The Colosseum

Hey! This is going to be a quick posting but I went to the Colosseum this morning with my room mates Lindsey and Tessa. Now that we've learned a little bit about the Colosseum in class, we FINALLY got to go inside and check it out. The museum part was pretty cool, I would have probably needed a guide to fully be engaged though. But, seeing the actual Colosseum was awesome! It is just so huge and its amazing to picture what kind of events occurred in this building. We tried to use our 'new knowledge' as we walked around to describe the old seating arrangements, where they kept the animals, where the Gladiators came in from, etc. It is really hard to imagine since so much has been lost and reconstructed, but, you can't go to Rome without stopping in the Colosseum! Here are some pictures that I have and... Surprise! A video! I HATE hearing myself recorded on video but, for some reason, I thought it'd be cool. It's not. HAHA. Ciao for now!

Pompei, Sorrento, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast

I just got back from our IES weekend field trip to Pompei, Sorrento, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast. It was a great trip and I was so happy to finally see some other places besides Rome! Every one on our program went and it was an amazing trip with beautiful sights: a once in a lifetime experience. First we went to Pompei and, basically, the city is all in ruins or buried due to an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. It is hard to imagine the bustling city that it once was, but it was very cool to walk around and see what remains. Here is a picture of us at the Forum which is in front of Mt. Vesuvius! It was very cool to see it even though that's basically as close as we got to it. It was really kind of creepy to see the preserved bodies of people, and dogs, that remained after the eruption. I was NOT a fan of that aspect, but I enjoyed the city. Our tour guide was really funny at first but then he got angry at us for taking so many pictures. We are TOURISTS.. That is something to be expected, I think. Plus, we paid for the tour so I guess it's our own fault if we were sidetracked. Oh well, I got some good pictures so I'm happy! :) We had lunch in Pompei at a restaurant called MEC and it was soo good! I had some pasta, a lemon chicken, salad, and some cake! I love when IES takes us to meals. On our own, we never order the typical amount of Italian courses (we're cheap). But with IES, they provide it all!

After Pompei, we made our way to Sorrento. Sorrento is probably one of the most adorable towns I've ever been to! It just seemed so colorful, cute, and lively. It is the plateau of the area so all of the houses and buildings are amongst the mountains. I'm not sure why, but this is one of my favorite pictures that I took in Sorrento. It was just this house on top of the mountain that I thought was pretty. The beach we went to was nothing spectacular, although pictures I have seen of them are. We had dinner in our hotel the first night and I had a great green pasta with salmon, a caprese salad, and apple pie. So delicious! They had a beef steak but it was so small and I'm actually glad I didn't order it. I'm sure I will find some, soon! After dinner, we went out to a Kareoke bar and it was so fun! I didn't sing, obviously, but some other people in our group did. Definitely hilarious.

The next day, we got up early, had a hearty breakfast, and got on our ferry to go to the island of Capri. Seriously, this was the best full day experience EVER. Here is a picture of the view of Capri when we got off our ferry. Pictures never capture what I'm actually seeing, but it will have to do. I would definitely get a house on this island if I could. :) Capri had amazing views, extremely tall cliffs, beautiful natural arches, and the clearest blue ocean ever! We took a private boat out with a guide who took us around the entire island for about 2 hours. We went in the Blue Grotta and, let me tell you, what a sight! We had to all squeeze in this tiny boat in order to fit in this small hole to get into the grotta. Once inside, the reflection of the light against the water shows the most breathtaking view of the water! Is that not ridiculous or what!!

Here is a picture from inside our boat, exiting the blue grotta. How small is that! It was so scary but it was amazing to do it. We could have gone swimming in the grotta but we didn't want to pay the extra euros. ;) The boat tour was probably the best money spent on this trip: it was totally and completely worth it. We got to see the whole island, the blue grotta, the white grotta, the three archs, we got to go swimming in the water underneath this arch/cave area (so cold, but again, so worth it!), and lay out on our private boat to catch some sun! We walked around the shopping area, had lunch, and went to the beach: it was just an amazing, relaxing and fun day! Capri could quite possibly be the highlight of my time abroad. It was seriously THAT amazing!! We had dinner back in Sorrento: 2 courses of pasta, a seafood plate, and dessert. I can't handle these huge meals anymore! Plus, the seafood kind of grossed me out with actual fish heads on my plate.. :( But, I tried some (go me!) and ate all of my shrimp and calamari!

