June 1st, 2011, Day 2- Everyone, put on your walking shoes

The title says it all...a 9:00am report to the "map room" started off our day. Dr. Sebastian was less than cheery this morning, after being awoken by a rather rowdy and potentially intoxicated group of students from another fine educational institution...When in Rome?

Anyway, a day in Rome is not complete without trips to Castel Sant'Angelo, The Vatican, Trastevere, Piazza del Popolo, Vittoriano, Trevi Fountain. The combination of all these sites within a five hour span was absolutely remarkable. For the first time, I questioned "How is it that the Romans were able to build structures to last perfectly for centuries upon centuries, when us Americans can't seem to built a structure able to withstand a tropical depression?" The "day" concluded with a mondo sized Margherita pizza in Campo de Fiori, along side Chris, Jacob, Michelle, and Kathryn. Michelle, your camera is still lost at the restaurant...just kidding, but I did made you think you lost it again. Check the front part of your purse one more time just to make sure it's there before the four Americans frantically search the restaurant while the "yoga-mime" is asking up for tips.

After dinner, we decided to just go right ahead and see all of the sites me saw during the daytime, at night. Only this time, we decided to climb The Spanish Steps, a set of steps behind the Vittoriano, and concluting with the steps at Piazza del Popolo. Exhaustion? Yes. Worth every step taken? Yes. Sitting atop each set of steps brought a whole new perspective of the city. As Dr. Keating in Dead Poet's Society says, "We must constantly see things from a different perspective." No fact is more true in order to gain understanding of an entire culture or even in the simplest form of daily light such as changing a light bulb. Thus....this entire month-long experience is now titled as, "Views from Above and Below: Seeing Things from A Different Perspective."

Observation una: The evolution and the mixture of new and old. All around rome, it is impossible to miss a Roman Era building or an area of archeological remains. Many of times, these areas are right next to each other. One example, a Ducatti Cafe next to the remains of what was to be a early center of worship. Another example of old-new I saw was in the farmacia (Pharmacy). To the left, we have a very basic sign pointing out the farmacia. Nothing neon or LED, just your basic red cross and "farmacia." During whenever that sign was first arisen, I would imagine that all of the farmacias would have an identical sign much like the signs and colors of one's local farmacia today in Rome. To the right, is a modern LED style cross and farmacia sign, which illuminates to the extent that literally a mile away, one can see the sign at night. Modernization

This photo below is just rather peculiar, and is the first of three wine bottles of particular leaders. Notice our friend Pope John Paul II to the left of Cuba's Che Guevara. The other two photos depict sets of bottles of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Can anyone try to tell me the wine bottle message this shop owner is trying to say?

Here's a link to what our journey today was like, roughy. Highlight and paste into URL bar.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Via+Marcantonio+Colonna,+21A,+Roma,+Italia&daddr=Castel+Sant'Angelo,+Lungotevere+Castello,+Rome,+Italy+to:Vatican+City+to:Trastevere,+Italy+to:Campo+de'+Fiori,+Via+del+Pellegrino,+Rome,+Italy+to:Trevi+Fountain,+Via+delle+Muratte,+Rome,+Italy+to:Via+Marcantonio+Colonna,+21,+Roma,+Italy&hl=en&geocode=FUWAfwIdmzq-ACnZytsH9mAvEzH-VvhIwttkbw%3BFTRkfwIdAjm-ACHkpiCCaZhhug%3BFbFgfwIdkxi-ACk9LdRXCoklEzHAfjqymk8JBA%3BFVMmfwIdjzW-ACkJYD_DPmAvEzE5vCicsrMYmQ%3BFWZGfwIdnk--ACFK6P5KUrENNQ%3BFTRbfwIdC3u-ACGqSISI4x2Wwg%3BFUWAfwIdmzq-ACnZytsH9mAvEzH-VvhIwttkbw&mra=ltm&dirflg=w&sll=41.899658,12.471886&sspn=0.030282,0.065489&ie=UTF8&ll=41.898891,12.47077&spn=0.030282,0.065489&z=14