Italia dagli occhi di Decina

ahhh Mykonos....(post five...make sure you start at the beginning)

2008-03-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

So going to Mykonos with my friends was definately one of the smarter decisions I have done on this trip. It wasn't really something filled with great history or great architecture, but is was so relaxing, so beautiful, and perfect for a three day break. I arrived in mykonos about 1pm on Wednesday, my friends were supposed to be there waiting for me, but they weren't, the weather was a bit cloudly, so i was a little upset at the situation, I spent 6 euros to go by taxi to the hostel and found out the lady there didnt speak english at all.
But when I got there the lady called her daughter, who did speak enligsh and we talked, telling me about how great my friends were, this and that, and that she'd be there shortly. Well I stood outside on the balcony, enjoying the little view and waited, and within a minute, my friend Jon riding up to the hostel on a moped. he said "hey man i'm so sorry i wasn't at the port when you got there" and all I could respond with was..."what are you doing riding a moped?!?!" and from that point on the trip was just amazing. we all rented mopeds and used them to drive around the island and stop at different beaches.

we stopped at this beach just to eat lunch one day, it was a little windy and chilly in mykonos, but much better than italy this time of year. Mykonos is the biggest party place in Europe during the summer, but at this time of the year it was calm and pretty deserted, it was amazing to get away from a lot of the hustle and bustle.

a view from a small mountain we climbed, jon sitting on the rock, bathing.

and this is from our balcony at the hostel. the hostel was so fun, mama's pension. The lady who owned it had a daughter who was the sweetest, she took care of us, called people for us in greek to translate. and not to mention the place was perfect for a getaway. As you can see from this image, we didn't have many complaints.

this was the first beach i went to when i arrived. my friends had been there two days already and had a small grasp of the island. we stopped on this beach which was an inlet for the island and found tons of lumber....

...and so we thought it'd be great to start a fire, it took a while cause it was pretty windy, but we got it eventually and it was amazing. just sitting on the beach with a fire, hanging out and talking.

ten days in salerno, pompei, athens and mykonons, it was well worth it and well enjoyed.
thanks for listening everybody, i'll get some more updates soon...if you have any questions ask me too, i'd love to write and talk about more things. Ciao Ciao!!

Se non sono stato italiano, sarei da greca!!

2008-03-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

(I'm not great at subjunctive, well I really don't know it at all, but that title is supposed to read...If i wasn't italian...i would be from greece!)
So my treck from Italy to Greece was long, but well worth it. I left Salerno late Saturday night and got into Bari Sunday morning. The town was quite dead but I slowly walked and made my way to the port and found my boat. It was soo crazy to see all of the Greek people at the port. Italy has two very large and very important ports, Ancona and Bari, and because of their importance, the Greeks frequent them often. If the actual towns of Ancona and Bari didn't exist, you would think the cities were Greek because of how many people are at the ports.

My ferry took about 16 hours to get to Patrasso with a short stop in Corfu. I was in Patrasso by Monday morning around six a.m. and took a train to Athens which took another four hours. So after leaving Salerno Saturday night I was finally in Athens by Monday at noon. A day and a half of travel is a lot, but for the price and the experience, it's worth it.

My first impressions of Athens were not the best. The people are a little rude and pushy, which is saying something considering I'm coming from Italy which is just as rude and pushy, lol, but the language was the most terrifying thing. It is almost entirely incomprehensible and is very frightening to be in a place when you can't understand anything. Fortuantely for me, alot of the signs are in enlgish as well because of the olympics a few years back, so I could do alright. But as well as the english, there are a lot of italians that frequent Greece so I was able to communicate in Italian alot, which really really made my day. If you can tell from my blogs, I have fallen in love with Italy and the italian language, and the fact that I could talk to people in a country other than Italy in italian, was so satisfying.

Anyway, I got to Athens and found my hostel which was right next to the acropolis. I didn't go there first because of some hours confusion, but I did go there and saw alot of other things, enjoy the pictures...

this is near the acropolis, closer to the street markets of Athens. It's very similar to Italia in a sense which its layout, but in this location there is a large park where the Acropolis is that provided some nice green space and created a bit more open feel to the city.

Here is an image of Athens from about halfway up the Acropolis. As you can tell we are already pretty high in this image, so you can tell jus thow high the Acropolis was. Also, you can see the size of Athens, this is looking south, there is an east, a west, and a north that is about twice the size of the other three directions combined. The city has 6 million inhabitants of the countries 12 million, but the city is soooo large and spread out. I can confidently say there isn't a building in Athens over ten stories, and not more than 100 buildings in Athens taller than five or six stories. But it's quite a beautiful scene to see the panoram from the top of the Acropolis. You can see one of the amplitheaters as well. Gorgeous Gorgeous Gorgeous!

Oh the Parthenon, you can tell my disapointment in the construction and preservation that was taking place, but such is life and it's the price I pay for going during the off season. It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. We read about these places in books, the Parthenon, the model for so many different periods of architecture. It was very inspirational to see the details.

here is the amplitheater you can see from the other image above. It's size is similar to the one in Pompei, but much steeper with a better preserved backdrop, it's beautiful construction.

Here is part of the temple of Olympus. I could be wrong again, I should be writing these things down and looking at maps, but I usually am so overcome but what I am looking at it that it's hard to read and listen to things. It's so fun to see the column on its side like that in pieces.

This is the same temple that I took a picture of from the Acropolis the n ext day. That temple is one of the largest if not the largest. And if you're very careful, you can see the original stadium of the modern games in the top left.

The following are a series of images from the new olympic park. I have always wanted to get to this stadium because Calatrava is a genius in my mind. His work is beautiful and elegant. Somtimes it doesn't make sense, but you cannot deny its beauty.

the exterior

the interior

one of the indoor arenas with a similar design.

Overall, Athens was pretty fun. One of my nights there consisted of running into three italian men from the Venice area who were working in Greece. We ate dinner together, talked in Italian, just enjoyed each other's company, and later went out for drinks. It was a nice evening and will be something I remember in my life. Being Italian in Greece. I met a few people at the hostel from all around the world, just like every hostel I go to, and enjoyed myself. Two days in Athens wasn't a lot, but I did get to see a bit. After Athens I woke up early Wednesday morning to get to Mykonos...

Deve andare a Pompeii!!!!

2008-03-14T06:04:00.001-07:00

Pompeii....wow, there isn't much I can say about this place except that you have to go here to really understand just how amazing a place this is. Architecturally, yea it's great, but historically, to phathom this place two thousand years ago and to see it standing in the state it is standing in considering what happened is just....amazing. If you ever find yourself in Italy, Pompei has to be on the agenda. If you are in Rome, you can wake up early enough and get to Pompei and spend a lto of time there and then make it back to Rome by nightfall, it's worht it!!...

You can see the pompeian streets here, people walked on the sides and there was an obvious heighth difference from where the horses walked for drainage and to keep people from stepping in the horse's.....yea, you can tell where I'm going with that. It's so beautiful to see cobblestone streets like that, let alone to imagine them that way two thousand years ago...

This image was taken from behind the Temple of Jupiter on a street. It's a little different from the last image, but at the same moment, the arch in the background is beautiful. You can see the formation of the arcade on the left leading up to it. Imagining Pompei was half the fun of this experience.

This is a courtyard, fairly bigger than a courtyard, I forget the exact use of it, but it is in great condition, probable because of its scale. It is a on the end of the city so the force of the lava wasn't as strong as it was within the city streets you might say.

this is from a hill on the edge of Pompei, looking back into parts of the city. I would say that the ruins of Pompei are about 50 times the size of what you can see in this image, probably much bigger. Beautifully formed walls, and the people who maintain the ruins still try and plant trees regularly to give a better sense of the space.

I wanted to take a picture of Mount Vesuvius from the temple of jupiter but the weather became more cloudly and this was really the only good image I got of the volcano. But it is very prominent still.

another image from the exterior of the city, looking at some of the public roads with monuments and some made displays by the preservationists.

this is the temple of jupiter. I am standing in an arcade on the left, there is the arcade at the right, the common open space (which is grass now) and the temple beyond it with the columns. This was one of the most common points if I'm not mistaken. It's beautiful.

The amplitheater from above, very amazing to see these. Not much I can say about it except that it's beautiful and awesome to imagine the uses of it when it was in existence.

This was the coliseum, much smaller than Rome's obviously, but a similar type of construction, very segragated from the city, it's on the periphery.

Overall, I spent less than a day in Pompei, but I should have spent at least two more days. There is so much to see and learn about. The thing that got me the most, that was most amazing to me, was to see wood lintels holding up these over two thousand year old structures. Original wood lintels. Not replacements. It's incredible to me, that they have been preserved that well and still function properly with all that weight holding it up.
After Pompei i went back to Salerno to catch my train too Bari so I could get to Greece!!!

