Last Field Trip – 23.4.2010

This dark day was our first and last time to travel on a bus with Marco, our history professor, for our field trip. He used the time on the bus in between stops to explain more about what we would see. I tried to stay awake but with the winding hilly roads I began to feel car sick as usual. The cloudy rainy day did not help my case any either. It was disappointing to not see the unique country side of Siena County because of the fog and the rain drops running down the window. Our first stop was at a Monastery where we spent most of our time in the enclosed colonnade around the central courtyard. The walls were covered with paintings by Sodoma telling the story of their Saint. He had some interesting interpretations and humor with his paintings. Later a lady opened up the library for some of us to see. It was nice but the best part was a door in the bookcase leading to spaces behind the wall of bookcases. After a three course meal with some delicious local wine we walked up to St. Antimo Abbey. Everywhere we looked there were vineyards, rows and rows of grape vines that were beginning to sprout green leaves. Inside the small plain church we waited for the seven monks living there to come in for their prayers. I have always wanted to hear monks sing their prayers live and in person. Now it is time. The church was packed and silent when they entered and pulled out their prayer books from their desk pews. The first word harmonized so well it sent chills all through my body. For fifteen minutes we all sat listening and absorbing up all of this rare experience. Outside on our way out an older Italian lady came up to a couple of us that were conversing. She asked us in perfect English where we were from, what we were doing here, and what we thought of the experience we just shared. She was a little surprised to hear we were American students. She complimented us all on how well behaved we were during the prayer service. She wished us luck and happiness as we parted ways to our buses. Our last stop was at a Renaissance centrally planned church. Nothing too special or different then what we have seen these four months in Italy. One distinctive aspect of this church is the two towers on the back side were not attached to the church; they had their own walls and roof. The towers were nestled in niches into the church with an exterior pathway where they would connect to the church. That was the end of our field trips.

Under the Duomo in Florence – 21.4.2010

Today there was an interesting site a few of us were unlucky enough to witness. A couple in their late 20s made out heavy duty for at least 45 to 60 minutes. Then at the end of our trip, again I saw some teenagers in the train station were making out. I am happy to be going home soon where people are a little more private about expressing their affection. This was not our reason for this trip. We were on our seminar field trip. We went under the Duomo to see the reminants of a Roman house, first Christian church, and a Romanesque church. A nasty smell almost like urine greeted us first as we entered a dark short space. The display was eclectic with random bits of ruins from the different eras mixed among each other. It has probably been my least favorite so far. Afterwards we went to a museum a few blocks away. The only interesting things in it were the postcards made with an analysis of the Duomo area and the large model of the Roman town where Florence is currently. Then since none of us had gone into the baptistery yet Carol took us. It is a tall space with loads of gold mosaics on the walls and mostly on the octagonal dome ceiling. The space is similar in proportions and style to the Pantheon just in an octagonal form. The mosaics were mostly depicting stories from the Bible. This trip has definitely proven we are done looking at and analyzing the ruins and historic sites. It was obvious by our lack of attention and disdain on our faces. I am ready for a break in my home country. It hopefully will revive my interest in Italy and all of its history again for when I return.

Salone Internazionale di Mobili (aka Milan International Furniture Show) – 18.4.2010

Early in the morning after the best sleep I have had since arriving in Italy we took the subway to the largest Convention Center I have been to. Today is the only day open to the public and as the time got closer to when the event began the more people started to show up and crowd the entrance. It was almost like the people outside stores the morning after thanksgiving but with a little more calm thrown in there. The rush hit as the clock changed to 9:30. We took off down to the other end on moving walk ways. It took us ten minutes to get there, the land of Kitchens. The first couple of hours we wondered through in amazement. I can’t believe that the three of us out of twenty-one from Orvieto came and only six out of nine IA students and six out of the 50 plus KSU CAPD students in studying abroad. We could all learn something. I strongly suggest that anyone who is able to make it for this annual event should. This has been the only truly beneficial thing towards our major. There was exhibit, furniture, product, space, and lighting designs for us to learn from professionals and other students. I would love to someday have the IAPD department at KSU have a exhibit at this show to share our creations. There is no doubt in my mind that our students could compete with what we saw. There were things similar to pieces created by previous and current students in our program. There were a lot of new technologies as well. One was by some students from Japan. It was a unique and unconventional camera. It looked like speakers or something but was a camera. One of the students was wearing the Ushaped thin camera around his neck. Just as if he had picked up a modern horseshoe and decided to wear it as a necklace. AS I approached to get a better look he drew a circle in the air. I soon saw my face on the screen behind him. Creepy, no Awesome! To take a picture all he did was complete a shape in the air. The camera was designed to read his movement to take a shot of whatever the wearer desired. By the end our brains were on overload with ideas, images, and thoughts about interpreting and understanding all that we were seeing. In the 8 plus hours we spent at the show we were able to understand more than what we have been taught. I did not care how much my body and feet ached, or how much it cost me to get here. It was well worth it.

