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!