Salerno.....

2008-03-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

The first thing I did for this vacation was to make my way to Salerno with my friends. Salerno is a city south of Napoli that is strategically located for tourists between many great tourist locations like Pompei, and its cost is much less than those cities so many people choose to stay there. I used my eurail pass for the first time and I loved it. I had a minor complications in figuring out the use of it, but it is fantastic. We arrived in Salerno in the early afternoon on Friday and spent a day wondering around the beautiful ocean side town...

this is from the promendade of Salerno. The city has a lot of spanish influence in its construction and layout. There is the obvious italian historical center, but many of the newer pieces and government buildings were built later for the spanish colonization. You can see some of them over the trees in this picture, but you can see the beautiful ocean as well.

I loved how this city had a focus on the promenade. Everyone, well what seemed like everyone came here to enjoy the weather, to run, to walk, to sit and enjoy the ocean.

Here is part of the newer historical center, still very italian influenced but you can see newer, more modern pieces as well (not in this picture but in the city in general). This piazza is opening into a piazza behind me and is looking down to the ocean. Very lovely.

here are some of the southern palm trees and the spanish constructed churches. it is more typical of the napoli area, very beautiful in its own right.

I loved this shot, because it expresses the nature of the Italian culture and idealogy of living. How work and everything is below the family's homes. It's so amazing to see these balconies and the presence of life in the city. We in america tend to think that the city is a place for work and commerce; it is difficult to find a lot of great places to live in cities unless you're in places like new york or chicago. but it's because that people live in the center of cities that all of the activity happens regularly, it is amazing to me. Even the smallest italian cities have this regular and abundant activity.

this picture was taken because of the doors. they have display cases built in that provide more reasons to enter the store and see their products, as well serve the purpose at night when noone can walk in. People walk by at night and see it..."oh wow, we should come back here tomorrow!"

my time is salerno was really just a day, but it was enough to appreciate another place in italy. But Salerno was really just a stopping point for me to get to Pompei...

La Pausa....

2008-03-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

Mi dispiace, per prendando troppo tempo preparare e scrivere questo. Ero un'po sotto di tempo e ho provanto dormire piu invece di facendo lavoro. Spero questo non e una problemo, grazie per la pazienza loro.

Abbiamo avuto una pausa della scuola la settemana scorsa. Ho detto molte volte che ero contento viaggare e vedere i molti cosi. Quindi, que e mio viaggio...

Faro questo entra in molti parti, quindi, leggi tutti.
..............

I'm sorry, for taking too much time to prepare and to write this. I was a little under the weather and tried to sleep more instead of doing work. I hope this is not a problem, thanks for all your patience.

We had a pause for school last week. I said this many times before that I was excited and happy to travel and see many things. So here is my trip....

I will write this entry in many parts, so read everything!

just returned...

2008-03-10T04:50:00.000-07:00

hey everyone, give me a day or two of recooperation. I have been in other parts of Italia and Greece, traveling to see things. I will post a lot of things shortly, but I returned late last night and need a day or two to gather all of my images and ideas. Be patient! Everythings is coming!!
Ciao Ciao Tutti!

Stadio Artemio Franchi

2008-02-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

I attended a UEFA Cup game last Thursday in Florence, to watch Fiorentina and Rosenberg on the return. As compared to the last game I went to, this game was of much more important and much more intense.

This image is of the tower which represents the fans of Fiorentina, it can be seen from far away and especially upon entering the city from the north. Florence is a much larger city than Ascoli is. So it was not likely to see so many places closed down since there is always a need for commerce in that city. It was very similar to see the amounts of people arriving at the stadium before hand, talking and debating about the game. You could see a few thousand people who were anxious to get the game started. This stadium had an abundance of shops, apparel venders, and food venders in and around the stadium providing food, the means to support their team and provide an exciting, active atmosphere.

this is the piazza that fans soon flocked to nearly two hours before the game started

you can see the fans and people are waiting for the game to start

food venders and sports venders

This image shows the common places where people were located before the game, the dark blue are buildings, the green and yellow are the stadium, and the light blue are the herds of people, staying near entrances. The largest spot is where the fans who were sitting in the curve entered, these fans arrived very very early, and were singing and cheering as soon as they entered inside the park nearly an hour before the game started

an offical outlet store for apparel along with people reading the game paper

this cross section of the main stands shows the attempt at arches that were formed with concrete

here is another image of the structure at a different location, the arches are apparent here

This game was played at night because of its significance in the UEFA Cup. I have noticed through schedules that the important matches are played at night where as most other games are played during the day. A majority of tournament matches are played at night to attract more fans away from work and television viewers. The atmosphere inside this park spoke volumes of the importance of this game.

Between the image above and the image below you can see how many people arrived at the stadium to watch this game, around 35,000. Throughout the game the symbol of the fans (the tower) is a unifying element.

This underpass for access to the stands was great because it allowed people who were going to use the facilities or concessions to have visual access to the game almost always, but at the same time was sheltered from the largest volumes of noises.

its difficult to tell from these images to, but the seats were much closer together and much smaller than in American facilities. There is a desire to really create a close and intimate atmosphere inside the stadium. Shielding people from the outside distractions as much as possible to focus on the game. This stadio was amazing in the amounts of singers that came to support the team. Almost a third of the stadium was dedicated to chants and cheers, particularly the curves.

This is an unfortunate but common occurance in Italia lately. This is strictly a sign of pride and is an attempt by fans to show their passion for their team and their sport. For some people its great to see, for others it is just dangerous.

Firenze!!

2008-02-26T04:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, quindi, la settemana scorsa e stato fantastico. La settemana era piccolo perche andaremo a firenze per la ultimo tre giorni. Mi e piachuto che siamo andati a Firenze perche quella citta ha tantissimo archittectura. Per questo entra scrivero italiano e inglese insieme, invece scrivere italiano prima e dopo inglise, va bene? Ok…

So, this last week was really amazing. The week was short because we were going to Florence for the last three days of the week. I liked that we could go to Florence because that city has so much amazing architecture to see. For this entry I will write Italian and English together, instead of writing Italian first and then English, ok?

Quando siamo arrivati, siamo andati a la posta alta vedere la Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte. Quella Chiesa e tanto vecchia e e cimitero dalle persone famose nella historia di Italia. Dopo, siamo andati a Piazzale Michelangelo. Quella Piazza a grande ma non in centro di Firenze. Ma da qui, abbiamo potuto vedere la citta da sopra…guardate…

When we arrived, we went to a high place to see the Church of San Miniato al Monte. This church was very old and is also the cemetery for many famous persons in the history of Italia and Florence. After, we went to the Piazzale Michelange. This place was big but not in the center of Florence. But from here, we could see the whole city from above…look at this…

la chiesa di San Miniato al Monte, lots of persian influence in this structure

from the piazzale michelangelo

Dopo, siamo andati in centro di Firenze, abbiamo visto la Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore prima. Mama mia, come grande e fantastico. Siamo andati indentro e abbiamo imparato come e fatto. So dalle mie clase di archittectura, che il architteo era Brunelleschi. Anche, il giorno prossimo, siamo ascendati il duomo. Questa Chiesa e il quarto grande chiesa nel mondo. Posso dire piu cosi, ma penso che I fotografie possono parlare per loro…

After, we went to the center of Florence, we say the Cathedral of Santa Maria of the Flowers, first. Wow, so big and fantastic. We went inside and learned how it was made. I know from my architecture classes that the architect was Brunelleschi. Also, the next day we went up the dome to see out.This church is the fourth biggest church in the world. I can say more about it, but I think that the photographs can speak for themselves.

the redone facade of St Mary's, its stature is phenominal

inside you can begin to fathom the scale

the dome of Brunelleschi covered with frescos, Filiberto told us that this was a shame, because the original idea of the church was to be done in the renaissance movement, and these frescos don't follow those ideals

outside showing the apps and transepts of St. Mary's, you can see the scaffolding around it obviously, this is because Italia has workers that regularly maintain the facades of important structures

the view of florence from the dome

Filiberto and I (with my new juventus scarf) sitting atop florence

deep in thought

Abbiamo visto tanto, per l’esampo, abbiamo visto il lavoro di Michelangelo, Caravaggio e l’altra artiste di Italia. Anche abbiamo visto i construzioni importanti dalla historia di Firenze. Ma c’era qualcosa che mi non e piachuto di Firenze. Firenze ha molti gli studenti americani. Dappertutto, puo vedere un American. In questa citta, possibile ogni persone puo parlare in inglese e in italiano. Era difficale parlare in italiano perche le persone di Firenze volgiono parlare veloce perche loro stanno lavorando, quindi, parlano in inglese perche e piu veloce, non mi e piachuto quello.

