happy 4th

Happy 4th of July from Roma, everyone!

So Thursday we went to San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) for Art History class. It's the church that holds the chains that supposedly bound St. Peter in Jerusalem. It also houses Michelangelo's Moses! This was one of his masterpieces and what he considered to be his best work, although it did not turn out to be as big as he had originally planned. It was also supposed to be on the tomb of Julius II, but that never happened either. Anyways the church is beautiful, and the sculpture is amazing. The emotion on Moses' face is especially captivating.

The chains that bound St. Peter

Michelangelo's Moses!

After San Pietro in Vincoli we visited the Capitoline Hill, which was designed by Michelangelo (a prolific guy in Rome!). He planned the layout of the Piazza at the top of the square and the architecture of the buildings. It was supposed to symbolize the civic center of Rome, which it still kind of does. I think that we get to go back to the Capitoline Museum, which has some great ancient stuff, such as pieces of the giant statue of Constantine.

In the afternoon, we visited Il Gesu, or "The Jesus," which is the mother church of the Jesuits. The Jesuits were/are a Catholic religious order devoted to Jesus-hence their name. They were first established to help the pope and the Catholic church battle the Reformation through their teachings and missionary work. The Baroque church is incredibally ornate on the inside. It even houses a first-order relic of the church, the bones of the hand of St. Francis!

The facade of Il Gesu

Ceiling painting in Il Gesu-it is designed like an optical illusion, where the figures seem to be descending straight out of the sky.

After class on Thursday we had another thunderstorm... since we were at our apartment, which is only a few blocks from the Pantheon, we decided to run there to see the rain coming through the oculus. SO COOL! The pictures don't really do it justice since it was hard to capture the rain, but it was fun to stand there and watch the rain come through. The thunder just made it more exciting. They had the area taped off so the rain could go through the drains in the ground.

Wet ground-water going through the drains

Trying to capture the rain coming through the oculus.

Yesterday (Friday), we had Gifts and Sacrifice class, and also watched the movie "Babette's Feast" for class. Most of the time we spent reviewing for our test on Monday. It's amazing how fast a 5-credit class goes in 5 weeks! Later in the evening, almost all of the girls in the program went out for Aperitivo in the Trastevere area. This is an Italian concept where you go to a bar, pay for your drink (usually a bit more expensive than normal), and then have access to an all-you-can-eat appetizer buffet. What a great idea! Apertivo can start as early as 6 PM and go as late as 10 or 11. It is designed to be a stop before going out for dinner or a night on the town. We all made several trips to the buffet, though, so it was enough dinner for us! After that we hung around in Trastevere for a while, people-watching and sitting by the fountain in Piazza della Santa Maria in Trastevere. We also visited the summer festival that is being held along the banks of the Tiber river. It was a relaxing Friday night after a busy week.

Some of the girls enjoying our Aperitivo food and drink, sitting on the steps outside the bar

The lively festival along the Tiber

This morning (Saturday) we went to the Galleria Borghese. I LOVED it. The art there was so awesome. We saw multiple Caravaggio paintings, other great Baroque and Mannerist works, and most importantly, simply AMAZING Bernini sculptures! The ones we saw were the first four he made, paid for by the Borghese family. I am blown away that at my age, Bernini was making these masterpieces. The detail, the accuracy of the human body, the emotion on the faces-all carved out of a big piece of marble! It just overwhelms me. We looked at the statues for quite a while, as they never cease to amaze (unfortunately, no cameras allowed in the Galleria). After that I spent some time admiring the Caravaggios, and then we explored the Villa Borghese, which is the huge estate that the Galleria is in. There are other museums in the estate too, as well as a zoo and lots of romantic gardens. It was really a beautiful place. My guidebook had rated it the most romantic place in Rome-now I can see why! It is on the top of a hill and therefore has some great views of the city as well.

The Galleria building

Walking on the grounds of the Villa

View from the top of the hill

On the way back, Sheida and I walked down the Via del Corso, which is a major shopping street in Rome. Twice a year, every store has a government-mandated sale, one of which is going on right now. Obviously we couldn't help but do a little shopping with all the "saldi" signs screaming at us!

The very busy Via del Corso

Tonight we are having a group BBQ/4th of July celebration. A professor from another UW program going on right now is letting us use his apartment, which has a terrace and a barbeque. Tomorrow we are going to the beach at Sperlonga! I am excited for some downtime away from the hustle and bustle of the city.