visiting Ercolano!

 Ciao tutti!  Happy weekend to you!  It has been cold & windy lately in Roma but fortunately we have sunshine during the day.  I sure suffered during the long, gray winters of Seattle so this sunshine is spectacular.  A little good old fashioned vitamin D to perk me up!

Last weekend I ventured down south to visit some sights I'd been itching to get to.  I am increasingly feeling like my time here is limited so I am increasingly interested in seeing all the amazing sights of Italy that I can!  I took the train down to Napoli where I had a quick coffee before boarding a local train down to the ancient town of Ercolano, Herculaneum in English.  Napolitan coffee is widely believed by Italians to be the best in Italy!  Tastes good to me too!  The weather was a bit dismal & while I visited the ruins there was a big old rain storm.  Hope this doesn't bore you.

Today Ercolano seems like it is down in a hole, because it is!  It was buried & had to be dug out.  Here you see the ancient walls that surrounded the city.  The ancient shoreline used to be just down there at the right, today the sea is... at least a half mile away.  

Ercolano scavi (ruins) are in the foreground & you see the "modern" town in the background.

Ercolano was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius back in 79 A.D., the same one that destroyed Pompei.  Unlike the fate of Pompei (being buried under a load of ash), the inhabitants of Ercolano were killed by thermal shock from pyroclastic flow (recall, a fast moving wave of heat & toxic gas) and the town was buried under mud which turned into volcanic "tuff".  Back then Ercolano was part of the Roman empire & was known as a coastal retreat, therefore many wealthy people lived there.  Unlike at Pompei, Ercolano remained really well preserved under the mud which formed an airtight seal.  Much of the art including sculpture, frescoes & mosaics were found when the town was discovered & excavated.  The current town of Ercolano was actually built right on top of the ancient village.  The ruins were found in 1709 when someone was digging a well.

 I've included a bunch of photos here.  You may wonder why it is so interesting, as often things just looking really run down & like a bunch of bricks.  Well, it is because these bricks are soooo old!  And ancient Roman architecture & art was really advanced for those days.  Most Roman cities, towns, construction were wiped out at one time or another by wars, progress, etc, so it is quite amazing to find a village like Ercolano preserved in this fashion.  Ercolano is not nearly as popular as Pompei but, more interesting to those interested in ancient art, archaeology, etc because of how well things have been preserved.  You will find wood present in doorways, etc, and some 2 story structures.  As in Pompei, much of the art has been carted off to museums but, what is left here is still impressive.  However, it is in a somewhat sad state likely due to lack of funds to finish/carry on with restoration & excavation.  There are a lot of areas that are closed off because they are crumbling apart.

Apparently when Vesuvius blew everyone tried to run to the sea & they died there.  Bones of about 300 people were found at the shoreline.  The people were hiding in boathouses waiting for rescue when the pyroclastic surge hit, it was over 500 degrees celsius!  Poor people.  Vesuvius had been dormant for  so long prior to this that people didn't even recognize it as a volcano.  Big surprise!

notice the colorful stones in the mosaic floor

a bit rainy out in the ancient courtyard

colorful mosaic flooring

the ancient fast food zone.  if you recall from my writings about pompei...  homes were often too small for a kitchen so people would come to these food shops where things would be stewing in these...  ancient crock pots.

inside the food crocks there are all these tiny pumice stones.  i imagine they were used to keep food hot?

here is a map of the zone.  it is still a work in progress but, it is obvious that not much progress is being made lately.

here you see the brick inner layer covered by maybe cement & then marble?  

 

here is actually some charred wood left over from 89 A.D.!!!

this was a huge arch

here were the best frescoes, depicting mythological scenes of Hercules

ancient bath house.  one for men, one for ladies

mosaic in the bath house

I guess this is fresco restoration in progress?  Not sure but, thought it looked cool.

this was a pretty amazing mosaic

 Hope you enjoyed the ruins!  I really get into this stuff.  Maybe in another life I was an ancient Roman.  I met a girl from Wisconsin recently who had taken the same classical myth class with Barry Powell that I had taken as a freshman @ the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  We talked about how we had both been inspired & developed an interest in classical studies.  My interest in ancient greek & roman empires are one of the big reasons I was interested to come over here.  I hope I can make it to Greece while I am here.  It is so close, it has always been a dream of mine.  Ever since that class.

After getting wet at Ercolano I popped back on the train to continue down to Sorrento.  I happened to get on the wrong train & went all the way to the end of the line, only to get off & wander about completely disoriented.  Where am I?  Lucky for me, some dude had been watching my confusion & came over to tell me what to do.  Turns out that tourists are making this mistake all the time.  I got to enjoy another hour or so of taking a nap on the train to get to my destination.  I stayed at a "youth" hostel.  I get a huge kick out of wondering....  am I still considered a youth?

