Firenze

For a while now I have wanted to take a trip to the Florentine city. It’s been “in the works” for the last month or so, and when I say “in the works” all I mean is that it has been discussed that we should go the last weekend of March. However, nothing was planned; nothing was booked. The only thing that was planned was that it was going to be an unplanned trip. And surprisingly, it was successful, with a rough start of course. But what unplanned event doesn’t have its flaws?

The plan was to meet at Termini after Alex and I got our haircuts around 3pm. That happened. Unfortunately there was a train leaving in 5 minutes, and we had no way of buying our tickets and getting to the train in time. It was a bummer, but nothing was planned. So we just hung around for two hours, caught the next slow train going to Florence and we got there around 9pm or so. Back to the not planning anything part; we had nowhere to sleep. We had a list of hostels, a map, and the hopes that at least one of them had a room for the night was wasn’t god awful expensive. We found the first hostel on our list, and success! There was a six-person room available for 23 euro. Even better, no one else was in the room. So it was like we got a private room at the cost of a dorm rate.

We had been recommended by friends to do two things, other than sight seeing of course: go to Gusta Pizza, and go to Kikuya (or Chicuglia as we thought it was spelled). By the time we settled in at the hostel, it was about 10pm. Gusta Pizza closed at 11pm. We whipped out our maps, and walked at a fast pace to go to this infamous pizza shop. “Ottantanove! Novantadue!” I think we found it. We waited about five minutes or so for them to call our number to take a seat. I was at Gusta Pizza, recommended by several people as one of the best pizzas they have had, so I figured I order the pizza named after the joint, the Gustapizza. Unfortunately, I would have to report later to those recommendees that no mi gusta Gusta Pizza. The Gustapizza was literally cooked dough with tomato sauce on top with a cold salad thrown on top of that with huge chunks of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. It was not very appetizing. Gusta Pizza was unfortunately a failure. Off to Kikuya! We were told that there is a beer called Dragoon at Kikuya and it will literally fuck you up if you were to have more than one. I believed them, but we were all willing to try it. Why not, right? It took forever to find Kikuya because one, we had no idea how to spell it, and two, we only knew the general area for it. It got to the point where Ian saw a sign for “Change” and tried pronouncing it in an Italian speaking way where it sounded more like “Cha-gne”. It was getting to the point where I was just like “left or right? Choose one.” Alex chose right, and luckily it was right down the street. We ordered ourselves a Dragoon, and it tasted pretty bad. Alex and I were certain there was vodka mixed in this beer. And it only hit us as we were walking back to the hostel. The rumors were true. All you needed was one beer.

The following morning, we got our free included breakfast which I wished we skipped and got somewhere else, because let’s face it, Italians can’t do French toast better than Americans. Following breakfast we whipped out our maps one more time and traced a route for the morning activities. From Michelangelo’s David, to the Duomo, and finally to Ponte Vecchio, and also whatever we saw along the way. First we went to the train station to see what time would be good to take a train back to Rome. There was one at 3pm and 5pm. We were going to try to make it for the 3pm train, but we also didn’t want to rush anything. So we were going to play it by ear. Then we went to the Uffizi Gallery first where Michelangelo’s famous David is. The gallery itself was quite small, and had many similar paintings. They kinda blended in with each other after a while. We were only really there to see the David, and unfortunately there really was no build up to it. Once you turned a corner, it was right there. Still quite breath-taking and mesmerizing, I don’t feel I got the full experience of it. And I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of it which was kinda dumb, but there is a replica in Piazza della Signoria. The rest of the gallery was very short. We basically paid to only see the David. From the Uffizi, we walked to the Duomo where we waited on line to climb the top.

replica David

The Duomo

I thought climbing St. Peter’s was rough, but the Duomo was worse. It felt and looked much older, adding to the fact that there were holes in the concrete floors. And this time when we got to the dome, we didn’t walk around it until we reached the top. Instead we literally climbed a sloping ladder on the dome itself. Despite my small heart attacks climbing the damn thing, I got to enjoy a majestic view of Florence and the Tuscan countryside. It was pretty awesome!

