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So I'm home at last...

I got into Cleveland last night just before 7pm, and slept like a dead person after an awesome Mexican dinner with my mom and her boyfriend.

Today I'm going to visit some friends, then having a huge sushi party tomorrow in North Canton with some of the same people plus some others. Super exciting.

I've almost finished posting my pictures to Google-based Picasa web albums, and I'll be spreading the links to each like the plague once I've got them all organized - should be on here in the next day or two.

Thank you to all the great friends I made on this adventure - I hope to see all of you again soon!

Finally, I'm thinking of starting up a separate blog, just a general "life" blog. I'll link it to this one in the links box to the right. Hope those of you who read continue!

Cheers

Ryan

Fountains of Rome

I'm staying with a new host now in Rome, however, today is my last day here and I head to another part of town later this afternoon.

Yesterday I took the bus into town and stopped off just near the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin that houses the Bocca della Verità, a large stone sewer cover (I guess it was used as a fountain at some point too) depicting the visage of a some pagan god, made famous by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. (See to the left.) I took a picture of it - as it is heavily touristed - but did not make a point of sticking my hand into it's mouth - and not because I was afraid of it being bitten off. I just wasn't feeling kitchy enough to succumb, and enjoyed the interior of the small church more anyhow.

Just outside there were two temples and also an actual fountain depicting two tritans bearing a shell, by Bizzaccheri. This is located near two ancient temples, one dedicated to Vesta - or perhaps Hercules - and the other to Fortuna Virilis. The former is a round temple, while the latter is a modest rectangular temple. (See all three to the right.) All this then is just a couple blocks away from the Theater of Mercellus - nephew of Augustus - which was the inspiration for the design of the Colosseum. Also at this sight is located the remaining three columns that were once part of a larger temple to Apollo.

So I had four more audio tours, the last ones, that lead me around four different neighborhoods in Rome. These tours were certainly not the best of the series (when compared to Venezia or Firenze) but were enjoyable nonetheless. I got to explore the old Jewish Ghetto, as well as three other off the beaten path districts of Rome, each holding it's own hidden sights and wonders. I think I ended up with nearly 300 photos before the day was through.

I enjoyed pizza funghi - being mushrooms of course - and a bottle of carbonated water next to the Turtle Fountain in Piazza Mattei. It's not clear who originally designed the fountain, though my tour did note that it was probably Bernini who added the turtles later for which the fountain is known. (There is a picture of it to the right.)

I ended the afternoon just after 6pm in the Piazza Navona, where Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers is located. This depicts the four great rivers of the four continents - as they were thought in Bernini's time anyhow - the Nile (Africa), the Ganges (Asia), the Danube (Europe), and Rio de la Plata (Americas). Unfortunately they are currently doing restoration work on the central fountain, and I was not able to see much of it, or take any good photos for that matter. (See what it normally looks like to the left.) From here I wandered back along the Tiber to my starting point where I was able to catch the bus back to my host's flat.

Today or perhaps tomorrow I'm going to head out and see the majority of what is Ancient Rome, including the Colosseum, forums, Palatine and Capitoline Hills, etc. Then over the next week I've got a couple more areas I would like to explore. I'm not sure that there is a whole week of things to do in Rome though, so I may be taking a daytrip to Napoli (Naples), which is about 200km south of Rome.

When in Rome...

I guess I'm not really doing anything as the Romans do yet. I've had some good pizza, but that's about it!

Tonight I'm meeting my first host at the train station, and then will be staying with two other people until the 18th or 19th.

So far I've been out to see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, both of which are really interestign places to wander in the evening.

I had to get a dorm bed in a hostel for one evening, having arrived yesterday with no host. It wasn't awful though, by any means, and I met some nice people. So that's always fun. Also learned how to play a game called Taps, which at this time I won't go into describing, ha ha!

Pisa was good insofar as the Leaning Tower and the Duomo there are concerned. Other than that the city itself doesn't have much more going for it. I was glad to leave, especially because I was being slowly eaten alive by Italian mosquitoes. Awful. It was kind of a rush to stand next to the tower though. It looks much different than I think a lot of people are lead to expect. It's very clean looking and not as isolated as so many pictures make it seem.

So now I've got a little under two weeks in Rome, and then I'll hopefully be heading back to Venice for a couple days, then making my way back towards Spain, and going home soon thereafter. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about getting home, but especially with the Peace Corps drawing nearer, I want to spend some time with people before I turn around and leave again for an even longer time.ù

So anyhow, time to go find some food for lunch. I'm almost out of computer credit anyhow.

Ciao!