I got a haircut the other day!  The first one since I have been here.  And actually, just today is my 5 MONTH ANNIVERSARY of being an Italian woman!  So, I was defo due for a haircut!  I was apprehensive because I didn't want to get a crappy hairdo for lack of being able to say what I wanted done.  I communicated that I just wanted a trim but, damn! this lady went to town cutting and layering away.  I haven't had so many bangs since I was a child, I think she had to even out a lot as I had been regularly snipping away at my own hair.  I got this nice hairwashing with head massage for literally 30 minutes, then the haircut, then she spent 30 minutes blowing it out, flat ironing, etc.  It was super flat & slick, like my hair really needs too much help to be flat & straight.  Anway, it was fun.   I was there for at least 1.5 hours.  Here is the result, transformation into Italian woman... complete.  haha.

BTW, I'm sure you heard about the ship that crashed into the island over here??  Wow, it's unbelievable.

Ok, enough for now my friends.  I am doing a bit of rambling on.  xoxo

and then we went to... Pisa!

Ciao!  Come state??  I hope this finds you all happy & well!  I'm just wrapping up the amazing and fabulous Tuscany adventure that Elysia & I took while she was here.  This is the last of it, a day trip from Florence to Pisa!  We had debated about going, hearing that there is not too much happening in Pisa but... come on!  Who doesn't want to see the ever mystical LEANING TOWER OF PISA once in their lifetime?  Why is it so cool?  Why is it something that you learn about in school when you are a child & it sticks in your head so that you feel magnetically compelled to see it when you are 34?  We heard it was one of the BIG 3 in Italy so, we had to go!  (the colliseum, the canals of Venice & the leaning tower).  

It turns out that Pisa is a nice little town/city.  There is a university there & I've heard it is a pretty sweet scene.  The students were on holiday while we were there.  The mother of the child I teach English to teaches @ Pisa University, something like spanish literature.  Pisa is @ the mouth of the Arno River on the Tyrrhenian sea about a 1.2h train trip from Flo-town.  

pastries galore!  i was able to find some of the delicious panforte here.

Here it is!  The leaning tower of Pisa.  The tower, along with a cathedral, a baptistry & a graveyard are all grouped together on a lovely, lush, green lawn.  It is unique because you don't see many (any?) lawns in Italy.  And often monuments, churches, etc. are all packed in, close quarters in the middle of cramped city blocks.  This are is called The piazza dei Miracoli & here these nice white marble structures seem to float on a sea of green lawn.

ha ha, holding up the tower.  this is the typical tourist pose.  

here you see the baptistry building in the back, it is also doing a bit of a lean.  the baptistry is designed to be perfectly resonant & echoey & if you sing in there it sounds wonderfully heavenly & angelic.  the guard employee does a singing demo every half hour!

ancient city walls, nice green lawn

whoa!  is it my camera angle or is the thing tipping before our very eyes?

The tower is leaning due to a weak & unstable subsoil.  After it was built, the weight of thing caused the ground to settle.  It was built in stages, some of the upper layers are actually built with one side taller than the other to compensate for the leaning.  If you look real close you can see that the thing is actually sort of curved.  Here is another important sight....  stacked heel brown patent tennis shoes with brown tights!

 There is also a cemetery called the camposanto on site.  It was really peaceful & pretty.

I love this one!

 Just a side note here.  I am always raving about these white marble sculptures, I just love them, right?  My sister tells me that back in the old days, those Romans used to paint the marble sculptures bright colors.  Something perhaps, like this:

Or even, ugh, this!  I guess I am just too used to seeing them purely white.  I have really grown to love them this way.  The colors look garish & tacky compared to the nice, clean, classic white.  Interesting, don't you think?

it looks foul, doesn't it?

However, the sculptures done later, like in the Renaissance (David, etc) were meant to be just white.  Good!

haha, the people on the right are doing the classic, hold the tower up pantomime :)

and here we are doing the classic hamming it up with the long arm photos :)

 We really enjoyed Pisa!  On the job front...  things continue to not go real well.  My Italian business manager is a bit volatile & it is stressful.  I'm still waiting on getting my official full time work visa to stay.  What I have now just okays me to work 20h per week.  (which I haven't been working) (which is why I've had the time to read about ten books lately).  So, I am informed today that in a "couple weeks" I'm going to have an oral test & reading test of my Italian ability to see if I am able to communicate effectively enough to act as a doctor here.  I think I can & my Italian is decent at this point but...  this was never part of the plan!  What if the test is too hard & I fail?  I've been told to study real hard over the next couple weeks.  Needless to say, stress levels continue to be high.  Sometimes I wonder how I ended up in this situation?  Apparently I needed to go through some personal trials at this time in my life.  Does life ever get easier?  If it did, would it then be boring?

Wish me luck my friends!
xx

so pretty!

Siena!