We saw so much, for example, we saw the works of Michelangelo, Caravaggio and other artists of Italia. We also saw many important buildings from Florence’s history. But there was something I didn’t like about Florence. The city has so many American students. Everywhere, you can see Americans. In this city, almost every person can speak both English and Italian. It is difficult to talk in Italian because the people of Florence want to talk fast because they are working, so they talk in English to be more swift, and I didn’t like that.

the river that runs beside the old city and some of the cool structures that exist on it

an important piazza in florence with replicas of many well done sculptures

Ma, totalle, Firenze e una citta magnifico. Dopo, io ed I miei amici siamo andati a Bologna e Modena per poco tempo. Abbiamo visto qualche construzioni fantastico, ma non abbiamo capito come hanno fatto.

But overall, Florence was an awesome city. After some friends and I went to Bologna and Modena for a short time. We saw some fantastic building, but we didn’t know how they were made, so it was difficult to really appreciate how awesome those places were.

the church in bologna that was halted because it was going to overtake St. Peters insize, Michelangelo was workign on the facade, you can see how it abruptly stopped

i was fascinated with the idea of the arcade in bologna and modena, here you can see the arcade sits right next to the street, providing shelter and nice means to bring the user into shopping space

my first encounter with bocci, these guys were playing for about four hours before the game started in Modena.

patience...

2008-02-25T06:44:00.000-08:00

ok, I just got back from Florence, Bologna and Modena and I have alot to talk about and show you all. Give me one more day to get everything organized and posted. Thanks!
Also, Professor Deeg, I went to an amazing game in Florence this week and will post tomorrow as well. Thanks! Ciao Tutti!

in vacanza (non certo, ma ancora, una vacanza)

2008-02-19T02:28:00.001-08:00

Questa settamana e andata veloce, ma ancora tranquillo. Lunedi e Mercoledi in mia clase di pittura, noi abbiamo comincato fare una pittura di un fiore, e tanto divertente.

Anche nella mia clase di lingua italiano, abbiamo avuto un esame per la prima meta del simistre. E andato bene, ho pensato ho fatto buona, tanto facile, ma non so come buona adesso.

Dopo le mie clase, siamo andati a un “excursion” venerdi. Prima, siamo andati a Loreto vedere La Basilica Santuario della Santa Casa e la Sala del Tesero in dentro. Questa chiese e stato fantastico. Desidero conosco le piu perole describere come bella e stato. Le relique di Maria e nella Sala del Tepero. Non so essato, ma penso che Maria abita in Loreto o vicino a qua. Quella basilica e tantisimo famosa. Il papa va qua spesso.

Ci sono solo le tre chiese in Italian che lui va in un anno. San pietro certo, la basilica a Firenze (che io vado visitare questa settamana,) e questa basilica a Loreto.

Ok, quindi, piu cosi volgio dire dei miei viaggi, ma e tanto difficale scrivere solo in italiano. Adesso fermato le italiana e cambio a inglese dire piu, ciao ciao.

This week went very fast, but still calmly. Monday and Wednesday in my painting class, we started to do a picture of a gorgeous flower, it’s a lot of fun and I’m very excited to be doing it.

Also, in my Italian class, we had our mid semester exam. It went well, I thought I did very well, very easy, but I don’t know how good right now so I’ll wait to see.

After my classes, we went on an excursion on Friday. First we went to Loreto to see the Basilica Santuario della Santa Casa and the Sala del Tesero inside. This church was phenomenal. I wish I know more words to describe how beautiful it was. The relics of Mary (the mother of Christ) are inside the Sala del Tepero. I don’t know exactly, but I think that Mary stayed in or near Loreto (something like that). This church is so famous because of it. The pope goes here often There are only three churches in Italy that he goes to every year. St. Peters of course, the church in Florence (which I am going to visit this week) and this church is Loreto.

Ok, so there are more things I want to talk about my travels, but it’s really difficult to write only in Italian. So I stop the Italian and change to English to write more.

I love talking in Italian and writing as well for the practice, but it takes a lot of time right now and with my vocabulary I can’t truly describe how wonderful some of these places are.

So anyway, after Loreto we went to a small town not far from Ancona called Sirolo. This place is pretty much the Cinqueterre of the east coast. It was so beautiful. You should really watch the movie I am posting because it describes the beauty of this place.

After that we went back to Genga where I was stranded the week before. But this time the experience was much more amazing. Genga is famous for its caves. It has the largest natural indoor space in Europe. The formations inside were absolutely gorgeous and incredible to fathom. I couldn’t take any pictures but believe me, it was amazing.

After that we headed to a winery in Metalica to learn about and sample the native white of Marche, Verdicchio. It was a lot of fun not to just learn about the process, but to learn the correct methods of tasting and choosing foods to join with it. I will say, that this winery had by far the best white wine I’ve had since getting to Italy. So if you are ever in a wine store and see Verdicchio white wine, BUY IT!! I promise you that you won’t be disappointed.

Well for now I am done, enjoy the pictures and tell me what you think when you get the chance. Take care everyone. Ciao Ciao!

This first image is of the piazza in front of La Basilica Santurario della Santa Casa. It’s fairly large in this small town, but really gorgeous, everything was built at different times which makes the composition more interesting.

This image is inside the church, the marble square box you can see in the middle of the image is the Sala del Tesero, where the relics of Mary are held.

Here is another image, you can see the scale of the house better and in comparison from the last image how big the church is. Inside this renaissance house is a two thousand year old brick construction where Mary’s relics are located. It’s amazing that through Napolean’s conquests that this place still stands. There are other rooms in the same church that were destroyed and everything was stolen.

This is the church from the exterior at the back, and some friends.

This is back in the main piazza, while we were inside a man had uncovered some of his works and was working on another, fantastic.

So this is Sirolo, an amazing place, we’re up a few hundred feet from sea level but the next image…

…shows the view from below at the beach, it is absolutely amazing. I hope you can grasp from this image that it is almost a full 360 degree image, about 300 degrees

Here are two pictures of me and some friends climbing some of the rocks on this beach, it was a lot of fun.

Here are the mountains of Genga, but we got to go inside and see the 1.4 million year old formations (sorry that there are no pictures of the inside)

This is at the winery in Metalica. This gentleman, Luca, explained the process and then took us here to the store to do a wine tasting and let us spend money on good wines. I bought three bottles, two of Verdicchio and one of a white wine and honey, all of which were produced at that winery.

Assisi, Perugia e poco altra posta non volgio andare...

2008-02-13T02:16:00.000-08:00

Sabado scorso noi siamo andati a Assisi a vedere la Basilica di San Francesco e altri cosi nella quella citta. Prima siamo andati, mercoledi scorso, noi abbiamo guardato un film ha chiamato “Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna”. Il Film ha descributo la vita di Francesco e come ha cambiato come pensa. Quando siamo arrivati, la prima cosa abbiamo visto, la basilica. Sulla montagna dove e Assisi, la basilica e grande.

Noi abbiamo fatto una passegiato vicino alla basilica, dopo in dentro. Abbiamo potuto fotografire indentro, perche molti persone vengono a Assisi entrare e pregare in quella chiesa.

Per tre ore siamomo stati in dentro. La storia di San Francesco e come la basilica ha construito e fantastico. Io penso questo posta e stato la prima volta che mi sono piachuto ascoltare di la historia.

Dopo la Basilica, siamo andati a pranza e quindi altre poste a Assisi.

Dopo Assisi, io sono andato a Perugia, solo. Niente dei miei amici sono volute andare con mi. Ma, pero, sono andato. Perugia e una citta grande e tanta moderna. Ho pensato che Perugia e cosi cosi. Ho comprato ciccolati per la mia familia ed io. Mi dispiace, mama, non ho comprato niente per tu, ma possibile posso ritornare a comprare qualcosa.

Ho abitato in una ostello per i gioveni. Quando mi sono alzato, ho fatto un passagiato a Perugia e dopo io sono ritornato a Macerata. Ma prima sono arrivato, non ho cambiato a la vero posta e e stato in una piccolo piccolo villago chiama Genga.

Se voi volete capire piu, chiede, non so quanti scrivere. Ciao Ciao!

Last Saturday, we went to Assisi to see the Church of St. Fransis and other things in that city. Before we went, on Wednesday, we watched a film called “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” The film described the life of St. Fransis and how he changed the way he thought because of his love for God. When we arrived, the first thing we saw was the church. On the mountain where Assisi is, the basilica is huge and very apparent.

We took a walk near the church and then afterwards inside. We couldn’t photograph anything inside because many people come to Assisi to enter and pray in that church and we must show respect.

