Temple Owls Visit Rome

3.8.24 | General

Follow along with the Owls on their 2024 spring break trip.

Reminder these student-athletes are participating in a course – Sport & Culture in Rome, led by Dr. Amy Gidding in the School of Sport, Tourism & Hospitality Management.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7 - Day 6

Women's soccer's Jessica Carrieri and football's Corey Yeoman blog about Day 6 in Italy.

Jessica Carrieri, Women’s Soccer

The group took a day trip to Florence! We took a train ride and arrived at Santa Maria Novella station. We started with our first tour of the day at Academy of Fine Arts where we saw the famous David statue. It’s the first statue that made Michelangelo famous. He made it when he was only twenty-six and it stands at seventeen feet tall and weighs six tons of marble. After, we started our walking tour of Florence. We learned that the region is known for its 18K gold and fine leather. Fortunately, we were grateful to have an information session on jewelry and leather at a local store. The group stopped for lunch at Casa Toscana and everyone tried the famous Florentine steak! We passed Piazza Santa Croce and the chocolate festival was going on, so we got to try a bunch of chocolate from local vendors. The next stop was walking across the famous Ponte Vecchio which was the oldest bridge in Florence and only one that survived the bombings in WW2. The day ended at the Republic Square which was considered the birthplace of Florence. It was a very exciting and entertaining day!

Corey Yeoman, Football

The wake up was the earliest of the week but by far the best. The least amount of walking taking a bus to the train station instead of walking to it then being surprised with business class tickets so there was plenty of leg room and comfortable seats to get a great nap in. We started off walking around seeing nice buildings and stores but my favorite was the cathedral it reminded me of some of the museums we saw on previous days and the Vatican the day prior it felt like it was a mixture of all in one and we only saw the outside of the building. My second favorite was the lunch we had at “casa toscana” I had the rarest steak over ever eaten and it wasn’t too bad the flavor was amazing just may have moo’d at me while it was on the plate. At the end of the day we had some free time and the guys walked around and shopped and ended the day/night with some gelato and head back for the train ride home.

PHOTOS FROM DAY 6

Photos (L to R): Students, faculty and staff group shot in front of the Arno River in Florence; Class photo in front of the Duomo, Florence’s Cathedral

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 - Day 5

Women's soccer's Hailey Morris and Addy Bielski from field hockey blog about Day 5 in Italy.

Hailey Morris, Women’s Soccer

Today we had a little bit of free time to explore the city and do some shopping! Later in the day we had the opportunity to tour the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. We learned about the history of the Vatican and Catholic Church. There were various pieces of art and statues that dated back several hundred years ago. It was an amazing experience to immerse myself in the history and culture of the Vatican City!

Addy Bielski, Field Hockey

Today the group participated in tours within Vatican City. These were tours of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museum. What I found to be most interesting is that although Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, it contains the largest museum in the world and the largest church in the world. While touring St. Peter’s Basilica, we saw the Madonna della Pietà which was created by Michelangelo. This statue pictures the Virgin Mary with a small torso and very large legs holding Jesus Christ. My favorite part of today was the Sistine Chapel. I found the paintings and the stories behind them breathtaking and it is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

PHOTOS FROM DAY 5

Photos (L to R): Student photo from inside the Vatican Musuem; Students pose with Dr. Giddings in front of the Vatican.

TUESDAY, MARCH 5 - Day 4

Women's track & field's Jade Pope and Amira Green blog about Day 4 in Italy.

Jade Pope, Women’s Track & Field

Today we visited Galleria Borghese containing some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. What I found most interesting are the realistic textures that were presented on the marble sculptures, by incorporating the visual textures it allowed me to understand the backstory of each individual sculpture told by our tour guide. This brings me to my favorite sculpture by far called “Ratto di Proserpina.” This sculpture showed the God Pluto attempting to attack the queen of the underworld Proserpina. The event angered her father who slowly turned her into a plant for her to be saved. Enjoyed every moment of this beautiful gallery!

Amira Green, Women’s Track & Field

Today we woke up early to meet outside the hotel at 7:30 for breakfast, meeting with Ingrid and Annika to walk with them to Galleria Borghese. Which was a museum where we got the opportunity to see different sculptures, and went into a detailed explanation of the meaning behind the different decisions the artist made to get his point across delivered by our tour guide. My favorite sculpture was the Vinus Victrix by Canova which had great details around the whole sculpture. This statue also had the technological capabilities to rotate which they did when showing the sculpture to their audience back in the day but now not so much, just for special occasions due to how delicate it is. This sculpture also caused a stir of gossip for its time period since it was a nude sculpture with the face of a very prevalent figure of the time and everyone could tell who it was. We then took a bus over to view a private viewing of the Temple Rome art exhibit and talked with other temple students who are studying abroad for the semester. Our last scheduled group activity was going to the Olympic Stadium and receiving a private tour. As athletes ourselves this was a great experience to see where the first Olympics took place and see the different sculptures, and tiled symbols to represent different sports that are now played all around the world. We ended the day going back to the hotel to relax before exploring Rome nightlife.

PHOTOS FROM DAY 4

Photos (L to R): Students tour Galleria Borghese; Students, faculty and staff group picture during a private tour of the Olympic Stadium.

