(no subject)
Well, I made it through the first week of classes. Overall it was great, aside from the large amount of work that we already have....
On Friday, our class took our first field trip- we drove to Tivoli, a small city less than an hour away. We had to wake up pretty early and take a bus- that wasn't so great because Roman traffic didn't sit so well with my stomach, and let's just say I didn't feel like Christmas morning. Anyways, in the morning, we went to Hadrian's villa. That would be the emporer Hadrian from the Roman Empire. Although it was a little bit hard to imagine how extravagant and beautiful this place once was, just being around the ruins of 2000 year old buildings was amazing. We learned about how ancient Roman building techniques were so much better than what we use today, and also about the lifestyle of the people who lived at the villa. In some areas, you could see the decoration, like marble and tile, that used to cover the walls and floor of the important buildings- it really is unbelievable how rich and powerful the Roman Empire was. Unfortunately, most of this material was stolen to decorate later buildings in the area.
In the afternoon, we went into the city of Tivoli. We had a couple of hours to eat and explore- we checked out some of the open air markets and I bought my first bottle of Italian wine. (don't worry mom, i'll share) Then we all met up and took a tour of the Villa d'Este, which is a Renaissance villa for a Cardinal who was exiled from Rome. Actually, this is one of the main places where the old marble from Hadrian's villa is now. Let me just say that this was probably the coolest place I've ever been. It is remarkable preserved- the building itself was filled with colorful murals and extreme attention to architectural detail. And all of the art had some kind of meaning. The view from the villa was breathtaking- looking over the italian countryside, you could see the garden below, the mountains in the distance, and even Rome.
Speaking of the garden, I don't know what to say. The garden was more amazing than the house, and had a lot of us considering the field of landscape architecture. If it takes mom an hour to walk through our gardens at home, this would take a year. There are hundreds and hundreds of fountains everywhere, and the whole garden is probably a few square miles, on a hill with tons of ramps and stairways. The coolest thing was that the entire fountain system was powered only by gravity- the source was a river farther up the mountain, and then all of the water is channeled through the garden, coming back together on the other side to run in an aqueduct to Rome. We had a drawing assignment here for a couple of hours, then went back to Rome.
Back in Rome, Theresa, Kim, and I went out to dinner at Mickey's, the ND hangout- he gave us free strawberry wine, mmmmmm. Then to bed and up early for a long and productive weekend of sitting in studio. Funnn.
Our piazza analysis project, due today, basically took up my weekend. Kim and I were partners- I think we made a good team... a good mix of hard work and laughter, I'd say. Fortunatley, I didn't even have time to watch the football game. Speaking of that, fortunately I'm in Rome, as far as possible from ND right now.... ugh. Thought I would miss football.... but I'm sure I'm a better mood for not being at ND. And I even had time to sleep- one major goal this year...
Our 'review' is in an hour or so, then I'm sure we'll get another project. Yay..... anyways, more to come later. We're gearing up for Umbria and Tuscany at the end of the week.
PS. I haven't seen a rain cloud yet...
On Friday, our class took our first field trip- we drove to Tivoli, a small city less than an hour away. We had to wake up pretty early and take a bus- that wasn't so great because Roman traffic didn't sit so well with my stomach, and let's just say I didn't feel like Christmas morning. Anyways, in the morning, we went to Hadrian's villa. That would be the emporer Hadrian from the Roman Empire. Although it was a little bit hard to imagine how extravagant and beautiful this place once was, just being around the ruins of 2000 year old buildings was amazing. We learned about how ancient Roman building techniques were so much better than what we use today, and also about the lifestyle of the people who lived at the villa. In some areas, you could see the decoration, like marble and tile, that used to cover the walls and floor of the important buildings- it really is unbelievable how rich and powerful the Roman Empire was. Unfortunately, most of this material was stolen to decorate later buildings in the area.
In the afternoon, we went into the city of Tivoli. We had a couple of hours to eat and explore- we checked out some of the open air markets and I bought my first bottle of Italian wine. (don't worry mom, i'll share) Then we all met up and took a tour of the Villa d'Este, which is a Renaissance villa for a Cardinal who was exiled from Rome. Actually, this is one of the main places where the old marble from Hadrian's villa is now. Let me just say that this was probably the coolest place I've ever been. It is remarkable preserved- the building itself was filled with colorful murals and extreme attention to architectural detail. And all of the art had some kind of meaning. The view from the villa was breathtaking- looking over the italian countryside, you could see the garden below, the mountains in the distance, and even Rome.
Speaking of the garden, I don't know what to say. The garden was more amazing than the house, and had a lot of us considering the field of landscape architecture. If it takes mom an hour to walk through our gardens at home, this would take a year. There are hundreds and hundreds of fountains everywhere, and the whole garden is probably a few square miles, on a hill with tons of ramps and stairways. The coolest thing was that the entire fountain system was powered only by gravity- the source was a river farther up the mountain, and then all of the water is channeled through the garden, coming back together on the other side to run in an aqueduct to Rome. We had a drawing assignment here for a couple of hours, then went back to Rome.
Back in Rome, Theresa, Kim, and I went out to dinner at Mickey's, the ND hangout- he gave us free strawberry wine, mmmmmm. Then to bed and up early for a long and productive weekend of sitting in studio. Funnn.
Our piazza analysis project, due today, basically took up my weekend. Kim and I were partners- I think we made a good team... a good mix of hard work and laughter, I'd say. Fortunatley, I didn't even have time to watch the football game. Speaking of that, fortunately I'm in Rome, as far as possible from ND right now.... ugh. Thought I would miss football.... but I'm sure I'm a better mood for not being at ND. And I even had time to sleep- one major goal this year...
Our 'review' is in an hour or so, then I'm sure we'll get another project. Yay..... anyways, more to come later. We're gearing up for Umbria and Tuscany at the end of the week.
PS. I haven't seen a rain cloud yet...