Daniel B. Karpouzian
To Boldly Go Where no Dan Has Gone Before
Gli Animali Piu Amati: 20 Adesivi
I went online to the school bookstore’s website so I wouldn’t be filled with the usual dread that accompanies any trip to buy textbooks: the price tag… I was PLEASANTLY surprised to find that I was only going to be paying around ten dollars for books for my Italy class. “Good!” I thought to myself, thinking that since the class was going to cost $2,000 we should at least be able to cut costs somewhere. I dutifully picked out my books, just like every semester… I flipped through copies of the books, noting some of the Romantics, a little Italian phrase book, and a nice copy of Bulfinch’s Mythology. I then wandered around looking for a copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy and was kind of upset it wasn’t there. “Oh well. I suppose I can find a copy online.” I bought the books for my other class, much thicker and FAR more expensive, and unceremoniously dumped them out onto my desk like a kid at Christmas. I matched up my book list with the books on the desk and I found one was missing. I looked in the bag again and saw a tiny, four page book: Gli Animali Piu Amati: 20 Adesivi. “Another phrase book; must be about animals…” I said as I opened it. My jaw dropped! I had just purchased a small sticker book. “This can’t be right!” I said out loud, thinking that a 600 level Humanities class must have more difficult reading than this. I double, triple, quadruple checked the list and discovered that it was indeed a required textbook. I was doomed.
Luckily the class was far more engaging than Gli Animali Piu Amati: 20 Adesivi made me think the class would be. In fact, looking back (and looking at my sticker book), I think it is kind of cute Roman Holiday was a GREAT movie (that I purchased a copy of) and I enjoyed the discussions about mythology and about the Decameron. I actually had wished we would have spent just a little more time on The Divine Comedy and maybe some more time on some Roman mythology, but you can only do so much in half of a semester with a number of non English majors. None the less, Dr. Bunkers made the class more than interesting with prints representing the seven deadly sins, Dr. Kunkel’s travel videos, and Dr. Davis’ home made travel video.
MSP: Version 1.0
I arrived at MSP at the lovely hour of 10:00 am. A friend and I were being dropped off at the airport and his flight left at 11:00. I had a lot of time to wait . I cheated by taking out one of the two books in my carryon luggage and began reading. A few hours later, and several hundred pages into my book, “Jabbering” Jared and “Laughing” Laura showed up. I was still reading and listening to music so I didn’t notice their arrival. When I finally did notice some vaguely familiar faces , I turned off my music, closed my book, and introduced myself. I had every intention of making friends as soon as possible because I knew that traveling around Italy all alone would be no fun. We hit it off, and were soon just chatting about nothing in particular. We made a quick lunch of McDonalds (which took MUCH deliberation) and walked to our gate.
The Dreaded Flight: Mach I
All things considered, the flight to Amsterdam wasn’t as grueling as I thought it would be. It arrived an hour early, and it was quite uneventful . There was a nerve wracking, several hour (or so it seemed) game of Hearts that I did not win. I can not complain too much, as I came in second place to “Margaret Mitchell” Marsha by 1 point. I demanded a rematch, but it was never meant to be. On the flight, “Jabbering” Jared earned his name, and we had several interesting conversations with “Kicking” (I think) Kristen. I also spent some time getting to know Dr. Joe Davis, one of the professors ‘taking’ the class. The flight from Amsterdam to Rome was lightning fast due to the fact that people were either sleeping or too excited to sleep.
There is no crime in Rome… Only pickpockets.
This was the one thing I remember being told by our escort to The Grand Hotel Palatino; that and something about Rome being the epitome of everything perfect in the world. (I think our escort’s last name was Mussolini (or Orwell), she was so convinced of Rome as a Utopia). Well, one thing struck me on the way to the hotel – the amount of graffiti defacing everything from the sides of buildings weeks old to the sides of structures thousands of years old. It seemed that this sense of place that is so lacking in the United States is almost taken for granted by the budding “artists” in Rome. Hey, we may not have as many ruins in the United States, I thought to myself, but at least they aren’t ‘redecorated’ in neon. This fact continued to astound me up until we got to our hotel. The street opposite our hotel was absolutely COVERED in messages of all types. Apocalyptic, gang related, political, Communist, legalization of marijuana, and of course people “just marking their territory”. It seems that Rome not only wins in quantity, but also variety. (From my experience though, I think of the graffiti that I was exposed to in Rome, Florence, and Sienna, Americans are -by far- the more talented). We waited around until we were able to check into the hotel, and while some brave souls dared the streets of Rome, my mind was on “higher things” (namely my fourth floor hotel room and the shower and bed that awaited me).
