N o v e m b r e / D i c e m b r e 2008
Firenze skyline from Piazzale Michelangelo
1) Quasi al mezzo punto del anno... va troppo veloce! Buon Natale, e Buone Feste a tutti voi! Let me just say first of all... for those of you who graciously waited through the month of November and still had hope that another letter would arrive, I am sorry to have kept you waiting, and thank you for your patience. For everyone else, this will be the standard from now on, an informative letter every two months. If you can decipher the heading of this paragraph, then you too will understand that for me at this point I am nearly half-way through this wonderful year, and already a little sad to know that it will eventually end. It isn’t as if there is nothing to come back home to... on the contrary... and yet there is so much to miss leaving behind this beautiful “paese”.
2) Il Tempo Well, it couldn’t last forever! The weather in Florence, as throughout the majority of Italy, has turned cold for the time being. Although for several weeks into November, Fall seemed to linger onward, and the necessity for using the heaters inside the apartment was held at bay, the cold finally arrived late in the month, along with the rain. While the cold came and went at its own will, the rain seemed to be here to stay, as it seemed to rain intermittently for several weeks in a row, right up until near the end of classes in mid-December! The combination was unpleasant, and thankfully our apartment is located so close to school, as we suffered much less than the other students walking from afar. If the news from Italy indeed travels outside to other parts of the world, then perhaps you too will have heard about the flooding of Venice and Rome! Fortunately, our visits to both of those wonderful cities took place just weeks before, and so we avoided what would have been a rather disappointing trip. Furthermore, we are fortunate here in Florence that after the great flood of 1966, the protections set in place keep the river from overflowing. When the river was at its worst, a few weeks ago, it was several meters above its normal level, bursting over the small dams at both ends of the city with an explosive power, murky brown and turbulent. Parts of the river bank that were normally exposed disappeared, leaving behind strange leafless trees poking out of the water! It was a rather vivid scene compared with the usual tranquility and reflectivity of the Arno. Just as food for thought, I found a plaque on one of the remaining city wall towers across the river that marked the height of the flood, where somehow the river reached around three to four meters above the city streets (several feet over my own head!). As well, during one of our field trips in our Florentine Architecture class, we noted in the church of S. Croce a distinct water line along the walls and even over famous paintings where water damage had left its mark. As for the rest of December, the malice of November seems to have taken a rest, and occasionally the blue skies return. The outside temperatures are still rather frigid, and necessitate gloves, hats, and several outer layers at the least. On the distant hills you can see snowcapped peaks! It strikes me as strange having winter in Italy, but thankfully it won’t last for long!
3) Halloween comes late... To put a story with the face you are about to see on the next page, let me explain my odd choice of Halloween costume. Surprisingly enough, although perhaps none of us students would have expect-
ed it, we were able to pull off a rather impressive and successful Halloween in Italy. Even though most of us missed the true date of Halloween while vacationing during the break, when we returned one of the apartments that houses seven students put on a massive Halloween party which was attended by nearly the entire student body one evening (probably in the whereabouts of around 75 students). Almost everyone found a way to dress up, and in my case the nearby “one Euro store” proved to be the ideal hunting ground for a suitable costume. My “budget wizard” costume came about from a nickname given to me in our intensive Italian language class, where several of my friends began calling me the “wizard”, as almost always I R o o m m a t e U l y s s e s C a r m o n a ( c o s t u m e s e l f - e v i d e n t ) a n d m y s e l f (B u d g e t W i z a r d ) would know the answer to a languagerelated question when everyone else was stumped, thus they said I was always doing “wizard-work” to find out these obscure answers...so I thought it would be appropriate to be a wizard. The budget part comes about due to the overall cost of my outfit, from scratch it totaled only 6 Euro, the equivalent of around 8-9 USD! Even Goodwill can’t sell you a full costume for that price these days! The hat came as is, although I had to cut off the cotton-ball top to allow it to remain rigid and pointed. I added the star decorations with architecture pens brought from home. The wand was also a Christmas-themed item, easily transformed into my specific use without any changes. The beard, however, was the trickiest (and most disgusting) part of the costume, in which I created an under layer template of my face from ear to ear with a mouth hole from an old cereal box. To this backing, I added another curving template to create the beard length and shape. Then, quite tediously, I began to pull-apart and glue together with cyano- T he B udget W izard : 6 E uro costume from “1 E uro S tore ” acrylate modeling glue (the famed Maxicure used at Cal Poly) a log of cotten until satisfied with the beard. Needless to say, the cotton in the mouth did not feel very nice, and worse yet the fumes of the toxic glue made it very unpleasant to breath. Eventually during the party, I was forced to rip off my moustache so that I could effectively (and actually) have conversations with people! Finally, the man-vest was originally supposed to be a full body cape made of a plastic paint tarp, but the material I bought wasn’t strong enough to zip-tie together. Instead, I created a second cardboard template of my upper-body, almost a suit of armor, to which I adhered blue and gold star wrapping paper (my parents may or may not have received the same wrapping paper on gifts recently sent for Christmas). The suit of armor did not, however, quite fit nor close around the waist-section, and as a result I applied a set of zip-tie “laces” with jingle bells hanging in the middle. The end result is rather comical, a pseudoSanta on a budget with stars everywhere, but I think the idea got across at least! Needless to say, the long (and public) walk to the party got me more awkward stares than I cared to receive, but then again us “crazy American students” are mostly used to this by now! Many other students put together similarly creative and comedic outfits, including my room-
View of Ponte Vecchio and the lazy Arno
looking west towards
Pisa
mate Ulysses, who without more than buying a nice red tie and creating a stellar badge, put together a rather believable costume of President-elect Obama! Everybody loved it! Elsewhere, several fellow Cal Poly architecture students stole the show, one dressing up as the most believable drag queen any of us had ever seen, most of us didn’t even recognize the guy at first! Another tall guy, famous for his habit of drinking the “Tavernello”, which in essence is the highly popular brand name of a one Euro liter of table red wine popular among the student body, created a life-size box of Tavernello that he wore! The two of them in combination was almost too much to handle at first view, they must have worked on the costumes all day as they were incredibly well thought out and creative. Overall, it was a really fun get-together, mostly just to see what kind of costumes students in a foreign country can come up with on a days notice and to see the reaction on the locals’ faces upon seeing us all dressed up!
