Rome is Home

This weekend I didn't have any travel plans so I decided it would do me some good to stay put in Rome and get to know the city better. After all, I did choose THIS PLACE to study for a reason. So glad I did because Rome is amazing and the places I went to I simply don't have time to go to during the weekdays. We only have class Monday- Thursday so most of my days I'm in class until 5 or 6. I really hate how the scheduling is done at the school because sometimes I have 3 hours in between classes which isn't enough time to do things outside the school without feeling rushed but is also too much time to just linger.

Most of my weekend was dedicated to visiting the sites of Ancient Rome because I've always been fascinated with the Great Roman Empire since my World History class in 10th grade. I had my Rick Steves travel guide explaining all the details of the ruins I saw and it made it even that much better. The inside of the Colosseum was cool but I was a little disappointed to find out that only about 1/3 of it is original since a lot of the original building was lost to earthquakes or looted. My favorite parts were Julius Caesar's temple where they burned his corpse and people today still place flowers marking the site and also the courtyard where he was assassinated. I mean, who can forget "Et tu, Brute?" I think those words are the essence of Rome and it was a little odd standing in the same vicinity where they were uttered. I also really, really enjoyed Palantine Hill (especially the throne room) where the old imperial palace used to be and many emperors used to live, and the old Vatican Treasury room. It was a great experience getting lost in this city because I saw some places that I otherwise would never have seen, places that are extremely sheltered from Tourist Rome. I attempted to visit the Jewish Museum because I love Jewish history and there are a lot of Italian movies I love on the deportation of Italians during the Holocaust, notably La Vita e' Bella (Life is Beautiful) and La Finestra di Fronte (Facing Windows), but it was closed so I'll have to go back another day. I also got to see a ton of parks and churches that were stunningly beautiful and have absolutely no comparison in the US except for maybe the Washington National Cathedral. And I thought St. Jerome was a beautiful church.

Saturday night I went to dinner with two of my roommates and Katharine to this place we thought was Sicilian but when we got there actually discovered it's Sardegnan (Sardegna is another island off the Italian peninsula). My other roommate, Leighton went to Oktoberfest this weekend in Munich which I'm still really jealous about, and yes, the real Oktoberfest, not the shitty frat party imitations. Camie had been to this restaurant 5 years before and raved about it naturally exciting the rest of us. It didn't disappoint! SO... MUCH... FOOD! First, they brought a basket with about 10 different kinds of sausage, 4 plates of different cheeses, all kinds of marinated vegetables and breads, 3 different plates of pastas, wine, dessert and of course shots of limoncello to digest it all. We went back to the apartment of one of our ISCs and shot the breeze with some beautiful Italians who were telling us all these stories from their summers. Even funnier when you're buzzed!

I didn't leave my apartment Sunday because I was dead tired. I threw together pasta from things we had in the fridge and cupboards and it was actually pretty good. I'm skipping class in the morning on Wednesday to see the pope (tickets reserved!) and we're having a small dinner party at the apartment later that night so things to look forward to! This weekend I'm also going to Venice on a sponsored field trip. I'm grateful I don't have to pay for this trip because Venice is expensive!!! Anyways, life is good and I'm so blessed!