Temple University Athletics
Phil Bartocci Blog: June 17
6.17.08 | Football
Junior Phil Bartocci (Scranton, Pa.) is studying abroad during the first summer session at Temple's campus in Rome. During his time in Italy, the wide receiver will share his adventures (and photos) with Owl fans in a blog each Tuesday.
June 17, 2008
First off, I want to thank the entire Temple Football family and Coach Golden for giving me the opportunity to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience. This trip has opened my eyes to a completely different culture and made me aware that the world is a really big place and that we are only one little piece of it. I am very happy that there will be other players after me who will get to experience this, because it is something that I will never forget and that I can take with me as long as I live. So I just want to thank everyone who is involved and just let you know that I really and truly appreciate it.
I don't even know where to start to talk about this week, because it has been absolutely insane. I guess I will start off with my week and my field trip. This week my class went to see the Basilica of San Clemente. This is one of my favorite places in Rome. Picture this: one big basilica that goes down 2000 years in history underground. San Clemente is a basilica that was built on a Catholic Church that was built on a pagan worship area. As I went down 2000 years in history, I really couldn't help but get excited, because initially I wasn't impressed with the top basilica. It was very nice and all, but when you find out that there are two churches that are directly underneath this basilica, now that is just cool. While we were there, they were excavating and, of course, like all other ancient places, we weren't allowed to take pictures. This place definitely gets two thumbs up.
So the week was fun as always, but over the weekend we traveled to Venice, Florence, and then stopped in Pisa on our way back to Rome. So it was a lot of traveling, but was it the best time. First stop was Venice. Venice was absolutely amazing. Picture a city that has practically no streets and is built in and around the water. So instead of streets there are waterways. It was unbelievable; boats everywhere, and there were even boat traffic lights. They have police boats, taxi boats, bus boats, and even just leisure boats. The water was everywhere, and the whole city was just beautiful. We saw Marco Polo's house, and I think I know why we play the game Marco Polo in the pool. You see, I always knew that he was an explorer, but in Venice two of the major areas are called "Marco" and "Polo", and they are separated by one of the main waterways. So I could just picture the people from Marco screaming to the other people in Polo. His house was also on that stretch. I don't know, but it makes pretty good sense to me.
We only had the day in Venice before we traveled to Florence, so as soon we passed through San Marco Square, we tried to get a gondola. This is definitely the way to go to see this city. On the way we noticed that there were birds (pigeons) flying everywhere! So naturally I wanted to have them fly on me and be cool like the others, so I got some bread and well basically it was a wrap. These pigeons were actually very friendly, and it was cool seeing them in that manner. So after the birds we walked around and finally found a gondola. Those gondola guys are really masters with their boats, and they basically can maneuver wherever there is a place to go (they must be on the Tony Decker plan). The ride was about 40 minutes, and we saw everything. He is the one who showed us Marco Polo's house. He didn't sing, so I was a little bummed, but the view from the gondola and the whole experience was something that will stay with me for a long time to come. I just can't believe how there is a city completely built on the water. That still amazes me.
Ok, so then we were off to Florence. I'm pretty sure this place was one of my favorites. We had a whole day-and-a-half in Florence, so I really got to explore it. Our hostel was located about five minutes from the famous Duomo. That thing is absolutely huge and definitely something I recommend seeing. We were also located a good five minutes away from the David. We went into the museum and saw him and just WOW! The dude is enormous. I was not expecting the sculpture to be as gigantic as it was. That Michelangelo sure was onto something when he made this guy. There was a host of spectators all in awe just gazing at this naked man. Apparently you are not allowed to take pictures here either (the story of my life in Italy), but I managed to snag a few to prove that I was there.
So seeing David should have been the highlight of my trip right? Well, it was until I was walking down a random street, sporting my Temple Football gear, on my way back to my hostel when this man came up to me and said, "Do you know Tony Decker?" I could not help but smile and laugh. Coach Decker is famous worldwide, and this man, who used to coach at Richmond, made sure to let me know that he is the man. So kudos, Coach Deck! As this man and I talked, he finally looked at me and said, "Oh yeah, you're the kid from the internet." I smiled and said yes and was relieved that someone else may have been reading the blog!
Our final stop was Pisa. There is nothing to see in Pisa at all except the great Leaning Tower of Pisa, and we planned it so we could stop by and take some famous pictures. I'm pretty sure I took just about every picture you could with that building. Well, not me, but my friend Dave who traveled with us. You see Dave and his girlfriend Kori have a little problem. They go to Penn State. Now hold on, we will not hold it against them yet. These two are actually very nice people, and I must give them credit, because they did choose to do the Temple Rome program instead of Penn State Rome, so I guess they are starting to see the light. Plus I have to thank them for most of the photos of me that you see, because at every spot I was nagging them to make sure that they get a good picture.
So finally we arrived back at Rome, and I was definitely happy to be what I call home. It was a great weekend with a lot of activity and travel. And actually right before I sat down to write this, I was having a gelato in front of the Pantheon when I saw Will Arnett (Blades of Glory and Arrested Development) and Dax Shepard (Without a Paddle and Employee of the Month) were standing also having a gelato. I noticed them, went up and asked for a picture. The girl who was with them agreed to take it, and everyone was very nice. So I went home to check out more on these guys, because I couldn't remember their names, and it turns out that they are also filming a movie, and it is called When in Rome. So now my chances of being in a movie have doubled. By the way, when I got home and saw who was in the movie, I realized something: I had asked Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Veronica Mars) to take a picture with the guys. Man, I'm such a dummy! If only I had been on my game, I could have had all three in the picture!
Word of the day: Arrivederci (a-REE-va-dare-chee) -this word simply means "see you soon". Anytime I am out to eat before I leave, I will say Ciao Arrivederci. Also, I like this word, because it just sounds so Italian!
Until next week!
Ciao Arrivederci
- Felipo (a.k.a. Phil Bartocci)