Lastly, we went to see a panoramic view of Positano while on the Amalfi Drive to the Amalfi Coast. It was very pretty, as most everything in Italy is, and then we drove and toured simultaneously until we made it to Amalfi. We went to see the Chiostro del Paradiso inside this absolutely beautiful church. I got a glimpse of the actual chapel and it was so pretty. The crypt inside the Chiostro is also amazingly beautiful and I have tons of pictures. We toured a paper making museum which actually turned out to be more interesting than I thought, but definitely not a highlight. We went to Ravello to have lunch and to tour the Gardens of Via Rufolo. The flowers were gorgeous and the view was spectacular. There is a picture of some of us inside the gardens: you can't really see the view behind us but I have other pictures that do, obviously.

We made it back to Rome on a 4 hour bus ride and I'm so tired! I'm scared for my art history midterm this week - ah - and didn't even bring any homework with me to study on the bus! So unlike me! ;) Looks like I'll be cramming for this one seeing as there is 1. not that much time because it's on Thursday and 2. no school tomorrow because it's a holiday celebrating St. Peter and St. Paul!

Sorry this is so lengthy, but, to conclude.. First weekend of traveling = a great success! I'm happy to be back in Rome for a little, I just wish we didn't have school! There is still so much I need to see in Rome and I feel like I have no time! :(

I'm sure it will all work out. It always does. :)

Amo Trevi & Pantheon!

Buongiorno! :) So, Wednesday was probably one of my favorite full days since being here! First, the 870 bus I get on for class was so over-crowded that a group of us decided to take the bus. Let me tell you, the walk is NOT that bad and it has such a pretty view of Rome! I loved it and am highly considering walking to class more often, even though it is blistering hot. Plus, I need the exercise! It was so cool becuase at one point, there is like a gorgeous panoramic view of the city and it is so gorgeous!! That was probably the highlight of my day, because class is kind of a bore.

Wednesday night we all went out to celebrate Aimee's birthday (we should seriously have a birthday every week!). Here is a picture of the girls before we went out. We ended up going to a club/bar near Piazza Navona and it was so fun! We were finally able to just dance the night away, all together, and attempt to avoid the creepy Italian men. I eventually left the bar with Lizzie and Andrew and this is where my night gets amazing! We walked around Rome to see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain at night! This is EXACTLY the kind of night that I have been waiting for! It was PERFECT and just what I wanted to do. We just like sat in front of both of them and stared. It is absolutely gorgeous to see it at night with the lights and, even better, no crowd! I got to throw a pennie into Trevi which means I am coming back to Rome! Woo!! It was honestly breathtaking to me and I was just in complete awe. I loved it and obviously want to go back like every night I can convince someone to come with me! Here is a picture of Lizzie and I in front of the Pantheon! :) How pretty is it!? OMG, I'm actually in love!!!

Thursday we went to a field study at the Colosseum. It was disappointing because we didn't go inside as a class, which I thought we were doing, but it was still really amazing to be there. Again, you never realize how much effort has been put into the restoration and preservation of these buildings! Also, I finally bought a functioning straightener so, to those of you I have been complaining to, the problem is solved! ;) AND, Daria made me try a Latte Macchiato and I actually liked it! Maybe I'll continue to try other types of coffee but, I don't think I'll ever enjoy the strength of Italian coffee.. the latte was perfect because it was basically just warm milk!

We are going out tonight for dinner for Aimee's birthday and then we're off bright and early in the morning for our IES field trip. I am SO excited to start traveling!! I just hope the weather stays clear because right now there is a chance of rain! :( I'm sure I'll have A LOT to post once I get back!

Peace, love, and TREVI.

June 23rd: Field Study

For art history, we went on another field study (we will be going on these once or twice a week) to the Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano. It is really interesting to me to learn about all of these historical places and how they became what they are today. You never realize how much restoration and reconstruction has been put into these buildings and even how much beauty has been lost over the years. Even though these buildings are still astounding to see, I wish I could have witnessed them in their "prime" with all the bronze adornments and even more opulence. So many structures have been reused and transported to make other structures. It is absolutely crazy to me! And, seriously, I am just amazed at how the Romans transported this huge obelisks and stairs, etc from Egypt (or other places) to Rome. I don't get it! I can't even lift 12 pound weights!! Here is a picture of Lizzie and I in front of this obelisk which is the highest obelisk in all of Rome! How cool!! And we always look so small in comparison to these buildings..

But, the basilica was a huge, baroque inspired building: very highly decorated with golden leaf, cosmati floors, a huge alter, etc. This basilica was the first Christian basilica ever created so it is very important for Rome! Here is a picture of the building itself and some of the inside of the building. Hopefully you will be able to see most of it from here, but if not, check facebook for more if you're curious.

We also went to see the Scala Santa which are the Holy Stairs. People have to walk up the stairs on their knees in order to reach the top for atonement of their sins. It was cool to see but definitely not something I could see myself participating in.

