A Monastery and a Medieval Village!

For those of you that actually make it to the end of my blog posts, I applaud you. I know they are very long, but I have never really been good at consolidating. And because of that it takes me a long time to write them and because of that I don't write them very often. This makes the days pile up and makes them even longer. It is a never ending cycle of long blogginess! Yes, I said blogginess. In short, thanks for reading.

This is my last week of my Italian Practicum, I have Italian for 3 hours a day Monday-Friday. I'm actually looking forward to starting my other classes about Roman Urban History and Ancient Civilization.

Last week it rained a lot, like every day so I didn't get many pictures. But I do have some good news; I got a job!!! I am going to be babysitting this little boy 2 days a week and every few weekend nights for his parents date night. His name is Shane and he is adorable! It's nice to know that my bank account is no longer only being depleted. I met with his Mom on Wednesday night and went with her to pick him up from school on Thursday! It is pretty close to where I live and it is really convenient.

On Friday night, Rose and I went to dinner at a little restaurant around the corner from our house. I think we sat there for at least 2 hours talking and drinking wine. After dinner we walked to this little cafe that is in the Piazza near our house and had some delicious pastries.

On Saturday, I slept in! It felt so good. It's amazing how much you miss sleeping in when you really only get to do it once every few weeks. I sat in bed and watched a movie and did absolutely nothing for the beginning of the day. I'm sure some of you are saying, how could you do that?!?!?! You are in Rome!!! But the truth is, it's like living anywhere else. You need at least a little down time otherwise you just get so tired and overwhelmed that things that you do see aren't enjoyable anymore, so I sleep. Anyway, after my sleeping and movie watching was over, I went over and watched Shane so his parents could go to the movies. He was so cute and such a good kid. We watched a show called Dinosaur Train that teaches kids all about Dinosaurs and the different eras. He was asking me the cutest questions.

Sunday is when all the fun happened! I went on another excursion through the school, but this one was much better. No sick people or freezing cold weather and we only got a little lost. We went to a town called Subiaco, which is south of Rome. In Subiaco, there is a monastery that was built in the 13th century and it is the home of the Grotto in which St. Benedict held himself in complete solitude for 3 years. The monastery was built into the side of the mountain and has been changed and adapted through the centuries since it's original construction. I wasn't the biggest fan of the pre-renaissance paintings, but the architecture was truly beautiful and there were some gorgeous mosaics and tiled floors. The hike to the top was a little intense but because of it's location the view was beautiful!

I just thought this view was beautiful. You really don't
see wrought iron rails with such beautiful designs
anywhere anymore. And the view behind it is only a
small glimpse of its true beauty.

This was the view of the monastery from our entrance.
It really was incredible to see it built right into the face
of the mountain. 

I promised that I would get at least a few pictures of myself while I was on this trip. It's a little hard sometimes because I am always the one taking the pictures. Fortunately, I have Rose who also is a photographer so I can just hand my camera over every once in a while and get one of me. What a wondrous view, right?

So this time, I trusted my camera in the hands of
someone else, which I rarely do, but I figured it's about
time to get a picture of the 2 of us together. My
European travel partner and picture taker! 

So it's a little hard to believe, but according to our tour
guide, this is the actually grotto that St. Benedict spent
his 3 years of solitude in. Like I said, the monastery was
built to encase this grotto. You can kind of see how the
back wall is the actual wall of the mountain. That is how
the entire building is. Pretty great. 

This was the entrance to the monastery. Well sort of anyway. We had to walk about a 1/2 mile from here up the hill and then up a very steep staircase. It was much more intense than I was expecting. One thing I don't understand is how Italians can walk up these huge hills while smoking a cigarette and not be out of breath but when I walk up, I can barely move by the time I get to the top... I'm so out of shape! That is going to change!!!!

Okay, so after Subiaco and the monastery, we all piled back on the bus and went to Fumone. It was about an hour drive. Fumone is known in Rome as a medieval village. And boy is it. They even wear medieval shoes! We had, quite literally, a medieval feast! I wish I had thought to take a picture before we devoured it. We started out with bread with some meat and cheese, then had some bread with olive oil. Then we got a heaping bowl of pasta. Then some more bread. Then another bowl of this pasta stew. Then some salad and then some more meat and potatoes. And then to top it all off, we had dessert. It was INTENSE!!! After lunch, we got a chance to walk around the town for about an hour. It was so tiny! The main city of Fumone rests atop this little hill so it had an amazing view of the surrounding valley.

