Pasta Making!

I feel so accomplished! (Even though Alessia, my Italian roommate, helped out a fair amount). It was delicious!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I finally had the time to bake something here! It was a little frustrating trying to find all of the ingredients and using grams and celsius, but I was able to make my Italian roommate an American classic: chocolate chip cookies!

I plan on making her banana bread on Sunday!

Field Studies

My classes abroad have been really great so far! What I love the most about them is all of the field studies we get to go on. This week, instead of sitting in the classroom for 2 hours, I got to go to the Capitoline Museum for my ancient Rome class and the Forum for my art history class. I even had to take a quiz on the Forum, as I was looking out onto the Forum. Pretty cool, eh? They try to get us out of the classroom as much as possible and into the actual heart of the content. Here are a few pictures I was able to take during class:

Foro Romano

Original shewolf with Romulus and Remus

Statue of Marcus Aurelius

Constantine

 I am really enjoying the field studies for my classes! I think I'll enjoy them even more when it's not 90 degrees everyday!

Pompeii, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast

This weekend was so much fun and so eventful! It was nice to get out of Rome for a couple days and get to see a new part of Italy.

The bus left for Pompeii at 7:15 on Friday morning. We arrived there around 11 and had a 2 hour guided tour of Pompeii. We saw the baths, remains of some of the bodies, the main road, and much more.

Mt. Vesuvius

Main forum of Pompeii

After Pompeii, we had a nice lunch at a restaurant really close by. Then we got back on the bus and headed to Sorrento. We checked into our hotel around 4. It was such a nice hotel and my bathroom had a jacuzzi in it! Talk about luxury! I also had an amazing view of the Bay of Naples from my balcony. I took a little nap and then we all had a 3 course meal at the hotel restaurant. I was very adventurous both nights and definitely strayed away from my comfort zone of pizza and pasta. After dinner, we headed into town for some late night gelato.

View from my room

The next morning we had to wake up early again to get on a ferry to go to Capri, an island in the Bay of Naples. We spent around 6 hours there walking around, eating lunch, going to little bakeries, and just looking out onto the Mediterranean. The views were amazing and the water was so green! There were also some lovely gardens that we walked through with the brightest flowers.

After Capri, I came back and rested a little before dinner. We had another three course meal with a different menu, which was nice. I got the risotto and the mackerel. So good!

We had to get up early again the next morning to get on a bus for a tour of the Amalfi Coast. It was a 52 km ride on a very curvy and scary road. Our guide told us that there was a James Bond seen filmed there! I was getting a little car sick to say the least, but the views were gorgeous! There was a bit of a detour because there was a fire near one of the villages we were going to stop in. But we still were able to stop in the town of Amalfi and another other little town for lunch. We toured the cathedral in Amalfi as well as the Cloisters of Paradise. They were both so pretty. After that, we drove back home. 

And that about sums up this weekend's trip! It was really fun, but I'm glad to be back home!

First Week of Classes

My week has been consumed by too many classes to count and too much unhealthy eating to even begin to describe. Pizza for lunch everyday? Not my proudest moment.

BUT this weekend I will be going here:

Amalfi Coast

And to visit Pompeii. So I will have a ton to talk about in a few days!

Trevi Fountain

Yesterday, Marielle and I ventured out to see the Trevi Fountain at night. It was our last hurrah before classes started today. It was so amazing going at night and seeing everything lit up.

We got to the Trevi Fountain and obviously had to throw a coin in for luck. I chose an American penny since it has less value than the euro penny. Hopefully that doesn't devalue my wish!

The first day of classes was fine. I think I'll find them interesting enough and we'll get to go on lots of field trips into the city. My big accomplishment of the day was finding peanut butter in an international foods store! I didn't realize how much I missed it!

Villa Borghese and Piazza del Popolo

I started my day off with a run and made myself an omelet for lunch. Then I convinced my sleeping roommates to get up and go on a Roman adventure with me. We decided to go through Piazza del Popolo to Villa Borghese, which is a huge park in Rome, which houses many galleries and historic villas. We did not actually enter any of these sights, seeing that we're on a tight budget here. But the park was still lovely and really enjoyable. I even got a chance to catch up on my sleep...I feel asleep sitting up on a bench when we took a break from walking.

On the way to the park, we passed the Spanish Steps and then Piazza del Popolo, which was really quite nice. Like all the main piazzas here, there were a few fountains and some nice outdoor restaurants.

We also passed Santa Maria del Popolo, a lovely renaissance cathedral refurbished my Bernini, Raphael, and Fontana, on the way. It was beautiful inside and had some amazing painting on the walls inside.

And here are some pictures from the park:

We walked back (it took us an hour and fifteen minutes) and decided to go out to eat. I ordered pasta with clams. It's a dish I usually wouldn't order, but I was feeling adventurous and it was really good!

Piazza Navona

Went on a run yesterday morning then headed off to Piazza Navona on the way to class. It was a fun spot, but definitely lots of tourists.

I headed to class after and took my Italian quiz, which wasn't too bad. Then we headed out for gelato as a class. I went home and met up with some girls I know later from Richmond for dinner. I ordered pasta, once again. I gotta be a little more adventurous or I'm going to come home ten pounds heavier. I also went out for gelato after dinner. Not a good habit to get into!