Milano – 17.4.2010

Maggie, Renae and I took a night train at midnight from Orte to Milano. This was my first over night train experience. Luckily we decided to pay a little extra to have our own three person sleeper cabin. I was excited and then the movie White Christmas pop into my head as I walked into a closet with three beds hanging from the wall on the left. The only standing room being enough just to have three people stand and do nothing else but some how we changed and made it into our beds. “You and our nook of the North” by Bing Crosby in White Christmas is the exact quote that ran threw my head once I woke up and was asked how I slept, just like a baby. The scene where Bing helps Rosemary Clooney down from the top bunk played in my head as I climbed down from the middle bunk. After seeing that movie, way too many time, as a kid growing up I dreamed about what it would be like to go to sleep on a train in one place and wake up in another. I was excited as I stepped off the train at 6:45 to looking around absorbing the beautiful station. I was able to get more than just a glimpse like I did last time I came through to catch a bus to the airport for our flight to Ireland. We went to drop off our bags for the day until we could check in later at the Marriot off of Washington Ave. Three of us walk into the rich lobby in our jeans, tennis shoes, and t-shirts carrying our back packers bags on our backs. The expression on the receptionists’ faces was priceless. They were surprised to see us especially at 7 in the morning. To our amazement they allowed us to go ahead and check in. We entered the room with our name on the TV along with their greeting. This was the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. We freshened up and left for the Duomo. The Duomo is huge and covered in an extensive amount of detailed relief carvings and sculptures. Inside was extremely dark because the windows were all stunning stain glass windows. The newer ones (1500s) were like a painting. The most beautiful I have seen. The crypt was smaller than I expected. The roof by far was the best part. To walk on the marble roof tiles and buttresses was unimaginable. It sounds unsafe but I felt extremely secure. Gargoyles and sculptures were everywhere in all types of sizes. Some were so small you could only see it from the roof. From the ground you would never know that the spindle looking thing has in reality open archways with the dome connecting them protecting a sculpture from the elements. Detail out the wazoo that people would never see if we did not travel to the roof. At the very top was an amazing view of the city. From above I was able to see the crowds of people in the Piazza del Duomo for some kind of school event as musicians played on a couple of stages. I was disappointed I did not bring my sketch book to sit for awhile and enjoy the outdoor space created on the roof to the fullest by sketching one of the many details. As we started to be pelted with rain drops we ducked into the Galleria. It is just like the one in Napoli. The funny thing we caught in pictures was each one of us improving our luck. There is a mosaic of a bull on the floor and if you spin three times with on the bulls balls you will have good luck. So many people do it that they have to restore it every so often. I was shocked to see the stone completely concave and a hole where the balls are supposed to be from all the wear of people spinning on it. The bull is never lonely, you can spot where the bull is by the crowd of people that never seems to dissipate surrounding it. The we decided to do some shopping, why not we are in Milan. In the middle of shopping we met up with some of our fellow IA students studying abroad in Germany. We stood in the middle f the busy and packed H&M talking and catching up. In the conversation they told us about a big event going on in the design district with the end result convincing us to stop shopping and go check it out. We continued to talking the whole way, in the streets and subway to the event, Zona Tortona. It was like a carnevale party with food vendors everywhere, pedestrian only streets and hoard of people anywhere you looked. We wondered around and entered the buildings or exterior spaces that had signs with the logo for the event. At each location there was something different and each one equally astounded me. The exhibits were of works by professional designers and students with all kinds of ideas and designs. There we also ran into another friend of mine. She is from Germany but studied abroad last year at K-state in the IA department with us. We got to know each other and shared a common interest in salsa dancing. It was great to see her again and I was pleasantly surprised to hear she was coming back to visit us in the states this coming August. We spent a couple of hours exploring and absorbing the inspirational environment. Then our feet began screaming with pain signaling that they needed a break so we went to grab something to eat. We ended up at a chic bar for their apertivo special. We had not stopped talking up a storm with Paul, Christa and Melia. We split ways when they had to leave to catch their bus. The bed back at the hotel was the perfect medicine for our exhausted and aching bodies.

