been, due to the combination of perfect weather, a beautiful cathedral (st. Francis of Assisi) and a castle tower that allowed you to see miles of rolling hills and mountains all around. On Sunday my roommates, my friend Kyle and I woke early and went to the Vatican Museums. They are free the last Sunday of the month. The walls, ceilings, and of course artwork was all beautiful. The Sistine Chapel is awe inspiring, to think that one person painted all of that is amazing, especially to a person like me who has little patients for tedious tasks like that.

Bruto: At the museum there were lots of pushy, self righteous, extremely short, old Italian women.

Interessante: After a week of mostly rain, this week is forecasted to be sunny and warm all week. We are traveling to Napels, Sorrento, and Pompeii this weekend, so hopefully it remains nice!

Dear Roman Architects, Please Buy a Triangle

Sorry about the lack of blog lately, studio has been consuming my life.

Bravo: Last Thursday my art history class took a field trip to Capitoline hill. This is where all of the emperors and rulers once held their forums. Today it houses a museum that has many famous pieces of art, and the symbol or Rome: Romulus, Remus and the She Wolf. I also took an elevator to the top of the Victor Emanuel monument where you can see almost all of Rome and the surrounding hills. One night my roommates and I walked over to the Vatican. We are planning on returning this Sunday to see the inside.

Bruto: The floor plans we are drawing for our studio are ridiculous. There are absolutely no right angels in any of the plans. This leaves us to a method that involves using a compass and measurements to figure out the angles of the walls.

Interessante: I have discovered that I love every flavor of gelato, no exceptions. I may have to roll home from Rome

The Baths of Caracalla

Bravo: Two of my roommates and I decided to go on an adventure and see the Baths of Caracalla. The baths were built around 200 AD and are surprisingly still very intact in comparison to several of the other ruins we have tried to see. The ruins are huge, it is easy to imagine what the building must have looked like in all its splendor because the majority of the walls are still intact and there are fragments of the floors and wall mosaics scattered throughout the ruins. Bravo #2: My roommate Jami and I made bruschetta and it was delecious!

Bruto: On the way to the baths we realized we were going to pass the Circus Maximus. I thought this was going to be really cool, it is where chariot races used to be held. Sadly, all that is left is a big divot in the ground with an abundance of weeds. Bruto #2: we started measuring our space for our new project which is designing a retail space. All of the buildings are super old here and I'm not quite sure they were capable of producing a right angle back in the day. All of the spaces we have measured thus far are not square and none of the walls are square. This will make for an interesting plan drawing. Bruto #3: the bruschetta though delecious delivered some wicked heart burn!

Interessante: Due to the fact that I have been eating gelato like it has been going out of style, and that I like to run a few times a week I decided to join a gym. I don't think many Italians work out or perhaps they always do so inside becuase I don't think I have ever recieved so many perverse looks before in my life when walking to the gym this morning in my work out attire. It was as if I were a three headed monser or something. Interessante #2: As we walked through the baths all of us began to wonder, what did they wear to a bath house like this? The conclusion: they must have gone naked. I'm sure it wasn't awkward at the time, but the though of being naked with hundreds of other bathers made us all squirm a little.

The Hauntings of ISU in Rome

Second week in Rome, first week of class down.

Bravo: I'm only taking 13 credits consisting of 4 classes. It feels amazing to have some free time after last semesters 18.5 credits and 9 classes. In my spare time I have found a favorite market where they sell about every type of food under the sun, and everything is fresh and delicious.

Bruto: Rome has two types of seasons, the hot dry season and the rainy season. I was unaware that there would be such a drastic change. On Friday it was hot and sunny, then yesterday it rained, today it rained, and every day on the forecast for the upcoming week is rain rain rain. Good think I packed my umbrella and raincoat.

Interessante: Our design studio is located in the old Cenci Mansion. Most people in Rome know the story of the famous family. The husband was known in society and was also well known as an adultor and for beat his children and wife. They schemed and murdered him. After the murder they were found out, the women beheaded and the men hung. September 11th (2 days ago) was the anaversary of their death.

French Press Coffee = Fail

After having possibly the best coffee of my life one of my roommates and I were inspired to purchase french press thermos'.

Bravo: The coffee we consumed to inspire this endevor was like no coffee I have ever had before, it was delicious (probably because it was made with whole milk).

Bruto: After boiling water, measuring coffee grounds and finally "pressing" the coffee I managed to make 8oz of diesel strength undrinkable coffee. No amount of milk or sugar could cure it. It had to be dumped.

Interessante: I now know: the coffee purchased is super strong and using less than the recommended amount would have been a good idea. Also, be extremely careful about the whole getting grounds in your liquid situation because its not fun to pick them out of your teeth. Creamer is essential. And if all else fails it can be used to make hot tea, which is pretty much fool proof.

Do I have to go to class???

It is the first official week of school, and I'm not sure I want to leave summer behind! After living in Rome for a little over a week I'm starting to get the hang of daily life and how much walking is going to take place over the next 4 months.

Bravo: It has finally started to cool down, I'm not quite sure when I started to consider 85 and sunny cool... but it beats 95 and sunny. I'm not sweating by 7 am and can actually sleep with a blanket! Bravo #2: I'm starting to get the hang of cooking. My roommates and I are switching off every other night with cooking dinner. Thus far my roommate Jami and I have successfully made dinner 3 times, tonight we are attempting stir fry, hopefully this doesn't end up in the next bruto section!

