Engineering Rome. End of week 1...and a half.

So, to fill you in...I am in Rome with 17 UW students teaching a study abroad class called "Engineering Rome". We meet most days at the UW Rome Center (in Palazzo Pio, next to Campo dei Fiori) and often go out on various tours or expeditions as part of the class. The whole class is 3 weeks long, and I'm staying for a bit longer (had to arrive a couple of days early and am staying a day later). I miss my family lots and it's tough to be here as Hadden starts first grade in Seattle. I hear the teacher is great (Harvey and Dexter had her last year and give good reviews), and Hadden has declared himself "ready" for first grade. More than I would have done at 6.

Course highlights to date
We've done a lot in the first 1.5 weeks. As we close in on the half-way point we've done:

• 6 hours of Italian lessons (dove el bagno)
• Several group dinners: Ai Bozzi (excellent), Spaghetteria L'Archetto (okay), and Da Pancrazio (good).
• Sustainable Rome lesson and walk through the neighborhoods.
• Biking the ancient Appian Way (ate a fig from a tree on this one...wasn't totally ripe)
• Saw an Italian Series A game (AS Rome beat Hellas Verona 3-0). Had to kick a bunch of Romans out of our seats. Didn't know a single AS Roma chant but enjoyed them nonetheless. When they are flipping their middle finger at the other fans while singing you get the general gist of the song.
• Toured San Clemente with a world expert - very cool as we descended from old church, to really old church, to Roman house, to (perhaps) old Roman mint. I learned tons on this tour.
• Learned about structures and used Roman arches as examples (and homework).
• Toured the Baths of Caracalla at dusk. Really great time to go. Golden god light and few people.
• Took a cooking class at Coquis. All 18 students and I had our own cooking stations. We made fiori di zucca in pastella (zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies the dipped in a beer batter and fried) and saltimbocca alla romana (veal pounded flat with sage on top and the a slice of prosciutto, fried in a butter wine sauce then drizzled with a butter-wine sauce). Of course we at the stuff too.
• Toured the Colosseum on a special group tour where we got to go down below and see the "underground" part as well as the normally off-limits 3rd level. Fabulous views. We did this at the end of the day so the light was amazing.
• Saw the usual Foro Romano and Palatine Hill stuff. Again, at the end of the day in the god light.

And that's just 8 days worth. More on the way. Some pictures...

Sustainable Rome city walk with Tom Rankin
Tom's an architect from the U.S. that has been in Rome for 20 years + now. He knows the city and he's passionate about sustainability. He took us on a 1.5 hour walk around Rome pointing out sustainable (and not-so-sustainable) features.

Tom Ranking talks to the class in the Campo dei Fiori area.

The class leans a time honored Roman tradition: jay-walking. Don't worry, it's common practice in Rome or you never get anywhere. Here the class navigates a particularly difficult jay-walk near the Ponte Palatino with aplomb. Hustle!

Touring Santa Maria in Cosmedin (the church with the Bocca della Verita) introduces the women to the Catholic concept of modesty in the church. The old Italian in the blue shirt (background) insists the gals dress in the white "scarfs" to cover their shoulders and legs. They are a bit nervous at getting yelled at but Tom assures us such admonishment is part of the Roman experience. Check.



Tom ends the walk on an abandoned lot in Testaccio and then leaves us to find our way home. Not a problem. This is Monte Testaccio - a hill created by the Romans from broken olive oil pots. These were the only ones they couldn't reuse or recycle. So they made a REALLY BIG pile. Now it's a legitimate hill and there are clubs all around it. Why not?

 Other features

The group biking the Appian Way. They discover that while Roman roads tend to last a very long time they are not kind to bikers (VERY bumpy). We bike all the way out to the Ciampino airport and back. No injuries and only one minor crash.

The biking crew: me, Ashley Thompson, Ai-Vy Nguyen, Kris Low, Nick Jacoby, Anton Cwik.

