by Austin Sandy
Contents Places Faces Vases
Santa Marinella
Our third day in the city was great! A small group of use ventured out to the coast to swim in the Mediterranean Sea today! We can check that off our bucket list! It was a quick and easy commute‌just a bus, subway, and 1 hour train ride. The water was beautiful, the beach was bouncing with activity, and the seaside city of Santa Marinella was beautiful. We spent some time swimming the waters and soaking up these Italian rays. Today’s weather was perfect for the beach. I nice breeze and occasional clouds.
Tarquinia Studying abroad a second time has been even more eye-opening than the first. I have loved being able to feed off of the knowledge and excitement of the many people on this trip. I’ve said it in previous blogs: some students just want to “get through college” and that makes me so sad. An experience like this is changing my life in so many ways. I’m slowly but surely developing my skills, seeking out options, and discovering what I want to do with my one short life. And it’s not even just a career in art that I’m learning so much about. It’s about friendships, history, courage, and so much more. This study abroad experience has been incredible. We are a week in and I’m overflowing with excitement and education! I’m excited for the images I’m creating in my photography class but although I’m only registered for photography, I’m taking the chance to eavesdrop on the Art History classes that are going on at the same time and I’m scraping up even more fun facts. By being on an adventure like this, one with 2 faculty members and 4 other exceptionally knowledgeable adults (our history teacher’s husband and our photography teacher’s 2 photographer friends),
is something I want to make the most of. For any college or high school student that may be reading my blog, take every chance you can to ask professionals questions. Lots of questions. I am constantly asking questions about how these people have made it in the art and education realms and how I can succeed in the same. Although this doesn’t directly effect my photography class, it effects my future. College is about more than class. It’s about learning everyday. All day. After a serious moment about my excitement for learning…here’s a quick update on our journey. Today (June 10th) started with a visit to the Etruscan tombs in Tarquinia, continued with lunch in the beautiful town that overlooks the Mediterranean, and concluded with a visit to an archaeological museum where we had the chance to see the Etruscan sarcophagi. The town of Tarquinia made a great location for our first photo shoot with models as well. Check out some of the best images I’ve captured so far on my adventure in Italy! Tomorrow we have another day full of site visits to the Colosseum, The Forum, and the baths. I’m looking forward to the history and photos that await me!
Pompeii Life is fragile. Photography is powerful. On our visit to the ruins of Pompeii today, I realized just how fragile it really is. We began by hiking around the beautiful mountain side ruins, enjoying the breeze, snapping photos of the peaceful clouds rolling down Mount Vesuvius. But it became so real when we happened upon some archaeologists working with the remains of the victims of Pompeii. When I saw the bodies, encased forever in solidified rock, I realized any moment could be the last. I stood at the foot of an active volcano that destroyed so much and felt oddly empowered. It’s amazing what power comes from being behind a camera. Today was simply a blessing. I was able to soak up the history and the nature and photograph one of my new amazing friends I’ve made on this journey! Today is Kylee’s birthday and all she wanted was a photo-shoot at the ruins of Pompeii. How many people get to say they had a photo-shoot in Pompeii on their birthday? Yes, that’s a pretty specific wish and just some lucky timing, but it all boils down to this…with the power of a camera, I was able to make someone’s day!
Orvieto Saturday (June 20th) was uhm…unique.
He kicked back and enjoyed the ride.
We met at the Termini train station in Rome at 10:00AM expecting to board the 11:00 train. But, either I misunderstood the Italian website or the train was canceled. Either way, we had to wait until 1:00pm to depart. No problem. We decided to enjoy the two hour wait by having lunch and doing a bit of shopping around the train station. We made it to the beautiful cliff-side town of Orvieto around 2:15 and our day of photography and sight-seeing began. We had some delicious gelato, explored the underground city where in the early centuries the locals would hide and keep their pigeons for trade, and we got to see a beautiful wedding taking place at Orvieto’s Cathedral: The Duomo. The city was beautiful and overlooked the Italian country side and I was able to get some great photos of Sam during our photo-shoot. When it came time for dinner, we decided to stay in Orvieto and enjoy the city just a bit longer. Our train home was at 7:30pm, but we assumed there would be another one shortly after, so we didn’t get in a hurry. When we finally made our way back down the mountain, we learned that the earliest train was leaving at 9:30. Eh, no big deal. We decided to go back up and watch the sunset over the mountains. We were able to capture some great photos and explore another side of town. We made our back down the mountain, yet again. We found our platform and confirmed with the employee at the train station about our trip back to Rome. After a short while of waiting, our train arrived and we hopped on. We were pleasantly surprised and a bit confused when we saw our train had private rooms and seats that folded into beds. But why would we question such a fabulous train?