From the Duomo we trekked towards Ponte Vecchio (literally meaning Old Bridge) and crossed that. It was lunch time, and I was willing to give Gusta Pizza a second try. Learning from my mistakes though, this time I just got a plain margherita pizza. It was good. The crust is really what makes the pizza good. It was warm, puffy, and soft. It wasn’t the best pizza I have ever had, but it was good nonetheless.

A few people who had been to Florence already had taken pictures from some vantage point that overlooked the entire city and I wanted to go there. A little out of the way, up a big hill, and 20 minutes later, we came to Piazza Michelangelo, which overlooked the whole city. It was just as good of a view from the top of the Duomo. At this point it was about 1:30pm and despite really only seeing things from the outside, we decided to call it a day and try to catch the 3pm train. On the way back I bought two flags, the Italian and Florence one. Also, we noticed how the city got so packed really fast. Rome is a busy and touristy city, but unlike Rome, Florence is small. The streets are narrower and there isn’t as much space to walk around. So it was very crowded in a small area. Luckily we made it to the train on time, and I watched the Tuscan countryside go by as we were on the train. We were only in Florence for about 24 hours or so, but it was worth it. Till next time…

A dopo!

Halfway There

It is nearly the end of March, and it’s quite remarkable to say that I am now more than halfway through being in Rome. It feels like yesterday when I was thrown into the Eternal City not knowing whom I was going to meet, what I was going to do, or where I was going to go. I came having prior experience studying abroad, yet it felt so different. It almost seemed that my prior experience meant nothing other than just knowing that there is more to the world than Howell, NJ or Glenside, PA.

So far, for the most part, I cannot complain. I have assimilated myself among the Romans. I can communicate, with some difficulty at times, with the locals. I have grown accustom to their sense of time and place. I have indulged in wonderful food, history, and culture. I have met some really nice people. And the staff and faculty here are very warming, welcoming, and helpful.

However, with the recent visit from my girlfriend, I cannot help but feel a sense of nostalgia, a yearning for some familiarity of being home. Luckily I am going to London for Spring Break, my third home, and I also received a package from home including a whole bunch of long missed snacks and goodies. So that has helped, but I will not deny that this experience has been tougher handling the distance between home and I more than it was when I studied abroad in London.

This second half, though, is going to go by fast. Italian class ends in two weeks. Spring Break is the following week. Then the rest of the semester is pretty much just finishing up papers and finals. May 20^th will come faster than I expect it to. I may be missing home, but I still have so much to see, and I have every intention to make the best of it with my remaining time.

Other than my upcoming trip to London, I still intend to visit Florence, Pisa, and some other places closely surrounding Rome, and not to mention more museums, churches, and other awesome stuff waiting to be photographed by me.

Till next time…

A dopo!

My Week of Heaven and Hell

Ciao a tutti!

First I must apologize for the long delay in posting a new entry. I have had a very busy week, and between my last entry and now, not much have happened. I finally moved! I believe I hadn’t done that when I posted my last entry. My new apartment is larger, more spacious; it has two bathrooms, and a dishwasher (which has become more of a burden than anything else). I think it’s best to just skip to this past week, because like I said, not much has happened.

This week has been the busiest week so far. It was midterms week. Emerald was visiting. I was supposed to have my Permesso di Sogiorno meeting (luckily I was able to move that to Monday, postponed to Tuesday), and I had a field study to Ravenna for two days. Midterms kind of sucked. I have invested more time studying for these midterms that I have for any other test before, but I felt it was almost for nothing. My professors kept saying how we needed to know dates, people, concepts, etc. The tests however were much shorter than expected, and less than half of what I expected to be on the tests was on them. That being said, I, however, think I did well. But I suppose we’ll see. Emerald came to visit this week, and I felt so bad because of how busy this week has been. It really cut into the amount of time I could have spent with her. We went to the Colosseo, the Forum Romanun, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghese, Piazza Navona, Tiber Island, and Testaccio. Most of it I have done or been to before, but I was just happy to be with her.