Jubilee Church – 16.4.2010

As the millennium was approaching the church decided to commission a few brand news churches. Richard Meier designed one that now stands in a suburban area of Rome. We drove up to see three huge white sails in the beautiful clear blue sky. We stood outside in an empty irregular shaped piazza to take our full frontal pictures. As we approached the entrance we were almost blinded by the reflectance of all the white surfaces. Our eyes could finally open to get a squint free view of the church because it was designed to not have any direct light invade. My favorite feature of the church was part of what I saw first. A white square box extruded out from a smaller one suspended in the air with three cut outs on the side allowing bouncing light to light it up framing the Crucifix. That one element touched my heart gently because I was able to feel the presence of the Trinity in a simply and elegant way. It was one unforgettable experience and hit the top of my list for best modern churches I have seen. As we began to leave through the piazza again, I was delighted to see it was being used by the local parents and kids. It was obvious that school just let out as parents socialized with each other as the kids ate snacks and ran around playing kid games as we pulled out of the parking lot in our big pink bus.

Villa Adriana (aka Hadrian’s Villa) – 16.4.2010

This villa was different than Villa D’Este. It was in more of a ruined state and occupied more land. The atmosphere was comparable to the one in Pompeii. Walking into the past using our imagination to put the existing clues together to see it for real. I was a little disappointed with how most of the famous and unique areas were now closed off, only to be seen from a distance. Wild flowers were beginning to cover the ground not trampled by the foot traffic of tourists. It was a wild bright red poppy. I could not help myself; I had to take one to join me for the rest of my visit through the site. It rode around on my right ear. It blended in with my outfit of red, blue and white shirt and my favorite red puma tennis shoes peaking out from my jeans. I made it to see the most famous view of the Villa, the naked warrior from behind with columns on either side of him with a huge green pool in front of him. Of course we all were making all kinds of jokes and interesting photos with him. I watched a small turtle sun bathing on the growth covered lights as huge ugly fish swam around in the green water for awhile. I took over a whole bench by laying down on my back. The weather was perfect for my relaxing nap under canopies of trees before we all left.

Villa D’Este – 16.4.2010

City atmosphere everywhere as we all pile out of a big Mary K and Pepto-Bismol pink bus. Its logo was a dolphin to make it even better. In the middle of the busy town was the small entrance to the grandiose garden and villa. We walked in to a square courtyard to the left of the ticket booth. The courtyard was three stories tall with an open colonnade on the ground level on three sides. The fourth side was a tall plain wall separating the villa from the town. Orange trees were spread randomly along the colonnade. There was a tall wide fountain on the fourth wall. Once up on the second floor I headed to the right in to a rectangular room along a lengthy corridor. The paintings on the walls were grotesque only when you take a closer look. Strange creatures such as a goose like creature with an exaggerated neck and human breasts and face. The majority of the content was breasts almost as if the artist was obsessed with them. One of the larger and taller rooms had three sets of double doors opening out to a small porch with a set of stairs at each open end to the first level of the garden. I began on the right with my weaving path back and forth, up and down the multiple terraces. It was peaceful as I found the fountain you could walk under was in the process of restoration. Just down from it along its axis was the wall of 100 fountains. Of all the villas and gardens I saw and learned about in Carol’s history class, this is the one was the one I wanted to see the most. It was a narrow, elongated, and cool outdoor space. This is exactly where I would hangout among different faced fountains to stay cool in the summer as I continued throughout the rest of the garden I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of styles and scenes of all the fountains. You better go to the bathroom before entering the garden because the sound of the flowing water is inescapable. Two other spaces began to compete with the wall of 100 fountains as my favorite part of the garden. One was at the end of the axis where stone walls lining a wide pathway to a gate. Thin metal strips creating arches connected the two walls to enclose the top. Growing on the metal arches were vines on the verge of blooming. Along the base of the walls were colorful tulips except in the middle of each wall was a full heighted fountain. The other one was up at the highest terrace off to the side of the largest fountain was another small space with wisteria growing on the metal archway. At the end of the walkway lined with stone benches was a small fountain. The wisteria hanging down like clusters of purple fragrant grapes made the space. I plan on having a similar space in my home eventually to take me back to this moment pure joy and relaxation.