4) Le Classi Nuove In the changing of the seasons, I too have changed from the PLP (Preparatory Language Program) to the new classes of the first semester. Classes now run from Monday through Thursday, leaving a wonderful three day weekend allowing for generous travel opportunities. My first class of the week, Florentine Architecture, is an all-morning long class only on Mondays where we alternate between in class lectures and three-hour visits around town, revisiting in greater detail the main monuments and churches of Florence. It is a wonderful class, in part because it carries transferable units back to Cal Poly, but mostly because you become more knowledgeable about the city in which you temporarily live in. The class focuses mostly on the actual built architecture and the famous architects, like Filippo Brunelleschi, who have left such a huge legacy here, but also covers political, social, and constructional aspects of each project (helping to really tie buildings into the rich history of Florence). Our professor is a very funny Italian man who has a most-interesting manner of speaking English involving the use of many awkward Italian hand motions and gestures, of which we find endless humor in (both during and after class). I must quickly recall one of the funnier moments we have experienced so far in Italy, which took place several weeks ago when we visited the church of S. Croce, and Brunelleschi’s masterpiece “La Capella dei Pazzi” which is adjacent to the church in the cloister. We where seated around inside the Capella and our professor began to lecture, when all of a sudden we noticed a lone
evil pigeon above in the vaults. It flew around above in the small Capella vaults and then landed on a perch directly above our speaking professor. He looked up, made a joke about what was about to happen, then promptly stepped out of the way to the right. No more than a second or two later, an enormous splatter of bird poop exploded exactly where he had been standing a second before! We all could not believe it! Then, to make this trip even funnier, as we were leaving the cloister, our professor wanted to quickly show us a famous wooden cross in a nearby chapel, but to get there we decided to remove a rope barrier and take a more direct route rather than walk all the way back around. Seeing this “grave travesty” take place, one of the cloister supervisors came running over and began to verbally assault our Professor in Italian, lecturing him rudely and threatening him, and went even as far as using the informal “tu” form to him! A grave insult indeed, our normally quirky, comedic “English-version” of a professor turned suddenly into a very stereotypical Italian, responding even more aggressively to his aggressor! Quickly it became apparent to the supervisor that he picked the wrong tour-guide to mess with on this day, not to mention the fact that he had just disrespected a fellow Florentine in front of his 30-40 students. As he started to back away, threatening to kick us all out of the cloister, our professor kept on cutting him off every time he went to speak by uttering the word “Lei”, significative of the proper form to address a professor, instead of the “tu” verb form (basically the equivalent of “usted” for those who know some basic Espanol). Finally, nearly halfway across the cloister, the supervisor attempted one last Another vista of Firenze, near Piazzale Michelangelo: Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, and S.M. del Fiore (Il Duomo)
sentence, again cut off by our professor, who finished him off with a resounding “Lei, stai zitto!” that echoed throughout the courtyard (translating to: Sir, sir... shut up!”). You must realize that prior to this point none of us had ever heard our professor speak Italian, and certainly not an Italian involving insults (which I will leave out of the story for now), rudeness, and angry tones (although in my opinion he had the right to defend his actions). Meanwhile, we were all half-terrified, half-shocked, and trying to piece together the translation of what just went down! I must mention we all wear these silly tourist ear-pieces to hear him at a distance, and for some of us the entire conversation went like this: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah... Lei, Lei, Lei, Lei, Lei, Lei, Lei... Stai ZITTO!!! The real kicker was that after all this, our professor reverted directly back into his kind, comedic English-speaking personality, chuckling as he checked his watch and looked around, “well Ragazzi, it unfortunately looks like we have run out of time (which we had) and I will see you all next week”, truly as if nothing had just happened! Perfectly timed, we all managed to get out of the cloister before the supervisor could return with backup to kick us all out! In addition to this “very interesting” Florentine Architecture class, we all continue our Italian language learning, with two separate classes, which alternate every day for two hours (but in all less time per week than the singular intensive class in the PLP). One class continues the grammar and conversation exercises from before, introducing new verb tenses and dealing with more complicated topics of grammar, while the other focuses on cultural readings, presentations, Italian-language movies and songs,
and occasionally short field trips within the immediate My most successful “Lasagne” to date! area. The latter class I enjoy immensely, while the former is somewhat of a disappointment following the highly enjoyable prior class of the PLP. Both are with new professors, however after having arguably the best professor for Italian the first time through, it is difficult to adjust to other styles of teaching. I try to keep motivated, though, and learn as much as I can while I am here. I have been fortunate to watch some really high-quality Italian films so far, which are also great for language-skill development, and in particular would recommend a film called “Io Non Ho Paura” (I am not afraid), I believe it is directed by someone named “Gabriele Salvatores”. While I hoped to advance into an upper-level Italian class for this semester, I was disappointed at first to be placed into the next level with the same group of students from before. However, after several weeks, it became apparent that this was actually a blessing for me, as with the start of Architecture classes, I found myself with much less time to dedicate to Italian as before, allowing me to still get by just fine without heavily studying. I still like to put in a little studying time of my own outside of class (neither really push me very hard) and most of all enjoy watching television from time to time to deal with the actual speed of conversation and pick up cultural idioms. Finally, I have a variety of architecture classes that take place all Monday after the other two classes, and all Wednesday with a break during the afternoon for Italian language. It is pretty tough (and especially was at first) to go to class for 10-11 hours on those days, but Tuesday / Thursday (and the weekend) allows enough time to recover, and to work on projects and other homework in as much as is needed. We have four professors, of which each are very unique (and often fielding opposing views and design approaches) that help us develop our projects. Sometimes there is a lecture in the morning on Mondays, where for now they have each talked about their own histories and projects, and explained so far in greater detail the “Italian Futurist Movement” from a few decades ago (of which one of them was a big player). They are all quite interesting characters, for the most part very nice and somewhat helpful, although the language barrier affects some of them worse than others. One of them studied architecture in the U.S. at SCIARC, and so she speaks perfect English, and is often the one to go to for more important questions. We don’t get that much attention overall, as there are nearly 30 students and only one or two professors doing critiques in one day, but self-motivation has never been an issue for me so I do fine with that. The midterm review and final review of the first project were rather interesting (and funny). We spend an entire day doing these reviews, and each student is allotted ten minutes to present his / her project, and another five minutes for questions and discussion. It ends up being the longest critique of your life if you stay the whole time, however I never do! The funny part is that you try and present your project, and meanwhile the oldest professor, who we shall call Gianni, and one of the other professors (whoever that may be) will walk over to your poster and start arguing in Italian (during your presentation, of course). Then, after you finish, they will usually ask a few questions, have a short discussion of the good and bad points of the project, and then start arguing again in Italian for the last five minutes. At the end, if you have done well, you receive a “bravo”, and “keep improving and working on this / that idea”. This is a good critique, because otherwise Gianni will leave during your presentation to smoke his cigar if he doesn’t think your presentaAttempting to tame strange“feral” cats at Cerveteri Necropolis, near Rome
Majestic sunset at Assissi
tion will be interesting, and the other professors may dislike your project and let you know! It is a little different than Cal Poly, obviously, but still in my opinion valid educationally. The overall classes are less intensive, but you are still required to present the same amount of material (so the quality and intensity remains up to you). There are also around 10 students from Cal Poly - Pomona, who bring to the class different skills, perspectives, and approaches to architecture, which spices things up (for those who are interested, yes Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo is by and far the superior Architecture school from my experience so far)! The best parts so far about the architecture classes, for me, have been the freedom to improve my digital skills (using my new laptop), freedom to explore a more diverse and sculptural architecture, the shorter length of the project (6-7 fast weeks) and finally I really enjoyed the first project (which I will explain in more detail later), which in summary was an architecture studio / duplex situated in a very tight, rectangular corner lot in a city block outside of the historic center where for the most part the architecture is faceless and repetitive! So far, I am really glad with my choice to study here for my 4th year, and we shall see how the rest of the year plays out!
