Pictures...

I have another one of me in Florence, but these are me in front of the Tuscany landscape, and my groceries for the week (less exciting, unless you're into italian Cheerios)

Flirting with Florence

So today we packed up at 8 and went on our way to Florence, via private coach. Way less stressful than the bus, and for the first time we were all in an enclosed space with just us; inside the bus, it was America, even if we were driving through Italy. Our bus driver took out a stop light on the way out of Rome, because everyone drives like a crazy person and the roads are tiny. We ended up being a little behind schedule because we had to stop for the ticket we got, but we still made it to sienna on time.

We stopped at a gas station, which was another experience. These are things you just don't think about, but yes- in Italy, they have rest stops. This one was pretty typical;bathrooms, food, magazines. I got some crackers because my stomach was just not feeling it today,but it only helped a little. Past Paige takes care of future Paige though, and I had some apple juice saved for just such an emergency.

We made it to siena, which is SO pretty- ill post a picture of the Tuscany landscape. Lots of hills, but just beautiful countryside and vineyards. The houses are adorable too, and when you get into town you have to park and walk in, so it's a lot slower paced.

We went to a church that I didn't really like, and then to the square for lunch. The weather was perfect,and we just laid out and enjoyed some vitamin d before going into the big city hall type building. Not much to say about that either; it was pretty small, at least the parts we got to see. We did make it out to the patio on the top, and while we were taking pictures a man from the ground (we were like 4 stories up) started singing to us. It was so fun and impressive, and he bowed for us and then did an encore. It's probably not interesting to read about, but it's the most exciting thing that happened during the day trip, and the video is funny.

After we packed back into the bus, we drove for another hour into Florence. Our hostel is nearly hotel standard- we have our own bathroom, the rooms are largeish, and there's cute patios to hang out in. We also have wifi, obviously. The towels are more like sheets, but I hear they still get the job done.

On our walking tour, it took about 20 minutes to get into the city. We have a grocery store nearby and a nice bar that has pastries nearby, but for the most part were in the middle of nowhere. We got into town and over the bridge, where we found the duomo and baptistery. The Medici palace was just down the street from there. It seems like everything is pretty condensed,even if it's a walk to get to, at first. I'm starting to get heel spurs, which just seems ridiculous, but my feet are not happy with me.

I got the worlds most heavenly doughnut, stopped at the grocery store for some breakfast, and now I'm back in my room ready to learn how to master a new shower. We start early tomorrow morning, and I can't wait; it seems like this week is going to go by super fast. There's so much to do, and everyone is so friendly; I'm pretty sure I'm already falling in love with Florence.

Final thoughts on Rome

Alright, so at this point it's no secret that Rome is probably not going to be my favorite city on this trip. I feel like it was a destructive relationship; I just wanted to love it and belong, but it never thought I was good enough.

I really did try. Big cities intimidate me, but I learned to navigate. I can now confidently use public transportation, and I have my big city attitude to get through all the street vendors and creepy men. I even went shopping, found sales, bought groceries. I people watched, to try and fit in.

I toured! I saw all sorts of things. I appreciated. I went to a mass, I went out to eat, I talked with the concierge. So there were lots of nice things about Rome. I can't say a bad thing about our hotel.

But being treated so rudely all the time is hard. In Venice, I was irrelevant; here, I'm dirt. People talk sbout you and laugh on the subway, and all you can do is ignore it; they yell at you on the streets, so you just keep walking. They serve you cold pizza, and you smile. You dodge all sorts of garbage, and litter, and dirt, but then you step in vomit. And even then you just try to ignore it and wash it off.

So I tried. I did. But I left Venice wanting to come back, after being challenged and rewarded. I'm leaving Rome just feeling exhausted and ready to get to Florence. But I still learned a lot, and I'm glad for the experience- I'm just not ready to vacation back here any time soon.

The never ending week of Rome

Yesterday, after my nice nap and blog time, the group of us that had wanted to go out to eat split up with the idea that we would meet up again at 6:45 by the trevi fountain, and then from there walk together to our restaurant for our reservations at 7.

Instead, what happened was Megan and I frantically running around rome trying to find the bus, and finally giving up. Then we just dashed from street to street with occasional help from the policia. We ended up being 10 minutes late, but the other girls in our group found us and we got to the restaurant a few minutes late.

It ended up being one not entirely fond of Americans, but by the end of the night they warmed up to us. I had a four cheese spaghetti, which ended up being the macaroni and cheese of the Italian spaghetti gods. Fantastic. I had a little of their red wine, but my head was hurting so I stayed away from the alcohol.

Then we went and took pictures at the fountain, which hopefully I'll be able to upload soon, and stopped at the gelato store so one of the girls could see her italian fling while we creeped on how adorable they were. Back at the hotel our desk guy was telling us about Italians love passionately, and just one rose is never good enough; you always get the expensive bouquet, and pamper your woman. It made me miss Doug a little, but even from a continent away he treats me like a princess.

I came back and skyped mom and dad to say happy birthday to him, and watched a little of the Cosby show in Italian before going to bed. Needless to say, I didnt really pick anything up from up, but I tried.

