Tarquinia: The reason I don't want to come home...

Hello everyone!

Here's the low-down on what I was up to last week:

Sunday (Feb. 16): I planned my spring break trip and bought tickets to Sofia, Bulgaria!! I'll be there starting Monday, March 31st and will return to Rome on April 2nd (I'm still thinking about changing my flight to stay longer, but I'm not sure yet...) The weekend before my friend from school, Tiffany, will be staying and visiting Rome with me! I've already got her trip planned out and am so excited to show her how beautiful Rome is!!!

On Monday we had Italian and a Lexia lecture. After class, Marlene and I went to Termini Station (where the buses, planes, trains, and metro all meet up) to purchase tickets for a day trip to Tarquinia. We wanted to get out of the city for a bit and see some more of Italy! Tarquinia is listed as a good day trip in Marlene's guidebook, and roundtrip train tickets only cost 12.60 euro!! So, we decided to check it out.


After Italian on Tuesday, we went out for lunch with Scott and Hanna (other Lexia kids), and at 3:00pm came back to the Istituto Italiano for a "passagiata" (stroll, walk) with the history teacher, Silvia. She took us to EUR, which is basically Mussolini's New Rome, as he was attempting to recreate the Roman Empire. He began building it in about 1933 or so, but construction was interrupted by World War II. They finished the area in about 1966. It is quintessential of Fascist architecture and an amazing contrast to the Rome we all know and visit. What was really strange was that it was a beautiful area, full of parks and trees, but also quite depressing because of the colors and architecture. The area reminded me a lot of Mid-Century Modern architecture, but still it was very different.

This is the Church of Saint Paolo, if I remember correctly.
It also houses Mussolini's mausoleum.

The architecture was all created or reviewed by Mussolini, himself. Perhaps the most haunting building was also my favorite: it was intended to be the new Colosseum, and is currently used as an art gallery. It is haunting because the arches correlate to Mussolini's name - 6 up, 9 across.

The writing says: A population of poets, artists, heroes,
saints, thinkers, scientists, navigators and of travelers.

After this we came back to the apartment to work on homework and hang out with the family until dinner. I helped Gianmarco with his English homework, too! That was fun because I was trying to explain prepositional/spatial relations (ie- opposite of, in front of, next to, behind, etc) in Italian and sign language. It was entertaining to say the least!!

Wednesday was pretty normal - as strange as that sounds. We didn't have a Lexia excursion because one of the boys, Mike, was really sick, so we postponed that until Friday. So after class, Marlene and I had lunch with Lizz and Nina, and then walked up and down Via Nazionale and in the Campo di Fiori side-streets in search of some new jeans for Lizz and Nina. (FYI- We were successful!)

Thursday was basically uneventful... had Italian and went to lunch, then came home to read and work on homework and such.

After Italian on Friday, we finally went on our Lexia excursion/passagiata to the Piazza della Republica (a.k.a. Piazza Esedra). Of course, I forgot my camera for this trip. But I'm hoping to go back and take pictures because it was absolutely gorgeous. I'd been to the Piazza delle Repubblica before, however I didn't go in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (formerly the Baths of Diocletian) because, well for one, I didn't know that I could, and secondly, from the outside it looks bleak and depressing, especially considering the scale and decor of the surrounding buildings.
Some quick history: The Piazza della Repubblica was formerly known as the Piazza Esedra because of the esedra (track or field in the shape of a semi-circle) that was part of the Baths of Diocletian. It was used primarily for royal weddings, funerals, etc - creating an air of royalty about it. After the unification of Italy it was renamed the Piazza della Repubblica as it became a gathering center for political rallies/speeches/etc. This was an attempt to eradicate the monarchy's power and support. It is still referred to Piazza Esedra at times - but generally only by those people who are monarchical loyalists.
(I borrowed this pic from Wikipedia)

Ok, back to the Church! From the outside, it is a simple and unappealing brick building. Upon entering, the enormity and decadence of the interior is almost overwhelming! Until the mid 1500s the church sat as the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, until Michaelangelo was commissioned to transform the ruins into a church. The structure is more or less the same, with some architectural changes. He kept the original Egyptian granite 300 ton columns, put in place by the Romans, and repainted the interior in Medieval fashion.

(Borrowed from Wikipedia)

After our walk with Tom a couple of us decided to head over to Druid's Rock (the pub mentioned in previous blogs) for happy hour. It was Lizz, Nina, Marlene and me. We just sat around talking and hanging out. At one point Nina started talking in Italian and the group of guys sitting near us complimented her Italian and we began talking with them about why we were there (in Italy) and where we were from, etc. I was excited because I attempted talking with them and they understood most of what I said or tried to say, but I was also able to understand them when they were talking to Nina! Yay! :) We went to dinner around 7:00pm and then decided to go home to sleep and rest because we were going to Tarquinia the next day!!

So, Saturday morning came and Marlene and I were up by 10:00-10:30 or so getting ready to head out. We met up with Lizz and Nina at the train station (Termini) and got aboard the train! It was about an hour and a half long ride, and it was very scenic and beautiful. Tarquinia is near the ocean and the train went along the coast!

