A Good Start

Well, not surprisingly I've given into my thoughts of possibly starting a new blog (this will by my... fifth?) to record my time in Rome. I've been here five days so far and it's been amazing. I love my roommates (and everyone in the group, for that matter) and we all get along so well. The staff are all very helpful, the classes seem interesting (we start Monday, but we've met the professors and have the basic gist of the whole thing), the food's great, and around every corner in Rome there is something new to take your breath away.

I got here Tuesday after 12 hours of traveling and found no one to meet me in the airport, which made me nervous for awhile. I met some people from other programs, but that only offered so much comfort. After all the other programs had gone their merry ways I was really just alone in the waiting area. Then I noticed a girl had the same tags on her bag as me, which were issued by Arcadia, and when I approached her I learnt that she was Erin, who would be sharing an apartment with. Turned out Scott was sitting a few chairs down, and Ben arrived shortly after. Turned out the group flight was delayed, so we got to go to our apartments early. Met the other roommates Meghan (who I'm sharing an actual room with) and Alyssa a few hours later, went sheet shopping, and despite being incredibly hungry they made a short stop to the top of one of the Seven Hills to show us a view of the city we'd be calling home for the next four months.

We agreed that dinner could wait for a second. When we finally did eat it was great... bruschetta and grilled vegetables and pasta and risotto and tiramisu and wine... just a really nice way to get to know everyone and kick off the trip. Afterwards the girls in our apartment went to Ben, Scott, and Pete's place to celebrate Alyssa's birthday, and by 12 45 we were seriously feeling the jetlag, and dreading our 9 am wakeup time, so called it a night.

Wednesday was mostly just orientation; went to the school (right off of the Piazza Navona, which is incredible, a nighttime shot of one of the two fountains is pictured right) and got our first tast of the public transportation we'll be using every day. Left around 5, dinner at 7 where we got a surprise 3 course meal after filling up on the antipasti. Oops.

The Trevi fountain was nearby so we made a quick stop there before half went home and half went out, and I can't really even describe what coming around the corner and seeing that was like. I really had no idea how massive the thing was, and everything so intricately carved, so detailed, water streaming, lit up at night. Amazing. Probably only rivaled by, in our quest for the Campo di Fiori, stumbling upon the Pantheon. Best surprises.

So Campo di Fiori is a huge American/student hangout, which is not necessarily how I want to be spending my time in Rome, but it was fun nonetheless. Went to a bar called the Drunken Ship where the bartenders teased us about needing IDs and pulled down Southern Comfort when I asked for bourbon, and then ended up walking around the city and sitting in one of the cafeteria bars until it closed down at 2 am.

Thursday was more orientation in the morning, and then we pretty much had the afternoon to ourselves. It was raining a little so we hung out at the apartment until meeting to have dinner and receive a short culinary lesson at the villa of friends of the directors. This time we were prepared for an extensive meal, but still couldn't help going overboard on the bruschetta. I was very happy for my vegetarianism when I got to sit out one of the courses and take a breather. By the time we left at midnight everyone was pretty wiped out and we all just went home and to bed.

Friday was our first day trip, to the mountain town of Tivoli. Claudio, who will be my Roman Emporers professor and also teaches architecture led it, and proved to be quite the knowledgeable fellow. As one of the Bens (we have two Bens and two Scotts) kept pointing out (when he wasn't marking everything as "the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!")... "This guy knows everything!" We first went to the ancient Roman temple dedicated to a pagan goddess, which was not in the best condition but impressive nonetheless, and then to a huge Villa that was given to/improved upon by a Cardinal, and in my mind was on a similar level to La Alhambra-- a moorish palace in Spain that was in the running to be one of the new Seven Wonders of the world. On one floor each room was painted entirely, the ceilings and walls, with either nature or religious scenes, and the gardens and fountains were very extensive. Two of the fountains played music controlled by the water, and have since they were built hundreds of years ago. (Not continuously... once or twice a day... but the mechanisms are the same). Pictured right is the fountain that has brass birds in it, and has bird like whistles that go off at 2 pm.

In the afternoon we finally had some down time to explore our own neighborhoods. We live right off the Basilica San Paolo metro stop (and are graced by the bells of said Basilica every fifteen minutes) and our block is filled with little shops, bars (more like cafeterias, coffee and pastries are more popular buys than alcohol here), and pizzerie, and I scored a black beaded purse for five euro yesterday. I mean, the strap broke when I got into a taxi at the end of the night so it now serves as a clutch, but... five euro! The guys came over to check the internet for the location of an art show we went to (we're the lucky apartment that has wireless networks to tap into, a living room, and two balconies) and grab some food, and then we went to said art show. It was a Phillip Geist exhibit. I had never heard of him, but he uses projectors to turn impressive buildings into his canvas, in essence. Last night it was the Palazzo di Esposizioni, and was kind of just like Windows Media Player visualizations with trippy music playing. It was still pretty cool, and then we went to find a bar to hang out for awhile. Got lost and found some huge government buildings before following a sign to the Old Bell Pub, had a taxi NOT take us to Alien discoteca like we asked but a random bar instead, and then called it a night.

Today I think I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat with Erin for a second, then maybe head out on my own and check out the Spanish steps or something. In general just take it easy, because tonight is La Notte Bianca, where the entirety of Rome (shops, restaurants, families) stay up all night. Not sure why the tradition exists, but it's supposed to be a good time. Sorry for such a long post, I guess that's what happens when there's catching up to be done, but I'll try to stay on it to keep them shorter in the future.

For more pictures click here or here.