Today started with a mass at 11 in Santa Maria Maggiore. Our daylight savings time was tonight, so we moved forward putting us at a 6 hours difference now instead of 5, which womps. But by the time I'm In London it'll be 5 again, and thats only about 3 weeks away. But the moral of the story is, it's hard to wake up on time, but I did. I think maybe I need to retnk this whole religious pilgrimage thing though; while the music is so pretty, the service doesn't do much for me when I don't speak the language.

We wandered back to the hotel, and then I switched into a different group that went off to look for food. We went to a place for take out that we had gone a fe times before, but this morning they were not excited to see the American tourists in their shop. They more or less threw cold pizza at us and charged extra from the day before, so it was a less than friendly experience and now im feeling a little gross.

Apparently there is a huge mall somewhere outside of Rome, so we were going to adventure to find it (Alex, Kaitlin, and Dominique). We took the metro way out of the city, and then stood around this downtown area for a while and looked at bus routes. Either the mall doesn't exist, or our directions were lacking, but either way we ended up just turning around and going back to Rome. There was a beautiful park, and it seemed pretty residential, so it was nice to see everyday life, at least.

I went to h&m and got two tops, nothing special. On my way back to the hotel I found St Paul in the wall, which is the Anglican church that was hiding not even a block away. A little bummed I missed it, but the service this morning was nice too. Can't wait to get to England where hopefully I'll trip over episcopal churches everywhere.

About laundry...I wish there were video, but I am officially knowledgeable in the art of washing clothes in the bathroom sink. It helps that we have a b'day (how do you spell that? I feel like this whole trip is on big spelling test nightmare), and a little extra floor room. I didn't do all of it, but I got the important stuff, and I felt accomplished by the end of it.

Did a few journals...hung out in the lobby...and then met up with Megan, for gelato time. Only what would have been a 15 minute walk turned into an hour, because of one stupid wrong turn. Luckily we got to enjoy some live music and do some window shopping, but the cold and the rain that finally caught up with us was making it a lot less fun to be lost than it normally is. We also had a man try to get us to sign up for a bar crawl, and when we ignored him he yelled down the street that we were dressed like idiots. His words, not mine. So the mood was just down. We did find our way back though, and got some gelato the size of my head. Straticella is my favorite. On the way back in the dark we either stepped in pee or vomit, (we didn't want to look) so we washed our feet in one of the springs (picture a fire hydrant, but a drinking fountain) by our hotel. I just got out of the shower, so I'm feeling a little better, but all in all, I'm done with Rome. Tomorrow we leave for Florence, and I can't wait!

Saturday in Rome

Alright, it's a lovely Saturday in Rome with a nice breezy 73 degree high. However, we would not be taking advantage of this, because we were going to the catacombs today. There are only 5 that are able to be toured, so it's pretty exciting that we were able to go to one, but still. Dark, cold, and damp is my least favorite.

We had a british tour guide that took us under, where we saw tombs called "locallys" and then the fancier ones for families, and then the ones where saints were placed. Picture a supermarket, with aisles of bread. Now picture that being in a cave, and those shelves of bread are shelves of dead people, that goes up to 15 miles under the ground. Ok, there were no bodies, but still, a similar idea of general creepiness. Weird way to start the day, that's all.

It ended at an altar, where priests would hold communion in secret so Christians could gather (the catacombs were a place for Christians to be buried, as they weren't allowed within the walls of Rome. We had to take a bus and the metro to get there). I guess they still hold services for people that come on a religious pilgrimage to honor the saints and remember the dead, which I think is really cool.

We broke for lunch, and I just had a little croissant while Megan had some noodles at this little cafe (I had some food back at the hotel, but I am so sick of nutella. I can't decide which I want more my first day back; peanut butter, or Doug. Such cruel irony).

Then we went to the capitaline museum, which wasn't a far walk, but you could tell everyone was dragging. My feet are mostly healed from death march day, but you can only walk around so much before you start to get tired, and it seems like everyone was at their breaking point today. Venice was a lot calmer and more peaceful, with boats as transportation, than hilly Rome. That being said, I don't think any of us got much out of the museum. It's sad, but I still got to see an exhibit about restoration of the Vatican, and there was a great view of the forum. Everyone had just checked out though. We went to walk home, and it started raining, which was just kind of indicative of everyone's mood. We talked to the man at the desk about restaurant reservations, and there was talk of going shopping, but tomorrow is our free day, so I'm guessing a lot of people are just planning on sleeping (my roommates are napping now). Me, I need to learn how to do laundry in the sink. Some girls are going on a pub crawl, but I honestly think I would die. I would love to find a theater playing the hunger games, but it's been a fruitless search so far. Maybe in London, well see.

For now, I'm just going to do some reading and a few academic journal entries, and see what happens for dinner! It's almost 5 here, which makes it noon at home. So strange, for my day to be practically over and everyone else is just beginning. The days are so much longer when you wake up earlier too, haha.

