Today we had a historic walking tour with another professor... sheesh what is IT with all the attractive tour guides? It's a conspiracy I tell ya. It's probably the university's way of making sure we give them good feedback at the end of our summer session :)
Anyways, we went to Piazza Navona, which at one point in time held a huge chariot racing stadium in ancient Rome. You can actually some of the marble pieces underneath a hollow arch just outside the piazza. There is a fountain called 'Fountain of the Four Rivers' which is sculpted by Bernini (if you don't know who that is go get yourself an art history book!). Apparently Bernini was in competition with Borromini, a fellow sculptor and architect, for the commission to build the fountain. The bid went to Bernini, and Borromini was given a bid to build the adjacent church next to the fountain. There is a statue of a robed woman on the church overlooking the fountain, with her head turned away. Folk lore says this was Borromini's way of snubbing the other architect over not getting the bid for the fountain. I thought that was really interesting. Close to the piazza is a statue of an elephant also done by Bernini, crowned with an ancient Egyptian obelisk. The church behind it houses 'Christ the Redeemer' by Michelangelo. After that, we went to Campo de Fiori, an old public market that is more of a tourist trap now but used to be the main market in Rome. Julie and I ordered pizza and 'ugly cookies' from Forno bakery and sat and ate on the steps in front of the French embassy. We had class and then headed back to the apartment. Today is Sheila's 22nd birthday, so we went to Grazia e' Graziella for her birthday. It was fun getting to talk with everyone and celebrate with Sheila!
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