Castles and Basilicas and Thanksgiving in Italia

Oh, Rome, another week with you just flew right by- I honestly can't believe that I only have 3 more weeks until I go back to the States. I'm definitely going to miss your charm, your delicious food and your beautiful language....

But now it's time to talk about my past week in Rome. On Monday, I had the normal class schedule, and Tuesday I only have class at 5:15 PM, so I had all of Tuesday to see Castel Sant'Angelo. This building used to be the mausoleum of the Roman emperor, Hadrian, who was a great emperor. He traveled throughout the Empire, especially to Greece. He commissioned the Pantheon to be rebuilt in Rome (in case any of you have forgotten, the Pantheon is one of the best preserved ancient buildings in the world!), he had a beautiful villa right outside Rome in the town of Tivoli, he founded an efficient post service for the empire, and had a period of peace within the Empire, to strengthen its borders. If you can't tell by now, I went to Castel Sant'Angelo not only to visit a castle, whose patron saint is St. Michael, but because I'm writing a paper for my art history class on Hadrian's mausoleum and why he was such a good emperor, along with the funerary practices of the time. It should be an interesting research project, but I'm not very motivated to write a 10-page paper about the topic.

Anyway, so I went to Castel Sant'Angelo on Tuesday afternoon. I want to let you know it's right near the Vatican, not even a 5 minute walk from St. Peter's Basilica. After the first sack of Rome, when Hadrian's ashes, along with his wife's ashes and all the other emperor's remains housed there, were stolen, it was used as a military fortress for a period of time, since it had a good look-out point and it was right next to the Tiber River. When Rome was under attack by enemies or during the Sack of Rome, there is supposedly a secret passageway from the Vatican to Castel Sant'Angelo, and the Pope would follow the passageway and hide safely in the castle. Since the early 1900s, it has been a museum and that is its present-day purpose.

After paying the entrance fee and walking around kind of aimlessly, I decided to return to the entrance to buy an audioguide. It was very helpful and taught me a lot about the original purpose and structure of the building. Another note: it's kind of freaky going to a site where you know there used to be ashes of deceased people, even if they're not there anymore. But I overcame that fear and took detailed notes, as I will have to describe the structure of the mausoleum in my paper. On top of the castle, there is a fantastic view of the city, and you can see a wonderful view of St. Peter's Basilica. There is also a statue of Michael the Archangel on the terrace, and I'll explain the significance of that with a supposed legend I learned about on the audioguide tour.

(If you're not into history, just skip this paragraph- but it is pretty interesting I think). During the 6th century, when the pope was Gregory the Great, there was a plague in Rome, which was believed to be a divine punishment for all mankind's sins. Pope Gregory organized a procession with the image of the Holy Mother from Santa Maria Maggiore (one of the Vatican churches in Rome) to San Pietro. As the procession was passing the castle, St. Michael appeared in the sky over the castle, brandishing his sword and placing it in his sheath, as a sign of peace. The plague suddenly ended after his appearance, and a chapel was built to St. Michael inside the castle, and from then on, it was given the name Castel Sant'Angelo, since St. Michael is one of the most important archangels. The bronze statue of St. Michael on top of the castle was added later.

Wednesday was another day full of classes, and then Thursday was Thanksgiving Day, which they obviously don't celebrate in Italy, because Italians don't have a reason to be thankful for the pilgrims and Indians. LOL I only have one class on Thursday (Italian), and my teacher had an interesting lesson for us that day: we were going to make the Italian dessert, tiramisu, instead of having a traditional class. She spoke in Italian to us, and we followed the recipe in Italian. It's actually really easy to make, but I won't spoil the recipe for anyone- I want to make it myself when I'm back in the States and impress everyone with my newly acquired cooking skills. :) After making tiramisu, we went to the dinner that our school was cooking for us. It was nice to have turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and wine of course! I'll have to admit, it wasn't nearly as good as the meals I would have had back home, but it was a good substitute. I talked to my parents on Thanksgiving morning their time, right before I went to Italian class. I had a relaxing Thursday night and Friday, and I grabbed some coffee with my friend Rita on Friday evening.

I had to be up early on Saturday to catch the bus for the school trip. This was my final trip with AUR, and I was excited to go to Assisi. They had a tour guide waiting for us when we got off the bus, and I learned a lot on the tour. I didn't know that Assisi was a Roman town; they even had Roman ruins underneath the medieval streets that are still standing today. Most of the buildings are made out of limestone brick and there were green plants everywhere- it was a really beautiful, serene town, and it was nice to take a trip somewhere so calm. We saw two basilicas there- one for St. Clare, one for St. Francis of Assisi. They were both filled with amazing art work and had interesting historical backgrounds. We ate an authentic Assisi meal- I had bruschetta and then pasta with olive/mushroom sauce. It was soooo delicious and I was so full, yet I still had room for a chocolate cannoli. :) We had a little time to browse the shops, but I personally didn't do any shopping. It was time to catch the bus back to Rome, and I admired the setting sun on the Italian landscape, realizing that I only have three more weeks to enjoy this beautiful country. Until next time, ciao!

Una Bella Settimana a Roma- A Beautiful Week in Rome!

My beautiful week in Roma included my 21st birthday, watching a meteor shower, going to see Pope Benedict XVI, my friend Chad visiting me in Rome, and meeting and hanging out with a celebrity, Ryan Cabrera.