I'm really too tired to be clever

Today is another short one, since a lot of what was done is more visual, and I want to leave people with some mystery as to what I've been doing. Otherwise, no one will look at my pictures!

We started with Sunday trip to Ostia antiqua, which is this old roman village that was deserted but still kept intact. Picture like a cheap, obscure Pompeii. Lots of very well preserved ruins. The weather was perfect for it,and we ended up spending about 3 hours exploring under arches and into houses. Sunny, but not too hot, with a little breeze. Perfection. I was also able to get some pictures of the lizards, bugs, and flowers for that biology nerd I like to date. I also may or may not have found some excellent ancient rocks.well see if they make it back to the states.

We came back to the hotel for a short break, which I used to say hello to the boyfriend before he goes on a weekend long conference, and get some gelato from our gelato man. I'm nervous, because Florence and Munich might not have wifi, so it could have been the last time I got to talk to Doug in 2 weeks, but the fact that it scares me so much is probably an indication of how much I need it.

Then we walked to the Bourghese museum, which was a nice walk through the ritzy part of town. The gardens in front of the museum were beautiful, and there were couples scatted all throughout it. I love how everything here is so cliche romantic, but matter of fact. Girls walk around with bouquets of flowers, men kissing women's hands... Italy is making me a hopeless romantic.

The museum itself was alright, but too stuffy for my taste. You couldnt have a purse in case you tried to sneak a camera in, and everything just seemed very possessive. It's a private collection, so I guess that may be why, but the fact that we had to have an appointment time when we bought the tickets just made it all feel very art snobby. The sculptures were great though; it was worth it, to see some of the Bernini pieces.

When we got back, our hotel had arranged champagne for all of us to try with some chips and biscotti. It was so sweet. The people here are so nice and helpful, and can always tell you where you need to go for the best gelato, restaurant, pharmacy- at one point, the concierge told us he could show us where an 80s theme bar was that's very popular. But it was sweet of them to be so generous with us. So if you're going to Rome- I recommend the corona hotel. It has my stamp of approval.

Now I'm back in the hotel, after a pizza run. Everyone is just wiped out today, and we've been dropping out of the lounge to go to bed since 8:30. I'm probably going to do some reading and fall asleep early, too. We're almost done in our time here in Rome, but I can't help feeling a little homesick, even so. I'm making a list of things I miss that I need to appreciate more when I come home. So all you Americans out there; go have a sip from a water fountain for me, and utilize some public bathrooms.

One week, really?

It's officially been one full week since we left home, and it feels simultaneously like a lifetime and only an hour. Wow.

We went to il gesu, which is a church,and campo dei fiori, which is also a church. If you're interested, look them up, or just wait to see my pictures. (today is a boring day as far as blogs, because describing them just won't translate to what I saw)

Then we walked to the Vatican for our free time in that country. We went through the museum, and saw all sorts of things that I won't bore you about. It ends with the Sistine chapel, bt first you have to get through this corridor. Everyone is rushing to get to the chapel so quickly they aren't even looking at what their passing; I saw some Salvador Dali paintings, but I don't knows hat I missed before that.

I have mixed feelings about the Sistine chapel. It is very,very beautiful. It is still kept fairly sacred,as far as dress and photos (although you do have to pay to get in). We had to eas a book about it though, and basically Michelangelo was grouchy about having to do it because he really just wanted to sculpt, and so I just kept thinking about how pissy he was while he was painting it (standing up, btw. He didn't lie on his back, common misconception I kept hearing people talk about).

St peters basilica had a huge line, but we knew we had to see it so we just jumped right in. It went by really fast though; I'm not entirely sure of the purpose of metal detectors here, since people don't get stopped even when the alarm does go off. Weird.

The church was HUGE. One of those places where people tell you it's big, but until you see it in person there is just no way you can fathom the big honkin hugeness that is st peters. Again, it's something that I can explain, but just like when it was explained to me in class, you just can't get it. It throws off your sense of scale to everything, though. We also do the Pieta, but it was in a glass case. It's the only work Michelangelo ever signed, and some crazy ran up to it and started chipping at it one day, so they had to keep it contained and safe.

Since those were the only events planned for us for the day, we came back for dinner at the restaurant we were originally looking for last night. The Italian man there was just fun and cute; at one point, a girl ordered a coca cola, and when he poured it for he called it the "champagne of Americans". Everyone was just very friendly and patient, which goes a long way. Make one student happy, and you easily get 29 more seminar in Europe participants in the next day. I had the ravioli, which was pretty good. The first restaurant set the bar pretty high though. Also, I need to start going out with red wine people, because white it just not cutting it.

Then we just came back to the hotel and chilled; I think everyone is feelings trained, and getting to that breaking point. I know it's starting to get to me, so I'm trying to allow myself some quiet time by myself in my room. I need to stop feeling guilty about not being out always, so I can prevent the grumpiness that makes it harder to enjoy being out. Sometimes, people would prefer you just take the time for yourself so they don't have to deal with your moods, and Id rather make that decision for them then to start bickering a week into the program. So I'm off to bed!