This was one of the views from the top of Fumone. I was bummed that the clouds had moved in because there is a gorgeous mountain behind the clouds that is covered in snow. You can sort of see the base of it. 

This was the guy that came to entertain us while we were eating. So medieval!!! Look at the shoes, not to mention the fact that he was playing the accordion! He even included a dirty Italian song...

I just thought this sign was so funny. The town is so small I can't image getting lost let alone needing a map. And we were pretty much the only people there so I can't imagine it's a huge tourist town. Made for a good picture though!

I just loved these doors. The contrast in not only color but style. Even the steps. Some things you just can't find in the good old US of A.

This was the name of the restaurant we ate at. I have a feeling it's the only one in the village and I'm pretty sure the sign has been there since its inception. It's actually on a piece of raw would with a family crest above it. Talk about medieval!

After Fumone, we all got back on the bus and went home. When we got off the bus, Rose and I decided that gelato sounded really good. So we took the metro home and decided to walk from the metro stop to our house and just get gelato on the way. To our dismay, there wasn't a single gelato shop open. So we walked all the way home, dropped our bags off and walked back, past the metro station, just for gelato. It is that good!

Today, I had my Italian class and afterward, had a meeting about my core courses that start in a few weeks. I sent out a few post cards and then went home, went grocery shopping, finished my homework, and cleaned my room. It was quite the productive day! After dinner, Rose and I are going to drink wine and play cards. We are such old ladies, but it's awesome! So much more enjoyable than going out every night and waking up hung over or still drunk and having to be in class at 9:30.

Friday is my last Italian class and then I am going to Venice for Carnevale!!! Everyone, keep your eyes open for those pictures!

Getting Lost in Roma

I'm writing this while listening to Ingrid Michaelson and singing at the top of my lungs, just thought you should know. Oh and I apologize, this is a long one... I had to include so many days!

Most people would think that getting lost in a foreign city, let alone one so big as Rome, would be frightening. But one thing that I have learned is that you can't really ever get lost. You may not know where you are on a map, but if you just keep walking, you will run into something that you know. Like today, I went in search of a paper store, couldn't find it, was completely lost. Then I saw a beautiful building, so I just sort of started walking towards it and then I saw the Colosseum and I knew where I was. It worked out so well. Anyway, sorry to get ahead of myself. I shall start where I left off, sort of.

It rains here, ALL THE TIME!!!! The worst part is that it seems that the only time that it's not raining is when I am in class and staring at the beautiful blue sky. Last Friday was no exception to the rain, except this time, the sun was shining and it was raining. So of course, what did I do? Looked for the rainbow. I walked for about 20 minutes, with my head in the clouds, quite literally, until I found this!

This is in Piazza Cavour. I see it everyday when I go to school. I was so lucky to get this picture because when I looked back again 1 minute later, the rainbow was gone. It just made me smile and reminded me how beautiful nature can be. Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high...

Anyway, so after I got home, I decided to go down to the Colosseum for a little while, just to see it because I hadn't been since I got to Rome. I mapped it out and took the metro, along with Rose, to the Termini station and then switched metros and got off at Il Colosseo. I'm pretty sure I have this public transportation thing down. When I walked out of the metro station, this is what I saw!

The entrance to the metro is literally right across the street from the Colosseum. The sun had just set when we got there and it was absolutely beautiful!

So Rose and I walked around for about 20 minutes, admiring the beautiful sky and the even more beautiful Colosseum. I took quite a few pictures, obviously. The Arch of Constantine is right next to the Colosseum so we took some pictures of that too. 

Can you tell it was a little cold? But how can you let the cold stop you from exploring one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

I have to admit, I almost like the Colosseum better at night! It's gorgeous!!!

This is the Arch of Constantine! It is the latest of the existing triumphal arches! Built in 315 to commemorate Constantine's victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Go history!!!