So I'm sure you're all wondering how my 21st birthday went in Rome- well, it was not as exciting as you all thought it would be, but I still had fun. I had class all day from noon to six, and everyone in my classes was wishing me happy birthday. I also received so many birthday cards- thanks to everyone who wished me a happy 21st birthday from the States- I got cards in the mail, e-cards, e-mail birthday wishes, and so many wishes on Facebook. I came home and was able to talk to my parents on Skype. Then, my roommate Shelby surprised me with a bottle of champagne and a cake. It was a great birthday already, and then we went to dinner at this Spanish restaurant near Piazza Navona, my favorite piazza in Rome. The restaurant was right across the street from La Botticella, the Steelers bar. Unfortunately, the Steelers bar was closed because the owner, Giovanni, went back to the States for Thanksgiving with his family. Even though I had just been to Spain, we ordered Spanish tapas and everyone shared their delicious food. My roommates Liz and Shelby were at dinner along with Bryn and Dan, two of my friends at AUR who go to school at Chatham and Point Park, so I'll hang out with them in Pittsburgh when I get back. Of course, we ordered sangria at dinner and then were off to have some more drinks. Since the Steelers bar was closed, we went to Campo di Fiori, the American section of Rome. Shelby and I had a couple more drinks there, but Shelby had a presentation the next day and we didn't stay out too late. I wish my birthday hadn't been on a Monday when everyone had tons of homework, but I'm so excited to celebrate my birthday in St. Marys and Pittsburgh- American bars, ready or not, here I come!!!

There was a meteor shower on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, but supposedly Tuesday was the best night to watch it. At midnight, my roommate Kelly and I met up with some of her friends and we went to a look out point near our school. We drank wine and ate cheese and watched for all the shooting stars. It was an awesome night in Rome and a great day after my birthday- as I've told all my friends, we have Polish birthdays in my hometown, which means we celebrate our birthdays for about a week or so. I missed having a family party with my brother Aaron for our combined birthdays, but I'm sure it will happen next year.

On Wednesday, I woke up bright and early to catch the bus to the Vatican to see the Pope. I had already been to the Vatican twice (once on a tour with Gwen and Kristen and another time for my art class). I was skipping my art class for this papal audience, but it was totally worth it. My roommate Kelly didn't have class on Wednesday morning, so she was coming to see the Pope with me. We walked from the metro stop to St. Peter's, went through security, and then had to cross St. Peter's Square and go through security one more time before we could go inside to where the papal audience was being held. I assumed that since there were hundreds of chairs set up in the Piazza di San Pietro that we would see the Pope outside, but this wasn't the case. The Swiss guards guided us to a building behind St. Peter's Basilica for the audience. Luckily, since so many groups want to sit together, we were able to find 2 seats only about 30 rows back from the stage. The cardinals were sitting onstage and we were awaiting the Pope's arrival at 10:30 AM. He came out right on time, and greeted everyone with his right arm, blessing us. Everyone in the audience clapped and cheered for the Pope. A cardinal read some Scripture in English and then many other cardinals read the passage in their native tongue. After that, the English-speaking cardinal announced all the groups from America and other English-speaking countries that were in attendance. As each group was announced, they raised their flag or sign and some even sung a hymn to the Pope. After the groups were announced, the Pope made his weekly statement from the Catholic Church, in English. After that, another cardinal speaking a different foreign language announced his groups and the Pope made his statement in that language. This went on for about 35 minutes, and then the Pope sang the Our Father in Latin and the audience was over. It was an interesting experience, and if I had had something that I wanted the Pope to bless, I could have taken it to be blessed after the papal audience. Kelly and I walked over to the Castel Sant'Angelo and took some pictures of Bernini's famous angel statues on the Ponte Sant'Angelo, or Sant'Angelo foot bridge. After that, it was time to go home to prepare for the rest of my classes that day.

On Thursday night, Chad and his friend Leah were flying in to Rome. They were taking a bus from the airport to the train station and Shelby and I met them at Stazione Termini. On Friday, I took them to the Vatican and since I had been there twice, I knew all about the sculptures and paintings. We went into the Sistine Chapel, and next on our list was St. Peter's Basilica. But first, we were hungry and ate the sandwiches I had made at the apartment. Then, it was time for Leah and Chad to experience their first Italian gelato. We browsed in some souvenir shops until we made it to St. Peter's. This was the first time I came on my own, not with my art class. I could take pictures and see what I wanted to see, not what my art teacher wanted to see. It is just so big, you can't even imagine. All the sculptures are made out of marble and it's amazing that they were able to build such a huge structure so many years ago, just with man power. Leah and Shelby didn't want to climb the dome of St. Peter's, so Leah and I climbed over 500 stairs to finally get a glimpse of the city of Rome from atop St. Peter's dome. It was another breath-taking view, and the climb was worth it. Comparing the climb to climbing the duomo in Florence, I would say that Florence is a smaller city, so it was easier just to take everything in. Since Rome is such a big city, I didn't know where to look, I almost couldn't believe that I was living in this huge place. But it's really happening, I'm really living here and experiencing the Italian culture in this ancient city. This is such a great opportunity and I'm so thankful that I was able to come here and experience it! Friday night we went to an aperitivo- only it was open buffet AND open bar from 9-11 for only 15 euro, pretty good deal if you ask me, since most drinks cost between 5 and 8 euro.