We went to grab some lunch after wards but, seriously, I am getting so sick of the "non-variety" of Italian food. I never thought I would say that but, I am! I really need me some steak and fast! I am definitely excited for that when I get home! :) Every restaurant is a Pizzeria, Gelateria, Panini stand or a Ristorante that serves pizza, pasta, and paninis! HAHA. There isn't even variety in the types of paninis! You are offered: tomato mozzarella, salami mozzarella, tuna and mozzarella, etc. I might have to stop getting paninis soon, even though they are so good! Maybe I'll just make gelato a meal of its own!! :) I also had to make dinner for myself tonight and, of course, it was pasta. That's basically the only thing I know how to make from the grocery store. Sadly, that is still true. And their pasta aisle at the store is out-of-control huge. I swear, it's all they eat! It tasted fine, simple and plain, but I'm certain that I could find much better in a top-knotch authentic Italian restaurant! I'm gonna have to get out more!!

I had an Italian quiz today, too, and I think it went well! I know that I don't have to really "try" in my classes here, but it's impossible not to! Giuila makes it impossible to NOT participate and NOT learn Italian! Art history is kind of another story since Pier's accent is so thick I sometimes miss some information. He is a great professor though, I really like him and am enjoying his class. I just need to pass so, hopefully, I do enough to do just that! (I know you're all thinking that, obviously, I'm going to pass. I'm JUST saying!) ;)

Parlarle presto!

Weekend 20th-21st

On the 2oth, I woke up early and walked around Via Del Corso which is the main shopping street in Rome. It's not the extremely expensive street, however, the prices are so discouraging! Our currency is so weak here that it makes me so hesitant to want to buy anything! I walked around and eventually got to Piazza Navona. The Piazza has a ton of caricature artists and painters that sell small and large paints of many of the historical buildings. I have seen them before and really liked them so I decided to buy one. Mine is a colored painting (some are in black and white) of the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. I'm guessing I will be back there to buy more of them. They're a good price and they're a great remembrance of Rome for me. Maybe some souveiner gift ideas? Probably! ;)

After Piazza Navona, I made my way to the Castel San Angelo. They don't have guided tours of the museum so you kind of just have to make the best of it on your own, but it was so cool! It was hard for me since a lot of the signs to read information is in Italian, but seriously, the view from the top of the Castel is breathtaking. I have some pretty good pictures from it and you can see a large part of Rome up there! You can't take pictures in the museum parts but I tried to stand outside of doors and be sneaky to get some snapshots of the detailed rooms of the Castel. Here I am! This isn't at the top but I just tried to get the Tiber in it.

Saturday night we were supposed to go to a food festival that we signed up for with IES. However, to due disfunctional trains, it took us about 4 1/2 hours to get there! By 9:30 I was so hungry!! The food turned out to be pretty good: I had pasta with calamari and french fries, then got gelato (chocolate and lime). The transportation in Rome is so crazy but all the Italians seem so laid back about it! To me, its ridiculous, but I guess it's just another cultural difference I need to accept!

Today, sunday, we went to a town market in the morning. For me, it was a disappointment, but other girls always find things they like there. They have a lot of clothes, but the problem is you can't try anything on! I wouldn't buy it without trying it on first so my options were limited. I went to Via Del Corso with Aimee and Lizzie to find H&M and Mango which was nice until we got stuck out in the rain! It was nice to have the weather finally cool off a little bit but we were just unprepared. And again, everything seems so expensive so I still haven't bought any clothing! I tried more gelato (because, obviously, I have to have it at least once a day) and I had chocolate and black cherry: so delicious! I find that mixing chocolate with any flavor is the perfect mix for me: I get in my chocolate fix while trying a new flavor of gelato!

I went for a run when I got home and now it's time to chill out, do homework, and eat dinner. I have almost been here a full two weeks but it seems like it's been forever! Please keep me posted on what you all are doing at home - I want to know!! Arrivederci!!

First Week

Hey! I know I haven't written in a while and, to some, it's been disappointing. However, I really have not been doing that much this week since school started! :( I have class Monday - Thursday until 12:45 (MW) and 2:15 (TTh). I am not very good at Italian but I hope that changes soon. After class, I'm usually pretty tired (lame, I know) so a group of us have been coming back to our apartment to nap, hang around, and make dinner. I have been making a lot of my own meals, or joining other girls who make meals, so hopefully I come back and have a few essential items I can cook on my own! That's pretty much how my days have been going. I'm hoping it gets more exciting once we start to travel.