Siena – 9.4.2010

Bright and early once again we take off in a snug bus to the city of Siena. We stepped off the bus on the northern side of the city at the fortress. Spring has definitely come out to grace us with her presence. The unobstructed sun warmed the skin. It was larger than I had expected as we walked to the city center. The streets were noticeably steeper than most streets in Orvieto. The buildings surrounding me as we travel to the Duomo are the burnt sienna color from the local brick. As we get closer to the Duomo the more tourists I saw. Then out of the blue around a corner a small piazza opened up a view to the front of the Baptistery in high contrasting black and white stone stripes. Shockingly there were crowds of people on the massive stairs to the left of the Baptistery and only a few couples in front of it. We walked down further and took a left when we reached an old hospital with beautiful pointed arch windows with tiny columns framing them. Once I tore myself away from looking at them I turned around and there it was, the Duomo. It was almost like dejavu. To me this was the big sister to the Duomo in Orvieto. They have similar features and characteristics, but the interior was much larger. The flooring is what caught my attention the most. The same stone as outside with some color mixed in now and then but the most unique detail was indentions on the white stone that appeared to be black dots. Once you look at the dots not as individual dots but part of a picture drawings appear, my favorite part. Another simple difference was the stain glass rose window and colored bottle glass windows around the Church. The Campo was full of people and all the noise that comes with them. It was amazing to see such a simple piazza being used by vendors, visitors, locals, dogs, birds etc. People did not find the paving to hard to sit on to enjoy the sunshine, atmosphere and people watching. One disappointing element was the fountain. What brought a frown to my face was that the metal fence meant to protect it instead just covered it up. I walked up to it even though it created an uninviting presence. When I approached I could finally see that the statues were she wolves. The fountain was simple not enticing me to stay long. As I began to turn my head away some pigeons flew in and landed on the fountain. One was thirsty creating the most unexpected site. It started drinking the water flowing out of the she wolf statue‘s mouth. It brought a smile to y face but not as big as the one a little girl in the Civic museum did earlier today. We went in and saw four rooms; an entrance hall, chapel, waiting hall and a room with frescos of good and evil regarding government. It was nothing special or different from most of the things I have seen so far. The barbarians, as Marco called them, were fascinated by the frescos on the walls all around us. As we began to break for the day I looked to the right back to the large hall we had spent about twenty minutes sitting on Barcelona benches earlier and that is when my heart smiled. I saw an adorable two year old brunette little girl in a pink dress and tiny shoes. She sat alone and content with the world, just to drink out of her bright blue sippy cup on a huge bench. She was there with her mother and grandmother I found out later. For lunch a small group, of seven, went to a small one room restaurant. The old man was unsure what to think of us as we waited to be seated at the front door. Once we parted our lips with Italian a grin appeared on his face and he began to seat us. The food was satisfying. Towards the later part of the afternoon I explored a little on my own looking for more souvenirs for my family and with some luck I found some. I also stopped in to a small shop Marco pointed out on our walking tour when he was telling us about Paneforte. Curiosity overwhelmed me causing me to buy a small one. That night I tried it but was not impressed. It did not make my top ten of favorite desserts I have had in Italy. The bread part was a sugary with a mushy texture and a strong flavor of liquor. The best part was the fresh whole nuts and fruit mixed in. The afternoon went by too fast. I wish I had more time there. To make departing easier I just told myself, “there is always next time.” Until then I will study up on the different contradas and what they stand for. Then when my family and I come back, hopefully in July or August for the Palio horse race I can have a contrada I identify with and to root for. We have to. There is no question about it, especially since we inherited my late grandfather’s race horse, Rose Dash, and one of her colts. Through them we have learned a good deal more about horses. My brother has even researched the races that Rose Dash used to run in and the culture surrounding racing. I know my mother and brother would appreciate it the most. I am sure it would be an unforgettable experience to attend Il Palio with my family. If only my grandfather could be there to share it with us, but he will be there in spirit and enjoying from above.