MONDAY, MARCH 4 - Day 3

James Faminu of football and women's soccer's Phoebe Hollin blog about Day 3 in Italy.

James Faminu, Football

Monday 4th March, Temple Athletics took a trip to Colosseo to tour one of the seven wonders of the world, the Roman Arena erected in the first century after the Nero dynasty. His successor, Vespasian, ordered the creation of the arena to change the legacy left by the narcissistic Nero and offer a place of entertainment for the people of Rome. The arena is a marvel of innovation and engineering that has had a direct impact on modern architecture and the creation of modern stadiums. It was one of the first structures to use cement in their building process. The ground of the colosseum is what is left after the construction of the stands and surrounding area which is approximately 100ft. This has influenced how we measure our modern fields at 100 yards. This was an incredible experience that will not be easy to forget!!

Phoebe Hollin, Women’s Soccer

The first stop on our trip today was one of seven wonders of the world, The Colosseo, or as we call it The Colosseum, or as its more formally known the Flavian Amphitheatre! The Colosseum gets its well-known title from the 150ft statue of Emperor Nero that stood on the grounds before the Amphitheatre was erected, the statue was nicknamed “Coloso” due to its size. The structure and architecture of the Colosseum placed the Romans way ahead of their time, mechanisms first introduced in order to execute the perfect battle arena are still used in modern day society. The arena was constructed not only so the Romans could enjoy thrilling spectacles but also to demonstrate how powerful and wealthy the Romans were. The Colosseum that remains standing today can be a direct correlation to the rise and fall of the Roman empire, yet also tells an astonishing story about how the Romans still have an ever-lasting impact on our society.

PHOTOS FROM DAY 3

Photos (L to R): Class photo of students, faculty and staff in front of the Colosseum; Temple Rome Architecture Professor Andrew Kranis explains one of the many exhibits inside of the Colosseum

SUNDAY, MARCH 3 - Day 2

Football's Dante Wright and women's soccer's Natalie Demasi blog about Day 2 in Italy.

Dante Wright, Football

Today we did a tour of the Centro area looking at Navona and Pantheon. I really enjoyed seeing the sculptures and the fountains. The detail on the art always amazes me. We also did a multimedia museum which was very informative and I liked the film that showed a quick history lesson on Rome. Really excited for what we’ll see for the rest of the trip. Rome is beautiful.

Natalie Demasi, Women’s Soccer

We started off our day getting breakfast in the hotel and left shortly after for a walking tour of Navona, Pantheon, etc. Luisa is the best possible tour guide and she knows all the short cuts and best ways to get around a crowd without making you miss out of everything. When we got to the Pantheon, we got gelato, which was one of the best I’ve ever had. We continued walking and saw where Julius Caesar was assassinated at Curia of Pompey. We then went through a flea market with authentic Italian seasonings, pasta, oil, engraved wooden spoons, and clothes. After we had some free time, and some of us walked near the Trevi fountain to get lunch and go to the 4 floor Zara. We went to a restaurant and ordered pizza, I got the four cheese pizza (Quattro) and Addison, Phoebe, and Reese got the napoleon pizza. After that we got ready for experience Rome and dinner. The walks are always pleasant, and although they are long, it’s a great experience to be able to really see Rome and feel the environment more. For dinner, we got some meats & cheeses, fresh bruschetta, bread, then gnocchi, cacio e pepi, and finished with desert. I was so excited because we finally got to have a cannoli. Overall it was a great day 2 and i am excited for the colosseum tomorrow!

PHOTOS FROM DAY 2

Photos (L to R): Members of Temple Football pose in front of the fountain in Plaza Navona; Members of Women’s Soccer and Field Hockey stop and pose for a picture during their walking tour of Rome.

SATURDAY, MARCH 2 - Day 1

Alexa Swetz of women's soccer and Olivia Vance of volleyball blog about Day 1 in Italy.

Alexa Swetz, Women’s Soccer

After a very long plane and it being the middle of the night our time, when we landed we were filled with excitement to hit the town running. We arrived in the morning met with Gianni who is amazing, and dropped our bags off at the hotel and immediately went to a cute Roman coffee shop. We then got see Temple Rome where we met our amazing tour guide, Luisa. She took us around all the sites in the city including the Trevi fountain that beat all expectations. We ended the day with a very very big dinner that consisted of the best pasta I have ever had and many laughs with my classmates.

Oliva Vance, Volleyball

We landed here in Italy at 7am, headed right to our hotel to check into our twin bed hotel rooms. We had a light breakfast and went to TU Rome’s Campus for our orientation and introduction to our tour guide for the day Luisa. With her we explored some significant areas of Rome such as: the Spanish Steps (Piazza di spangna), Piazza Del Popolo, and Sant’Ignazio of Loyala Church, to name a few. After a long day of walking almost 5 miles, we had dinner at La Fraschetta Romanesca. We were served Italian appetizers of bruschetta and a charcuterie board. Followed by lots of pasta, meatballs, and of course completed with desert.

It was also my 23rd birthday so we made the dinner a special occasion and I even got a special desert brought out for me with a candle!

We concluded our night out on the town exploring the Rome night life!

PHOTOS FROM DAY 1