Pantheon

The Pantheon I have noticed is extremely busy every time I go there. There are usually a crowd of people standing around outside of the church observing it's design. Being that it is a popular area with lots of resturaunts and shops there are constantly people stopping outside of the Pantheon even just for a moment to glance at it (I have noticed this more with the Italians). Inside of the church is even more hectic. There is a constant flow of traffic moving around and it is usually pretty noisy. This still stands out to me as such a unique church because I feel that it isnt as"traditional" in the sense of attire and being allowed to take pictures like some other churches are. A big attraction for people seems to be the art work that aligns all the way around that walls. You also notice many people staring up at the dome for quite some time and tryin to snap photos of everything they are seeing. You hear a lot of people discussing how amazing the ceiling is and how large and unique this Church is.

Trevi Fountain

Being tourists ourselves here in Rome I decided to go observe how other people were experiencing the Trevi Fountain. Not only did I observe tourists but also took notice to Italians, what they were doing and if they were spending time at the Fountain. I noticed that there were a lot of families there, and the ones with children stood out to me. The kids seemed to think that the fountain was the most amazing thing that they had ever seen. I just remember one little boy specifically asking his dad for more and more money to throw into the fountain, he just couldnt get enough of it. I also witnessed an older couple standing contently on the steps a little further away from the fountain than other people reading a tour book. It was interesting to see how some people were more into walking up to the fountain, taking pictures, talking to the people they were with about what they were seeing, and some people were more so comparing things to what they saw to what they were reading in their guidebook. Of course there was your typical tour guide there leading a group of people with their umbrella or pole in the air so that their group could keep track of them. They were funny to watch because they were all focused on listening to the tour guide but you could tell some of them wanted to branch off and just go look around for themselves. Last but not least I noticed that there were not many locals at the fountain. There were a few sitting around on the steps eating something or conversating with another person, but there wasnt as many Italians there as I had expected. I am excited to observe this area more, because it seems like a place where a lot of action happens!

Nightlife

Since being here in Rome, I now have a new outlook on going out to eat. In America we want our service quick and easy. Back home I know that it is very common to make plans for dinner and a movie. Well here in Italy it seems that when you plan to go out to eat with friends, that is the main event. Eating dinner here can take anywhere from an hour to two hours. You notice with the service that they are very slow. It took me a while to realize that it wasn't poor service we are getting when we go out to eat, it's just the way they do it in this culture. People don't focus the majority of their time here on their jobs like we do in America. It's more important to enjoy themselves and take advantage of their down time. They aren't always on the go or in a rush. It's almost as if you want to "grab a bite to eat" you go to a bar. If you want a meal be prepared to set aside a few hours because it will most likely be the main event of the night. I think that is why a lot of resturaunts are also open so late here. I have noticed that almost all of them are open for lunch and then close for a few hours before opening back up in the evenings for dinner and stay open till midnight or so. It is definitly an adjustment but it's kind of nice to see people sitting around you enjoying a meal with other people and not scarfing their food down in a hurry. They take their time here and enjoy the small things in life that we almost take for granted. This is definitley one thing I will miss about Rome.

Pantheon

The Pantheon is by far the most unique church I have seen thus far in Rome. It is really amazing. The way it is built is really cool. The outside is completley decieving, when you walk inside of it it is not what most people would pciture. It took me a while to realize that the hole or 'oculus' in the top of the dome is actually a open and when it rains, it comes right through and the inside of the church gets wet. This was surprising to me because most of the churches here are so strict about what you can and cannot do I never immagined that they would let rain get inside! Also there are big square indents all around the ceiling and dome, they built it like this because they wanted to lighten the weight of the building so it wasn't so heavy. It is amazing to me the techniques that they used to use because now we do things so differently. Also the walls surrounding the church were built extremely thick. They designed it this way so that the inside of the Church would stay cool! Im looking forward to going back and learning more about the artwork they have, so look for my future posts!!

To see where this picture and many more see the following web site: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/ASH/2235~Interior-of-the-Pantheon-Rome-Posters.jpg

Nightlife

You would be surprised to realize how many Penn State students there are here in Rome! We have been here for a little over a week now, and we were bound to bump into some people from PSU eventually, but I think I have officially found the hangout spot for Penn Staters here in Rome, Scholars lounge. I mentiond this in one of my previous bloggs but after going back a few more times, the number of students is crazy. The other night about 90% of the people at Scholars were PSU sudents. I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with the fact that it reminds me of a place we would have back in State College. There are student discounts, kareoke, food, good service, and different entertainment every night. It could cater to almost anyones interest. Another nice thing about it is that the people who work there speak extremely good english and seem to like us Penn State Students. The last time I was there we had the whole place yelling WE ARE--PENN STATE! Every person you bumped into was there studying from PSU. The funny thing is that they were not even in the same program we are. Makes me wonder how many more are out there?

Pictures found at http://search.aol.com/aol/image?invocationType=topsearchbox.imageDetails&imgsz=&query=Penn+State

Pantheon

Sunday I happened to walk by the Pantheon. I noticed that there were far more people there than I had seen during the week. There were even more little market places set up in that general area with locals and tourist shopping. I also notices the beautiful restaurants surrounding the area. Many people were there leisurely admiring the area and church and taking advantage of the shops and food in the area. This seemed like a very popular place to go where people spend several hours at a time enjoying themselves.

Trevi Fountain

When I went back to the Trevi Fountain, I noticeably observed tourists spending a majority of their time discussing the Trevi Fountain, especialy those with children. People spend a lot of their time their taking pictures and throwing money in the fountain. But I also noticed that a lot of people take a seat and just sit back and enjoy looking at the fountain. I believe that people do this because it is a very relaxing place to sit and enjoy company with someone.

Nightlife

I have ralized very quickly that there are certain pubs inparticular that you will find a lot of americans in. For example Scholars Lounge. This is an Irish bar that has lots of live bands including The Beatles and Rolling Stones cover bands. They also play a majority of todays hit music in America. Pretty much all of the bartenders speak english, and they even have specials for students. It kind of reminds me of a bar from home. Its nice to be able to go to a common place where people gather together and you can talk to other students who are also studying abroad.

Pantheon

The Pantheon is a really cool place to visit, and the building is huge! It is a very talked about place to visit, and am looking forward to studying it more. I have also learned that it is a very common place for gatherings, and people to hang out. Around the area of the pantheon there are a lot of markets and table set up where people are selling things. It's a really nice area to walk around.

You can find this picture and many more athttp://photos.igougo.com/images/p242953-The_Pantheon.jpg

Nightlife

The first thing we found out about nightlife in Rome is that bars here are not considered a place where you go the get an alocoholic beverage. Bars here are a place where you go to grab a bite to eat, coffee, and gelato. Moat of the time at these bars people are coming in and they stand up and drink their coffee or expresso and go. Usually to sit down will cost you more money. They are usually little places that you can find very easily on almost any street. What Americans would consider a bar, here they consider it a pub. This definitely shows a clear difference in American culture and European culture. It's interesting to see how such common places in different countries can be called and mean two completley different things.

Trevi Fountain

Today I visited the Trevi Fountain for the first time. I had seen many pictured of it before but it was amazing to see in person. The Trevi fountain is filled with coins, and it is said that if you throw money over your shoulder into the fountain you will return to Rome. It was much larger than I had pictured once actually seeing it in person. It was actually pretty busy when we were there with lots of people taking lots of pictures, and discussing it's beauty. The noticeable tour groups were huddled around the fountain listening to their tour guides. This again was a very populated area of not only tourist but locals enjoying the beautiful fountain and stopping in local cafes to get their afternoon cafe.