Tim's Trip to Northern Italy

So this past week my class traveled around Northern Italy. We visited 5 cities in 8 days. Unfortunately Sophia wasn't allowed to accompany us because she's not a student in the program. Never mind the fact that she is an alum who is currently employed by Notre Dame. In any case Sophia came down with a cold while I was away so perhaps it was for the best.

We first took a train to Venice where we stayed for three nights. The whole concept of building a city in the middle of the ocean is pretty dumb if you ask me but it certainly makes for a cool tourist trap. It almost seemed fake, but I can assure you that there are in fact millions and millions of pylons (tightly packed tree trunks driven into the ocean floor to create a stable building surface) supporting much of the city. Not seeing a single car for three days was nice, but it was frustrating at times not to be able to cross the "street" wherever you'd like but instead wind your way through a maze of very narrow streets to find the bridge you're looking for.



From Venice we went to Vicenza, which is Palladio's hometown. Not surprisingly there were lots of Palladian palazzos and villas. Of course the best is the well known Villa Rotunda, which is pictured here.



After Vicenza was Ferrara, which is a medieval town that was expanded during the Renaissance. The medieval and Renaissance areas of the town sit side by side so you compare the very straight streets that lead to landmarks or important buildings with the older windy and narrow streets that developed organically over time.



While we were staying in Ferrara we took a day trip to Ravenna, which is home to many early Christian (Byzantine) churches built during the 5th and 6th centuries. Brightly colored and extremely intricate mosaics decorate the interiors of the churches. It's amazing to think that they were designed 1,500 years ago! The photo included here is a detail of the mosaics inside the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.



We left Ferrara to head to Bologna for one night before returning home. The University of Bologna is the world's oldest university. We were lucky enough to get a tour of part of their library. This portion was built in the 1750s. It's one of the best rooms I've ever been in. The photo hardly does it justice. The wood is walnut and it gives the space a very warm feeling. Busts of authors line the top of the room and serve as organizational reminders for the books found near them.



Although it was fun to be away from Rome for a little while, we were all pretty exhausted by the end of the trip. It's good to be back. Luckily we have a week off for Fall Break before classes resume. I definitely need it.