Hey folks,

Just writing to say that I will be going on my Northern Trip as of tomorrow, so I'll probably be beyond the reach of the internet for the following week. So don't worry if I don't write for awhile.

PARIS!

Spring break happened like two weeks ago, but I'm still catching up. What did I do? Well, the title of this entry may give you a bit of a hint. Yes, I went to the City of Lights for my spring break. But only the first half. I'll get to the second half in another entry. This trip was three days long, and I really was impressed. I cannot emphasize how beautiful Paris is. I mean, Rome is a fantastic city, but I found myself falling in love with Paris for all the things that Rome seems to lack. For example, Paris has straight streets. I miss looking down the street and seeing all of the store facades and windows, which is almost non-existent in Rome with a few exceptions (like Via del Corso). It was also immaculate. Completely clean.

Chateau Versailles

Makini and I decided to go to Chateau Versailles because she had some free tickets, so I figured why not. It actually ties in nicely with my history class as it really demonstrates a great deal of Baroque art and architecture. Basically I just walked around a lot without paying too much attention to anything. The chapel was probably the most impressive part, but the gardens in the back were also enormous. King Louis the XIV, the Sun King, built a fountain in the gardens with a bronze sculpture of Apollo emerging from the water riding his chariot. This was pretty impressive as was the general opulence of the entire compound. Great paintings inside, but the hall of mirrors was a little underwhelming. It was nice to be in the same space, however, that Woodrow Wilson once occupied.

Louvre

Umm... the Louvre was humongous. I did the best I could to walk through the important stuff. I saw Michaelangelo's slaves, the original sketch for the Raft of Medusa, the Mona Lisa, Venus of Milo and a whole bunch of other stuff. All really incredible except the Mona Lisa. This was really underwhelming. However, I was actually really impressed with the building itself. I know how controversial Pei's pyramids are, but I have to say the he did a great job with the interior display spaces. The courtyard in the Sully Wing looks great with some well crafted details. Pei deserves more credit than he's been given for this great facility for viewing art.

Notre Dame

So I made it a point to go and see the cathedral of Paris, Notre Dame. There aren't any Gothic churches in Italy, so I really wanted to compare and contrast. Notre Dame really was quite beautiful. The whole church actually worked as a perfect diagram of everything a Gothic church should be: pointed arches, ribbed vaults, stained glass windows, intense vertical proportions, flying buttresses, and Latin cross plan. Not nearly as easy to draw as a Romanesque church, though.

Umm... so this time I can say I have dropped the ball. I still have more from the southern trip to show you as well as Spring Break stuff.

Southern Trip Continued-

Stop 6: Lecce-
Lecce is one of the farthest south towns in Italy, firmly placed in the heel of Italy's boot. The stone that is found in Lecce is unusually soft, which was used in just about every building built out of stone. Due to the nature of the stone, the denizens of Lecce became extremely expressive in their sculpture and architectural ornamentation. Likewise, this ease of sculpting fostered a culture of facetiousness regarding said ornamentation. This was the church attached to the governor's house, not even the cathedral. The uber-ornateness of the entire city coupled with its super soft stone made it feel like I was walking through a TV set or something. Not my favorite town.

Stop 7: Massafra-
So this stop was primarily for a Masseria, a fortified farm basically. Kind of boring to tell you the truth, but interesting because we got to learn about the olive oil making process. The farm was actually huge and the land that they owned was enormous. Here's a picture of the olive oil presses that we saw, dating back at least a few hundred years.

Stop 8: Matera-
Okay folks, this one is the real deal. This town was just absolutely astonishing. Basically, the town, which is right at the edge of a ravine, was made primarily from cave dwellings. These cave dwellings have been dated back to the neolithic time period, but were inhabited right up until the 1950's (CE)! During the Iconoclasm, many monks came here from Byzantium carrying priceless Byzantine icons. The caves were designed in way so that every room would receive at least some daylight, including the far back rooms. They developed in a way that they were initially cisterns which were then changed into rooms. Each dwelling is based off of a courtyard comprising a basic social unit of families. These units, also known as "vicinati" helped the families support each other as well as protect each other. When we arrived, surprisingly, the city looked more modern than most of the cities we visited on the way to Matera. The bus parked in a lot near the center of town. We got out and started our walk to our hotel. I noticed that the teachers were actually more excited than the students because most of us didn't know what to expect. Anyway, after we continued to walk through what seemed to be an ordinary modern town in Italy, we stopped at a small arcade that opened into a terrace overlooking a dip in the landscape. Although it was dark, the amber street lamps told me that the undulating landscape I was looking at was made entirely of tile roofs and stucco walls! The tiny buildings appeared to have been built on some ocean frozen during a tempest. The only building distinguishable from the rest was the cathedral on the top of a hill. We continued to walk into the 'Sassi,' which is the name for the neighborhood which has been built into the ravine. As we later found out, the stone pulled from the caves was then used for the buildings that cover the entrances. Our hotel (lobby seen here) was actually a collection of sassi caves chosen simply for its location near the lobby cave. The other rooms were accessible via the winding streets that strung the vicinati together. I honestly don't know what to say about the hotel, other that it was incredible. Just go and live in a cave. Try it out. Incredible. You'll know what I mean.

