First day of language school today which meant an early start. At 8am I was crossing the Tiber at the Ponte Sisto bridge and it was cold - so cold my breath was coming out in opaque wisps. Despite this, the sky was again clear and sunny. I had to stop on the bridge and look out towards St Peter's to remind myself that I 'm actually here in Rome, living and studying in this wonderful city.
It's a very pleasant and picturesque walk to school, crossing first the Ponte Sisto, then travelling up the Via Guilia, skirting past the back of the Farnese Palace, turning again at the Via Banchi Vecchi and crossing the Corso Vittorio Emanuele to the Piazza Orologio. In all, it takes just over 15 minutes from my front door in Trastevere to the school, which is near the Piazza Navona.
The language school (up above here) is housed in an old palazzo that dominates this tiny square. At 8.30am, there were two dozen or so people waiting for the school to open and there was a small stampede when the doors finally were unlocked and we were allowed in to the tiny foyer. Partly this was due to the heating therein.
By 8.55 I was allotted my four page test and given 15 minutes to complete it. Yikes! After very quickly answering the front page questions in italian, (Where are you from? Why are you studying here? How did you know about us? How long will you be in Rome?) I got stuck into answering various multiple choice questions on grammar. I then had a five minute conversation with a language teacher, again all in italian and was sent out, along with my fellow students to await the result. After about an hour, I found myself graded to fourth level of a potential 12 levels, which means by the time I leave the school I should be relatively fluent.
For now, I am studying with one canadian girl, one puerto rican teenager, one spaniard twenty-something, one nederlander and one korean priest. I am the oldest by far. Four of the students are continuing on from last year, with Maud from Holland and myself the new students. Our teacher is a zany italian who communicates by a series of mime, whistles and rapid fire italian. It should be an entertaining few weeks.
We began with some conversation today, then switched to my least favourite grammar topic - prepositions. I managed to understand and be understood. It's a comfortable pace, and it feels like I'm in the right class. There are extra school activities most days, such as conversation and drinks, history walks, trekking, eating out, museum visits and extra classes on aspects of the language. Taking advantage of these can only help improve my fluency.
This afternoon I had a quick stop at the apartment, a skype conversation with Jim, and a walk through the tiny streets of Trastevere to the San Francesco a Ripa church to see this work by Bernini. It's entitled Beata Ludovica Albertoni and Bernini was 71 years old when he began the sculpture for the Cardinal Albertoni (later Pope Clement X). Interpretation of the statue's true meaning of "ecstasy" varies, but regardless, its an astonishing sculpture with a level of realism in the cushions and draperies to the figure. The church was deserted except for one priest pottering about so I had the work to myself.
Rome seemed a lot quieter today (perhaps the end of many family holidays) and Trastevere almost empty. I took a walk up to the belvedere to look out over Rome at dusk. The christmas lights are all still hanging in the neighbourhood and there's very little traffic moving through the streets.
From the belvedere you can look out over Rome and it's a wintry scene, looking through bare tree branches to the Castel San Angelo, and further to the left, the dome of the Vatican.
Right now, I'm back at the apartment working on some revision for tomorrow's class with a glass of Venaccia to hand. Tomorrow's forecast is similar to today - cold and clear - and I've got a slightly later start at school.
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