Music,Fireworks, & the beach

I visited Sorrento just this past weekend and experienced a whole different type of nightlife at our amazing hotel, Mar Alimuri. This hotel offered everything from 2 pools, continental breakfast, 2 restaurants in the hotel, and a private beach. After dining at their buffet style dinner we sat out along the terrace that overlooked the ocean. There was a live performer who came out to sing and play the piano every night around eight. As the sun was setting we took a walk along the beach and found a rocky area where we sat for a while enjoying the sound of the waves splashing against the sand. Then back at the hotel we found an outdoor table to sit at where we could enjoy the live music. Suddenly from afar we heard fireworks. I looked up into the sky and they were right above our heads, and better than any seat you could stake out on the 4th of July at the Bryce Jordan Centre. We just sat there in awe and watched them go off over the beautiful calm ocean.

Group walk-Follow up

My group decided to visit markets on our walk that Courtney had found and considered interesting places to visit. I was excited because I love going to different markets and seeing what all they offer. The first market we went to was in Testaccio. It was in a building and the majority of what it sold was produce, meat, and breads. It did have a few clothing, shoe stands, and stands that had an array of odds and ends. In this market you could smell more of the meat and fruits because it was in a closed area. I also determined that many people from the outside of a building don’t realize that it is a market because it can be deceiving as just another building when walking past it.

The second market we went to was in Campo di fiori. This was an open air market that was in some ways similar to the one we had just visited. It was obviously in a more heavily populated area surrounded by restaurants. We discussed that is would be much easier to stumble across a market like this rather than the first one we went to because of the fact that it was in an enclosed building.. It had all the same things as the one in Testaccio with an exception of meat. It also offered souvenir stands and some additional clothing and accessories.

I personally liked this market in Campo better because I liked that it was outside and the smells of the meat were not trapped in a building that can sometimes be overwhelming. I also liked that it had a few more stands and I actually ended up getting a good but of my gift shopping out of the way. It was a really nice place to get produce and fruit. I had some of their watermelon and it was delicious! Overall I think that this is a much more popular market considering that it is open air, so easy to come across, and in a very popular area. I’m glad we got a chance to walk through these places as a group I had a lot of fun and saw some pretty cool stuff.

Description of 3 Sights

Along your guided walk you will be seeing three churches, Santa Maria and Capella, the Pantheon, and the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. These are all really cool churches and quite different from one another. Santa Maria and Capella church is in Trastevere was built in 1090. It was one of the first homes built for elderly people in the 17th century by Donna Olimpia Pamphili and is surrounded by a beautiful garden that now houses some study abroad students. The Pantheon is also an extremely popular tourist attraction. There are a lot of cool things to see at this church including the huge granite columns which happen to be the biggest in Italy and imported from Egypt, and the dome which was built so it gets thinner and lighter with height because it is so large. But there are many more amazing classical architectural styles that are absolutley amazing to see in person. Last but not least we have the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. It's chapel was painted by Caravaggio, it is the only Gothic church in Rome, and gets extremely populated with people attending mass on Sunday. These churches caught my interest and hopefully these few facts I gave you about each one will intrigue you enough to go and visit one for yourself!

You can find additional information at the following website and book: http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Cappella & Rick Steves Italy 2008 guide book

Rialto Sant' Amborgio

Rialto Sant’ Amborgio is located in Campo de’ Fiore and is a new and upcoming hot spot for Romans. It is an event that holds an array of entertainment over a few floors of a building including movies, dancing, plays, house and dubbed movies, book presentations, and a variety of different music. Although weekends are devoted strictly to turning the space into a night club it is a really good place to go that offers a lot and caters to many different tastes and interests of people. I also think that is located in a really good area that attracts a lot of people. It's nice to know that there is more to offer at this place than a typical bar. It is a place that can keep people interested and coming back.

This information and more can be found in the 2007 edition of Eyewitness Travel Guide published by Dorling Kindersley.

Guided Walk

For my guided walk I am going to take you to three churches. We are going to start in Trastevere at my apartment and visit Santa Maria and Capella. To do this all you will have to do is walk down my steps and go to the right and the church is in the courtyard of my apartment. From Santa Maria and Capella we will g to the Pantheon. Leaving Santa Maria and Capella you will get on Via P. Peretti onto Lungotevere Alberteschi until you come across Ponvte Cestio on the right hand side. You will cross the Tiber River and make a left onto Lungotevere de Cenci and a right on Via Arenuia. Follow this street until you reach Vittorio Emmanuele. At that street cross directly onto Via de Torre Argentina until you hit Via Palombella and the Pantheon will be directly in front of you. From the Pantheon you can get on Via Palombella again and take a right onto Via S. Eustachio, follow that until making a left on S. ta d Crescenza. Immediately after that take a right on Via d. Dogana Vecchia which will lead you straight to Piazza San Luigi d. Fransecsi which is our third stop.

Hadriana's Villa

In a small group of students including myself Toni Conti, Carley Bria, Cole Kitchen, and Courtney Marshall, along with the help of Mike Tumolo, we mapped out the route to get to Hadrian’s Villa.Go to the Termini train station in Rome. Enter the upper part of the station and locate ticket machines. Search for the train to Tivoli. Once you get to Tivoli Station, locate local bus number 4 which you can take to Hadrian’s Villa. These directions can also be found in the Eyewitness Guide of Rome on page 269.One of the most striking and best preserved parts of the Villa is the pool and an artificial grotto which were named Canopus Serapeum (the Emperor’s dining table). The Maritime Theater is a circular building within Ionic marble peristyle. This was a private retreat for the Emperor. A circular moat encloses an island where the theater is located. Finally, be sure to visit the Small and Great Thermae (baths) which are well preserved areas for public and private bathing. The small ones were used more privately for the emperors while the larger baths were used for visitors to the Villa. Check out this website for a number of virtual walk throughs of the Villa:

http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/hadrian_s_villa/hadrian_s_villa.htm

Picture taken from the Blue Guide, Rome (9th Edition) by Somerset Norton

Water & the Trevi Fountain

Everytime I visit the Trevi Fountain the first thing that draws my attention is the sound of the fountain. It reminds me of a bigger and louder version of the pebble waterfalls people set beside their bed to help them fall asleep at night. You do not only hear the loud trickling of the running water but you hear it hitting against the large pool of water that it is falling onto. For a moment I felt like I was entering a ride at a water park because when the mist from the fountain hits you just right and with the water running down the statues and sides of the fountain your feet can have a tendency to get wet. This has its perks on the hot summer days in Rome. You also hear children trying to splash around in the water and the sound of spare change hitting the water falling to the bottom of the fountain. The water is a huge part of the fountain and every time I visit I notice myself having a new experience with the sound of the fountain.