Istanbul!

In our last long weekend, we decided to go visit our other classmates abroad in Istanbul, Turkey. Their abroad program was the full 4 months of the semester and we visited them at the tail end of it, so they were all fully integrated into the culture. Istanbul is a much busier city than Rome. Rome felt very hectic whenever we first got there, but fails in comparison to Istanbul. The effect of the Muslim culture, waking up to the prayers over the loud speakers of the mosques was an interesting aspect. The food there was also very interesting, with a much wider use of meat and spice than in Italian culture. Getting to see our friends for the last time in some cases, was also amazing. Many of us are splitting up next year staying in Auburn, going to Urban studio, or going to Rural studio.

Sperlonga

Our last group trip was to Sabaudia and Sperlonga, seeing a vast range of different Architectural styles in the very axial, ordered fascist look in Sabaudia and the close quarters hill town feel of Sperlonga. We visited the post office at Sabaudia that was completely covered in a beautiful blue mosaic tile. In Sperlonga, we made our way through the ruins of a summer villa of a roman emperor with a fantastic grotto out back near the sea.Sea Behind the Ruins at Sperlonga

The Ruins of the Summer Villa

Town of SperlongaThe Grotto

Hadrian's Villa and Villa D'Este

On this trip, we went to see Hadrian's villa and Villa D'Este. We had a picnic out on the grounds and had plenty of time to sketch and soak it all in. Afterwards we headed up into the town, and got to roam around the huge gardens at Villa D'Este. The fountains and and greenery were beautifully sloping down the hillside behind the Villa, and these pictures do not do it justice.

Model of the Villa

Perfectly Straight Walls, Showcasing Roman Engineering ProwessMaritime TheatreView from the Picnic AreaOff of the Back of Villa D'EsteBeautiful Rows of FountainsMore FountainsCentral Axis through the Garden to the Villa

Villa Farnese

Sorry for the lack of posting here lately, it got busy and I got lazy towards the end of the stay.

This is the pictures from our visit to Villa Farnese about 3 weeks ago.

Villa Farnese

The Gardens

View over the city