Some quick history: Tarquinia was originally inhabited by the Etruscans (pre and during Roman empire era). It was the most notable of the 12 federated Etruscan cities, and has the best preserved Etruscan necropolis (city of the dead/tombs). The Etruscan territory was eventually completely sacked by Camillus in 196ad, when he penetrated the walls of the city Veii. The Etruscans were influenced greatly by the Greeks and in turn greatly influenced the Romans by way of architecture, engineering, etc.

Back to our adventure: We arrived in Tarquinia around 1:30/2:00pm (the train left at 12:10 or so). We got off the train and in my research before we left, I was told there was a bus stop that would take us into the heart of Tarquinia. Alas, there is no such bus stop... so we decided to walk from the train station to the city, not realizing that it is situated on a hill (but what else could we do?). So we walked and walked, following the signs and one road to Tarquinia and the Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese (National Museum of Tarquinia). Luckily for us, it was a gorgeous day! (Probably around 65-70 degrees F). Once we made it even partially up the hill (picture to the right) we were so glad we had come.

Once we reached the ancient city walls, we began looking for the Palazzo Vitelleschi, which is now home to the Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese.
Seeing as we did not enter the city from the main gates, we had some trouble finding the Palazzo, although the city was so gorgeous and quintessentially Italian no one cared. We wandered around and finally came upon the Museum. We spent several hours in it, mainly because I was completely fascinated by the pottery.

The Palazzo itself was absolutely gorgeous as well.
It's described as Gothic-Romanesque. (Below)Palazzo Vitelleschi from Piazza Cavour

Palazzo Vitelleschi's Courtyard

Courtyard again...

Sweet arches!

Vaulted ceiling!

Gorgeous windows!

Here are some pictures for you Mom - but FYI: the necropolis was closed when we got there, so I'll have to go back to get real pictures from the tombs - these are just replicas.


Here are some other artifacts that I liked:

A duck-shaped vase!

Maureen! Ancient dice set!

OK- Enough about the museum!! We left the museum and continued to just meander around the town, soaking up the sun and the sights.





(Top to bottom, left to right:
Marlene, Lizz, Nina, me!)

Fountain in the town.

A very pretty building!

Gorgeous rolling hills.

Road presumably leading to the necropolis?

A window in the wall.

More Tuscan countryside.

Aren't we cute?! Haha!

I have no idea what this is called, but it was really cool.

In the Tuscan hills.

Ah! Tarquinia!!

Tarquinian sunset. You can't beat it!

After getting our fill of walking around, we sat down at a pizzeria for dinner. It was delicious! After we finished our pizza and vino rosso, Lizz asked our waiter where we could catch the bus to the train station. To our utter SHOCK, he replied that the buses and trains don't run after 7:00pm (by this time it is about 7:30pm, and we thought our train left at 8:30pm). So, needless to say, we all went into panic mode because we were not prepared to have to stay the night - though it wouldn't have been a big problem, just an inconvenience. We bolted back into the main square in search of an internet point to double check that we hadn't read the 24 hour clock schedule incorrectly. While searching unsuccessfully for an internet point (which we had seen earlier) we called our friend Mike to have him look up the schedule. He confirmed that the next train was scheduled for 8:27 AM. Still in panic mode, we came across a travel agency that was open, except there was only one woman working and she was helping another customer when we came in. Lizz left to search for the internet point some more, and Nina, Marlene and I waited at the travel agency. Finally, Lizz returned and said the internet place was closed, just then the other customers left and we pleaded with the travel agent to check the train schedule for us. Of course she did with no reservations, and thank goodness, there WAS a train that left at 8:27 PM (20:27 24 hour clock). By now it was 7:50pm! We asked for the bus stop, but she said that the buses don't run to the train station, so we asked for a taxi, but there are NO TAXIS IN THE TOWN!! So, our only choice was to RUN to the station - the problem? It's a loooong walk. Probably about 1 1/2- 2 miles. Fortunately, going back to the station is all downhill!!! By some divine intervention, we JUST BARELY made the train - Lizz and Nina were literally begging the conductor to wait 2 minutes for us. Of course, as we arrived out of breathe, to the station, a city bus pulled up to the station!!! ARRGH! Haha... oh well! :)

We made it back into Rome at about 9:45/10:00pm. We were all so exhausted and stressed by the last hour of our time in Tarquinia that we canceled our plans to go to Campo di Fiori and headed home to sleep!

Sunday we did nothing. I was so sore and so tired I could hardly move! I was really surprised because I've been walking so much everyday that I was not expecting to be so sore! But oh well. I rested and studied and did all my homework, so I was still somewhat productive!!

As for today, I had Italian and went to lunch with my Lexia buds and a new guy who's in the intermediate Italian class (with Lizz and Nina) from Germany! After lunch, we went back to the Istituto for our Lexia discussion and talked about Tarquinia and the Etruscans. It was fascinating!

I got back to the apartment around 3:50 and did my homework and started working on this blog. I helped Gianmarco with his English homework, and he in turn, helped me with my Italian homework! After dinner, Marlene and I picked out some children's books in Italian to practice reading, and Edoardo insisted that I read Peter Pan and "Biancaneve" (Snow White) to him... and let me tell you, it is quite interesting having your reading corrected by a 5 year old!! Haha. Plus, he ended up just summarizing the whole story for me, I guess because I was taking too long to read to him, lol. It was still a lot of fun! As for tomorrow, I don't have any plans except for Italiano! Next week will be my last week of Italian lessons!

Tempus fugit!

Ciao!

Love,
Becca