On Saturday, we woke up and it was time to do the typical Roman sight-seeing. We took the bus to Piazza Venezia, then walked to the Spanish Steps. My academic advisor had told me to go inside the McDonald's near the Piazza di Spagna. It turns out that it was the first McDonald's in Italy, so it had marble columns and marble statues decorating the inside of the fast food restaurant. It was really busy, so we didn't even both ordering food there. After we had seen the Piazza di Spagna and climbed the Spanish Steps, we walked down the road with all the expensive stores, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, etc. Next on the list was the Fontana di Trevi. Chad and Leah couldn't believe how big it was! Since it was a Saturday, there were lots of tourists, but I honestly thought they would all be gone by November, but obviously not. Oh well, they bring the city lots of money, so I shouldn't be complaining. We tried some more gelato on our walk over to the Pantheon. We went inside the old building, then decided to catch some lunch at a restaurant that has good prices and even better food! They both ordered pizza and I had the gnocchi with tomato and basil sauce. I also couldn't resist ordering some zuppa- minestrone! Now it was time to see the Colosseum. I think this was their favorite part- we walked around it, but didn't go inside- we're students and on a budget! We went back to the apartment to rest before going out- Chad and Leah really wanted to go on a pub crawl, and since I had already been on the Spanish Steps pub crawl, we decided to do the Colosseum one, plus they would be able to see the Colosseum at night, just like I did on my first night in Rome! Unfortunately, they cancelled the pub crawl for that night, so we went to Scholar's, an Irish pub not far from the Colosseum. We weren't out too late, considering that they had to be up early the next morning to catch their flight back to Barcelona.

So now for my day with a celebrity, Ryan Cabrera. He sang several hit songs, including True and On the Way Down. He's also used to date Ashlee Simpson, and Joe Simpson used to be his manager. Well, it turns out, his new manager was my roommate Shelby's friend from summer camp. Shelby didn't want to go on the pub crawl with us, so she saw her friend (Ryan's manager) the night before when she was out in Rome. They exchanged numbers and he asked her if she would want to hang out with him and Ryan on Sunday. She asked me if I wanted to meet and hang out with Ryan Cabrera and of course, I said yes! We met them at a restaurant near St. Peter's, then walked back to their hotel. Ryan was really down-to-earth and nice and had a couple more tattoos that I had remembered, but he was a cool guy, not a super diva celebrity. It was funny on the way back to the hotel, in this one piazza, there were tons of birds flying over our heads. Ryan thought it was cool, so he recorded it with his video camera from his iPhone, and almost right after he put his iPhone away, he looked up and a bird pooped on his forehead. It was hilarious!! We went back to the hotel and had a glass of wine at the restaurant across from their hotel. Their hotel was located right near the Spanish Steps- it was pretty fancy. I wasn't really starstruck, since he was such a cool guy. Shelby's friend (Ryan's manager), Greg, was a nice guy too and they were traveling with a girl, Michelle, who was possibly going to be opening for Ryan on Wednesday, where he will be performing in Florence.

So there was my beautiful week in Rome. It was my birthday week and it was an interesting week. I was so glad to have visitors again and to just be able to relax in Rome and not travel anywhere. This week is Thanksgiving and I'm going to miss celebrating with my family, but thank God for Skype!! Until next time, ciao!!!

Barcelona!!!!!!

OK, so I was told by other traveling study abroad students that you party all night and sleep all day in Barcelona, and I wasn't completely convinced. I knew that the Spanish culture includes a siesta, just like the Italian culture, and I learned just recently that the Spanish eat dinner sometimes as late as 11 PM. So, the clubs don't usually open until 2 AM!! Crazy, I know, right? I got lots of rest the week before going to Barcelona to visit my friend from St. Marys, Chad Meholic. Our friend, EJ Crowe, who attended 8th-12th grades with Chad and me, would also be in Barcelona this weekend. I would be traveling with my roommates Shelby and Lizz and my friend Megan. I was so pumped for this trip!!!

The trip started off a little shaky, I'm not gonna lie. We weren't sure if we were going to make our flight on time due to several obstacles. First, I was having some difficulty calling taxis to take us to the airport. My Italian conversation skills (at least the ones for speaking to someone on the telephone) were not as good as I thought. I struggled to speak to this woman, searching for words that just would not come out of my head until I hung up on her, frustrated. Finally, I just had a person from AUR call a cab for us. The cab driver arrived promptly at 7 PM, but we weren't completely ready to go, yet he started his meter. We realized it was going to be an expensive cab ride, so as our driver was darting through all the traffic, going at lightning speed, we asked him very nicely to take us to Termini Stazione, where we could catch a train to the airport. God was on our side, as the train to Ciampino was leaving within 15 minutes. We bought our tickets and rushed to get a seat on the train. We got off at the second train stop and took a 15-minute shuttle bus to the airport. Shelby realized that she one of her boarding passes didn't print and so she needed to recheck-in for her flight so that she could board the plane. But, finally after that was all sorted out, we went through security and arrived at the gate just as the people started queing up to board the plane. Whew- it was a close call!! We were on our way to Spain!!! The flight went smoothly and we landed just in time to catch the bus to the center of Barcelona. All these cheap airlines always fly out of airports that are far away from the center of cities, but the cheap airfare is still worth it. The hour and 15 minute bus ride took us to the main bus terminal in the city, where we had to take a taxi to our hostel. Our hostel, Kabul, one of Europe's famous hostels, is located right next to a flamenco dancing club and is on one of the famous streets in Barcelona, Las Ramblas. It's pretty crazy, and the party had already started at our hostel, even though it was 1 AM! We were exhausted from traveling so much, so we just went to bed, knowing we needed lots of rest to survive our weekend in Barca.