Concert in the Duomo – 5.4.2010

I arrived back in Orvieto just in time for the concert in the Duomo at 17:30. Tourists were everywhere and buses were parked by the Duomo which has been unusual activity for Orvieto. Despite the cold and rain people waited outside of the Duomo to get good seats when they opened the doors to let in the attendees. I have never seen the Duomo lit up this way, with blue lights in the niches and reddish orange lights on the columns. It was beautiful. Occupied chairs covered the floor and those who did not have seats stood in the remaining spaces not taken up by camera crews. I sat on the far side with some friends unable to see the orchestra in front of the altar due to the massive columns and hundreds of heads in front of me. This is the fullest I have ever seen this church compared to the weekly masses I attend. We all waited about an hour before the concert began. My favorite music they played was Bach, mostly because it reminded me of my days in high school band playing the flute. Surprisingly the acoustics were not awful. The robust and clear music was perfect for the grandiose setting. The very first not gave me chills. As I sat listening to the musicians I was able to get a better look at the Duomo, noticing the capitals are all different but only one is noticeably different but only one is noticeably different with a square section instead of octagonal. I also began to truly appreciate the multiple uses this Cathedral serves. They are not letting this gorgeous building go to waste. Halfway through we got up and moved closer and stood to watch the last half. Above the sea of heads I saw the conductor in his black tux with his baton gracefully cutting through the air. Behind him was an army of violinists with their bows shooting up and down in sync. It was the perfect closing event for my first Easter season in Italy.

Easter Vigil – 3.4.2010

23:00 we are seated in one of the naves of the Collegiata in wooden pews. Our view of the altar was completely blocked by the massive columns. Prayers began with dim lights, almost dark, while waiting for midnight to strike and mass to begin. Then large wooden doors burst open precisely at the exact same time the band played, bells rang, fire crackers went off outside and all the lights came on to announce entrance of the resurrected Christ. The statue of Jesus Christ was carried in through the doors on the shoulders of men running towards the altar. Then once the silence broke out people began to walk up towards the statue to kiss and touch him then returned to their seats for mass. Mass was the same as every other mass I have been to here in Italy. All together it was an unforgettable experience, an interesting way to emphasize the resurrection. I was woken up Easter morning by church bells ringing loud and clear for about five minutes. Following the sound of the bells was birds chirping as sunlight shown through the shutters leading me to believe it was a glorious day to hike to the near by castle. In reality it was gloomy, cloudy, and raining. It made for a relaxing rainy day with friends watching movies, singing along to the movies, devouring a delicious Easter feast, and card playing. That night they took me to the Velvet Underground Bar. The bouncer let us into the dark bar full of local Italians. An attractive detail by the bar was a clear glass cover that revealed an old well in the floor. A live band was playing loud enough to make conversation awkward and difficult. For that reason alone we left and went to Regiro’s to talk which turned into dancing in the backroom with crazy flashing lights and smoke. Of course I got all hot and sweaty as I enjoyed dancing with and teaching some of the people I was with. This time there were a couple of Italians that tried to learn but they did not last more than half a song before they left. This was one of the best decisions I have made about traveling. I was able to spend time with good friends, meeting new people, and dancing.

