Headed Home

I’m headed home as I write this final* blog post, thankful for the incredible time I spent in the Eternal City.  It would seem I tried to cram in as much as possible in the four short months of the semester.  There are still about four hours to go before I touch American soil, but they cannot wind down soon enough as that which I have missed has now trumped my thoughts in lieu of even a few more hours in Italy.  I’m excited to soon have head clearance when walking down stairs or through rooms, a bed that can fit my 6’3 frame, for less expensive groceries, for free water and reliable internet.  The most superficial things relative to the experience of living in a foreign country are more palpable than even getting back to the piano and are trumping my reunion with family and friends.

Thank you for sharing this experience with me.  Perhaps obviously it was difficult to maintain a frequent update of what I had seen and learned throughout Italy and the nearly 50 cities to which I traveled.  It has been a pleasure to bring a bit of my time abroad in Italy to you back home, though my photos and writing.  I hope I’ve captured the spirit of my education as a graduate student and expressed the need for a better architecture of community than what we on average share in the U.S.

This moment on the plane I’m catching up on my backlog of posts as a distraction from the American luxuries which await.  I have a transfer to make from Dulles to BWI, and I’m spending an early Friday night at my aunt’s before an early flight to Cleveland on Saturday.  As I journey through D.C., and in the coming days, these “superficial things” which I miss will certainly be interspersed with thoughts of my bucket list that wasn’t quite completed or ideas on future trips.  With all that I’ve learned and the incredible amount I have seen this semester and had the pleasure of sharing with my classmates and family, it is clear that there is much to be studied and taken into the career ahead of me.  I’ve already begun a travel list for the next time I’m in Italy.  And the third time.

The old adage certainly rings true: for Rome, a lifetime is not enough.

*Chronologically, this post is last.  I’ll do my best this summer to fill in the 50 gaps I’ve left.

Verona and Padova

We finished exams on Tuesday (our final for Urban History of Rome were verbal reports in Tivoli of places we hadn't seen before but had researched the night prior).  Wednesday was a busy but relaxing day (I got 8 hours of sleep!) spent with our classmates.

Today, I am writing from a high-speed train on my way to Verona.  I'm meeting my family for a late lunch, and then will hop over to Padova (Padua) before arriving in Venice for the next few days.  They have spent the past 3 days in Tuscany while I was finishing school.

I'll add more information about today's events when I am able to sit down and update my blog when I return home, but I wanted to let people know where my family and I are going these next few days.


UPDATE: Verona was wonderful, with its narrow streets winding like those in Syracuse.  I ventured through an old castle, saw some beautiful churches, walked by the colosseum still used today for events, toured the river, and saw their main piazze.

Padua's a dump.

30 days and counting

My father asked me the other day if it was yet sinking in that time is almost up.  It has, I told him, but only very recently.  The good news is I have a lot to look forward to: a (thankfully) dwindling bucket list, a visit from Fr. Viall, my family coming at the end of the term, and a new portfolio piece!  More seriously, however, is the pressing awareness to take advantage of my time here and what I've been blessed with.  There is exactly one month left before I leave the Eternal City.

I know I haven't written much these past few months, but I hope to update everyone soon.  There is a lot to talk about, and I have almost 30 draft posts from Paris back at the beginning of February, to what I did this past weekend.  My best photos are 80% uploaded, if you've been following via the link to the right of this blog (or, bit.ly/kellenrome).

Mostly I have been distracted by Rome and all there is to see and do here.  There's been some schoolwork, too, which has kept me away from my computer: our project's major design deadline is the 19th, giving us 10 days and counting to finish.  Then we have a week to produce the final draftings and watercolors.

It's crazy to think of the year I've had and will continue to enjoy: a generous amount of time at home in Cleveland for the summer and Christmas, a trip to Cuba last August, a fantastic architectural studio based on Havana in the fall, Miami and the Notre Dame BCS championship with my father at the beginning of January, Rome (and the 25+ cities since moving here), hopefully an exciting internship for the summer, a staff position at the BSA National Jamboree (and hopefully summer camp with my Troop), and a 10-day field trip on the east coast this upcoming August in preparation for my American Urban Design studio.

