more pictures

I put up more of my pictures on this facebook thing the kids these days seem to enjoy. If you click this link you can see them.

http://brynmawr.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016600&l=22c26&id=10301726

Saturday adventure

Yesterday I had planned to go to the Vatican with a friend. We walked over but the line to get in was ridiculous, so we scrapped that plan. Instead, we just walked around the city all day and I got to take a bunch of pictures. I won't put a ton here, but I'll get them up eventually.


After the Vatican rejected us, we took the short walk over to the Pantheon and went inside, not too shabby.


After that, we went over to the Campo del Fiori and got delicious falafel sandwiches. I love pizza, but man, variety is the spice of life.

With our bellies full we walked over to the Torre Argentina, these ruins that they turned into a cat shelter. Here is a little kitty that was just hanging out.


Then we went to the old Jewish ghetto, in search of pastries that were supposed to be good, but of course we arrived around 2:00 which is when stores shut down for an afternoon break.

So we walked down toward the Coliseum and walked up the Capitoline Hill and took a quick look at the Forum, you could even see the Coliseum.

Near the Capitoline Hill museum is the Victor Emmanuel memorial which a lot of Romans call "the wedding cake" since it's this kind of over-the-top huge white building. You get a nice view from the top.

Then we wrapped up our day by going over to that god-forsaken Trevi fountain that I can never find. Near there is this great gelato place, supposedly the best in Rome. The honey-cream was delicious. Here's a shot of the fountain:



I will get the rest of my pictures up somewhere soon!

my camera works!

Today was a pretty productive day, but I still have tons to do this weekend! I don't have class on Fridays, but today I had to meet my printmaking class at the Istituto Nazionale della Grafica. Our professor told us it was close to the Trevi Fountain, which is a pretty major landmark. It should be really easy to get there, but I tried to find it earlier with a friend and it took us forever to find it despite the signs on every street corner. Today I figured I'd have no trouble since I have been there plenty of times by now. I left myself plenty of time just in case, but of course I got incredibly lost! I started to panic since I was running out of time and had to ask all these police officers, nuns, and souvenir store workers how to get there. I finally found it but was 15 min late. I felt really bad, but I still saw some really awesome prints so that was good, and I don't think my professor was too upset. Afterwards, I was a little worn out so I stopped at McDonald's to get fries and a coke. This McDonald's was so intense. It was huge and had a coffee bar with pastries and everything, a gelato area, and then a long corridor leads you to the hamburger area. The fries were really delicious, I think they are higher quality than what you would find in the US.

After that mission, I went to this specialty store called Castroni and got brown rice, since that is hard to find. That store sells different "ethnic foods" other than Italian because you can't buy stuff like peanut butter in normal stores.

AND, I got a new memory card for the camera, so now it works! I am going to the Vatican tomorrow so I will take lots of cool pictures but for now here are a few from around my apartment.

This is the view from my balcony, very glamorous, I know.

This is my crappy kitchen, you have to light the burners on the stove manually.

And finally, a view of our lovely bathroom. I am still not used to the weird toilet. Also, we have a bidet. I haven't tried it but I have heard from others that they don't work.

I'll definitely be putting up more!

feeling better

On Friday I started getting sick. Inconveniently, this was the day of my drawing classes trip to the town of Tuscania. Thinking it would make me feel better, I chugged several glasses of water before a 2 hour bus ride through the hilly, bumpy countryside. That started the day very uncomfortably. The place was beautiful though so even though I wasn't feeling well I got a few good drawings done.

For the rest of the weekend I kind of just lazed around since I was sick, but I had to spend hours working on my first project for my printmaking class. It was pretty difficult, but we had our first critique yesterday and I think my print was relatively well-received.

Tomorrow for my drawing class I am going to the Coliseum. Every week we meet in a different place in Rome and just sit and draw, it is a pretty mellow class. The only bad part is that I have to get up really early.

People are starting to plan for fall break in October and I think I am going to end up visiting Paris for a few days. A lot of people are doing intense traveling every weekend, but I'm not really big on that, it takes a lot of energy! This weekend I will probably just hang out in Rome and try to see some cool sights. I haven't really done much of that yet. I might go to the Vatican again since I got turned away or check out the beach?

