Quick One

Hey All,

I start class soon so this will have to be a quick blog.

I haven't written in over a week because we were on a class trip. We started at our apartment in Rome on Wednesday morning (WAY too early for my taste) and drove down to Naples. Our first day was spent at the site of the ancient city (there seem to be a lot of those in Rome) of Paestum. There is a maze of half fallen brick walls and 3 very well preserved temples. Two dedicated to Hera and one to Apollo. We were given a couple of hours to sketch and take pictures there. On a side note, my skill in the artistic aspect of architecture is really progressing. Since we have been here, I have actually been enjoying sketching and can't wait to do it when I see something beautiful. Thats not to say that my drawings are any good, but at least you can tell what they are at this point. I'm hoping to scan some in to my computer and upload them sometime soon. However! I have yet to put pictures up so...

From Paestum we headed to our hotel for the night. We were given a couple hours to rest and then had a group dinner at the hotel. Our group of 34 students and 2 professors took over the restaurant and we all had an amazing meal with lots of red wine and laughing. It does help our merry making when we know that its all being paid for. We, somehow, managed to find a liquor store in the deserted beach town and continued the party in our block of hotel rooms. 

The next morning we headed to another ancient town, Ercolano (or Herculaneum in english). It was one of the cities that was ruined in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and apparently its very much like Pompeii. The modern city that surrounds the ruins is pretty disgusting and impoverished but we spent the day amongst the ruins so it didn't really affect us. Because of the nature of the city, we were able to stay in a ridiculously nice hotel. I'm talking 2 bathrooms per every 3 people. It was awesome. Again, we found a liquor store, and we roamed between hotel rooms all night. Since there are 34 of us and we all get along pretty well, its as if we bring a party wherever we go.

On Friday, we went to the Bay Naples. We did a lot of driving in the bus which I LOVED because it meant we could sleep. And sleep we did. Partying takes a lot out of you! Anyway, we went to a few more quick stop ancient ruins and ended in the city center of Naples. From there, we could take the train back to Rome with the professors or we could plan our own trip and make our own way back. 18 of us decided to take the ferry from Naples to Sicily and spend the weekend there. We took the sleeper ferry. After 9 hours of motion sickness and claustrophobia, we arrived in Palermo at 6 am. We wandered for an hour and eventually made it to our hostel.

The guy that ran the hostel was a complete sweetheart and told us all the places to go in the city. After a quick nap, we began exploring. First we all headed to the Catacombs. Now I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep, but I didn't really stop to think what I would see in a catacomb. We descended the stairs and happened upon hundreds of skeletons. Dressed as they were were they died (in their best) and hung on the walls like trophies or medals. I wasn't really sure how to react and kind of went in to a state of shock and disbelief. I don't deal very well when faced with death. I kind of go all quiet (very unusual for me) and don't start talking again for hours. Needless to say, because I wasn't mentally prepared, I had a very quiet meltdown. Once we got outside and started walking again. I snapped out of it. My mood was helped when a friend and I accomplished one of our goals for our time in Italy. We bought a pair of Italian leather boots. It had to be done and we got them for 50% off. Only 64 euro! haha. Anyway, they're beautiful and I don't regret a cent.

After that, we went up to Monreale (a hill overlooking the city) and meant to go into the church up there. It ended up being closed so, instead, we raided a pastry shop and enjoyed the view of the city. We took the long but gorgeous bus ride back to the hostel for a siesta and regrouping.

Guiseppe (the guy that owned the hostel) directed us to a fantastic place for dinner. They sat 11 of us, 2 courses, 4 bottles of wine, and an irish coffee each for 22 euro! Guiseppe hooked us up!

We left the restaurant at midnight in search of some nightlife. Us women soon discovered that the Italian men in Palermo are much more forward than those in Rome. We were groped, whistled at, yelled at, and even smelled. I am the type of person to be flattered by any kind of recognition, but this was a little bit much. After and hour of wandering, 3 other girls and I went back to the hostel and straight to bed. 

I woke up the next morning to the realization that I hadn't brought my passport for the flight back. It hadn't even crossed my mind that I would need it. I just thought of it like a domestic flight in the US. Wrong! There was no way I would get through security without it. There was one other guy that forgot his passport as well. We ran to the train station to get a couple of tickets for the sleeper train back to Rome. I then ran from the train station to the famous Palermo Cathedral to attend a service with a few friends. I had been wanting to attend a service so that I could experience the architecture as it was intended. It was a really traditional Catholic mass and it was actually really cool. 

After that, we walked through a market to have lunch in front of the Teatro Massimo. The rest of the kids had to leave to get the plane home so my passport losing friend and I went to the train station. We boarded the train in Palermo at 5 pm and arrived in Rome at 5.45 am. It was a very cold, uncomfortable, and long ride, made even more bitter by the fact that it was my own fault. Actually, I make it sound really awful but it wasn't all bad. Dennis and I were in a cabin with two Nigerian refugees that had been living in a camp for two months and were now heading to Milan to start their lives. Their ultimate goal was to immigrate to America. It was really inspiring to hear their story and it made me feel incredibly privileged.

Now we're back to two weeks of classes. It's broken up by a trip to Barcelona with 5 of my architecture girlfriends. We will be there for Valentine's day and figured it would be a good idea to make it an all girls trip. It should be another weekend of debauchery that prolongs my body's fight with the cold I've had for weeks. Oh well! Its worth it.

Class is about to start! We are going on a walk in the rain. Haha. Should be interesting. Hope all is well with everyone. I love getting your emails after I send out a blog. Keep them coming!

Love,

Ash