The family comes to Rome: Part 2: Florence

In the second part of this installation we are exploring the Thompson's trip to Florence. Not only are we out of America, but we are exploring multiple foreign cities. Too wild to comprehend.
We took the train up on Saturday morning and Mom was impressed with my knowledge of foreign transportation (she has also expressed that she is proud of my extensive knowledge of the bus/public transportation as well. I like to think that I'm doing a good job as well.) She had a pretty cool guy sitting next to her, which confirms that there are in fact Italian guidos. Not just american italian guidos. He was a glowing orange man. Whose hair did not move. Quite a feat.

Yes. Yes i did take a creeper pic.

Once again thank you expensive phone.

Moving on. We checked into our hotel which was right on the Arno about 2 blocks from the Uffizi so it was some prime location. Good work Dad. We wandered through the streets to get lunch and then ate in the piazza outside of the City hall/Medici Castle that I have discussed previously. It was still pretty impressive the size of the castle a second time. I believe this was when we made our way to the Duomo to climb to the top. Since I didn't get to go the first time I was determined this time. We went inside this time as well, which for some reason we neglected to do last time as well.. Anyway. the inside was much more plain then I thought it was going to be except for the top of the dome which is, as Francesca has reminded me, several times, that it is the Divine Comedy by Dante. Which I think is somewhat disturbing for the top of a church, given that there is a three headed devil that is consuming people..? Dante was from Florence which is the only reason that I can think that they would put it on the dome. Nonetheless it was a beautiful painting. I wouldn't have wanted to be the one to paint it; it would give me an awful crick in my neck, and I have 0 artistic ability with a paintbrush/pencil etc. I am very good at coloring but that's not quite what they had in mind I think. 

Making our way to the top wasn't bad. There are 463 steps to the top. Fine. it wasn't until we actually had to climb straight up the dome that I became nervous like I've never been before. Conclusion: I have  a fear of falling into the abyss. News to me. I don't know what abyss i would fall into because there was about 400 steps worth of concrete to hit first. Nonetheless new fear discovered. Being at the top was not a problem because it was a stunning view. I really loved being able to see all of Florence. I could point out all the places that I'd been last time and see forever. We could see the mountains all around and everyone looked so small! Like little ants everywhere.

It was great. I can't remember if we took a family picture up there, but it's def a contender for next years christmas card (if we can organize ourselves to get one out). Coming down the dome was just as bad as going up if not worse because I knew it was coming.  White knuckles all the way. And even more so when we went down a spiral staircase that was never ending. Whatever. I made it to the bottom in one piece. Im wondering what the Vatican will be like but Im trying to mentally prepare myself for it and my white knuckles will be ready.
We then walked to the Academia to see David. Just as beautiful as last time. The photo police were out in full force and actually threw a girl and her friend out. yikes. Fortunately I was able to take on when she had finished her shift.  hehe. Alice: 1 Photo police: 0

Post David, we walked around and did some shopping. I told Anne for her 16th birthday/ Christmas I would get her a leather jacket because that's what I got for my 16th birthday. It's a great jacket; dark brown with a big collar and the zipper off centered. Mom and I got the same bag in the same color as Anne's jacket and I got a nice little black change purse. We're an original bunch. Naturally I forgot to take a picture of Anne in her jacket but I'm sure I have one with her wearing it later on. We made our way back to the hotel after a long day, but not before we stopped in the Lindt store to get some chocolate. We had a fabulous dinner at a place not far from the hotel. We took a few quick pictures after dinner but then crashed because we were all so tired.
The next day, Sunday, we went and saw the Ponte Vecchio. And just like last time, it was raining. Boo. But that's ok we powered through it and I think we even got some good family pictures. We spent the majority of the day in the Uffizi, which was great the second time around too. I still wasn't allowed to take pictures. Bummer. I still love being able to see Julius Caesar's face, and Hadrian and Agrippa etc. All around win. And unfortunately this concludes the Thompson's trip to Florence as we caught the train after leaving the Uffizi. It was a great trip. Next Time: They are left to fend for themselves and we do the trevi fountain etc with a tour guide.

