You've Got A Pizza My Heart

To say that our global navigators have been busy lately would be an understatement! Yesterday, we started the day off with a pizza making demonstration at Rosso Pomodoro, a Neopolitan-style pizzeria. We learned that there’s a lot more that goes into making a pizza than dough, cheese, and sauce. In fact, the art of Nepolitan pizza making recently earned UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Status! It is a process that is passed down through the generations in Italy.

Each student then prepared their own pizza dough, using Rosso Pomodoro’s signature recipe. They then rolled and stretched their dough, adding sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil. After a few minutes in a wood burning oven, each person ate the pizza that they prepared.

After two failed attempts to use the bus (public transportation in Rome is not always the most reliable!), the group took the Metro to the Colosseum, where we met our art history teacher, Simona. Simona then led us through the Colosseum, illustrating the history of Rome’s most famous landmark with discussions of architecture and the lives of the gladiators.

From the Colosseum, it was a short walk to the Roman Forum. Fortunately, by the time we reached the Forum, the sun was just starting to set, so we were spared the worst of the sun and summer heat. We climbed the Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome and one of the most ancient parts of the city. We visited the Emperor’s Palace, saw the Circus Maximus, and took in a beautiful panoramic view of the city from the top of the hill.

The next day, it was time to venture outside of the city for the first time. We spent our Saturday in Tivoli, a small, picturesque town about forty-five minutes outside of Rome. Our first stop was Villa D’Este, a sixteenth century villa famous for its hillside Italian Renaissance style gardens and numerous fountains.

We had lunch at a local restaurant, followed by a visit to Villa Gregoriana. We hiked down into a large gorge, passing many beautiful wooded paths, waterfalls, and grottoes. Our guide explained that this Villa was a popular stop for many famous artists and nobility of the nineteenth century, who visited on their “grand tour”. The hike up and down the gorge in the summer heat was grueling to say the least, but our participants were troopers!

It’s been a busy few days and our global navigators are looking forward to some much-deserved downtime tomorrow morning. Until next time!