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Published: September 26th 2006
Marcus Agrippa Fecit
He made it y'all. Yes it's blurry but it was the best my camera could do under the circumstances!Well, the problem with not updating for a while is that I've done too much in between!!! Now there's either too much to say, or I can't remember half of what I did.....if I can find the perfect balance between the two then hopefully we will be just about right!
Monday was a big sightseeing day. First I went to the Basilica di San Clemente, which is really cool. On street level is the church currently in use, which was built in the 12th century. Tis very pretty with frescoes and a really awesome mosaic in the dome. Then, you can go down under the church where they have excavated the church from the 6th century. It was a Christian church obviously, and there are some cool frescoes they have found of Jesus & co doing various things. I like the style of those earlier frescoes - the colours and how they painted faces. THEN, you go down even further, where you find the Mithraeum (ie. Temple of Mithras) from the 2nd century!!! Who knew time travel was so easy??
After that I walked round the Colosseum and through the Forum again (why don't we have shortcuts like that
Roman Forum
The very exy porphry marble columns and the 1000+yo doors with original, functional lock! in Canberra?) to go to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. On the edge of the forum is the Mamertine Prison, where Saints Peter & Paul (I think) were imprisoned. There's not much to see, because they weren't really imprisoned in luxury - it's just one small, low-roofed underground room with a hole in the ceiling. Doesn't look like it was much fun! After MUCH vague wandering I finally managed to find the gallery.
It's housed in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. The D-Ps were/are an excessively rich family - one of them was Pope Innocent the something-th, and throughout the centuries they have collected crap-loads of art!!! It's literally floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, just amazing. There are a couple of Caravaggios and a Velasquez there, but my favourites were from the more obscure ones (obscure to me anyway!) Inside, the Palace itself is RIDICULOUSLY ornate - everything is intricately carved, covered in gold, velvet/silk wallpaper, etc etc. They still live in the private apartments across the courtyard. In the audio guide (narrated by one of the D-P sons of today), he talks about this special parquetry floor and the certain type of beeswax they use to polish it. (The room itself is of
course OTT like all the others). He THEN remembers one time when he and his sister got in trouble for roller-skating on the newly-polished floor! It's just so hard for me to imagine people actually living there!
Class was OK this week, except for la Svedese - the Swedish girl! Nicolas and I hate her. Anyway, we had to make up a quiz, eg. 'Are You a True Friend?', 'Is He the One?' etc etc - typical
Cosmo fare. Anway, we decided on 'Do You Fall in Love Easily?' So the question was:
If you are in a club and a cute guy buys you a drink, what do you do?
a) Politely refuse (1 point)
b) Accept the drink but go back to your friends (2 points)
c) ...need something affirmative for 3 points, hmmm...
She suggested something dumb, so I said "How about 'Leave the club and go back to his place'"? At which point she starts raising eyebrows, mouth open "That's very aggressive" etc. Keeping in mind it's just a fun excercise in class!! THEN she goes "I don't know, maybe Australian girls are like that, but
I'm not". And THEN, "Maybe the quiz shouldn't be
called 'Do You Fall in Love Easily?', but, 'Are You Easy?'" The
nerve of the girl!!
I also went to the Crypt of the Capuchin Monks this week. I'm pretty sure it's the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. It's decorated with the bones of 4000 monks, and I mean decorated. Like bone chandeliers, bone roof/wall decorations, everything. As well as complete skeletons dressed in robes, skeletons on the roof, etc. So. Weird!
So this happened more than a week ago now, but I'll just post it anyway so youse have some photos and stuff. Stay tuned for what I did this weekend in the next week or so...
Lots of love!
Tess
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Nerissa
non-member comment
eew
Dear Tessa, that room with all the skulls and bones is the grossest thing i have ever seen xoxo