Rome

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Last weekend I traveled to Rome. We took a night train, which was a rough and tiring experience. After about 2 or 3 hours of on and off sleep we arrived in Rome. We found our hostel and decided to begin the sightseeing. We made our way to the colosseum but on the way we saw St. Peter's-in-chains and the Baths of Diocletion. St. Peter's-in-chains houses the chains that held St. Peter before he was crucified in Rome and the Michelangelo Statue of Moses. We took a tour of the bigger than I expected Colosseum. Then took a tour of the Palatine and the Roman Forum. All of these were really cool and it was hard to believe all the history that took place there. By this time we were exhausted and made our way back to the hostel for a much needed nap. That night we met up with a friend of Matt's (friend who I am traveling with), who is studying in Rome this semester from Uconn, named Nick. He took us to a good restaurant and showed us around Rome that night. The next day we spent the morning and most of the afternoon at the Vatican, which was extremely impressive. St. Peter's Basilica was the biggest church I have ever seen, which sounds obvious but it was. So many statues, artwork, and architecture in that church alone. The Sistine Chapel was also incredible. To believe that Michelangelo painted all of that with the amount of detail is just incredible. That afternoon we made our way to the Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Trevi fountain, cool but definitely tourist attractions. The Pantheon was extra cool, with thousands of years of history. It rained on us pretty much all weekend, which was fine but a bit annoying. The whole day Nick took us around and gave us some of the little information regarding some of the little things that a tourist wouldn't catch, which he learned while attending these places with his school. Rick Steves definitely was also our best friend this weekend because we followed his tours in St. Peter's Basilica, the Pantheon and Colosseum from hist Italy 2011 book. Overall, Rome was the best city I have been to in Europe so far this semester because of all the history, but also the city that is so lively living on top of all the ruins. Everywhere you would walk you would see something cool, old, and being excavated but had no idea what it was, which was intriguing. I was fortunate also to run into my friend Megan from Iowa in Rome, which was awesome and hard to believe we would meet in such a far distant place from Iowa City. The trip was excellent and I had a lot of fun.

This week I have been swamped with school work, which is why it has taken so long for me to post this entry. This weekend we were planning on going to Florence for a day but now have decided to kick it in Paderno and relax and save money. I have a test monday so that will give me some necessary study time as well. Tonight is the second formal dinner, so that will be fun. I have my new Italian suit so I'll be looking spiffy. Hopefully all is well and starting to warm up at home. It is in the 50's consistently here now. I can definitely tell spring is here. Everything else is going well and the program is starting to wind down and everyone is figuring out their post Cimba plans if they are staying longer. Check back next week. Ciao!


Colosseum







Vatican

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