Bruto: The roads of Rome are like pick up sticks thrown haphazardly all over the place. People use them as a place to walk, ride their bicycles, scooters, and drive like crazy people. People also ride their scooters and bike on the limited sidewalks as well. This has made finding a good place to run rather difficult. Today I ran by the river but there are an abundance of homeless people, uneven cobbelstones, and homeless people urine. I'm not sure I will frequent this spot.

Interessante: On Saturday a group of friends and I ventured to the Medeteranean, which was beautiful. The waves were huge! It was exactly what we all needed after such a scorching hot week. The beach itself wasn't interesting, but it was all of the vendors everywhere! They sold everything from watches to fake Prada to iced coconut. Interessante #2: I'm not sure if I am starting to look more Italian or less like a tourist or if people are just hopelessly lost but I have been stopped and asked directions twice now.

Some Like it HOT

3 days ago I packed up in Paris and shipped off to Rome to begin my actual schoolwork. I have not stopped sweating since!

Bravo: My apartment is really nice (also 500 years old), it is a little on the small side, especially when it comes to the kitchen but the living room and bedrooms have ample space. Studio is only a 15 minute walk which will be really convenient. Last night we went to the Pantheon, which is HUGE, and smack dab in the middle of a bunch or random buildings. I'm really excited to go inside it and have a look around. We also went to the Trevi Fountain where I tossed in my coin and made a wish. During the walk between the two my roommates and I got gelato, I don't know if it was because I looked hungry or what but i was served a scoop the size of a large mango atop a tiny sugar cone!

Bruto: If you couldn't tell from the title, it is extremely hot here. At home I don't think it was over 90 degrees once this summer. It was 97 the first day we got here and hasn't gone down much since then. At first I thought it a nuisance that shops were closed between noon and 3. Now I know it is because it is too scorching hot to do anything but lay sprawled out and take a nap!

Interessante: PDA: it is everywhere. If you are out with your significant other you have to have some sort of personal display of affection at all times, no expections. We have deemed this to be due to the fact that many people live with their parents for much longer than we do, thus they never get to have alone time except on the streets. Interessante number 2: the street vendors! On our journey to class every day we pass many street vendors, they sell everything. Need a new bag, got that, new shoes, got that, new underwear, they have that too! No, I have not purchased new underwear from the street vendors, but hey, who knows, when in rome! (just kidding)

Je ne parle pas beaucoupe de francaise!

Day four in Paris, is it strange that I feel like I have been taking a french exam over spelling, pronunciation, reading, and speaking for the last 4 days?I'm not sure my french is any better than when I began on my journey, but I was told I have a good accent today, so hey, at least some improvement there!

Bravo: There have been so many amazing sites we have seen, I'm going to list them and then stick a short blurb about them.
Notre Dame: Extremely majestic, it sits right next to the river and is surrounded by quaint sidewalk cafes. Today we walked all the way to the top (tiny spiral staircases of doom) and listened to an organ concert.
Eiffel Tower: The vast majority of the buildings in Paris are short so you can see the Eiffel Tower from almost anywhere in Paris. We rode all the way to the top and the view is splendid. We went up at night, the contrast of the lit tower with the dark night was beautiful.
Centre Pompidou: A retro museum that is really ugly and industrial on the outside but sleek and sophisticated on the inside. We did not take a tour of the galleries because we were too tired.
The Louvre: Is free on Friday nights for those under 26. We saw many many many famous pieces of art. The museum is HUGE, it would be very easy to get lost. We only got to see a small portion of what the museum contains. My highlight was the code of hammurabi and Liamsu.
Arch De Triumph: Possibly my favorite. It is so huge, it would be impossible to not be in awe when standing next to it. It is surrounded by a 4 lane traffic circle that people speed around so you have to take a tunnel to see it.
Piere Herme: A famous pastry chef. All other pastry chefs in Paris try to live up to the standards Piere has set. I had a macaroon and it was delecious.
Luxembourge: beautiful gardens and mansion.

Bruto: my legs are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired.

Interessante:I have noticed that everyone here is extremely inshape looking. I have attributed this to the fact that everyone walks everywhere, or bikes. They have spots set up all over the city where you can rent a bicycle and then put it back when you are done. In addition to walking everywhere the people all wear fabulous shoes, here I am longing for my sneakers and people are trecking all over the city in 4" heals!

Is it yesterday, today, or tomorrow???

Today is my first official day in Paris and between the lack of sleep and the time change it may be Thursday, but I'm not positive :)

Bravo: the flight went by seemingly fast and the French have been very helpful despite my poor speaking skills. For some reason I thought 4 years of French in high school would have left me sounding like I knew a little about what I was trying to talk about but boy was I wrong!

Bruto: The city is pretty dusty and there are an abundance of smokers here. After walking through the city my mouth tasted like dusty ash. Mmmmmmmmm

Interessante: I tried 2 new foods today. The first was a croque madame which is bread, cheese, and a fried egg. And the second was a fried egg! The sandwich and the egg were delicious.

The Origin of Bravo, Brutto, Interessante

Most nights during dinner my mom will ask my sisters and I a question we all secretly dread, "What was your PNI (positive, negative, and interesting) for today." The question is usually accompanied by an eye roll, a small groan and an answer. Recently, I have come to realize that these three things are an excellent way to give a good description of your day, because of course, there must be a positive, negative, and interesting to every day.

It seems funny that the one question I thought to be such a menace is now what I have decided to base the blog of my semester in Rome around. The words bravo, brutto, and interessante mean good, bad, and interesting in Italian. I plan to use them as points of reference to describe my adventures, travels, findings, and yes even schoolwork.