Martita's Visit

The month of June was mainly a flurry of grading exams coupled with frequent outings to get tapitas or ice cream at Rayas. Good Lord it was hot!

At the end of the month, Martita came to Sevilla for a visit, and these are the pictures after an evening of having tapitas at Los Coloniales with Martita and some some other friends from Chapel Hill, Ana Laura and Jorge.

Adiós Reina Mercedes

After I had finished grading all of my students exams, I had to hold office hours for them to see their grades before I went back home to the United States. I had a really good group of students in the Spring, so I was a little sad to bid them farewell.

Here are some pictures of my office in the school where I taught, the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Informática (Techical School for Computer Science). The last picture is a view of the street (and my bus stop) from the school.

Boxes

By the time we got back from Rome, we had about a month and a half left in Sevilla. It was time to start thinking about mailing some of our belongings home and tying up the loose ends in Spain. Even Smokey knew what was up as soon as he saw all of the boxes!

Back to Sevilla

The next morning, Ali, Brian, and I woke up early to take a taxi back to the airport. For Ali, that meant going back to New York, and for us, we caught a short flight to Sevilla. Back to the real world, and laundry...

The clothesline for our apartment building was located on the roof, so the clothes always dried wicked fast in the summer with temperatures well over 100 degrees!

Museo Centrale di Risorgimento

That afternoon, Brian and I went to the Museo Centrale di Risorgimento adjacent to the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, where there was a temporary exhibit featuring an extensive collection of works by Renoir. Once we were done looking at the art, we took the elevator to the top of the building for the views out over the city.

Bocca della Verità

Even though it is a little cheesy from the 1953 movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, we had to go and put our hands in the Bocca della Verità, or the "Mouth of Truth" in English.

As legend has it dating back tothe Middle Ages, the mouth will supposedly close and bite one's hand if a lie is told. Interestingly enough, when Brian made that face, a little old Italian woman told him that it was going to eat his hand off. In the rusty Italian that I have, I picked up quickly on the verb "mangiare" meaning to eat.

The image of the face itself is carved of marble and is located in the Basilica Santa Maria in Cosmedin (the last picture is a view of the church from across the street). It is believed to be from the 1st century AD, as perhaps an ancient fountain or a possible representation of a pagan god.

Pizza di Roma!

After we finished up walking around the cemetery, we had all worked up quite an appetite, so we stepped into a local pizzeria for a taste of some of Rome's pizza. It was quite an interesting experience - you just had to say how many slices you wanted, and then it was weighed on a scale. You can never go wrong with pizza by the kilo! Out of everyone, I think that Brian was the most ecstatic...

Pyramid of Cestius

Oddly enough, just beside the Protestant Cemetery stood the Pyramid of Cestius, an Egyptian pyramid dating to 30 BC which was later incorporated into the portion of the Aurelian walls that border Rome. It was quite an experience to be standing directly in front of both Keat's grave and an old Egyptian pyramid!

Cimitero Acattolico

One of the highlights of the trip was spending time in the Protestant Cemetery, also called the Cimitero Acattolico in Italian. Located on the outskirts of Rome, there are a number of famous people buried here, including several acclaimed English poets such as John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II

On our way back to the apartment for the evening, we passed the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, which is a monument to honor the first king of a unified Italy.The monument is built of pure white marble and features Corinthian columns, fountains, a huge esquestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel, as well as two statues of goddesses riding on quadrigas.

The monument is also where Italy's Tomb of the Unknown soldier and eternal flame have been located since the end of WWI.

Foro Romano

Later that afternoon, we walked behind Palatino hill to the Foro Romano, the place where the Old Republic, its Senate, and the Republican government are located. Back in ancient times, the Forum was an economic hub in addition to a site where citizens congregated to discuss themes of justice.