My apartment in the Rome center. I made my bed special for this pic. Did not put away the stuff on the table, though. Or the chair, Or the suitcase on the floor.

A section of the marble floor in San Clemente church. Our guide, Albert Prieto, explained the typical way churches got such wonderful marble floors: they pieced together the leftovers from the Romans. These are pieces of old Roman floors and tiles.

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This is pretty much how we get everywhere in Rome. A big 19-peson long snake. Usually I am at the head directing (I only get lost sometimes). Everyone is in good spirits. Even when it's quite hot. That's Adriano in the blue/red shirt from Roma Sotterranea (Rome Underground) - a volunteer organization that has been WONDERFUL to us in sharing their time and resources to help us learn.

Dinner at Da Pancrazio. This is a restaurant in the same building as the Rome Center. In the basement (where we are in the photo - these are the guys in the class) you are actually in the remains of the ancient Theater of Pompey. On this theater's steps is where Gaius Julius Caesar was killed. We had typical Roman food and REALLY cheap wine instead.

Amy Riley lends scale to the immense Baths of Caracalla. Always one of my favorites. Especially at this time of day - just before dusk. We closed the place down at 7pm when they whistled us out. Guy comes around blowing a referee whistle announcing closing (in Italian of course).  

The pine trees at the Baths of Caracalla. I think these trees always remind me of Rome.

Learning about local Roman produce at the local market from chef Ricardo Zanni of the Coquis Italian cooking school. Later we got to taste everything - even the weird stuff (like Indian figs, which are not really figs at all).

Fichi! It is fichi season RIGHT NOW in Rome for this kind. Tasty!

Anton carefully makes saltibocca alla Romana.

The chef, Ricardo, was a fun guy. At the end he gave out "diplomas" with each student's name. He was game to call out the names out loud. He did okay, even through Ai-Vy Nguyen, until he got to Yasaman Shariatmadari, which made him fall apart. That's Yasi laughing WITH Ricardo.

The cooking class graduates. Only had 3 fires (no kidding) during the lesson. No injuries.

Our guide on the colosseum tour (I think it was Victoria) explains why the Colosseum has all these pock marks on the travertine. Turns out the Romans used metal clamps on their interior to hold one block to the next. In the middle ages they figures this out and dug most of the metal out. So what stands now stands without the clamps. Amazing.

Class photo on the exclusive third level.

The Coloseo looming large at dusk. Untouched photo. And it doesn't do it justice.

This Roman temple (in the Forum) was converted into a church by just building the church inside. Why not. Kind of like a Thai food place inside an old gas station. Hermit crabbing at its historical best here.

Saying "bye" to the Foro Romano. they buzzed everyone out at 7pm.

Some of the class looking back on the Forum as it is closed for the day.

All in all, the class is busy but good. In retrospect I probably should have scheduled some more down time for the students (to rest and do homework) but I'm not sure they would have taken it - it seems every free minute they are planning a trip or outing somewhere (Vatican, beach, Pompeii, etc.). It's like they are playing "tag" with Roman monuments and cities. Get there, touch the city, get on your way. They are also admirably sampling a whole bunch of gelato places - most of them high quality organic, locally sourced ingredients types.

Old Haunts

Photographic evidence of the old haunts from yesterday:

16 Via dei Cimatori. The same. As I said yesterday, no dog poop.

The playground at Castel Sant'Angelo. The same.

Castel Sant'Angelo. Same.

Gelateria Teatro. Not the same. New digs, more space. Still great gelato.



Today, I went around town to check on some more old haunts. The Pantheon is still there (it has not mysteriously been replaced by an inflatable replica like in Despicable Me). Piazza Navona is still there (ditto), Trevi Fountain is still there, the column of Marcus Aurilius is still there, and Teatro Marcello is still there (ditto all). There are MORE all-natural, organic gelato places around town now than in 2011. I suppose that's a good thing.