Ravenna was pretty cool. We literally went church hopping. We went from one church to another looking at amazing mosaics. They were quite impressive. And we got to do it with one of the coolest teachers I have ever had, Professor Gadeyne. There’s only three of us in the class, and that allows him to be so chill. He even likes it. He said there should be more classes with just 3-5 people. It’s so much easier. For dinner we went to such an awesome place. It looked and felt like a German beerhouse with a combination of a remodeled, modernized, two stories home. Except it was only one floor and the ceilings were 30 feet high. I had amazing pasta with cream sauce and prosciutto. Then I had mutton with roasted potatoes and for dessert, I had tiramisu. We also stayed at one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed at. It was quite awesome. I was glad though that I was able to come back on Saturday evening and spend most of Sunday with Emerald. But now it’s the beginning of a new week, a normal week. Time for some mental relaxation.

A dopo!

Here are some pictures of these awesome mosaics I saw.

Heights-0, Me-1

I apologize. I feel I have neglected my very few readers this past week or two. There has been a recent post about the nicer weather we’re having, but I seemed to have been lacking in the actual “what’s going on in my life in Rome” business. This entry shouldn’t take long though.

All last week I literally did basically nothing. Other than my usual weekly readings for homework and watching my new obsession, “Downton Abbey,” I have done very little. My only bit of excitement for this past week, with the exception of this gorgeous weather, was on Friday where Ian and I climbed the top of the dome of Saint Peter’s and went to Castel Sant’Angelo. First onto Saint Peter’s. The line looked ridiculously long, (everyone seems to have the same good ideas that I have on the same days) but it went quite fast. The Vatican security is quite efficient. So we probably only waited on line for about 20 minutes at most. You had two options: walk all the way up (about 550 stairs) for 5 euro or take an elevator up 200 stairs and climb 350 for 7 euro. We climbed. The first half was real easy. It was just a giant circular staircase going up for what seemed like forever. It was all enclosed, so without actually looking out the occasional window, you really wouldn’t know how high you were…until you approached the inner ring at the base of the dome. Then the nerves and adrenaline kicks in. My heart was racing like a racehorse on crack. I took one step on the inner track and turned right back around to breathe for a few seconds. Thankfully there was a caged fence preventing anyone from looking over and falling. But we were high. I took one breath, quickly went onto the track and stared at the floor till we got to the next doorway. The next half of the way up becomes quite a squeeze and a bit slanted. Caution: if you’re claustrophobic, do not climb Saint Peter’s. You climb up a very narrow staircase with no railing and eventually the walls start slanting and it feels like you’re walking up a staircase in a Lewis Carol novel. Finally you get to some metal stairs, climb a larger staircase, and of course, two very narrow spiral staircases with no railings whatsoever. Luckily each one of them was only a short way up. Despite my fear of what I call “uncontrollable heights,” I beat the it once again, and my prize was the extraordinary view on such a beautiful day atop Saint Peter’s dome. You could see for miles to mountains in the distance. It was a wonderful site, awe inspiring to many who have taken this pilgrimage. It was totally worth it, and I will cherish that horizon forever. Luckily going down was a bit easier than going up, and I never actually had to go back on that inner track of the bottom of the dome. Win!

