So I fell in love this weekend...

 with Rome.  My old dream was to live in New York City after college…but now I say screw that.  Rome is like New York City, except 10 times cleaner, 10 times prettier,  10 times more historic, 10 times more fun, more cultural, the people are nicer, better food….not to completely bash nyc, but this list could go on and on.  I loved it.

So, we’ll start my recap on Thursday.  I went to bed around 4:30 am or so Thursday morning, and had to wake up at 8 am.  We had a fieldtrip for wine class to Montefiascone and Orvieto, so after my Italian class, I went and got a cappuccino before we had to leave in the van.  Bad idea.  I hadn’t had too much to eat that day, and so the coffee was actually a terrible idea.  I already started to feel nauseous before we even leave the school.  Then we get into our tiny school van, with Massimo, one of our advisers, driving…on windy Italian roads.  I love Italy but people just drive like maniacs.  So basically the whole ride there I think I’m about to throw up at any second and it was miserable.  It was so pathetic.  At one point, I took a big sip of water and realized that if I swallowed it, I would throw up.  So Iva gave me her water bottle to spit the water back into.  Complete fail. Basically just spit it into my lap…it was pretty funny though.  So, to summarize the day….the wineries were pretty, the weather was really cold and rainy, and I was the most pathetically gross person alive.

Friday I had to catch a train to Rome to meet HANNAH!!!  I took a quick one hour train from Tarquinia, and walked a nice 20 minutes until I found the apartment they were staying in.  The apartment was so nice.  It was right near the Vatican and a bunch of shops.  It was like a legit home and had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen.  After getting a quick lunch, we had a tour of the Vatican museum/ the Sistine Chapel.  The museum was all really pretty, but it seemed to go on for miles and miles.  Finally, at the very end, we got to the Sistine Chapel.  Maybe I’m just an emotionless soulless person, but I honestly don’t see how anybody could cry from the “beauty” of this.  I mean, yeah, it WAS really really pretty…but the only thing I came close to crying of was from the pain my neck was feeling from looking up so long.  It was pretty cool to see such a famous, historic sight, though.  After that we went back to the apartment and basically slept from like 6 pm until 8 am.  I felt their pain from being soooo exhausted from the plane so I didn’t mind just staying in bed and just being able to make up on the lack of sleep from the week before. 

Saturday, we first saw St. Peter's Square, and then went and saw basically all of central Rome.  We saw the Coliseum, the Trevi fountain, the pantheon, etc.  I had seen the Coliseum before so it wasn’t a big deal but the Trevi fountain was absolutely gorgeous.  We went to Piazza Navona where there were more fountains, people playing music, tons of people eating outside at restaurants, and groups of people in costume doing plays and songs for Carnevale.  It was so lively and fun.  I would love to live near there or near the pantheon or something.  There was so much shopping!!! I FINALLY bought a leather jacket, it was basically the happiest moment of my life.  We never found a tattoo parlor, so I didn’t get to get my tattoo as planned, but oh well.  I’ll get it soon enough!  So for dinner, Hannah and I met up with ALLISON DOHERTY AND ERIN HUDECEK.  Top 10 happiest moments of my life.  We went to a nice little restaurant and then to an Irish pub.  So nice to be reunited!

So Sunday, we went on a nice little walk in the park to the Trastevere part of Rome.  This apparently is the more ‘authentic’ roman section that is less touristy and has more actual romans.  It was really pretty and there were a lot of families…and of course the food was pretty good.  Poor little Hannah was a little ‘bleh’ from the night before so she was on the ‘struggle bus’ as Stacy would say.  We then went back and met Erin for some shopping!!!!!  Bought so much stuff- SO happy. 

So that’s basically everything…or at least the main parts.  I did love Rome, and although there were a lot of tourists in certain areas, I was still surrounded by Italian.  It did really piss me off though when I would speak to someone or ask someone a question in Italian and they would answer in English. SO annoying.  I understand why Tuscania is so much better for actually learning the language because nobody can actually speak English so Italian is their only option for a response.  Hannah and her parents are in Tuscania now!  They’re spending the week here and just taking day trips out to other towns.  We’re going to Siena and Montepulciano tomorrow!!  We also have this huge carnival party in town tomorrow night that everyone has to wear a costume for and I still don’t know what to be…I guess I’ll just see what I can throw together.  But I’m so excited!!  And I’m SOOOO happy that Hannah and her family are here with me this week!  

Ciao Ciao!!