Temple University Athletics
Phil Bartocci Blog: June 24
6.24.08 | 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 24, 2008
Ciao bella!
First off, I want to thank my boy Billy, who stepped away from YouTube for a second to let me write my blog and post my pictures on his computer.
So another week, another blog, and I am ready to share some more insight from my adventures. Now that I have been here for a little over four weeks, I have become acclimated to daily life in Roma. This place is like a fine wine-- it gets better and better the longer you have it. I can't believe that I only have two weeks left, and then it is back to reality. I am really going to try to enjoy everything and take in the sights as best I can over the next couple weeks. O.k., enough with the sappy stuff and into my weekly events.
The week as usual was pretty typical, going to class and exploring Roma. I had a midterm in my Italian class, and I'm sure Coach Golden would be happy to hear that I got an A on it. I am learning a lot in class, and I love going out into the city and practicing my Italian whenever I can. However, it is funny, because as soon as I start spitting out some Italian, the person I am talking to begins talking to me in English. It is absolutely amazing how many people can speak and/or understand English. Everywhere I go, people can speak at least a little to help me; it is comforting, but at the same time annoying because sometimes I want to practice what I have learned.
So our weekly excursion landed my class in Capararola (Palazzo Farnese) and Viterbo. It was very scenic, and the reason we went there was because we were studying Renaissance architecture in my art history class. It was cool. There was some very beautiful buildings and some cool fountains, and it was just a nice trip in general. The one thing that I thought was very cool was when we entered a room and there on the wall was one of the first maps of the entire world. I'm pretty sure it was a map that was drawn by Amerigo Vespucci, and it was amazing how back then without any technology a person could know what the world looks like. I say this because by looking at it compared to maps that we have today, it is not that far off at all.
The week went by fast, and I was ready to travel for the weekend. I headed to Naples and Sorrento. Now the weekend started off with a bang. Our train was delayed two hours and once we landed in Naples at about 2 a.m., we had missed the last train to Sorrento. This was not so good. I don't know what you guys know about Naples, but this nice man on the train (who happened to be a cop) was telling me how the mafia runs the show. He then told me that Naples is very beautiful in the morning, but pretty damn scary at night if you don't know where to go or what to do. So this was a problem. We tried to explain our situation to the cab driver, and we got him to lower his price down from 150 euro to 80 euro. This man was even scared for us! So finally we arrived in our hostel in Sorrento.
"Seven" was the name of the hostel, and I am pretty sure that I have never ever stayed in a place as awesome or as beautiful as this. This place was too good to be true. It had only been open for 10 days, so we were basically the first batch of customers. The hostel had everything from Nintendo Wii to outdoor couches (which were massive). Pictures don't even do this place justice. There were lemon trees everywhere, and the view from the top deck was gorgeous. The staff was so helpful and so excited to help us every step along the way. We met with the owner, and he explained his vision to us. He told us that staying in a hostel shouldn't be looked upon as something undesirable and that he wanted to make the whole experience amazing. He definitely did. This place got a fantastic review from me on Hostelworld.com, and I was happy to know that I was just the second person to give a review.
Sorrento was full of beautiful sights and beaches. The water was so clear, and you could swim for days in it. So after a long day at the beach, I returned to the hostel to hang there for the night, because everyone does that because it is so amazing. I walked in and I saw a group of people sitting down, and I spotted the Husky. Now I saw this kid wearing some straight up authentic looking UCONN shorts. These are the type of shorts that you get only if you go to the school like at the bookstore or something. So I initiated conversation, and I was right. They were Huskies. I was proudly wearing my Temple football shirt, and the conversation shifted. At first they weren't too friendly, but after some good conversation, they openly admitted to me with a smile that "you guys definitely beat us." So it made me happy to know that even some Huskies knew the truth. They were really nice people, and we hung out with them for most of the night. Who would have thought that I traveled all the way to Sorrento to hang out with a bunch of kids from UCONN. It is truly a small world.
The next day I went to the beach again and back to the hostel. I was so happy to make so many new friends. I met a group of people from Canada and another group from Dublin. The kids from Dublin went to Trinity College, and they were a group of traveling actors. They were all very nice, and I was pleased to find out that later this week they would be in Roma, and they asked me to be their tour guide. I then walked across the main area and saw a girl wearing a Phillies shirt. Now I am a Yankees fan, BUT I mean it is hard not to like the Phillies, too. Since living in Philly I have made an executive decision to root for the Phillies as my NL team. I found out that her group was a bunch of girls from the Westchester area who went to Penn State. They too were a pleasure to meet. So all weekend, I was surrounded by Huskies, Lions, actors, and Canucks. What's better than that?
On the train home I stopped at Pompeii and saw some ruins (and another kid wearing a Phillies hat from UPENN) and made my way to Naples. I had to have some famous Napoli pizza, and it certainly lives up to its reputation. After I ate, I wanted to see some more of the city. It was nice to finally see some skyscrapers. They were the first that I had seen in Italy so far. Then I remembered what that nice cop told me about Naples: the mafia owns the garbage companies, and they have been fighting with the government for the past couple of months, so now they just don't pick up the trash. I didn't believe it at first until I saw it with my own eyes. There was garbage everywhere! The city smelled like a big dump, and I quickly made my way out of there. It's kind of crazy to think that there could just be garbage all over a city as beautiful and famous as Naples.
So finally I made it back to home sweet home in Roma. I was craving something American, and I satisfied that hunger. A group of us went to the Hard Rock Café Rome. As Borat would say, "Great success!" I was a happy person when I saw all of the American food and the U.S. Embassy in the background. It was nice to have a little taste of the states, and the red, white, and bleu burger I ordered was well worth it. And for the first time since I have been to Roma, there was free water! Now I call that a great night!
Word of the day: Piacere (Pee-A-chair-Ay) - This word simply means pleasure. After you meet someone, you say it, and it basically means that it is a pleasure to meet you! Also piacere is the verb "to like"; so whenever you like something, you use this verb to show your fondness of it. Also for any of you soccer fans (which I have become more and more since I have been here), we all mourn together for Italia's elimination from the Eurocup!
So until next time!
Ciao Arrivederci!
Filippo (a.k.a. Phil Bartocci)
(I have been spelling my own name wrong! I received a nice e-mail from a Temple alum named Sal Salamone, and he kindly pointed out to me that I was spelling my name wrong. Thanks, Sal!)
P.S. If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations on something I have to see while I am here, or if anyone had any questions, please feel free to contact me at phil.bartocci@temple.edu.
