Sore feet, good food, and a beautiful city

Ciao everybody!

A breathtaking view of the city was the only good thing that came out of getting lost  (for 1 1/2 hours) on my way to campus the first day!

a night time view along the Tiber

another view along the tiber- what a beautiful walk in the morning!

A street in Trestevere with lights :)

I thoroughly enjoyed my gnocchi!

the COLUSSEUM!!!

San Pietro

Sorry that this entry is coming kind of late, the last 6 days have been absolutely crazy, we had orientation from last Wednesday until yesterday, and the days were jam packed with activities, meetings and enjoying the city of Rome! I am living in an off campus apartment, on Via della Gregoria Septimo (VII- I just like saying it in Italian!). An adjustment I have had to make is the 45 minute walk (or 30 min multi bus commute) to campus, luckily along the walk we pass by San Pietro (St. Peter’s Basilica) and then we get to walk along the Tiber River, both of which are especially pretty at night. The Trestevere neighborhood where the school is situated is a quaint area of town with cobblestone streets and tons of cute little restaurants and shops, and is completely filled with people on nights and weekends as Italians venture to stroll around, meet with friends and just enjoy life. The whole pace of life here is entirely different than in America- I have never gotten so many weird looks as I did last Friday as I ran between the college’s two campuses so that I would not be late for a meeting. My roommates and I (I have 5 of them!) have had fun these first couple days trying out a couple of the little restaurants, which a local suggested to us. Let me tell you, the food here is all it is cracked up to be!!! Nowhere have I tasted such good Mozzerella Bufalo, tomatoes or pasta dishes (luckily my dad doesn’t make too many pasta dishes, so I am allowed to say that!)

Over the past few days of Orientation I went on 4 different tours of Rome, and can now say with some confidence that I can maneuver my way around the city without much trouble, It also means that in the past couple days I have seen many of the sites that Rome is famous for, and I have dreamed of seeing! On Saturday, I took my first two tours of ancient Rome, one was in the form of a scavenger hunt, which unfortunately my team lost, at least a wine a consolation notebook and pen! But over the course of 2 ½ hours I saw La Piazza della Argentina (where Caesar was assassinated, now a cat sanctuary), 3 obelisks (who needs to go to Egypt when Rome has 13 obelisks and 1 pyramid?), Trajan’s column, the pantheon, Termine (I learned how to take the subway and navigate Rome’s central train station), La piazza republica, the tomb of the unknown soldier (sorry I can’t remember the Italian name), La bocca della Verita (anyone seen Roman Holiday?), the Circus Maximus, and a really pretty orange  garden with a view of the city. If my feet didn’t hurt from all of my walking to and from campus, they definitely hurt now! Only two hours after this though, we embarked on another mini tour, led by Andy Steves. He is the son of Rick Steves’ (he has a show on the Travel channel and various guide books for countries throughout Europe), he studied abroad at JCU, and was back for the weekend because he was promoting the student study abroad travel agency he was just starting. He gave us a mini tour of the town as well- Tiber Island (where Romulus and Remus were born), La piazza della Argentina and the Pantheon, and then we ended at his favorite restaurant called Miscelenna, near the pantheon. For 15 euros we were served Bruschetta (which is bigger, better and different than what we call “bruschetta” in the states), two Roman Pasta dishes, and Lemony dessert thing.

Sunday turned out to be an even bigger day of touring. I went on the morning walking tour of Rome, which JCU offered, I got to see the former Jewish Ghetto, which interestingly is the seat of the oldest Jewish community in Europe (2^nd c. BCE), and the second oldest in the world (to Jerusalem, of course), then we saw the portico of Octavian, between the Temple of Jupiter and Minerva (I think), then the temple of Rome,  a really interesting theater built in the 1^st c, renovated and then bought around 1600 by one of the old aristocratic families, who then built a home on top of it! We then headed to the government building, designed by Michelangelo, and…. Drumroll please…. We headed to the FORUM and the COLOSSEUM! The second tour I went on was a bus tour, started almost immediately afterwards and we got to go into the Vatican to see San Pietro, and then out of the city to the catacombs (where early Christians, including 6 popes, were buried outside the city walls, in a complex system of tunnels and rooms)! I am so excited to spend more time at all of these sites, and learn about many of them in the classes I am taking. If you stuck with me this long, congratulations, and thanks- I will definitely try to keep my blogs shorter and more frequent from now on! Arivederci!!