It is an enormous blessing to be in the place and time I experience now, and most of that is due to my loving family and friends with whom I share this blog.  While for now I can wait to see everyone, soon enough I will be very excited to see each of you in person.

In the spirit of this blog's educational nature, here is a diagram I stumbled upon and scanned around 7pm as I was preparing to leave studio.  It is from Hegemann's & Peets' Civic Art, and will help me solve some design issues with intersections.

Whirlwind Update

Just a quick update...

We spent the past 10 days in Brugge, getting back to Trastevere at 10pm Monday night.  I posted some photos a few days back - check out the link listed as "Rome" under "My Photos" on the right of this page (also reached by visiting bit.ly/kellenrome).  We had a wonderful time, and we also made it to Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp.  I have enjoyed some of the best food so far since the Friday before, including seafood such as fried cod next to the tiny Santa Maria Barbara (on via Giubbionari), and in Brugge: smoked salmon, a pan-fried whitefish (perch, if I remember correctly?), and steamed mussels.  Brugge is a living fairytale city; I experienced some of the best urban spaces ever in Belgium at large, and the whole trip has left a big impression on my education.

Kristie and I cooked dinner last Wednesday for all of us in Brugge, and right before our professors arrived to eat, we happened to turn the TV on to BBC just before the white smoke came out!  The bells filled Brugge.  Tuesday, we are going to the Papal Inauguration Mass at 9:30 am (i.e. 6:30 am).   How fortunate that the one day we are back in Rome, we get to go see Pope Francis! I am having lunch as a guest of the Pontifical North American College afterwards, and then we have a postponed history class and trip prep with Dr. Rowland.  Wednesday morning we leave for Malta, and will be in Sicily until Sunday evening (Palm Sunday; fastest Lent ever, by the way).

Two weekends ago we went to Naples, Casserta, Sorrento, Capri/Anacapri, and Pompeii.  I wanted to go to Herculaneum and elsewhere; there's always next time.  Look for a more detailed post or two...soon!

I am trying to get my summer figured out; the end of February was spent updating my portfolio and applying to internships and arranging my final year in school, and I will continue looking for a summer job when I get back from our next field trip.  We have also been working more in studio, having become more intimately familiar with Rome than when we first arrived.  However, I have been able to read for pleasure (I am halfway through The Fountainhead) a bit in Belgium and hope to continue in Malta and Sicily.  I should be reading Jane Jacobs and some other classics right now, too...

It has really been a whirlwind.

Team Roma

Alora.  I mean, "okay."  I need to go to mass in English.

That thought led me first to Fr. Jim's recommendation of the Venerable English College, but I wasn't ready in time so I went with Rodrigo to an 11am service at Caravita, near Sant'Ignazio.  (Officially, Oratorio of San Francesco Saverio “del Caravita”).  Caravita is small inside, and it likely was an ancillary chapel to a larger church such as the nearby Sant'Ignazio.

It turned into a very pleasant day, so after lunch I read a bit on the balcony of our studio before attempting to catch up on my blog posts.  Errands and other things to do outside of class led me back to the apartment for a few hours, where Rodrigo was cooking orange and lemon pasta he bought back in Sorrento.  I myself bought chili-flavored pasta, and made a spicy dish earlier last week.  It wasn't quite all'Arrabbiata, but it (and Rod's) was delicious nonetheless!

Weeks earlier, Billy, Rodrigo, and I bought tickets to the Roma vs. Genoa soccer game.  They were only twenty euro or so, and the stadium is in the old Olympic village after the northern bend in the Tiber.  The public (and super-crowded) bus going past it picked us up across Ponte Sisto, and dropped us off right by our apartments at Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere.

The game itself was a lot of fun.  I was surprised by the amount of flags and special effects the fans bring, instead of the stadium providing it all.  Roma won, 3-1.