5) Tidbits 5.A_Niente di calcio, adesso devo correre! After the end of the soccer tournament, and with the arrival of the rain, playing soccer at the local park happens to occur far and few between. In fact, the drainage of the playing field is so poor that up until around a week ago, the majority of the field was still like a small lake, impossible to actually play soccer in! As a result, I’ve begun to take some rather pleasant runs along the river banks as far East as the running paths and roads allow, and with the right gear, even in the cold of winter, I can still make due. It is really nice for me a few times each week to get out of the city center and into the suburbs where you can feel nature again, to some degree. There are several beautiful tree-lined parks and paths along the river away from Firenze proper, and the view of the Tuscan hills is stunning in Autumn. Lately, however, the leaves are gone completely from the trees and even the hillsides seem barren! Nevertheless, I take pride in the fact that I have made the best of the chances to stay in good shape, despite a diet heavy in carbs and delicious dairy products. I am excited, hopefully, to take place in another soccer tournament sometime in the Spring, and until then will content myself with this alternative workout. 5.B_FC Barcelona Just a small informative service here, to let the world that all things have again turned for the better and back to their proper nature. FC Barcelona, my favorite soccer team, have emphatically returned to their best form, currently leading the Spanish League by ten points over their nearest competitor
Four Baroque churches rising above the Roman metropolis
nearly at the halfway point of the season. This comes about after a series of four games in which they played consecutively the four nearest competitive teams, both home and away, finishing off with four victories, 11 goals for, 1 against. The best part of course, watching them defeat a sad, sad defensive Real Madrid team...finally, without interference from the referees or the ever-present bad luck they always seem to have...finally the better team won. As you can imagine, I have really enjoyed watching the team this year, both in the league and the Champions League competition. If all goes well, we will see them take back all three major trophies this year, at least that is how it appears in this moment! If I am lucky, I might even still have a chance to see them play in Europe in person. I remain optimistic. My favorite part of watching the games in the last few months has been seeing this extremely potent attacking squad score anywhere from 3-6 goals per game (unprecedented scoring for me, unfortunate for the opposing squads, who try in vain to hold back the dam). 5.C_il Compleanno di Allie Another close friend of mine, also from Cal Poly SLO, turned 22 while here in Italy, and to celebrate we thought it would be fun to take a small group to a restaurant (rather, an Osteria) that is located at the corner of their street, right down the block from where we live... a place we pass almost everyday, and often at night, wondering what it would be like inside... what the food might be like. The place was called the “La Pentola dell’Oro” (The Golden Pot), and inside it was cozy, quaint, and well... a little bit off! There was an old man just hanging out behind the bar watching television, a few other people finishing up their meals, and a nice, if seemingly “over-worked” hostess / waitress / do-everything woman who sat us down. She was really nice from the start, and upon recognizing obviously that we were foreign, decided to read us (literally) the entire menu translating it into her best attempts of English (we would have told her to stop since it wasn’t necessary, but we enjoyed listening to her translation and it seemed to make her day to practice). We finally figured out what to order, since many choices sounded good. I ended up ordering a strange pasta of linguine noodles and an incredibly-spicy horseradish sauce. so spicy I needed every last drop of the house white to keep from crying out (in other words, it was like eating habanero chilis for fun), and despite the fire in the mouth it was truly delicious. Around this point, the strangeness / fun started. Another younger man, somewhat disheveled and maybe highly intoxicated, came out from the other room and started talking to us. At first we just thought maybe he was homeless and from outside, but then the other woman came in and they talked, and we realized he worked there too! He was very friendly, maybe too friendly, talking loudly in English... saying he was from Bulgaria, and then every few minutes offering us shots of limoncello or asking us to make cheers “brindisi” with him to marriage, our friends birthday, or really whatever randomness he could think of. He also kept hinting towards me and him and the rest of the girls with us that since I had eaten the super spicy pasta, known as the “serata erotica”... no translation needed, that we should all get together...in other words, yes he went a little too far probably! But it was nothing short of superb entertainment! After a while, the waitress (or maybe his wife even) seemed to get mad at him and tell him to leave us alone! So he just moved on to the table next to us, but would lean back to talk when she wasn’t looking. The food was, well... overall we couldn’t tell if it was spoiled, delicious, or just weird. The same could be said for this entire establishment. Nevertheless, they did a great job... bringing out a
birthday gelato sunday and treating us like celebrities almost. The funniest part of the night was at the end, as we were about to leave. The crazy waiter asked the girls if they would like to meet a famous Italian soccer player from the 80’s who won the world cup with the national team as well as played for Fiorentina, the local soccer team (we thought he was joking). Then, he led us all downstairs into an enormous secret room in the bottom where several large groups were eating. He went over and got this “famous soccer player”, now in his mid-forties to come over and get a picture with these American girls (we boys were thankfully not invited). The guy was hilarious, with an open-chest dress shirt, gold chains, and a hairy chest, in addition to what looked like a Donald Trump toupee! We thought they were definitely pulling our sleeves! Yet, amazingly enough, later that night on the internet we looked up his name, and discovered that indeed he was a famous Italian soccer player who did win the world cup (in ‘82) and was also a famous mid-fielder from Fiorentina (I would have you all look him up, but I too already forgot his name!). We couldn’t believe it... well it was quite the evening...we got more from that hole in the wall place than we had ever bargained for! 5.D_CSU Holiday Banquet Another fun evening a few weeks ago took place at our actual apartment-building school in the “aula magna” (main room). Just before finals week, on a Thursday evening, our school hosted a holiday banquet before we all headed off for vacation. Almost everyone from the school attended, including the administration and professors. We were all packed like sardines in the main room, without seating, but the delicious Tuscan catering was an easy distraction from that. We had spumanti (champagne), vino rosso e bianco, ribollita (famous Tuscan veggie / bread soup), vegetable lasagne, sponge-like bread / quiche, and of course typical holiday desserts like Panettone and Pandoro (big bread and gold bread, respectively translated!... in other words cake with candied fruit and cake by itself). There were also many desserts brought in by students, including apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, and real brownies (fantastic). After the dinner, most of the faculty dispersed, and then our resident student DJ (who actually works at a bar in Florence) began to “spin some groovy tracks”, and suddenly our school “auditorium” was converted into an all-out dance party. The best part was that the mosaic tile floors were incredibly smooth and slippery, thus you could do all sorts of special moves that ordinarily prove difficult. The highlight of the night had to be one of the students, a rather crazy guy named Finn, who suddenly got into the middle of the circle and performed not one, but two, straight-drop splits (full splits) in a row, sending us all into hysteria! Overall, it was a lot of fun to have a “high-school like dance” with a more mature group of students who just wanted to have fun and not be inappropriate or judgmental. It somewhat summarizes how nice it is here with our small, family-like student body and faculty who overall seem to really get along and support each other, and for the most part have fun while keeping it classy.
6) Thanksgiving in Italy (il giorno di Tacchino in Italia) The big downside of being in Italy for 9 months, as anyone would imagine, has to be missing out on family, friends, and good food during the holiday season. Fortunately, here in Italy during our small break for Thanksgiving, there were enough people still in Florence that we were able to have a real Thanksgiving dinner, and what a dinner it was! Me and my roommate Ulysses were invited over to another house for the day, and in total we were around 12 people, all from CSU. Everyone made something (a side dish) and then brought a bottle of wine. We spent most of the afternoon playing hearts, chatting, and eating appetizers. Their entire apartment was well-decorated for the holidays, thanks to the girls that were there. When the food was ready, we all sat down at a long table created from three smaller tables, with just barely enough chairs for all, of which all barely fit in the room to start with (in an Italian apartment having multiple guests can be tight!). The amount and quality of food we had for that Thanksgiving was incredible given the circumstances and difficulty in just finding and / or being able to cook the ingredients properly. We had an entire turkey, real gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, biscuits, and a jello-whipcream fruit salad. I made a dish of brussel sprouts, cubed pancetta, shallots, with a balsamic vinegar / butter reduction sauce (thank you to Donna Chandler for that inspiration) that added to the feast. For dessert, there were real apple pies, pumpkin pies, and vanilla gelato (the
pies had to be bought from a local American bakery). We were all super full and very content, and agreed that despite everything, as a bunch of college kids in a foreign country, we had succeeded in making one of the best Thanksgiving dinners ever! To end the night, we all watched the movie “Elf”, apparently a Thanksgiving tradition amongst many of them. Having not expected much of anything for this year’s Thanksgiving, I must admit I couldn’t have imagined a better experience!