And then there is me in front of said arch. I figured I should get at least a few pictures of myself so people don't think I'm making all this stuff up. 

So, the next day was my wine tasting trip to Colonna and then to Ariccia for a hearty lunch. It was a trip of mixed emotions. First off, one of the guys on the trip got sick on the bus. We first thought it was car sickness but it turned out to be the stomach flu (which we all found out after we spent 4 hours on a bus together and over 20 other students contracted the stomach flu)! YEAH GERMS!!! Anyway, so we arrived at the vineyard and got a tour of the winery and got to see all the barrels and such. It was so cold, I thought I was going to freeze to death next to barrels of wine!

This is where a lot of the other wines were kept to ferment.
It turns out when this vineyard was bought, it contained
to aqueducts that provided Rome with water. One of them
is still in use and supplies the water for the Trevi Fountain.
The other one (seen above) no longer works so they store the
wine down there. I actually went down into an AQUEDUCT!!!
It was really cold and kind of creepy and really wet!

These were only some of the barrels that they
keep the wine in. These are the wines that have
need cool temperatures to ferment. They stay in
these barrels for so much as 2 years! CRAZY!!!

This particular vineyard creates 20 of their own wines.
They produce 600,000 bottles per year, 50% of which stay
in Italy and the other 50% go abroad, many to the states!

So I took this picture as I was getting back onto the
bus to go to the store to taste some of the wines. Since
it had just rained, everything was so green and fresh and
beautiful!

Rose decided to make a
pretty pattern with the
glasses so I had to take a
picture, naturally. 

This was the city of Ariccia. The bus was not allowed to cross
the bridge so we had to walk across. I swear, I almost got
blown away, the wind was so strong. I think this was the only
time that it was decent enough to get a picture the whole time
we were there. It looks quite picturesque though, doesn't it?

So, we got back on the bus and went over to the store where they do the wine tastings. Another bummer of the trip was stupid UC policy. We weren't allowed to buy any wine because we were on a trip planned by the university and not everyone in the program is 21. LAME!!! I actually found a wine that I liked too! I was able to buy some olive oil that is made by the same company though, so I'm looking forward to having that when I get home. Any way, so we did the wine tasting and then got back on the bus and it started snowing. I told you it was cold! This made our trip a little more difficult because the road we were supposed to take to get to the next town was closed to any vehicle that did not have chains for their tires, and of course we didn't. So what should have been a 25-30 minute drive turned into over an hour. I was starving!!! But we finally got there and got to eat and the food was awesome! It was almost a joke though, they gave each of us enough food for 3 people! Everyone got leftovers. We were supposed to have an hour to walk around the city and explore but because it was so cold, everyone agreed to just get back on the bus and go home after lunch. Just walking to the bus, I froze like a Popsicle. So that was this past Satuday! Quite the adventure. We just kept saying, "We are making memories!"

So Sunday rolled around and I decided to sleep in. I didn't realize that sleeping in meant not getting out of bed until after 12. It was wonderful though!!! When I did finally emerge from my cave, i decided to go find the Trevi Fountain. I remembered seeing a stop on the metro for the Trevi Fountain so I just set out for the metro station. When I got off the metro, I went to pull out my map to see which way I was supposed to go and realized that my map was in my other bag. Oh well, I thought, I can figure it out myself. So rather than asking someone, I just started walking. I walked all over the place, probably 3 miles up and down these wet, deserted streets but no Trevi Fountain. I did find some cool buildings, but that just kind of happens in Rome. After walking for over an hour, I was about to claim defeat and just go home, but then I saw a little sign pointing me in the direction of the Trevi Fountain! FINALLY!!! So I got there, got some gelato and just admired the beauty for a while. Then walked to the Spanish Steps and then went home. It was quite the trek!

This was one of the churches that I stumbled
upon on my search for the Trevi Fountain.
It's amazing, the churches here are so big that
you can't even get the whole thing in unless
you are standing far away.

This was a fountain like facade that I thought was rather pretty.
I know it's kind of hard to see. Rain and iPhone's aren't good
combinations but they are better than rain and my camera. I
shall sacrifice the phone to save the camera on a rainy day. 