I went for a walk and a run in the nearby park. It is HUGE and it's actually really pretty. It's just so hot here that running is almost unbearable and because of all the hills and non-paved pathways, I'm usually dying. The park has a cute pond with turtles and swans and it has some fountains around. I enjoyed it and would like to do it more often, but I'm always so whipped out from the sun that running is the least of my priorities (shocking!).

I have been trying a lot of new gelato flavors and found the BEST gelateria. It is right neat the Pantheon and it's called Del Palma (I think?). They have almost 100 flavors of gelato and it was actually amazing! I got peach (with real chunks of fruit in it) and mango and they were seriously out-of-this-world good! :) I will seriously be going back A LOT for gelato! I also tried bacio (chocolate and hazelnut) and mint. Good combo. And today, I got chocolate and mixed berries. Yummy! I LOVE GELATO! I wish we had it at home.

On Thursday, we had our first field study day in art history and it was at the Roman Forum. It was so cool to go a second time with the professor and actually KNOW what the buildings are and now know some historical background about each stucture. Besides the fact that it was 2 hours in the beating sunshine, I really enjoyed it! Here is a picture of a ddecent view of the Roman Forum and a church that we saw.

Thursday night we were celebrating Kristi's birthday so, we obvioulsy had to go on a Colosseum Pub Crawl! It is very popular amoung American tourists but it was so much fun. We got a T-shirt (obviously I loved that) and it was just really fun to have a night out similar to mine in Champaign. It was definitely a good time to be with all the people on the program in that kind of environment. We will probably go on another one by the end of the program. :) HAHA.

Today, we had some trouble finding the beach but, after two hours, we found it! It was nice to relax for a couple of hours and lay in the sun. I don't really have much else to say, since living in Rome is "the sweet life of doing nothing". I'll probably post again after the weekend is over! Keep a look out! This is a picture of a good amount of us that went on the pub crawl. More pictures of this will, most definitely, be added to facebook for your viewing pleasure.

Orientation

Wednesday, June 10th: Orientation Day 1

The beginning of orientation for IES also coincided with the beginning of sweaty, over-crowded and lengthy bus routes. First, we missed the early 9:15 AM bus so we had to wait over 30 minutes to catch the next one (In that amount of time, we probably could have walked... if only we knew the way!). As the reliably prompt person that I am, I really despise the unreliable Italian bus system! :( The bus doors couldn't even really close, people were piled on top of each other (as if it was no big deal), I couldn't face forward so it was nauseating and I felt very claustrophobic! There were lots of "Scusi"'s and "Permesso"'s on the bus, which are probably the only two Italian words we know. I guess I'll have to "get over it" considering we'll be taking the 870 or the 44 bus almost daily.

We finally got off the bus, walked to the center, and were welcomed by the IES Staff who discussed procedures, academics, safety, etc. We had lunch out on the terrace (terrazza) and the view was really great and the food was even better! Since I didn't have to take a language placement exam, a bunch of us went out to just explore Rome! We had our maps out and everything, just like real tourists, and ended up at Piazza Navona! It was beautiful! We then followed the signs to the Pantheon (gorgeous!) and then we saw Trevi Fountain (ahhh!!). Look! It's me at the Pantheon! :) It was really fun to just wander around and try to get a glimpse of some really beautiful and historical Roman sites. Tomorrow is our guided tour of Rome so hopefully now we will all go back to those places and start to learn about their history. We almost couldn't find our bus route home, but sure enough, it was just across the street and we made it back. I'm sure I'll have more insight tomorrow after a good tour of Rome.

Thursday, June 11th: Orientation Day 2

There wasn't much of an orientation today: I had to pick up my books in the town center and then napped (finally!) before our guided tour of Rome! Thomas, our tour guide, was awesome! He had a lot of amazing stories to tell about the sites we went to. We went to a lot of the places I'd already seen but it was still really fun and informative. We went to: Piazza Navona, Pantheon, The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, and the base of Capitoline Hill. (The picture is of me and Lizzie at the Spanish Steps!) We stopped along the way for gelato at a recommended place: I tried something NEW and got sage and raspberry mix alongside milk chocolate. The milk chocolate was to die for! :) The tour lasted from 6:30 PM to almost 10-10:30 PM. We then went out to dinner near Piazza Navona at a place called Navona Notte. I ordered spaghetti tomato and basil and caprese bruschetta (not the most adventurous but I was so hungry at this point after a 3.5 hour tour!). We were at dinner until 11:45 and, thankfully, caught the midnight night bus back to the apartment. Tomorrow is our day trip to the Lazio Coast: Terracina and Sperlonga. We get to go to the beach! YAY!