7) Natale in Italia (Christmas in Italy) Although Thanksgiving in Italy (for the Italians) doesn’t exist, they do a pretty good job of getting excited for and then celebrating Christmas. Florence is beautiful this time of year, chilly and foggy, but the major streets are all lined with a variety of hanging Christmas lights and each neighborhood piazza has a Christmas tree. Street vendors sell roasted chestnuts and there is a German Christmas market taking place in the piazza of the major church S. Croce that sells all sorts of Northern European delicacies of the season. On the television, every advertisement is focused on the big day, and even shows have a Christmas theme... and everyone says the words “auguri”... we still haven’t quite figured it out, something to the effect of “congratulations, good wishes...” It is somewhat of an inside joke for us to say for anything... as that is the way is seems to us hearing it all over town. Since everyone else left Florence for the break, I was glad to at least be able to celebrate Christmas Eve with my roommate Ulysses and another friend Ben. The best part of this is that Ben, like me, is way into cooking (and I will admit a far superior cook than myself). He showed up early in the day, around three, and we began to cook up a storm that didn’t finish until 11:30 pm that same night! We started first with an appetizer of salami, 18-month staged Pecorino cheese, and another D.O.C.G. Chianti. Then, using everything fresh and from scratch, he prepared a wonderful Christmas soup of potatoes, rice, carrots, celery, Savoy cabbage, various spices, and a homemade vegetable broth from a soup he strained a few days ago (the broth made it easily the best soup I’ve had in months, I can’t say I’ve had a broth equal to it in years). He followed this up with a simple “white” cheese sauce over spinach and ricotta ravioli. Then I prepared a veal roast that had been marinating for a few days in red wine, balsamic vinegar, pepper, and a little olive oil. I added to it boiling onions, carrots, and potatoes, and roasted / broiled everything for around an hour or so (a bit too much, it was a pinch dry). By this point in the evening we had been talking for several hours, drinking wine, eating and eating and eating... and well we were pretty full! But before we could call it quits for the night, we had to sample some of the typical Italian Christmas desserts, the Panforte from Siena (candied fruit and nuts hard cake) and another Pandoro (but this time, with a limoncello filling and lemon-flavored powdered sugar), accompanied by, of course, gelato as well as an Asti Spumanti (dolce) just for the Christmas season called “Auguri” (haha...I still don’t quite get it). By the time he left, we had all spent more than eight hours just eating and talking, a somewhat strange Christmas Eve, but fitting for Italy I suppose. I really did miss the typical Christmas Eve in Leavenworth, with family, fireplace, cats, snow, and a nice multicultural (and multi-lingual) church service at the Sleeping Lady (oh well, there is always next year!). Ulysses and I exchanged presents under our “Poinsettia Christmas Tree”. Here is a great story, because we both bought the presents the day of in a hurry, but I unfortunately in my rush accidentally bought him the wrong present! I didn’t discover this until I got back home and had opened the wrapping... instead of buying him a Fiorentina scarf (for the soccer team here), I bought him a Fiorentina baby-sized throw pillow! I pretty much couldn’t stop laughing for several minutes, in disbelief of what I had done... in essence one of the worst possible presents to buy a college-aged guy! He took it well, and we had a good laugh...and guess what I got from him (a Fiorentina scarf and a nice Viola t-shirt! Exactly what I wanted too!)...oh well, I will get him something nice to make up for it. It was worth the laugh. Unfortunately, we missed both the late Christmas Eve service at S. Croce, and then both slept in missing all the morning services for Christmas day. In the afternoon we watched on television the Pope’s Christmas Day address from the Vatican, then a Christmas musical concert from St. Francis of Assisi. Luckily, we were able to go to my favorite church, S. Miniato al Monte, across the river on the hill, for a 5 pm service that was very interesting--it started with around a half-hour of monks chanting in Latin, then what seemed like a typical Italian mass, and ending with incense burning. The church inside was freezing cold, with little heaters everywhere, all of us trying to focus amidst the cold! An experience indeed...
I Viaggi
fuori di
Firenze
The Roman Forum: fallen Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius, Arch of Severus, and far left “The Wedding Cake”, monument to Victor Emmanuel II
10 ) T a r q u i n i a , C e r v e t e r i ,
e
Roma
This trip was taken way back in early November, but I will do my best to remember the details for all of you! While our first field trip to Tuscany was only a daytrip, this field trip was the first time we traveled as an entire school for the weekend outside of Florence. We left early in the morning on a Friday, back when the weather was still rather pleasant, and made our way down through Tuscany heading in the direction of the coast and the adjacent region of Lazio, where the capital of Italy (Rome) is located. On the way down, however, we made two lengthy stops in the Etruscan hill towns of first Tarquinia and next Cerveteri. Interestingly enough, Tarquinia (located near the coast in the southern-most part of Tuscany) is the remnants of both an Etruscan capital city-state and on an adjacent hill, an enormous city of the dead (necropolis). As the Etruscans have so far been a major focus of our field trips, we are all starting to get a pretty good idea about what they were all about...and all of their cities were indeed all located on the top of huge hills with walls surrounding, with a necropolis nearby, but completely separated from the city of the living. Many of the famous Tuscan hill towns, like Volterra, San Gimignano, Tarquinia, and I believe Cortona (to name just a few) were former Etruscan city-states. Furthermore, the word “Tuscany” refers to nothing more than “the land of the Etruscans”... I guess it seems rather obvious once you point it out, but it took me a while to realize it! In Tarquinia, we spent the morning exploring the necropolis with our wonderful professor / guide Charles Ewell (an archeologist who spends months each year excavating in Italy). In the necropolis, we were able to visit several tombs that are reachable by means of a steep stairwell and a small glass panel that unidentified church bordering edges of
Roman Forum
Basilica of Maxentius (with scale figures)
The Colosseum from afar
Colosseum up close (again with “tourist” scale figures)
looks into the small tombs covered in ancient, fading frescoes. Each tomb had different, very interesting frescoes on the walls depicting life in the time of Etruscans (before the Romans took them over). The Etruscans were known as the “happy people” and even celebrated death with festivities, burying the dead with all their living possessions (a great archeological find indeed). The tombs are relatively new in terms of their discovery, and unfortunately because they were sealed for thousands of years beneath the soil, their exposure to air in the 1960’s and the sudden instability that caused, meant that many of the frescoes were ruined in just days from the climate change. As a result, the archeologists had to come up with a special system to seal the tombs and still allow guests to view inside, which explains today the glass panels, timed lights, and steep, dark staircase to reach the viewing point. This system has fortunately preserved several very intact tombs for our viewing pleasure. After viewing the most important of these tombs, we crossed the valley by bus and winding up another hilly road, arrived into the city of the living (Tarquinia part two). Breaking for lunch, my roommate and a few friends ventured off in search of some good mom-and-pop cooking in this small, unexplored Tuscan town. After a long and difficult search process, weeding out the characterless pizza joints and bar / cafes, we found a tiny little establishment serving up a vodka sauce meat lasagne, which we agreed was to date the best lasagne any of us had ever tried in our lives. Worst of all, they gave us just enough to wet our appetites, leaving us wanting for more (but out of time--back to the bus!). In Tarquinia proper, we visited the famous Etruscan museum there, housed in a beautiful Renaissance Palazzo with stunning views into the valleys and of the necropolis across the valley, from under a rooftop loggia. The museum inside contains hundreds of examples of Etruscan pottery, utensils, small weapons, jewelry, sculpThe massive Colosseum interior
Arch of Titus (also in Forum Romanum)
The Pantheon, at last!