For three hours we were inside. The story of St. Fransis and how the church was constructed is fantastic. I think this place was the first time I really liked listening to the history of the churches.

After St. Fransis of Assisi, we went to lunch and then other places in Assisi.

After Assisi, I went to Perugia, only. None of my friends wanted to go with me. But, nevertheless, I went. Perugia is a huge and such a modern city. I thought that Perugia was just ok though. I bought chocolates for the family I stay with and me. And I am sorry mom, but I didn’t buy you anything but possibly I can return and buy you something.

I stayed ina hostel for the kids. When I woke up, I walked a little more in Perugia and then returned to Macerata. But before I arrived, I didn’t changed at the right place and was stuck in a small, small village called Genga. (Oh the joys of the Italian train system on Sundays)

If you want to know more, just ask, I never know how much to write and it can be very strenuous thinking in Italian. Ciao Ciao!

this is the Basilica di San Francesco, and the lawn in front of it, this is a very very old structure and gorgeous inside, the monument of the soldier on the horse represents the humility before god, which is why his head and the horse's are bowed

this is a small piazza built a little later also leading up to the church, it was very simple but served the point of focus towards the basilica

this was one of the roman's inputs towards Assisi, this structure is about a km from the basilica and was built in the boroque style

here is the same piazza from earlier but from a different view, you can see the bell tower up to the right

this is me with an audio system around my beck because we had to be extermely quiet inside, holding my sketch book, I'll try and get a couple sketches on here from the church in the next day or two

this is another image of me and the basilica (I wanted people to know I actually WAS visiting these places so I included a couple of me pictures)

here was a very neoclassical church in Assisi, the floor had recently been redone after an earthquake shook the region in 1997. But the earthquake revealed some ancient structures barried below that people were unaware of, and the remodel included a light blue glass floor to reveal those ancient ruins. I thought it was a great opportunity to be creative with this picture

this picture is from perugia. I unfortunately don't think i got to do as much traveling as i wanted to do in perugia, but my favorite part was the type of architecture called "mixed use" that this city had seemed to master. first floors were for business and local companies and upstairs for residences. 99% of italia's cities are covered with mixed use and it is refreshing to see the efficient of space

this is the mini metro station in perugia, recently the city invested in about 10 stops of a high tech tram system to transport people through the city (along with their great bus system), perugia is a very modern town and this was just another part of it, I enjoyed the sleekness of these stations

here is the last station of the mini metro at the top of perugia, the empty tracks in front of these two trains (which are going in opposite directions) is a place for the incoming train to revolved 180 degrees and go back in the other direction, very fun

this picture was taken in Foligno, one of the cities i had to transfer in while returning to Macerata, I have no clue about the history of this church, but how can you not appreciate the beauty

Foligno also had a street filled with these gorgeous homes that were fairly old and redone (or just recently done to look old). reminds me a tiny bit of a fraternity row on a college campus (not necessarily a good thing)

here is another image of one of the gothic houses

and this is genga, the tiny mountain town in the MIDDLE of nowhere with about 100 inhabitants, but very picturesque

thanks for reading guys!

Carnevale

2008-02-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

Martedi, I miei amici ed io ed anche nostri professori sono andati a una citta fantastico chiama Ascoli Piceno. Io sono andato sabado scorso qui a vedere la partita di calcio, ma Io ho visto solo lo stadio e suoi vicini. Il Centro di Ascoli Piceno e non vicino a lo stadio pero mia volta in Ascoli e molti differente da Sabado scorso ma molti diverti.

Ascoli e una citta in tra le due montagne anche in tra i due fumi, e anche molti vechhio, prima questo millennium. Quando noi arrivavamo, sono caminato poco distenza andare in centro. Ci sono stato un piazza grande e importante per la citta. Immediatimente indentro, noi abbiamo potesso vedere tanti constructione e i personi.. Abbiamo visto le poco chiese e le poste dove tu poui vedere tanta la vista.

La significa piu important perche noi sono andati a Ascoli a Martedi e stato a vedere Carnevale. Grosso Martedi e un giorno importanti in la religiosa catolico perche e il giorno prima di “lint” (Ash Wednesday). Carnevale e una volta dove tutti vanno in centro essere insieme . In ogni piazza cierano tante persone che hanno fatto molti cose. Io ho pensato che il Carnevale di Ascoli e stato piu bello, solo perche l’architettura era piu interessante. Generalmente, penso che questo periodo dell’ano e fantastico. Tutti sono divertenti e simpactici. E piachuto andare in questa posta per Carnevale.

Io so che deveo scrivere piu, ma sto unpo stanco. Io desidero che vi piacono I mie fotografie. Scrive perfavore, io volgio udire que voi pensate.

this is on the way in, a view of one of the moutans and the large city of Ascoli Piceno

unlike Macerata, Ascoli is fairly flat and everyone here uses bikes

a view from in betwene buildings of the snow capped mountains

the main church of Ascoli, probably the most ornate I have seen (besides the Vatican)

frescos above the aps

another orante transept that is in the same church

this is below the church, this room was filled, FILLED with terazzo tile mosaics that were phenominal

this was in the town theater, and it is the ceiling, I chose to put the picture on here because as an architect I truly appreciate the positioning of the ventilation ducts

a roman bridge over two thousand years old

the main piazza of Ascoli in the morning with the start of the Carnevale celebration

babies dressed up in another piazza during the morning hours

people talking and getting ready for Carnivale

at 10am on a Tuesday morning have you ever seen a piazza so busy with people?

a few of the students walking and enjoying the sights of Ascoli

the same piazza again later in the afternoon, the weather got a little worse but in about an hour Carnevale will be at its best

familes in costumes getting ready

look at all the people and costumes, this celebration would never happen in america because everyone would be drinking too much and bickering, but in Italia, everyone is happy to have fun and be ammusing, I loved it. Pictures can truly truly not describe how fun and exciting the celebration was.

another piazza at night during Carnevale, we left at 6, about the time this photo was taken and the celebration continued on into the early morning

the volume is probably bad, but this is our professor explaining some of the nearby things of the main piazza in Ascoli and the Carnevale celebration

Tuesday, my friends and I and also our professors went to a fantastic city called Ascoli. I went last Saturday here as well for a soccer game, but I saw only the stadium and its neighbors. The center of Ascoli Piceno is not near the stadium, but nevertheless my time in Ascoli was very different from Satruday but still very fun.

Ascoli is a city in between two mountaisn and two rivers. And also very very old, before Christ actually. When we arrived, we walked a short distance to go inside. There was a big plaza that is very important for the city. Immediately inside, we could see so many buildings and people. We saw a few churches and places where you can see so much of the great view.

The most important reason why we went to Ascoli on Tuesday was to see Carnevale. Fat Tuesday is a very important day in the Catholic religion because it’s the first day of lint. Carnevale is a time where everyone goes in the center to be together and celebrate. In every plaza, there were so many people that did many different things. I thought that the Carnevale of Ascoli was very beautiful, only because the architecture was so interesting. In general, I think that this time of year is fantastic. Everyone was having so much fun and was very nice. I liked going to this place for Carnevale.

Io know that I should write more, but I am a little tired. I hope that you enjoy my pictures. Write please, I want to hear what you all think. Ciao Ciao!

Stadio "Del Duca"

2008-02-07T05:27:00.000-08:00

Stadio Del Duca is home to Ascoli Calcio. This stadio holds 29,000 fans for a city that is wedged between two rivers and two mountains. Ascoli calcio is a Serie B squad (second division team). There stadium originally was placed around a running track with all concrete and travertine stones (the local building material). The whole stadium was originally designed with this similar to the rest of the ancient city. Now, two curves have been placed behind each goal acting as grand stands and anchors for each team’s supporters.

As any Italian City, Ascoli is always alive and thriving every business day of the week. People are eating, shopping, talking outside and living how all Italians live. But in Ascoli, game day is very different. Ascoli has many things that it is proud of: its ancient city history, its celebration of carnivalle and of course its calcio. So when one of these events is on display, everything stops so that the people of Ascoli can showcase and celebrate together. For this game, I arrived four hours early in hopes of documenting the stadio. When I arrived, there were already a few older gentleman outside of the stadium talking, while wearing the scarves of Ascoli’s colors. The nearby bars and pubs were filled with people soon after having lunch before the game. I found out the hard way, that tickets were also sold there in the bars, not at the stadiums. The police near the stadio monitor all the people and a ticket is necessary with your name on it.