Following my victory over heights, we walked just down the street to Castel Sant’Angelo. For those who are less knowledgeable in the importance of this building, it was originally the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian, and eventually became the Vatican fortress, more or less. There’s really not much to see in the building particularly. You can view the papal apartments and the outer walls, but most spectacular other than the incredible views from the top, is one of my favorite statues, the Archangel Michael by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (what an awesome name by the way). After checking out the pretty cool views from the top terrace of the fortress, we made our way back home. It was an early leave considering it was a Friday, but we were exhausted, and I had the apartment to myself most of the weekend, so I wanted to take advantage of having some private time and some peace and quite. This week is all classes, including a trip to the Vatican Museum, and some more classes. There’s also an Italian test. Oh, and also we’re moving finally. It’s only right around the corner, but it’s such a hassle. So we’ll see how swift and easy that becomes. I might do a bit more exploring on the weekend. I’m on a tight budget though. I gotta do things cheap. Till next time…

A dopo!

Warm Weather, but Dressed up for Winter?

Despite Rome’s recent snow extravaganza that we all experienced about two weeks ago, Rome has taken on quite the reversal this past several days and seems will continue throughout at least the rest of the week if not longer. It has been 65 degrees or warmer during the day. Now, I am not really sure if February is normally like this here in Rome, but for my average February, this is quite warm, and pleasurable. I see myself walking outside everyday with no jacket whatsoever, and I am perfectly content. However, I walk around, and I see everyone still dressed in their winter regalia. It really blows my mind. I am practically sweating walking to class, and the woman crossing the street is in her fur coat with a hat and scarf. Now, I may be a little exaggerating about me sweating walking to class, because 65 degrees is not hot, but I swear I am not exaggerating about the Romans and their winter attire. If anyone is sweating, I expect them to be. This is beautiful weather. This makes me want to be outside all the time and never go back in. I even considered wearing shorts the other day, but I got the feeling that some people were staring at me just without wearing a coat. I don’t really like standing out amongst the crowd. I don’t really like people to know I’m American here. It’s not that I am not proud to be an American; quite the contrary. I just don’t want to be assumed as a tourist, because even though I am often acting as a tourist when I go out, I do still technically live in Rome, and I would like to immerse myself in my surroundings as much as possible. So I can’t help but think that when people are looking at me, they are already assuming I am not from here just because I am not wearing a jacket. I asked Isabella, my “At Home in Rome” professor, today why are Romans still dressed up like it’s twenty below zero. According to her, Italians dress according to the calendar, not the weather. Technically, February means winter. It makes sense, in a way. It probably should be quite cold out, but it isn’t. So I am just quite surprised that Italians don’t just adjust when it’s strangely warmer out. I feel they would be a little more comfortable. I suppose, “it’s just how Italy is.” I get this a lot. It’s strange, but I guess I will not mind sticking out this one time just to enjoy the fine weather we’re having.

There and Back Again, A Venetian Tale by William Peitz

Hola ladies and gents! Most of this entry will talk about my trip to Venice, but I have a little bit to say about last week. Last week was great because my weekend began on Wednesday at noon. Due to the recent weather, we did not have class last Monday. I had my history class on Tuesday. And I ended my week on Wednesday morning with Italian class, because my remaining classes were cancelled because both of my teachers were sick. I call that a win! However, I did feel kinda bad that they were sick. That’s never fun. Oh, and remember how I didn’t have Italian class like two weeks ago because my teacher never showed up? Well, I have to make up the lost time and now I have two, three-hour Italian classes. It’s ridiculous, and in my opinion, unfair. We were all in class. The teacher didn’t show. Oh well. There’s no point in arguing. Anyway, so like I said, my weekend began on Wednesday at noon. It was nice. I just hung around those couple days until Friday when I left for Venice.