Spectacular “Oculus” inside
ture, anatomy parts, etc. It also includes a pair of famous sculpted “winged-horses” from an ancient Etruscan temple. What really surprised all of us college students, however, was the section of erotically-engraved pottery in one of the rooms. Another component of the Etruscans’ happiness was most definitely their sexual prowess. After looking at these very graphic engravings on the pottery, we all had to admit how fascinating it was that they did those kind of things several thousand years ago (I will spare you all the details... but let us just say it was rather shocking...eye-opening education of sorts). The professors and faculty just chuckled... as they must enjoy this little secret shocking experience year after year. We also saw a famous Etruscan statue (made of bronze, now a green patina)... you may have seen it before... it is of an impossibly tall male figure, the aspect ratio has been construed so that the statue (which is around 2-3 feet tall) is around 10x as tall as it should be, in respect to the width and depth. It looks like a strange photoshop experiment, but coming from an ancient people thousands of years before. In the afternoon, we arrived at the most interesting of Etruscan necropolis sites to date, Cerveteri. Located in Lazio, this necropolis is situated within view of coast, close enough to watch the incoming ships, but far enough away for safety. This was a fascinating necropolis, unlike anything any of us have ever seen before... not even in architecture history classes! The necropolis is literally made up of hundreds of domed “bee-hive” mounds, some as large as three to four stories above the ground, all covered in earth, plants, and trees. The necropolis is organized like a city, with major streets, grid patterns, housing blocks, etc. The most interesting part is that the entire city was originally also underground, which means they built these enormous stone domes entirely underground, storing the dead body and all the possessions inside. Today, however, the entire site has eroded to create a surreal mounded city of the dead. Some of the tombs are very large indeed, big enough to house an entire family and all their possessions. This destination was devoid of any tourists, and in fact, after paying the entrance fee, we were completely free to explore this enormous necropolis on our own! It was like falling into an Indiana Jones movie, everything lush and green, some of the tombs still flooded from heavy rains a few days before, others dark and dangerous with pitfalls... and all without supervision or security... in other words exploration paradise! We all raced around, jumping and skipping, getting lost and trying to scare our friends, while exploring tomb after tomb (always searching for bigger and better). There was also a colony of stray feral cats, most of which were young kittens, near the park entrance, who would not let you pet them, but only feed them. They were all diverse types of breeds, and very undomesticated... we only succeeded as a group to pet one of maybe ten, and even then it was an awkward experience... they really just wanted food and no love.
Campidoglio statue and horse
Tired and hungry after a long day, we made our way into vast Rome, and checked in to our 4-star hotel, yes that is right... we couldn’t believe it either! That evening, we ate at the hotel restaurant, and got to try some typical Roman cuisine, first a plate of pasta “al cacio e
Rome’s most romantic pedestrian bridge over the Tibur, Ponte Sant’Angelo (with the famous love locks attached)
pepe”, which is simple but unbelievable--fresh cracked pepper and a pecorino cheese / pasta water sauce over maccheroni noodles (I guess in essence a gourmet Mac-n-cheese). Seconds were gladly appreciated. Next, we tried the typical “saltimbocca” (jump in the mouth), veal wrapped in prosciutto. Finally, for dessert we had a ricotta-esque cheese cake (tart) with strange yellow “candied” objects inside. None of us could decide if it was good or not, but unfortunately I was still hungry so I ate several pieces (and later regretted that decision). Overall not the best feast we have had on our vacations, but the next morning’s breakfast would by and far make up for that! The 4-star buffet included scrambled eggs, real bacon, sausage links, mushrooms in sauce, several types of fresh-squeezed juice, doughnuts, croissants, muffins, fresh bread and cold cuts, cheese, yogurts, chocolate mousse, hot chocolate, cappuccinos, tea, cereal, and granola (that is all I can remember at least). We ate as much as we could, and then the more clever of us (including myself) realized that with all the food variety present, one could simply make a wonderful sack lunch and avoid overpaying for mediocre tourist fare. The hard part, however, was finding a sack to hold the “lunch”. I discovered that inside hotel room there one could invert the plastic used to hold the plastic cups to wrap the sandwich and fresh fruit, and then the overall sack was reverse-engineered from a plastic bag used to contain... well we don’t really know (it was in the bathroom over top of the bide). Gross, but economical (when in Rome). After this amazing breakfast, we spent the entire morning visiting the Roman forum, working our way to the Colosseum after lunch. There was a lot to see in the Forum, but it is fairly run-down after all these years, and was not my favorite experience so far “Castell Sant’Angelo”, with St. Peter’s (Michelangelo’s Cupola) in the distance (even after we prepped ourselves by watching Gladiator on the bus ride down). The Colosseum, however, is the real deal, and as large and impressive as you would have thought (although ravaged by tourists, gypsies, and pick-pockets). From there, we made our way to the Pantheon, my favorite part of the entire trip. Having studied this building several times in the last few years, I still was unprepared for the immensity of the dome, the beauty of the oculus, and the decoration of the walls. It is now a church, and at that one of the most unique and beautiful I have seen. The experience is ethereal, I can’t recommend it enough (and it wasn’t even sunny out at the time, in terms of really experiencing that oculus). Our tour for the day ended
u a r d
G w i s s
S (3) c r o s s i n g a t a l d a c c h i n o
B e l a b o r a t e w i t h n i g h t a t n a v e n t e r i o r
I (2) s
’ e t e r
P
We still had a few hours left in the day before our buses departed back to Florence, and so dividing further into small groups, several of us students from Cal Poly SLO decided to travel to the suburbs of Rome to see some modern architecture, but first we made a ceremonious stop at the beautiful “Fontana di Trevi” to toss in our coins (as we all know we have to come back to see the rest of Rome still... our two days were in no way enough time to see everything!). Then, we went to the provocative “Palazzo della Musica”, a series of auditoriums and public facilities designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano, who may or may not be my favorite architect. These buildings look like giant beetles and are covered in lead (but it is now safe to be there as they have a naturally-protective patina after two years). However, sneaking inside we found the interiors of the concert halls to be lush, Frank Gehry-like... sensuous curves of laminated wood, with plush red seats, and dramatic lighting... beyond description. We were sad to leave, but after sneaking in we thought it best to move onward... we went and saw a new museum by Zaha Hadid (under construction) nearby, and discussed between ourselves our opinions of her architecture. This project, which made me laugh, is basically on one side a fake facade that imitates the typical Rome apartment building (or a train station) and then this becomes a radical, curvy, “acid” building everywhere else. It looks hideous, and also like a 2nd-year project from a Cal Poly student who just doesn’t quite get it...I was thoroughly disappointed. However,
St.
The last day in Rome saw the group split in two, with the majority of students traveling to see the Villa Borghese and its art and sculpture museum while I went with a smaller group to see the Bocca della Verita, a famous “manhole” that was used successfully (so they say) as a lie detector at one time to test the faithfulness of husbands to their spouses. The mouth would close down if the person was lying. It is also housed in a 6th-century church S.M. in Cosmedin. Afterwards, we visited the famous early round Roman temple of the Forum Boarium, and then saw more Roman ruins, including the Theater of Marcellus, before arriving at the “wedding cake”, the 20th-century monument so hated by Romans (for the way it looks, not what it stands for) dedicated to Vittorio Emmanuale II, who helped unify the country of Italy back in the 1870’s as its first King...also the eternal flame and the grave of the unknown soldier (I think this is correct at least) are also part of the monument. From here, we also passed Trajan’s market on the way to the Campidoglio Piazza, our ending spot for that day’s tour.
