So, I didn't really succeed in making a blog about all of my adventures. I only talked about a few things compared to the thousands of things I experience.
I have been back for just under 4 weeks. I want to go back. It is hard to describe to people the experience. Most things just sound artificial. How many different ways can one say amazing? unbelievable? unforgettable?
And, then there is when they just ask to tell stories? Where do I start?
Or, what was your favorite part? Of the million different aspects how am I possibly supposed to pick just one?
And, when I do talk about it, how do I avoid bragging and exploiting all the travel and experiences. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience that unfortunately will not make it to many people's ranks of once in a lifetime.
I miss Roma, and the people I met there so much. And I know that one day I will go back, I have to. But, I can't even imagine how different it will seem.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Easter Weekend in Dublin!
So for Easter I decided to leave the Catholic capital and head to Dublin. Another place that I have always wanted to go!
I went with one other girl and we ended up having three full days there. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Saturday and Monday were spent seeing the sights of Dublin while Sunday was spent on a day bus tour to the Wicklow Mountains.
Since I am so far behind on postings I am just going to give a brief over view of some of the things we did. We took a tour of Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells, we saw St. Patrick's Church, Christ's Cathedral, took a tour of Dublin Castle, took a tour of Kilmainham Gaol, went to the Guiness Storehouse (and the best part was definitely the top bar which is really high and completely glass windows all the way around so you can see out over all of Dublin), we walked thought part of Phoenix Park, and just walked around and possibly something I forgot to mention. So that pretty much sums up Saturday and Monday.
Sunday on the bus tour we basically just went and stopped at different places to get out look around and take pictures. We also stopped for food which I will mention a bit more about in a minute, and took a half an hour walk down a nature path near some small lakes that was gorgeous. And we got a small tour of a monastery. It was a very good tour and absolutely gorgeous.
I tried to eat some more Irish type foods and such since they are SO different from Italian cuisine. I have some Beef Stew, Cottage Pie (which makes that weekend probably the most red meat that I have eaten in forever seeing how at home I don't eat red meat and put that on hold for study abroad even though from day to day I still don't really eat much meat) and Fish and Chips (more English but its so close). The food is definitely a lot heavier and heartier than Italian pasta and such (which I should probably talk more about at some point).
My last thing to mention about Dublin is that there is a lot more American feel. Of course it helps that they speak English (extremely strong accent or not) but there is just a more American feel overall, they have Starbucks and such. They have their own fast food restaurants on top of McDonald's and Burger King. And I think that we partisipated in things that were more a kin to being home i the US as opposed to studying abroad in Europe. I actually had some Starbucks, we watched the MSU basketball game (unfortunately we lost...) but watching it makes me really miss MSU and school spirit. I love Rome, but I am not a fan of AUR. And we went to see a movie, Shutter Island (which was extremely creepy but good), since we liked the prospect that all the movies were in English and we didn't have to figure out where they were playing English movies.
That pretty sums up my weekend in Dublin and I definitely want to spend more time in Ireland at some point!
I went with one other girl and we ended up having three full days there. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Saturday and Monday were spent seeing the sights of Dublin while Sunday was spent on a day bus tour to the Wicklow Mountains.
Since I am so far behind on postings I am just going to give a brief over view of some of the things we did. We took a tour of Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells, we saw St. Patrick's Church, Christ's Cathedral, took a tour of Dublin Castle, took a tour of Kilmainham Gaol, went to the Guiness Storehouse (and the best part was definitely the top bar which is really high and completely glass windows all the way around so you can see out over all of Dublin), we walked thought part of Phoenix Park, and just walked around and possibly something I forgot to mention. So that pretty much sums up Saturday and Monday.
Sunday on the bus tour we basically just went and stopped at different places to get out look around and take pictures. We also stopped for food which I will mention a bit more about in a minute, and took a half an hour walk down a nature path near some small lakes that was gorgeous. And we got a small tour of a monastery. It was a very good tour and absolutely gorgeous.
I tried to eat some more Irish type foods and such since they are SO different from Italian cuisine. I have some Beef Stew, Cottage Pie (which makes that weekend probably the most red meat that I have eaten in forever seeing how at home I don't eat red meat and put that on hold for study abroad even though from day to day I still don't really eat much meat) and Fish and Chips (more English but its so close). The food is definitely a lot heavier and heartier than Italian pasta and such (which I should probably talk more about at some point).
My last thing to mention about Dublin is that there is a lot more American feel. Of course it helps that they speak English (extremely strong accent or not) but there is just a more American feel overall, they have Starbucks and such. They have their own fast food restaurants on top of McDonald's and Burger King. And I think that we partisipated in things that were more a kin to being home i the US as opposed to studying abroad in Europe. I actually had some Starbucks, we watched the MSU basketball game (unfortunately we lost...) but watching it makes me really miss MSU and school spirit. I love Rome, but I am not a fan of AUR. And we went to see a movie, Shutter Island (which was extremely creepy but good), since we liked the prospect that all the movies were in English and we didn't have to figure out where they were playing English movies.
That pretty sums up my weekend in Dublin and I definitely want to spend more time in Ireland at some point!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
So over a month ago...
I know this is way after the fact and as such I don't remember all the details and will just briefly mention my week and weekend with Sarah and Hanna.
Two posts ago was when they first arrived. As mentioned it was Sarah's birthday the day they arrived. We went to dinner for her birthday in a cute restaurant in Trestevere and had amazing tiramisu. We then walked around the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain and things to see them lit up. And of course got gelato.
The next few days included seeing all the major sights of Rome. Some of which they did on their own since I had class and some of the things I did with them included St. Peter's Basilica which is so huge and so gorgeous. (A little too ornate at times, but shhh I didn't say that.) We also climbed the dome and saw out over Rome (if you haven't noticed I love getting good views out over cities). We also did the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (we tried to get a tour and it was a major fail...)
They then went off to Florence and I met them Friday. Since I had seen all the sights I had wanted to see there I sent them to do all of those before I got there. Then we focused on the leather markets. I had absolutely no intention of buying a leather jacket. But guess what I ended up with? A leather jacket. That I have actually worn a lot. I never imagined myself wearing a leather jacket, but when in Rome, right?
Saturday, we took a train to Cinque Terre and spent a large portion of the day hiking the trail by the water. unfortunately the train between the third and fifth town was closed so we only got to hike half of it. It was breath taking-ly gorgeous and the weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny as could be and not too hot for hiking.
