Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The Roman Forum by David



Text by David / Photos by KP

The visit to the forum, though brief, moved me like nothing else. This uniqueness, of course, was on account of the inclement weather. 



It may seem simple, unpleasant, even, but this sole factor shifted my view of all previous sites monumentally. Never before, in any movie, book, or artwork I have seen, have I ever been brought to consider the feeling of the Forum in the rain. These grand, once-bustling monuments are always depicted in golden sunlight, pure myth to a Seattlite like myself. We can learn from a textbook about the great basilicas, the immaculate marble temples and arches gleaming silvery white in bright, golden sunlight, and when the structures truly are bathed in warm light they still feel larger every time. But when the sky darkens with rain cascading down upon you, the mythical place becomes eternal and timeless. The mind wanders in all directions, finding bursts of understanding in the midst of the inclement weather. One suddenly realizes the reasons for the simple details they have spent years taking at face value: the reason for the wool tunica and togas, the design of the streets’ drainage, the true size of the simple rostra; these bring more understanding than half a decade of learning ever can.




























[Photos of our time exploring the Roman Forum, including Overlake student docent presentations.]

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

The Coliseum by Tessa



By the time we got to the Coliseum, many of us were already soggy enough from the rain to take off our jackets to dry off by just being rained on and not also having wet sheets of polyester attached to our shoulders. Despite Kelli’s valiant efforts, we still had a snafu with tickets (the details of which are frustrating but uninteresting) so we got to become even better acquainted with the Roman spring rain. While the teachers were working to get us in, we sang and did jumping jacks and other eclectic activities to stay energetic.

We walked around the first and 2nd floors of the structure, which would be placed next to the really good seats and just ok seats respectively in ancient times. The seats, the cover for weather, and the arena floor were wooden, so the coliseum today looks more like a circular series of brick arches than an arena today. Time passes, am I right? I was personally a bit too tired to reflect on the spooky parallels between the entertainment culture of Ancient Rome and the us at the time, but they are there. For example, gladiators who were good enough became celebrities and had their own merchandise!




  The coliseums heyday capacity rivals modern sports stadiums. Many of the Roman ruins are large on a monumental scale, big enough that illustrations cannot do them justice but small enough that you understand just how large they are (in contrast to something like a skyscraper). At the end, we got a well deserved break resting our hands on the hot lights on the display cases in the gift shop.

Pizza Dinner in Rome by Fiona



For dinner we got pizza together at Pizza RĂ©. We had some delicious salad that Estelle remarked was “way fresher” than vegetables in the United States, fries that were very crispy, and finally a lot of pizza. 


The pizza was definitely way lighter than American pizza and the mozzarella was very stretchy and smooth which was pretty cool except sometimes when we cut it someone would get unlucky and just completely lose their mozarella and then just stare at the plate with a lot of disappointment. We were each supposed to have eight slices but we realized this was a little bit difficult and we may have gotten too much pizza. Luckily, we had two people who made valiant efforts to finish all the pizza: Rohan and Henry. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish everything but Rohan and Henry competed in a competition to see who could chomp the most amount of pizza and Henry won narrowly (maybe narrowly, not really sure but he definitely won) by eating 19 slices of pizza (For context that is more than two whole pies of pizza). Maybe the real pizza was the friends we made along the way? 
We also discussed things such as “the cult of Grumio”, and David and Jack devised ways they could continue to spread the words of our favorite Latin book character, Grumio. We then walked back to the convent very nicely right after it started raining and then gathered on the roof to debrief. 
- Fiona 





Monday, March 25, 2024

First Day in Rome

The Spanish Steps



The Tabularium at the Capitoline Museum—by Estelle



The Capitoline Museum had many awe inspiring artifacts that were all interesting in their own way whether it was silly like “porkulese”- the baby faced teenage Hercules (it makes sense when you see it), emotional like the heart wrenched old woman clinging to a casket of wine, or riveting like the dying Gaul. But I found that many of these artifacts paled in comparison with the beauty and connection I felt witnessing the view in the Tabularium overlooking the Roman forum. Standing in a place where the mighty empire kept their records overlooking the remnants of where people used to walk - and modern people still did, I felt very grounded into what time travel felt of. I feel as though no picture can capture the feeling of the wind on my face and the sheer proximity to something of such antiquity - I dare say it was one of the closest things my atheist self has ever felt to a religious experience. Being so close to the world we studied from afar for so many years, it was unreal. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit but I felt myself tearing up at the view and the connection to history and humanity I felt then. If the rest of the trip is anything similar to that experience I had today then I can say with certainty I will have a wonderful next 9 days.


Blog reflection by Estelle
Photos by Kelli

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Roma!

Our travels went smoothly and we arrived in Rome early this evening. After checking in at the convent and getting our room assignments, we ate right around the corner at a small place that served typical street food—arancini, panini, and pizza by the slice. We ended with gelato next door to celebrate our successful travels. Tonight we will rest well because tomorrow we start our exploration of Rome.