What I learned in school today

Wouldn't it be fun if this were my class photo? Alas, it's just a random shot from the Vatican Museums.

I'm now in week nine of my Italian classes, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 12:15, and it's time to talk a little about the experience.

I'm enjoying the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci, and I'm learning a lot. There are many positives: most of the teachers are very good; class sizes are reasonable (usually, about 8 students) and the curriculum is clear and carefully followed.

The negatives are the same ones I've found in other language schools: few resources other than a lot of photocopied handouts and the school paperback textbook. The building in Rome's historic centre looks beautiful from the outside, but the classrooms are a bit rough. Either no heat or too much; rickety desks; and windows that don't close properly.

In short, it reminds me of every language school I've ever attended! And I really would recommend it.

Although it's possible to take classes during the afternoon as well, I decided to take classes mornings only. This was partly because of my budget, and partly to leave me time to look for work. And do my homework. We have a lot of homework, which I think is really valuable. I see the morning class as just the beginning of learning -- giving me information that I take away and absorb and practise.

The regular morning class is divided into two segments: grammar from 9 a.m. to 10:30; a short break, then conversation until 12:15. Anyone who has ever taken a language class would recognize the conversation gambits. Write a horoscope or directions to the train station (to practice the imperative verb tense used in giving orders); talk about your favourite vacation or a childhood routine (to practice past tenses of verbs.) And so on.

The other students are pretty interesting. I've seen many come and go already -- often, adults taking vacation time to come to Rome for a few weeks to improve their language skills or at least maintain the hard-earned Italian language skills they already have.

There seem to be a few nuns sprinkled through every class: I've studied with a pair of nuns from Ghana, sisters from the United States, and currently, a lovely young nun from southern India is taking Italian in preparation for studying nursing here in Rome.

Many of the students here for longer terms are young Americans and Brits taking a break from university, or getting college credit for a semester in Italy. I've met several Swedes; a few Germans and Swiss; a rare French or Belgian citizen. And the very rare Canadian.

I've been especially impressed with two very, very brave Asian students I've met who arrived here speaking neither Italian nor English. Deyoung from Korea and Myko from Japan each came to Rome completely alone, without any grounding in a Latin-based language. Talk about starting from scratch! Aside from school, just finding an apartment, shopping or finding your away around Rome without at least a smattering of English or Italian would be terribly hard.

I really would recommend the experience of a daily language class; it focuses the mind and gives a student the opportunity to learn the grammar and practice Italian in the safety of the classroom. There are always students more advanced or less advanced than the rest of the class, so there is rarely any judgement and a lot of laughs.

But it's hard, hard work and my pride has taken a terrible beating as I learn to speak all over again!

Just another day at the Vatican

Friday morning, I cut Italian classes and headed to the Vatican. On legitimate business, I might add. I had finally -- after more than a month of nagging, wheedling, and cajoling -- snagged an interview with a senior official in the Vatican Secret Archives, as well as a tour.

This was all done in the cause of writing a feature story for the Italian news agency in advance of a fascinating exhibition coming up at the end of February. In this exhibition, the Vatican will unveil 100 documents representing a broad cross-section of subject matter, regions, and time periods.

Although the Vatican has kept records from its earliest days, it only organized these into a formal archive 400 years ago. To mark the occasion, it has organized the exhibition "Lux in Arcana" which begins Feb. 29 at Rome's Capitoline Museums.(The name of the exhibition roughly translates as shining light on arcane or unknown matters.)

I wasn't allowed to take photos in the archives, which were packed with fascinating information but looked very ordinary. Roughly 80 kilometers of shelving running under the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. Nothing glamorous or high-tech about it, I'm afraid.

I did have the opportunity to admire a 1,000-year-old document that is being carefully restored -- and it was gorgeous! Perfect gold script on a royal red background. I couldn't understand a word, of course, and I was told the subject of the document was terribly mundane -- but it was still stunning.

And since I was out at the Vatican anyway, I decided to spend a few hours in the museum which was curiously busy. Still, I enjoyed myself. As always. And, took a few photos, including the dour river god above; and one of the Vatican tennis courts, which seem to be on the roof of a building adjacent to the Museums.

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Louis Vuitton, an historic Roman cinema, and me.

The redesign of an historic movie theater in central Rome for Louis Vuitton gave me an interesting opportunity to interview the architect on the project for the Italian news agency ANSA. I don't normally spend a great deal of time around designers and their shops, but this project was too interesting to miss.

Architect Peter Marino images 1960s film icon Marcello Mastroianni browsing through elegantly tailored mens' shirts in Rome's new Louis Vuitton Etoile Maison. The late Mastroianni, once the epitome of Italian elegant-cool, might feel right at home in the former Etoile cinema, which Marino has re-imagined and restructured into the latest outlet for the fashion house Louis Vuitton.