I left for Venice at 7:45pm from Termini Station. The train was quite nice. It felt like an airport on wheels. The train ride was supposed to be just under four hours, but we literally stopped in the middle of nowhere. I think we were in a tunnel because it was pitch black outside. The train apparently was having trouble changing tracks. So we had a 30 minute delay. We got into Venice around midnight, maybe a little after. Venice is an interesting city. First, there are no cars. I suppose I should have known that, but it was still quite interesting. As most of you should know, Venice is literally on water. People get around by boats, water taxis, or water buses. Venice also has many bridges and small streets that quite often lead to a dead end, usually the water. There’s also not a whole lot of light at night. So imagine four of us not knowing where to go, unfamiliar with the area, walking around Venice’s small streets, usually ending at a dead end and having to turn around, and having water surround us. Sound interesting? Well it was. It took forever to find the piazza where the hostel was at, let alone the hostel itself. Nothing was labeled very well. There were no signs. We asked people to help us find the address and several people kept pointing us in a general direction, but nothing exact. Finally we found the café where you need to check into. Strangely though, the woman brought us back outside and walked us across the piazza to another building where we had to check in. Okay, odd, but whatever. We check in, but then the guy brings us across the piazza again and down an alleyway to where our room was. We had to go into three buildings just to find our room. Really odd, but at least we finally found it. Once we settled in (probably around 1AM) we went downstairs because right across the street (and when I mean across the street, I mean like 2 feet because the alleys are so skinny) we got kebabs. After that, it was bedtime.

Saturday morning we’re up at 8AM and out the door to enjoy our complimentary breakfast at that café where I had a cornetto and cappuccino. It was a great way to start off the morning. Off to San Marco! Or so we thought. We walked about 3 miles in the wrong direction. It was cold. It was windy. No one was around. It kinda sucked, but that’s okay. We finally got directions and once again we were off to San Marco! Or so we thought. We were going in the right direction. We were just on the wrong side of the canal. So we backtracked just a bit, crossed a bridge, walked again for another 10 minutes or so and we were in San Marco at last. We got there roughly around 10:30-11AM and it was already pretty crowded. There was a huge stage and screen in the middle of the piazza. Quite a few people were dressed up, and there were food and souvenir vendors all across the piazza. We figured we should warm up a bit so we went inside the Basilica of San Marco where, unfortunately, Amanda lost her camera. It was a bummer. But we moved on. Camille and I climbed the bell tower to the top. Well, we actually took an elevator to the top. The views were quite awesome. The 50-mile an hour winds in freezing cold temperatures was not. We took our pictures real fast and took the elevator back down. We were freezing so we figured we would go grab lunch and warm up a bit. After lunch, I bought a mask, because what is Carnevale without the masks? We then traversed back to San Marco and entered the Doge’s Palace. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures. I suppose it was good for Amanda. Other than those three buildings I went into, there really wasn’t much else to do in San Marco. We saw a bunch of people dressed up. We saw the sites. So we headed towards Rialto Bridge, a once controversial bridge that connects parts of Venice. It is filled with shops and interesting things to look at. We constantly had to stop to feed Camille’s addiction to fritelle and other sweets, but I didn’t mind. It was fun. From there, we just headed back to the hostel where we could warm up and relax for a bit before going out at night and having dinner. A few hours later, we finished our evening with a nice meal, a crepe filled with Nutella, made by this sweet woman who I talked to in Italian, and checking out the free concert in San Marco. I suppose you can say we ended our evening fairly early, or at least early for Carnevale. We were in by 10:30 and that was okay. We were exhausted and we have had a long day and another one was happing on Sunday.

Piazza San Marco

View of San Marco from the top of the Bell Tower

My mask!

Read More

The Roman Snowpocalypse and the Rematch of the Decade

My first week of classes has gone by, but that seems forever ago compared to this past weekend. And I don’t mean that I was at crazy parties or that I did something so spectacular that is outshines the beginning of the week. No, our weekend consisted of a weather phenomenon, and continuous issues with my apartment. Let me at least start off by talking about my classes.

