May 24th-May 26th

So on monday we had orientation where we met all of our teachers and the whole study abroad group. We went on a walking tour of Rome, which consisted of us listening to the earphones while the tour guide speaks into the walkie talkie. Although it was amazing to see some new churches and monuments that I had never heard of, the tour was a bit "touristy". Until we got to the Pantheon, I was just tired and overwhelmed from the long day. The Pantheon was something I just heard of by name, but when we got to the building it took my breath away. It is seriously out of an ancient Rome movie, with Latin written across the top and just being humongous. Once we went inside there was even more details and breathtaking art. On top is the dome, which is open, so when it rains, it rains inside the Pantheon as well. After the tour, everyone was pretty much exhausted. We went back home to take a nap and afterward had some wine and some great home-cooked italian food. Our apartment is great, but like a lot of things in Rome, it is also ancient. But! Being in Europe makes up for everything.

On Tuesday, we had our first classes, Italian and Art History. Italian is for two hours M-Th. The subject is great, because I love learning a new language and this time I am actually going to be able to use it and it will help me learn even more. It's exciting to learn in class and use it outside. The only downside is that we are in a class room for two hours, when we are in Europe! Art history is a little better than Italian, because it is "on site", meaning that we get to go to the actual places we are studying. Our first visit was the Colosseum! Now this is something that at first sight is everything and much, much more than you could think it is. It is bigger, more magnificent, and much more exciting to see in person and incomparable to what read and learn about. I'm a little bit of a nerd and was so happy to be able to touch such an ancient ruin where gladiators used to fight and the most famous emperors used gather. There is so much history in the eternal city that it trumps any city in America, leaving so much to take in when here. The Colosseum is a bit destroyed but still in tact enough to look at the stadium as a whole. Our teacher is awesome, because even though she gives us an intense amount of lecture and history while there, she gave us a 20 minute break to just walk around ourselves and take pictures. After the Colosseum, we went to the Forum which is where all the Romans would gather before going to watch the games at the stadium. This is more of a ruins type of place with many different structures and temples that have a lot more history. If you want to learn an interesting story read about the Trajans Column and The Vestal Virgins. After our class we went to get some gelato, which is the Italian form of ice cream, before our group dinner. All Italians eat gelato and they seem to eat gelato everyday, which is confusing because all of them are in such great shape! After gelato, we went to eat at this place called Hostario, which is right by the Accent center in Piazza De' Orologio. We had the most amazing pasta sauce, which is made of cheese and tomatoes, as is everything amazing in Italy. It was nice getting to know some more people on the trip.

Today, Wednesday, we went to our favorite snack bar, which is a place where all Italians get breakfast and sometimes a quick lunch. I am not much of a coffee drinker, but Rome and this place in particular, has the BEST cafe latte I have ever had. Andddd is it is only 2 dollars! We also get these little sandwiches, which are triangles with either tomato and cheese, mushroom and cheese, or ham and cheese. After breakfast we went to Italian class, where we learned more phrases and a lot more vocabulary. Some of our art class decided to go to do one of our homework assignments on Palatine hill, but when we got there we weren't allowed in as a group, so instead we went to visit this big white building, which Italians don't like very much. It is more modern, because it was built in the 1800's, and the Italians think it is an eye sore because it is white. We heard there was an incredible view of the city on top so we all went to see it. It definitely lived up to our expectations and more, because we were basically on the highest point of the city with absolutely nothing blocking our view. We stood, took pictures, and were just mesmerized by the view of the city. From each angle you could see the Colosseum, St. Peter's, The Vatican, our neighborhood, the mountain regions, basically EVERYTHING. It was definitely one of my favorite moments so far on this trip. Afterwards, we walked towards the park called called Villa Borghese, but instead decided to stop at a pub and get a glass of sparkling red wine, which tasted like heaven. We relaxed there for a bit and then headed down the most amazing shopping area I have seen in Rome yet!

Sunday Funday

Us on the way to Campo De Fiore

My bed!

We left the hotel at 11am this morning to arrive at our program center, Accent in Piazza De Orologio. The taxi driver was super nice, but spoke barely english, which did not affect his touring skills. He showed us the Colosseum, St. Paul, and other touristy attractions that Americans get excited about, including us. The streets are very narrow in the center of rome, the sidewalks are covered with cobblestones, and the buildings are incredibly old, but extremely beautiful. We got our packets of information and the keys to our new apartment, which is located a thirty minute walk away from the program center where our classes are held. Our apartment is in the neighborhood of Prati, which is located in the center of Rome. It is HUGE and there are 8 of us girls total who live in the one apartment. Macy, Meghan, and I share a room. The kitchen is tiny, our windows look out on the street, and our bathrooms have that funny European sink/toilet thing that I do not know the name of. We dropped our bags off, met some of our roomies, and headed off to lunch at the cafe called Portofino a block over. I had a Caprese panini, which was delicious as well as splitting this incredible gelato, dry ice cup with berries. MMMMM :) The picture is above.

Since Italy enjoys a "siesta' from 2-4pm, we had to rush to the supermarket to buy groceries. It was completely different from the usual stores we are used to back home and everything is in Italian! After checking out we walked back to our apartment and unpacked everything. After unpacking, we relaxed for awhile, met some more of our roommates, and then decided to change and head to see the Trevi Fountain. This is my number one site I want to visit in Rome so of course I was ecstatic. Meghan, Macy, and our other roomies Bree and Natalie headed out with our map to find the fountain, which was supposed to be a 25 minute walk. Well, it turned out that we got lost so many times, we didn't make it to Trevi, and instead went to the famous Campo De Fiore. This plaza is popular for its wine bars and cafes. We weren't hungry yet so we got some glasses of wine and just enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, we went back home, where we got lost again and again, until it started raining. Luckily, our apartment was finally around the corner! Now, we are just hanging out until it stops raining and then we will go to dinner :) Just another day in beautiful ROME!

The adventure to ROME!

So here is my first blog!

Right now I am in bed at our hotel in Rome, stuffed from a delicious italian meal and completely ready to sleep. It is 8PM here, but Macy, Meghan, and I are all super jet-lagged. We got to the airport on friday and left for london at 4, which is a 10 hour plain ride. We were on British Airways, which is on strike right now, so our plane was half empty, leaving us plenty of room! This was amazing because I got an entire row to myself...perfect for sleep! I read some of my new book Little Bee and watched It's Complicated, which wasn't that great, before taking a 6 hour nap. We got to London around 10am and by this time all of us were still exhausted. Although, I realized we were in a brand new city 3,000 miles away, which gave me an adrenaline rush, leading me to take some pictures of London (at least what was visible). We shopped around some airport boutiques and I bought a sandwich at Starbucks that was titled "mature cheddar with pickle". For me that was being adventurous and eating a true "British" sandwich. We left for Rome, which was a 2 hour flight, where I read some more of my book and took a small nap. We finally arrived in Rome at 5PM and caught the shuttle to the hotel, which wasn't that far from the airport. l We decided to walk to this restaurant and eat a real italian dinner! I got pesto pasta with zucchini, Meghan got pizza, and Macy got tomato pasta! IT WAS DELICIOUS!