Rome unfolding

Here's the recap since I last wrote: This Sunday was our day off, so we decided to check out the flea market.  We were searching for a famously long string of tent stands, but instead found a much smaller flea market, and it still took us a good chunk of time to get through it.  Talk about a treasure hunt, I felt the pack-rat in me stirring with delight: beads, old jewelry and coins, photos, clothes abounded.  I also went on an amazing run by the river, which is really quite nice because there are are so many trees planted along the edges.  Monday we had our first italian class (which started out very slow, but at least it's a start), and then made a feast at the guys' apartment with the 5 of us from Cal Poly: insalata di caprese, insalata di spinachi, melon with proscuitto, bread with formaggio (cheese), and salsiccia (sausage).  Tuesday we dealt with some bureaucratic realities (applied for our permits of stay).  Then I went on an exploratory sketching venture, widening the range of the area that I've gotten to know so far.  Yesterday was mostly working on a presentation we are doing today....which I should be working on right now....

Pictures:

1.  Looking at the obelisk in Piazza San Pietro (near the Vatican).

2. Ara Pacis- perhaos the only modern building in Rome (and a controversial one at that-and to house an old monument), by Richard Meier (the same guy who did the Getty in LA)...the colors in this photo are unaltered, it actually looked like this.

3.  Looking through a gapp in a closed gate on my walk- I was walking along the Auerelian wall (reconstructed) peeking through at estate-like properties.

4.  There are so many buildings covered in Tom Mayne-esque skins, because they are always cleaning or renovating something...I think it adds an interesting aesthetic to the urban fabric.