Concert at the Pantheon

I have been looking forward to sleeping in for a while.  Traveling usually means waking up around 6:30 or 7, and going to bed around 11 or midnight.  In Rome, I typically don't wake up until 7:30 or 8, but usually I've gone to bed always later than I had hoped.  Our week since Naples had not been exceptionally taxing compared to others (more walking with Ingrid, but less overall in terms of miles around the city).  But even so, I was excited to have a weekend where we were in Rome without anything exceptional to do.

Of course, living in Italy is exceptional enough.  Going to school by the Pantheon, seeing the dome of St. Peter's from Ponte Sisto every morning and night as I cross the Tiber to and from Trastevere, and being immersed in such a rich city is a blessing and an experience barely describable in my posts.  But still, I wanted a relaxing weekend relative to the week.  So today, my to-do list involved sleeping in, doing laundry, and applying for internships.  I technically should have been reading and working on school projects, but I also technically shouldn't be prioritizing my blog over homework.

It was a beautiful day--mostly spent inside, sadly--so our windows were open and it was for once a pleasure to go to the washing machine on the roof next door.  I've usually done laundry at night, with my phone as a flashlight, for the time left after school is after dinner in the darkness.  The terrace on which the washer sits is very nice, but if it's cold and there's no light bulb in the tiny room off to the side, doing laundry is not exactly a pleasant experience.  We have no dryer, so clothes end up being hung around cabinet doors and railings afterwards in our apartment...for a few days.  Today, however, I stayed for a few extra minutes in the sun and checked out the views of neighboring homes in Trastevere.  You can see a few foreground buildings (important, architecturally significant ones such as churches and the American Academy atop the Gianicolo, or Janiculum Hill).  For the first time I noticed you can also see the tip-top of the lantern of St. Peter's Basilica, right from our roof.  It's hidden, mostly, by a few trees and some other buildings to the north.  But what a sight!  Normally, I have to cross Ponte Sisto to see the dome.

For the past month or so I've been searching for some summer opportunities, which kept me inside where the glare of the sun wouldn't render my computer screen unreadable.  There are some incredible portfolios out there, but many firms are outside of Cleveland.  As I consider where I might end up on graduation, in the back of my head I want to settle down in Northeast Ohio some day.  To some extent, that consideration is encouraging the explorations of cities where I might go until I come back to Cleveland.  But financially speaking, it would be nice to avoid extra rent payments and stay in town for this summer.  We shall see what happens.

Later, Rodrigo and I visited the Pantheon.  There was a 6pm concert ("Silencio") from a German group accompanied by strings and winds singing mostly Gregorian-style music and chants, with a new-age twist ('oh's' as replacements for lyrics).  It lasted about 90 minutes, poked only by some odd poetry read in both Italian and German.  Since I cannot understand either, my eyes would wander around the rich detailing of the Pantheon especially lit for this concert.  And I thought--while seeing the mob of Italians and tourists playing musical chairs the whole time around our seats--how incredible it is that the dome of St. Peter's is equal in size to the Pantheon.  The hundreds of people at the concert alone could fit below the tip-top lantern I was drooling over earlier in the day.

Dinner was at a rather upscale restaurant in Trastevere: Rod generously treated me and Tony to one of the best meals we have had in Rome.  I ordered the classic Roman dish Bucatini all'Amatriciana after practicing the pronunciation (and butchering it upon our waiter's arrival).  Until that point, the waiter had been delighted to converse with Tony and Rodrigo in their fluent Italian.  Anyway, it arrived in a the pot it was cooked in.  We had a cheese plate and some wine before our food came, and by the end of the meal I was so full I had to lay down.

Life is pretty great right now.  I should be paying more attention to studio, but frankly with a 16 day tour of Belgium and Sicily beginning in 5 days, I'm content putting off homework for one day.

Papal Audience/Scavi Tour

The goal was to be out the door at 7am.  I think it ended up being 7:10ish, without breakfast for me because I had overslept.  We were on our way to the 11am Papal Audience, but wanted exceptional seats given Pope Benedict's last major public appearance.  As a class, we had reserved tickets over a month earlier in anticipation of combining the morning with a Scavi Tour for studio.  Our reservation just happened to coincide with the last audience.

