Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, with the semester coming to a close I'm trying to take advantage of every opportunity to get out in the city and explore. Anyway a few weekends ago we took a trip to Venice, or Venezia. Let me tell you, it is a place you will never understand until you're there experiencing it yourself. After getting used to the crowded busses of Rome, the Vaporetti was a nice break. They're essentially busses but...boats! There are boats everywhere because, unless you've been living under a rock, Venice is a city on the water. No cars, no metros, no busses, only boats. I got to ride a gondola (but the driver didn't sing to us), drink Bellini with some awesome friends, get lost (but not as lost as Destiny!), and see the surprisingly refreshing modern art gallery. The weekend was a great getaway from the always-crazy-always-loud city atmosphere of Rome, but when we got back, I was so excited to be in my Rome-home.
After leaving London, my group flew into Kerry, Ireland. The airport was literally the smallest airport I've ever seen. In fact, I think the plane was larger than the airport itself. Needless to say Passport control was pretty carefree there. From the airport we ran for about fifteen minutes, wearing layers upon layers and carrying all our luggage, to the nearest bus stop to catch our bus to Tralee, and then to Dingle. The bus ride alone was absolutely stunning, as we rode through Irish countryside. Our hostel, called the Hideaway Hostel, was perfect in almost every way, including Eleonora, the little old Irish lady who greeted us, just after she finished picking daffodils for the table. We got checked in just in time to watch the sun set over the bay, then grab some dinner at a local pub, and finish the night watching a soccer match in another pub. The town was beautiful, and we got to see the surrounding countryside on Friday, when we biked 40 kilometers, or 24.8 miles, around the peninsula. Dingle is a beautiful town that I regretted leaving, and am determined to visit again sometime (hopefully soon!) We visited beaches, bought wool socks, saw Funghi the Dolphin, made friends with a man from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and a girl from Germany, ate lots of good food and drank delicious cider. While riding our bikes around the peninsula, we met two elderly Irish women who were climbing up one of the hills as we were coming down. We told them we were studying in Rome and one of them said "This is our Vatican. This is a cathedral of its own." How true it is! As of now, I've seen the Colosseum, the Pantheon, countless ancient ruins, dozens of grand churches, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and yet none of those things compared to the sights we saw in Dingle. As I sit on a couch in Ireland, warming up next to a fire, spring break is nearing an end for us Geneva students, both in Rome and Beaver Falls. Spring break this year, at least for me meant two trips: London and Ireland. First on the agenda was London. We flew in Friday afternoon and stayed from Friday to Wednesday. While there, I got to meet up with some friends from Geneva that I haven't seen since flying to Rome! It was so nice to see familiar faces I haven't been living/going to class/eating/traveling with for the past month and a half. We traveled to Windsor Castle, Westminster Cathedral, Tower of London, and the best of all: the Jewel Tower! (NOT REALLY). The food in London was seriously amazing. Fish and chips is delicious, bangers and mash is delicious, cider is delicious! I loved seeing all the medieval architecture, since there isn't much medieval in Rome. It was really great to see all that we saw and spend as much time as possible with the Geneva people!
Well we finally made it to the Vatican! Well the Vatican Museum that is. It was really neat to walk through this past Wednesday, it wasn't too crowded and nice weather so we could eat outside. I loved all of the Renaissance style paintings there, especially the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel! Tomorrow I travel to London, and then to Dingle, Ireland for spring break.