I'm having a really good time getting acquainted with Rome and hanging out with all the people in our group. I hate when we get lost, go figure, but I guess that's supposed to be half the fun. I also have never gotten this little of sleep but.. when in Rome, right? I'm excited for classes to start so I can start learning Italian! :) Buon asera!

Friday, June 12th: Orientation Day 3

We went on our first field trip with IES to Terracina and Sperlonga today. In Terracina, we saw beautiful views overlooking the water on Monte San Angelo and saw the old ruins of temples at the Tempio di Giove Anxur. We drove to Sperlonga and saw some more old Roman ruins, caves, and statues at Grotte di Tiberio - ruins of Villa Tiberius and Grottoes. Our tour guide wasn't all that great, but the sights were very pretty! The picture is of most of our group at Terracina at the Tempio di Giove Anxur. We're blocking the gorgeous view but, those pictures will be on facebook soon enough! :)

We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant and it brought opportunity to try MORE new things! I had some bruschetta, eggplant parmesan, zucchini lasagna, buffalo mozzarella, and tiramisu! There are so many courses in an Italian meal and I was definitely not prepared for it. Though the portions are much smaller than what we normally eat in American meals, the meal is so drawn out with multiple courses that I was so full even before the 2nd course came out!

We went to the beach in Sperlonga and it was really nice to just relax and take a load off my feet! I definitely fell asleep outside and I think I got some good color. We had an entertaining bus ride home and now I just showered and will probably get ready soon to eat dinner and go out for our first real weekend in Rome. Class starts on Monday so.. Here's to the weekend! :) Ciao for now!

Here's a picture of Aimee, Lizzie, Kristi, and I out on Friday night. We went to Testaccio and it was a really really fun and long night. If you can believe it, we didn't get back until like 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning! That's so beyond ridiculous for me, right!? Roman lifestyle is so vastly different than mine in Chicago, but I will definitely try to keep up!

Arrival in Italy

I was planning to write a post while I was at the airport, however, I found myself far too overwhelmed and emotional to sit down and write. Don't worry, I have finally made it to Rome after a long, delayed plane ride and the stress of finding my way through the airport. :) I have started to meet a lot of the girls in my building and they are all so awesome! We all seem to have come by ourselves, looking to just site see and have an amazing summer traveling around Italy. They are all from different schools and it has just been really great since being here. So far, no tears in Italy! For those of you that truly know me, that's a big step! Of course, the airport and airplane was an entirely different story.

After I got my baggage and found the IES Staff member, I was set up with one of the girls on the program (Kristi) to take a cab together to our apartment. The cab driver drove like a manic and I felt so nauseous. He dropped us off, without speaking much english, and told us our apartment was somewhere around the block. We start walking, with our 4 pieces of heavy luggage, and see the numbers 16, 15, 14.. 18? Where did 10 go!? Kristi and I stopped in the middle of the bustling area and Kristi held my luggage while I walked into a random hair salon to ask them for directions. Of course, none of the ladies spoke any english, so I had to try to use some of the slim knowledge of Italian that I learned from my "self-learning CDs". So I say "Piazza Ottavilla Dieci" and keep repeating "dieci dieci dieci" so that maybe they'd understand. Of course, she didn't and just told me that this area was a square. But, we finally manage to find it and everything was ok. My first Italian mis-communication and adventure! ;)

I have tried to settle in some of my stuff but I am so tired. I am trying hard to not fall asleep yet so I can set my body clock to Italian time (7 hours ahead of Chicago). I barely slept on the plane so I have basically been up for WAY over 24 hours. :(



This is a picture of my bed and of the view outside the window from my room. It's pretty plain and boring but the apartment itself is actually much bigger than I expected. They didn't provide me with a blanket, but savvy me, I took the one off the airplane JUST IN CASE I wouldn't be satisfied with the one they provided. Being an obsessive control freak DOES have it's benefits sometimes! :)

My Italian Companion Student, Daria, took my apartment and the apartment of girls on the 2nd floor of my building out to show us around the neighborhood and meet the other building of girls on our program. We just went to the supermarket, learned where to get on the bus, and where to get gelato nearby! Right now, she is making us some pasta dinner, a salad, and fruit salad. Just something low key for the first night and maybe I'll walk over a block to get some gelato! It wouldn't be a summer night for me without ice cream!

Tomorrow starts orientation so it's all starting to feel real. I really need to just relax and let everything happen and stop being so emotional!!

Overall, I think I'm off to a pretty good start. I'll definitely post again soon! (I really like this whole blog thing!)

Grant got this fortune cookie before I left: Rome was not built in a day. Be patient.

Trying to keep that in mind.

Everything will be OK.