(1)
there, and after we all made a stop at a famous Roman gelateria, a small group of Cal Poly students and I decided to visit our fellow Cal Poly Architecture friends studying for the Fall Semester in Rome. They are a small group, just five students, who all live together in two incredibly tiny and expensive apartments (we thought Florence was expensive...). However, their architecture studio is situated in an apartment building “room” that looks out into Piazza Navono, so I guess we are a little jealous in that sense. They put together a wonderful meal for us, including a huge roast, several types of Risotto, and bruschetta, not to mention the twelve bottles of red wine that somehow appeared on the table. We had a great time together, sharing our experiences in Italy. It was all but too short, as we had to say goodbye and return to the hotel to recharge for another long day in Rome.
some of the students who thought it was interesting were brave enough to hop the construction fence and explore inside. Afterwards, we made a final pilgrimage stop to a smaller sports arena by Pierluigi Nervi, an engineering marvel which features a beautiful interlocking weave of concrete beams that hold up the dome. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get in as it was closed (and is actually still used as a volleyball arena) and found it difficult to get a good view of the structural madness. We had almost no time left, and it was getting dark, but we knew we had to at least make an attempt to go inside St. Peter’s before we left (fortunately the Vatican City was right next to our hotel and the departing buses). Although we had been to the Vatican City and the grand piazza on both the previous nights, we had yet to officially enter the complex. On the walk there, we passed the imposing Castel Sant’Angelo, once refuge for the Pope in times of trouble, and saw the romantic footbridge that crosses the Tiber, and to which are attached Trevi Fountain (we all tossed a coin) the “love locks”, where couples attach a lock to the bridge and throw the key off into the water. Passing through the Vatican City security, we made our way through the massive colonnade and in an instant stood before the front facade of these great church. As I may have mentioned, in Italy every element in historical architecture is scaled in proportions fit for giants, like 16-foot solid wooden doors and giant windows, but nothing prepared me for the immensity of St. Peter’s. I have never in my life seen columns so big as those on the front facade, they must have been 20 feet in diameter, and five or six stories tall at least! You see the church from far away, and think that you are close, but in reality you are still hundreds of feet away when you step into the mythical piazza with the towering obelisk (by the way, I was able to experience the moment in the piazza where if you stand in a certain spot all around you can only see one column in the colonnade, instead of the sets of two, due to perspective... very cool illusion! Oh, and we also saw the Pope’s window illuminated in blue). Anyway, we entered into St. Peter’s, and I can now say there exists no other church as granduesque, massive, ornate, overwhelming, majestic... you get the point... in the world! It is so big, so stunning, so lavishly decorated in fine marble and other stones... and there is truly a feeling of holiness that radiates throughout the space. I can’t think of a more beautiful and impressive interior in the world. There was, unfortunately, a mass in the process, so we were not allowed to get close enough to truly enjoy Bernini’s famous Baldacchino, nor stand directly underneath the tower dome above, nor look at the golden angels and rays sculpture at the alter. However, just walking around the nave and transepts, I feel I got enough out of it for now. Sadly, the buses were about to depart, so we had to move onward (hoping to come back with more free (1) Richard Meier “reflecting
pool ”,
part
of
Ara Pacis Monument (2) Michelangelo’s “Campidoglio” High Renaissance Piazza
Renzo Piano’s “Parco della Musica”, in the suburbs of Rome
opulent performance interior
enclosure structural detail
time in the future). On the way out, we got to see a Swiss Guard and take an obligatory picture of him (and no he was not smiling in the least). I feel terrible to have been in Rome and not have seen the Sistine Chapel, or the Vatican Museums, or any Baroque church by Bernini or Borromini, or even the “tempietto”, to name just a few missed architectural must-sees! As is, I will most definitely return to Rome as soon as I can and fix this dire situation. In addition, I would also make a pilgrimage to another part of the suburbs of Rome to see the well-liked (surprise) Jubilee Church by Richard Meier, with the sublime white leaning shells, as well as spend an evening people-watching on the famous “Spanish Steps”. Finally, if all goes well, the famous statue in Piazza Navono (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) will re-open from its restoration before this academic year comes to close. Have I missed anything else? Please, let me know (I am making a list!).
A last quick stop on the way to the hotel found us in front of Richard Meier’s highly controversial covering to the Ara Pacis monument, a building that was... well... very Richard Meier, although for the first time in Rome a building much larger than that which I had expected. As I had researched prior to coming to Italy, the building does indeed commit a serious sin by blocking from public view two beautiful Baroque churches behind it, although a beautiful series of water falls, ponds, and reflective pools in the adjacent piazza he designed almost make amends for it (seemed like a very well-liked, popular hang out spot for the locals making an evening passegiata). Just before boarding the bus back home, we darted into a pizzeria by the slice to grab a snack for the ride home, finally savoring some delicious Roman pizza after nearly three days of want. It was indeed a step up from lowly Florence, but we all know that we have to wait for our trip to Napoli to truly say we have tasted the best that Italian pizza has to offer. Looking back, Rome wasn’t quite as big as I had imagined, and not as touristy either (luckily we went at a good time of the year). The drivers were pretty bad, but nothing worse than the Florentines. It seemed like a very cosmopolitan, up-to-date city, despite being trapped forever in its historical past. Most of all, it is just fascinating to be able to walk around for a few hours and see literally thousands of years take place in the history of the Western World’s founding culture. I look forward to returning to Rome on my own time, and finishing what I started.