The next day, since some annoying woman told us that the trails were closed on Sunday (so false!) we took the train to the fifth town which is the only one that has a beach and walked around a bit and ate gelato on the beach. It was perfect! And since Cinque Terre is in teh Ligurian region of Italy which is the one were pesto is from and pine nuts they had pine nut flavored gelato that was delicious.
That pretty much wrapped up my time with Sarah and Hanna. We took a train back to Rome and they were off to the airport extremely early on Monday morning. I had such a great time with them and am so happy that they could come!!
Two posts ago was when they first arrived. As mentioned it was Sarah's birthday the day they arrived. We went to dinner for her birthday in a cute restaurant in Trestevere and had amazing tiramisu. We then walked around the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain and things to see them lit up. And of course got gelato.
The next few days included seeing all the major sights of Rome. Some of which they did on their own since I had class and some of the things I did with them included St. Peter's Basilica which is so huge and so gorgeous. (A little too ornate at times, but shhh I didn't say that.) We also climbed the dome and saw out over Rome (if you haven't noticed I love getting good views out over cities). We also did the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (we tried to get a tour and it was a major fail...)
They then went off to Florence and I met them Friday. Since I had seen all the sights I had wanted to see there I sent them to do all of those before I got there. Then we focused on the leather markets. I had absolutely no intention of buying a leather jacket. But guess what I ended up with? A leather jacket. That I have actually worn a lot. I never imagined myself wearing a leather jacket, but when in Rome, right?
Saturday, we took a train to Cinque Terre and spent a large portion of the day hiking the trail by the water. unfortunately the train between the third and fifth town was closed so we only got to hike half of it. It was breath taking-ly gorgeous and the weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny as could be and not too hot for hiking.
The next day, since some annoying woman told us that the trails were closed on Sunday (so false!) we took the train to the fifth town which is the only one that has a beach and walked around a bit and ate gelato on the beach. It was perfect! And since Cinque Terre is in teh Ligurian region of Italy which is the one were pesto is from and pine nuts they had pine nut flavored gelato that was delicious.
That pretty much wrapped up my time with Sarah and Hanna. We took a train back to Rome and they were off to the airport extremely early on Monday morning. I had such a great time with them and am so happy that they could come!!
A lot can happen in 10 days...
So, I am really behind on this blogging thing. I went on spring break and traveled through Europe for 10 days and obviously that means that there is a lot to talk about which just seemed so overwhelming to do I put it off, and put it off, and put it off. Which meant that I also spent a weekend in Dublin, Ireland that I haven't talked about yet and then another weekend with a revisit to Tivoli and a day trip to Tuscany to talk about as well. And then a weekend in the Amalfi Coast and not to mention a weekend of travels to Florence and Cinque Terre with Sarah and Hanna that happened BEFORE spring break.
As you can tell a lot has been happening and will be until the end of this journey. But first of all I want to tell some stories of spring break and that will take a while so bear with me.
I left the morning of Friday, March 19th. My plane was at 6:50 am to Zurich, Switzerland. Instead of waking up at essentially 2 am to go through torturous public transportation methods because of the hour to get to the airport on time I chose to take a set rate taxi. They said they would pick me up at 4:30. They were right on time... and made it to the airport at 4:40. This ride is supposed to take 35-45 minutes depending on traffic, there was no traffic, oh and the taxi driver was going 200km/h which is approximately 125 mph; let's just say that was a slightly scary cab ride.
I got to Zurich and had an interesting time finding my hostel; which even though it was sorta far from everything I was only there one night so it wasn't a big deal. The hostel was HUGE and extremely nice. The first day in Zurich I took a bus tour or the city and we also went in a cable car ride in the surrounding area and then a ferry across the water. It was gorgeous. You can see the alps like behind that water which is an amazingly beautiful combination.
The next day I walked around and saw some of the churches, climbed to the top of one to look out over everything, and most importantly of all I purchased a lot of Swiss chocolate. (Which I will be returning to the US with so if you catch me in time I might share a bit before its all gone!) Over all, Zurich was a really cool city and its not the most commonly visited but I would highly recommend it!
Then I was off to Interlaken. Not much to mention. The alps are of course gorgeous. Due to time and weather constraints I didn't get to ski in the Alps. The weather would have made it miserable and not worth how expensive it would have been to rent all the gear including a coat and snow pants etc.
But that does not mean my visit to the alps was adventure-less. I ended up going canyon jumping. I will post a video on facebook soon; but in short. They took us up into the alps and we hiked out to a canyon where there is a small metal platform. There are some intense rope set ups from which a big rope hangs that they attach to your harness and you then jump. It is about a 200 ft drop or so and then you swing back and forth a few times. It was AMAZING. One of the best things I have ever done! You should go try it like NOW and bring me with you.
After that adventure, off to Brussels I went. On the whole I was not a huge fan of Brussels. It was kind of cool but I just wasn't feeling it. Definitely not one of my faves but I am glad I saw it. I didn't do that much exciting. Just walked around seeing the sites and ate a lot of french fries and waffles.
Then my most anticipated and last stop of spring break: PARIS!
I have some family that lives and Paris and they were extremely kind and let me stay with them. Also, one of my roommates from Rome was in Paris at the same time so I saw some stuff with her and her friends a bit. The first day I did a walking tour and we saw Notre Dame, the Sorbonne, the Paris Pantheon, Les Invalides, the Rodin Museum, and got caught in a massive down pour.
The next day was the iconic Paris day: the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and Le Tour Eiffel. We stood in line, freezing, for over two hours. But it was really cool to see over Paris at night from the Eiffel Tower, we had planned to see it in the day... but the two hour wait kind of changed that. But we saw it sparkling from the second floor so that was really cool. (For those of you who don't know at night the Eiffel Tower sparkles every hour on the hour for five minutes making it seem even more spectacular.)
My last day in Paris I went to brunch with one of my cousins and walked around different parts of Paris seeing different things by myself. I got to see the Moulin Rouge which was exciting in the sense that that is my all time favorite movie.
There are a lot of things that I didn't get to see in Paris (including Versailles) but I guess that just means I have to go back!
That pretty much sums up my Spring Break. It was incredibly exhausting and I was sick for the entire Paris portion that was sort of a bummer but it was a great experience and I am so happy I got to see and do all those incredible things. It still blows my mind all this traveling I am doing!
Ciao Ciao!
As you can tell a lot has been happening and will be until the end of this journey. But first of all I want to tell some stories of spring break and that will take a while so bear with me.
I left the morning of Friday, March 19th. My plane was at 6:50 am to Zurich, Switzerland. Instead of waking up at essentially 2 am to go through torturous public transportation methods because of the hour to get to the airport on time I chose to take a set rate taxi. They said they would pick me up at 4:30. They were right on time... and made it to the airport at 4:40. This ride is supposed to take 35-45 minutes depending on traffic, there was no traffic, oh and the taxi driver was going 200km/h which is approximately 125 mph; let's just say that was a slightly scary cab ride.
