We all got on a bus down to Rome and checked into our hotels. We were all pretty jet lagged and just wanted to sleep, but we got a second wind and took our our first day in Rome. One of the faulty members took a big group of us to an amazing gelato place near the Pantheon where I ordered the most delicious flavor, Black Passion (basically just dark chocolate with raspberries mixed in). After that a Jesuit priest took us on a little walking tour around the area near out hotel. Unfortunately (and Fortunately), it was the Epiphany celebration in the city, so it was extremely crowded and exciting! It was very difficult to navigate a plaza full of people, while trying to stay with our group. After we finished that tour, it was time to embark on a 3 hour walking town of the entire city. Wow. Lots of walking, but an amazing look at the city and sights at night. Once the tour was done, we had a dinner with the entire group, so about 100 people, at a very nice restaurant in Piazza Popolo. The food was to die for and people were not complaining too much about the flowing house wine that was part of our dinner. After dinner, we made out way to a plaza near the hotel with some fun bars, made some American friends, and explored the Roman nightlife, but felt more like a herd of freshman wandering the Logan neighborhood. Finally, we ended up at the Bulldog, an Irish Pup that was across the street from the hotel, and called it a night.
The next morning we woke up for a tour of Rome led by the Jesuit priest to see where he lived and what Jesuit live was like there. We also got to see some Jesuit churches and sights that were off the beaten path and would not have been exposed to. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe then headed to the Villa Borghese to see some gorgeous art work. At that point, we were tired, gumpy, and not very hungry, so we got a light dinner, stopped by the Bulldog to get some coffee and went to bed early.
On the third day of Opening Tour, we toured the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was much more interesting the second time around because I learned more about the meaning, style, and medium involved. After our tour, we found one of he best pizza places ever and 1 euro bottles of water- those are hard to find! Everyone was ready to climb to the top of the basilica, but the line was long and we didn't want to pay, so we decided to make our way across the city to get to the Colosseum. We finally arrived there after walking all over and exploring the metro only to find that it had closed a good hour before we got there. Too bad we sacrificed the view of Rome from St. Peter's for that, but the exterior of the Colosseum was awesome and it made for a fun adventure. Later that night we had another dinner with the whole group and the house wine was flowing faster then before.
We woke up to go a tour of a nearby castle with a gorgeous view of the city. Afterwards, we headed to the Vatican to get blessed by the Pope, which as one can imagine, was a pretty surreal experience! He prayed in 5 different languages and the Vatican square was packed. After some more pizza, it was time to head back to Florence. At that point, we were all happy to be going home! Rome is fun to visit, but as far as living and studying, Florence is definitely the way to go!
Oh so now for the whole school part of this adventure...
My first class was Ethics. It's a huge class full of every type of major from every school, so it is pretty much just discussion based off of readings. It's interesting, but pretty abstract as far as what she wants us to learn.
Then I went to Italian 101. We learned some basic terms and greetings on the first day and I am happy to say that as of today, I can count (with help from my books), order a coffee drink, tell someone my name/how I am/where I am from and ask some basic questions.
Fresco. This class meets every Tuesday for 3 hours. I walked in only to find out I was the only student there and the only student in the class for the rest of the semester. My professor is a painter and amazing, so I am looking forward to pretty much getting personal art lessons for the semester!
Sculpture. This class technically meets every Wednesday afternoon for 3 hours, but we are able to make our own hours once the projects begin. Our teacher has a studio (and mini museum) about 3 blocks away from campus, so that will make for an extra adventure every time I go over there. I will be the only one coming in on Wednesdays, so I will also be getting personal lessons in sculpture. I'll need it because the last time I touched clay was in the 8th grade... We'll see how it goes!
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