Also, the primary mission of every Roman person seems to be to avoid giving coins as change. They REALLY don't want to. I ordered lunch today at Pizza Zaza. It was 7 Euros. I paid with a 10 Euro note. The counter attendant REALLY wanted me to cough up a 2 Euro coin so she could give me a 5 Euro note in change. What do they do with all the change they are accumulating? While shopping in a mini supermarket (I know) I got away with one. I bought my stuff from a trainee cashier (I saw them training him while standing in line) and he gave me coins as change without even trying to shake me down for coins. And it would have been totally easy for me to do...the bill was 16.45 Euros. So here's the quiz: if this was your bill what should you given the cashier?  If you answered "anything over that amount...like a 20, you'd be wrong in Rome." You should give the cashier 21.45 Euros so you can get back 5 Euros. I suppose something like 51.45 would be okay too.

All for today,

Steve

Ciao from Roma,

It's been well over a year since the last blog post. That's the way it gets I suppose. I like to think my life is so full of wonderful things that writing about them rarely makes it high enough on the to-do list.

Anyway, I am back in Rome (just me, no other Muench folks) to teach 2013 Engineering Rome (http://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com). if you're not in the know, it's a 3-week study abroad class from the UW with 17 students, myself and a teaching assistant.

Today is the first day in Rome for me and it was a bit surreal. Many things had not changed at all since we were all in Rome in October/November 2011. I suppose I should expect that since there are lots of things here that were here 2,000 years ago. What's another 2? However, there are many things that have changed. I took a very brief tour around the Campus Maritius area (Campo del Fiori, Piazza Navona, etc.) and noted the following:

• Campo dei Fiori: just as I (we) had left it.
• Piazza Navona: even MORE tacky paintings for sale at night. Also, no people there dressed as the statue of liberty, death, or something else just standing there hoping you will throw them a Euro. Perhaps in some strange series of events it's outlawed?
• Castel Sant'Angelo: same...including the playground below in what used to be the moat. Fond memories of that playground. It's kind of a dump of a playground but by Roman standards it's quite good...and far away from traffic! The cheap carrossel. is still there.
• Gelateria de Teatro: our favorite gelato off the beaten path last time. Well, now it's blown. Definitely on the path. They've moved the store out to the main street, added seating inside and now have about 6 tables outside with 12-15 chairs. I went by at about 4:30 p.m. and there were over 20 tourists there. Totally blown. On the up side, gelato is still great. Had a rosemary, honey, and lemon gelato.
• Tratorria "Da Tonino". Went there for dinner tonight. Not as good as I remember. Prices are still very low (8 Euros for pasta primi piatti) but seems to have been converted into a clone of the tourist restaurants down the road. Disappointing. Also, life is too short to drink house wine in the tourist district.
• 116: still operating.
• 16 Via Cimatori: saw the door. That's it. Still there. No dog poop.
• Bar Giulia: still there and functioning.
• Guys selling those splat toys at all major tourist attraction: still going strong. W

Where DID the summer go? (written in 2012 but only posted in August 2013)

 

Howdy,

All of a sudden it's the middle of September and the summer has come and gone. When you skip 3 months in a blog your next one (this post) will naturally cover a lot. So down to business...

Summer was busy in a great way for everyone. After we got home from Hawaii we all took a bit of a breather but we got busy soon enough. The follow are brief descriptions of some summer events in no particular order. Note that for about 6 weeks, the Fenner folks were in town.

Clara Turns 3!
Like clockwork, Clara had another birthday on June 17th. It seems to happen every year. She is growing up at exactly the same pace as everyone else in the world but it just SEEMS fast. Clara is fully integrated into the Pre 2 class (nickname: Barn Owls) at the UWCCLV preschool. Usually she tells me "I wanna stay some more..." when show up to pick her up. I suppose that's a good sign.

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Water fun at South Lake Union
The temperature hit 90F a couple of times this summer. On two occasions we made it over to South Lake Union Park with its super cool water feature. Added bonus: Serious Pie, a fabulous pizza restaurant is just up the street. We ordered take-out pizza both times. Once we were there with the Fenner crew and once solo.