I got to Zurich and had an interesting time finding my hostel; which even though it was sorta far from everything I was only there one night so it wasn't a big deal. The hostel was HUGE and extremely nice. The first day in Zurich I took a bus tour or the city and we also went in a cable car ride in the surrounding area and then a ferry across the water. It was gorgeous. You can see the alps like behind that water which is an amazingly beautiful combination.
The next day I walked around and saw some of the churches, climbed to the top of one to look out over everything, and most importantly of all I purchased a lot of Swiss chocolate. (Which I will be returning to the US with so if you catch me in time I might share a bit before its all gone!) Over all, Zurich was a really cool city and its not the most commonly visited but I would highly recommend it!
Then I was off to Interlaken. Not much to mention. The alps are of course gorgeous. Due to time and weather constraints I didn't get to ski in the Alps. The weather would have made it miserable and not worth how expensive it would have been to rent all the gear including a coat and snow pants etc.
But that does not mean my visit to the alps was adventure-less. I ended up going canyon jumping. I will post a video on facebook soon; but in short. They took us up into the alps and we hiked out to a canyon where there is a small metal platform. There are some intense rope set ups from which a big rope hangs that they attach to your harness and you then jump. It is about a 200 ft drop or so and then you swing back and forth a few times. It was AMAZING. One of the best things I have ever done! You should go try it like NOW and bring me with you.
After that adventure, off to Brussels I went. On the whole I was not a huge fan of Brussels. It was kind of cool but I just wasn't feeling it. Definitely not one of my faves but I am glad I saw it. I didn't do that much exciting. Just walked around seeing the sites and ate a lot of french fries and waffles.
Then my most anticipated and last stop of spring break: PARIS!
I have some family that lives and Paris and they were extremely kind and let me stay with them. Also, one of my roommates from Rome was in Paris at the same time so I saw some stuff with her and her friends a bit. The first day I did a walking tour and we saw Notre Dame, the Sorbonne, the Paris Pantheon, Les Invalides, the Rodin Museum, and got caught in a massive down pour.
The next day was the iconic Paris day: the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and Le Tour Eiffel. We stood in line, freezing, for over two hours. But it was really cool to see over Paris at night from the Eiffel Tower, we had planned to see it in the day... but the two hour wait kind of changed that. But we saw it sparkling from the second floor so that was really cool. (For those of you who don't know at night the Eiffel Tower sparkles every hour on the hour for five minutes making it seem even more spectacular.)
My last day in Paris I went to brunch with one of my cousins and walked around different parts of Paris seeing different things by myself. I got to see the Moulin Rouge which was exciting in the sense that that is my all time favorite movie.
There are a lot of things that I didn't get to see in Paris (including Versailles) but I guess that just means I have to go back!
That pretty much sums up my Spring Break. It was incredibly exhausting and I was sick for the entire Paris portion that was sort of a bummer but it was a great experience and I am so happy I got to see and do all those incredible things. It still blows my mind all this traveling I am doing!
Ciao Ciao!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
From Jet Lag and Exhaustion to Everyday Ordinary Life
Sarah and Hanna arrived today. (And they brought the sun with them! Can't wait to get pictures of things in the sun and not the rain and the clouds!) Seeing them experience their first few hours of being jet lagged and having no idea what was going on has reminded me that my arrival in Rome was not that long ago, yet it seems like it has been forever especially since things seem so normal and comfortable now.
Their jet lag and exhaustion is so typical and makes me so thankful to be adjusted to the new time zone and on a normal sleeping schedule because it took me a while just to get used to that. My roommate, Maria, and I would lie awake at night 'til 2 in the morning or so because we just weren't tired then and we had napped which always messes you up. It took a good 2 weeks to finally be able to go to sleep and get up at a normal time.
I dragged them from the airport to the train station at the airport and then on a train to the Trestevere train station then on the tram to a couple blocks from my apartment. They were amazed at how easy the public transportation seemed to me, but I had gotten a full nights sleep and had been there before, its amazing how simple things are once you just do it.
I brought them up to my apartment where they made comments about the size, we really did get lucky having nice big apartments, and comments about the strange bathrooms that seem completely normal. They also made comments about the cars and I know they look different than what you find in the US, different body shapes, smaller, more smart cars etc. And the traffic being crazy and not following any rules. All of this I remember easily how it seemed weird and new, yet now it seems normal and going back to the US will seem a bit strange at first now.
I took them to get their first pizza, that was also my first pizza in Rome. Its a place near by that actually isn't that great. I hadn't had it since my first day here and it was close and I didn't remember the quality. I will show them much better that is for sure (Simone's by school for one, not the absolute best in Rome, but really good. It's the one by school that a lot of people get for lunch.) They were so confused with the ordering and the language barrier. I by no means have gotten past the language barrier because I don't speak Italian, I know a few words but I am used to not really understanding everything and having to struggle to get my point across at times so its not really a big deal anymore.
It has been a lot of fun realizing how much I know about this place through telling them about things they need to know like how coffee works here and other things and just remembering that same dazed, jet lagged, exhausted, and confused state I was in when I first arrived here. The only sad thing is that they will have to leave before they completely get over it and I have had the privilege to be here for a while to really feel at home here.
They then went to nap for a few hours to be awake for some birthday festivities, dinner at a real Italian restaurant (nothing too touristy), dessert and/or some real gelato, walking around to see their first views of Rome and things like the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum lit up.
While they were(still are) napping I went to the grocery store and fruit and vegetable stand. I am so used to buying my own groceries now and I love having fresh fruit and vegetable stands all over the place. The fruit and vegetables so much better here, its all organic and not genetically modified. Sarah asked me why anyone would want to go back to the US after coming here and if it will be hard for me to go back. I told her that it would be nice to go back and really couldn't think of a reason why... but I could think of a lot of reason why not. I think now the only thing I can really think of that I really miss from home are my friends and family. Everything else I can get used to, and even start to enjoy and prefer. (Oh and I am not a huge fan of the actual school aspect here, I prefer classes at State; however, ultimately I prefer no classes at all.)
But, I am loving my experiences here, time is flying, and before I know it I will be back in the US. I hope to update soon on some things I am looking forward to and some more details of things I have seen in Rome that I haven't mentioned yet.
Ciao!
