Bjorn Eggen – Sophomore Mechanical

Today, we toured the Jewish Ghetto, the Theatre of Marcellus along with other ruins, the national monument and finished by touring bridges along the Tiber river.

The Jewish Ghetto is a Jewish neighborhood in Rome with lots of Kosher restaurants and shops. It was established in 1555 by Pope Paul IV to isolate the Jews of Rome. The conditions in the Ghetto were horrible with severe overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Visiting and learning about the Jewish Ghetto reminded me of the redlining and racially restrictive laws in the United States.

Next, we visited the Theatre of Marcellus, which was a theatre with a design similar to the Colosseum that was built 2000 years ago. This building was a good illustration of how modern Rome is built upon old buildings. Beneath Rome, there are ruins of a previous city. There is currently a new underground metro line being built, however, it is extremely difficult since archaeological ruins keep getting discovered as they are tunneling.

Next, we toured the National Monument in Italy, which was built after World War 1 in celebration. The most striking feature of this monument is the gigantic horse statue. The views from the monument were also stunning.
We finished the day by walking along the paths on the bank of the Tiber river looking at bridges. Our professor, Deb Besser, a former bridge engineer, talked about the different bridges.

Theatre of Marcellus.

Ruins seen from the streets of Rome

Horse statue at the National Monument

Group photo from the National Monument (Colosseum can be seen in the background).

Eric Danner – Junior Mechanical Engineering Student

Today Rome finally set in… Upon waking and opening up my balcony window, I was met with pouring rain, a beautiful sight as compared to snow! I rejoined with my group from the previous night and trudged through the rain to the high-end shopping district of Trevi. I did not find any items to purchase, however, I found the best traditional Gelato shop! I was able to sit and have a cappuccino and try the vanilla gelato (Amazing!). While we sat and enjoyed our treats, live music poured up the street, complete with a man singing acoustic Metallica. Continuing with the theme of water, my group and I decided to adventure underground in the Trevi district. We were able to go below the street level down a staircase and check out the hidden aqueducts that fed the city from below. At the site, we saw the original stone foundations of the homes that stood here thousands of years ago. Additionally, the aqueducts that flow to the nearby trevi fountain and their storage reservoirs are found deep below the city at this site. It was fascinating to see how the new and modern city was built right on top of ancient Rome. A complex network of I-Beams and trusses allow the modern high-rise apartment buildings, restaurants, and shops to exist above. Finally, my group and I ventured back to the Castel Sant’Angelo and stood by the Tiber River. We watched the sun engulf the bridges connecting the Tivoli to Prati and the St. Peter’s basilica and its statue-lined driveway while two amazing musicians played on the shore. Overall, today was an excellent day full of culture, learning experiences, and new friendships!

Best,

Eric Danner

We started off our day by meeting Paulo (he is from AIFS helping us with our trip) and he took us to the study center where we will be having class while in Rome. After conversing with everyone, it seems that the amount of sleep we got last night helped cure our jet lag, and we were ready to take Rome by storm! Once we got to the study center, we were able to meet up with Dr. Besser and have a pretty productive first day of class. Although class only took about an hour (us students were happy about that) we were lucky enough to get a lot of information in as well as a great presentation on the Pantheon by Kate Achenbach, Alex Thordson, and Max Meves. After class we went our first adventure of the trip. After stopping at a local market (most of us bought some fresh fruit) we visited the Plazza Navona, Chiesa Di Sant’igazio Di Loyola, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. All the sites were great and we made sure to take plenty of pictures! We were able to split into smaller groups later in the day and I went with Dr. Besser, Kate Achenbach, Emma Sullivan, Bjorn Eggen, and Morgan Fritz. We got to see a few extra sites including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and some other cool looking buildings on the way! My group was able to finish the day with a whopping 10.7 miles of walking. Although we might be a little tired, we are all still ready for all Italy has to offer!!

-Kyle Bratvold