As game time neared you could see the crowds of people in black and white coming closer to the stadio, holding flags of their team and being very excited. The number of men who arrived early has increased exponentially and the volume of their discussion even more. Upon entering the atmosphere is amazing. It is quickly distinguishable that the people who come to this game to cheer are the locals, the everyday people of Ascoli because they sit behind the goals in the cheap seats of the curves. The young find their way quickly to the direct center of this curve and formulate the choir for songs, and then older men at the very front and bottom to get the best seats for seeing and commentary.

At the first sign of Ascoli Calcio entering the field the crowd starts the songs. During the announcement of the players, the announcer only says the first name of every player for the home team and the crowd knows to yell the last name in unison. The fans here don’t buy beer or popcorn to enjoy their experience, for them the game is the only importance. Every man, every women, every child in the stadium was fixated on what was occurring and if their eyes weren’t glued to the field it was because they were screaming and bickering about the play before. This stadium was relatively empty when I was there, but I do not believe that Ascoli Calcio could have asked for a better support and fans than what was there that day.

IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS:

- old original stadium with conrete/travertine structure and main stand with simple covered structure

- new “curves” with embellished structure at each end for the true fans

- security divisions every few seconds to prohibit movement during the game

- older gentleman acting wise and commenting constantly during the game

- the youth and younger men singing constantly

Other analysis:

the original grandstand is now used for the media and high paying important people of Ascoli

the street that leads to the stadio from the city is located in a place to notify the two important geographical features of Ascoli, the mountains and the rivers

the local bars are occupied inside at lunch time and become hang outs before the game starts, tickets are sold here and at other nearby bars, no where else

the security gates and partitions not only keep people out of the grounds but segragate each section so people can only enter into their specific section

the logo of Ascoli Calcio acts as a joint between the new and old parts of the stadio

in this diagram you can see the main entry points and the secondary points, also the linear blue sections show the partitions for security and from the field, the shaded blue is the existing main stand

approaching the stadium an hour before kick off after lunch

a local pub on the first floor with decorative lights and living quarters above

once inside, the entrance to the stadium is within the structure and towards the field and is simple

diagram of entrance through color

the new structure is so different and repetitive

the men talking and debating before kickoff at the front even though their tickets are for up above

the curve is packed with the local fans, the black and white of Ascoli Calcio and the fans and signs

within the stadium you can see how uncrowded it is within the main stands and opposing curve, it has become so dangerous to go to games and so many people choose not to go

the mountains provide a backdrop

the new structure is apparent here with the existing at the bottom made from travertine and concrete

a section showing how the original stadium was designed at the curves with the seats built on the ground and the new curves erected above

the main grandstand showing the original (blue) the media and wealthy (red) and the new cheap seats (yell0w) this sketch also shows the importance of the main grandstand because of the covering

Settimana scorso e fine Settimana scorso (questo settimana)

2008-02-04T02:43:00.000-08:00

Buon Giorno tutti! Come state? Sto molti bene. Settimana scorso e stato piano. Clase sono state buona e io ho deciso a dove io vado durante nostra pausa della scuola e per i fine settimane questo simestre. E stato difficale perche, ho devuto scegliere i treno vero che possano andare durante la notte o viaggare distanza poco. Anche, io ho comprato un bigletto per viaggare dappertutto in Europa. E costa tanto pero se io non ho comprato io pago piu per ogni viaggio.

A Venerdi scorso, ho lavorato e ho incontrato miesi amici a un bar vicona alla nostra scuola. Io ho incontrato la amica italiana della mia amica americana. Questa ragazza e molti intelligente e simpatico. A sabado sera, lie ha presso noi a cena incontrare sui amici chi sono fantastici anche. Io desidero vedero loro ancora presto.

A Sabado pomeriggio, sono andato a Ascoli Piceno per una partita di calcio incontra Ascoli e Ravenna. La partita e stato cosi cosi. Ascoli ha avuto 4 e Ravenna ha avuto 0. Questo e il significe perche solo cosi cosi. Lo Statio e stato bellisimo e io ho visto molti fuori e indentro. Mi sono piachuto come questo stadio ha nuova e vecchio poste. Pero, il viaggo e stato divertimente.

A Dominica, io ho dormito tardi perche la notte prima ho parlato e sono uscito molti tardi. Pero, io sono andato con mia amica Allea vedere la festa di Carnivalle a Macerata. Questo festa o parato e stato grande e divertente. Tanto Persone, ragazzi, e bambini che mettesi i costumi per Carnivalle. Fantastico. Io so che ci sono piu grande festi in Italia a Vinezia o a Ascoli ma questo festa e stato grande io penso. Io ho fotografato unpo da questo settimana. Ecco un po. Io desidero si piace e io parlo con voi ancora presto. Ciao Ciao!! Anche, un poco cinema dalla partita!

this is the logo of Ascoli Calcio between the grandstand and the curve

here is another look at that same logo with the main grandstand at the left and the new curve to the right

here is a look inside the stadium, click it and hopefully you can see how all the fans are in the cheap seats

here is a picture showing the new curve and the houses and hills beyond

here is a picture from carnivalle di Macerata, kids were dressed in costumes on floats

these were extremely funny people dressesd up like doctors with little barrels running around picking up spectators and taking them different places with a siren and everything, highly highly amusing and probably inappropriate in america

this was another float, you cant really tell from my images, but this parade was about a kilometer long and circled around this area, so in reality, about a mile long parade

this is the movie from the game, i think you can hear the fans cheering if you turn it up, and also the old italian guys behind me giving constant commentary

in English...

Hey everyone, how you doin? I'm well. Last week was slow, Class was good and I decided where I will go during our school break and for the rest of the weekends this semester. It was difficult because I had to choose the correct trains that could go during the night or travel a short distance during the day. Also, I bought my eurail pass. It cost a lot, but if I didnt buy it I would pay more for every trip I will take.

Last friday, I worked and met my friends at a snack bar near our school. On Saturday night we went to dinner and met a lot of italian people who were awesome. I hope I can see them again soon.

On Saturday afternoon, I went to Ascoli Piceno for a soccer game between Ascoli and Ravenna. The game was ok. Ascoli 4, Ravenna 0. This is why it was only ok, kinda lopsided game. I liked how this stadium had new and old parts however. Nevertheless, this trip was fun.

On Sunday, I slept late because the night before I talked and was out with friends very late. Nevertheless, I went with my friend, Allea, to see the Carnivalle of Macerata (Marti Gra parade). This parade was huge and fun. So many people, kids, and bambies wearing costumes. It was awesome. I thought it was big but I know there are bigger ones in Venice and Ascoli. I took a few photographs and heare are a few. I hope you like them and I will talk with you all again soon. Ciao Ciao! Also here is a video from the game!!

middle of the week

2008-01-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is doing well wherever they are and whatever the weather. The weather today is a little grey and cold, probably because of the disturbing loss last night of Juventus against Inter in the copaitalia. After going down 1-0 they came back 2-1 and then allowed 2 more goals in a losing effort of 3-2. The worst part was that it didn't look like Juventus had the ability to play under control at all. Macerata, as I've noticed, is a fairly Juventus crazed town so many people around are disappointed today.
I am going to San Benedetto and Ascoli this weekend on my own to see some sights as well as a soccer game. Many people are heading to Roma an Venice for Carnivale celebrations. I'm gonna stay local and wait until after break to do a lot of traveling.
But for now everything is well, learning much italian and talking frequently, enjoying spending time with friends of both american and italian origins. I hope to write again soon with pictures from the weekend. Take care!

Venerdi Scorso vicino a Macerata (last friday near Macerata)

2008-01-28T02:57:00.000-08:00

Buon Giorno Tutti. Settimana scorso e stato bene. Ho avuto clase della lingua di Italiano dove sto imparando possato prossimo e imperfetto piu. Esci sono poco difficale ma practico tanto essere buono. Pittura e bene anche. Noi pitturiamo adesso. Una pittura fresca dalla Basillica di San Nicola. In nostra clase di Culturale in tra Italia e America, abbiamo parlato a la differenza a i vestiti, i tempi, le strade e constructione a le citte. Penso que la differenze e morali, perche, le persone della stati uniti gli piace indepenzia mentro le persone della Italia gli piace alti pozitione e amicizia. E stato bene.

Venerdi scorso sono andati a quarto posti vicino a Macerata. Primo, sono andati a San Ginesio, una citta piccolo ma molto bellisima. Ci sono molti constructione antici. Anche, sono andati la Chiesa Collegiata della SS. Annunziata. Questa chiesa e una combinazione de multi tipo de archittectura, gotica, barocha, romanesca. E fantastico. Anche, la citta e vicino a le montagne. Noi abbiamo visto bene in San Ginesio che in Macerata. Ho fotografato tanto tanto. Aqui a poco…

(this is the main church of San Ginesio)

(this is inside that church but not the main space, but the transept)

(this is off a lookout spot at San Ginesio, my class)

(a beautiful shot of the mountains)

(a panorama of the countryside, click it to make it bigger)

(another class photo)

Dopo, sono andati a Abbazia di Chiaravalle di Fiastra. E piccolo piccolo citta dove e questa abbazia. Certo, la abbazia e bella. C’e una chiesa, chiostro e tanto piu. La chiesa e stato interesante perche loro hanno fatto in construczione piu da il construczione originale. Molti interesante. Aqui a poco fotografie….