Their jet lag and exhaustion is so typical and makes me so thankful to be adjusted to the new time zone and on a normal sleeping schedule because it took me a while just to get used to that. My roommate, Maria, and I would lie awake at night 'til 2 in the morning or so because we just weren't tired then and we had napped which always messes you up. It took a good 2 weeks to finally be able to go to sleep and get up at a normal time.
I dragged them from the airport to the train station at the airport and then on a train to the Trestevere train station then on the tram to a couple blocks from my apartment. They were amazed at how easy the public transportation seemed to me, but I had gotten a full nights sleep and had been there before, its amazing how simple things are once you just do it.
I brought them up to my apartment where they made comments about the size, we really did get lucky having nice big apartments, and comments about the strange bathrooms that seem completely normal. They also made comments about the cars and I know they look different than what you find in the US, different body shapes, smaller, more smart cars etc. And the traffic being crazy and not following any rules. All of this I remember easily how it seemed weird and new, yet now it seems normal and going back to the US will seem a bit strange at first now.
I took them to get their first pizza, that was also my first pizza in Rome. Its a place near by that actually isn't that great. I hadn't had it since my first day here and it was close and I didn't remember the quality. I will show them much better that is for sure (Simone's by school for one, not the absolute best in Rome, but really good. It's the one by school that a lot of people get for lunch.) They were so confused with the ordering and the language barrier. I by no means have gotten past the language barrier because I don't speak Italian, I know a few words but I am used to not really understanding everything and having to struggle to get my point across at times so its not really a big deal anymore.
It has been a lot of fun realizing how much I know about this place through telling them about things they need to know like how coffee works here and other things and just remembering that same dazed, jet lagged, exhausted, and confused state I was in when I first arrived here. The only sad thing is that they will have to leave before they completely get over it and I have had the privilege to be here for a while to really feel at home here.
They then went to nap for a few hours to be awake for some birthday festivities, dinner at a real Italian restaurant (nothing too touristy), dessert and/or some real gelato, walking around to see their first views of Rome and things like the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum lit up.
While they were(still are) napping I went to the grocery store and fruit and vegetable stand. I am so used to buying my own groceries now and I love having fresh fruit and vegetable stands all over the place. The fruit and vegetables so much better here, its all organic and not genetically modified. Sarah asked me why anyone would want to go back to the US after coming here and if it will be hard for me to go back. I told her that it would be nice to go back and really couldn't think of a reason why... but I could think of a lot of reason why not. I think now the only thing I can really think of that I really miss from home are my friends and family. Everything else I can get used to, and even start to enjoy and prefer. (Oh and I am not a huge fan of the actual school aspect here, I prefer classes at State; however, ultimately I prefer no classes at all.)
But, I am loving my experiences here, time is flying, and before I know it I will be back in the US. I hope to update soon on some things I am looking forward to and some more details of things I have seen in Rome that I haven't mentioned yet.
Ciao!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
It's the Leaning Tower of Pisa!! ...Wait that's it??
I spent last weekend in Florence and then we took a quick trip to Pisa on Sunday before heading back to Rome. I went with 6 other girls, 3 of my roommates and 3 others. We got up early, way too early, on Friday to get to the train station and get to Florence on a fast train by 10 am. We then went to our hostel and found out that we were basically staying in what could have been an apartment. There were two separate bedrooms, one with 5 beds, one with 2. And then there was a living room, a kitchen that wasn't really in working condition, and a bathroom. So we had a lot of space as compared to a lot of hostels. The hostel was great and the people were very friendly and we met the owner of the property that spoke to us in Italian for a bit (I however did not catch that much of this, but I did get the gist of quite a few things.)
On Friday we then got a reservation for the Uffizi for Saturday and then headed to Galleria Academia to see David. David was incredible, the rest of the museum however was not that spectacular. There was a room with a ton of other statues that was pretty cool and some of the unfinished Michelangelo sculptures were interesting to see because of seeing the work mid process. Other than that nothing noteworthy. After that we saw the Ponte Vecchio, which is the only bridge over the Arno in Florence that survived the Nazis. We also saw that Duomo which is gigantic. And then one of the coolest things we did was climbed to the top of the dome and looked out over Florence; it was an amazing view... that only took 463 steps to get to. Its sightseeing with a work out, that is for sure. After that we just wandered around a bit and then went in a few churches until the awkward time when all the touristy sightseeing places are closed and its not quite time to eat.
For dinner that night we went to a restaurant that was recommended to one of the people we were with for the amazing pear pasta, which is apparently a Florence thing. So of course, I had to try the pear pasta. It was a stuffed pasta (with pear of course) in a mild cheese/cream sauce. It was way better than I ever though combining pear and pasta would be. Definitely a must find if you ever go to Florence.
Saturday, we went to the Uffizi where we were overloaded with art among which was the Birth of Venus. After that we went to Pitti Palace and walked around that Boboli Gardens. After that we went to the leather markets and it was so overwhelming and I had no idea what I would want I just helped my roommate for almost 2 hours find a leather jacket that she finally decided to purchase. It was a lot of fun and I think if I ever go back I will invest in something leather. It was just so overwhelming to know what's real and what's fake and what a good deal is and what isn't a good deal.
Then that night for dinner we had our first experience with apertivo. It is a common Italian thing that we just haven't done in Rome yet. However, we plan to do that soon, maybe tomorrow? It is sort of like American happy hour, but you pay somewhere around 8 euros and that gets you a drink and then they have a buffet. Some are more of an appetizer thing that Italians do before dinner but some have large quantities of food and you basically eat dinner there. It was very interesting food since you can't tell for sure what things are but it was of course good food.
Sunday, we took the train to Pisa, took a bus from the train station and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And let me just say, that is all there is in Pisa. You go you see it, you take pictures, you spend a lot of time setting up the pictures of others "holding up the tower" and then you are done. It was worth it to see for a short time but I am glad that is all the time we planned there.
All in all it was a very successful weekend. I hope to update soon on some of the day to day Rome things and school and such as well as the up coming adventures. Sarah and Hanna come Saturday for the week and I am SO excited!
Ciao!
On Friday we then got a reservation for the Uffizi for Saturday and then headed to Galleria Academia to see David. David was incredible, the rest of the museum however was not that spectacular. There was a room with a ton of other statues that was pretty cool and some of the unfinished Michelangelo sculptures were interesting to see because of seeing the work mid process. Other than that nothing noteworthy. After that we saw the Ponte Vecchio, which is the only bridge over the Arno in Florence that survived the Nazis. We also saw that Duomo which is gigantic. And then one of the coolest things we did was climbed to the top of the dome and looked out over Florence; it was an amazing view... that only took 463 steps to get to. Its sightseeing with a work out, that is for sure. After that we just wandered around a bit and then went in a few churches until the awkward time when all the touristy sightseeing places are closed and its not quite time to eat.
