Thursday, January 31, 2013

When in Rome...Again!


Trevi Fountain.


Taking a break.

Peter tricked us!  We walked into this beautiful church and he he said "oh the dome isn't lit up, oh well have a look children, you will be surprised".  We start walking towards it and the perspective changes - it's a flat ceiling painted to look like a dome!  Story is that the church didn't have enough money to make a dome so they faked it.

Famous Caravaggio paintings.  
Caravaggio was apparently a violent man, who killed two people and got away with it.

Gorgeous ceiling of the Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

Door leading to the high court of the church, where Galileo was put on trial..

Apparently Rome stole a bunch of statues/artifacts from Egypt, like the thing on this elephant's back, thinking that they were spiritual or had some great meaning to life written on them.  When they actually decoded the hieroglyphs the statue turned out to be just data.  Rome essentially stole some of Egypt's filing cabinets. 

Joanna was cold.

Peter telling us about the Pantheon.


View of St. Peter's Basilica from the Vatican museum.




Peter telling us about the imagery in the Sistine Chapel for the 5th time.  
I definitely won't forget.

Vatican Museum.

I'm going to hell.  Stole pictures of the holy Sistine Chapel.

Tess, Kori, Joanna, and Hannah's mom looking at the ceiling.

Daniel was tuckered out by all the holiness.

Guard on his cellphone.


The Last Judgement.

Kat and Morena in front of the Pieta.

We were absolutely dead and Peter was STILL showing us things.


"Sausage with a show"
Nicole (our professor) and Charlie ordered the house special at Peroni, the Austrian restaurant.

How they didn't expect this, I don't know.

Waiter/owner, Mr. Peroni, thought Hannah ordered the second sausage, she quickly corrected him.


Best part of the owner's day is serving this dish.

Deb and Megan.

David and his picnic.

Jodi.

My favourite picture.  Morena stroking Kori.  I caught them off guard.

Outside the presidential palace.

Tess and the Colosseum.



David.


Hilarious-looking man at the Termini subway station.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Toronto




"What do you miss about Toronto?"
Class Assignment

I miss routine and reliability.  Florence functions in a way I’m not accustom to, even four months in.  I have developed somewhat of a routine, but the reliability is not there.  I miss being able to find what I need, when I need it, whether it be food, photography stuff, or Tylenol, the fact is nine out of ten times I’m not going to find it or it will be ridiculously expensive.  You take for granted places like Walmart, Shoppers Drugmart, and grocery stores like Loblaws, where you’re able to walk in and do a one-stop shop finding close to everything you need. I understand routine is abstract and not a specific place in Toronto, but it has its place in Toronto, it’s just different for everyone.  Where do you go? What do you do?  Grabbing some take-out Chinese, hearing someone shoveling snow, getting your extra large coffee knowing you’re late for class, or having the “Believe in the Lord” man in Dundas square scare the shit out of you every time.  It might all seem mundane or commonplace, but if your routine or at least some of your habits are thrown off, you feel it and miss it.  I am a creature of habit and I like what I like!