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!
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| 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... |
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| 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! |
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| 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! |
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| I have to admit, I almost like the Colosseum better at night! It's gorgeous!!! |
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| 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!!! |
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| 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!
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| 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! |
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| 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!!! |
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| 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! |
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| 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! |
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| Rose decided to make a pretty pattern with the glasses so I had to take a picture, naturally. |
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| 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!
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| I told you it was a beautiful day! Look at that sky! Piazza Navona! |
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| The stationary store I was looking for was near the Pantheon so of course I stopped and took a picture. How could you not?!?!?!? |
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| 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!
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| When I was walking, I ran into a bird lady! She was actually feeding them bread out of her purse. So funny! |
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| 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. |
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| This was actually at Piazza Navona. I just had to comment on the palm tree. They really are EVERYWHERE!!!!! Even in Piazza Navona! |
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| 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! |
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| 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! |
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| Once again, the Arch of Constantine! It looks different in the day light. |
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| And of course you all know the Colosseum! It is beautiful in all lights, but I think I prefer it at dusk! |
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