Rome via Brooklyn

I started my day off by getting up at 7:30, earlier than I normally would because I’m a night owl who likes to stay up late,  and started getting ready for the day. Me and Fannie were originally going to walk across the bridge to our meeting location but we decided to take the bus instead because we were running a little late. The bus was very crowded, we were pushed all the way up to the door. Even though it was crowded we still got to see a nice view as we rode the bus across the bridge. On the bus there was a very memorable old Italian man sitting down. Multiple rings littered every one of his fingers. He would often complain in Italian when the bus would stop due to traffic. After not too long of a ride we made it to the bolla della verita bus stop where class was meeting and where me and fannie would do the first group presentation of the entire class.

Before our presentation Yarrow taught us about this beautiful ancient temple that we were sitting right in front of and some of the myths and history of Rome’s origin, history and imperialism.

As we were walking to the spot where me and Fannie would present, I saw a seagull on top of the temple of hercules victor and decided to snap a pick.

Me and Fannie were both nervous to present because we were the first but I think it went smoothly. We gave detailed history about the mouth of truth, its origins and the myth surrounding it. I loved the topic and enjoyed presenting it even though I was nervous. In the reading it says “recent study has identified the head, which has lobster-claw horns in the hair a dolphins in its beard, as oceanus” i thought this quote from the reading was interesting because in our presentation we mentioned the horns but not the dolphins as it did come up in our research

Because my presentation topic was on the mouth of truth and we were right by it I had to grab a picture with the giant mask. When I stuck my hand inside the mouth I noticed that the inside was very smooth, most likely due to so many people throughout the centuries sticking their hand inside and rubbing the mouth. I wonder just how many thousands of people had stuck their hand in the mouth of truth.

After snapping the picture we entered the Basilica di Santa Maria and saw many christian paintings, religious offerings and altars. On display was the skull of saint valentino, this display/alter stuck with me the most because i find it fascinating that many catholics will keep the remains of saints as holy relics.