Okay so these pictures aren't everything. Even what's in my flickr, really isn't everything, but check it out please! You need to see the pictures to understand what I'm talking about! This stupid tiny thumbnails don't do the space justice! And neither do the full sizes, but they come closer. Matera was really breathtaking.

I'm sure at least a few of you must have noticed the large gap that exists between this post and the previous post. The length of this gap should be further emphasized due to the fact that I do have access to the internet at home. Thus, one who frequently reads my blog should be compelled to arrive at one of two conclusions:

1. I have dropped the ball and totally abandoned my blog.
2. I have gone traveling and will return with the mother of all blog entries!

The fact that you are actually reading this should give you a pretty good idea which conclusion to arrive at.

Yes.

The week of March 3rd to March 9th, my class and I went on our trip to visit sites in Southern Italy. We agreed to meet at the Piazza Trilussa at 7:00 AM on Saturday. Gordon left at 6:30. Joaquin and I ended up leaving at 6:50. I have to mention at this point that the mother of all cramps was sinking its claws of death in my left thigh. This made everything I did take at least twice as long. Stupid me playing stupid soccer. This added an extra layer of suspense as Joaquin slowly walked to allow me to keep up as I attempted to emulate the walk of the likes of Long John Silver and Verbal Kint. Luckily, we only arrived a few minutes late. Thankfully my leg was at 100% by the time we got to Matera, the city where you want your legs at 110%.

Stop 1: Pompeii-
Pompeii was a town located south of Rome. It had been an Oscan port town with Greek and Phoenician influences but was later conquered by Rome. It was completely destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD covering the entire region in ash. This basically froze the entire city in a state that was almost completely uninterrupted until the 18th century, when archaeologists began to excavate it. Pompeii's most significant contribution to our knowledge of the Roman Civilization is its detailed picture of habitats used during this period. In Rome, the ruins that remain are mostly monumental colossal structures. Houses weren't built with the same longevity in mind. We visited a number of different houses including the Villa of the Mysteries.
We also visited the amphitheater, one of the baths (right) and a few other places as well which was all interesting, but honestly speaking, Pompeii was the least interesting of the entire trip. So I'm going to stop talking about it.

Stop 2: Paestum-
Paestum was one of the many Greek towns formed in the Archaic Period of Ancient Greece (roughly 7th Century BCE). There are three temples on the archaeological site and they are absolutely incredible. I really don't know how to emphasize how impressed I was by them. People talk a lot about proportions, ratios, and columnar orders, but all I can say is that the Greeks got it right with the temple to Apollo (right). I never thought I could be so impressed by a Greek temple, especially when there is so much incredible Roman Classical architecture here in Rome. After this visit, I may be compelled to side with the Greek Classical in the Rome vs. Greek debate that once raged in Italy during the Enlightenment Period.

Stop 3: Certosa di San Lorenzo-
So this building was a monastery originally for the Carthusian monks of this region. Apparently these monks were often descendants from wealthy families but had no claim to the inheritance because they were second or third sons. Thus, the building was characterized not for its austerity or humility but more for its lavish decorations and ornamentation. This photo was taken from the stair case in the back near the courtyard where the monks would meditate and pace.

Stop 4: Castel del Monte-
Castel del Monte is called a castel only because it is big and made of stone. I actually has no military or strategic importance at least as far as most historians or archaeologists can tell. It wasn't a mansion or house because there is no kitchen or food spaces. Thus, most people simply call it a 'think tank.' The man responsible for it, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor 1194-1250, was also known as an intellectual. Although the crusades were raging during this period, he often invited Arab intellectuals to Italy to learn and discuss matters of culture, mathematics, science, philosophy, etc. This building can easily be seen as one that was heavily influenced by Middle-Eastern ideas and aesthetics. The plan has an octagonal logic, there are pointed arches and the proportions are heavily geometric. The attention paid to mathematic harmony is different from that of what was used during the Renaissance which more classical in nature. Apparently there was quite a collection of artwork that had been stolen or pillaged once it fell out of use. Its use, however, is still elusive. Think tank still seems like a half-baked theory to me. Although the spaces were really impressive, the place did feel kind of like a tourist trap. I mean, there was nothing in the entire place!

Stop 5: Trani-
This was another incredible town that we visited. Trani is one of the many port towns that lines the Adriatic Coast along the calf of the Italian "boot." It once was a major port where crusaders would embark on their long journey to the Holy Land. In fact, one of the churches has a special arcade where knights on horseback could ride in, receive their blessings from a priest and ride right down to the port where they could board a vessel. The cathedral was also quite impressive because it certainly displayed a far more Norman style of architecture which reflected the culture of the ruling monarch when it was built, 1143 CE. Overall, this was one of the coolest places we visited during the trip.