Coming at you from Tarquinia, Italy on September 16, 2019.

Bloggers: Mack and Kylie

Steps Taken: 18,500

Today we all packed our bags, moved out of our apartments, and began our first of many trips throughout Italy.

Despite our travels to Veii, a city in south Etruria eventually conquered by Rome, going smoothly, the day took a sudden turn when the Temple of Apollo we had hoped to see at Veii was fenced off, with no site employees in sight. And so we Americans learned a valuable lesson today: Monday is the Italian Sunday, and thus very few sites are actually open. Instead of going into the archaeological site we stared from behind the gate as Professor Stewart lectured about the history of Veii, the geography of Etruria, and the characteristics of Etruscan temples.

Our afternoon destination was also closed, so we decided at the last second to go to Cosa instead, a Roman colony with large walls still standing, another Etruscan temple, and a forum. On our way to Cosa Professor Stewart was generous enough to let us have a sit-down lunch, a mistake she will never make again. The waiter had informed us that certain dishes would take over 20 minutes to make (we informed him that we wanted to be in and out in 30), but he failed to inform us that the fried chicken Mack ordered was really baked chicken, which held up everyone’s food for an additional hour. For the remainder of the meal, Mack lived in fear of being sacrificed to Jupiter Optimus Maximus at Cosa.

After arriving at Cosa we measured the temple to see if it would meet the expected proportions of Etruscan temples outlined in Professor Stewart’s morning lecture. Unfortunately it did not, but the exercise was a learning experience nonetheless. We then walked to the forum at Cosa, where we learned that the Comitium, a meeting place for those politically involved at Cosa, was intentionally designed so that politicians would both have to stand during their meetings and have no shade to stand under. These uncomfortable design choices encouraged politicians to speak and act more decisively, as they would have wanted their meetings to end promptly.

After one final bus ride to the Italian town Tarquinia, where we are staying the night, we enjoyed a nice group dinner featuring more pasta, chicken that took less than an hour to cook, and crème brûlée.

Grazie e ciao!