Last weekend was our first weekend trip as a whole group. Our destination: Florence! ...or Firenze if you're Italian. It was quite fun if I do say so myself. We got to see a lot of Renaissance art because, after all Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance. The most impressive thing I saw was the Statue of David. It was surreal to see it in real life; to see how much life a block of sculpted stone can have was truly impressive! I tell you what, that Michelangelo was one talented guy. I also really enjoyed the food there. There was this great pizza place I got lunch at, every day! And I finally got to try Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a steak special to Florence. So. Good. Hiking up the bell tower, seeing the Cathedral of Florence, and everything else made for a great weekend away! This weekend I took a trip with Nicole, Destiny, Abbie, and Kari to Assisi, Italy - a hilltop town a two hour train ride north of Rome, while another group headed to Swiss Alps. I can't speak for the Switzerland group, although I'm sure their weekend was fantastic, but for me and my group, this weekend was the most fun I've had since being in Italy. Don't get me wrong, Rome is awesome, as is Paris, Orvieto, and Ostia Antica, but I haven't laughed as much, or as hard, as this trip since the last night with my family before I left for Geneva. The group of girls I traveled with are an awesome bunch, and thanks to Jeff, our Humanities and Sociology professor, and his hand drawn maps and advice, this trip was care free; something unusual for me. Friday after arriving, we checked into our hotel, Hotel San Rufino, then strolled through the streets of Assisi. This town has more of a medieval look than other Italian places I've visited so far, and I really enjoyed that; especially the Castle overlooking a vast area from it's location atop the hill. After wandering for a while, we decided to grab some lunch, and decided on a place called Otello, which had pretty good pizza, so it's good by my book! After lunch, we visited many different churches, including the Basilica of St. Francis, which was incredible! We technically weren't allowed to take pictures in there, but the ceiling was so impressive I just had to, even if it was only with my phone's camera. It was really great to be in the countryside and just enjoy the fresh air, deserted streets, and the water! If you don't know, me and my family have a thing for water. City water just doesn't taste nearly as good as it does in the country, and Assisi, although a pretty big town(small city?), had some delicious water. We watched the sun set from outside the church of St. Clare, another large and beautiful church, although not nearly as decorative as St. Francis. It was humbling to overlook the huge valley and see the sun slowly set behind the mountains in the distance. Like Nicole said, "God done good." From there we went to dinner at what appeared to be a nice Italian restaurant, but turned out to be an Italian façade for microwave chef boyardee and hot pockets. -__-
Hey, you win some, you lose some. This time we lost. But we made up for it afterwards when we sat outside St. Francis again and just watched the church and towns light up in the dark. As we walked back to our hotel, we met a guy from Florida who is also studying in Rome for the semester, and hopefully we'll get the chance to hang out with him and some of his classmates, since we've been living/eating/traveling/attending class with the same 16 people for the last month. It'll be good to meet new people that speak English. When we got back to our hotel we played some card games and just had a good time. The next morning I woke up before the rest of the crew and got a cappuccino at the local café, then hiked up to the castle on the hilltop. I couldn't get enough of the view from up there, and neither could the two old Italian men I met there, so I headed back down to get the girls then brought them up too. After gaping at the castle and the view, and taking way too many pictures, we split up and Nicole, Abbie, and I hiked down to a little bridge crossing a creek at the base of the mountain while Destiny and Kari made videos of themselves talking smack about us while we weren't there. While on the bridge, Nicole tried her first pear ever. I'm so proud of her. The hike up was a killer, not only because we were hiking up a mountain, but it was also muddy. We stumbled across some temple or shrine with representations of four different religions on it, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and something I didn't recognize. There were also random statues around it. Pretty weird. When we got back we ate at a restaurant next to our hotel and then headed to the train station. After much sleeping on the train, free oranges from a strange man, and sharing music with Nicole, we finally arrived back home in Rome. Hey y'all sorry I haven't posted in a while, life here in Rome has been pretty busy. I left you at the Musei Capitolini, yes? Well, last Friday a group of fourteen students, myself included, took a train out into Italian countryside to visit the fortress town of Orvieto. Let me tell you, this place was beautiful! When we initially got off the train, we were at the base of the mountain. After riding a tram up the mountainside, we saw a spectacular view from several different parks throughout the town, and meandered around for a while, eating gelato, taking pictures, and enjoying each other's company. There is a church, the Orvieto Cathedral, in the middle of town that is stunning from the outside, and I hear it is even better from the inside. Unfortunately it was closed when I wanted to go inside. After we returned home, our day was not yet over, for we had our gift exchange from our secret Valentines! It was a great time of gift giving and food eating; definitely a highlight of the week. This past Wednesday we took a trip to Ostia Antica, an ancient port city from the Roman Empire. The ruins were beautiful and I was impressed with how extensive the excavations were; the city just kept going! After an overpriced, undercooked lunch, we headed back to Rome and saw the Arch of Constantine, St. John Lateran (the Pope's official church), and other intriguing sites, my favorite of which was a set of stairs brought from Jerusalem, from the praetorium of Pontious Pilot, on which Jesus supposedly stood on during his trial. Unfortunately you can only climb the steps on your knees, and we didn't have enough time before moving on to the next location. Tomorrow morning a group embarks for Switzerland, and I am headed to Assisi, another Italian town. Hopefully I can find time to post about that soon after we return! It's been over a week since Paris, and my last blog post. In the course of this week we had three field trips, taught English to native Romans, and went out for gelato five nights in a row. Wednesday, we toured the inside of the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. Thursday we headed to the Jewish Ghetto and Trestevere (the hipster area of Rome), and Friday we visited the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museum). It was exhausting, but awesome at the same time. Saturday morning I headed to Campo di Fiori, and outdoor market, with Alexander, Brielle, and Jess. They had free samples of olive oils and vinegars all around so, naturally, I helped myself. When I saw a drink advertised as "Grappa" I asked the vendor what it was. He answered in Italian (surprise surprise) so I just pointed to one and said "I'll try that one." After downing about half the sample in one sip I immediately gasped for breath and spit the contents everywhere. A waiter at the outdoor restaurant nearby laughed at me and asked, in English, "You're first time trying grappa?" Turns out grappa is a digestive alcoholic beverage that's 75% alcohol! I think it's safe to say I'll never have any of that again. (Shoutout to my friends Abbie and Destiny who are nagging me to mention them right now - they want everyone to know they're the "bomb-diggity"). I tried three different gelato places this past week, and finally narrowed my favorite ones to ...three. They're all so good I can't decide which one is my favorite! I guess I have to keep trying until I decide. For now, our dinner of stromboli is almost ready and I'm really hungry. Fare well readers, I'll try to post again soon!