For dinner that night we went to a restaurant that was recommended to one of the people we were with for the amazing pear pasta, which is apparently a Florence thing. So of course, I had to try the pear pasta. It was a stuffed pasta (with pear of course) in a mild cheese/cream sauce. It was way better than I ever though combining pear and pasta would be. Definitely a must find if you ever go to Florence.
Saturday, we went to the Uffizi where we were overloaded with art among which was the Birth of Venus. After that we went to Pitti Palace and walked around that Boboli Gardens. After that we went to the leather markets and it was so overwhelming and I had no idea what I would want I just helped my roommate for almost 2 hours find a leather jacket that she finally decided to purchase. It was a lot of fun and I think if I ever go back I will invest in something leather. It was just so overwhelming to know what's real and what's fake and what a good deal is and what isn't a good deal.
Then that night for dinner we had our first experience with apertivo. It is a common Italian thing that we just haven't done in Rome yet. However, we plan to do that soon, maybe tomorrow? It is sort of like American happy hour, but you pay somewhere around 8 euros and that gets you a drink and then they have a buffet. Some are more of an appetizer thing that Italians do before dinner but some have large quantities of food and you basically eat dinner there. It was very interesting food since you can't tell for sure what things are but it was of course good food.
Sunday, we took the train to Pisa, took a bus from the train station and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And let me just say, that is all there is in Pisa. You go you see it, you take pictures, you spend a lot of time setting up the pictures of others "holding up the tower" and then you are done. It was worth it to see for a short time but I am glad that is all the time we planned there.
All in all it was a very successful weekend. I hope to update soon on some of the day to day Rome things and school and such as well as the up coming adventures. Sarah and Hanna come Saturday for the week and I am SO excited!
Ciao!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The Streets Are Flooding... In Venice
This past weekend me and 5 other people went to Venice. To sum it up I could say that is was amazing, but that of course is not adequate. We left Thursday night on a night train and got to Venice at about 5:30am. We found the hostel/hotel place we were staying dropped out stuff and went to explore until things opened and it got light out.
We wandered to Piazza San Marco and chilled a bit and it started raining... story of the weekend. We were starving and found a little bar that was open and had some cappuccino and other various things and waited there for a while. We then went back and went to Doge's Palace. Some of us decided to pay a little more to get a guided tour of the Secret Rooms that can only be accessed with this tour and it was definitely worth it. We learned all about the Venetian society in general and got to see the Secret Rooms which the style alone was completely different then the extravagance of the rest of the palace. The Secret Rooms were where the employees such as lawyers, secretaries, and Grand Chancellor who was the head of all the secrets. The whole thing gets very confusing from there. But there were secrets and the rooms where the people who worked with these secrets are were also a secret. The Venetians were not supposed to know of their existence and they were not decorated elaborately because they didn't have to be because the citizens could not freely wonder there. There is a lot more that I learned but if I continue trying to relay it it will continue to be very confusing so that is all I will say about that, but if you want to know more, just ask.
After that we ran in for a quick look at San Marco's Basilica and it was the most gorgeous church I have seen yet (except I have not been to St. Peter's yet). Everything is decorated with real gold leafing and it is gigantic. You are not allowed to take pictures but I took a couple along with everyone else there (that rule wasn't very well enforced) the second time we went in.
When we left Doge's Palace to go to San Marco's (right next to it) we discovered something a tad bit unique to Venice. It had been raining quite hard and the streets were flooded. Like a good 6 inches and even more in some spots. It appears as though San Marco's is set lower than the street around it because that is where it was deeper. Also, the streets flooding is a normal occurrence because they have elevated side walks set up and ready to go for when this happens. We had seen them earlier and had no clue what they were for and assumed it was something they had not taken down yet from carnivale that had ended the previous weekend.
By then it was only about 12:30 by the time we were done with San Marco's and we hadn't slept much and had been walking around since 5 so we decided to head back to our hotel and dry off and nap.We got up quite a few hours later and got dinner at an authentic Italian place and I had some of the best tiramisu ever.
The next day we went to Murano and watched a quick glass blowing demonstration. Watching the guy make a glass horse in literally a couple minutes was amazing. Then we walked around a million glass shops where I went a tad crazy buying things. But it was worth it because the stuff is so pretty and I have some people's gifts done :)
After that we went back did a quick run through of San Marco's again for the people who didn't see it the day before and then rushed on a Vapretto (water bus basically) to get to San Giorgio Maggiore before it closed; we made it. We even had time to go up the campanile and have some amazing views over looking Venice while it was extremely windy and cold.
After that we went back and had dinner and walked around as well as walked around more the next morning before we caught the train back to Rome at 1 for the 6.5 hour train ride.
Venice was so incedible, if you ever have a chance, go, before its gone.
Ciao!
We wandered to Piazza San Marco and chilled a bit and it started raining... story of the weekend. We were starving and found a little bar that was open and had some cappuccino and other various things and waited there for a while. We then went back and went to Doge's Palace. Some of us decided to pay a little more to get a guided tour of the Secret Rooms that can only be accessed with this tour and it was definitely worth it. We learned all about the Venetian society in general and got to see the Secret Rooms which the style alone was completely different then the extravagance of the rest of the palace. The Secret Rooms were where the employees such as lawyers, secretaries, and Grand Chancellor who was the head of all the secrets. The whole thing gets very confusing from there. But there were secrets and the rooms where the people who worked with these secrets are were also a secret. The Venetians were not supposed to know of their existence and they were not decorated elaborately because they didn't have to be because the citizens could not freely wonder there. There is a lot more that I learned but if I continue trying to relay it it will continue to be very confusing so that is all I will say about that, but if you want to know more, just ask.
After that we ran in for a quick look at San Marco's Basilica and it was the most gorgeous church I have seen yet (except I have not been to St. Peter's yet). Everything is decorated with real gold leafing and it is gigantic. You are not allowed to take pictures but I took a couple along with everyone else there (that rule wasn't very well enforced) the second time we went in.
When we left Doge's Palace to go to San Marco's (right next to it) we discovered something a tad bit unique to Venice. It had been raining quite hard and the streets were flooded. Like a good 6 inches and even more in some spots. It appears as though San Marco's is set lower than the street around it because that is where it was deeper. Also, the streets flooding is a normal occurrence because they have elevated side walks set up and ready to go for when this happens. We had seen them earlier and had no clue what they were for and assumed it was something they had not taken down yet from carnivale that had ended the previous weekend.
