The final update before SOUTHERN ITALY!

So, I wanted to add an update prior to our trip to Southern Italy. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!

Monday was our final pin up for project 1. It was a fun day, and much less stressful than a critique at home would be. Everyone's projects turned out really well - I was impressed by our all of our abilities! Here are some of the pictures from the event!

These are mine and Maureen's projects...mine on top, hers on the bottom! SO PRETTY!

Oh Chris, you just HAD to be in the picture...

Showing off my project...isn't it lovely?

This pretty much sums up our relationship right there...


Yesterday was the second wine tasting. Massimo was very nice and explained a lot about different wines from Italy. We went from south to north. It was good. Some photos from that...


We tricked Connie - right before she took the picture (we asked her to say 1-2-3), we made funny faces! It was GREAT!

Then we decided to be serious...which turned out good too.

Hmm - so the rest of the evening will be spent prepping for the upcoming trip. Hopefully, the weather will hold out and it won't rain when we are supposed to go to Pompeii - I don't want to miss that experience. If we don't go this trip, hopefully we can arrange to go back and see it. I'm also really looking forward to Cefalu - where we will be for the bulk of our trip. We'll be by the beach...even on the beach...and that could be the best part of the trip all together! I'm not sure when I will be able to update next, but I will hopefully get the chance some time while we are away and I will let you know of all the goings on!

Arrivederci amici!

The weekend update...

My big plans to go out and have fun were slightly crushed. Not in a bad way, but it seems that my ambition to do so much didn't follow through.

Friday night we went to Grottapinta - a new lounge/bar/club - that was having its grand opening. Who knew you had to RSVP? Luckily, Dave (our connection throughout all of Rome) knows the owner and we were able to get in. The place was SO crowded it was hard to move but we got through to the coat check and then eventually made our way to the dance floor after snagging a table. It was a good time - I was happy.


Yesterday, we went shopping in the morning. Via Corso was a lot less crowded than last weekend but with Saldi still going on, it seems like there will always be some kind of crowd. But we had fun - then it was in studio to get some work done. Matt and Chris cooked us dinner - which was delicious and even better because we didn't have to trek back to our apartment to cook something for ourselves. Dinner was followed by some Joe Rivetto Gelato - unfortunately, the Statue of David was not working - and more studio.

This morning, our plan to go to Porta Portese was brought to a sudden hault when we all slept through the 7:00 am alarm. So, we'll have to wait for another month.

However, exciting news did come yesterday! We will be traveling to Barcelona in early February to see the kids there! EXCITING! I talked to meghan for at least an hour on skype last night and it was fun. I can't wait for our Barcelona weekend!

That is all for now! Ciao!

A busy week...

It's been a very busy week. Since Monday, we've been working in Studio on project one. Its been a pretty interesting week to be honest. I feel like studio here is much different from studio at home. Quieter. Which is very nice. The due date for the project was moved to Monday, but I think we've all got a very good handle on our final outcomes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed at least.

I decided Wednesday night that I wanted to document some of the silly antics that we experience here in studio. Spiro was kind enough to oblige my wishes.


Adam joined in as well. Its nice to be goofy on occasion.

After our preliminary pin up yesterday, I cooked dinner. FINALLY, I was the one who cooked dinner. And I must say, it was rather tastey. We had gnocchi (store bought, of course...and slightly overcooked I'm afraid) that was mixed in with some chicken and alfredo sauce. I'm not sure if that's a likely pairing (gnocchi, chicken, and alfredo), but it was still good. I was worried that the alfredo sauce wouldn't come out right since I was making it from scratch, but with Amy's suggestions, it came together rather nicely. I wish I had documented the evening, but I wasn't thinking of it at the time.

This weekend holds so much promise! Today I'll be in studio most of the afternoon and maybe part of the evening as well. Tomorrow, who knows - we can do whatever we please! And Sunday...Sunday we are going to Porta Portese (the large flea market that is supposed to have everything)! I think I'm looking forward to that the most! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures this weekend - even some of myself - and post them Monday night if not sooner! We leave for Southern Italy on Thursday, I'm so excited to see other parts of the country!

Ciao for now!

Santa Maria in Trastevere

Today we took a trip to Santa Maria in Trastevere. The Piazza was a lot quieter than the others we've been to so far. Accept for Villa Giulia which we had to pay to get in (already prepaid actually). I enjoyed our time there - the church was beautiful...I wish it hadn't been so dark inside because I would have liked if my indoor pictures had come out clearer. Even with a flash it was hard to see. Here are some of the good pictures.