Olympic Torch
At preschool this summer (during the Olympics) each kid got to take home the Olympic "torch" for a night. The idea was to photograph it with the child and family. Clara got to go first and we had to stop at Whole Foods on the way home. She insisted on bringing the torch into the store and carried it around like it really was the Olympic torch. Got lots of comments.

 

 

 

 

Take me out to the ball game

Got to take Hadden out to a ball game this summer - just the boys. It was Mariners-Angels and the Mariners came in second in the game. Hadden declared the game a wild success largely because of what's in the picture below - PURE SUGAR.

 



Schmitz Preserve
Went hiking in Schmitz Preserve in West Seattle a couple of times (once with Fenners). Great place to hike, play in a stream, get wet and dirty and scream. Oh, also we got eaten by a giant alligator. Who knew.

 

Bunk bed
Finally got rid of the kids' toddler beds. They were getting way too small...for me to get in and read a story without getting out with a sore back. So, we got rid of the $200 toddler beds and upgraded to something roughly 10x as much...but rather luxurious. Clara gets the larger bottom bunk and Hadden has the top bunk. Great place for stories.

Independence Day
For the second year running, went to Nonna's house for the 4th to see the fabulous Bainbridge Island parade with it's tons and tons of candy tossed at the spectators. This parade has the most free candy of any parade I have seen. By the end the kids weren't even picking it up off the street.

 

 

 

 

Air Show

We (and the Fenner folks) made it down to the JBLM (Joint Base Lewis McChord) every-other-year air show. We TRIED on Saturday but the traffic jam to get in was literally miles long extending back into Tacoma. We bailed out and went to the Tacoma Zoo. Also a rousing success. On Sunday the weather was not as nice (and, I suspect, everyone in Western Washington had already gone on Saturday) and we sailed right in. Toured bunches of military vehicles (a few shown here) and saw several flight shows including a B-1B flyover that was LOUD (and, therefore, cool). Kids really enjoyed "shooting" the weapons. Not sure if I like that but so be it. Clara asked, "Where do I look?" with he automatic rifle.

 

That's us inside a shark mouth at the Tacoma Zoo.
This is as close to a sane picture of our family that one can expect.



 

 

 

 

 



Bumble Bee visits Seattle
One Saturday, Hadden and Cole got their very own overnight at Nonna's with nobody else (everyone else was in Seattle). Nonna, of course, was there too. They chose to sleep in Nonna's walk-in closet (where Cole had been sleeping for weeks) and loved it. Hadden mostly packed for this trip himself. Thus, he was able to fit in a Transformers Bumble Bee costume in lieu of his actual clothes. We met the boys and Nonna the next morning for a ride on the new Ferris Wheel on the Seattle waterfront. Did not expect them to be dressed as Bumble Bee (Hadden) and a fire fighter (Cole). Nonna was dressed, as near as we can tell, normally.

 

Berry Picking

Went berry picking three times, That's pretty good for this family over the past several years. Below is Hadden picking blueberries in Carnation (the Remlinger Farms blueberry area behind Harvold Farms). Both kids did well this year and were a net positive on each trip (they picked more than they ate or otherwise destroyed). The first time with Auntie Leslie and Cole and Madeline, it was about 90F and the troop wilted after about 45 minutes.

 



Hadden Graduates from Preschool
After about 1.7 years of preschool, Hadden was finally done. He officially graduated in June but kept on attending until about the end of August. Pictures below from his last day at UWCCLV. Great school and loving teachers. Going to miss his friends there but still gets to see them from time to time.

Cap and gown (well, just cap) with Mats

 

Teacher Rebecca

Teacher Kendra

Teacher Joclyn

 

All of that and it only gets us to late August. Coming up next...Crescent Bar, LA and LEGOLAND, and Kindergarten!

TTFN,

Steve