By then it was only about 12:30 by the time we were done with San Marco's and we hadn't slept much and had been walking around since 5 so we decided to head back to our hotel and dry off and nap.We got up quite a few hours later and got dinner at an authentic Italian place and I had some of the best tiramisu ever.
The next day we went to Murano and watched a quick glass blowing demonstration. Watching the guy make a glass horse in literally a couple minutes was amazing. Then we walked around a million glass shops where I went a tad crazy buying things. But it was worth it because the stuff is so pretty and I have some people's gifts done :)
After that we went back did a quick run through of San Marco's again for the people who didn't see it the day before and then rushed on a Vapretto (water bus basically) to get to San Giorgio Maggiore before it closed; we made it. We even had time to go up the campanile and have some amazing views over looking Venice while it was extremely windy and cold.
After that we went back and had dinner and walked around as well as walked around more the next morning before we caught the train back to Rome at 1 for the 6.5 hour train ride.
Venice was so incedible, if you ever have a chance, go, before its gone.
Ciao!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Confetti and Silly String
On Saturday two other girls and I went on a day trip to Tivoli. It took us just about 2 hours to get there taking various forms of public transportation, and it was definitely worth it.
There are three Villas in Tivoli, but we only ended up seeing one. We went to Villa d'Este and it was amazing. It was built in the mid to late 1500s and has gorgeously decorated rooms and huge gardens that with numerous fountains. Everything was so pretty, and I can't even imagine what it will look like in the spring time when everything blooms. Also, since Tivoli is built on the Sabine Hills there were amazing views out over greater Rome.
After we left Villa d'Este we had planned on going to Villa Adriana which is the most famous villa in Tivoli. We had to take a bus a little ways and then we started following the signs. It was not as close as we had anticipated and we were wondering around interesting roads that did not look like someplace many tourists ventured. But we were going to the biggest tourist attraction in the area so it didn't make sense. Then somehow we stumbled upon a mass of people. There was some sort of parade going on. There were children dressed up in all sorts of costumes like it was Halloween. Kids and adults alike were throwing confetti at people. I myself got hit a few times. And there was silly string. It was honestly one of the most interesting things I have seen so far. It was definitely a very local thing and the energy was incredible.
It took about 30 minutes to finally get to Villa Adriana because it was slow going with the parade. And when we got there they had already been closed for an hour. So we headed back to the bus stop to go back to Rome. On the way we caught another glimpse of the parade that was going down the road it had already gone down, maybe they were circling, who knows. But the parade definitely made the failed attempt at Villa Adriana worthwhile.
This parade was not the only place that I have seen confetti and silly string. Right now it is also Canivale Romano and there is confetti and silly string as well as kids in costumes all over Piazza del Popolo where the festivities of that are going on. Also, you can see reminants of confetti on almost any road. Even right by my apartment. This place is covered in confetti.
I was going to add pictures but that takes too long. So check out the Facebook Album.
There are three Villas in Tivoli, but we only ended up seeing one. We went to Villa d'Este and it was amazing. It was built in the mid to late 1500s and has gorgeously decorated rooms and huge gardens that with numerous fountains. Everything was so pretty, and I can't even imagine what it will look like in the spring time when everything blooms. Also, since Tivoli is built on the Sabine Hills there were amazing views out over greater Rome.
After we left Villa d'Este we had planned on going to Villa Adriana which is the most famous villa in Tivoli. We had to take a bus a little ways and then we started following the signs. It was not as close as we had anticipated and we were wondering around interesting roads that did not look like someplace many tourists ventured. But we were going to the biggest tourist attraction in the area so it didn't make sense. Then somehow we stumbled upon a mass of people. There was some sort of parade going on. There were children dressed up in all sorts of costumes like it was Halloween. Kids and adults alike were throwing confetti at people. I myself got hit a few times. And there was silly string. It was honestly one of the most interesting things I have seen so far. It was definitely a very local thing and the energy was incredible.
It took about 30 minutes to finally get to Villa Adriana because it was slow going with the parade. And when we got there they had already been closed for an hour. So we headed back to the bus stop to go back to Rome. On the way we caught another glimpse of the parade that was going down the road it had already gone down, maybe they were circling, who knows. But the parade definitely made the failed attempt at Villa Adriana worthwhile.
This parade was not the only place that I have seen confetti and silly string. Right now it is also Canivale Romano and there is confetti and silly string as well as kids in costumes all over Piazza del Popolo where the festivities of that are going on. Also, you can see reminants of confetti on almost any road. Even right by my apartment. This place is covered in confetti.
I was going to add pictures but that takes too long. So check out the Facebook Album.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Classes, you know, the reason why I am here.
I have had two full weeks of classes already and I think it is time to share a little bit about the aspect that brings me to Rome for four months...
I am taking a Principles of Marketing class, a Principles of Management class, both of which count towards business core, and Intro to Italian Language and Culture, and Art of Rome.
First of all, one of the biggest culture shocks academically is how small the university is and how small all of my classes are. There are about as many people at AUR as there were in my graduating class. There are more people in some lectures at MSU than there are that attend AUR. Ok, I think you've got the picture and I will explain more in regards to how this is so strange in respect to specific classes.
Principles of Management- Frankly, I don't really like this class and I don't like my professor. He is one of those "lets have everything I say be a joke even though no one thinks its funny" because p.s. its not funny at all and you are just wasting time. He spent over the first ten minutes of our last class trying to get us to choose a secretary of the class and then he made a big hoopla, yes hoopla because that is the only word to describe it, about giving the class a gold star for how well we did on our first quiz that we used our notes for. Really, is it that hard to do well on a quiz when you can use your notes? Well, if that's all it takes to impress you you must have had some really bad students in the past. Also, we have groups for the whole semester. We had group homework this weekend and then we will be working on our group project for the entirety of the course and it will be presented during the last week of class. I don't like group work, usually because I find group members to not be as reliable as they should be and to not be as smart as they should be. Further more, weekends are used for traveling or seeing Rome not for working in groups. How in the world are we going to find time to meet. Oh, and as a spoiler for when I talk about marketing, we have groups just like this in there as well. Beyond not liking the group aspect it can only be do-able because it is a small class also because of this we have individual presentations that we have to do and we have to participate in class. I know these things aren't horrible or even "bad" they just aren't things that would be common in a normal management class at a large university consisting of several hundred students per lecture. And all these things would be better if they went along with a class that was a subject matter that I cared to learn about.
