Welcome!

Hello and welcome to Alex’s REDBOOK Guide to Newark, Rome and Siena! This blog is meant to immitate the Redbook guide that our group in Newark modeled part of our presentation on.  The blog posts are in reverse chronological order, and were written while in Italy.  The other pages relating to each individual project we did can be accessed by clicking on either the ‘Newark” or “Italy” links above.  From within these links, links to subpages can be found.  A link to the website created for our Newark project, along with links to the blogs of the others who partook in the Siena Studio 2009 can be found at the right.

End

Blog about 8/27 posted on 8/27  GMT -5 (Newark), 8/28 GMT+1 (Siena)

We got up at 5am to make it to the airport on time.  We got there and went through security and eventually got on the plane.  The televisions in the seats in my row didn’t work, but I read Continental Magazine cover to cover, and listened to the radio in between sleep sessions.  At home, I had meatloaf for dinner.  After that, I went to the nursing home to visit my grandmother, and showed her some of the photos of my trip.  All in all I very much enjoyed Italy, and I thank the Lord for not only having a good trip, but also for allowing me the chance to have such an amazing experience .  I made great friends, had an amazing time, and even learned some things in the process.  Unfortunately, all things good must end, and time must go on.  Arrivederci.

Last

Blog about 8/26 posted on 8/27

We rose early to catch the 7:50 train to Rome.  After arriving at the Derby, we went exploring.  We found the Tempietto, and saw Castle Sant Angelo.  We stopped at the Pantheon one last time, and I finally spent some time inside.  After returning to the Derby, we cleaned up and ate across the street.  It was a good meal, as always.

Note: Bruco has been updated with photographs and sketches.

Goodbye

Blog about 8/25 posted on 8/27

Yesterday was our last day in Siena.  I went to the cemetary, and we spent one last time on the Campo.  I very much enjoyed my time in Siena, and despite my love for New Jersey, I wouldn’t be too upset if I never left Siena.  I may change my tune in a few weeks, but for now I stand by that statement.  While I am bewildered at the way some things work in Italy, and some things here make me think how well we have it in New Jersey, I will always look fondly at my time in Siena, and will hold a place in my heart for Selva.

Souvenirs

Blog about 8/24 posted on 8/25

Yesterday was a slow day.  I woke up early because they started construction again.  The day consisted of grocery shopping, souvenir shopping, and watching Live Free or Die Hard with some people.  At night I went to the Campo, and finished my last two cigars.

Eurostar

Blog about 8/23 posted on 8/25

This is the final post of a series describing my trip to Torino.  These posts should be read in order beginning with the post “Review.”

The next morning, we checked out of the hostel and made our way to the train station.  We stopped for breakfast and had awesome croissants and some strudel with hazelnut filling (nocciola?.)  Everything we ate in Torino was amazing.  I very much enjoyed my gastronomic experience in the Piedmonte region.  We got to the train station with about 30 seconds to spare.  My two traveling partners nearly missed their train, as they were continuing onto Milan and Cinque Terra.  I stayed behind for three hours until my train back to Siena left. During this time, I walked around the center and sat in the park across from the station.  Torino was more lively on Sunday than on the previous day, but it was still not exactly bustling.  My train was actually a Eurostar train that went all the way to Rome.  The train was clean, not broken, and had more space and leg room than the normal Trenitalia trains.  I had an entire three seat row to myself for 90% of the trip.  The train went through Genoa and Cinque Tera.  The beaches and towns south of Genoa on the Mediterranean are beautiful.  Outside of Pisa, I went through a town that had a lot of storage yards along the tracks.  In the mountains, I could see evidence of mining and quarrying, and in the yards were 15′x15′ blocks of marble.  It was quite a sight.

I transferred to another train in Pisa.  Clearly I was spoiled by the Eurostar as this train was the same as all the other ones we took, but seemed really bad.  It actually turned out to be worse than most, because the air conditioner kept dripping brown oily water onto the floor, seats, and people’s luggage.  It sucked.  I had to transfer at Empoli, and had an hour layover.  I walked around Empoli briefly, and there was not much, except for a square where it seemed as if everyone in the town was hanging out.  I then took my train back to Siena and got held up trying to get to the Campo because Civetta was having a large parade for the Palio.  I finally got pizza and went back to the dorm where I watched Boondock Saints with some people, uploaded my photos and went to bed.

