Week 9 and Rome Weekend Trip

As usual, this week flew by faster than I can comprehend, and I can't believe I am already more than halfway through with this semester! I have come to a point here in Florence where I am not sure if I am ready to leave. I love my routine, classes, friends, food, and life here. But, obviously, life here isn't reality (not everybody travels to a new place in Europe every weekend) and soon I will be at KU, finishing up my boring classes and stressing out about what to do with my life.

On a brighter note, this week itself was a blast! Halloween was on Monday and LdM did not have class on Tuesday due to All Saints Day, some Catholic holiday. We have a "make up" day on a Friday in a couple of weeks, which sort of messes with everyone's travel plans. However, Halloween in Florence was a blast. It was a great night full of silly costumes and hanging out with great friends, as well as an appropriate visit to Finnegan's. School was the usual. I got back most of my midterms and did much better than I thought! I got an A on my hardest final that I thought I nearly bombed, thank the Lord. I turned in a 14 page paper on astrology/alchemy in the Medici family and did a presentation on the Sistine Chapel.....whew! The week was, overall, quite relaxing and not so stressful, as I am now getting into the "oh yeah you're in school" phase.

On Saturday, I woke up at 4:45AM to catch a 6AM bus for a LdM sponsored trip to Rome for the weekend. Our trip leaders were Franco and Stefano, probably the sweetest and most hilarious Italian men I have ever met. (There was one point on the bus where Stefano was talking to us about some art, and then he stops and said "Aww, everyone look at that dog to your right. It's such a sweet and typical Italian dog. VA BENE!" ADD much?) It took about 3 hours to get there by bus (not including the annoying 30 minute stop), and we finally arrived at the Colosseum. I had been here before with my parents when I was 9, but it was so great to see it again. There were more ruins and display pieces than I had remembered. We were there for about an hour and then walked to the Forum right next to the Arch of Constantine and Colosseum. There were many ancient ruins, but the place overall was very pretty and green. It's nice to see more green in this big city than in Florence. We walked around, saw the house of Augustus, really old frescoes, and a bunch of ancient rocks. After that nonsense, we hopped on a bus that took us to Vatican City. We had a quick lunch, then went inside for a 3-4 hour tour with a guide. I felt like a weirdo, wearing the headphones and following the man with the flag around like the tourists do in Florence, but it was actually probably my favorite part of the entire trip. The guide was hilarious and informative, and I learned so much from walking around the entire Vatican. We saw many sculptures, including Lao-coon that was discovered under water, or something like that. I didn't realize how huge the Vatican collection was, and they form the exhibit so that you are required to look at everything before you reach the Sistine Chapel. It was exhausting and at times overwhelming with all the crowds, but seeing the Raphael Rooms (specifically School of Athens) and the Sistine Chapel made the all the negative aspects completely worth going through. I absolutely loved the Sistine Chapel, and after just going a presentation over the topic, I felt like a tour guide as I told my friends all my newly acquired knowledge. Did you know that Michelangelo didn't even want to paint it, nor did he know how to paint in fresco? It took him 5 years to complete the chapel, and we wouldn't let a soul see it...not even the Pope. This chapel ceiling truly changed the course of Western art history forever. Anyways, we saw that and I about cried. I also snuck in some illegal photos, and although they are terrible quality, I have at least something. We exited Michelangelo's masterpiece and finally went inside St. Peter's, only to run into another masterpiece...the Pieta. The church is huge and beautiful, full of dead Popes and random chapels. I feel like I saw a lot of either ruins or dead popes on this trip. We got a tour inside the church and after that, we finally finished it up outside and were allowed to wandered around Vatican City. I bought some postcards and mailed one to a special somebody back home, equipped with special Vatican stamps! Can't get them anywhere else. :) We then got on the bus which took us to our hotel, and we were free for the night. A big group of us grabbed some nice dinner and roamed around Rome for part of the night. The area was a bit sketchy, and I hated being cat-called and smooched at by disgusting Italian guys. I swear, I will never ever understand how that is acceptable to do that in this culture. I will be so happy to return to the States where I am not stared at like a piece of meat. Italian men = NO BUONO! Anyways, Lauren and I (did I mention she's an Alpha Gamma Delta at Chapman in California? Sisters!) wondered up to the empty hotel bar on the roof where we got free Cokes because we were "molto bella." I guess being an American girl in this country has some perks. We sat on the roof that overlooked a pretty part of Rome, and we talked about life, home, and the future. I'm really lucky to have made such wonderful friends here.

The next day (Sunday) we woke up early, had breakfast, and got on the bus at 8:15AM sharp to the first destination of our walking tour. We started off at some Neptune Fountain, then walked over to the Pantheon. I love this building, and I remember visiting with my parents. It's an engineering feat in and of itself, considering the time it was built (2,000 years ago) and the intelligence of the Roman Empire of the time. It was then converted into a Christian church, and it's wonderful to go inside and see the giant occulus that remains powerful and simple to this day. We walked over to the famous Trevi Fountain where you make a wish and throw a coin behind your back, only then it will come true! Another AGD named Kelly was also on this trip, so me, Lauren, and her all took sorority pictures by this fountain. Although cheesy, it's nice to find new friends that I have lots in common with. After that, we walked to the Spanish steps and climbed all the way to the top. Next was Trajan's column and a government building that I can't remember the name of (I feel really stupid right now). It was a long walking tour, but it was a cool morning and I loved seeing all the important parts of Rome. We then took a bus to a church, where I don't remember the name, but it was huge and outstanding. They were even having mass during our visit, and I have to say that was truly my first time at church in months! Haha. We then headed over to our paid lunch, where we went to a lovely restaurant in the outskirts of Rome and had a 5 course meal. Yes, five dishes. I was stuffed by the fourth, but somehow had room for dessert. I actually got two desserts, because the waiters saw me crying (I was actually laughing so hard because we had quite the characters at our table) and they wanted me to feel better! I guess Italians aren't all that bad ;)
After lunch, we had a quick tour of Roman catacombs, which are apparently underground tombs that Christians would practice church and bury the dead here because Christianity wasn't legal before 313AD. We got to go down to 2 levels of catacombs (there are 4) and it was a bit creepy. We saw some open tombs (no bodies) but it was a dark and eerie maze. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie, which honestly made the experience that much more fun. We weren't allowed to take pictures, so I have none from this specific visit. After being underground for about 45 minutes, we stepped onto the bus at 4:30 and made our way back home to Florence.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I became close with new friends, saw some of the world's most incredible art, laughed my butt off, and crossed off a couple more things from my bucket list. The saying is true: Rome wasn't built in a day. But what does that mean? With it's history, conquering, wars, political rulers, and much more, clearly a lot has happened in this city. There's so much to see, I don't think even a month is long enough to see everything. I managed to see a ton in 2 days....exhausting, but entirely worth it.

Me at the Colosseum 

Goofing off with a Colosseum ruin

The Forum (ruins)

The real Lao-coon statue

School of Athens by Raphael 

Illegal photo of Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Michelangelo's Pieta

Inside St. Peter's

Vatican City: St. Peter's Square

Christine, me, and Lauren in front of Pantheon

Inside Pantheon, famous occulus 

AGDs in front of Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Trajan's Column 

Church inside a famous church! 

Got this photo from google images...it's what the catacombs looked like!

What's on my agenda for next weekend? IRELAND!! I can't even believe it. No doubt this will be one of my favorite trips (maybe even absolute favorite) and I will have a hard time leaving, but let's not think about that right now :) Allora, time to sleep.

Ciao!