Day 9

It wasn't the most eventful day over here. I went on my run this morning with my roommate, made lunch at home using veggies I had lying around and then went off to Italian class, which seemed much longer than usual for some reason. We have our first quiz tomorrow, so I've been studying up on my indefinite and definite articles, common phrases, and simple verbs. Wish me luck!

And don't worry, tomorrow, I will definitely take advantage of the fact that I live in Rome. Today was just a lazy day.

Campo di Fiori

Today was my day to explore the Campo di Fiori area. Campo di Fiori is closer to the Tiber than to the center of Rome.

It is relatively close to where I live compared to everything else in Rome. I walked with one of my roommates to IES because she had a meeting about an internship. Then after that it was time to explore! We went in so many little shops that were so fun to look at! I think I even stumbled upon the Italian leather boots that I want. I will be back for those when it stops being 95 degrees everyday.

During our window shopping extravaganza, I got so hungry. We stopped at this amazing bakery called Il Fournio, which is right next to Campo. I got an eggplant focaccia, which was sooo good. And then my roommate and I went crazy and tried some of the bakery's confections. They all looked so good, but I settled on a nutella filled mini croissant and a giant truffle looking thing.

What is pictured above was disappointingly not very good. I had one bite and threw it out. There was some weird flavoring going on. I was kind of mad, but I got over it.

Next stop was Campo di Fiori. It was kind of shutting down when we got there, but most of the markets were still open. They had everything from vegetables and crepes to souvenir t-shirts and pate.

I was extremely full after this, so we walked around a little before Italian class and found a nice park. Well it wasn't so nice, it was swarming with dirty pigeons and sleeping homeless men. But it had a nice fountain that I took a picture of!

Buonanotte!

Day 7

Nothing too new to report here. Went on my run this morning and then had a meeting with my academic adviser. I'm taking two history courses, one on ancient Rome the other on fascism, an Italian literature course and an art history course. And of course Italian. We learned numbers today! Our professor had us walking around the building saying a number every time we took a step. We looked a little ridiculous. I have once again overeaten (the gelato is just too good to resist!) Where is my will power?!

Day 6

Today was a very long and productive day. I woke up around 10 (after ignoring my alarm at 8) and decided that I would go for a run around my favorite park. I honestly love running there. There are so many little families that go and just sit and look at the beautiful view. One of my roommates, Marielle, decided she wanted to go with me. I'm so excited I have a running buddy now! After our little run, we came back and took off for the Vatican.

We walked for an hour to get there, which wasn't the most pleasant experience because it was all uphill and about 95 degrees out. I sure hope no one was disturbed by how much I was sweating. We walked through this huge park to get there that has the best views of Rome. Even better than my favorite park!

Next stop was St. Peter's Basilica. We got a little lost on our way there, but nothing too serious. We just probably could have done it in 10 minutes less time. When we arrived at St. Peter's, we noticed the huge line to get in and decided it would be better to come back when the tourist season isn't as bad. So we just took a few pictures and called it a day.

The buildings here are so amazing. Even if we didn't get to go in, I'm still glad I made the trip to see it today.

After that excursion, Marielle and I went to a little pizzeria and split a margherita pizza. Then we had our first Italian class! It wasn't too bad or confusing and our professor is really great. After that two and half hour class, we came home and snacked and then made dinner and are way too much chocolate. Can't wait to work that off tomorrow during my run!

Arrivederci!

Day 5

Today was kind of a lazy day. I had goals of getting to the Trevi Fountain, but the rain abruptly ended that plan.

Earlier in the day, I went back to my favorite park for a run. I made the mistake of going in the heat of the day because I was sweating bullets! But it was worth it after the cannolis, nutella, and gelato I had last night...

Then I was really hungry, so I went to the grocery store to get salad ingredients, bread, and cheese. So I ate dinner at like 6. Little did I know, Alessia, my ISC, was planning to make us dinner at 9, soooo I ate again. She made a really classic Roman dish called Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe. It was delicious! Then she taught us an Italian card game, which I still don't really understand. 


Now, it's time for bed. Sorry there are no pictures!!!

Saturday's Festivities

I woke up at 1 yesterday morning (I'm telling you this jet lag is crazy!) and I cleaned my room and did laundry. My roommates were still sleeping, so I decided to go out on an adventure of my own. I disregarded the emphasis Italians put on fashion and wore my sneakers. Now I never want to go back to wearing sandals. 

My first stop was the Vittoriano, the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the Italian king who unified Italy in 1861. The monument was not actually completed until 1935. But before I got there I took a picture on the way as I crossed the Tiber.

There was a cathedral attached to the monument that was so beautiful. A wedding was going on when I walked in.

Next stop was the Roman Forum.

And then the Colosseum.

I got back home and was so tired! My roommate knows a girl from her school that is in the same program we are and she invited us over for dinner. They were making crepes and I was not about to turn that down!

And then we walked around Trastevere at night. So pretty!

So that's it for now! Ciao!

Mon Appartement