Via della Lungara leads us straight from our apartments to the side of the Vatican, but upon arrival we were directed around to the Via della Conciliazione which axially approaches St. Peter's Square and the basilica.  There was a sizable crowd wanting the same advantage over the rumored 100,000 people to come just hours later, but not so big that we couldn't still nab great seats.  I noticed many vocations, and as they let us pass after just a few minutes of waiting, I pulled out my iPhone to record--what else--nuns running for the best seats.

The weather was perfect, and we only had to wait a few hours for the "festivities" to begin.  I brought my sketchbook and The Fountainhead, but barely opened either.  There was a palpable excitement in thanksgiving for Benedict's papacy, and the thrill alone kept my attention.  It's unlikely that we will be present for the conclave (our course schedule prevents us from waiting around for the smoke, but also, we'll be away from Rome), so this was our big moment to see Benedict in his second-to-last day.

I wasn't sure how the Audience would proceed, but before the Pope arrived at 11 several cardinals spoke to the crowd in the various popular languages.  They address major groups who have reserved tickets (mentioning the priests of the Holy Cross, but not us as students :/), publicly welcoming them in response to cheers.  Swiss guards moving up at the Basilica foreshadowed the Pope's arrival, and shortly thereafter out came the Mercedes-Benz popemobile.

Everyone except the little nuns to the right of us sprang to stand on their seats.  I looked behind--towards the obelisk--and saw the square filled with people.  It was moving to see so many people, when normally at this time of year a Papal Audience commends a "paltry" 10,000 solely through reservations.  Then BXVI himself amazingly spoke in many languages, before formally addressing everyone in Italian and blessing all religious objects present.  (Transcripts are always available at vatican.va, by the way).  It was the chance of a lifetime, really, as one of many I've been blessed with recently considering Cuba, the Notre Dame/Alabama game, and all of the sights in Rome.

The Scavi (tour of the Necropolis) appointment was at 1, so we tore through the massive crowd to the opposite side of the square to regroup with everyone attending for class.  We entered from street level beyond but below the steps of St. Peter's, where a narthex might typically be.  It was the crypt level of "new" St. Peter's, treated like a museum at this entrance.  The old basilica--having been razed in the construction of the present-day marvel--was located intentionally on the old circus where criminals of Rome were killed and buried.  The obelisk present in St. Peter's square today originally marked the center of the circus, and was located almost exactly where we entered for the tour before it was moved roughly 200 meters.

Our guide, a Polish seminarian, led us around a corner and down a flight of steps.  We passed through a low arch of an old brick wall (one of the few openings I wasn't dismayed to duck for since arriving in Italy) and all of a sudden were at the Necropolis.

Somehow I had never put together the idea that the city of the dead was plural.  I kept thinking of St. Peter and some popes, but learned that originally it was the site of many christian martyrs as well.  In fact, there are many small tombs or mausoleums underneath the basilica, and the first one seen is that of St. Peter's family.  (Side note: the necropolis was discovered in the early 1900s, but kept a secret by the pope from Mussoloni so the Nazis wouldn't capture or destroy it).  St. Peter himself is buried beneath an older altar, directly below the altar used today by the Pope, signifying the legitimate seat of the church started by Jesus Christ.

How awesome it is to trace the rich lineage of our universal church, from the Bible (You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church) through the papacy to the architecture present from Roman times to the grand church today.  It is very difficult to capture the emotion of this moment, knowing of the love God has for everyone, sending His son to us for our salvation.  It is at once exciting and joyful, while concurrently humbling and overwhelming.  Physically, I felt as if I had just taken in a big breath after swimming.  You are shaken just by being awe-struck.

 Separately, my stomach was grumbling.  It was past 3 before I had my first bite.

Stazione Quaresimale

The experience of Lent has been a bit different than I expected in Rome.  I'm used to going to Stations of the Cross every Friday, going to mass more often than just Sunday, and having a much more solemn liturgy.  If I am remembering correctly, the first Latin words I spoke were through grade school services during Lent.  Given our travel and the Italian language barrier, I find myself nostalgic for my parish and high school especially during the most holy time of the year.