Monday was Italian. That’s my Monday. That’s it. Tuesday was my first From Rome to Baghdad class. There are three of us in that class. Now us Arcadians know all about how Arcadia prides themselves on personal attention, but three students? Now that’s personal attention at its best. I’m not complaining though. It’s a history class that seems so interesting, and its just going be so much better that there are only three of us. What’s even weirder is that we’re all left-handed. That’s crazy! So moving on. Wednesday started off with Italian, or at least it was supposed to. The teacher never showed up. So we left 20 minutes after the class should have started. Then I figured I should tell someone, just because that’s the kind of person I am. So I did. And now apparently we have to make up the class because the teacher missed it. That’s bull, but whatever. Wednesday afternoon was my first class of At Home in Rome. This class is going to be real interesting. By the way, most classes are outside of the classroom and exploring parts of Rome, which is so cool, because it adds a sense of experiential learning. (I had a better word to use, but I could not remember it.) For At Home in Rome we walked from Piramide to the neighborhood of Testaccio and looked at how this once working class neighborhood and home to the once largest and best slaughterhouses in all of Europe, is changing and becoming gentrified. Thursday started my Museum Practices course. For this class we actually went back to Testaccio to the old slaughterhouse where a part of it has been made into a museum called the MACRO where we saw the Steve McCurry exhibition. Most people know him as the guy who photo’d the infamous “Afghan Girl”. And Fridays I have no class.

Taken from http://www.labnol.org/internet/favorites/the-young-afghan-girl-by-steve-mccurry/624/ 

On to the weekend! Let’s talk about my apartment issues. I’m sure those who read this (which I’m assuming is mostly my mother and Emerald, but if there are more of you I’m glad) know all about how my building is under construction. They’ve supposedly been working since the summer fixing balconies and the façade. So we get woken up most mornings at around 7:30-8:00. On Mondays and Wednesdays it isn’t so bad since I have to get up around that time, but on every other day when I don’t have to be up that early, it’s quite annoying. However, due to the recent weather, the construction workers actually haven’t been around. So our main problem actually hasn’t been the problem this past weekend. But several other problems arose. For reasons we cannot explain, our power had been going out at obscure times of days for using hardly any power. Our washing machine was unplugged for like five days and sat in our kitchen. So on Thursday our “lovely” friends (I say this in quotations, because by now I’m not too fond of them, and they aren’t too fond of us probably, but I’ll get to that) came to the apartment, plugged the washing machine in our kitchen, and saw now problems with our electricity. Okay, whatever. No big deal. We weren’t lying and we weren’t going crazy. But the electricity has been fine now. Another problem comes up. All day Friday, and most of Saturday we have no hot water. So we called and eventually someone came and fixed our hot water. It was nice to take a shower. However, another problem comes up. Saturday night, all day Sunday, and most of today we have had no heat. And with the recent weather lately, we’ve been freezing in our apartment. So I call once again asking for help. This time however, the housing agency tells us there is nothing they can do to help us. Excuse me? That is unacceptable. So I tell Arcadia. Someone eventually came. They were here for no less than two minutes and fixed our heat. They seemed pissed, but so was I. They could have just told us what to do instead of coming all the way out here, but oh well. I think we’re moving anyway sometime soon because the construction is going to continue for another two months. Welcome to where I live.

To the weather or the Roman Snowpocalypse as I have been calling it, because that’s exactly what it was. Rome experienced snow in a way it hasn’t seen in about 25 years. Rome got about over a foot of snow in some parts and the city had to be shut down. The city had to be shut down again today because they were still dealing with parts of the city that had snow and ice. I guess they were unprepared. At home we’ve got plows and salt up the wazoo. Here, not so much. Needless to say, the snow shocked everyone and everyone went ape shit. People were everywhere, partly because they were told they couldn’t drive, and partly because this isn’t normal for them. We got on the metro, which was so crowded. People probably got pregnant that day because we were so close to each other. For me, it felt like a normal day in London. Everyone got off at the Colosseo, including us. We hung around for a bit, took some pictures, and came back home. I only have one pair of sneakers and I really didn’t feel like ruining them. It was a great day for people watching though. It was quite entertaining.

