Ciao Italy

Sage Warner
On our last night in Rome, I spoke with Alessio about how everywhere in Italy has been touched by people. With people living there, at least in a way we can trace, for at least 4 thousand years, anywhere you go was occupied by people at one time or another, even if it does not appear that way. It is so interesting to be somewhere and feel like you’re totally by yourself, and then you see some building that was maybe built 800 years ago and realize that there has been so much happening that I can’t even fathom. Especially visiting Orvieto and Fontecchio, which have changed over the millennia but with many ancient elements remaining intact, there is a sense of a place that has fused with the "natural" environment.
Caves in Orvieto
Cave in Orvieto

An old church I saw on a walk outside of Fontecchio





One of the things I like most about history is how people have always been people, which I think is evident in the artwork or architecture of a region. In Pompeii, there is loads of ancient graffiti, which mirrors the silly and inappropriate graffiti people would make today. Then there are the caves in Orvieto, used for making wine and breeding pigeons to eat and are still used by homeowners as pantries, even while they are archeological sites. Visiting Italy provided a concrete example of the patterns of humans as memorialized in historical artifacts. Things have changed, but there is still evidence of the layers upon layers of culture and personality that contribute to the way things are today.

I did not take pictures of the graffiti, but this is in Pompeii at the bathhouse
In conclusion, I love history and Italy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Environmental Hazards in Italy

Image
      While in Italy, we discussed and visited a few locations that have had notable environmental hazards. The most prominent one, and one which most people who haven't ever even been to Italy, is the eruption at Pompeii. We took a trip to Pompeii and got a tour of the site and it was shocking to me how huge the site was. It seemed like it stretched on and on and would take hours and hours to explore the whole thing. It was so interesting seeing everything that was preserved at this site. So many things were excavated and are still being excavated to this day. It was very interesting in the article about the Pompeiian vineyards reading how they were able to make casts in the holes left by decayed organic material in order to learn about not just the people, but also the plants and animals in this area. For instance, they were able to make casts of the roots of trees to identify them and could even see the mathematical precision the romans used, planting vines exactly fou...
Read more

The Fragile Relationship Between Humans and Natural Spaces

Image
A Terraced Hillside on the Amalfi Coast A Terraced Lemon Grove On January 16th, we discussed various environmental aspects of Italy. On this day, we focused on readings detailing the culture and environment surrounding olive production, some important issues concerning sustainable farming, and rural landscapes of historical interest. These topics made me reflect on many of the site visits that we have had throughout our time in Italy. For example, while reading the article about sustainable farming, I reflected on the times that we witnessed these practices and the effects of climate change when we took tours through the olive grove, the lemon orchard, and the sheep farm. During our visits to these sites, we witnessed the beautiful and often fragile relationship between human cultivation/development and the natural environment. At the olive grove, the guide discussed the way that she and her family have had to adapt to the changes in the climate over the generations. From when her ance...
Read more

Expectations and Fear... Part 2 - Austin Karr end of trip post

Image
  The very first picture I took in Italy, which I think is fitting to place here Well, I am right up on the deadline for this post, much to Dr. Hames’s annoyance, I am sure. However, I have an excellent reason for this: while many of my classmates went home at the end of the program, I did not. For the last week, I have been in Europe, starting in Bologna, and now I’m in Berlin, which is where my adventure will end in the next few days. Yet, due to the fact that the trip isn’t over for me, it's not the easiest to write a final overview of the trip. But I know that is what I must do, so I want to quickly return to my original blog post from the beginning of the month, where I spoke briefly about expectations and fear. For an entire post, I wrote about the fact that I didn’t know what to expect from a trip of this magnitude, as well as the insecurity of not having an answer to a fundamental question: “What are you looking forward to the most?” This trip was intimidating, as the exp...
Read more