La Fontana dei Tritoni (Bernini), nearby “La Bocca”
Misfortune with the “Bocca della Verita”
Venice from the Biennale Vaporetto stop, known as the “Giardino”
11)V enezia
e
L a B ienn ale
di
A rchitettura
A week after visiting Rome, a small group of us Cal Poly SLO architecture students made our way up to Venice on the last weekend of the Biennale to see exhibits and pavilions from around the world displaying the best modern architecture each country had to offer. We arrived there early on a Friday morning and were promptly greeted by freezing cold weather, a strong contrast from relatively lukewarm Rome! From the moment we crossed the train bridge to the main island(s) and emerged from the Ferrovia station into Venice, we knew had stumbled upon something amazing. Venice is unlike any place in the world (obviously), but to actually be there and experience it is something completely different than just watching it in a movie or on a documentary. Everything is pedestrian-driven, there are almost no vehicles on any parts of the islands except a few small roads by the port and on the island of Lido. Instead, a comprehensive, 24-hour (and very expensive) system of water buses, taxis, and gondolas ferry everyone around. This is one of the great pleasures of being in Venice in the first place, to get to experience this strange alternate transportation system, and to ride along the canals and between the islands (within an actual “boat highway” of sorts). The people of Venice also seemed more friendly than in other places so far in Italy, very hospitable, welcoming, and warm (unlike their weather). I can’t say the food in Venice is a major draw for me, as I am not that into sardines and other fish delicacies, but we did happen upon another mom-and-pop deli one evening where we tried a vegetable lasagne with white sauce and almost tortilla-like pasta layers that hands down is still the best food moment in four months here (you could taste every gram of homemade, fresh goodness). By the time we had figured our the water bus system, bought all our tickets for everything, and strayed into another part of Venice to get the best (and cheapest) pizza on the planet (oh, forget to mention that I suppose under the food section), it was mid-afternoon. Then, we had to take a longer water bus (vaporetto) to the island of Lido, farther out in the lagoon (like a barrier sand bar)to check into our more affordable accommodation. It took forever to get there and back, but we enjoyed the visual Main canal on island of Murano
Lazy Venetian canal away from tourist sectors
tour of the water churches (many by Palladio). Returning to Venice to see the Biennale, we were out of time! So we just walked around Venice for the rest of the evening until dinner. The second day, we made sure to arrive on time to get into the Biennale (which was huge, takes up a whole section of Venice, and was too much to see in just a day). We spent the entire afternoon there, and overall I was most impressed with the countries of Australia (the most amazing physical models I’ve ever seen), Nordic Pavilion (focusing on just the works of one very successful architect, the name escapes me... but very interesting wood and stone architecture in a harsh climate, plus Ikea-esque furniture), and Russia (featuring a fascinating section of vernacular architectures made from snow, stone, and hay bales, and another section about the competing celebrity / local Russian architects in booming Moscow). Some other pavilions were interesting, but somewhat out there... for example Belgium was an empty St. Marks and adjacent Doge’s Palace
Campanile
building filled with billions (trillions even, maybe) of multi-colored hole punches, which was like being in an adult-version of a McDonald’s ball pen, and then all the hole punches got all over the entire Biennale site, of course (what a mess)! Also, the Czech Republic had a series of fridges with food in them corresponding to the occupants of a random building (to show a comparison, I suppose, between qualities of life and life-situations), while in Japan an architect had hand-drawn in pencil strange plant designs and urban plans over all the walls (the kind of work that makes you go crazy). There was another part of the Biennale in the old boat docks (Arsenale), which focused more on architects (instead of countries), but there wasn’t anything worthwhile to report on (also we had to run through it because we only had a few hours left). The sunset, though, was rich and colorful, and created beautiful reflections off of the calm water. Later that evening, we went to St. Marks square again and met up with the students from Rome (who had a coincidental field trip to Venice the same weekend we went). We ended up being divided as to where we all should eat, so we split up into two groups and went our own ways. It was so cold that we all just appreciated being inside a warm environment, regardless of the quality of food and the exaggerated prices. The final morning we got up early again, and took another vaporetto to the famous glass-blowing island of Murano. When we arrived, the entire small island seemed practically dead, except for an overly-friendly cat that I made the mistake of petting (it followed us for fifteen minutes before we were
Island of Guidecca and one of Palladio’s famous Venetian churchs, San Giorgio Maggiore, at sunset
able to lose it!). We took our time, admiring the windows of exuberant glass sculptures, trinkets, necklaces, and of course Carnavale masks. There were several monumental public glass sculptures in the tiny piazzas that caught the early light and became unworldly. After a cappuccino, we made our way to the local “Glass Museum”, which ended up being a big disappointment. It had a lot of historical glass objects, but nothing as spectacular as that which you can see just walking around the island and window shopping. Later, we discovered a free “glass-blowing show”, which was short, informative, and made it seem much easier than it actually is. The ladies working there were very friendly to us, asking us about where we were from and what we were doing in Italy (and as an added bonus we got to really practice our Italian outside of Florence). After searching both Venice and Murano for almost three days, we had seen pretty much every possible glass object up for sale in existence. However, this artisan workshop / store had several beautiful glass necklaces that were unique (in as much as I could tell). So, I decided to buy these as Christmas presents, and also found a delicate blown-glass cross for my brother and his newly-married spouse Audry. There was still a little bit of time left in the day, even after we thoroughly had explored the island of Murano and spent hours shopping. We wanted to see some of the major churches on Venice, but had to choose only one. So, we decided to make our way back yet again to Piazza San Marco and try to enter into St. Marks. To our surprise, there was neither a line nor a price of admission. If St. Peter’s is the most beautiful Renaissance / Baroque church in Italy, then St. Mark’s is hands down the most magnificent Byzantine church. The exterior facade is deceptive indeed, as inside you are instantly overwhelmed by golden mosaics covering every inch of visible space, and light pouring in from the windows ignites the space. There is a truly oriental feel to the interior, no doubt related to Venice’s trade routes and long history with the East. It was unforgettable, a perfect ending to my first (but not last) visit to Venice! The Arsenale at sundown
“Holy” rays piercing the storm clouds in Assisi
12 ) U r b i n o , A s s i s i ,
e
R a v e nn a
Our most recent school field trip was another three-day weekend trip, but this time to the east / northeast across the Apennine Mountains, to visit smaller cities in the three “somewhat lesser-known” regions of Umbria, Le Marche, and Emilia-Romagna. But first, we made a quick rain-drenched stop along our way to Urbino in San Sepulcro (still in Tuscany), home to the famous painter Piero della Francesca (and also a town, if I am not mistaken, that I almost went to several years ago at the end of my year in Barcelona). Either way, it was a lovely small town, with a nice art museum featuring several works of their local painting legend, and also an interesting collection of huge, antique iron lock mechanisms and keys (the size of a small arm in some cases). We were also able to quickly visit the main piazza with a huge Christmas tree, and the town’s “Duomo”, one of my overall favorite churches so far in Italy, uncharacteristically dark inside, with ancient wooden beams and alabaster stone windows that reveal their gorgeous vein patterns when lit from outside by sunlight. We arrived in Urbino (home of Raphael) a few hours later, and our first stop (at least for the architects) was to visit the dormitories at the University of Urbino (around the size of Cal Poly SLO in terms of the student body size), with the help of a local Italian professor acting as our guide. The dorms of this university were very different than the ones at Cal Poly, or in America for that matter. The entire dorm campus is situated on rolling hills, on our visit covered with stunning fall colors, and the buildings terrace down the sides, creating terraces, stunning individual views, and ample natural daylight into all parts of the dormitories. A typical dorm is entered through a single door, which opens up into a two-three story communal volume fully-furnished. Each room was nearly the same size as a shared dorm, with a beautiful view into the nearby green hills, and large beds. The bathroom had ample skylights, several walk-in showers, and was spotlessly clean. The main hallway for all the dorms goes directly down the hill at an angle, and at every moment you can see to the entire bottom along a strange diagonal view, which created almost the illusion of an endless downward-terracing hallway. These linear volumes all conIl Monestero (modern Italian architecture meets medieval city)
narrow streets of
Urbino
Piazza and colonnade leading up to the Basilica di San Francesco
nect to main communal space at the top of the hill, complete with private studying areas, recreation areas, a library, and conference rooms. It seemed too good to be true (for them). That evening we quickly made our way back into Urbino proper (the university is located on an adjacent hill) and began the “climb” to reach the huge Ducal Palace (Italy’s most beautiful Renaissance Palazzo, attributed to Duke Federico da Montefeltro) that defines the town and the skyline with its twin castle towers. Urbino is a small extremely hilly town, and only a few parts of it are actually flat enough for a piazza (the rest of the time you are climbing up or down!). To get up from the bus drop-off, we had to climb up a circular horse-ramp five stories, then walk under a long portico to reach the main piazza. From there, we still had to climb another large hill to reach the entrance to this Ducal Palace (it is in the middle and at the highest point of the town). The Ducal Palace contains some 500 rooms, and some rather famous pieces of art (but most-important for us architecture students was the famous “ideal city” perspective drawing of a High Renaissance city by Luciano Laurana (we’ve all scene it before in architecture history classes at Cal Poly). Basilica di San Francesco, Assisi