Good Friday: Castiglion Fiorentino - 2.4.2010

Walking up the main corso was an unexpected workout. This town has many more hills than Orvieto. The buildings lining the hefty sized stone paving are made of plaster. The majority of the streets we passed through on were narrow and in general pedestrian. Laura and Alli live with Heidi in a small room with a bunk bed and an RV bathroom. St. Chiara is definitely an older building with signs of various adaptations made for the different uses of this building over time. Originally it was a Convent with a church attached. After WWII it became a orphanage. Then after sitting vacant for years it became what it is today a study center for Kansas State, TX A&M, UTSA, Colorado State, Arizona, U of H and few a other universities. On the lower floor is where the studios, lounge, bar and dinning hall are located. Ou dinner was served family style. Three courses; spaghetti, veggies, meat skewers, and for dessert we had ice cream sandwiches for one guys birthday. At about 21:30a procession for Good Friday began at the church next door to the study center called Collegiata. The small church next to it, Il Jesu, was open to the public which only happens once a year. The inside was elaborate and colorfully decorated. The procession consisted of three brotherhoods each wearing outfits similar to the KKK in their color; black, blue or white. A unique element of these brotherhoods was they are made up of men, women and children. Each group carried a cross and a statue of the crucified Jesus. Behind those groups were two ladies holding a cloth with Jesus’s face on it, symbolizing the cloth used to wipe the sweat from his face. They were followed by a group of women carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary with a band in red uniforms marching and playing in between the prayers spoken out loud and speakers as a group. At the end were the local people and visitors participating in the procession. We stood off to the side taking pictures and absorbing as much of this experience as possible. The procession lasted for a couple of hours. One thing about it that seemed to impress the people I was around, mostly non Catholics was that one of the brotherhoods had the men carrying the cross barefoot. It ended in the large church where it started. Then it was time to socialize. Regiro’s was a bar St Chiara students enjoyed going to because it is more like a restaurant that serves food the whole night. Then they stay open until 2a.m. but don’t kick people out until about 3 a.m. There I got a Ballini, which tasted like Summer Brew, while playing Seven Up & Seven Down and Mau. The place was full of people; local Italians and students. Each bay/room had different themes. The one we stayed in the most had an Indian theme. The bar owner loves salsa music so towards the end of the night one of the guys from A&M plugged in his iPod and played some. I started dancing at the table then could not help myself I got up and started dancing with my friends who wanted to learn. The dance floor was less than perfect, uneven brick floor in the middle of the room taking up the entire circulation path. I was a blast, probably the best evening I have had since arriving in Italy. We stayed until after 3 in the morning dancing to Salsa and merengue. Grazie mille or should I say muchas gracias.

Villa Lante – 26.3.2010

The current entrance to the gardens at the base is the wrong end to experience the gardens. For this reason a group of my classmates closed there eyes while they followed a trusting friend as they traveled to the zenith. They were entertaining to watch after we all had a loud and enjoyable lunch that consisted of little samples of the local food and wine. Surprisingly the garden was a slight let down for me. It was not as large as I expected and due to the season it was not blooming as gloriously as it could be. This garden had similar features to Villa Farnese. One was a grotto like space in a large grassy open space where the cardinals used to enjoy each others company around a large table full of food and drinks. I heard from Carol that occasionally in the summer the servants would turn on the water that would shoot out of the sides of the small open buildings enclosing the space to wet them almost like a joke but more about cooling them off from the scorching summer weather. There were also many trimmed hedges leading you down from the space to a comparable waterfall hand rail down to a fountain further into the structured part of the garden. Down some stairs to the base of that fountain was an open space with a long stone table with a slit in the middle where cool water flowed through. It was another place where meals were eaten and the slit was used not only to bring a tranquil water feature to the table but became a functional drink chiller for the meals. In the next and last plateau was covered with knee high trimmed hedges and tall topiary trees creating a maze to the center where a large circular fountain was placed. Human figures were at the heart of the fountain on the main axis of the garden. Just outside this enclosed garden to the West is Huntington Park. Open fields with small waving hills and tall shady trees beckoned me to take a nap. I laid on an inclined part of a hill in the sun on the soft cool grass barefoot accompanied only by the white daisy flowers and small insects crawling around on my exposed skin. That was the most pleasurable time I have spent outdoors while here in Italy.