Ciao tutti!

Sorry my friends, it's been a little bit.  I had an internet problem.  I got a new internet "key"/modem device that seems to be faster than the last.  I was even able to have some partial skype conversations.  I thought I had gotten the super awesome connection device this time but, turns out it is just partially awesome.  Oh well.

Well!  I must catch you all up on some events!  Here you can see a trip to the lovely Siena!  Siena is in Tuscany about a 1.5h bus ride from Firenze.  The historical center is designated a UNESCO world heritage site.  How many of those things ARE there in Italy?  A billion.  Just to start off, here is my favorite thing in Siena....  Panforte!  It is a dense spice cake made with nuts & dried fruits.  Very chewy & yummy!  It comes in various flavors ranging from fig/walnut to chocolate/hazelnut, etc, etc.  I love these types of treats.  Some may know about my affection for energy bars, seed bars, fruit logs, etc.  I think this stuff was developed ages ago for soldiers to combat hunger during the crusades.  

panforte!

I still haven't been able to find any of this stuff in Roma.  May have to start making it!  Like a lara bar but, tastier!

 A major claim to fame in Siena is the famous Palio!  The palio is a horse race that occurs twice a year in this main piazza in town.  Piazza del Campo is huge, slightly sloping, with a nearly round shape.  During the palio dirt is carted in to form a track around the edge of the piazza & walls of the surrounding buildings are padded with straw & such to create a race track.  Each neighborhood around Siena (about 10?) enter a horse & rider in the race & each has it's own coat of arms & pennant flag waving.  No saddles are worn!  All the spectators cram in the center of the piazza & also onto narrow balconies ringing the square.  They do several laps, the crowd goes wild & it sounds crazy!

the Palazzo Pubblico in the Piazza del Campo!

people actually just lounge out here like @ the beach!  good people watching.

 We hoped to climb that bell tower @ the Palazzo but, typical... we arrived about 5 minutes after it closed.  You've really gotta time things right here in Italy.  Many things close during the middle of the day, close early, close on certain days... you never know.

Siena was of Roman origin & the symbol of the town is the good old she wolf suckling Romulus & Remus.  It was cute to watch these pigeons tip toe down the wolf's nose to get a sip of water.  So dainty.  

Colorful fruits!  On display for tourists, not sure if these were all local & likely not in season.  Pretty though!

 The Duomo of Siena was absolutely spectacular, I can honestly say that I think it is my favorite Duomo!  And believe me, I have seen a lot at this point!  The outside is fairly standard for a gothic Italian duomo, very ornate & fabulous.  Just wait until you see the inside!

shoot!  should have arrived slightly early to snap a sunny shot of the duom.

 First, however, we scale up a neighboring rampart to get a sweet view of the town.  Here you can see the Piazza del Campo.  Also, a bit of trivia for you...  Can you think back to your box of crayolas growing up to picture the color burnt siena?  Well, get this, it was named after these brown rooftops in Siena Italy!  From up top here all you see is a sea of burnt siena rooftops, it's nice.

just imagine that piazza down there jammed with people & a horse race!

wow!  there you go!  had to find a photo on the interweb to show you.  

why am I always making this face?  

burnt siena sunset...

 Now we go into the Duomo!  What is different about it, that I really liked was the color scheme.  It was all black, navy blue, white and gold as you can see.  I found it unique & very beautiful.  The floors have impressively intricate mosaics & the ceiling & dome are just stunning.

WOW!

I think that the sacristy zone was my favorite, the walls are painted with a series of exceptional panels by Ghirlandiao but, what I liked the best of all was the ceiling.  It was so vibrantly colored & intricately designed.  Then there was this sculpture of the three muses in the center.  It was a really beautiful moment to be in there.  I think it is usually full of people but here we were in the early evening with the place to ourselves.

 Italy really does up the Christmas/winter street decorations right.  In every town you will find something cute strung up in the narrow streets.  It is magical & classy rather than overdone & tacky as you might find in some suburban neighborhoods in the US.

like this one, isn't that pretty?

Hope you enjoyed!  I'm going to try to blast off another blog entry real quick to catch up.  I had a wonderful trip down to the Amalfi Coast this past weekend that I am dying to share with you.  I needed to get out of the city & it was awesome to be out at the ocean.  At some points it was warm enough to have short sleeves on....  in anticipation of spring & summer!  However, today in Rome it was gloomy & gray all day.

I've been thinking about how much I miss bragg's liquid aminos, that mochi that comes in a big block & you bake in the oven, kombucha (gingerberry flavor), the occasional burrito...  Also awesome yoga classes, really missing those right now!  I have been doing a ton of reading.  I loved the Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I also really enjoyed The Help & am currently almost finished with One Day.

And, that's it for now.  I hope that you are well!!  I know Seattle has been getting some snow which is always a bit special.
xx