Communist Letdown
I woke up a few short hours later to my roommate unpacking and mentioning the fact that there was a communist rally occurring outside! Without thinking, I threw on some clothes I thought appropriate for a Communist rally, and ran outside. Viva la Revolution! As I got there, I was joined by others of the trip wondering what the spectacle was about. Assuming that I was knowledgeable, due to my roommates tip, I just said that the Proletarian were attempting a violent overthrow of the Bourgeoisie! Moments later I had discovered that my politics were a little confused, and these weren’t the outraged proletarian fighting against the hegemonic influences of the Bourgeoisie, but just a legalization of Marijuana parade. Oh well, it made for some interesting pictures, and I learned how to say (or at least spell) prohibition in Italian . A group of us were destined to go to La Traviata, one of Italy’s most popular operas, and so after the excitement of the legalization rally (and noticing the huge mass of new graffiti that had sprung up on the windows and walls of our hotel), we sat in the lobby to wait for the rest of the opera goers. As we were going into the lobby, I did happen to notice the fact that street cleaners and a huge police presence (armed with Uzis) arrived immediately after the rally was over.
"Street Art" and the Machiavellian Solution
Graffiti lined the walls, thicker than before. This new "street art" had, of course, a theme based on using Marijuana and legalizing drugs for "medicinal purposes", and of course stopping "prohibition". It seems to me that walls in Rome were the city's build boards, more so than in our country where Graffiti is used to mark a gang's territory, or in the RARE circumstance where it is used as ACTUAL art by people such as Keith Herring, may he rest in peace.
Graffiti in Rome is EVERYWHERE on pretty much any vertical flat surface that can be reached by a human's arm span, and some that couldn't. I saw Graffiti on the walls of the Coliseum, at the forum on pillars older than most countries, in the Vatican museum, and even in St. Peter's Basilicas, a bastion for one of the largest faiths in the world. People DEFACED art in the Vatican and at St. Peter's so they could let tourists know that they were there.
I don't remember who said it, but one of the people on the trip made a few interesting comments regarding the graffiti in Rome. They mentioned that they should at least use 'washable' paint (Especially when painting on 4 star hotel's windows). An interesting concept, and possibly doable if the city subsidized a portion of every can of water based spray paint, making them cheaper than the normal stuff, so people are more inclined to use the easier to clean stuff. The other idea, an almost Machiavellian concept (ironically appropriate for a trip to Italy) would be to find the criminal (wait, I though there was no crime in Rome) and dip them into paint as a form of execution. I definitely prefer option number two. It seems to be a little more of a dissuasion device.
Fanta, Fanta, Don't You Want a Want a, Fanta?
We took the metro to the Spanish Steps stop. We walk to the Spanish Steps and look around for a moment. The group keeps walking, assuming everyone is with us. As we walk a few blocks, I get this… funny feeling. I keep counting and counting the group, only coming up with 11. "Didn't we come here with 16?" I ask "Tenacious" Tysen. He thinks back and we come to the conclusion that we have in fact left five of our number in the middle of one of the biggest tourist traps in a foreign country. I inform Suzanne, and recruit Tysen for a rescue mission. We work our way back, thinking we saw Abby in some high end jewelry store. Tysen convinced me it wasn't Abby and we kept going. Standing in front of the Spanish Steps was our prodigal children. They had the sense to stick together and to not go and try finding the theatre on their own. We were reunited with our team, and realized we were still about an hour early for the show. We decided to walk down the street a little further and try some Italian cuisine. For me, it was my first meal of the day, and I was really excited. We went into a likely looking pizza place and were ushered to the back of the restaurant.
We were split up into different tables, and some of us decided to order Pizza. I was waiting for a little mom and pop place for pizza so I decided to have a Calzone. The prices were about 7 Euros for an entrée, so we didn't know exactly what we were getting - serving wise. Whether it was one (EXPENSIVE) slice, or perhaps too much food for one person. I noticed that a couple in a table a little ways away were served whole pizzas (EACH) and I pointed this out to our group. We were slightly pensive when we saw the massive amount of food on their plates, but we still were excited for our first culinary experience in Italy. As they say: "When in Rome…" The Calzone I got was HUGE. It is not often, when ordering a single entrée at a restaurant, that I do not finish what I have been served. This Calzone had defeated me though. I was soooooo full (regardless of the fact that my last sustenance had been custard on a plane almost twelve hours previous). What struck me as funny was that the waiter wasn't going to give us our check until we had all finished our meals (which none of us had done). The most exciting discovery was 1.5 Liter bottles of Fanta, which I tried to find wherever I could, and tried to keep on me at all times! “Fanta, Fanta, doncha wanta wanta Fanta?” Yes, yes I do!
