An American in Rome

July 31st - August 1st

Happy Birthday Harry Potter! ... sorry, I couldn't help it.

The week was pretty uneventful (as far as my picture files show) but it was busy. We were getting more deeply into our studio designs, with lots of mini presentations (which mean lots of work outside of class, and limited time for explorations).

But come Friday, we had our first day trip! We met early in the morning for a trip to Tivoli gardens, a "suburb" of Rome (about an hour drive away). We mostly enjoyed the charter bus with its comfortable seats (which requires less walking).

Our first stop was Hadrian's Villa, who we figured out was the Hugh Hefner of ancient Rome. Although it is now in ruins, his villa had numerous pools, with many more baths, gardens, and lots of guesthouses.

Left: The largest pool is the most recognized of the Villa, with its hint at its former glory. Now, however, the pool is more of a pond, even with turtles!

We walked around the gardens for a while, and it was a pretty large complex. Some of the spaces were easier to imagine than others, but it was just nice to explore a bit. However, the places that we really wanted to go in were usually barred off, probably for safety. We still found our own way to have fun with the ruins, though.

Left: We found these capital bases all over the place, and we really enjoyed pretending to be columns. Lame, I know.









After Hadrian's Villa, we headed to Villa D'Este, which is in the town of Tivoli. It is known for its abundance of fountains, and those rumors were not wrong! There were fountains everywhere! It was nice, because it was really hot that Friday afternoon, especially after walking around the dry, dusty villa that morning.

Left: This is one of the more popular fountains, and it was definitely my favorite. I liked it because you could sit on the edge and hang your feet into the water. The water was pretty cold, but the most uncomfortable when a large chunk of moss came up under your feet... ew. Although it was closed when we were there, you can actually walk behind the wall of water through this arcade. But it did look a bit slippery...

Left: Although the other fountain was my favorite, this one is definitely the largest. And most dramatically, it was designed to be completely gravity-powered, not using pumps at all. The villa is close to a river that has a large vertical drop in the area (waterfall) which allows for such a high water spout. Considering our studio design in Rome is centered around water and using gravity power, this was a great place to see. And it was so beautiful!










That night, we were pretty exhausted after our trips that day, but we realized that we had hardly put Rome's shopping possibilities to the test yet, so we set out for Corso Victorio Emmanuele, one of the main shopping districts. The other shopping district is by the Spanish Steps, but that includes stores like Gucci and Armani - stores that I couldn't even afford to walk into. We were also feeling crunch time as the month of July was coming to a close, because July was the month for "Saldi" or "Sale," and it was the 31st! Also, I found these shoes in a store window that I had to go see...

Left: At the end of our shopping trip (and at the end of the Corso), we came to Piazza della Repubblica, which has a very expensive hotel around it, along with the nicest McDonald's in the world (so I've heard). In the middle of the piazza's roundabout is this fountain, which I couldn't pass up jumping in! It was the first Roman fountain that allowed this. Well, maybe not allowed, persay...

After a long day on Friday, we planned another long day on Saturday, beginning with our reservation to visit the Villa Borghese. It is in the middle of the Borghese garden, the largest garden in Rome. However, the villa is not that large (as far as villas go) and it is packed with numerous pieces of art by very well-known artists like Bernini, Caravaggio, and others, and they only let 200 people in at a time.

Left: Front of the Villa Borghese. We were prohibited from taking pictures inside... sadly. My favorite work was Bernini's David. It was amazing!

It was well-past lunch time by the time we came out of the gallery, and we knew that the Hard Rock Cafe was close by...

Left: The ceiling of the cafe was painted with cherubs holding... guitars. Lovely! But even more than the space, the food was amazing! I did not think I would miss hamburgers and fries as much as I did, but wow, I really missed them! That was the best bacon cheeseburger I have ever had! Also, they gave us free water with lemon, which is unheard of in Italy.

That afternoon, we set out for Rome's sport's complex, which is where the Roma stadium is located, as well as the temporary site for the Fina World Championships, which is what we were going to see.

Left: The outside of the swimming pavilion. We explored the site for a while, which was very similar to the Olympic Trials site in Eugene from last summer. Each of the pavilions had one of these large signs, and I was trying to mimic the pose of this swimmer.








We finally got inside! Our seats were in the corner, but the arena was not very large, so we still had a good view. Also, the sun was setting, and we had the sun to our back.

Left: The north end of the sadium, which had the jumbo-tron on it. Also, it was where all the country's teams were sitting, and we were right next to the USA team. It was especially nice, because there were not that many other US fans in the arena, so we felt bonded to them.

We watched numerous races, and they were all pretty exciting. Everytime an American swimmer came out (there weren't very many of them) it got really exciting. But to no avail, they never won. This was the second-to-last night of the Championships, so all the races were either finals or semi-finals. But finally...

Left: Michael Phelps! He was racing the 50m Fly, and it was so strange to watch him in person. I just thought of him as that swimmer from the Olympics, so to be able to watch him swim was amazing. This is him gearing up for his swim.







Left: And he's off! I was zooming in quite a bit, so I was kinda surprised I actually got a shot of him mid-dive. Look at those feet!















Left: Michael's form. So, in traditional Phelp's manner, he held the position for second during the whole race, then at the very end, he shot forward (I don't know how he went any faster, since he was already going so fast) and won the race, setting a new world record! So even though most of the crowd was Italians, they still were big fans of Michael Phelps, and they cheered so loud! They were even chanting his name!

Left: Towards the end, they had the medal ceremony for the 50m Butterfly. Once again, everyone cheered.











Left: Our view of the winner's platform during the medal ceremony. We couldn't even see the silver & bronze platforms. But we were able to see Michael as he shook different important people's hands, and got the medal. Then they played the National Anthem, which was really weird to hear after being outside of America for almost two months. But it did make me miss home a bit...

After the races and ceremonies were over, the people started to clear out. But you still get an idea of the size of the stadium, etc. Even though this is such a big event, second only to the Olympics, the site itself was not very large. But they had lots of cameras everywhere, so I guess they focus more on the people who watch it on tv instead of those who come to see it. It was so strange having this opportunity while we were in Rome, and I will never forget that I got to see Michael Phelps set a new world record.