On Friday morning, Shelby and I woke up early to eat breakfast that was included in our hostel. I called my friend Chad after breakfast to see what time he could meet up with us. We decided around noon, so we had some time to just walk around and explore Las Ramblas, with all the crazy people dressed up in costumes on the street, asking for money to take your picture with them. Also on Las Ramblas, lots of shopping, a Starbucks, Subway, and H & M!! There was a fresh market with fruits, veggies, meats, fish, cheeses, and lots more. One of the specialties was freshly squeezed juices. It was time to meet Chad, but first, we were hungry and were craving Subway because we don't have it in Rome, so of course Chad said we could make a pit stop and eat there. He was going to take us to the Sagrada Famiglia, which is a huge church designed by the famous Spanish architect Gaudi. The word gaudy originates from Gaudi and all his fabulous architecture. It's amazing that the ideas in his head have actually become a reality. Supposedly, the church won't be finished til 2025 or 2030, but since the Spanish have a pretty laid back work ethic, it probably won't get completed until 2050. I'll have to come back and check it out for sure when it's completed though! Chad's friend, Leah, who goes to St. Vincent (where he attends college) also met us at the Sagrada Famiglia. EJ goes to school at St. Vincent as well and eventually we caught up with EJ and his roommates, who are studying in Dublin, Ireland. We decided to go up to this one mountain, where there is a fantastic view of the city and also the 1992 Olympic Stadium, where the 1992 Summer Olympics were held, obviously. LOL The stadium wasn't anything particularly special, but there were foot prints of some athletes outside the stadium, including two of my favorite tennis players, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. I took a picture with my foot next to both of theirs, of course!! The next highlight of the day was seeing the great view of the city and then the fountain show that takes place every day at 7 PM. And since we all know how much I love fountains, this was the show for me!! The main water fountain changed colors and also the direction of the water flow changed with the classical music that was being played during the show. It was an awesome beginning to an even better night.

After returning to the hostel to rest a little before dinner, the girls and I got ready for the night. We ate some tapas (potatoes or other appetizer dishes) and paella (rice and vegetables with a special seasoning and choice of meat- beef, chicken, or seafood combo) and drank sangria (wine with fruit). We didn't get to dinner until around 10:45 PM, so we were definitely ready to eat a feast. After dinner, we went to several bars, one of them including the jam-packed Chipitos, where they light every shot on fire. I tried the Boy Scout shot (and, yes, you guessed it, they made you roast a marshallow with the shot before you took it!), Harry Potter shot with cinnamon on top to make the fire sizzle like magic, and the Willy Wonka shot, complete with a handful of M & M's and whipped cream on top!! They were all delicious and it was only the start of a fun night of dancing and experiencing the Spanish party culture. One of the clubs we went to was right on the beach!! Lots of dancing and fun was had by everyone that night. After leaving the final club, we waited about 20 minutes for the metro to open at 5 AM, so we could get back to our hostel without having to take a taxi.

Obviously, arriving back at our hostel at a little after 5 AM didn't give us much option other than to sleep until around 1 PM on Saturday. As I said before, party all night, sleep all day!! We woke up and had spotted a bagel shop on our map of Barcelona. All of us were craving freshly baked bagels, since we can't get those in Rome either. Barcelona is definitely a more modern city than Rome, but I still love the charm that Rome offers. I feel like I'm living as an Italian when I'm in Rome, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Still, it was nice to have some American food. So we ate at the bagel shop, and since it was lunchtime, I tried the chicken club on a cheese bagel and it was delicious!! We walked around and bought some of that freshly squeezed fruit juice at the market on Las Ramblas- I chose strawberry pineapple- delish as well! I also couldn't resist the fresh raspberries. Soon, we were on our way to another Gaudi must-see, the Park Guell. It was amazing, and worth the huge hill that we climbed to get there. Guell was the patron for a lot of Gaudi's art, and the park is enormous. At the entrance, there are two structures that look like gingerbread houses. I was ready to eat them all up- even the decorations on the buildings looked like gum drops and frosting!! And then there was the famous ceramic sculpture of the Catalunya lizard. I also forgot to mention that they speak several languages in Barcelona, just like we have the Roman dialect and the standard Italian language- since it's so close to the French border, they speak Spanish and Catalon, which is a combination of Spanish and French. In many of the tourist areas, people speak English, so we were all able to survive. And Italian sounds so similar, I was actually able to speak Italian and they would reply in Spanish. After seeing another beautiful view of Barcelona from the Park Guell, we treated ourselves to some churros and chocolate- it was not as good as I expected it to be. Barcelona is definitely not my favorite dessert city. After dessert, we went back to our hostel to take another nap before going out. Chad was joining us for dinner, and we stumbled upon this Mexican restaurant that our AUR friends suggested we go to while here in Barcelona. It's called Margarita Blue and Megan, Shelby, and I all ordered chicken fajitas- yummy!! And of course, guacamole with chips- how I missed Mexican food. It was sooooooo goood. We waited for EJ and his friends to join us to go out to the bar, but they never showed up, so we told them to meet us at this Pippermints Bar, where they have enormous size drinks- 13 liters was the largest drink you could buy and then you split it between lots of people. Megan and I split a 1 liter between the two of us, and then we were off to an Irish pub where Chad and his friends go all the time. It was actually near our hostel, so we knew that we could easily walk back there if we were too tired. We called it a night earlier than we had on Friday night, and were back at the hostel by 3:30 AM.

On Sunday, we had to be up before 11 AM to check out of our room. We just relaxed basically the whole day- we got bagels again from the bagel shop near our hostel. We browsed through souvenirs, and sat sipping coffees at Starbucks for over 2 hours!! We retrieved our luggage from our hostel before grabbing Subway subs again and going to the bus terminal to go to the airport. When we finally arrived back in Rome, it felt good to come home to our apartment in Rome. Everything went smoothly traveling from the Ciampino airport to the apartment- this time, we took a shuttle bus to Termini Stazione, then a bus from Termini to our apartment, much easier than our journey to Ciampino airport. It was almost my 21st birthday and I couldn't believe it!!! Until next time, ciao!!

