What I found most interesting on the painting floor was the way ceilings portrayed a fake sense of space and depth. The first room had a classical marble roof, painted of course, with paired men holding it up on many sides of the room. Allan and I both agreed it seemed a little homoerotic, but hey it was Rome – it’s pretty appropriate.
After a few minutes, I nearly finished a quick rendering of one of these pairs muscley pairs, and moved on with a few people downstairs. Bernini’s sculptures quickly sucked in my attention, becoming the main focus of most rooms. Though I had little time to sketch, I chose to write on the Rape of Prosperina, as seen in the entry below. Alissa and I wandered out into the gardens, which I had not seen last time, and we wrote before meeting up with the group to purchase gift shop items and leave for our next agenda.
Though our stomachs all rumbled, we first met with a guide at the Villa Medici, a young girl who led us around the French-Academy owned seven acres of amazing property once owned by the Medici. Housing many works by students as well as Medici originals, we saw a famous garden, their house with tapestries, and a small villa with lovely painting inside.
After this, we ate a quick lunch in the expensive cafeteria before setting out towards the nearby Spanish Steps. We briefly explored the church at the top of the steps, three of our class members giving their presentation by the church, on the steps on our way down, and at the crowded fountain on the bottom. We did not loiter long before moving on.
We walked around what had been the northern Campus Martius, seeing another church from the outside, and walking past Augustus’ Mausoleum, now closed to the public and looking quite in disrepair. Entering a fascist modern building, we discovered the housing of the Ara Pacis, which had many pieces still well preserved. Though moved from its original site, we were awed as we wandered around Agustus’ peaceful altar, allowed to get close and walk inside. The designs were amazing, especially the florals, and though we were very tired, many seemed to favor the building.
After a long day, we headed back to campus for a much needed rest before dinner. Hopping on the bus, we only moved a few feet before an unexpected event occurred – a long bike-a-thon that blocked off our route! After a while of standing, we hopped off the bus to walk, only to notice the stream of bikers slowly trickling to a stop. We hurried to get back on the bus before it left without us. My life is full of timing fail, alas. So once again, a group of us wandered to Trastevere, only to catch an interesting site in the square. Before sitting to satisfy our stomachs, we watched an amusing street performance consisting of fire juggling and unicycling, as well as holding men together without seats!
It was after this we discovered a few cute shops, bookmarking them in our minds for later. When we settled on a place for dinner, we were easily accommodated and quickly ordered various pizza and pasta dishes. I settled for pizza once more, having not had it in a few days.
On our way back, the bus seemed to neve arrive. Anxious to get back and tired of waiting, we settled for walking home once more, this time along the river. Once along Castel St. Angelo, we witnessed a married couple taking bridal photos, and still open market places, several of us making little purchases while others wandered home. It wasn’t long before we were back at St. Johns, many new shops in our minds for later in the week, and bags happily in hand.
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