Principles of Marketing- Groups again, class participation again. And I forgot to mention that with the whole class participation thing (and the promise of pop quizzes) you actually have to read the book. And that is a lot of reading, 30+ text book pages almost every class. Then, my professor wastes time and makes us behind by talking on and on about certain companies, and if you really know nothing about the company, how are you supposed to participate? My professor seems ok at times but other things she is just really meticulous about things that are ridiculous. We have to e-mail her a schedule of all the dates and times for out group meetings. What good is that information going to do for her? But, likewise with the management groups, I feel as though meeting with each other is going to be a struggle especially having to set up two sets of group meetings with fitting with everyone schedules. That is going to be a nightmare. Oh well. I could complain more about small classes and group work but its really not that bad. But, on the other hand. The marketing material has actually turned out to be rather interesting. Not because I find marketing in general interesting because I don't, and I think the interesting aspects might wear off as we get into more in depth material but I am in Rome and talking about how marketing to different cultures completely changes the way you market things is truly a very interesting approach at looking at different cultures and just the idea of culture in general. More on this later because I could go on and on.
Into to Italian Language and Culture- I am really glad I chose this (ITL 100) over ITL 101 which would have been a more grammar oriented way of learning Italian that is like any elementary language course (and the ITL 101s meet four times a week instead of just two). This class is definitely the most useful because it would be nice to learn some of the language while I am here and we also take the time to look a lot at Italian culture which I think will be quite interesting. There is not much else to say about this because it is just what it sounds like and pretty enjoyable.
Art of Rome- This class will hopefully be amazing. Although it seems as though there are a lot of things standing in the way of its awesomeness. I'm going to quickly go through the down sides and then talk about the good aspects because they are far more interesting. And then I think I will also do a post about the specific class session (oh man that's already 2 more posts I have promised and I have so many more running around in my head, I wish I was better at this "blogging" thing). Downsides- quiz every week, reading every week, 2 papers to write, and my professor is annoyingly particular. First, me and a few other people were late because we were meeting at some random "bar" (that is what they call like snack shop/ cafe places where you can get coffee and gelato and other assortments of things) we were literally 3 minutes late to a 3 hour class and he was like, oh you guys are late, that's half an absence. (And if you get more than one absence you loose like 2% of your grade.) Seriously 3 minutes out of 180. Maybe if we were like 10 minutes late ok. And then we took a quiz. Pretty straightforward on the stuff that we talked about in the first class... except spelling counted and if you didn't spell it correctly then it was wrong. Ok I guess that is alright, but we had to spell isosceles that was not part of the new vocab we used that was one of those stupid words you learned in like 3rd grade when you were learning about triangles that you could never spell but never really cared because it didn't matter. Last time I checked being able to spell isosceles had nothing to do with art history. The last down side that I am going to mention is that I could not care less about describing, analyzing, and interpreting art. I ust don't care. But on the upside. We spend 3 hours every week walking around Rome and seeing the historical things while he tells us about the history. Which was fascinating, until we had to start analyzing Trajan's Column. As I said before I will get into more of the details of what I have already seen in the class and maybe do a quick post every week about it.
So those are my classes, like them or not I have to take them.
I am taking a Principles of Marketing class, a Principles of Management class, both of which count towards business core, and Intro to Italian Language and Culture, and Art of Rome.
First of all, one of the biggest culture shocks academically is how small the university is and how small all of my classes are. There are about as many people at AUR as there were in my graduating class. There are more people in some lectures at MSU than there are that attend AUR. Ok, I think you've got the picture and I will explain more in regards to how this is so strange in respect to specific classes.
Principles of Management- Frankly, I don't really like this class and I don't like my professor. He is one of those "lets have everything I say be a joke even though no one thinks its funny" because p.s. its not funny at all and you are just wasting time. He spent over the first ten minutes of our last class trying to get us to choose a secretary of the class and then he made a big hoopla, yes hoopla because that is the only word to describe it, about giving the class a gold star for how well we did on our first quiz that we used our notes for. Really, is it that hard to do well on a quiz when you can use your notes? Well, if that's all it takes to impress you you must have had some really bad students in the past. Also, we have groups for the whole semester. We had group homework this weekend and then we will be working on our group project for the entirety of the course and it will be presented during the last week of class. I don't like group work, usually because I find group members to not be as reliable as they should be and to not be as smart as they should be. Further more, weekends are used for traveling or seeing Rome not for working in groups. How in the world are we going to find time to meet. Oh, and as a spoiler for when I talk about marketing, we have groups just like this in there as well. Beyond not liking the group aspect it can only be do-able because it is a small class also because of this we have individual presentations that we have to do and we have to participate in class. I know these things aren't horrible or even "bad" they just aren't things that would be common in a normal management class at a large university consisting of several hundred students per lecture. And all these things would be better if they went along with a class that was a subject matter that I cared to learn about.
Principles of Marketing- Groups again, class participation again. And I forgot to mention that with the whole class participation thing (and the promise of pop quizzes) you actually have to read the book. And that is a lot of reading, 30+ text book pages almost every class. Then, my professor wastes time and makes us behind by talking on and on about certain companies, and if you really know nothing about the company, how are you supposed to participate? My professor seems ok at times but other things she is just really meticulous about things that are ridiculous. We have to e-mail her a schedule of all the dates and times for out group meetings. What good is that information going to do for her? But, likewise with the management groups, I feel as though meeting with each other is going to be a struggle especially having to set up two sets of group meetings with fitting with everyone schedules. That is going to be a nightmare. Oh well. I could complain more about small classes and group work but its really not that bad. But, on the other hand. The marketing material has actually turned out to be rather interesting. Not because I find marketing in general interesting because I don't, and I think the interesting aspects might wear off as we get into more in depth material but I am in Rome and talking about how marketing to different cultures completely changes the way you market things is truly a very interesting approach at looking at different cultures and just the idea of culture in general. More on this later because I could go on and on.
Into to Italian Language and Culture- I am really glad I chose this (ITL 100) over ITL 101 which would have been a more grammar oriented way of learning Italian that is like any elementary language course (and the ITL 101s meet four times a week instead of just two). This class is definitely the most useful because it would be nice to learn some of the language while I am here and we also take the time to look a lot at Italian culture which I think will be quite interesting. There is not much else to say about this because it is just what it sounds like and pretty enjoyable.