Cooking Risotto 101

My first ResGrad cooking lesson was this past Monday. And I was so excited to cook a traditional Italian meal and eat it, of course!! Creamy risotto was what we were cooking. The ResGrad, Alex, was going to teach us how to cook two types of risotto, giving lots of TLC (tender loving care!) to the dish: creamy mushroom and sweet pea fennel. Fennel is the vegetable that kind of resembles an oversized onion, but it actually tasted kind of like black licorice celery, and since I'm not a huge fan of black licorice, I didn't think I would like that type of risotto. But I was up for cooking the creamy mushroom risotto because we all know I loooooveeeeee mushrooms. :)

So anyways, after waiting for more people to show up for the cooking lesson, my roommate Kelly and I helped set up the kitchen, etc. We were designated as the official stirrers, since you have to constantly stir the rice so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. And for this Italian rice dish, you don't steam the rice (usually hows Asians and Americans prepare the rice)- instead, you cook it in a little bit of olive oil, then add some rice, and then slowly add some type of broth- that night, we used a mushroom broth for both types of risotto. You add several spoonfuls of broth to the rice until it is absorbed into the risotto as you continue to stir it. Adding some white wine always makes the dish a little bit sweeter. Once the rice is cooked, add the additional ingredient (aka the mushrooms or the fennel and sweet peas) and voila- the meal is ready to eat. Kelly and I deserved some white wine for being such good stirrers and laboring over the heat of the stove. I think a little bit of my risotto stuck to the bottom- I guess I will learn to stir a little bit more next time. But the only way to learn how to cook is to practice, so I'll have to make risotto again sometime soon. Both types of risotto were delicious, by the way!! Even though I didn't think I would like the fennel, I tried it and it was pretty tasty. :) Cooking Risotto 101: I passed with flying colors. I'm off to Barcelona, Spain this weekend- can't wait to tell you all about when I return to Roma!!

The Floating City of Venice

I have to back up just a little bit before I start talking about my trip to Venice. On Wednesday, November 4, for my opera class, I went to see another opera, and the performance was at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (the Opera Theater in Rome) this time. The theater was extravagant and so beautiful and we had seats in the fourth row! My roommate Kelly and my friend Jenny are also in the opera class with me. We were so close to the pit orchestra and the performers. The opera we saw was Tannhauser by Richard Wagner. If any of you know anything about Wagner, you know that his operas are really long. Also, Wagner was a German composer, so all the music was in German and the subtitles that they posted were in Italian, of course, so the language barrier was a little difficult to overcome. Our professor had given us a synopsis of the opera in English before we came to the opera house, so for the most part, I understood what was going on, even if I didn't understand the words. There were 3 acts to this performance- it started at 7 and lasted until about 10:45 PM! It was a very good performance, and I enjoyed it except for the fact that it was sooooooo long. The music that the orchestra played was amazing and my favorite performer was the actress who played Venus. Luckily, since the theater wasn't too far from our apartment, we were home and in bed by midnight, ready to write our 10-page critique of the opera due on Friday night at midnight.

I also can't forget to mention that on Wednesday morning, for my Art of Rome class, we went to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. I had already been here on a tour when Gwen and Kristen came to visit me, but I was coming with my art professor, who knew more about the history of art. We didn't see nearly as many pieces as I did on my three hour tour, but after waiting in line for a half hour and then fighting the crowds inside the museum, we were able to see major art pieces by Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonoardo da Vinci. It is amazing to think that these artists accomplished so much in their lifetime by painting tons of frescoes, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Last Supper, all of their famous artwork. Since I had seen the Sistine Chapel and the paintings on the walls and ceilings and it wasn't what I expected the first time I saw it, I think I appreciated it more on this visit with my art professor. The guards at the Chapel were being stricter than the last time I visited- Shhh! Quiet for respect. It was much quieter than the last time I visited and also, they were escorting people out who were trying to take pictures of the Sistine Chapel, because that is forbidden as well.

On a cold, rainy Friday morning, our Art of Rome class met again in Vatican City, this time at St. Peter's Basilica. AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, EXTRAVAGANT, all these words and so many more describe St. Peter's. It is huge and the artwork inside is breathtaking. Your eyes don't even know where to look first or what to take in. Our art professor narrowed our focus to the Pieta, which is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus' dead body. It is a gorgeous sculpture, and everyone must see it if they go to Rome- well, you must see St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums if you travel to Rome in general. Everything in the basilica is made of either marble or mosaics. We didn't go down one level, where many of the popes, other saints, and other holy people are buried, but I would like to go back to visit that. There's free entrance to St. Peter's, which is the biggest Catholic Church in the world. I also want to go on a Wednesday when the Pope comes out of his window and blesses everyone. I want to climb the dome of St. Peter's, where there is an amazing view of Rome. And St. Peter's Square, which is actually oval-shaped and not a square at all, is just as big as the basilica. After my class concluded, I was off to the airport to meet Shelby and her mom in Venice. They had an earlier flight- mine was later so that I could attend my morning class. I was so excited to go on a gondola ride and see all the canals and the famous Murano glass.

Again, I did just fine traveling and flying by myself- I think I have this routine down pretty good by now, though obviously I prefer to fly with someone. I will have to admit that I did give in and ate at McDonald's at the Rome Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) Airport. At the airport in Venice, I had to buy a ticket for the waterbus, since boats are the only mode of transportation from the airport to the city. The ride was a little rocky, and like I said before, I've learned that I'm just not a boat person after my study abroad experience. I arrive at the hotel around 7:30 PM, just in time to go out for dinner. We found a cozy Italian restaurant where the owner offered to make us bruschetta, even though it wasn't on the menu. The owner was very accomodating and the service was really good- not something you see every day in Italy. We ordered the house red wine of course, which was delicious. I had tagliatelle pasta with pesto, and it was such a large portion of pasta, but it was so good, I had to eat it all! Shelby's mom ordered spaghetti with mussels, since seafood is a specialty of Venice. We were wondering if it was possible to get a gondola ride at night, since it was a little chilly out and we weren't sure if they take the gondolas out at night during this season. We walked around the streets a little and then asked a man, who didn't speak any English. He led us into his friend's place who did speak English. But his friend's place ended up being a wine bar! It had a circular machine with over 15 different bottles of red wine and you could taste a type of wine or order a half glass or a full glass. It was a really neat place and I still couldn't believe they have a wine dispenser with that many different kinds of vino! We stayed to order several half glasses, and then we just decided to go back to the hotel to rest up for our full day on Saturday.