And the glamorous world of Rome's Cinecitta film studio -- home of Italian cinema that enjoyed its heyday in the 1960s -- is precisely the atmosphere Marino has tried capture in the Etoile Maison boutique, which opened a few weeks in Rome's oldest cinema. (Photo below from Vuitton)

“This project was so fun,” the architect enthused in a recent interview from New York. “I loved the fact this was an old movie theater; so, I proposed that we show movies....and keep with the whole movie theme from Rome at that time.

“We drew on the karma of the space...and that was the cinema.”

Constructed in 1907 in the historic Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina in central Rome, the Etoile was the city's first cinema and opened under the name the Lux and Umbra. The structure was replaced in 1917 by the Corso cinema, with a design inspired by the Art Nouveau movement. However, the facade created such controversy that the architect, Marcello Piacentini, was forced to replace it at his own cost with a neo-classical design.

The cinema premiered such classics as the 1949 neo-realism film “Bitter Rice” by Giuseppe De Santis; later, ceremonies and cultural events also took place there. In 1970, it became the Etoile which continued until the cinema was finally closed in 1991. (Photo below of Marino from the architect himself.)

Marino, who founded his architectural practice in 1978 with such early clients as Andy Warhol and Yves St Laurent, drew inspiration for the Etoile project from the cinema's Roman history, Italian movie icons such as Mastroianni, and the Cinecitta film studio.

But he also drew from the Baroque art movement, giving it a modern twist. The Baroque style, which found its home in Rome in about 1600 and was made famous by such masters as Bernini, featured an exaggerated style and motion that produced a great sense of drama and grandeur. That has been reproduced in the Etoile Maison.

“I created an incredibly complex, elliptical staircase,” inspired by the Baroque designs, explained Marino, whose personal collection of bronze statues from the period was exhibited by London's Wallace Collection in 2010. “I mean, here we are in Rome! Where else can an modern architect get to do...off-the-charts Baroque?

“This really was an opportunity to try something different.”

Marino and a team of architects worked for more than two years on the design of the Etoile Maison, blending wardrobes, whimsy, and a bit of witchcraft to create an atmosphere they hoped would be pleasing to shoppers -- while at the same time, avoiding problems with Rome's municipal authorities.

Strict regulations govern what alterations can -- and mostly, cannot -- be made to the exteriors of Rome's historic structures.

“We weren't allowed to make any changes to the facade, so it is what it was,” said Marino. This means that what today's visitor sees is the simple, clean exterior of an historic cinema, he added.

I wasn't expecting THIS much snow!!!!

No wonder these poor river gods in Piazza del Popolo look disgruntled -- snow in Rome! And a lot of it (especially for Rome.)

It began to fall mid-day Friday and continued through the night. I was really shocked when I rose at 7 a.m. Saturday to see how much snow had fallen. Parts of Rome saw up to 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) of snow, the most seen here since the mid-1980s. The City of Roma ordered cars without chains off the streets, and many buses just couldn't make it up Rome's hills.

I had an appointment early Saturday morning for a chest X-ray, due to my raging cough, and the clinic was near Piazza del Popolo, allowing me to get these photos. The clinic was understandably flooded with real emergencies, so I'll return next week.

Meanwhile, I'll stay home and wait for the snow to pass -- unlike many Romans who are running about taking photos of this rare phenomena.

A few days in Assisi

With my brother visiting me in Rome for three weeks, we have the time to indulge in some very Slow Travel!

A few days ago, we headed up to Assisi, one of my favourite places, so Kelly could see the hometown of St. Francis and its many beautiful sites.

It was a bit cold up in the mountains, as you can see by the ice on this poor lion in the fountain in Assisi's central piazza!

But we also had clear blue skies most of the time, perfect for exploring:

Such a beautiful town!

And I always love the reliefs on Assisi's ancient churches:

Thanks to my blogging friend Annie, I now keep an eye out for lovely street shrines. This one stood a little too directly in the sun, so Mary and baby Jesus are in shadows. Still, it was lovely and very well kept.

Best of all, my dear friend Letizia came down to pick up my brother and me and take us up to her beautiful home so Kelly could see the gorgeous countryside above Assisi -- and taste her delicious crostada!

Want to buy a palazzo in Rome?

My brother Kelly is visiting from Canada (for three weeks -- gulp!) So, I haven't had any spare time to blog.

But I did come across this article from Britain's Daily Mail, which I found fascinating. By my calculations, the asking price would be about $50 million.

"A magnificent Renaissance palace grafted on to the top of an ancient Roman theatre has been put up for sale in Italy for 26-million pounds.

"The Palazzo Orsini in Rome is being sold by the family of an Anglo-American artistocrat who sheltered escaped Allied prisoners of war during the Second World War. Its asking price is thought to make it the most expensive property currently on sale in the Italian capital, and one of the most expensive in Europe.

"And you can understand why when you consider palaces like this only come on to the market once every few hundred years.