Art of Rome- This class will hopefully be amazing. Although it seems as though there are a lot of things standing in the way of its awesomeness. I'm going to quickly go through the down sides and then talk about the good aspects because they are far more interesting. And then I think I will also do a post about the specific class session (oh man that's already 2 more posts I have promised and I have so many more running around in my head, I wish I was better at this "blogging" thing). Downsides- quiz every week, reading every week, 2 papers to write, and my professor is annoyingly particular. First, me and a few other people were late because we were meeting at some random "bar" (that is what they call like snack shop/ cafe places where you can get coffee and gelato and other assortments of things) we were literally 3 minutes late to a 3 hour class and he was like, oh you guys are late, that's half an absence. (And if you get more than one absence you loose like 2% of your grade.) Seriously 3 minutes out of 180. Maybe if we were like 10 minutes late ok. And then we took a quiz. Pretty straightforward on the stuff that we talked about in the first class... except spelling counted and if you didn't spell it correctly then it was wrong. Ok I guess that is alright, but we had to spell isosceles that was not part of the new vocab we used that was one of those stupid words you learned in like 3rd grade when you were learning about triangles that you could never spell but never really cared because it didn't matter. Last time I checked being able to spell isosceles had nothing to do with art history. The last down side that I am going to mention is that I could not care less about describing, analyzing, and interpreting art. I ust don't care. But on the upside. We spend 3 hours every week walking around Rome and seeing the historical things while he tells us about the history. Which was fascinating, until we had to start analyzing Trajan's Column. As I said before I will get into more of the details of what I have already seen in the class and maybe do a quick post every week about it.
So those are my classes, like them or not I have to take them.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Things to do, Things to see.
I have now been in Rome for about 2 weeks. This time is the transition time from feeling like a tourist, running around to all the major sites, learning the city, learning how to blend in, to being a resident and student in Rome, sure it is only 4 months. But we are living here for that time. This is not just a vacation... which is easy to forget at times.
This city is huge, this city is gorgeous, and this city has so much to see that even with 4 months here I know I will not be able to see all that it has to offer. The question right now however is: What have I seen so far? Well let's start with the main tourist attractions:
Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Colesseum, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Castel Sant'Angelo
A few of these I will get to learn more about in my Art of Rome class so I will be able to tell more about them then.
The Trevi Fountain is, well, GORGEOUS. I saw it in the day, threw coins with my right hand over my left shoulder, one to return to Rome, two for love, and three for marriage or divorce. And, if you ask me the third one is sorta a gamble. But, if I am not married then I would have to get married and then the third coin will have done its job and then the divorce won't happen? Sounds good to me.
I also saw the Trevi at night, which is highly recommended.
Spanish Steps were cool. I haven't gon up them yet, just went by them briefly. I also want to go to the world famous best McDonalds in the world which is right by the Spanish Steps. Who thought I would ever want to go to a McDonalds... as far as getting food from there, I'm not sure that I'll go that far.
The Colosseum is so amazing to see and it reminds me of walking around Athens and being on the streets around all the cars and such but then oh, there's the Acropolis that has been there for thousands of years. I have yet to go inside the Colesseum though. But I do that in my class and I will take friends if they come so I don't want to go too many times and pay the 12 euro.
The Colosseum is another site to definitely see at night if you get the chance.
Castel Sant'Angelo was SO amazing. One of my roommates and I spent a few hours there. It was one of the bloodiest places in Rome, it had gorgeous rooms that were the apartments and that you unfortunately can not take pictures of which is a shame because they were so gorgeous they gave me goosebumps. And one of the coolest things was when you finally got to the top and went out on the terrace you could see the entire city sprawled out. You could see the Pantheon, Vatican City, and just the immense sprawl of buildings.
The last one is of Vatican City. St. Peter's on the left and then the walls go out to the right.
The last site that I am going to mention is the Pantheon. I am going to stay brief and give you our Art of Rome class' description of the front and share more when we finish learning about it. I will explain more about this class later because it is going to be one of the most awesome classes I will ever have a chance to take.
"The facade of the Pantheon is a rectangular structure that measures approximately 60 feet tall and 110 feet wide with an isosceles triangular pediment about 20 feet tall. With the rectangle are 8 evenly spaced unfluted columns made of granite marble. 7 of the 8 have Corinthian capitals and the northeast column appears to have a composite capital. Above the capitals is an architrave with remnants of an inscription. A freize with the following inscription: "M AGRIPPA L F COS TERTIVM FECIT." The pediment face is white marble with an innumerable quantity of holes. The above inscription means: Marcus Agrippa during his 3rd counselship made this." And now, if that was too dry, here are some pictures.
And even though I didn't "describe" it, here is a picture of the oculus.
I was going to continue, but this post is far too long already.
Ciao.
So, I arrived a while ago...
I meant to start this right before I left including anticipatory feelings and such. Well, I procrastinate a lot and to say the least, that didn't happen. But, I will start from the beginning. I am studying for just shy of four months at the American University of Rome... in Rome, Italy of course. I left early morning from Traverse City on Monday, January 25, 2010. I took a short flight to Chicago where I then proceeded to wait... for four hours. My next flight directly to Rome Fiumicino was slightly delayed, very empty, and had a ton of turbulence. It left around 4PM Chicago time, which was 5PM Michigan time and then got in at about 8:30am Rome time, which was 2:30am Michigan time. I went through passport control and "customs." I swear every country I've flown into aside from the US could care a less what you bring in. There is an option to go claim stuff, or you can just walk through the other doors, no questions asked. I was then greeted with people from AUR and led to a mass of people. Most of which are from Maryland. The majority of people studying abroad at AUR are from Maryland. It's crazy. More on that later though... or probably not, since who really cares about Maryland. I'm sick of hearing about it already. jk.
We then were taken to our apartments. I live with 5 other girls (well now basically 4... long story) 3 others from State and 2 from Maryland. Our apartment is huge. My bedroom is larger than my extended double was last semester. We learned things about it where to find helpful places near by ie: the market, the farmacia, the tabacchi. We went to have out first pizza in Rome. Definitely more to explain about the food later on. And the rest was a blur of unpacking and napping and jet lag.
Everything else that unravels from here ties into the larger picture of different cultures and being culture shocked, not in a bad way though. In an eye opening good way. A way that not only opened my eyes to things about Italian culture or my own American culture, but to the whole thought and idea of cultures in general.
Ciao.
We then were taken to our apartments. I live with 5 other girls (well now basically 4... long story) 3 others from State and 2 from Maryland. Our apartment is huge. My bedroom is larger than my extended double was last semester. We learned things about it where to find helpful places near by ie: the market, the farmacia, the tabacchi. We went to have out first pizza in Rome. Definitely more to explain about the food later on. And the rest was a blur of unpacking and napping and jet lag.
Everything else that unravels from here ties into the larger picture of different cultures and being culture shocked, not in a bad way though. In an eye opening good way. A way that not only opened my eyes to things about Italian culture or my own American culture, but to the whole thought and idea of cultures in general.
Ciao.
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