We woke up on Saturday to much better weather- on Friday, it was damp from the earlier rain and just cold. This morning, the sky was clear except for a few clouds and it was still chilly, but not as cold as Friday. After breakfast, we decided to shop for a little bit, and then get our gondola ride, in case the weather decided to change on us. In the shop windows, there were extravagantly decorated Venetian masks and lots of Murano glass jewelry. And of course, lots and lots of leather boots, handbags, wallets, jackets, anything you can imagine. And scarves, which are my favorite new accessory. All the stores were so tempting! I ended up buying a pair of black boots and a leather wallet. Our gondola ride was an experience- our boat tipped to the one side almost during the entire gondola ride, but we never fell into the water, so I guess we were right to trust our gondola driver. We learned that there are 160 canals in Venice! I'm proud to say now that I've been on a Venetian gondola. After that, we went to St. Mark's Square, which is the main piazza in the city. St. Mark's Basilica was gorgeous as well- all the mosaics on the ceiling had gold in them and it was just another beautiful church! We thought that we would do a little more shopping, then have lunch and then take the boat to Murano island. Lunch was delicious but a little pricey- we went to another little place, but the service was not nearly as good as the night before. Shelby ordered "special toast" which was bruschetta with basically everything on it- tomatoes, basil, olives, ham, mushrooms, more vegetables, covered in olive oil. We all shared that and Shelby's mom and I also ordered our own slices of pizza, which was basically the special toast with some tomato sauce and cheese. I was so full after that lunch! We did some more shopping and browsing. Then, we walked to the Rialto Bridge, which is the biggest foot bridge in the city, and there are even shops right on the bridge! We stopped to sip some hot chocolate at a cafe, then walked back to the hotel to drop off our bags. We asked what time the glass blowing factory closes, and we found out that it closes early on Saturdays, so we didn't get to the island of Murano to see a glass-blowing demonstration or the neat things that they have on display made out of glass. I was a little disappointed, but we continued to shop and I finished with almost all my Christmas shopping. We were in search of another restaurant after the shops closed at 8 PM, and we found one with OK service but pretty good food. I ordered fettucine with salmon, which was delicious. The house wine was not as good here, and it was more expensive than the night before- 24 euro for one bottle! I was not feeling my best that night, so we went right back to the hotel after dinner and I fell asleep early to get lots of rest for the flight the next day.

The weather on Sunday was yucky and rainy again. Our flight was delayed about a half hour, so we only returned to Rome around 3 PM instead of at 2 PM. It was hailing when we were exiting the plane! :( I rested for most of the day after returning to my apartment. Now I need to do my Italian homework and rest up for the upcoming week- Barcelona, Spain this weekend to visit my friend Chad!

GREECE!!!!

After a week that consisted of lots of studying, it was time for fall break! Since I didn't have any class on Friday, my roommate Shelby and I just lounged around the apartment, since we were the only two roommates who hadn't left for fall break yet. Friday night, we went to an aperitivo by Largo Argentina, and it was so delicious!!! They had really good food there and when my friend Chad, who's studying abroad in Barcelona, comes to visit, I'm definitely taking him there. It's so nice to find a good restaurant and then show it off to a visitor. After dinner, of course we needed dessert, so we went to the best gelato place near the Pantheon and it was a sweet ending to a nice night out in Rome. Until I had to go home and pack for Greece, which wasn't fun because I was unsure if I should pack for warm or cool weather, so I basically overpacked an entire suitcase full of clothes, plus a backpack for everything else I might need.

Shelby and I were ready to go to Greece! We met at the train station in Rome to catch a bus to Ancona, Italy. Since the name of our travel agency was bus2alps, I knew that we would be on busses often on this trip, but I wasn't prepared for how long we would be traveling on boats and ferries. It was about a 4 1/2 hour bus ride from Rome to the port of Ancona. Then, at 4:30 PM, we boarded a ferry that we would be on for 15 hours! Luckily, we had booked a cabin on the ferry, which was actually nice. It had several restaurants, an outdoor cafe, and even its own dance club, which played horrible music. I had my first taste of a Greek lamb gyro while on the boat, and it was sooooo good. After the ferry staff repeatedly pounded on our door to let us know we had arrived on the mainland of Greece, we docked and got off the boat. We tried to run to catch our ferry to the island of Corfu, but didn't make it on the 8:30 AM ferry, so we grabbed breakfast- hard-boiled egg, toast with jelly, coffe, and orange juice (which is better than the Italian breakfast- all they eat is meat and cheese in the morning usually). It was time to get on another ferry for 1 1/2 hours and we would finally arrive on Corfu, our first destination of the week.

