Last week was certainly a rollercoaster ride. The early part of last
week was spent with my head stuck in books and traveling throughout
libraries here in Rome trying to find sources for my art history
project. Of course the chase was for the sources in English.
Drawing class on Tuesday was spent on the Ponte St. Angelo near the
Vatican drawing. I actually started taking advantage of a tourist
taking a break across the bridge and used him as a live model. There
was also the entertainment of watching all of the purse sellers clear
the bridge when they thought the police were coming and return when
they thought the coast was clear. Of course this process was repeated
several times while we were there.
Wednesday night I treated myself for my birthday and went to a concert
of the Count Basie Orchestra at the new Auditorium build by Renzo
Piano. Both the building and the band were great. The auditorium
inside sort of looks like an inverted wooden turtle shell.
I mourned my 20's passing for most of the week and celebrated entering
a new decade on Thursday. My friends took me out for Indian food and
made me a cake with Reese's peanut butter cup frosting.
Art history class was spent looking at the architecture and baroque
paintings of Caravaggio and walking around the Campus Martius again
from Church to Palazzo to Church.
I went south for a mental break to see an old friend and his family
who have been stationed at the Naples Navy base. It was great to get
some Americana, relax, and not think, talk, or make art. I had the
fortunate opportunity to go to a t-ball game and a pee-wee soccer game
in a recreation park the Navy has built into a volcano crater. It was
fabulous!
Leslie, Trevor, the kids, and I all explored downtown Naples for a
little while Saturday and walked down Christmas Alley. It is the
street that has all of the shops selling the world renowned nativity
scenes of Naples. It was wonderful to be around kids, dogs, and a
family even for a little while. Life felt a little normal again. For
dinner they took me to a little trattoria down a back alley that was
some awesome. It's a fixed price place that you get what the cook
feels like for the day. The minute you sit down the food just keeps
coming and coming and coming. I still might be full.
I must thank Leslie, who took me to the commissary on base where I
stocked up on certain grocery items you just can't find such as:
cheddar cheese, maple syrup, jello pudding, and Reese's pieces and pb
cups. And to take on the train back to Rome with me, I swung by the
Subway on base. I have to say it was definitely a splurge to be able
to have that in the middle of a foreign country.
Yesterday was time to return to reality and concentrate on excavation
reports and analysis of early christian mosaics from the church of San
Lorenzo Fuori le Mura (my independent research project for art
history). I've take a break from them to write this, which reminds
me...I better get back to it.
I hope all of you are well and happy. Hope to hear from you soon.
Jenny
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