The family comes to Rome: Part 1

My parents and my sister have joined me in Rome for the week and then some. It is only possible for me to write about our time together in chunks because we will all be up all night reading/writing. They got in on Thursday morning and unfortunately I wasn't able to meet them at the airport or even at their rented apartment due to italian bureaucracy. Side note: In order to stay in Rome for any sort of extended amount of time, you have to have a permesso soggiorno, permission to stay. We already went to the post office and filled out some paper work right after we got to Italy but this time we were lucky enough to take the metro to the end and then a bus for 20 min to the middle of nowhere to their department of immigration. So for our 1130 appointment, we didn't get back til after 1/130. I stopped to get McDonald's for lunch on my home. This is only significant because it is the first time that I have had McDonald's since I got here (I got fries once but they were from the euro menu so I don't count that.) It was pretty freaking good. Tasted alot like America. Except you have to pay for ketchup and you can't have as much as you want and I'm not sure that they put any on the burger. Fortunately I struggled through it. 

I went up to my parents' apartment, which lucky for me, is a quick ride on the tram (the most reliable for of transportation, though the metro is at 1 1/2. the 766 is the worst bus ever.) I brought the wine i bought for them at the agorturismo in the beginning and the massive chocolate ball that I bought them in Florence. THey were obvi thrilled. We had a lovely long chat and caught up on everything that had not been said through skype in previous chats. We went to dinner at a place that is outside of their apartment in Trastevere. It wasn't that good; I was bummed, they weren't. It wasn't homemade gnocchi and the wine wasn't that great. But that's ok, they enjoyed themselves and I was happy to have their company, even if we were all tired. 

Friday we took it easy so as to not tire them out too much in the beginning, on top of their jet lag. We took the bus to Piramide and they were able to see some of the Aurelian walls that are there (they were built in the 200's ish around the city of Rome to protect them, most of the wall still stands throughout the city.) We took the bus to my school and we saw the cafe we go before and after italian class all the time. They had their first italian cappucino, obviously it was great. Andrea makes a great cappucino. I showed them the building where all my classes are and the side of the main campus. We walked up the way to Garbatella. It's cool because it's so different from the busy part of the city where I live or even right by school on Via Ostiense. We had a fantasticccc lunch at Stellina, a small restaurant. The best was the carciofo di Giudia, which is a fried artichoke. SOGOOD. I had had one earlier on here but this was phenomenal. Anne also loved her seafood pasta dish and Mom got real gnocchi. Dad stuck to his mushroom pasta with a white wine sauce. Also fantastic. It's just all so good. sogood. 

I took them to go see San Paolo's Basilica, located conveniently down the street. The last time I was there I learned one of my most valuable lessons on always having a camera. I was prepared this time. 

We spent some time inside and I enjoyed seeing it again and being able to explain what I had learned from Francesca. It's still just as breath taking. I would love to hear the organ play one time. Maybe I should look into mass. I don't know how I would do in a full mass. I don't really know what to expect. More research needs to be done. Per usual. We made our way back to my apartment and strolled down Marconi. It was a little busy. I had to keep tabs on my little ducklings. We went to dinner with Francesca, Lauren and Kahla at the wonderous Piramide Pizza (that's not the real name but because we all go there so often, we've dubbed it piramide pizza because of its proximity to the Piramide and their great pizza. duh). I failed to mention Lauren Gardner was visiting this weekend, with Kahla, who goes to school in Florence with Lauren and AU with us as well. Little did I know. We went for the greatest pizza everrrr near piramide. And because we go so often, we ran into 3 of the boys in our program who took some of their friends who were visiting there. Typical. We walked home across the industrial (read: sketchy-ish) bridge. Gave them all the taste of all parts of Roma. ha! 

Saturday morning we left for Florence. But Florence commences parte due a mi blog. So you'll have to wait. Mi dispiace sono non mi dispiace! 

Even after the fall of the Empire, Rome is still the greatest.