The Superbowl, an American pastime, that I was privileged to be apart of once again, however it took a while to find a place to watch it. I wouldn’t care so much about watching it since I’m here in Italy, but the Giants were playing the Patriots, the rematch of the decade. So I had to watch it and root on the G-Men. We went to one bar, couldn’t get it, then walked around for a bit, and stumbled upon Campo di Fiori which normally is crawling in American tourists and students stumbling around for being ridiculously drunk, but last night it was quiet surprisingly. We went into Sloppy Sams, a great name, and had great seats and plenty of food. I was able to watch the Giants once again defeat the Patriots in a nerve racking, but awesome American football game. Unfortunately for us, the game ended around 4AM and we walked all the way back to our apartment after walking in a circle, crossing the Tevere unnecessarily, and not listening to me, we got back around 5:30AM. My face hit the bed and I was out.

This week is just another week of classes. Tomorrow I’m taking part in a cooking lesson with Chef Stefano. He’s apparently fairly known around here. So that should be a lot of fun. Next weekend is Carnevale in Venice! I cannot wait.

One more thing. I was in the grocery store today and I realized nobody uses coupons. Do they exist in Italy? Who knows? The mystery of the Italian Coupon. Till next time…

A dopo!

Fun Weekend…Just Had to Blog About It

I left you all last time noting that I was taking a trip down to Ostia on Saturday, and I was planning on going to the Vatican on Sunday. And that is exactly what I did.

Ostia, Rome’s old port city, is but now all rocks, stumps, columns, headless statues, and open air. If you like old rocks, then this would have been exciting for you. It’s a good thing old rocks are for me as well. Ostia was like an outside museum where you could do almost anything you wanted. It was the weirdest and one of the most awesome things to experience. You pay for your ticket at the ticket booth before you enter the city. From then on, nobody pays attention to you. There are no guards anywhere, and hardly anything is roped off. I was able to climb mostly on all the foundations and rocks that were there. A few standing buildings allowed us to climb to the top and take awesome pictures of the ruined city. You can touch everything and go down into anything. It was quite an interactive experience, and for anyone staying in Rome for a couple days, I would recommend hopping down to Ostia for a few hours and enjoy the sunlight, and history.

Saturday was fun. Saturday night was just as fun. A few of us who had gone down to Ostia decided that we should go out to eat in the evening as well. Why not?  It’s been such a nice day out. I told myself I would go out to eat about once a week. And I’ve been enjoying everyone’s company, so I might as well continue it. Our plan was to go out to eat and get some real authentic Italian food. Then we were going to Pizzeria Tre Gatti where they make Nutella pizza. That was to be our dessert. Then finally, we were to go to The Beefeater, a bar that resembles an authentic English pub. We got exactly what we wanted for dinner, real Italian food. However, this place was different. No menus! I’ve heard of this before. You eat only what is being served that day. It’s fine. No big deal. Despite the lack of menu, there were still a good amount of options available. We had fettuccine with tomato sauce and cheese and chicken in some kind of seasoned tomato sauce. We also had artichoke. I now know I do not like artichoke. They kept bringing us bread too. It was fantastic! Until the check. I looked at it, gasped, and I swear if I knew how to faint, I probably would have done that. 96.50 euros for the four of us. Now technically, that’s only about 24 euro each, which is still quite expensive, but for going out once a week, I suppose it’s not too bad. But the initial reaction to 96 euros was quite shocking. We now know only order a primo piatto and say no to more bread. We pay, we leave. Off for Nutella pizza! Or not. Not only could we not get the door open for whatever reason, but they turned us away with no reason why whatsoever. I suppose maybe it was full, but still. We were quite embarrassed at the fact we couldn’t open the door, and then we were quite bummed that we couldn’t have Nutella pizza. Oh well. Maybe next time. Off to the Beefeater, or Beefeaters as we’ve been calling it. I walk in and I feel like I’m in London again. The dark wood, small tables, and English décor made me feel at home. I had this awesome tasting German beer and tiramisu. What a great end to a great day.