Villa Farnese at Caprarola – 26.3.2010

We walked up a steep narrow cobblestone street in a single file line with cars giving us a cool breeze as they pass us. The most famous view of the Villa Farnese in front of us a little more revealed with every step. There it is lit perfectly by the sun on this cool clear day. The steps up are deep and shallow with the cobblestone tread and solid rounded stone as the riser. Looking back down the long street we walked up from the main entrance then up two flights of stairs, it is obvious the palazzo is extremely important. It is the end of the axis. Next we entered across a fake drawbridge walkway along with another large secondary Italian school group. We descended down a stone spiral stair, famous from the third God Father movie, to the service spaces below. Under the main central courtyard is the room of the cistern. There off to one side was a laundry stone basin. Just outside the cistern room a circular path way wrapped around it giving it a similar feel to the Roman stadium circulation. As we walked that circulation path we were able to see they many kitchens and service spaces that radiated out. The kitchens were large open rooms with large fire places, one large enough for our class of twenty-one students to stand inside. We left the plain stone and plaster walls and gravel floors to the rooms several stories above. There the rooms were elaborately painted in a variety of sizes. Many of the rooms were painted in a tricky manner such that the architectural elements appeared to be three dimensional when they were in reality flat on the wall. The recently enclosed portico even had fake doors painted on the walls giving a sense of symmetry. The best part of the palace was the pentagon shaped courtyard and the views of it through the windows to the gardens. The gardens were peaceful with the birds chirping, sun piercing the tree canopies to warm the skin chilled by the breeze. The path to the secret garden begins to disappear. The surroundings change from structured colonnades, trimmed hedges to free loose forestry as though you’re almost hiking in the wilderness. On the right side a few yards from the dirt path created by the footsteps of the visitors to the gardens was a tree with a hollowed base. It was large enough for animals to inhabit similar to the one Alice falls into Wonderland with. The strong axis draws you up to the beginning of the gardens. A large circular fountain with faces pouring water out from their eyes, nose, mouth and ears greeted us upon our entry. Defining the space of the fountain were highly rough textured walls leading up to small arch ways into a petite space. In that space was coral covered walls originally fountains with water trickling out and over the coral to a basin on the ground. Black and white mosaic floors had a pattern with flor de leis. These spaces were on either side of the base of the hand rail of the main stairs ascending up to more structured gardens and the Villa. As you step down out of that space your feet touch grass covered stairs with stone risers. Stone fish was the edge of the railing used to contain the water flowing down. Another large fountain was located at the top of these stairs with gigantic human statues in leisurely positions. Once you climb the stairs around this fountain you reach the first level of the garden full of trimmed hedges with small horse fountains in the center and human statues used like a colonnade to define the edge. A beautiful tall pink rose bush lost some petals to the grass below it creating one of the most romantic sights I have seen. An open terrace surrounded by wilderness was located directly behind the Villa accessible only by two staircases on either side of the Villa. In this terraced garden there were urn shaped fountains at each level and on the lowest level closest to the Villa was a elegantly large fountain resembling an urn towered above us. Back in the main garden at the back of the Palazzo on our way out was a small space called the grotto full of water dropping down from the icicle shaped stones. This space had some similar characteristics to the Natural Caverns in San Antonio, TX but this one had been touched by the hand of man. There were statues in a similar colored stone to the existing stone placed inside as part of the grotto almost as if the flow of the water carved the figures over time. It was calming with the gentle sound of water dripping perfect for the hot summers to cool down and relax.

There Is No Place Like Home – 20.3.2010

I used to dream about living abroad permanently. How wonderful it would be, a fairy tale. Well, having my taste of living abroad for two months now I can safely say No. There are too many things I need that only home can provide; family, friends, food, and some aspects of the American culture. I realized this sitting in La Salsa, a small Mexican restaurant in Galway. I had joined my friends knowing better. Growing up with fresh homemade Mexican food there is no way I would be satisfied with what they will serve. There restaurant name was salsa but they did not have any and I don’t mean the dancing. They had a tomato paste with a pinch of a spice to it, absolutely awful not hot at all or flavorful. My friends’ disappointment made me wish I could only get some hot peppers and cilantro in Orvieto to make some salsa for them. At that moment it hit me, I love America because it is a melting pot. We have so many different kinds of people with their own sub culture. Plus that is how we got so many types of food we eat on a regular basis; Mexican, Italian, Cuban, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, American, Irish, Indian, etc. Ireland is similar but not America. Italy has hardly a variety at all but why should they, they are Italy. USA also has a wide variety of climates and environments were we can live and work you just have to figure out which is best for you. I am currently on that journey and hopefully within a year I will have a better understanding at the least enough to have picked a place to start my career. We will have to see, but now I know for sure it will be in America. That eliminates a ton of choices already, the rest of the world. It will just have to be my escape, I love seeing new places, experiencing new things and learning more about other places, cultures and societies. I just can’t stay there for multiple years at a time.