Last we left off, I was the happiest camper at Camp Roma. This has been reinforced this past weekend with several events. First and foremost, Thursday night, Annie, Rachel, Francesca, Bridget and Kathryn and I went to a wine bar but not before we had chocolate shots. Greatest things. They are mini shot glasses made out of dark chocolate (I would prefer milk chocolate, but I struggled through it) with liquor in them, whipped cream on top and some sprinkles on top of that. WIN. The first one we had had Baileys in it was chocolate sprinkles on top; the second with mint Baileys and dried mint leaves on top. ummmm yummm yummmm. The 6 of us then spent the rest of the night hanging out at the wine bar just having a nice girls night.
Friday, Rachel, Bridget and I went to Naples for the day, because we can do that in Rome. We took the train down in probably the coldest car ever. It was Harry Potter style in that there were individual rooms and we had our own, due to the fact that the car was so cold. We took a cab to this pizza place, the one that Eat Pray Love was filmed in! It's called L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele and it was just wonderful. We waited for about a half hour and then we sat at the table where Julia sat during the movie! It was wonderful. There was a picture of her right next to our table, so we basically ate lunch with Julia. Not to mention the pizza was phenomenal. And super cheap! It was only 5 euro for a whole pizza. um yum. We got another pizza to go... :) Then we took the train back to Rome. We didn't really know anything else to do and it was dirty and creepy. Obviously Roma is superior. So we were in Naples for 3 hours and bought 2 pizzas. We took the train back and that was our day. Worth it.
Saturday, I ventured out again but this time I went to the beach with Kelsey, Amy and Natasha! It's only a 20 min train from Piramide, which is a short walk from my apartment and its covered under our monthly transportation pass. Another win? I think so.

It was a little cold, but we had some pizza and shared some champagne for a lovely afternoon picnic! Thinking about staying for the summer... find a job somewhere along the beach and rent a house? I think yes. Another reason Rome is better. 

That evening, Kelsey, Amy and I went to a AS Roma soccer match against Napoli (Naples) at the AS Roma stadium. It was awesome!! We could hear the crowd yelling and cheering before we got into the stadium, and it was putting American football to shame. As a Ravens fan, I was proud of how loud our stadium can get but this was inspiring. We had to move seats because they had closed our section to keep the Napoli and Roma fans separated. Apparently, this match has a history of fights. Go figure, fans clashing with the opposite fans. But we were able to stand very close to the front and were right by the cheering section, which was all guys. It was so loud at points that I had to yell to talk to Amy who was right next to me! And the best part? It was only 10 euros for my ticket. I plan on getting a sweatshirt, black of course and possibly a scarf so I can fit in when I go to another game. We also decided that we need to learn the chants for next time as well. Unfortunately Naples won, but I think they were all on steroids, because they were huge. I call for a drug test. 

Separated. For good reason. 

It was a weekend of more learning that's for sure. I can't wait to go to another game. The family comes on Thursday and IMSOEXCITED. Obvi looking forward to showing them everything that I've been doing in person! SO much to do; so much to plan! So little time!! (miss those olsen twins...?) 

Greatest 2 days EVER

You may question this statement if you have heard me rave about my beloved Harry Potter World. However that day has been surpassed by this past weekend. I spent the weekend at the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. This small area is the culmination of the reason for my history minor and was all spurred by Brad Pitt in Troy (not really but that helped alot. It actually sort of/ove started in high school but don't tell my english teacher).
It allll started when Rachel and Annie left Francesca and I for Brussels and Geneva, respectively. Not only this but when Annie left us Francesca and I were in sweatpants, eating nutella from a spoon and drinking champagne. Pretty much picture of a fail of a night. Lucky for us, our social lives swung into gear, when Francesca's friend Abby called us and we met her and her friend Eric for some vino at a wine bar. Back story: Eric was studying in Ciaro when obviously the revolution cut his time short. He was evacuated and spent some time in Greece before coming to our fine city. Moving on. The next morning was Friday and conviently enough we don't have classes on Friday so it was the perfect combination to to touristy things! Enter Colosseum. As I mentioned before when you get off the metro the Colosseum is RIGHTTHERE. And this time I finally went inside! YES.

Clearly happy. 

One of the great parts was that it was only 12 euro to get in. And the ticket was good for 2 days and got you into the Palatine hill/Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Which was good because we ran out of time. We spent about 2 hours in the Colosseum and I loved every minute of it. It was wonderful. It was awesome to see how big it was. Unfortunately, most of the marble was gone because the Catholics took it for the Vatican (but I'm not bitter..). They had most of the underneath open so you could see the smal pathways in there and that was awesome. It was wild to think how they also would flood it to have mock navy battles. How they accomplished that is beyond me but I bet it was so cool, especially for the poorest of Romans who had never seen such things. It was also wild to think that 70,000 people could fit in there. We could only imagine that the city must have stopped on days when there were events and races inside (the population of Rome at the time was about a million people! Yobs). Also it would be a fantastic place to have a concert but I think that would be rather hard to do........... They had one place where you could see what the seats would have looked like all over because of the stripping and the weather has worn it down so much. Francesca told me that the Romans were the first to invent concrete which is the only reason that I can imagine that the Colosseum is still standing. 

