La pratica vale più della grammatica… (Experience is the best teacher)

So we've successfully made it through the first week and have already begun our second. Only a week in and it already seems like time is flying. With every street you wander down there are new things to see, discover, buy, try, or taste. The adventures are endless yet time is very limited. Thankfully our adventures continue even in the classroom; rather than sitting in an artificially heated environment listening to hours of lecture our classes take place in the classrooms of Roman streets, piazzas, and buildings. Both our history and sketching class is primarily structured out and about the city learning, sketching, and analyzing.

View from the top of Il Vittoriano

Of course our projects for studio draw from urban conditions throughout Rome. Our first project is to experience and analyze an assigned Piazza in Rome; decide what type of Piazza it is, what makes the Piazza work, what interferes with the Piazza's purpose. For this project we are split into 7 groups; my group members are Corin Capodilupo and Lisa Nucera. Our Piazza is Piazza Santa Maria sopra Minerva, formally known as Piazza della Minerva.

Piazza della Minerva

(Looking towards the Pantheon)

Classes Monday-Thursday went pretty successfully giving us a chance to get acquainted with our environment and responsibilities. Friday morning we gathered to spend the day touring the 7 Hills of Rome (walking about 4 or 5 of them in the process). While we all took hundreds of pictures, the images themselves don't even begin to communicate the spirit and the beauty that every place we went embodied. The history and majesty of each location was unspeakable; it is something that can only be experienced. Overlooking the Forum at 10 in the morning with a haze hanging amidst the ancient remains was awe inspiring and surreal.

Overlooking the Roman Forum at 10am

Monday morning was our first History class; the theme of the class seemed to be centered around the different origin stories of Rome in relation to the city and its ruins. We traced the different stories to their possible setting in Rome and encountered many ruins that bring the origins to life. With the presence of the oldest Roman ruins located where it is believed the city started, the origin stories (while often classified as myths) gain a dimension of reality.

Temple of Hercules

Mentioned in Origin Story