This weekend was our first excursion outside of Rome. A group of eleven took the weekend and flew to Paris. Hard to believe! Traveling there was relatively harmless and let me tell you that city is exquisite! The architecture, people, FOOD. Not gonna lie, I was worried about it before we left, afraid our hostel wouldn't have our rooms, or the metro would be closed when we got there, or we couldn't navigate the city, but everything worked out fine. I was expecting our hostel to be extremely sketchy but it turned out to be really neat. The best part had to be the American alternative music they played in the common room, or the chalkboard walls you could write on, or the guitar hanging on the wall next to a sign that read "play me." After we checked in we headed out to a local restaurant, Au Bout en Train. Jess and I split a vegetable pizza with artichoke, olives, mushrooms, and eggplant. It was delicious! For dessert our table split a chocolate mousse and créme brûlée. The next morning our group split up and traveled to different parts of Paris: one group went to Disneyland, one group shopping, and my group of Jess, Alexander, Brielle, Mandolynn and myself ventured to Montmarte, saw Sacré Cœur; the city from the steps of Sacré Cœur; the artists' square; many local bakeries, wineries, shops, etc.; then walked through the city towards the river, La Seine. Montmarte had the most amazing food, particularly the croissants, macaroons, and pastries in general. Along the way we saw the Opera house from Phantom of the Opera (although we didn't go inside), the Moulin Rouge, A beautiful church, but we don't know what it's called, and finally the Lovelock Bridge, where Jess, Mandolynn, and Brielle all put locks on and threw the keys into the river below. From there we headed down to the Arc De Triomphe along the Champs Élysées, which took forever by the way! But it was worth it once we arrived! The traffic circle around the Arc De Triomphe was the only traffic remotely close to what we see in Rome any given time of any given day of the week at any location; the traffic in Paris is much more subdued and even civilized it seemed. That was a relief! After the Arc we headed down toward the Eiffel Tower. We saw it in the daylight, then Alexander took Brielle out to a specacular dinner atop one of the skyscrapers in Paris and Jess, Mandolynn, and I watched the Eiffel tower light up at night. After that we headed back to our hostel and dinner; authentic French onion soup and Rosé wine. Saturday Morning we headed back to Montmarte to visit my favorite bakery, Le Grenier à Pain (The Breadbasket), and get one last croissant and macaroon, as well as quiché to save for lunch. After moseying around the shops for a while we took the metro to Notre Dame Cathedral, then grabbed lunch at a local restaurant and met up with the rest of our group at the Eiffel Tower and then headed home. It was a great weekend and I'm convinced I will visit Paris again someday when I can afford it. For now it's good just to be back in the convent and relax before classes tomorrow.
Things have slowed down a bit since my last post. Classes started Monday, and I believe orientation is officially over. I've never been a student that hated school, especially in college, and I realized yesterday as I sat in the classroom listening to Dr. Cole talk about Italian culture and beauty I found myself content, happy even. I'm a science guy; humanities is not my thing, but when you study the history, architecture, religious influence, etc. about a new culture where you reside, it's a game changer. I'm excited to learn all this semester has to offer me both inside and out of the classroom. Because of classes starting, however, I haven't had much time these few days to explore the city. I did, earlier tonight, head out with a group of about ten or so students to get our hook up of gelato for the night and on the way got called an asshole by an Italian man on the street (the one word in English!) so that was a nice ending to my day. This week also launched the community dinner, and my group was the first up to bat. After consuming excessive, yet delicious, amounts of pasta and bread, we decided tacos would be a nice taste of home. Turned out everyone else thought so too! Now we had to get creative, example: there's no sour cream here, but we substituted greek yogurt instead. Earlier this afternoon I took advantage of the beautiful day by going for my first run through Rome with Abbie and Alexander. After running through the park, witnessing British-children-soccer-practice, and running aimlessly through the streets of Rome we finally got back to campus refreshed. This morning Dr. Cole took us on an impromptu mini field trip to a local church, St. Agnes Outside the Walls, named after a young martyr, St. Agnes. The beautiful building was impressive, but not as impressive as the fact that this is an ordinary church here in Rome! Tomorrow marks the beginning of our excursions through the city and let me tell you I can't wait! For now I think I'll help myself to some Nutella and cookies since gelato didn't work out.
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