So this weekend I went on the school organized World War II trip. It was one of the trips we could sign up for in the beginning of the year, and it was pretty cheap because it was subsidized by the professor that runs it because he loves it so much. So for 30 Euro we did awesome stuff on Friday and Saturday. Friday, we went out to the country a little to this museum called Piana Delle Orme where a farmer would collect the old war artifacts he would find in the countryside fields the years after the war. Well, the collection got massive, and so it became an awesome museum. It was just like rows of warehouses with the collections organized into eras and battles. There were recreations of what it looked like animated with sight and sound and such. It reminded me of when I used to love the Oregon Trail period and the covered wagons. My mom and I visited a bunch of museums in Arizona and other places that recreated these scenes and I loved it. It was kind of cheesy like that, but that in no way was a bad thing. All the tanks and guns and stuff was real, but they would like make people figures and paint the scenes on the wall and add in nature things to complement the diorama. It was really interesting, and the artifacts were really cool, and I learned a ton about the goings on of WWII in Italy. There were also a few of these warehouses filled with non-war things: farming equipment from the time, kids toys from the time. Walking into the toy exhibit was just an explosion of happiness, sans the creepy Italian fascist toys.
Afterwards we went to an American cemetery. Theres 15 American cemeteries outside the country, and it was a pretty cool spot to visit. Very well kept up, very interesting shrines, and very respectful atmosphere. It was nice to wander around there for a little while after learning just how the Americans were used within Italy during the war and knowing the reasons they died, tactical and sentimental.
Last on Friday, we visited Anzio Port, where the Americans landed when coming into Italy. It was totally destroyed back then, so now its modern and built up just like any other port, but I got to hang on the rocks for a while and catch a quick snooze. We finished there and went to dinner at a fantastic wine bar - cous-cous (the food so nice they named it twice) with veggies, potato and arthichoke ravioli with lamb on top (first time I had lamb, great), roast beef with wild arugula and balsamic (why is lettuce so popular? It has no flavor compared to the pretty exotic arugula flavor which is awesome), and dense chocolate cake.
On Saturday, we started at Fosse Ardeatine. Here, 335 Jews were massacred. They were led into a cave and shot one by one as the pile kept building up. Later, it was discovered with the help of some witnesses, and the man who led it was brought to trial because he only had permission to kill 320. At the memorial, you can see the cave as it used to exist and all the graves they made for the people, some young as 14. I really enjoy (wrong word) WWII Jewish history, maybe because its so repulsive and hard to believe. But it was odd to see the graves of over 300 innocent people, I cant imagine what its going to be like when I visit Auschwitz in May.
Next we visited the Museum of the Liberation that had old artifacts and stuff from the war dating to the time when the Germans were forced out. And after that we visited the road where Italian teenagers formed a surprise attack on the marching German fleet. 32 German soldiers died, and it was ordered that 10 Italians would be killed for every soldier. Fosse Ardeatine was the response to this attack, thats where that number came from, so the extra 15 were just random killings for no reason. Not that it was justified in the first place, but it went beyond following orders, thats why he was convicted in court. The buildings around the area of the attack still had shrapnel and bullet holes.
Our tour guides were awesome, two professors flown in from America that lead this trip every year. They helped alot with laying out for us what it would have looked like at that time. Like on the road of the sneak attack, it was just a normal road but it was easy to imagine how it was all planned out and how it happened after they ran through it all in detail. Afterwards we had lunch at a spot that has 100 different sauce combinations for their spaghetti. Imagine me trying to decide between all those. I did not have nearly enough time to deliberate and thus had to choose without being at all certain, and I ended up with artichokes in a creamy tomato sauce over spaghetti. It was awesome. In addition to the wine and appetizers we got, it was another great meal. However, I would have liked to systematically write down my top 20 choices and then slowly wittle down the list by imagining myself eating each kind to ensure I got the best choice.....
The trip in whole was fantastic, especially for how cheap it was. The two meals itself were worth that much, plus bus transportation everywhere, plus tour guides, and entrance fees everywhere. Learned alot of interesting things - it was a nice little thing to do on one of the last weekends here.
On Sunday, I went to a Roma futbol game. IT WAS WILD! It wasnt a big game at all so it was easy to get tickets but it ended being sold out anyway. The fans are as crazy as I expected and more. Firstly, its European soccer which is like our football times ten. Secondly, its crazy Italians. It was singing songs, overreacting to calls, and joyous celebration when a goal was scored all game long. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. They have one more home game while we are here, but its Roma vs. Lazio (Lazio is to Italy what a state is to the US, so like Buffalo vs New York). Only Italian citizens are allowed to buy tickets because it can get so dangerous at the stadium. Isnt that crazy?!! Still gonna see if I can get a ticket somehow, but either way I'm really happy I was able to see a game.
So once again, you're all up to date on whats been going on over here. I'm happy I've had a few down weekends recently and until I leave for the end of the semester trip. Traveling got a little old for me. And I realize thats why I was feeling in a little bit of a funk lately and not on that high anymore. Its obviously so much fun, but the last thing it is is relaxing. After trying to plan endless weekend trips on an extremely tight budget and all weekends hoping to make it through under that budget, it gets pretty stressful and exhausting. Its nice to just hang out around here, take day trips places, enjoy life and exist in Rome. I'm happy that I feel centered again and will be rested up for the end. I'm going to Tuscany this weekend, another school trip. Its all weekend but its 100% planned and paid for and it'll be extremely relaxing in the Tuscan hillsides. I'll update on that trip next week! Wine, olive oil, and goat cheese all weekend long....
Hope everyone is getting excited for summer! And I'll close out with some pictures...
One of my absolute favorites - Eating a fresh bread/salami/pecorino sandwich while watching the sunset over the Mediterranean from a terrace in Cinque Terre
The second of five towns - theyre really just small towns laid out on the coast that you hike between
Fast motorcyceeee for Alex in the toy museum at Piana Delle Orme
The American cemetery, about 1/8 of it
You should've swiped that motorcycee for Big Al...he doesn't have one yet and would've loved it!
ReplyDeleteMan I love foods named twice! Betcha you are still craving some bbq slobbered sushi even though you are getting some good eats out there. Your travels and experiences are putting mine to shame! Keep it up. And quit bashing iceberg lettuce...you should like iceberg cause it's cheap like you...
ReplyDelete