 I'm not gonna lie walking into the Colosseum I did get a little choked up. ITSJUSTSOCOOL. So after I soaked up enough in the Colosseum, we left and were going to walk through the Forum/Palatine hill but it closes to new entrees at 330 and they kick everyone out at 430/5 so that there aren't people staying in there when it's dark. So anyway we walked up the Circus Maximus and saw the outside of the Palatine Hill. On that side is the main outside of the Imperial Palace, which is also a skeleton of what it was. 

The Circus Maximus is the open area at the front of the picture

The Circus Maximus was a place for the emporers to show off all the spoils of war that they got once they came back. They apparently also showed off prisoners of war. It's pretty long; its probably 2 times longer then what you can see in the picture. In the back of the picture is the Palace which is huuuge. It goes pretty far back and spans almost that entire way.

We then went to show Eric the Pantheon, which also won't get old. Another thing that won't get old: gelato. Though I like Pong more then where we went. We went to Giolittis which is apparently the best gelato. Though, as stated, I disagree. It was too stressful. There were just too many people and I don't speak fluent gelato flavors in Italian so I didn't know what the flavors were and they don't understand lines and then I couldn't decide. It was just over all a little too much for me. But in the end, I got black berry and Bacio. Both were great, but i missed the Nutella gelato at Pong (which we've decided is just frozen Nutella) because they didn't have any. 

Later we rallied and went for dinner in Piazza Navona. Francesca has been raving about 3 things since before we even left the US: two of them were food, particularly that she eats pizza and gelato everyday and this gnocchi and gorgonzola sauce. The third is not important. Just another dead poet. So I was finally able to understand what all the hooplah was about and I have to say it was quite good, given that I don't like gorgonzola cheese. Lovely evening. 

Day 2: Enter Roman Forum/Palatine Hill. Abby and Eric didn't join us for this trip so Francesca were able to revel in all the old things of the Roman Forum. When we first walked through the gate, you have to decide to go to the Palatine Hill first or the Forum. One of the hardest decisions of my liifee. Fortunately Francesca chose for me and we saw the Forum. Best choice. We saw Francesca's dad's favorite triumphial arch, the Arch of Titus. He had it erected to commemorate the Jewish uprising that he put down. (Emporers put up arches as a way to show everyone all the great things they've done in a war or battle. They have scenes that are etched in the side and are very very large and have their name and information.)

You can't quite see the detail but you get the point.

This is Constantine's Arch, looking at it from the Colosseum.

So moving on, there were alot of ruins that I wasn't able to identify which blew my mind because I guess I never really knew what was in the Forum. I always knew it as the cultural center of Rome but I never knew exactly what that meant. Well it means everything. There were temple, like the Vestal Virgins temple, which was very nicely kept up, and there was the Temple of Saturn which was pretty cool, even though there's not much there... It was all very humbling. To think that they were able to build these massie constructions without modern technology like cranes and tools, and they are still some of the greatest constructions in the world. Case and point: the pryamids. They have been around for thousands of years and still going strong. The Romans and the Egyptians knew what they were doing back then. Maybe not so much right now but were going to keep a lid on that can of worms.. 

 

Temple of Saturn (I'm pretty proud of this one)

I don't know what else to say about the Forum because it is just one of the things that one should experience in their life. I think if I never went anywhere else again I would be happy because I was in the Colosseum and the Forum. I mean I might get a little restless but I'd like to think that I could be content. Moving on we also spent the remainder of the day on the Palatine Hill and in the Imperal Palace. It wasn't quite as awesome because it was hard to tell what was going on in the ruins (I also don't know anything about it). But it was cool when we stumbled upon the private stadium that is in the middle of the imperial grounds. Random. But it was awesome. What I wouldn't give to see all of this in it's hay day and covered in all white marble. It must have been amazing. Rather fantastic weekend. Up there in the record books. On the to-do list: plan the family visit. yay! One (ish) week!!! Rachel and I are also going to Naples for the day on Friday and Paris has been booked! Yay Gretchen and Adam! So many friends. So many pictures. So many more places to see.

