Roma day 2

Thanks to the joys of hostels, I was woken up at 5 in the morning. A lady staying in the room we were in decided she should wake up and make a ton of noise. Not a happy way to wake up! We were up and on our way by 8:30. We walked to the Vatican. We got into St. Peter's Basilica with no line. It was beautiful. Then we went into the tombs. I had never been in there before. A ton of Pope's and other important people are burried there. The most recent pope is also burried there.

St. Peter's square



inside the Basilica

Then we waited for 2 hours in the rain to get into the Vatican Museum. The line went pretty fast but the rain was not welcomed! I thought people harrass you for money here in Florence but its even worse in Rome. The minute it started to sprinkle, about a million men came out to ask us to buy umbrellas for 5+ euro. Needless to say we didn't buy any but yelled at all of them! The Vatican Musuem was packed but so cool. I did sneak some pictures in the Sistine Chapel.
room full of statues
hall of tapestry
huge map of italy

sistine chapel

After lunch we took the metro to the Piazza Popolo. In this square there's a northern gate of the old city. We also walked up these stairs to a pretty garden with an even better view!
gate


view from the top




After that we went to the Castel Sant'Angelo. It was kind of a waste of money but we got some good views.



It was a pretty great day.Very rainy, and my hair took a beating but it was very great. We retired pretty early after all the walking! Day two was wonderful!

Roma Day 1

Our first day in Rome was mostly spent being lost. Turns out our hostel was harder to find than anticipated. Pair that with a terrible map, bad directional skills, and a confusing transportation system and you have one interesting day! We took the train there and then in Rome we took the metro, a bus, a tram, and eventually a taxi. In 3 hours we had used every form of public transportation Rome has to offer and it was not pretty. It would be nice if someone in Italy would decided that street signs would be a good thing to have. We finally got to our hostel and checked in. It was around 3:30 and we hadn't eaten all day. So we decided to go eat dinner. I got some good ravioli and a diet pepsi. Then we decided to walk around for the rest of the afternoon. Here are some pictures of our walk.





We walked to the Piazza Novana. surrounding the square is the church of Sant'Agnese and the Palazzo Pamphilli. There are 3 fountains: The Fountain of the Four Rivers, The fountain of the Moor, and Neptune's Fountain.

Fountain of the Moor

Fountain of Four Rivers

Neptune's fountain
Then we went to the Pantheon.
unfortunately there was construction going
Inside:






We walked around for a little more at night and then made our way back to our hostel. We met the other girl staying in the hostel. We went to bed pretty early to be ready for our day on Tuesday!

Too much studying

I don't know if there is really such thing as too much studying. I sure am glad to be done with that though! This week was midterms. Italians do not believe in multiple choice, which was very sad for me. Lots and lots of short answers and essays. I studied quite a bit so I'm feeling pretty good about them. Italian was hard because its Italian. The instructions are also in Italian so that's really fun. I'm just glad its fall break! Our break lasts through November 1st because its a national holiday! I am so so excited! Me and one of my roomies are going to Rome for 4 days.I will be able to see so much more than I did last time. She has never been so we will go to the Vatican City, Coleseum, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. We are currently planning our trip! The weather looks wonderful for the week. As we plan I am remembering my first trip to Rome. The first time I went I was fortunate enough to go with my best friends.


not the greatest picture but I love them


I got to ride the bus with this girl for 10 days


this has nothing to do with Rome, I'm just so blessed

This time around we will be making our own plans and finding our own way. I am so excited! Not everyone gets to see these things twice! I am excited about travelling with my roommate and having a fun relaxing time! I am also pretty happy not to be constantly wearing a headset :)

EuroCholoate

First of all, Happy Birthday to my big brother! I wish I could be there to celebrate!


Saturday I went to EuroChocolate in Perugia, Italy. EuroChocolate is a huge chocolate festival. Basically it is the Oktoberfest of chocolate. There are hundreds of booths selling chocolate! It was a girls heaven for sure. We went with Florence For Fun which is a student tour company. I got a chococard which got me tons of free samples and stuff so that was exciting!



I got some chocolate for myself of course!



We also got roped into playing this game. One of my roommates got 2nd and won a cookbook in Italian.

There was a tent that had tons and tons of chocolate bark! I milk chocolate with some kind of crisp cereal inside and white chocolate with cranberries. YUM!



There was also a tent with chocolate for dogs. Of course I got some! I think I'll put it in their stockings. No one should be left out of Italy suveniers!!!



We get kabobs here a lot. Mostly because they are huge and have actual meat in them. Oh and they're cheap. Well EuroChocolate had chocolate kabobs! SOOOO GOOD!




Here are some pictures of all the chocolate!




Today our power went out twice. Perfect timing since we're studying for midterms! Apparently we went over our power usage. I have my theories as to how that happened that I will not say here. The worst part of this is that I don't get to talk to my family today. Sundays are our skype day and I'm missing it. Hopefully tomorrow it will be fixed but until then I will be angry and sad.

Midterms

Midterms are not my friends! I have been fortunate enough to not have very many in my college career. In the hospitality program we usually have projects. I took a few for my general classes but mostly I just take a normally weighted test. We only go to each class once a week here and they are 2 1/2 hours. Lame! Its hard enough to concentrate in 50 minute classes. Luckily, I enjoy them for the most part. School here is just very different. They don't explain assignments in as much detail as I'm used to. Its stressful because you have to do a lot of guess/reasoning. That life though right! Studying is my worst enemy. In reality its my best friend because it helps me get good grades but at the actual time of the studying, it is my worst enemy! I just really hate it. I successfully avoided studying for 2 days. Friday morning I woke up, made my bed and got all my school stuff ready. I made all the flashcards for my test on Monday. Then I learn that my roommates are going shopping and getting pizza. I, of course, decide to go with them. We went to the outdoor market and I got a lovely coral scarf! I also found all the stuff I want to buy my fam/friends. I'm waiting on that though so I don't break or lose it between now and 2 months when I go home. I love buying presents and I think I've come up with some pretty fantastic ideas. I'm still stumped on my brother though but I always figure it out! Then we dropped our treasures off at the apartment and head to find Gustapizza. Of course when we got there it was closed until 7 for dinner. Good news was I hadn't eaten all day. We got a little snack and some caffeine and waited. It was well worth the wait. The pizzas are fairly inexpensive and very good. Personal pizza takes on a whole new meaning in Italy! Today we went to EuroChocolate but more about that later. And since no one really cares about my rant on midterms here are some random pictures.

They take Disney seriously...even villians are in sequins



Florence at night

My apologies

Its been quite a while. Honestly not a whole lot of exciting stuff is going on. Living in the city is great. I'm so proud that I can actually get around! I have learned to love walking and tolerate stairs. Last weekend I went to the leather market. I found a dried fruit stand! I got cherries, pineapple, and kiwi!! So yummy! Next week is midterms and I am a little nervous. The teaching styles are not what I'm accustomed to and it seems like an overwhelming task to study. I have been so busy with projects and studying and the like. I have also hit my first wave of homesickness. I figured this would happen. Even in a place like this that I love, nothing beats my home. Nothing can top my incredible family or friends. Being away from home always reminds me how blessed I am. Not everyone has a place that they love so much and people that love them, and not everyone has such a supportive family either. As always I am thankful for skype. I get to talk to my parents at least once a week and it has definitely made this so much easier. I love it here and I am so excited for the next few months. Come December 18th, however, I will be ready to go home.