(this is the cloister of the abbey)

(this is inside the church, it is amazing because its so many different time periods of construction and destruction that you can see the different time periods of architecture)

(a bell tower)

Abbiamo mangato pranza dopo. Ci sono stato pasta, ensalata, carne e una dolce traditionale de Carnivale, no lo so chiama, mi dispiace, ma so che e dappertutto, molte famosa. Quando pranza e finito, sono andati a Castello della Rancia.

Questo Castello e piccolo ma importanti per la regione de Macerata. Ultimo, sono andati a Tolentino. In questa citta e la Basilica di San Nicola. Questa e molto molto famosa chiesa della Italia. C’e una camera solo di pitture fresca. Fantastico. Questa camera (cappellone di San Nicola) dice la viva de San Nicola e suo viaggio durante vita. Aqui e poco fotografie….

(the main bell/clock tower in Tolentino, it has four time pieces on it, the lunar clock (very little at top, the six time clock because time used to be kept in six zone incriments, the current 12/24 hour clock, and the 31 days of the month clock) fascinating huh?)

(inside the church of San Nicola at a transept)

(this is a figure of San Nicola, under it are his ashes, and the frescos around it describe his life)

(a fresco from the same room, San Nicola is on the far right)

(a cool government building with a fountain in front)

Il giorno e stato largo ma mi sono piachuto. Sto fino scrivare. A presto tutti, ciao ciao!

Hey everyone. Last week was good. I had Italian class where I am learning past tense and imperfect more. They are a little difficult but I practice so much to be good. Painting is good too. We are painting now. A fresco painting from the Basilica di San Nicola. In our class of cultures between Italy and America, we talked about the difference in clothes, time, streets and building placements of the cities. I thin the difference is in values or morals, because the people of the states like independence and equality while people of Italy like high status and friendship. It was good.

Last Friday, we went to four places near macerate. First, we went to San Ginesio, a small city but very beautiful. There are many ancient buildings. Also we went to the church of SS. Annuziata. This church is a combination of many types of architecture, gothic, baroque, Romanesque, etc. It’s fantastic. Also, the city is near the mountains. We saw better in San Ginesio than in Macerata. So I took a lot of pictures. Here are some…

After, we went to Chiaravalle Abbey. It’s a little little city where this abbey is located. Of course it was beautiful. There is a church, a cloister, and much much more. The church was interesting because they built more on the original construction. So you can see the places where the building used to be some places and things like that. Very interesting. Here are some photographs…

We ate lunch after. There was pasta, salad, pork chops, lamb and a traditional dessert of Carnivale. I don’t know what it’s called but I know that it is everywhere, very famous. When lunch ended, we went to the Castle of Rancia.

This castle is very small, but important to the region of Macerata. Lastly, we went to Tolentino. This city has the Basilica of San Nicola. This is a very very famous church of Italy. There is a room solely of frescos. Amazing. This room tells the life of this saint and his journey to sainthood, etc through the frescos. Here are some photographs…

The day was long, but I liked it a lot. I’m done writing though, until next time, bye everyone!

Gli Stadi della Italia - Parte 1 (Stadiums of Italy - part 1)

2008-01-21T02:32:00.000-08:00

Here are four stadi I have had a chance to see so far in Italia. I have written a small passage for each giving some visual analysis of what I have observed and some other site analysis. Of course with each entry I will have analytical drawings and sketches that I will include later this week (there is only one scanner I have access to and it is only available for four hours for four days a week and is very popular). Since this is my first entry a lot of feedback and possible further direction would be nice…if possible. Thanks Lohren!

Il Coliseo –

The Roman Coliseum, located in Roma, Italia is nestled into a small and subtle valley between the Roman Forum and the new city of Roma. One of the most major contributions of the Romans, the arch, is apparent everywhere in the Coliseum. Every layer of its structure and levels are arches upon arches turned into vaults and cross vaults, creating a network that provided immense stability for the numerous inhabitants during games. Visually from the exterior, the arches form the façade which terminates abruptly at the top in a linear fashion, matching contextual buildings (besides its large scale). From the second image, it is apparent that despite its large stature, the Coliseum was contextual. If the Coliseum was a few stories less in height, the stadio would not stand out at all from the other constructions.

Inside the Coliseum, the most important aspect (the game) is the obvious focal point. Before the Coliseum became ruins, its height was the same around all sides creating no visual interest at any point inside the stadio besides the field and the seat of the emperor. This conscious effort to focus all eyes on the games would probably make for a more involved crowd, which was definitely the case. From the last image, it is noticeable that the structure creates visual lines towards the center of the Coliseum.

As for access and egress, the stadio uses multiple staircases moving in and out (never around so as not to disrupt the arched structure) at multiple locations for maximum movement of people. There is no main entrance; there is no special attention to any particular façade. The Coliseum was designed to fit within a city context and be accessible from all points like most other Roman constructions.

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Piazza della Vittoria, Il Monumento al Caduti e Il Campo Sportivo Vecchio ( Old Macerata Stadio) –

The Piazza della Vittoria (Victory Plaza) was the main entrance to the old stadio in Macerata. Locally streets and buildings weave around the field in an effort to respect context because of its central location in the city of Macerata. From the second image, it is apparent that neighboring stores and homes are within yards of the stadio, and the monumental steps of Il Monumento al Caduti show the significance of the sport and the stadio to the city. On all sides of the stadio, homes, stores and buildings interact with the field. Inside, the stadio is home to a soccer field and a running track. For a relatively small city like Macerata, space for only one stadio was possible, so to utilize that space, multiple sports were played within the singular stadio of the city. It is also clear from the inside, that the context and surrounding buildings of Macerata is visible, reminding inhabitants of the location.

For Macerata, a larger, canopied seating area is made for the home team in contrast to an uncovered section on the opposite side for an away team. This significance is to promote strength and power against rivals.

Il Monumento al Caduti in Piazza della Vittoria is a series of five statues amongst brick columns (Macerata is called the city of bricks, and almost every church and local palace uses carefully cut bricks to form beautiful columns). At each end of the monument are original gates for entry into the stadio. Above each gate are the words Al Caduti…A la Vittoria (to Caduti to the Victory). For people entering into the Piazza, and especially rival visitors, the strength of Macerata’s sports is represented through five statues of players striking athletic and muscular poses of ancient warriors. Locally, the monument is affectionately named the Jackson 5. Today, the stadio is used for practice and local school teams.

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Stadio Helvia Recina (New Macerata Stadio) –

Macerata’s new stadio was placed further from the city center in an effort to accommodate more fans and more importantly parking for people. Like most contemporary stadi, this stadium is surrounded by parking, and from the nearest street (first image) you can only get a glimpse of the stadium and its tall lights. The main entrance takes people to the visiting stands where a small curving set of stands embraces one sideline. Home fans walk around the stadio upon entering to get to the more linear covered stands (a reference back to the old stadium to show strength and superiority). The view of the exterior from the main entrance is not indicative of a large park or stadio. The highpoint of the stands is less than twenty feet from the exterior ground and storefront type walls house concessions and other facilities. The design of the stadium did not consider context, only history, and more than likely was designed much larger than the original stadium as means to show the city’s growth and strength in sports.

Again, this new stadium houses both a sports field and a running track; the large setting provides for a less intimate fan experience. At the edge of the track, a protective fence is provided for the players to prevent fanatic people from completely disrupting play (Old Macerata Stadio also has this feature). Locals place signs on these fences as means of support along with constant vocal songs to cheer on their team.

The new stadio also has a small seating section for home fans opposite the main stands next to the visitor’s section. This small seating area is on a hill and is cheap in cost for the fans who plan on singing and being the most supportive. The equivalent for most universities in America would be a student cheer section. People of Macerata do love their calcio (even though the city’s main strength in sports is volleyball) and cheer proudly during games, and constantly are seen around the city with local colors and scarfs displaying their pride.