Firenze

As can be derived from the title of this post, I spent last weekend in Florence! It was fantastic! Like every other place in the world, I had never been there before, and Francesca described it to me as a music, which is completely true. Coming from Rome and Via Marconi, Florence was so quiet and quaint compared with the mass amounts of traffic of Rome. We took the train to Florence and then walked around before heading to dinner. Our hotel/hostile was about 2 blocks from the Duomo so we spent some time being touristy and oggling the gigantic cathedral. I had the most fantastic artichoke and truffle pasta for dinner. Just great. The best part about living in Italy is that the food is so good. At this time, Lauren Gardner came and sat with us for a little! YAYAAYAYAYYYAY She is studying in Florence so it was wonderful to finally see her face after not for an entire semester. After dinner I went back and went to bed because I was exhausted.

Saturday was a day of learning. One great thing was waking up and hearing the bells of the Duomo. It didn't wake me up but we were so close that I could see part of the top out of the window. We walked over to the Uffizi Museum. AWESOME First off you have to walk past the Medici Castle, which is right next to the Uffizi. Lauren told me that it used to be the FLorence goverment offices before it was turned into a museum. And let me tell you, it is a museum. I was only on one floor and that was quite enough for me. The hallways let alone were plenty, but of course there was all the religious paintings, some which were from churches. They start to all look the same to me after while. Though one thing that rocked my world: The Birth of Venus. Seen it all over but to actually see it in person was fantastic. I spent a good 10 minutes just looking at it. It was wonderful. In the hallways they had busts (which I think were models of the actual busts, nonetheless awesome) of all these famous Ancient Romans. ROCKEDMYWORLD. I saw the head of Cicero, Nero, Marcus Aurelius. All of them. Augustus! It was fantastic. Never been a happier camper.

 There I am in front of the Medici Castle. Happy as a clam

So after that we walked to the Academy, which is where David is housed. That was also rather awesomeeee. He is much larger then I thought, with some especially large hands and feet. I learned that he was supposed to go on top of the Duomo, but he was just too beautiful so they didn't. Also that it's David, as in David and Goliath. Surprise! The things you learn.

We were going to walk up the Duomo but we were all too tired from the days excitment. We had dinner at a place that was close to our hotel/hostile which was an authentic italian resturant that was family run. We didnt really know what was on the menu, so I ended up ordering spaghetti with a tomoato sauce. Still the best tomato sauce Ive had. Wasn't even mad I didnt know what it was called. I spent the night with Lauren and her friends in her program, 2 of which go to American! Woo AU does Italy...? Sorta.

Ponte Vecchio: Shows the escape route I'll talk about pretty well

 Sunday we were going to walk to the top of the Duomo finally but it was raining and I don't think your even allowed to since you know it's sunday... Religious happenings in the Duomo. How wild would it be to go to regular mass in the Duomo? Or the Vatican? Not real. Anyway. We walked around for a little and walked across the Ponte Vecchio, which I learned about. It was originally all meat shops so they could throw the gross bits into the Arno. It was then changed into all jewwlry shops. Also, thank you Rachel, it was the only bridge that wasn't destroyed in World War II. Lastlyyy, way back in the day, there was, and still is a long walk way between the Medici castle and their summer house (which is only 10 min from the Castle, but used to be the country) so they could escape if need be from rioting unhappy citizens. You could once walk through it, but has since been closed because they're scared its going to collapse..  There's also a ton of art in there that they couldn't fit in the Uffizi from the Medici collection. So much art!
After wards Lauren and I got lunch and then she took me to this place where you can see all of Florence! It was stunning. I was soaked to the bone and my uggs were squishing from all the water, but it was well worth it!

This is only one part of the view but it was fabulous. After our romantic moment, Lauren and I had to part ways and I was headed back the Roma. It was a great weekend and I can't wait to go back. To do next time: climb the Duomo. The rest is up for discussion. So excited.
This week starts all our real classes. I had my first Italian test on Monday. Like hello. It wasn't that bad. I had my culture class after which was cool just learning the history and we learned about the area somewhat close to our apartment and Garbatella, which was designed during Mussolini's reign and was pretty, more quaint then where I live. Today I got to sleep in and had my Rome to Baghdad class which picks up right where my Ancient Rome class last spring left off. It's great. We learned about the Roman Forum, Imperial Forums across the street, and the Circus Maximus. I feel so smart. I've been drinking in all this history. It's been wonderful. We stood for abotu 10 min at the Roman Forum. wahhhhhhh. Just great. Do you think they'll let me live down there? Kelsey (a girl in my program) didn't think it was allowed. I thought that if I informed them of my love, it might be ok. More research must be done.