Now I gotta go to class...

class

I started class on Monday, and I think it is going smoothly so far. I am taking two history classes, one is on Mediterranean History and the other is post WWII European history. The first has a trip to Tunis and the second has a trip to Budapest, so that will definitely be exciting. I am also taking introductory Italian which seems pretty laid back and will be very helpful. Yesterday was my first printmaking class which kind of scared me because I was the only person who didn't have an art-related major, but we will be learning all these cool techniques that I have always been interested in trying so I will just have to work hard and hopefully do a good job. I still have to go to my Rome Sketchbook class tomorrow. I don't think that will be as intimidating because the section is specifically for non-art majors and drawing is a little more straight forward. I don't think Italian or the History classes will be too difficult, but the art classes I think will probably be quite time consuming. Anyway, now is my chance to spend all this time drawing and printing, so I might as well! And I will have some artwork to bring home for sure.

activity galore

I am suffering from some bad blisters after all this activity. Saturday night was this thing called la notte bianca, which is this big party where all these museums and churches have cool exhibits and people stay out all night walking around and going to performances in all the piazzas. It was a little frightening to see so many people in one place, is especially with the lack of public bathrooms. I went with some friends to see a circus performance and then we walked around the Villa Borghese. The buses were packed, so we ended up walking home, which was kind of painful after walking around all day. We got back late and then had to get up early for an excursion to the hill town of Todi and this medieval style traditional lunch.

I didn't get any pictures but here is one I stole from someone. This is a view of the town:The meal we ate later in the town of Titignano (i may have spelled that wrong) was a 4 hour deal. It was pretty tasty, and the banquet hall was in this intense castle kind of building. I will try to get a picture from that place, it was also beautiful.

Today was my first day of class. I think I will have a lot of time in class since I have 5 classes and 2 are classes which have a lot of class time, but I don't think the workload will be too bad. Thinks are looking good!

the day from hell

Today I had to do all kinds of paperwork and boring stuff for school. Italy requires the stupid and expensive "permit to stay" to live in Italy, in addition to a visa. It was a pain and took hours. I did get to get some groceries today and cooked an actual meal- pasta pomodoro and arrugala salad. Hopefully tonight I will go out and explore some of the night life?

another day...

Today we went on tours of the main area of the city and learned some practical information about ordering food, what stores sell what, and getting around on public transportation. It was really helpful, but I'm a little wiped out from the walking. The buses and subways help but no matter how you slice it, i'll be doing a lot of walking! We walked all around the major areas. That piazza I went to on Tuesday turns out to be "the" piazza in Rome- the Piazza del Popolo and it's near my school. We walked through there down the Via del Curso which is pretty famous and took a bus down to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. After that, we went to the Campo de Fiori and ate pizza for lunch. They have restaurants here that sell only baked food by the pound, quite a concept. It is an experience getting pizza, because they just have random chunks, there aren't set slices, and people don't really form lines, you just push right through and try to point out what you want. We ate in the Piazza Navono, which used to be an ancient horse-racing track built in the year 17 AD. Then we figured out a way to get back by bus and subway, which was good. It makes me feel better to know some basic info about getting around and I'm glad I got the monthly bus pass.

I still haven't had a chance to do any good shopping, so I went out to eat tonight. We ate at a Trattoria near the Spanish Steps. I had lasagna and it was quite tasty, not too expensive either.

day two

So today was much better than yesterday, I started to feel a little more comfortable. First of all, I got a full night of sleep. I slept like a rock and I think I'm over the jet lag. Although it's weird to think about the time difference, it reminds me of how far away I am.

Anyway, after a short orientation meeting, I went to the outdoor market and got a few things and then to the supermarket to get some food to hold me. I am still a little overwhelmed about cooking and stuff, but I am feeling much better. The outdoor market is really cool. It takes up like 3 blocks and has everything, plus it seems pretty cheap and there's great produce, and bread, and oh yes- italian coldcuts.

After I got a bit of food, I went with a friend and one of my roommates to explore a little. We went over to the vatican, and then went into this museum in a cool fortress-castle building. at the top was a great view of the city.

Unfortunately, I can't get my camera to work or I would have great pictures to post. I think I might have to buy a new memory card or something?

Tomorrow I'm going on a walking tour and hopefully getting a better selection of food, we shall see!

I made it

So I am finally sitting in my lovely apartment in Rome! It was a difficult journey in which I looked foolish from time to time, but I did make it. The apartment is better than I expected it to be, I think it will be quite comfortable. I am feeling a bit frazzled though- even the thought of having to buy some shampoo and toothpaste is stressing me out. I think getting out and doing some exciting things will get me in a better mood though. Hopefully I will get some pictures soon!

The Journey Begins...

I leave on the first leg of my trip today. I'll be driving down to NJ for the weekend and my plane leaves Monday! My next post will most likely be from Rome. Wish me luck!