Torino

Blog about 8/22 posted on 8/25

In Torino, our hostel was supposed to a quick walk from the train station.  It was actually almost 2 miles away.  The hostel was nice, and we were the only ones in it.  We went out to find lunch and to see the Olympic stadium.  It was a Saturday in August, so 2/3 of the stores in the city were closed.  I guess everyone went to the beach.  I would like to go back to Torino in October or so to see what it is like with actual activity.  We found some cafe that was about to close for siesta.  The proprietor made us amazing prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato sandwiches on what looked like a fajita.  He basically made us a quiesadilla.  We then went to the Olympic stadium and then went to the Fiat factory.  It took us a while to get there, since we walked, but it was worth it, almost. The factory is now a shopping mall and conference center. We wanted to get to the roof where the test track used to be and Renzo Piano built some stuff.  We tried taking every elevator we could get to get to the roof.  There was no way out there.  We then went to the end where the spiral ramp to the top was.  We took an elevator as far up as we could, then climbed over a rope to walk up the ramp as far as possible.  This was fun, and really cool, but the doors to the roof were locked.  disappointed, we went back down.  We were really upset that we couldn’t get on top. The most notable features of the building both from the 20′s and from Renzo Piano are off limits to the average person.  More than likely, the average person only knows it as a shopping mall that used to be a car factory.  They don’t care or know how innovative and relevant it was and still is.

After the Fiat factory, we took a bus to the city center, by the train station.  Here we walked around and made our way to the River Po.  This was pretty cool, being at the northern border of Roman influenced Italy during republican times.  Torino being north of the Po made us technically in Gaul, and celtic influenced Europe (in republican times.)  We then went to the cinema museum in the Mole Antoneliana.  Due to a lack of money, I did not go in.  When my two travelling companions returned, we went to dinner in an English pub.  We all had veal burgers, which were really good.  I had a liter of 8% beer to accompany it, and for desert, we had some type of egg white and sugar gelatin and a cake with ammoretta poured over it.  The entire meal was excellent.  The proprietor gave us each a shot of limoncella on the house.  We left a large tip.  On our way back to the hostel, we heard music coming from some old warehouse. We went in, but it soon ended.  We then went back to the hostel and went to bed.

Review

Blog about 8/21 posted on 8/25

This and the following two blog entries are a series describing my trip to Torino.  They should be read in sequence.

Friday was our review.  We were up late trying to pull together the presentation, and had only a few things remaining for the morn.  The biggest was our installation on the terrace.  Our review went quite well.  I thought it might have been a little over done in places and underdone in others, and there were some things I felt unnecessary, but the final product was great.  The presentation was dragging for a bit until we reached the terrace.  The fountain and reflecting pool and everything made the earlier part of the presentation make sense.

After the review, we quickly cleaned up and hurried to the diner to pick up a friend.  Most of the class was staying in Siena for the finale dinner, but two of my friends and I were taking a night train to Torino.  We rushed to the station, and got there in time.  In Florence, we had to get to the other train station, so we wandered across the city, and almost by chance found the station.  Along the way, we had dinner and go ripped off.  They charged 5 euros for a bottle of Coke, and then charged us a 1.50 euro cover charge.  Initially, they only charged two of us the cover, but when we asked what the charge was, the lady went and added onto it.  I was really upset.  Who charges a cover charge at a restaurant?!?!?!  I was determined I wouldn’t pay the cover, but somehow the entire bill was there.  The food wasn’t even that good.

Due to our last experience with night trains (see our trip to Venice) we booked our tickets in advance.  Despite this, the train was full, and people were siting and sleeping in our seats.  We had no choice but to sit on the fold out seats in the hallway with all the smelly people.  My seat was broken and sloped down.  I slept anyway.  We had to transfer in Bologna, and on the train to Torino, we had normal seats.  We arrived in Torino in the morning at about 10am.

Pescaia

Blog about 8/20 posted on 8/21

Yesterday, I went to Santa Maria della Scala in the morning.  The oratory in the basement was the best part.  After that I went searching for fountains, and found only some of them.  I knew approximately where they were, but not exactly.  The one in the Orto Botanico was easy to find.  I don’t know if there is an entrance fee, but I just walked in and no body said anything.  I didn’t even see anyone there.  I tried to get to Fonte di Follonica, but it was in a valley and despite my best Lorenzo moves, I couldn’t get there.  I finally got to Fonte Pescaia and that was fenced off because they are tuning it into a museum.  again I Lorenzoed my way in and got right next to it.  After that, I went to studio to finish our project.

This will probably be my last post until Monday as I am going to Torino for the weekend without my laptop.  I will recount the weekend in a single post next week.

Two

Blog about 8/19 posted on 8/20

Yesterday, I spent in studio mostly.  The highlights were going out to take photos of Fonte Ovile and Bruco contrada fountain.  Bruco’s was not really running to its full potential, so the photos are a little boring.  The only other notable thing was when I found more large old fashioned fountains that exist or have existed in Siena.  After plotting them out on a map, I began to see their relationship to one another relative to the aqueduct system.  I only found three of these new fountains on a map, and have so far failed to locate the other ones.  Once I find them, comparing what I think the aqueduct system looks like with the 1860′s aqueduct map will be easier and less frustrating.  Thats for tomorrow.