Italian Physicists

There is a church in Florence called Santa Croce. Within the church are burials and memorials, many of which are dedicated to famous Italian physicists. The most famous, Galileo, is buried here. Galileo is probably most well known for his work involving telescopes. There is also a small memorial for Enrico Fermi and Guglielmo Marconi. Fermi made a lot of progress in the field of nuclear physics and Marconi is credited with inventing the radio.

the front facade of Santa Croce

Galileo's tomb and memorial

a plaque dedicated to Fermi

Marconi's plaque

Ponte Vecchio

This bridge is called Ponte Vecchio. It crosses the Arno River in Florence, Italy. It was built during the Medieval time period and is famous because it still has shops along the side of it like many bridges used to have during the middle ages. It was the only bridge not destroyed during WWII.

School in Rome

Today I visited a school in Rome. It is an international school. Only about 1/3 of the students are native Italians, the rest are from all over the world. In Rome there is a United Nations headquarters for something involving agriculture. Many people from around the world that work here send their children to this school. Also sons and daughters of people who work at embassies attend this school. There are even some kids there whose fathers play professional soccer. The countries that the different students are from are represented by flags that are hanging in the center of the building. I got some good contacts at the school and will hopefully be able to set up some pen pals of some sort. I also learned about another international school in Dubai, UAE, so maybe I will be going there on another trip.

a class I visited

the flags representing the student body

Largo di Torre Argentina

The Largo di Torre Argentina is a square in Rome composed of the ruins of four temples and a place called Pompey's Theatre. Pompey the Great was a member for the first Triumvirate, along with Julius Caesar and Marcus Crassus. The reason this place is significant is because there were certain rooms in the theatre that Senators met. It is believed that Caesar was stabbed and killed in one of these rooms.

this photo is also interesting because you can see the mix of the ancient ruins right next to the modern buildings in the background

 

The Vatican

Vatican City is the world's smallest independent state by both land area and population. The Vatican is home to the Pope. The Pope is the head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. Within the Vatican are historical landmarks like St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums. These three sites contain some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures.

The outside of St. Peter's Basilica, the world's largest church. Here you can also see St. Peter's Square where mass conducted by the Pope occurs

the cupola of St. Peter's, you can climb to the top to see great views of Rome

Michaelangelo's Pieta, located within St. Peter's

A Swiss guard, they are the bodyguards to the Pope

Some of the many paintings on the ceiling of St. Peter's. The most impressive and famous paintings were located in the Sistine Chapel, however photos were not allowed there. Fortunately, the Vatican has a virtual tour of the chapel on their website, http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Gelato

Gelato is a very popular dessert in Italy. There are places to buy it on every corner. It is similar to ice cream, but some of the ingredients and preparation process is slightly different. There are also some different flavors that I have never seen in American ice cream stores.

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is located in the very center of Rome. This area is full of ancient ruins from the height of the Roman Empire. The traces of many important government buildings and temples can be seen here. The Forum is located in between two of Rome’s seven hills, the Palatine and Capitoline hills.

here you can see the different types of bricks that were used

this was a temple

this was likely some sort of government building