As you can tell, the inside pictures were harder to take. But I wanted to show some of the really beautiful mosaics. I was really impressed. Even sat for a few minutes and made my three wishes!


Its fun to sit together and sketch. You get to bounce ideas off of one another and work together. I figured I'd document some of the concentration.
And then...

...there's Duffy.

And a very cute little girl feeding and chasing the pigeons!

The rest of the week will be spent in studio. Our first history class is Wednesday morning and our first presentation for studio is on Thursday. Then, we are luckily going to have a light work weekend followed by a trip to Southern Italy a few days later! YAY! I'm excited to see Naples, Palermo, Pompeii, and CEFALU (especially Cefalu)!

First week's drawing to a close...

Friday night, here in studio. Seems like when we arrive everyone else is packing up. Ah well, it is 7:30.

Maureen and I visited the Vatican today to sketch St. Peters...it was the most english I've heard since landing. Its very beautiful there - they still had the Nativity display and their Christmas tree up. It reminded me of the National Christmas tree in Washington - just less colorful. Here are some photos from this afternoon.

This is the view walking to the vatican. It was fun going because so many people were there and it was nearing the end of the day. Seemed a pretty good way to end it.

The Christmas tree above and the Nativity below...

And here's me! Finally in a picture! YAY! I figured the Vatican was as good a place as any to start the documentation.

Walking there, we saw some people posing like they were statues! At first I was convinced that they were ACTUAL statues. It was pretty cool...I had to take pictures of that!


And finally, something you may want to see...OUR STUDIO! Not quite like Catholic, but just as nice. One could get used to this life in Roma!


Well, for this evening, that is all! Have a good weekend!

Just a little update...

Some more pictures for those of you interested...Campidoglio where the Forum is in the city - you can see the Collosseum in the background in the first picture. I can't wait to go there!
Dave deciding he wanted to be a photographer using my sunglasses as a prop...maybe it was a cool shot after all.

I thought that this fact was pretty interesting. While at Campidoglio, Dave told us a story about Musollini's construction of his building and monument to Victorio Emmanuel (I hope I am getting this right). The statue at the top has his back turned to Campidoglio (the capitol) much as a representation of a statement Musollini was trying to make - he was in charge, and he could do whatever it was that he wanted. I found the tale intriguing and wished my photography could portray the symbolism I probably never would have caught on to if it hadn't been for Dave's explanation. So, I did my best - here's the two that seemed to do the trick (to the best of my ability anyway)...

For now, that is all - it is off to St. Peters to do some more sketching!

Arrivederci!

Giorno Numero Sei

I'm doing my best to practice what little Italian I actually know! I thought that as a little treat for those of you looking for pictures of my journey I would add a few of interest. The first is a view from Maureen's camera and their flight from Paris to Rome. I unfortunately did not think to photograph those beautiful alps that we could see from the plane! How AMAZING IS THAT?

The next couple of pictures are of our apartment! See the luxury we have for the next 4 months?!?! This is our entry hallway:

And our living room areaOur bedroom...then my bed in particular
View at night of Piazza delle Copelle

Pantheon at night (which did I mention is around the corner from my apartment - I can enjoy this architectural feature at any time I want!)


Seems that the images are taking a bit of time to download, so that's all for this time but I'll be sure to keep things up to date! At least you got my favorites so far! Hope all is well back in the states and for those friends abroad elsewhere (like Belgium, Ireland, London, and Barcelona)!

Arrivederci for now!

Ciao!

Ciao everyone! We have made it to Roma and are safe and enjoying the scenery! It has been quite an interesting 4 days but we've luckily survived with only minor scrapes and bruises. And it's very exciting.

So far, my favorite moments have been: 1. The Pantheon at night...one of the most beautiful and inspirational moments of my life! 2. Friday night's dinner with the whole group -- 4 cheese pizza and my ability to devour the WHOLE thing along with tiramisu! 3. Finding the supermarket - you wouldn't think this a major deal but it was very exciting for us...hopefully soon we will make trips to the actual markets for some fresh ingredients. Currently, we're just trying to get the basics down.

Pictures of the apartment, and the Pantheon at night will be up soon! Missing everyone back in the states - wish you could be here with me!