Fa Freddo (or, It Makes Cold)

A shortish post today, on day three of my 12 week language course.  I'm finding my days are pretty full, with over three hours at school each morning, further study in the afternoon, and extra school activities at night.  Here's how a typical day arranges itself.



Via Guilia
 

My morning walk to school is mainly along the Via Guilia, one of the first streets to be constructed in Rome since antiquity.  The Via Guilia skirts the Tiber river, and runs in a straight line for a full kilometre. It was constructed 500+ years ago by Donato Bramante (who was also responsible for the Basilica of St Peter).

The arch spanning the street was built by Michelangelo as a plan to link the Palazzo Farnese (now the French embassy, and one of the most imposing and beautiful palaces in Rome) with the Farnese villa on the other side of the Tiber, in Trastevere.  It was never completed.

All along the Via Guilia are the backs of palazzi interspersed with antique and design stores.  The cobbles are extremely uneven here and I've already ruined two sets of heels (although this has forced me to locate the calzolaio - the cobbler).

 



Fountain of the Mask

A little further along the street, behind the Palazzo Farnese is the Fountain of the Mask.  It was commissioned by the Farnese family in 1626 and is a happy combination of two ancient sculptures.  According to myth the family would make wine gush from the fountain at party time.

When I arrive at the scuola, there are usually students milling about with takeaway coffee (and quite a few of them are furiously smoking their cigarettes down to the stub).

 

We have two 1.5 hour classes, grammar and conversation, with the last 15 minutes or so of the conversation class an open "Ask Me" session with the tutor. This is where questions, such as What do I do (and say) when I spill my dinner in a restaurant and how do I get the waitress to help me, How do I offer my seat on the bus without giving offence, and What's the italian placatory equivalent phrase of "no problem" get raised (and sometime answered; some seem unanswerable).

 

This afternoon, I've spent a couple of hours revising today's grammar while sitting in the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, which is the main piazza just behind my own tiny square, the Piazza San Egidio, in Trastevere.  I can hear the quarter-hour peal of this belltower from my sitting room window.

 

I've been sitting at the cafe opposite the church sipping a bitter aperitivo, whilst grappling with direct and indirect pronouns.  Later this evening, the scuola offered a walk though the palazzi of Rome - the Cancelleria, Farnese and Spada palaces.  Perhaps twenty of us met and explored these renaissance buildings with our italian guide.  I was surprised at how much of the guide's conversation I understood.  We finished our walk with a look at the site of Pompey's theatre, including viewing the ancient foundations under the Campo de' Fiori.

 

Consequently I'm now luxuriating in my central heating back at the apartment, further revision yet to be done in preparation for tomorrow.  As you can see, Rome has clouded over today and it feels colder this evening.  For the first time, I've ventured out wearing both a scarf and gloves.