My second week in Rome has passed faster than the first. Studio, sketching, and walking tours are all in full swing. I feel as if we are all falling head over heels for Rome. The connections of monuments, piazza’s, churches, and ruins are becoming clearer each day. From a map the city seems flat, random, and confusing. After 2 weeks of tours and exploring, this place is not random at all. In the heart of Rome, spatial relationships, alignment, and scale are all understood. Finding specific places, riding the trains, and basic navigation has become infinitely easier. The importance of the Tiber River has always been stressed in the classroom, now is being reinforced during walking tours. For thousands of years, the river has served as the main highway to the outside world for trade, commerce, and culture. Though, over the years, the Tiber has been walled and controlled the importance is still clear throughout the city. The urban fabric is all based of the twists and bends of the Tiber. With a general understanding as to the location of the Tiber novice Roman navigators, like myself, can easily find their way back home.
This week was also a crash course in ancient Roman History. With sites like Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and the Coliseum on the menu there was plenty to learn. These sites are heavily marketed, visited, and controlled. Their importance and sacredness to the city is understood, but they are bustling with tourists alike. The intimacy of the spaces has been lost, and ruined by the mobs of tourists with there cameras, guidebooks, and tour guides (note: I am as guilty as all the others). If the opportunity were given to visit these places, while they were empty of the foreign mobs, I am sure my attitude would be reversed. I am by no mean intending to degrade these ancient sites, just making a note as to my observation. Towards the end of the week we visited the ruins of Ostia Antica. I won’t dare compare the importance of the ruins of this ancient city to the Forum and Coliseum. I can say the experience was much different. This ancient ruin is, not only, expansive, less populated, but it is more open. I found myself turning corners from an open space into an, intimate, smaller space. The shadows that were cast from wall to wall made this ruin an enlightening place to sketch. Though, not as highly marketed, Ostia Antica is immensely important to Rome’s history. The city served as the gateway from the outer world for trade, commerce, and culture. Without Ostia Antica Rome would not have survived, nor, without Rome Ostia Antica would not have survived. When Rome would decline Ostia Antica would also decline. Their fates were directly linked. This Ancient Ruin, and the Beach were the Highlights of the week.
On a sadder side, I lost a true companion and dear friend this week. On Friday, June 5th , 2010 my canine companion passed on to the next life. She was diagnosed with a tumor 5 days before I was scheduled to depart for Rome. She passed quietly and painlessly in the early morning. For the past two years she has lived the college dream with myself in Moscow. I will never forget our shared memories, or the memory of her friendship. We celebrated the life of our dear friend with a nice tall glass of J&B on the rocks! I miss you and will always love you Miss Polly.
Miss Polly 12.24.2001 - 6.4.2010
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