Rod proposed going to San Clemente--one of the oldest churches in Rome today--for a service on Monday.  Neither of us knew what to expect, but had an idea it centered around Stations of the Cross and mass.  Their special event is called Stazione Quaresimale, or Lenten Station.  We headed towards church, passed the Colosseum on the way, and arrived...20 minutes late.

Class ends at 6, which is when the Stations were to begin.  We sat down when mass had just begun, but surely not so late as to miss the Stations.  As it turns out, the mass begins with a procession from the altar of the fourth-century basilica below the church to the present twelfth-century basilica, and there is not a stations of the cross service.  Mass does, however, end with the presentation of a relic of the Holy Cross.  (There is also a relic of the Cross atop the obelisk in St. Peter's Square).  Much of the music was Georgian chant, led by a remarkable choir hidden from view near the altar.  The moving liturgy reminded me of home, which I had been searching for all along.

San Clemente is a beautiful church.  No pictures are allowed, but the apse in particular has an incredible mosaic from the twelfth century imitated by many successive churches today.  It is undergoing some restoration, so the facade is hidden in scaffolding and the courtyard which fronts the church is locked from view.  There is also an incredible version of the Madonna by Sassoferrato in a side chapel.  I hope to return for a better tour of the church and to see the old basilica (and even a third level from the second century) underneath.

St. Peter's Basilica

Five weeks into the program, and it was only the third Sunday we've been in Rome.  Next weekend was out, as were the three after following just one weekend in Rome.  Traveling really seems to have gotten in the way of studio time.  We had been to many churches already, to the point where I have really lost count.  (I am guessing over 50, but probably closer to 100, considering our city count alone is already cloudy).  But we hadn't yet been inside St. Peter's.  It isn't tourist season yet, so today would end up being a great opportunity for attending mass inside the basilica.

"Wow," I mumbled over and over, whispered more absentmindedly than out of consciously.  To the right was the Pieta.*  Above was a towering, ornate roof.  Below our feet was incredibly intricate marble detailing, with flush markers of many of the world's largest churches inside the nave.  Ahead was the Baldacchino, whose Solomonic columns alone tower for 66 feet.  Everywhere in between was rich art, enclosed by some of the most magnificent architecture in the world.  And I was finally inside.

Mass itself was in the apse, where Bernini's Cathedra Petri decorates one of the most elaborate chapels I have seen.  There seems to be a new mass every hour or so on the weekend, in various chapels around the church with smaller crowds relative to the entire basilica.  I have been struggling with paying full attention to the mass when sitting in these wonderful spaces.  Your eyes go everywhere, and not knowing Italian only aids in my distraction.

Later, we went to Les Mis.  Nothing beats the original, but this new movie was pretty good.  It was really cool to see some of the spaces in France we had toured just two weekends ago.


*Michelangelo carved the Pieta at 23.  Just the esteem-boost I need for my own portfolio.

Dinner with the Director

Saturday, we spent the whole day in studio.  I am not really complaining, for a typical day until Rome had been 14-16 hours of straight work, seven days a week.  And it was good to get going on our studio project.

Aida, director of the Rome studies program, invited the graduate students to her apartment for a wonderful home-cooked meal.  She waited to begin the pasta until we arrived at 8, so Aida could teach us how to make penne all'Arrabbiata.  The ingredients are simple: heat garlic in good olive oil.  Just before the oil begins to smoke, add Peperoncino (dried chili peppers).  Combine canned tomatoes (and bottled sauce, if you prefer) with salt and pepper in the pan.  Simmer, and combine with pasta.  Garnish with Parsley.

The whole meal was wonderful.  Aida greeted us with red wine and a bread and beef appetizer, served prosciutto with top-shelf, fresh mozzarella di buffala, salad and bread, and ended dinner with a homemade baked tart.  And the company was even better.  We chatted mostly about school and living in Italy, and it was good to relax in Rome without wearing out our feet or staying in studio. 

Everybody got the home-cooked meal from inside an Italian home we had been waiting for, and it was delicious.