Today was our last and final day of scheduled activities here in Rome. We were sad, but excited to see the concluding church of the trip. The day started by meeting up at the American University in Rome and taking Vans to get to the church. The van ride there was crazy with all the twist and turns. All of us are amazed by the crazy drivers in Italy. I thought people from back home were bad, but there are absolutely no rules when it comes to driving. People will cut others off on the streets, while the vespas weave in and out of all the cars. Once we got to the church everyone was a little bit dizzy from the car ride. While we have been on this trip we have been going through the time periods and working our way through the different churches. We started with Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, and are now looking at 21st century churches. We had saw one earlier on the trip right outside of Assisi. When arriving to the church we pulled up to a white contemporary building that looked quite different from the previous churches. It was entirely white with glass and had clean lines. The architect for this church was Richard Meier, who was known for building all white structures as his mark. Richard Meier also designed the Atheneum in Indiana, along with Bethel Performing Arts Center in New York. The church was commissioned by Pope John Paul II. He was the 264th Pope in Italy. This church was built to celebrate
2000 years of Christianity and was part of the Jubilee of churches. Pope John Paul II s idea behind the Jubilee of Churches was rejuvenate perished life in Italy. Pope John Paul II was the second longest reigning pope and his term was from 1978 to 2005. He is called by many Catholics Saint John Paul the Great. Fun fact is that Pope John Paul is one of the most travelled world leader, while visiting 129 countries. His body was buried in the crypt of Saint Peter's Basilica, but was later brought up to the church. He had so many people going to go visit him that it was overwhelming and they had to relocate him in the upper part of the church. Another fun fact about Pope John Paul is that he spoke 11 different languages. They include Latin, Polish, Slovak, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Ukrainian, and English. Richard Meier was selected as the winning architecture to build this church. He competed against famous architects like Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, and Santiago Calatrava. The location for this church was in Tor Tre Teste in Rome and was a community center along with Roman Catholic church. It was broken up into four main sections, first the community center and church. The second was the northeastern terrace, the third was the recreation court. Finally, the four section was the parking area. The design of the building was constructed to have an appearance of a ship, which you can see from the three tall curved structures
on the one side of the building. They are made out of precast concrete. Due to the large thermal mass of the concrete it control internal heat gain. It is a more efficient use of energy. The concrete contains titanium dioxide that helped make it appear white, while also helping break down pollutants in the air. The inside was also white with glass, but also contained the stations of the cross and an image of Christ in the center, that was a yellow, tan, orange coloring. It was definitely an awesome church to visit and see, along with section. The geometric shape of the entire structure was by far the most interesting and perfect for a few quick volume sketches. Another rule that was put in place in Italy was that when they construct a new church it is to be built of that current time period. They are not allowed to build past styles like Romanesque or Baroque. After visiting the church we all got back into the van and headed back to Trastevere. That was all that we had scheduled that day to see, so we got the rest of the day to ourselves. The ride might of been even crazier on the way back then on the way there. We got back to our apartment and made lunch, hung out and napped until it was time to meet back up for dinner. We all got dressed up for our last dinner out together. My apartment blasted music as we all did our makeup and
hair. All of us then hopped on the bus and took it to Romeos, a trendy, contemporary restaurant. We were accompanied by Vince, Andrew, and all three of our fav ISA leaders. Vince was telling us that this restaurant was originally located near the Vatican and we were suppose to eat at it when we were visiting Saint Peters. However, they had relocated and we got to try out a brewery when we were at the Vatican and Romeo s for our final goodbye dinner. The meal was a three course meal and it started with bread and white wine. We then got served vegetarian smoked lasagna that was so amazing! It was cooked with cheese, carrots, cabbage, beets, and artichokes. We then got a glass of red wine for our next course. They served us beef fillet, mashed potatoes, and cooked spinach. Finally, for our dessert we had tiramisu in a sphere. It came out in a hard chocolate ball that your cracked open. As we ate we discussed our fav memories, along with the funniest from the trip and toasting to have a wonderful experience. After the meal we all headed home and said goodbye to our ISA friends. We only have one more day in Italy and its bitter sweet. We are all excited to see our family and friends, but also sad to be leaving this beautiful place. Rome has really become more like home to use in these last couple of weeks. We discovered and learned so many things about this city. We will truly miss getting lost in Rome. This trip was awesome and wouldn t take it back for anything. What could be better then drawing everyday in Italy! Since this was our last day of planned activities on our trip Ciera and I have some closing thoughts about our time here in Italy. Liz: I am excited to go home and see my family and friends, but sad to be leaving this gorgeous place. I have grown so much as an artist and a person
while I ve been in Rome. My art as significantly improved since our first day and my drawings actually aren t awful! Lol! I have never been out of the United States before so this was kinda a big deal for me to travel across the ocean, but I loved every second of it. I m glad I met knew people and was introduced to new cultures. It gives you a better appreciation for others and yourself. I can t believe in just a month, I traveled all around Italy. I got to see so much in Rome like the Colosseum, Hadrian s Villa, the Roman Forum, etc. I also got to visit so many other cities in Italy like, Venice, Florence, Naples, Assisi, and Pompeii! Italy is amazing and this was a trip of a lifetime! Ciera: I had so much fun on this trip, I m sad to see it come to an end but I am ready to be back home. My drawings and thought process has changed through this month and I am ready to see what is to come in the fall. I didn t believe Vince on the first day when he told us that our work would get better, but it did. I have surprised myself with the work I have completed. The new friendships and memories I have made on this trip will last a lifetime. I was able to see some sites that I really wanted to like the Pantheon, the Colosseum, and the Pompeii. I enjoyed this trip so much, I can t wait to come back!!