Rome/Assisi

Iva and I in Rome!!

Ok, so basically I feel like an expert of Rome's metro system now.  But, of course, learned it the hard way.  Early afternoon on Friday, I had to take the bus by myself from Tuscania to Viterbo to meet Iva over there to take the train.  That was an adventure in itself.  I had to ask the bus driver if he could take me to the historical town center instead of just the bus station, and had to sit awkwardly on the bus alone with him (sitting at the station) for like 10 minutes until he could leave again.  All during this time, him asking me questions about how long I've been here, etc....all in Italian, of course.  Then at like 3:50 Iva and I caught the what-we-thought-was 1 hour bus ride to Rome.  And here is where it all begins.
    So, there was graffiti painted all along the windows of the train on the other side so we couldn't see the names of all the stops.  Thinking we only had a few minutes left until we reached "Termini," we grabbed our bags and went and stood in the little section between cars near the doors.  About 45 minutes later, with an incredibly sore back and tired of being stared at by creepy old men, we start to see the stops for Rome (there are a bunch.)  Do we see Termini? No. Of course not. That would be too easy.  Well, the train gets to the end of the line.  Faaaantastic.  So, we just get off not knowing exactly what to do or where to go...and figure we'll just take the B line metro to Termini where then we have to catch the A line to near our hotel. So, we buy a metro ticket and get on the B line.  After being on it for a stop or two, Iva points out that we are going the opposite direction.  So, we have to get off, then get on the other one, then catch the A line, then get to our hotel, all while being terrified of pick pocketers and carrying a heavy duffel bag on my shoulders.  Good lord. So anyway, our hotel was cute and quaint and it was time to do a little exploring and get dinner. VERY touristy.  Everyone spoke English, even when you spoke Italian to them first. All of the menus at restaurants were designed for tourists, and the food wasn't as fresh as I'm used to.  I guess I'm just spoiled from Tuscania.  The Colosseum was beautiful, though.  Because it was Valentine's Day weekend, everyone we saw was a couple.  Outside the Colosseum were like 20 different couples just strolling around or sitting....and then there was Iva and I.  How romantic.

St. Francis church!

    The next morning we had to meet some girls that are staying in Rome through Lorenzo de'Medici, along with Massimo (one of our advisers) at the train station (which was also a long adventure trying to find the store we were supposed to meet at).  Off to Assisi!  Before even really seeing any of Assisi, a van drove us to Deruta where we saw some pottery museum and got to paint our own plates.  That was fun, and kind of a coincidence, because just the other day I was talking to someone for the first time in like 10 years about how I missed Paint The Earth in Chapel Hill.  After this and like my 3rd cappuccino and pastry (mistake- felt sooooo sick), we went back to Assisi.

    I felt kind of like a snob, but when we were walking around Assisi, Iva and I heard all the Rome girls saying stuff like "oh my god is this real?" and "this is so beautiful" talking about the narrow streets of Assissi.  But seriously, in comparison to what we see everyday in Tuscania, this wasn't that breathtaking.  After a wine tasting and a HUGE dinner (one girl actually threw up from eating too much...literally haha) it was off to bed.  The next day, (due to the cold rainy weather, we decided not to go to Perugia as planned) was spent walking around Assissi seeing all of the churches and stuff.  The church of San Francesco was actually AMAZING.  It was so amazingly colorful.  Literally every single inch of space was painted with some sort of colorful fresco.  I wish I had some pictures of it to show, but of course they weren't allowed.  Underneath the main church was another section, and then underneath that was San Francesco's tomb.  It was all really pretty and peaceful.  OH when we were all getting gelato, there was this little dog just chillin out in one of the chairs at a table just like a human.  It was the funniest thing ever.  But anyway...Assisi was actually a pretty little town, and actually for some reason reminded me of how Verona looked in Letters to Juliet.  But, after this trip, I am now VERY appreciative of Tuscania.  I actually missed it when we were in Rome and Assisi.  Like, Tuscania has actual authentic culture and food...it's quite nice.

    My classes are actually really really nice.  Got a little tipsy in our wine and culture class last night before our girls Valentine's dinner...it was quite fun.  Went to a museum in the town in one of my classes today and saw a ton of 2000-year-old tombs, kind of cool.  Stacy and I are quite the little chefs in our apartment, and thank god we FINALLY have snacks now...chocolates, pringles, etc.  So good.  Sorry not too much happened this week, hopefully you found at least some of it exciting!  Hope everyone had a good valentine's day! gag.
Ciao, buona sera!!
Cam