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Stadio Comunale della Civitanova –

Civttanova is a small, fish market town with numerous amounts of tourists because of its great shoe markets. Its history of calcio is minimal and because of it, the city stadium is on the outskirts of the main town. Its location is against the shores of the Adriatic, local apartments and first floor shops. Its large land use resembles the city’s laidback and tropical atmosphere where palm trees are plentiful. The main entrance is marked by a two story façade on the southwest side that is contextual because of its first floor storefront appearance and second floor balcony or mezzanine (indicative of second and third floor balconies for nearby apartments and homes). The roof is a subtle butterfly structure, resembling the waves of the sea. Because of the stadio’s external location in relationship to the city, graffiti consumes most of the façade. On all sides, a brick wall does not permit pedestrians without tickets from viewing into the stadio, but provides a beautiful canvas for casual and unwanted, spray painted messages.

Like many other stadi in Italia, the main stands are for the home team and are covered where the other stands on the opposite side are not. This stadio houses both field sports and a running track to save on precious land space and maximize usage of the stadio. Entrance to each set of stands is only at the ends and at the middle, providing very little means for proper egress and providing a lot of distraction for those patrons who sit closest to the exists (because so many people walk past their line of vision during games)

Socially, the stadio is underutilized and is to far away from most daily exchange of business to be integrated properly.

Sabado a Civittanova

2008-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Sto scrivando questo in inglese perche le molte parole no so in italiano per questo entra. Mi dispiacce.

I’m writing this in English because many of the words I do not know in Italian for this entry. Sorry.

Civittanova is a somewhat small port town on the Adriatic that is the second largest fish port in Italy and the best for quality. 1.3 million kilos of fish go through this port yearly. I am pretty sure that is a lot. Civittanova is also known for its amazing markets and shopping. When we went there were tons and tons of shoe vendors and clothes vendors. I posted a few pictures of the outdoor markets and of a boat for fishing in the Adriatic. We walked around with professor Filiberto and one of his friends who used to be a mayor or something similar to that. We got to see how the fish market works with buyers and sellers and many other things.

This is a fantastic building I saw near of the main piazza in Civittanova. The structure is poured concrete that meets the ground at each end of the site creating arches for the roof. And each arch branches up to meet the arch next to it to create a saw tooth or butterfly effect. I think the coolest thing about this building (which I hope you can all see from the picture) is that those arches that meet the ground also act as the water shedding device for the building. The structure forms channels that carry the water from the top to the ground away from the building (how awesome).

Well the absolute best part of this trip to Civittanova was the lunch Filiberto gave to us. He knows a person who owns this restaurant and gave us an absolutely ridiculous discount for our meal. We paid 10 euro for this whole trip (about 4 euro for the train ride) and this meal alone could easily cost 40-50 euro a person. So if you are ever in Civittanova and are looking for a fantastic dish, go to this restaurant!!!

Try and follow along with these great courses. The first (which I regretfully didn’t take a picture of) was a smoked filleted salmon. It was cut extremely thin, almost like prosciutto is cut, and was drenched in home made olive oil and parsley. It was godly. Next we were given these huge pots with muscles, oysters and clams. By far the most tender and succulent seafood I have ever had. I was told that most of what we ate was less than a day old. After that dish we had seafood gnocchi. Intermixed with the pasta was shrimp and other seafoods that I can’t recall. After that we were given pasta with red sauce and more seafood. Once again, I wasn’t sure what kind of seafood was in the pasta, my best guess is clams or muscles because of the texture and size of the pieces. And by this point, we’ve had four different dishes and we’re all pretty much stuffed to the max, but the main dish hasn’t even arrived until now. The restaurant then brought out fried seafood, mostly minos, sardines, calamari, octopus, shrimp and scallops. They were unbelievable. We were completely spoiled. Next we got kebabs with slightly breaded and fried shrimp and scallops. They then gave us a side of French fries as a palate cleanser and finished us off with lemon ice sourbet and espressos. Imagine having plate on plate of each one of those dishes brought out to you. Everything was served family style so it isn’t like we each got our own small serving. The restaurant brought seconds and thirds of each course every time and someone had to eat it. It was amazing. I wish you all could experience it. Also at one point during dinner, the light coming through the clerestory created phenomenal lighting and we all went crazy taking pictures of the dishes and each other because it was such beautiful light, so I added a final picture to show you how beautiful the table was.

Well until next time, take care!

Venerdi a Macerata

2008-01-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

A Venerdi, I miei amici e io siamo andate con il professor Filiberto vedere molto piu a Macerata. Il giorno comincia con un viaggio a una chiesa famosa e un bibliotecca. A la bibliotecca veniamo i libri tanto che sono molti vecchi. Un po sono piu cinquecento anni vecchi. Tutti Libri hanno colore tanto e sono bellisimi. Dopo andiamo a il torre orologio che e communale (tutti possono usare). Io fotografio tanto a la sopra (vedi fotografi). A la sopra, puoi vedere tutto. E benisimo. Quando posso, io designo a mio libro ricordare mio viaggio. Dopo pranza, andiamo a la chiese largo de Macerata. Penso chiama San Giuliano (la chiesa nella fotograpfia e questa). Ma, quando io arrivo mia macchina fotografia more. Anche, noi andiamo a il Sferisterio e il Teatro L’Rossi. Sono posti fantastico vedere concerti e teatre. Poveroti ha cantata a il Speristerio a Macerata molto anni prima adesso.

Macerata chiama “la citta delli mattoni”. A mia fotografia ultimo c’e una column dalla mattoni. Sono molto molto bellisima. Ogni Mattone e taglia mano e meta nella posto. Mi piacce la architettura della Macerata.

Friday at Macerata, my friends and I went with professor Filiberto to see much more of Macerata. The day starts with a trip to a famous church and a library. At the library we see many many books that are so old. A few of the books are over five hundred years old. All have so much color and are beautiful for being that old. After we go to the clock tower that is public. I take lots of photographs (see the pictures). At the top you can see everything, it’s amazing. When I can, I draw in my book to remember my trip. After lunch, we go to the biggest church in macerate. I think it is called San Giuliano (It is the church in the photograph). But when I arrived my camera died (batteries). Also, we go to the Sferisterio and the Rossi Theater. They are fantastic places to see concerts and shows. Poveroti sang at the Sferisterio here many years ago when he was young.

Macerata is called “the city of bricks” In my last photograph, there is a column of bricks. The columns are so beautiful. Every brick is hand cut and put into place. I love the architecture of Macerata. It is absolutely amazing to see some of the constructions and design details of this place.

16.gen

2008-01-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

hey guys, no italian today, just a short update...

Professor Deeg: I'll have some stuff posted by the end of this weekend (check monday morning) of two stadiums here in macerata and the colliseum. Feedback when I post will of course be greatly appreciated.

Painting class is going really well, and I have cross-cultures for the first time tonight.

Other than that, the lady whom I'm staying with is so fun. Last night her daughter, grand daughter and son in law came over since it was his birthday and we had dinner and talked and everything. Great time!.

Also, don't be timid to post a comment and say hi or email me, I appreciate knowing someone is reading this page, lol. Love all you guys, and I'll write again soon.

fotografia!!! benisimo!!!

2008-01-15T04:28:00.000-08:00

buon giorno tutti! sono a una bibliotecha dove po meto le miei fotografia a mio computer. giornata, ho mia prima clase in la lingua de italiana. ci sono cinque studenti nella mia clase ma una studenta no molti intelligente con la lingua e io penso que la professoressa cambia sua clasa...dopo...quatro studenti. io imprero molto parole nuova per mi oggi e ho bisognio di imprerare le parole volece.

ieri, mia clase de pittura e fantastico. ache ci sono quatro studenti in la clase de pittura. la professoressa e molto artistico e diverti. mi piacche. anche, io ho una esame ieri vedere que clase io entrata. io conosco adesso que io ho la clase intermediato (grazie professoro mcgrath, mio italiano e cosi cosi, ma no ho bisogno cominciare a la clasa prima).

macerata e una citta molte bella e benisimo. mi piacche molto. adesso per le fotografia!!

questo e il colliseo, certo.

this is a photomerg of the interior, so amazing

and this is a photomerg of the exterior, as you can see two layers on one part of the colliseo have been removed (by war i think)

and this is a sunset image i thought was fun
questo e il vaticano dove io vedo il papa!

this is a picture of st. peters in the wet weather but still amazing

this is inside and the pope is there but very very small, lol

and this is me at the vatican (i am looking at st. peters with the campagnello(sp...st. peters square) behind me
questo e una piazza e il pantheon

here is a piazza in roma

here is the pantheon which is soooo cool and ornate

e ci sono macerata. benisimo!

here is a view of the mountains on my way to school in the morning, the weather wasnt great and the view is still amazing. if you can see as the apartments decend to the right, i am staying in the one farthers to the right

here is a view from the same place (on a different day) looking in the exact opposite direction of the gorgeous centro (downtown) where the city is fortified and much older

and here is a view from aha (out of a window) on the gorgeous mountains)

alora, io scrivo molto giornato. adesso io ho bisogno di cambiare le parole nella inglese, ciao ciao miei amori!