The Phantom of the Opera… Oh wait, that was next door.
So we realize that we are 15 minutes late for the opera. We decide to try and get in, JUST IN CASE. It was a good thing that we did, because we saw a line of super well dressed people waiting to go in. Now, I want to make the disclaimer here that I have been involved in the Theatre for OVER 20 years and thought I could point out an actor, ESPECIALLY one in costume, in a green room about to go on stage. Alas my Theatre instinct did not hold out, and these well dressed Italians were not Opera goers, but Opera players! I could make my argument by suggesting that they wore no stage makeup, or that they were not in period costumes, but I will let the subject rest and admit my blunder here.
We got to our seats and the opera began. Of course I could not understand a word of what was going on, but thanks to a preview by "Tenacious" Tysen, and having read the libretto quickly before the show started, I was able to keep abreast of what was happening. At the end of the first act, half of the audience left. (Including more than half of our group). At the end of the second act, another half of the audience left (with another half of our group). By the end of the opera, there were just seven of us left.
As I had said previously, I have been in Musical Theatre for over twenty years and I have come to respect the Opera form. Most musicals have about fifteen songs lets say (and that is being generous). Most operas have approximately that many ‘songs’ as well, but the rest of the show is sung as well; all of the dialogue, the monologues, everything! This MANDATES the fact that you will need to rehearse with potentially a full orchestra starting on day 1. In Musical Theatre, the two teams (orchestra and actors) rehearse separately, and it is only close to the last two weeks of the show that ‘actual’ music is introduced to the mix. Of course there is always a pianist to accompany you, but a lone pianist and a full orchestra are two completely different things. Opera, wow. I was impressed.
On our way home we discovered that the metro has been closing early due to construction. This forced us to take two taxis back to the hotel. I can’t complain too much, split between multiple people, a taxi ride is only slightly more expensive than a metro ride, and you are guaranteed a seat! After the opera I was dead tired, but my better sense overcame me and I stayed up wandering the city a bit on my own and then slept like a log. (Unfortunately, this particular log was being “sawn” and it stopped my roommate from having a good night’s sleep.
Wait, you want us to walk HOW FAR?
This was one of the things I had been dreading – the amount of walking that I knew had to be done on this trip. Well, we awoke in the morning to a nice breakfast and got on the bus to the coliseum. We stopped briefly by Circus Maximus which was disappointing (it looked like an empty football field with no structure left to it) but the Coliseum and the Forum more than made up for it. Touching pillars that were around when Christ was in Rome was… amazing. It almost brought me back there. Standing where Caesar was betrayed ON the Ides of March helped Shakespeare come alive. It was all so real. The sense of place that I longed desperately for in the U.S. was here. After the Forum, we walked to The Trevi Fountain and then to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was fascinating, but even more fascinating was the 4 Euro 50 CAN of Fanta I had with my meal outside of the Pantheon. That is around FIVE DOLLARS and THIRTY CENTS?!? Highway robbery, but after a long day of walking, it was a breath of fresh air. Afterwards I found myself attached to Bridget, Kristen, and Laura. We got some Gelato, my first of the trip, and threw our coins in. We walked and shopped as we got lost (a number of times) on the way to The Spanish Steps and our final destination of our hotel rooms. After several wrong turns, lots of bad directions, and Laura’s keen direction sense, we arrived at the Spanish Steps and sat there, massaging our battered feet and legs. This was the theme throughout the days of my trip to Italy… Walk, walk, walk. We walked through the Vatican, through the cathedral, and through St. Peter’s. We walked to a multitude of places, and though it was painful, it was amazing fun.
These Are a Few Of My Favorite Things…
My favorite part of Rome had to be going to St. Peter’s Basilica at seven in the morning, being THE FIRST PEOPLE IN LINE, climbing to the top of the dome (well, I took the elevator for an extra 3 Euros – money well spent). The view from even my “lowly” perch was breathtaking, looking down on an EMPTY St. Peters, the largest church in the world. Even when we descended to the floor once again, the church was pretty much deserted. We had a chance to linger on statues by Berticelli, mosaics described to us by our AMAZING guide, and even a small service that was being held. The church was ours, and it was completely worth waking at six a.m. We had a quick lunch then made our way back to the hotel. A close second would be our trip to the Coliseum with Gelato in hand to say ‘goodbye’, so to speak, to the Coliseum before we ventured on to Florence, and the dreaded Ufizzi gallery.