"The 11,000 sq ft property has frescoed staterooms, a ballroom, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a library, a dining room, a terrace, a separate penthouse and cellars.

"The building, with a garden full of fountains and orange trees, is built on top of the still-standing stone and marble shell of the Theatre of Marcellus, dating from the 1st century BC,  which resembles a mini- Colosseum.

"Named after Marcus Marcellus, the nephew of Emperor Augustus, the open-air auditorium allowed 11,000 spectators to watch dramatic and singing performances.

"It was allowed to ruin over the centuries as a series of noblemen and their families moved in before the Orsini clan made it their home in the 1600s. They built a palace on top of the ruins of the ancient theatre and gave it its current name, Palazzo Orsini.

"The daughter of an American diplomat and an Anglo-Irish peer, Dame Iris Origo was born Iris Cutting in 1902 and became a marchesa after marrying an Italian aristocrat, Antonio Origo.

"Her book about her wartime experiences in Tuscany, 'War in the Val'D'Orcia, an Italian War Diary', is regarded as a classic.

"During the war she bought an estate near Siena in Tuscany with her husband and looked after refugee children and local families displaced by the fighting, as well as escaped POWs and Allied airmen who were trying to make their way through German lines.

"The diary she kept of her experiences from 1943-1944 was critically acclaimed and described by a New York Times reviewer as 'remarkably moving' when it was published in 1984 – four years before she died, aged 85.

"The palazzo, which she rented and then bought in the 1950s, has an illustrious past. Construction of the Theatre of Marcellus, which could seat 20,000 people, was begun by Julius Caesar but it was completed in 11BC by the emperor Augustus, who named it after his favourite nephew."

Museo Ebraico di Roma

Rome's Jewish Museum, part of the Great Synagogue (Tempio Maggiore) is a fascinating look into another culture, religion, and tradition.

Rome's Jewish community is integral to the city's history, woven into its social fabric. So it seems odd that I hadn't ever visited before!

I confess it was, in part, because I was a bit intimidated and frankly, didn't realize how simple it was to visit. Go to the museum entrance, pay the 10-euro entry fee, and a guided tour (in English or Italian) that includes the Great Synagogue and the intimate Spanish Synagogue, is included.

When I mentioned this to my friend D., who is visiting from Ottawa, she was also keen to see it. We've been doing a bit of exploring of Second World War sites in Rome (including the memorial commemorating the Ardeatine massacre) so we continued with our theme.

Of course, the history of the Jewish people in Rome long predates the Second World War and the infamous roundups that occurred in the Ghetto in 1943.

Rome has had an uninterrupted Jewish community for 20 centuries -- 2,000 years! Records and artifacts dating as far back as 1555 are included in the museum, as well as descriptions of the history of the city and its Jewish population; and explanations of cultural and religious traditions.

From the museum's website:

     "In the Middle Ages, during the papal rule, Rome hosted an important Rabbinical Academy and was a center for the production of precious illuminated manuscripts. The Jewish Community counted men of science and culture in its midst, scholars who were a bridge between Latin culture and Islam.

     "In 1492 the expulsion of the Jews from Spain encouraged in Rome the encounter of two important but different traditions: the local and the Sephardic from the Iberian Peninsula.

     "The following years saw in Europe tensions and religious wars that caused the worsening of the conditions of the Jews of Rome. In 1553 the burning of the Talmud was ordered. from then on, and for over three centuries, possession and reading of the most important book for Jewish culture was forbidden. This contributed to the cultural (decline) of Roman Judaism.

     "In 1555 Pope Paul IV Carafa ordered that all the Jews living in the State of the Church should be locked up in the ghetto: a prison-quarter, in which the Jews had to live after having lost all their civil rights. They could not own property, they couldn't choose the job they wanted, couldn't have a friendly relationship with Christians.

     "The ghetto of Rome was created on the Tiber banks. The other ghettos of the Pope were opened in Ancona and Avignon. Between 3,000 and 7,000 people lived in the area, depending on the periods. The population was made up of artisans, rag-sellers and the poor, but also of bankers ( till 1682) and businessmen selling art objects and furnishing: textiles, furniture and carriages.

     "In 1870, when the State of the Church fell, Rome was united with Italy and the ghetto was opened and soon after demolished. For the Roman Jews it was the beginning of the emancipation: the most visible result of this period was the construction of the Great Synagogue, inaugurated in 1904 and built on the area of the former ghetto.

     "The Fascist Racial Laws of 1938 abruptly ended this period of tranquillity. In 1943 the Germans entered the City, deporting 2, 091 Roman Jews to Auschwitz.

     "The community only started to recover from this grieving in the years after the war. In 1967, with the arrival of many refugees from Libya, the number of the Jews in Rome raised to about 15.000 people and it has remained stable since.

     "The Roman Jews have suffered a terrible terrorist attack in 1982 - a child died and many people were injured - but have also rejoiced in 1986 for the visit to the Great Synagogue of the Pope John Paul II."