hey everyone, i am in the library where i can put my photos on the computer. today, i had my first class in italian. there are five students in the class but one student is not very good with it so i think the professor will move her class, and then there would be four students. i learned many new words today and i need to practice them quickly.

yesterday, my painting class was amazing, also there are four students in there. the professor is a great arstist and very funny (shes a very artsy teacher too). i like. also i had an exam yesterday to see what class i would enter. io know now that i am in the intermediate class (thanks professor mcgrath, mi italian is good enough to where i don't need to enter the beginning class and i can use what i know to continue my education).

macerata is such a beautiful and great city, i love it and now for photographs (english translation above)

well i've wrote a lot today, and i still need to change my words into english, bye everyone!

a Macerata

2008-01-11T02:29:00.000-08:00

Buon giorno tutti! Io sono a Macerata adesso, per tre messi mas. Macerata e un citta bella con molte historia e architectura benisimo. Mi piache molti. Per tre giorno, gli studenti di i stati uniti e io abbiamo orientatione, ma e finitio adesso.
A giorno, a tre ore, io vado a la casa della mia familia italiano. la familia e una signora e un cane, ma la signora ha una figlia chi ha una figlia anche. la figlia e una nipote no abitano con la signora ma vanno a la casa molti.
Notte ieri e la notte prima ieri, gli stuenti e io andiamo a due ristorante magnifico. notte ieri abbiamo il pane, pasta, tuccino e vino rosso chiama pecano. vino pecano e un vino locale a la regino marche. c'e molti difficile dare pecano nelle stati uniti perche e locale. cena e bene. (mi dispiace per parlo nella tempo progresivo, no lo so tempo contra.) a la notte prima ieri andiamo e un ristorante FANTASTICO. un ristorante della familia molti simpatico, c'e molti piccolo ma molti bene. a la cena abbiamo fato a mano pane e pasta. la signora della ristorante a la mattina fato a mano la pasta...mmmmmmm, fantastico. dopo, abbiamo pork e pollo. il pane con olio e il olio fato a casa anche. il olio e bene bene bene bene volta un milli. e DOPO insalata e ...un pane torta? io penso c'e chiama. il vino rosso abbiamo chiama lagrima...molte bene, molti dolce.
alhora, scrivo molti a giorno, io finito per adesso. a presto, ciao ciao i miei amori!

hello everyone. I am in macerata now, for three months. macerata is a gorgeous city with lots of history and amazing architecture. I like a lot. For three days the students from the states and I have orientation, but it is finished now.
Today, at three, I go to the house of my italian family. The family is a lady and a dog, but the lady has a daughter who has a daughter as well. The daughter and the grand daughter do not stay with the lady but go to the house alot.
Yesterday night and the night before yesterday. The students and I go to two terrific restaurants. Last night we have bread, pasta, turkey and red wine called pecano. Pecano wine is a local wine of the region Marche. It is very difficult to find the wine in the states because it is local. Dinner is good. (I'm sorry for talking in prestent tense. I dont know other tenses) At the night before yesterday, we go to a FANTASTIC restaurnt. A restaurant of a very nice family, it is very small, but very good. At dinner we have hand made bread and pasta. The lady of the restaurant in the morning hand makes the pasta, fantastic. After we have pork and chicken. The bread was with olive oil and the oil was home made also. The oil was so so good. And after, salad and pound cake. The wine was called lagrima, very good and sweet.
well i write alot. I am finished for now. Until soon, bye bye my loves.

macerata

2008-01-10T09:42:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the short post. I am trying to get settled into Macerata. The orientation is a few days long and I still haven't moved into my permanent residence yet. I will post again soon with a more descriptive update of my last few days including some pictures if I'm lucky and other things. Take care everyone, a presto, ciao ciao

last day in rome

2008-01-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

so today i walked around the colliseo and the foro roma (forum). the ruins are absolutely remarkable. there are so many pieces that you try and make sense of, trying to figure out what they could have been or are. and the scale of some of the ruins are just amazing. it really would be a great thing to see in whole, unfortunately.
the colliseo was great. the people in roma are trying to recreate a few areas inside to replicate what it actually would ahe been like without the erosioin and attacks. its nice to see, and im glad they are only doing it on a very very small section because seeing the ruins is very impacting. other than that, we walked around alot today and thats about it. we have to catch a train early tomorrow morning to get to macerata. so hopefully then i wont have to pay for internet anymore and well see what other good things that city brings.
a presto, ciao bene

friends arrived

2008-01-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

so last night was a lot of fun, i went to a restaurant with eduardo and nick and had canelloni and lots of wine...made this morning not so fun, i waited at the termini for like 3.5 hours waiting for my friends to get there and they got there and somehow managed to walk around me so i never knew they were there, so i walked back to the hostel and they were walking in the opposite direction and i saw them coincidentally, but when they got here we walked to the parthenon and just around roma, then this evening we went to the spanish steps, very magnifico, and i had amazing amazing amazing lasagna for dinner, i loved it. but tomorrow im going to go to the coliseum so i can go inside and hopefully the spanish steps again when its bright out. i hope everyone back home is well, i miss you guys.

professor deeg: i will be doing my first documentation of the coliseum soon, i hope to have it posted within about two weeks? when i get to macerata i will have better and free internet access, hope that works, and hopefully ill see some other stadi on the way.

a presto, ciao bene

il giorno segundo del mio viaggo

2008-01-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

buon giorno tutti, a giorno io cammino a la basilica de san pietro. la basillica e bennisimo e molte bellisima. cammino per due ore arrivare alla basillica. entro nella basillica quando il papa parla.....si...io vedo il papa!! vado attraverso la basillica e prendo molti fotografi all'interna. dopo visito san pietro, vado a la piazza navona. ecco molti persona nella di piazza a giorno. amo verdere tanta gente. le vie hanno tanta gente e e magnifico. anche io vado alla pantheon. mi levo in piedi sotto il oculus. e cosi fantastico! d'accordo, io scrivo molti per a giorno, a presto, ciao ciao tutti, buona notte!

il mio prima giorno alla roma

2008-01-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

ciao i mia amori! io sono nella citta bella, roma! come state? sto abastanza bene, io mango bene, ma la mia luggage was lost allo aeroporto so il mio giorno no fantastico. abito nella hostel montestella a via palestro oest di statzione termini. tutto e ovest a mi. io cammino a la saint peters domani. io desidero parlare italiano bene. ho imprero molti.

i know my writing isnt great, but i am trying to endulge myself in the language as much as possible. it is a little hard because i am staying with a few people in my hostel who donàt speak italian, only english and their native language. so when i walk around roma i try to say hello and ask peolpe questions like what time is it or where am i so i can listen to the language more.

ma a presto! ciao i ragazzi. io scrivo...soon lol

la notte prima io vado

2008-01-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

As most of you know who read this, I'm spending the final semester of my undergraduate career abroad in Italia. Tomorrow morning I make my way to Chicago where I'll be catching a plane on Thursday to fly to Milan and then onto Rome. Just wanted to say hi to everyone and thanks for being in my life, I can't wait to start this semester and hopefully share alot of my experience with you guys.

I'l be trying to update on here regularly with pictures and notes. I will also have work from my independent study being posted for one of my professors to critique.

So have a good one and the next time I post on here I'll be in Italia! Ciao bene!

Capstone Fourth Year Project

2007-12-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

This year was a great opportunity for me to showcase all that I've learned through my undergraduate career at Ball State University. This project was done in Brian Hollars studio and is a reuse/redevelopment of the existing Star Press Building in downtown Muncie that is soon to be torn down...

The project uses the existing structure to house commercial tenant spaces on the first floor and house office spaces on the second floor. I placed a typical storefront facade between the structure that is covered by awnings that have frosted glass, creating diffuse light on the ground level. The second floor is treated differently at each facade. East and west facades have a perforated metal louver system on the exterior of the skin that is suspended from the existing structure. This system allows office users inside to manipulate the louvers in response to the low east and west sun angles. At night this perforated skin will glow and provide privacy for the users inside. The south facade uses the same awnings from the first floor but places photovoltaic arrays in the awning to shade the facade and produce energy.

The residential tower rises from the existing building at an angle in response to solar gain on the west facade that uses a double skin to passively ventilate and heat the building. The tower reaches over the south edge of the existing building to announce an entry point and its new high tech capacities.

The complex also features two plazas that replace two previous existing, masonry, load bearing buildings.

Feel free to make any comments, always welcomed.

parto alla Italia nella 3 Jan 08. In Italia ho il tre mese imparare e mangiare il cibe bene. !