Rome!

Last weekend was Dublin, this weekend is Rome!
Summery: Greg, a friend of mine from the States flew to London for UM Spring Break to visit me. My other friend Kate also flew in Friday and she and I flew to Rome on Sunday, at the same time Greg was flying back to Ann Arbor.

In Dublin Greg and I saw Trinity College and the Book of Kells, which was extraordinary. We went on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse and learned about brewing Guinness and beer in general (which Greg already knows quite a bit about as he brews his own beer). We walked all around Dublin and saw churches, ate good hearty Irish food (and even some Thia AMAZING food! I highlly recommend the restaurant MAO! in Dublin) and saw the Irish National Museum and Gallery. I liked the archeological pieces at the museum and learning about the various influences, Viking, Roman, Christian etc on Irish culture and history. There were some beautifuly worked gold bracelets, torchs and dress fasiners of all things as well as weapons and wooden ships to keep Greg interested. I had wanted to visit Galway by train but as it was Greg's spring break and my Edinbourgh trip was rather exhausting we were a bit too lesuirly in the morning and didn't catch the train in time. Over all it was a great experience though I'd like to go back to Dublin or Ireland in general when the weather gets warmer and I have a little more time to sit around under a tree in the green fields and write poetry.

On Friday night we went out to see La Cage aux Folles at the Playhouse theater and had some pretty delicious pizza and wine afterwards. La Cage was one of the shows I had to see for my London Theater and Performance class and I found it hilarious and amazing.

I finally finished reading Fanny Hill and have started on Joseph Andrews. Fanny Hill was...interesting. Explicit in the extreme, though in a quaint, eighteenth century way, it was still rather repetive and hard to sit still though. I don't consider myself a naive girl, but Fanny Hill was down right shocking. I've never read cheesy romance novels but from what I've heard I imagine they are similar to this rediculous book. I'm glad to have moved on. At least Joseph Andrews is being satirical with his cheesyness.

I know are papers are coming due soon so I have to start working on a topic for The Rise of the Novel. For Art and Society I'm writing about a series of paintings about Pamela and discussing how the eighteenth century saw the rise to prominance of the middle class in art, trade, economic power and social influcences and how their values of hard work and virtue translated both into the novel and the artwork.

I turned in the draft of my short story for Writing London and it was very well received by the professor. I have a few changes to make but she actually likes my style of writing and complimented my mechanics so I am pleased. I also have an idea for the short drama that we have to write. When we were in Edinbourgh we heard the story of the stone of destiny - part of the Scotish crown jewels it was used to crown many of the Scotish kings before it was stolen by the English and kept in Westminster abby under the throne on which the English kings were crowned. In the 1950's a group of university students from Scotland managed to steal back the stone from Westminster Abbey and their escapades sound like a great thing to write a drama about.

I am in Rome today with Kate. We walked pretty much around the whole city and I am surprised at how small it is! We traversed pretty much the whole city without the aid of bus or train or tube, which it pretty impossible in London! We saw the Parthenon and ate roasted chestnuts and saw about a dozen piazzas, palazzos, monuments and ruins. Too many to remember or name, though tomorrow, when everything is finally open we are going to go to a few of the sights we'd like to see in more detail. I'll be uploading pictures to Piccassa soon!