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Students visit church to Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa
Steve Reed, Cottey College's director of public information, is traveling in Italy with approximately 70 members of the Cottey sophomore class and other faculty, as part of the Cottey International Experience held over the first week of spring break. He, along with his wife, Angie Casavecchia, public administrator for Jasper County, are reporting on the trip. Steve sends his reports as letters to his mother.
Buon giorno, Mama!
Today was another module day. Dr. Peter Hyland and I took a group of 11 students (and Angie) to the Villa Borghese, one of the finest small galleries in the world, in my opinion. In the 1500s, this grand palace was the home of Cardinal Scipione Borghese. He got to be a Cardinal when his uncle became the Pope. Back in those days, it was a pretty good job if your uncle was the Pope. Scipione was incredibly wealthy and collected most of the amazing works of art in the gallery.
Our tour guide Andrea insisted on leading us through the Metro system to the gallery even though I told him I had been there three times previously. The benefit of traveling with him was the story he told of a local tour guide they occasionally use who is a descendant of the Borgheses. This guide led a group though the gallery and stopped next to the bust of Scipione. Andrea asked the group, "Who does our guide look like?" According to Andrea, his friend is the spitting image of the Cardinal even though there are almost 500 years between them.
The gallery has a strict admission limit, and you are also limited to two hours. This keeps the crowd size down and gives everyone an opportunity to see everything they wish to see. In two hours, one can easily see everything in the gallery and linger over the pieces that one likes best, Mama.
My favorite piece in the gallery is Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture Apollo and Daphne. You will have to Google it to see a photo as the gallery doesn't allow photography inside. Bernini is probably my favorite artist, and I love the Baroque period, so this collection is one of my favorites. Not to mention that Bernini's work is all over Rome. We had gotten to see the Triton Fountain on the bus trip and the fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps that he and his father Pietro created. After leaving the gallery, we led the students to Santa Maria Della Vittoria to see one of his masterpieces, St. Theresa in Ecstasy.
The church is relatively small, but houses this priceless work of art. Although the work was commissioned, this was also the church that Bernini and his family attended. I reminded the students that if they kneeled at the altar, they were kneeling where Bernini did 600 years ago.
We made sure the students could find their way back to the Metro station, and then Angie and I walked to the Piazza del Popolo (the people's plaza), to meet a Cottey alumna, Callie Jo, who was studying architecture in Rome this semester through the University of Arkansas. We were lucky to catch Callie Jo as her spring break was beginning and she was leaving for Oslo in the morning with friends.
It was so good to see her, Mama. The three of us ordered pizza and sat and visited for an hour. Callie told us all about her studies and her experiences in Rome. I asked if she could speak Italian now. She said no. I found that hard to believe, but she reminded me she lived with English-speaking students and took classes conducted in English. "Surely," I said, "you've picked up something by osmosis?" "Not really," she answered, "I just don't have the knack for languages."
Before she left, I shot a short video of her. You can see it on the Cottey Facebook page, Mama. In fact, I've done a short interview with someone every day and posted it.
Angie was feeling a bit tired and wanted to go back to the hotel. I dropped her off, but not feeling tired, walked the 6-8 blocks to the Vatican. I literally walked into another country, Mama. You probably know that the Vatican is the smallest independent country in the world. It was such a nice afternoon I purchased something to drink, watched the people in St. Peter's Square and wrote my notes from the day. What a glorious way to relax in Italy or should I say, the Vatican.
That evening, Angie and I wanted to get away from the crowd, so we went to dinner alone. I had been wanting Angie to try cacio e pepe (cash-ee-oh eh peh-peh) which is the Italian version of Mac n' cheese. We found a quiet place a couple of blocks from the hotel that served it, so in we went. I am pleased to report that Angie loved it as much as I had hoped she would.
We struck up a conversation with an older German couple who were seated next to us. The woman asked if we were British or American, Angie told her we were American and the woman said, "Oh, I thought you were British. Americans are usually much louder." We got a laugh out of that. I told this to our guide Andrea later, and he said the Spanish tourists were the loudest followed by Italians and Americans.
There was a funny sign in the restaurant I have to share with you. It read "vino ballerino, pane canterino, e cacio pizzerino." It means wine is a dancer, bread is a singer, and cheese is a pizza maker. It can also be interpreted as Wine makes you a dancer, bread makes you a singer, and cheese makes you a pizza. I like that interpretation better.
After dinner we went for a stroll and found a place that made cannolis. If you're not sure what that is, Mama, it is a pastry tube filled with ricotta cream cheese and topped with nuts, chocolate, and powdered sugar. Of course we had to go in and have one. Yes we had gelato earlier in the day, but how could we pass up a fresh, delicious cannoli? The answer is, we couldn't. It was a fabulous way to end the day and we have enjoyed every minute of it.
Alla prossima,
Your loving son,
Steve