On the island of Corfu is one of "Europe's Famous Hostels", the Pink Palace. And yes, everything and I mean basically everything, is PINK at the Pink Palace. I was in my glory. :) After figuring out the rooming situation, Shelby and I would be staying with another girl that goes to AUR, Allie. We didn't know her before we came on the trip, but she was willing to split up from her friends, so we were excited to make some new friends. Sunday afternoon we laid on the beach and I started reading "The Time Traveler's Wife." I'm still only halfway through the book, but I recommend it to anyone looking for a good book. Plus I can't wait to see the movie when I get back to the States. The beach was rockier than I imagined- not the white sand I pictured in my head. But the water was beautiful blue and clear and almost as pretty as Capri. I still think I like Capri better than the islands of Greece that I saw over fall break. I wish we could have visited Santorini or the other islands, but it takes too much time to get there by boat and is obviously too expensive to fly there. The weather was a little cloudy, so we ended our beach lounging a little early to grab another gyro, with chicken instead. Since dinner was included with our trip, we decided to take advantage of Happy Hour and I tried the Pink Palace's Pink Panther cocktail that was of course- PINK! They fed us a delicious meal of soup, traditional Greek salad, and then green beans, mashed potatoes, and chicken. Another good meal and I was ready to shake it on the dance floor. :)

On Monday, we woke up early to sign up for the activities offered at our hostel. We really wanted to go on the Booze Cruise, the Pink Palace's pink boat with Captain Oz, where they take us cliff jumping, swimming in a bat cave, to a private beach, and a tour of the island of Corfu, along with some shots of ouzo. LOL Unfortunately, we didn't make the cutoff to sign up, so we decided to go on a kayak safari instead, which included lunch anyways, so it was a good deal.

After a little struggle getting past the waves to get into the kayak, I was ready for some paddling in the ocean and the sun was shining more than on Sunday, so I was ready to get my tan on too! Our guide, Mike, who was Australian, took us cliff jumping as well, so that was really fun. Shelby didn't want to cliff jump, so I jumped out of the kayak and climbed up with several other people. From below in the water, the rock didn't look that high, but once I climbed to the top, my legs were shaking. Count to 1, 2, 3 and off I jumped. It was the most exhilirating, adrenaline pumping thing I've done in a really long time and it was so much fun to try something new!! The water was cold though and I was a little bit freezing until the sun dried me off. Our next stop on our kayak safari was a smaller island near Corfu. We climbed to the top to eat our lunches and saw some amazing views of the water and the coastline of Corfu. Like I said, this island reminded me of Capri, but I thought Capri was somewhat prettier. There was a small chapel on top of the island and also a bell tower. Supposedly, if you ring the bell once, you wish for love, twice for family, three times for money, and four is for an unknown wish. Mike told us that 25 years ago, a college guy rang the bell once and that night, he met a girl and they fell in love and eventually married. They visited the Pink Palace and the bell tower on their wedding anniversary. I rang the bell just once- wishing for love. We'll see if that wish comes true while I'm studying abroad. We could have gone snorkeling after walking around the island, but instead we decided to paddle back to the hostel because we were both getting cold from being wet. So we paddled back, but to our dismay, a wave decided to creep up on us as we were nearing the shore and flipped over our kayak. Neither of us were injured, but I lost my towel and my favorite white cami from American Eagle and Shelby lost her jean shorts, which had 20 euro in the pockets. So our docking ashore was a failure. :( But it was fun during the kayak safari, so I won't complain too much.

Now it was time to get ready for our pink toga party!! :) I was excited- again, they fed us a delicious dinner with soup, Greek salad, and meat and potatoes. And then we got to see a traditional Greek dance show. The Greek men were really good at the dancing, and the one even balanced a table in his mouth while he was dancing!! There were plates smashing everywhere and they even lit a ring on the floor on fire. It was cool to experience this part of Greek culture. Then, they started giving out shots of ouzo and breaking plates on people's heads. I was close enough that I had a plate broken on my head, and it was an experience. It didn't really hurt, just felt like someone bumped me in the head. We had fun dancing the rest of the night away.

The next morning, Tuesday, we woke up in enough time to make the cutoff to sign up for the Booze Cruise, though I was a little hungover from the toga party, so I was hoping I wouldn't get sea sick or have a headache all day. I didn't go cliff jumping this time, because the water was much colder and I had lost my towel the day before, so I was content with staying on the boat and watching other people jump. It was fun to watch and I couldn't believe I had done the same thing the day before. The bat cave was really dark and I didn't swim inside there either, but everyone said it was pitch black, but they didn't see any bats. The private beach that they showed up was absolutely beautiful. It was less rocky than the beach that was close to the hostel. It was almost like a little cove, so there were gigantic rocks surrounding the beach and the water was crystal clear. It was nice to soak up the sun and get off the boat for a bit. I had to take some Dramamine from the captain because I just couldn't take the boat rocking. Ugh, just thinking of it reminds me of rocking back and forth, back and forth. But it was really fun and we took full advantage of the Pink Palace's jacuzzi when we were back on land!!! It warmed us right up and then it was time to pack our things and move on. After dinner, we caught a bus that would take us back to the port of Corfu. From there, we took a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride and then hopped back on the bus to drive overnight to Athens. I told you I was on boats and busses for long periods of time during this trip!!!!

Athens is an important city in history, but I would not say it's my favorite international city. It's very dirty, and our tour guide said that they cleaned up the city when they hosted the 2004 Olympic Games there, but since then, it's kind of falling apart again. It's very dirty and doesn't have the charm that Rome does. Since it was one of Greece's independence days, we got into all the tourist spots for free- pretty sweet deal. We went to the Acropolis, where the Parthenon stands, which is the huge temple to the Greek goddess Athena. The view of the city from atop the Acropolis is pretty amazing, and the city looks bigger than Rome, but I don't know for a fact which city is technically bigger. After the Acropolis, we walked to the Temple of Zeus; only 16 pillars remain of the temple and one of them was knocked down in the 1800s. We also walked by the Olympic Stadium, built in 1896, when the Olympic Games were revived. These were some interesting sites, and after our walking tour, we decided to grab lunch. Of course, I had another gyro and Shelby had a Greek salad. We walked around a little bit and then decided to go to the Poet Sandalmaker. This Greek family has been making sandals and writing poetry for 3 generations now. The Beatles, Jackie O, Barbara Streisand, and other celebrities have gone to the Poet Sandalmaker to buy their custom-made leather sandals. I bought a pair for 27 euro and know it will be a souvenir I'll remember forever! We also indulged and went to the Starbucks in Athens, since we don't have one in Rome. My chai tea latte was so delicious and tasted good on a cool autumn day. On Wednesday night, we had a traditional Greek dinner with lots of Greek appetizers, including tzatziki, Greek salad, and other good food. For my main dish, I tried moussaka, which a lasagna-style Greek dish, except instead of pasta, they use eggplant and it is so delicious. I was so full from the appetizers that I couldn't eat the whole piece, but it was good anyway. We went to a night club called Spirit after dinner and danced the night away again.