VICTORY!!!! I made it finally! It really is a beautiful fountain. No wonder why people travel from all over the world to see this fountain. Even on a rainy day, there had to be at least 100 people there at any one time. I have been hoping that I could go there at some point and find it peaceful but I am beginning to think that peace doesn't ever happen in Rome.   

I don't even know where this church is.
I was walking and pulled a total tourist
move. I stopped in the middle of the
piazza and just stood there staring. It was
 so pretty that I had to move to the opposite
 side of the piazza to try to get a picture but still
 couldn't fit the whole building in the screen. 

Alrighty, so that was my Sunday adventure! I woke up on Monday morning ready for school to find out that my housemate, Rose, had contracted the stomach flu!!! Yeah!!! Contagion! Just kidding, but not really. So I went to school alone. This is when I found out that over 20 people had contracted the stomach flu and a few of them were in the hospital. I just kept telling myself, don't get sick, don't get sick, don't get sick. So after school was over, I decided to go walking around and look for a stationary store. It was a beautiful day and I was going to take advantage of it. Once again, I went looking for something but got so completely distracted by the beauty. I have a feeling I am going to come home even more of a space cadet than I was before. Sorry guys! I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told you it was a beautiful day!
Look at that sky! Piazza Navona!

The stationary store I was looking for was near
the Pantheon so of course I stopped and took a
picture. How could you not?!?!?!?

And then there was this beautiful church. They
say when you are in Rome that you should see a church
a day because there are so many. The difficult thing is that
most churches are open in the most inconvenient time! I did
get to see this one though.
Basilica Di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

And now it is Tuesday and the inevitable happened... I got sick. But only a very mild version. Nonetheless, I decided that I would rather be sick at home than sick at school so I left early. I went home and Mary, my housemother immediately gave me medication that stopped the virus and I spent the day sleeping it off. I woke up this morning feeling better and as of now, I am A-OK!!! So today after school, I went on another adventure, as I mentioned earlier. I walked back towards the Pantheon in search of a different stationary store that I never did find. I started walking around and then got lost. I was going to claim defeat and then saw the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II. It is quite out of place in Rome but still beautiful in it's own way! I walked around there for a little while and then walked to the Roman Forums, the Colosseum, and the Arch of Constantine and then took the metro home. It's amazing how easy it is to get around here! 

When I was walking, I ran into a bird lady! She was
actually feeding them bread out of her purse. So funny!

This is the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II. The
obnoxiously large statue of the man on the horse is
Vittorio Emanuele. It is a beautiful building but looks
so weird next to the other Roman buildings. 

This was actually at Piazza Navona. I just had to comment
on the palm tree. They really are EVERYWHERE!!!!! Even
in Piazza Navona!

This was one of the sculptures that was in front of the
monument. I just thought it was beautiful with the
Italian flag in the background and the cloudy sky.
Beauty is everywhere!

This is part of the Roman Forum! It is old and beautiful,
it looks like it is slowly falling apart, which it kind of is,
but it is still beautiful!

Once again, the Arch of Constantine! It looks different
in the day light. 

And of course you all know the Colosseum! It is beautiful in all lights, but I think I prefer it at dusk! 

Imparare l'italiano è difficile!

Well in case you don't know, can't guess, or don't want to look it up, the title means "Learning Italian is hard!" It is much more difficult than I would have anticipated. Yesterday I had my first day of Italian language classes. The first 3 weeks of classes are just purely Italian language and then our "core courses" start. My professor's name is Mario and he is VERY Italian. He is nice and seems very understanding and willing to teach, which is a nice change from California's language teachers who never seem to care. But his willingness to teach does not really help my ability to learn, unfortunately. It is only the second day, so I'm probably being too hard on myself, but still. It's hard! Anyway, enough complaining.

Yesterday I didn't really do much because we had class in the morning and then we had our orientation dinner last night. I wasn't really sure how the schedule worked so I just sort of took it easy. I did sign up to be a babysitter or a tutor for local parents. We'll see how that goes. I also took a really pretty picture of the sunset from my window. All natural colors!