That evening, we had our best feast yet of the year. a feast that made the Tuscan one look like a snack. After appetizers, which included entire quarter-wheels of various local Italian cheeses like fresh pecorino, ricotta, and mozzarella, crude meats, olive samplers, and roasted peppers, we sampled six types of pasta plates (Tagliatelle al Ragu, baked meat lasagne, gnocchi with pesto, vegetable green risotto, fettuccine with truffles and white sauce, and spaghettini with a light red sauce. Then, as if we needed more, we were confronted with an endless platter of savory meats (chicken wrapped with fat, pork ribs, veal shank, filet steak, with a side mountain of roasted veggies (roasted potatoes, creamed broccoli, etc.). Finally, for a typical dessert we drank Vin Santo with biscotti, followed by a choice of pudding cake or mille sfoglie (something like flat layered cream puffs). Nobody could get out of their chairs after the dinner (plus we were all seated along a 40-some seat long table against a wall). The most impressive part was that between just a mother, daughter, and helper, they managed to serve our entire group and keep us more than content for the several hours the dinner took! I hope they were well-compensated! The next day we made our way into Umbria to visit the incredibly beautiful (and even smaller) hil town of Assisi. This is one of my favorite places in Italy, having only been there just a few hours! All the streets are made of pink cobblestone, everything is spotlessly clean and tranquil, and the view into the valley is breathtaking (like in the pictures I took). Our main goal was to see the Basilica of St. Francis, and so we Santa Chiara (also Assisi)
Underwater crypt (church in Ravenna)
made our way across the small town and reached, on the far end beyond a vast sloping piazza and perfectly-green lawn, the basilica built to carry on the works of St. Francis after his death. Fortunately for us, we were given an hour-long introduction to the life of St. Francis and the history of the Basilica by a resident English-speaking Franciscan Friar (originally from America). It was such an informative introduction, and taught all of us a lot about St. Francis’ amazing life, of which I had known nothing about prior to coming to Italy. He also helped us differentiate between the many orders like the Dominicans, Franciscans, etc... based on his personal experience and knowledge, and as well explain how each order built (or funded) many other famous churches in Italy (for example even in Florence...S. Croce and S.M. Novella are “opposing” church orders). The church itself was spectacular (and different), three layers on top of each other, with the sacred crypt burial room at the bottom, Romanesque middle section, and Gothic upper nave with the famous painting cycle by Giotto. It is such a sacred pilgrimage church that you have to be dressed very appropriately, and can’t really talk inside (they make announcements to shut up every few minutes and guards will approach you, too). Finally, on the way out, we stopped at the church of Santa Chiara, with its beautiful banding pink and white stone facade, and stepped inside briefly to see the crypt beneath where St. Claire lies. The last day saw us briefly visit Ravenna, the Byzantine capital / extension from the falling Roman Empire. We stopped to see mosaics in the churches of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, il Battistero degli Ariani, and of course San Vitale (like a somewhat-less majestic version of St. Mark’s in Venice). It was interesting to see the early growth and development of the Christian Church (as declared by Emperor Constantinople) through the mosaics and edifices, but overall I enjoyed Urbino and Assisi much more!
13 ) F i r s t A r c h i t e c t u r e P r o j e c t
exterior daytime
sunset
night
(only read this section if by now you aren’t about to lose your mind... but seriously!) This first project called for a unique corner site infill architecture office and a separate residence. The proposed design seeks to create a new architectural identity for this somewhat faceless peripheral neighborhood of Firenze. the architecture office is located in the lower volume, relating more to the immediate context, and creating a dialogue with ribbon windows and a large, street facing south “dynamic” facade. during the daytime, the transparency of the fenestration allows for observation by both the street citizens and by the architects. At night, the glow of hard working architects illuminates the streetscape and creates an exciting visual beacon both for traffic and citizens enjoying an evening ‘passeggiata” in the nearby park. the upper volume is a large single-family residence orientated around a three story circulation cylinder with a direct view down to the street, far below! the various rooms are stacked alternately in section to create a more varied, interesting space and compliment the superb views from up high. this volume twists to create an intense cantilever, anchored back to the apartment blocks by a steel ladder that climbs up the back of the site. the twist creates better-framed views of the river Arno to the south and Fiesole and the rest of the Tuscan hillside in the background to the north. Then, the eastern ribbon window view creates nearly an unobstructed 180 degree view of historical Firenze. the simple volumetric forms that “hover” in space and rise up almost impossibly into the sky are developed follow a roughly fourteen step criteria seen in the conceptual development section, in which the forms rise up, get thinner, twist, and are modified to respond both to the context and the solar conditions to allow for ample natural daylight and avoid over exposure to the typically hot Florentine summer months. the reflective metal monocoque skin wraps the linear volumes and reflects both the context and changing skies, as seen above. a comprehensive circulation system ensures a quick and safe egress, but more importantly creates interesting vertical outdoor spaces. the main mode of transportation is the elevator accessed from the street level, whereas the ramps and external stairs are primarily for exiting the buildings and in cases of emergency. inside the architecture office, the elevator and internal spiral staircase are the primary modes of vertical travel, while in the residence a cylindrical void with wrapping staircases provides a very exciting daily experience traveling from room to room, as the view down the chute is, well, breathtaking. this external void in the center of the residence also helps by acting as a wind stack to relieve heat during the humid summer and fall, and as a private retreat into the fresh air. finally, a dual system fenestration controls ensures that the occupants of both volumes have complete control over direct, indirect, or no sunlight at all, responding hopefully as intelligent users to the changing of the seasons and needs of the space. diagrams of both the large facade and ribbon east and west windows control systems are found above in the section “constructional”. residence entry vestibule
residence reading room
architecture office atrium
upper volume
“weightless� rendering
14 ) R e c e nt M i s c e ll a n o u s R e nd e r i n g s rest area
elevated office building
modern church interior
15 ) A ll o r a . . . e p o i . . . o pp u r e c o m u n q u e ! Although the honeymoon is long over, things STILL keep going at light speed. I will be back home before I know it, in fact all the poor Fall semester students are already heading back now! As I have said, I am enjoying every precious moment here, and thank all of you who have made this wonderful year possible for me. I still have many things to see and do in Italy, and am far from content with my accomplishments here. I just purchased a museum pass which allows me free entrance to the majority of museums in Florence, to which I have yet to go to any prior to.... so there is a lot to do just in that! (editor’s note: I just went and saw the Bargello sculpture museum today, and it was great!) I am anxious to keep improving my Italian language skills, and hopefully start to meet some real local Florentines, the kind to actually become friends with, but in the meantime the unexpected friendships I have already made here will certainly be enough, were I to have to head home tomorrow! The end of this month begins an exciting new adventure, with a new addition to my life. My lovely girlfriend Brooke will arrive no sooner than this letter arrives in your email inboxes, and after a few days in Florence getting settled and recovering from the flight, I am planning a surprise trip to a certain special place for New Year’s Eve, which she can not absolutely know about until I tell her myself in person, so unfortunately those who are curious will have to wait until the next installment to figure out where we went! Well, if you are intuitive, and know Brooke personally, you can probably guess where her favorite place in the world would be to spend the New Year... so that is at least a hint (okay, actually she is here now as I send this... so I will tell you: we are going to Paris!). Coming back from that trip a few days later, I myself will start back into the same semester, although in architecture we will begin our second project. Meanwhile, Brooke will start a month-long food and wine course at a nearby school. In our free time, we have a lot of places to go and see, among the highlights school trips to Padova, Verona, Vicenza, and Mantua (all North near Venice) and in mid-march another trip to Napoli, Herculaneum, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and the island of Capri. On our own, we plan to visit around Tuscany to visit some vineyards, go to Rome, Venice, and Cinque Terre again, and during mid-February a trip I am very excited about: Budapest and several smaller cities in Transylvania. We will probably not have a free weekend in the next three months (but I will try to send out another of these letters when there is a free moment)! What can I say--I am very excited--Well, let this new season start already! Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year-A Marzo! Wishing you and your families the best,
Christopher Wagner Tranquil eastside Florence (where I take my runs along the Arno)