Ah, the Vatican. What a sight it really is. Except on the last Sunday of the month. Our original plan was to go to the Vatican Museum because on the last Sunday of the month, it’s free. What a great idea right? Well it was also a great idea for everyone else a well. I have never, let me repeat, NEVER seen a line that long for a museum! It wrapped around several blocks, and by the time we got to the end of the line, I said screw it. I’d rather pay and enjoy myself, then go in free and want to murder someone. God forbid in the Vatican right? So instead we figured we would just go to Saint Peter’s and check it out inside. Inside was everything I had imagined and seen in movies and in television, along with 50,000 people. I couldn’t even enjoy myself. I saw Michelangelo’s Pieta, my favorite sculpture in the world, and I couldn’t even really appreciate it. We didn’t stay for long, and I told myself I would go today, because I only had class till 11AM. I learned something else on Sunday. Never buy pizza right outside the metro, especially if it’s at the metro stop for the Spanish Steps. 5 euro later, I was eating a very expensive slice of pizza. Granted it was good, but not 5 euro good. Walking down the Spanish Steps, we ran into a familiar friend, or at least familiar to those who have played Assassin’s Creed. Ezio Auditore! Or at least someone dressed up as him, but it was still pretty awesome! He was acting just like Ezio does when he walks through a crowd. For a video game fan, it was one of the coolest things we saw that day. We finished our early afternoon checking out the Trevi Fountain, which as expected was crowded as usual. I hear the best time to go is at 2AM. Maybe I’ll check it out one of these days.

Today marks our first official week of classes, but not for me. Instead, I only had Italian which lasted till 11AM. So what to do? I went to Basilica di San Paolo (St. Paul’s Basilica) which is right near our school. It’s a huge basilica that is quite an extraordinary sight. I even saw the sarcophagus of Saint Paul himself! It was awesome! From there I headed to Saint Peter’s because I promised myself that I would come back and try to enjoy it and appreciate it better hoping that much less people would be there. Surprisingly there were a lot of people there for a Monday afternoon around 2PM. But it was significantly less than Sunday, therefore more enjoyable and more breathing room.

Saint Peter’s Basilica. Saint Peter’s is the greatest church in Christendom. Built on the memory and grave of the first pope, Saint Peter, this is where the grandeur of ancient Rome became the grandeur of Christianity. Built on marble, stone, and gold, Saint Peter’s is truly what you would imagine and more. Now, I am not a practicing Catholic, nor do I even think I am a Catholic anymore. My beliefs run more along Agnosticism, but I chose to suspend my disbelief and decided to accept and respect Catholic beliefs for a brief moment just to appreciate the power that is Saint Peter’s and the Vatican. Also my passion for history became fueled by this experience. You walk in and, holy crap! That’s right HOLY crap! It is beautiful! It is huge! It is powerful! My favorite sculpture, the Pieta by the famous Michelangelo is set behind bullet-proof glass due to some ass who decided to go crazy one day and hack at it with a hammer, was still quite a site. I stared at it for a few minutes to just see the magnificent sculpture. The youthful beauty of Mary shows great expression for the loss of her son, Jesus. Jesus looks as if the weight of the marble is making his body slide off of Mary’s lap and on to the floor. It is very beautiful. From Michelangelo’s church, dome, and Pieta, to Bernini’s Baroque façade to the saints and popes encrusted in the Vatican walls as statues, it is quite a site. I know I didn’t see everything and I know I am coming back because I really want to climb to the top of the dome.

So this is where I will leave you. I’ve got Italian homework and other things I need to do. Pictures will be posted real soon. I think I am going to split the pictures up in two albums: St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s. It just makes sense, especially since I took so many pictures in each. So till next time…

A dopo!