About an hour after we left Orvieto we happened upon the first Rome train stop. But we remembered there were 2, and ours was the second. PLOT TWIST!! The train made sharp turn away from Rome and started towards the coast. We weren’t too concerned because we thought there would be one more stop and then it would come back. NOPE! It kept going for more than an hour before the next stop. But we were afraid to get off at that stop and be abandoned in the middle of nowhere so we made the great decision to stay on the train to GodKnows-Where! We spoke to an employee and a passenger who both suggested we get off at the next stop even though there was no train back to Rome until 4:20AM. We students decided we could wait that long at the train station and buy a ticket back to RomeHome. We stopped in the town of Formia and a nice taxi driver was giving us hotel pointers. But they were all full. He then offered us a taxi ride back to Rome, which we were ready to politely turn down because we were afraid of the price. But he offered to take us home for only 200 Euro! Split between 9 people, that’s not too bad at all. We loaded his van and began the 2 hour trek home. He drove at least 90MPH the whole way! It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. But we survived. After a 3 hour train ride and 2 hour taxi ride, we made it home around 3AM and slept most of the day! Totally worth it.
Florence
Vatican City My First Visit To St. Peter’s:
I took the day to take a personal walking tour of the city. It was nice to just unwind after some busy days of travel and getting oriented. I quickly found Vatican City and discovered they sure have some tight security. But not really. I walked right up to the front and saw St. Peter himself. A statue of course. Tonight we’re going out for a nice dinner tonight to celebrate Blake’s birthday and tomorrow we have a museum visit bright and early in the morning. Ciao for now! Our Class Visit to St. Peter’s, The Sistine Chapel, and The Vatican Museums: Some days can be overwhelming with the culture and history. Today was one of those days. The art history inside the walls of Vatican City is beyond belief. Today I had the chance to see some of my favorite pieces by Raphael, Bernini, and Michelangelo. I saw Egyptian mummies and the burial site of St. Peter. I climbed to the top of St. Peter’s dome to see the amazing view of the city. I got to see the Sistine Chapel and “The Last Judgment”. And I saw the Pieta. It was a day full of disbelief. I still can’t believe some of the work I saw, only ever expecting to see these things in textbooks. While up on the roof at St. Peter’s, I also had the chance to work on our landscape photography assignment. With this assignment, we learned about working with a variety of design components to create nice landscape images.
Dublin Our day in Dublin, Ireland was perfect. I had the chance to explore a village with Professor Kim and two other photography students. We got to see this fabulous castle and the Irish Sea. Our food was great and we can finally communicate with locals. The English language is so refreshing after spending a month in Italy!
Rome
Giorgia Cardella
Blake Organ
Tessie Greiner
Kylee Westerman
Dalya Gebba
Sara Brown
Sam Crawford
Aubrey Grayce
Madison Powell
Monica Norman
Phoebe Hudspeth
and other beautiful beholdings
Figuring it All Out.
During the first couple of days in Rome I learned several important lessons about Italian life. 1.) Italians know how to drive…in their own special way. J-walking is not illegal and we’ve learned that if you follow the locals and pretend you know what you’re doing, you probably won’t get run over.
And! They respect pedestrians. Europeans aren’t always in a rush quite like Americans, so they’re usually willing to pause for pedestrians. 2.) Italians are similar to Southerners from what I can gather. I didn’t expect for people to nod or say “Ciao” as they pass each other on the street. In fact it weirded me out a bit. But now I know how northerners feel when we express our southern hospitality. 3.) Just Don’t Even Say No. At the Colosseum we were approached
by at least 17 people (some of them up to 5 times) asking us to buy scarves, selfie sticks, hats, sunglasses, dancing puppets, bobble heads of the Pope, phone chargers, bottled water, and tour bus tickets. We learned quickly to ignore them. Saying “no” seems to open the door for them. I guess they don’t know the difference in “Si” or “No”. 4.) Don’t help yourself. When in a store, it’s probably best to have someone help you find what your looking for. Because if you’re like Monica, they may say “No no, I show you. You have to ask to look.” 5.) Take the FULL tour of your apartment or living quarters upon arrival. Because ya never know, you may just discover a 3rd bathroom on the 2nd day of your stay in Rome.
The Duomo Florence
Maxxi Museum Rome
St. Teresa in Ecstasy Rome
Villa Borghese Galleria Rome
Pantheon Rome
Villa Guila Museum, Rome
TORRE ARGENTINA CAT SANCTUARY