Ecce Romani III

Sorry about that

It’s been a long time since my last post. Sorry about that.

Alright. So in order to catch up I’m going to post pictures for a lot of what’s been going on and skipping writing about it.

For class trips we went to Assisi, Sorrento, and Pompeii, and Abruzzo.

I have plenty of pictures from all of them but there are some good stories.

In Assisi a group of us found some weird back trails that led to the castle at the top of the hill, it was a gorgeous view and I was really happy we trekked all the way up there. As you would guess the church of St. Francis Assisi was there. The inside had some beautiful frescoes but pictures were forbidden and I decided not to try and sneak any in. It was an interesting and quiet town that I actually really enjoyed and it was a nice break from the noise of Rome.

In Sorrento we ate out every night, bought beer every night, went to the pier and saw the great view of the cliffside there the first day, and went to a karaoke place one of the nights where I sang Mambo No. 5 by Lou Bega. It was one of the best trips I have ever been on. While there, A group of us went swimming at night, got yelled at and had to run away back to our hostel. And our hostel was located near the outskirts of Sorrento in the woods essentially, which was cool, but then when you went down to the beach there was a most magnificent view of the Sorrento coast and I will never forget how beautiful it was.

The last day there in Sorrento a group of us rented scooters and rode along the Amalfi coast. It was gorgeous and exhilerating and probably one of the best things I’ve ever done. If I ever had the chance to do it again I wouldn’t even hesitate. I was one of those jerks on a scooter for the day, passing cars because they’re being annoying and honking if people were in my way, it was the best (Sorry Mom & Dad, this probably scares the crap out of you).

Abruzzo was a really small day trip. We went to a small town that had like eight residents. The entire class designed a huge system for the town, the region, and the nearby trail. It was a lot of work in a small amount of time. But going there was great! There town was completely different from anything I’ve seen. abnormally quiet and we would run into the occasional resident. There was this one lady who had a pile of nuts outside her door and she came out and talked to us in Italian. We stumbled through conversation and eventually she broke the shells off of the nuts and gave us each a handful. She kept giving us more and more. She was the sweetest old lady I’ve ever met.

There’s more things that have happened since these, like Florence and…other things. I’ll get to them within the week hopefully. I hope you enjoy this long post of mine. It’s definitely a good one.

Love Life. Love Rome. Love it All.

I Think He Said Soccer

Alright, 4th post.

I’ve been here for about a month now. I’ve been to nearly all the places that are the need to see places of Rome. Piazza del Popolo, Villa Borghese, the Forum, The Colosseum, Trajan’s Forum, Palatine Hill, Tiber Island, etc.

I have a lot of pictures to upload and I will get to them within the next couple weeks (I hope).

Oh! a few weeks back I was able to go to the beach. There was a group of us who went. Took the metro to the train which we took to the southern tip of Rome. It was a free beach that really wasn’t too crowded. It was a nice break from classes and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to go to any beach whilst being in school. Our group met a nice couple that took our picture and tried to speak to us in Italian, it was funny to try and interpret what they were saying. I think they were telling us something about soccer…

The Piazza del Popolo was amazing and so was the Villa Borghese. The Borghese is like this giant park that’s open to the public. It’s probably the only place in Rome with any real nature. And it overlooks the Piazza del Popolo for this fantastic view. It was a really good day, chock full of beauty.

Sorry this was a long one, but I gotta catch up!

A Little Pepto and I’m Good to Go

After a few days of no food, I finally found a grocery store. Happy Days.

I went to class orientation on the…1st of September. At least a week after everyone back home started, it was great. Nothing really interesting at orientation, but during that week I went to the Spanish Steps with some friends of mine.

The photo posted yesterday is from the top of the Steps.

They’re a bit of a walk from studio and it was very hot and sweaty out (as it has been the entire time). Then we get there and we have to walk up the steps! It was exhausting, but very enjoyable. The view was fantastic and I was happy to see one of the many monuments before class really started. The steps are a worthwhile place to see just for the view

My legs were soar for the next couple days from all the walking.

It was a good time.

Please Note: If a guy with a bracelet walks up to you on the Steps punch him. He swindled me out of some of my Euros because he slapped a piece of string on my wrist and made it into a bracelet before I had the chance to object. Scratch that. I objected and took the string off, but then he put it back on and was done before I knew it.

I was thoroughly pissed off.