This is the picture I took of the sunset out my window! There is a little piazza to the right. For those of you who don't know, a piazza in Italy is like a roundabout in England or on the east coast (we don't really have them in California). Except in Italy, they don't have any lanes or any semblance of organization. I can't even fathom driving in one of these. Crossing them as a pedestrian is hard enough!

As for today, I was feeling a little more adventuresome. Rose and I decided to walk to school this morning. We clocked it at about a 40 minute walk and when I looked it up, it's about 1.75 miles. It was surprisingly nice out especially for the forecasted high of 48. I have quickly learned not to trust the Italian weather man or the sky. Just be prepared always. I had planned to go from school down to the Colosseum but I didn't have my camera and I thought that would have been a shame. So I decided to go back to the house and on the way back, the clouds started changing. It went from blue sky to dark and cloudy in a matter of minutes! The weather here is so temperamental. Since the Colosseum is all the way on the other side of town, I decided on a closer target, the Vatican, well St. Peters Basilica anyway. I walked from the house to St. Peters Basilica and walked around, bought a few postcards and stamps.
            This is a note to anyone reading this that I said I would send a postcard. That may not happen. As I
            found out today, it costs 2 euro to send a postcard or letter to the states. That's approximately $2.75
            per postcard! I love you all and you will have to except this as your every other day postcard! And if
            you know of people that aren't reading this blog, you should tell them about it!
Anyway, so I walked to the Basilica and as I was finishing up, the sky opened and decided to dump itself on me. I then proceeded to walk the 1.5 miles back to the house in the pouring rain. It's a good thing I have a good sense of direction, otherwise I would have gotten SUPER lost!!! But I didn't, so that's good. Anyway, I made it home alive and really wet. I think the bottom 12 inches of my pants were drenched. Then followed a delicious dinner, made by Mary, and then homework, now the blog and soon bed! Here are the pictures from today!

This is a picture of St. Peters Basilica and the piazza that is in front! It was beautiful before it started pouring rain. There is some construction going on right now, probably to prepare for Easter or something. I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM GOING TO BE IN ROME FOR EASTER!!!!! Anyway, I look forward to a time when I can get an even better picture. Stay tuned!

These are the sculptures that are perched on the wall that surrounds the basilica and the piazza. The columns and figures were just so beautiful in the setting sun, I just had to take a picture. 

Okay, this one I just couldn't help. Here in Italy, everything is small! And I mean everything, but especially when it comes to transportation. All the cars are TINY. I have only seen 1 large car since I have been here and it probably wasn't even from Italy. This just cracked me up. This little golf cart is holding 2 grown men and is the police car! I'm not sure how they would catch anything! I would love to see them try! I will have to remember to take more pictures of the insanely small cars and all the scooters! 

Hope you all are doing well! I don't think the comments are coming through if anyone has posted any so if you have a Facebook, you can post on there! Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

A four hour walk through the park and a Baroque tour... You see so much!

Well since we haven't started classes yet, I have been filling my days with lots of walking. I'm expecting to come home significantly thinner because of all the walking, but my feet are definitely a little sore. Oh well, it's the price you pay to see beauty and keep your feet dry.

So I have been sort of slacking on my blogging so I will fill you all in on the last few days. On Friday, we had another little orientation, mostly about academics and then we did a group photo and then we had the placement test for Italian. The test was insanely hard. I think they gave those of us that have never taken Italian the same test as those who had. Not a fun hour. But we did get a chance to walk around for a little while between all the goings on. I walked to Castel Sant'Angelo and took some cool pictures. The sky was beautiful for a short period of time and I got some great shots! When I got home from the test, Rose and I decided to go out in search of a Friday night dinner. One thing that I will have to get used to is such late dinners. Most Italians don't eat dinner until at least 8 so none of the restaurants are open until then. So we had pizza and gelato because that was the only thing we could find that was open. Delicious nonetheless.

This is one of the angels that is on the bridge that leads to Castel Sant'Angelo. They are so beautiful, especially when the sky is blue behind it. 

This is the bridge itself that leads to the entrance to Castel Sant'Angelo. It has probably 10 or so angels across it and is beautifully designed, but then again in Italy, what's not. 

And this is Castel Sant'Angelo. I can't wait to climb to the top of the castle and look out over the river and the city. The sky was beautiful when I took this picture, so blue and wonderful. I can't wait for more days just like this one.

