Well, Rome is a frenzy as per usual. I'll be glad to get out of here. Which I do in about an hour. Have a train ticket to Spoletto which is as close as I can get to Norcia... my planned jumping off point for riding in the Sibillinis. Have to figure out a bus to Norcia when I get to Spoletto.
Wish me luck! (And good weather!)
- B -
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Hello from Siena...
Hello all!
Well, we spent two nights in Florence, racing around to see all the good architecture and art. Whichwas fun. Florence is way way too busy though. Too many American college students there... feltlike I was attending a sorority party! And the locals are so tired of tourists. They are not particularly friendly and don't even bother with your attempts to speak Italian.
I had made reservations at a hotel in Siena... wanted to ride my bike there but they wanted me to arrive by 7:00. And we were getting let loose from the Uffizi Art museum at 1:00 so I knew I couldn't make it. 60+ km and hills. So I was going to take the train down instead but on walking back from the art museum to the motel I decided to go anyway. I had a cell phone that I share with a roommate, so when it got close to 7:00 and I was still quite a ways out I called, told them I was late and they were fine. So I blew through the Chianti wine country as fast as I could on bike with my little suitcase trailer behind! It was fun, though hard. I wish that I'd found someplace to stay in the middle of the Chianti area and then come on into Siena today, live and learn. But Siena is a great place. The main square, 'piazza del campo' is a big brick square where you can hang out and eat pizza and enjoy the sunshine. The people are friendly, there are lots of tourists but they are not all going to college in the US, and the locals are perfectly willing to talk to me in Italian that understand about every 10th word of.
Tomorrow we head for Rome (many of my classmates are here as well) and spend three nights there. Afterward I am planning to get to a town called Norca somehow (I was planning on the train but hear it does not go there) then will bike through the Sibillini Mts back to Macerata. There is a brutal climb on the first day (1000 meters up!) but after that I should be okay. We will see. Will post photos and drawings when I get back to Macerata.
Cheers!
- B -
Well, we spent two nights in Florence, racing around to see all the good architecture and art. Whichwas fun. Florence is way way too busy though. Too many American college students there... feltlike I was attending a sorority party! And the locals are so tired of tourists. They are not particularly friendly and don't even bother with your attempts to speak Italian.
I had made reservations at a hotel in Siena... wanted to ride my bike there but they wanted me to arrive by 7:00. And we were getting let loose from the Uffizi Art museum at 1:00 so I knew I couldn't make it. 60+ km and hills. So I was going to take the train down instead but on walking back from the art museum to the motel I decided to go anyway. I had a cell phone that I share with a roommate, so when it got close to 7:00 and I was still quite a ways out I called, told them I was late and they were fine. So I blew through the Chianti wine country as fast as I could on bike with my little suitcase trailer behind! It was fun, though hard. I wish that I'd found someplace to stay in the middle of the Chianti area and then come on into Siena today, live and learn. But Siena is a great place. The main square, 'piazza del campo' is a big brick square where you can hang out and eat pizza and enjoy the sunshine. The people are friendly, there are lots of tourists but they are not all going to college in the US, and the locals are perfectly willing to talk to me in Italian that understand about every 10th word of.
Tomorrow we head for Rome (many of my classmates are here as well) and spend three nights there. Afterward I am planning to get to a town called Norca somehow (I was planning on the train but hear it does not go there) then will bike through the Sibillini Mts back to Macerata. There is a brutal climb on the first day (1000 meters up!) but after that I should be okay. We will see. Will post photos and drawings when I get back to Macerata.
Cheers!
- B -
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Typical Schedule...
Somebody was asking me how often I had Italian class, so I thought I'd describe a little bit of our schedule.
We start at 9:00am, Mondays with the Town Form class. This class, taught by Jenny Young from Eugene, focuses on the development of the hill towns, why they were such great structures for living and what difficulties they face today. (Cars is the big one... little streets with no parking and people driving through them as fast as they can go... pedestrians get out of the way!). After a couple of hours discussion and looking at drawings we've done (we're supposed to do 5 sketches per week and then there are a bunch of sketches assigned on the field trips), we generally walk to somewhere in town and visit.
Tuesdays and Thursdays we have Italian from 9-11 and Architecture History from 11-1. Italian is a lot of fun, Architecture History is good but a little dry and by 1:00 I'm falling asleep badly.
We break from 1-3 for lunch (most of the shops are closed and the Italians at home during this time as well... so you can't buy groceries for instance). Then from 3-7 we have studio.
Fridays we take field trips. Wednesday mornings we sometimes have free. Weekends are generally free, I try to work in studio one day and get a bike ride in the other... although last weekend I just worked because of midterms... which I have to go off and take notes for a review now!
- B -
- B -
We start at 9:00am, Mondays with the Town Form class. This class, taught by Jenny Young from Eugene, focuses on the development of the hill towns, why they were such great structures for living and what difficulties they face today. (Cars is the big one... little streets with no parking and people driving through them as fast as they can go... pedestrians get out of the way!). After a couple of hours discussion and looking at drawings we've done (we're supposed to do 5 sketches per week and then there are a bunch of sketches assigned on the field trips), we generally walk to somewhere in town and visit.
Tuesdays and Thursdays we have Italian from 9-11 and Architecture History from 11-1. Italian is a lot of fun, Architecture History is good but a little dry and by 1:00 I'm falling asleep badly.
We break from 1-3 for lunch (most of the shops are closed and the Italians at home during this time as well... so you can't buy groceries for instance). Then from 3-7 we have studio.
Fridays we take field trips. Wednesday mornings we sometimes have free. Weekends are generally free, I try to work in studio one day and get a bike ride in the other... although last weekend I just worked because of midterms... which I have to go off and take notes for a review now!
- B -
- B -
The Big Prune...
Historically, Macerata is known as "The Big Prune". I am unsure why. But then, I'm not sure why NYC is "The Big Apple" either. There is even a song about it... comparing Macerata favorably to London and Paris (I think... the song is in Italian).
Anyhow, if you ever wanted to travel to The Big Prune, now you can.
- B -
Anyhow, if you ever wanted to travel to The Big Prune, now you can.
- B -
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Busy busy busy...
This week is midterm week. Tomorrow (Thur) we are supposed to present our projects, so have been working hard. Then on Friday we leave for Florence for three nights. Following which we have a couple of nights free, then are in Rome for 3(?) nights and finally have three more nights free before starting classes in Macerata again a week from Tuesday.
Anyhow, updates will be spotty until then...
I'm thinking I'll do some biking during the free days while away, will try to post my plans and some midterm images tomorrow...
- B -
Anyhow, updates will be spotty until then...
I'm thinking I'll do some biking during the free days while away, will try to post my plans and some midterm images tomorrow...
- B -
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