Short and Sweet

Ok, so today will be a very short entry as well!

In the morning Sabrina made a tasty breakfast of eggs and toast and then we had a bit of time to catch up on some reading for today's class (I keep kind of forgetting that this is actually a school trip...haha!). Afterwards, we left to meet up with the rest of the class at a local square near our house before together going to the Church of the Gesu!

The church is actually the main 'headquarter church' for the Jesuit order and was the brainchild of Saint Ignatius of Loyola - the founder of the order. 

The façade of the church also is recognized as being one of the first Baroque façades (the church was finished in 1580) as it integrates more drama and movement than similar church fronts before it. 

'IHS' - the first letters of Christ's name 'Ihesus'

...poor guy gettin' stomped on...

The inside was quite lovely as well and very ornate! My favorite were the ceiling frescoes that seemed to jump off the walls and swirl in a flurry of movement above us!

...and besides the gilded architectural decorations and white sculptures, that is all fresco!! So crazy!!

So yeah, it was such an overwhelming church and I simply couldn't look down for very long before my eyes were drawn back up to the ceiling again!

But that was all that our teacher had planned for the morning, so after she let us go, we grabbed some gelato (I got a banana flavor mixed with cherry!) and then we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some things for lunch - namely chicken and more veggies!

After that, we had a little break until we had to go to class for the afternoon where we learned about the beginning of the Baroque period in Italy and the Protestant Reformation - ya know, Martin Luther's 95 theses and all that...

But after class we were free for the rest of the day, so a few of the girls and I hiked up to the top of a hill near our apartment complex to look at a really great view of the city! Then while they gabbed and drank some wine, I sketched in my notebook and took in the sights. It was very lovely :D

Soon our stomachs started to rumble though, so we headed back home and Sabrina and I pulled out some store-bough tortellini and mixed it with some pesto sauce that was soooooooo good!! But we were a little ravenous so on top of that we also made tomato and parmesan grilled cheese sandwiches...

Then we watched some Italian pop music videos on tv and I waited for Tibby to skype me - which she just did! It was so good seeing her pretty face and talking about some of what I've seen - I can't believe she gets here in just a few more weeks!

Then our adventure together can truly begin!!