Yesterday, my housemate, Rose, and I left our house and walked to Villa Borghese. It is a huge park that is in the heart of Rome, much like NYC's Central Park, but much more beautiful because, well, it's Rome of course. So on our walk to the park we crossed over the river, jaw some pretty funny joggers, passed by the
Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna, and then entered the park.This park is just huge so we walked around for probably 2 hours and didn't even see it all. It has beautiful sculptures and a lake that people can take little row boats out on. I saw a father and daughter out rowing and it was adorable. It's amazing how families spend time together here. You just don't see that in the US. Anyway, so we walked around the park saw some pretty wonderful sculptures. They even have a free range dog park in a little gully in the park. They had real dogs there too, not just the little yip yip dogs in sweaters that I have seen. We some how found this beautiful point to look over the whole city and Piazza del Popolo. There was one point where the clouds were rolling in and the rays of sun were shining through the clouds. It was wonderful. We then walked to the Spanish Steps. I'm not sure how, but I managed to get a picture with no one on a huge part of the stairs. It was so packed that I can't imagine that happens often. I was rather impressed with myself. After the Spanish steps, we took the metro back to our sector. (The little "cities" within Rome itself are called Sectors. The way I see it, Rome is like a county and then the sectors are like cities). We then made a somewhat authentic Italian meal. We had Tortellini and Mary gave us some of her home made sauce to put on it! It was so good. And then we had tomatoes the way Mary makes them. Cut in half, with a little salt, some oil, oregano, and then some balsamic vinegar! Delizioso!!! And then some Panettone for desert! A rather successful day!

Little old men are just adorable in Italy. I
 know this might seem creepy but I just
couldn't help myself. 

Another one! I just couldn't help myself. They were just adorable! In Rome, love is not something that is only shown in private. You see couples everywhere holding hands and showing their love. Not in the gross American way, but in a sweet Romantic Roman way!

Another thing that you see all the time here.
Dads with their kids. No moms in sight,
just dads out in the park with their kids having
 fun and enjoying the beautiful day!

This was just beautiful! The reflection in
the water was wonderful!

Only in Rome. This was the entrance to the zoo
that was in Villa Borghese! The most beautiful
entrance to a zoo I have ever seen.

I'm not sure why but I thought this sculpture in particular was beautiful. The incredible work put into such a piece in amazing! Can't wait to see even more!

This was the incredible view that I mentioned with the rays of sun poking through the clouds! I just love the colors and wonderful architecture that you see everywhere here!

And my wonderful Spanish Steps! I'm not sure if I will ever be able to get a shot like this again but I'm going to try my hardest! Hopefully I can get one with even less people and a more broad view, but we shall see. 

And as for today!!! Today I went on a "Baroque Walk". One of the professors of the Baroque art classes took us around Piazza Navona and to a few different churches, like the Church of Saint Luigi Dei Francesi. This church has Caravaggio's Calling of St. Matthew and some other beautiful paintings. We also saw the former base of the Universita la Sapienza, the largest church in Europe. I heard the other day that, now, La Sapienza has around 150,000 students! That just killed me. If you want to go to college, you can go. Anyone can go! Anyway, after the little walk through the 1600s, Rose and I found a cute little cafe off of Piazza Navona and had lunch and then stopped by this Gelato place that is on our walk to school and got some Gelato! So good!!! We then walked back home. I think that when the weather gets nicer, we might just start walking to school and just ditch the bus! It's great exercise and you get to pass absolutely beautiful buildings. I just looked it up and from the house to school is 1.85 miles! So that is nearly 4 miles a day of walking just too and from school! Yeah exercise! 

Another shot of Piazza Navona! It's amazing how
 different it looks after rain on a gloomy day!

Another one of the angels on the bridge to Castel
 Sant'Angelo! It looks much more ominous
when the weather is so dreary. 

This is Palazzo di Giustizia, the Court House of Rome. I was amazed that there wasn't anyone else there. This building is so beautiful and right on the way to school. 

Okay, so these were my last 3 days. Until next time!!! Time for me to sleep. My Italian classes start tomorrow! YEAH!!!!