On Thursday, we woke up kinda early, at 9:45 AM to catch a ferry to go to the island of Aegina. The ferry to Aegina would take about 1 hour and 10 minutes, not too bad, and then we would see a Greek island like we imagined. When we docked, it wasn't exactly the picture I had in mind- there still weren't lots of white houses with pretty blue roofs, but the town on the island seemed cozy and had more of a charm to it than Corfu or Athens. We decided to rent ATVs, but they call them quads over in Greece. After lots of waiting and making sure there were enough scooters and quads for everyone, Shelby and I decided to ride on the same quad, and she would drive. I know, even though I'm from Elk County, I've never driven a 4-wheeler by myself, it's embarrassing I know, but I didn't want my first time driving one to be in a foreign country, so I let Shelby drive. We saw some amazing views on our ride around the island. We drove along the coastline next to the crystal clear water. The beaches in Aegina were rocky as well. We climbed so many mountains and drove near cliffs and huge rock formations to see the beautiful landscape of the island. It was so cool and I only have a couple pictures of it because my camera battery died. :( But it was a sight I will never forget, standing on one of the highest points of the island, atop a mountain and overlooking the island and all the surrounding water- it was breathtaking!!!

Thursday night, we just kind of relaxed and enjoyed our hostel. We had a long day of traveling ahead of us the next day, and we wanted to be rested, plus I had come down with a little cough, so I didn't want to be run down. On Friday morning, we caught a bus that took us 3 1/2 hours north to catch our ferry. This time, we would be on the ferry for a little over 20 hours! We had a cabin again this time, and so we had a room to store our luggage and rest in a bed if we wanted to. Many rounds of card games later and lots of rest in the cabin and we had landed in Ancona on Saturday afternoon around 1 PM. After docking, all the students from Rome on the trip- 15 of us who have bonded and become closer just by traveling so far together- climb onto yepp- you guessed it- another BUS....this one would take us right to Termini Station in Rome, where we began our trip a week before. The bus ride took about 4 1/2 hours, with one pit stop to eat a light dinner. Even though it was Halloween, I still had that persistent cough and my nose was a little stuffy, I knew I just needed some rest. Shelby and I decided to just go back to our apartment and relax on All Hallow's Eve. Plus, neither of us had a costume. I guess people dress up in Italy, but it's not like the children go trick-or-treating back in the States. Some grocery stores had Halloween candy and many store fronts were decorated with black and orange when we got back to Rome. I was lucky and got to talk to my parents on Skype when I returned to my apartment on Saturday. Since daylight savings time had already happened in Europe, I was only 5 hours ahead instead of the regular 6 hour time difference. I hadn't talked to her in over a week, and it was the longest we hadn't communicated with each other. We had e-mailed once, but that was it! Obviously, we both survived and know that it's OK if we don't talk every single day.

Sunday was a day of unpacking, more relaxing, and doing some Italian homework. Shelby's mom was now in Rome for a 10-day visit, so they stopped by the apartment and I met her mom. Also, I went to the basilica of San Clemente, near the Colosseum. This church has a really interesting history. There is the church that is at street level, built in the 15th century, which is beautiful and has lots of frescoes and side chapels with beautiful paintings and an apse mosaic that is very ornate (you can tell I had to visit this church as an independent assignment for my Art of Rome class!). But underneath the ground level church is another basilica that still stands. The whole church is underground and it's amazing. It's made out of brick and tufo, which is another white stone, so the facade isn't necessarily beautiful, but it's amazing that it's still standing and intact after so many years- it's believed to be from the 3rd or 4th century AD. There are still some original frescoes on the wall as well as pagan artwork when the basilica was used not as a Christian church but as a temple for pagan gods. Then, underneath that basilica is a portion of what's believed to be part of the Roman mint. So I was walking down on what would have been the street level in ancient times where they made the money and curreny of Rome. I thought that was so fascinating. Also, at the same level as the mint underground was a traditional small Roman house. The house had been built near a natural Roman spring and the spring water is still running to this day. That was probably one of the coolest parts about the whole visit to the basilica- I think the sound of running water is really soothing to me, probably why I like fountains so much!

On Sunday night, my roommate, Liz, invited me to go this free organ concert with her. It was near Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Museum, which is only about a half hour bus ride from our apartment. I figured I would try something new, and the organ music was really pretty! The Renaissance church we were in was beautiful too, and it was peaceful just to sit and admire the church and the music. We went for dinner afterwards with Justin, Liz's friend who also decided to come to the concert with us. I tried spaghetti carbonara, which is spaghetti with a bacon and egg sauce. At first, I was skeptical- that didn't sound all that appetizing to me. But Liz assured me it was to die for, so I ordered it! I also ordered some minestrone soup for my sore throat and "la zuppa" was steaming and delicious. After my first bite of spaghetti carbonara, I was hooked- it really was delicious! Of course, we had to treat ourselves to gelato after a night like that. We went to the organic gelato place and I had blueberry and peach gelato- so good! Well, I have to go to class soon. Until next time, ciao!