Even water tastes better in Rome...

So our second day in Roma began with a most delicious breakfast at the cafe on the corner of our street. The place was nice and quiet and the owner was very sweet. Sabrina got an espresso and we both enjoyed some of the best flaky pastries we've ever eaten! Mine was a croissant with an orange/lemon glaze that was absolutely wonderful! And each item was only 1 euro - which is even better!!

After breakfast, we met up with some of the other girls in our group who live really close to us. Then together we all walked to the huge Piazza Navona to meet up with the rest of our crew as well as our tour guide for the day! She was very sweet and told us alot of history behind what we saw, though I admit that having to follow a green flower throughout the city made me feel even more like a tourist...lol.

But the square itself was very cool - it actually isn't a 'square' at all, but is in fact an oblong shape which is a left-over from the ancient circus that used to occupy the space! It was built by the Roman emperor, Domitian, and chariot races as well as violent tournaments would take place here regularly. Of course, over time it has been transformed by popes and the people into the piazza it is today - with a Baroque church dedicated to Saint Agnes who was martyrd in the stadium, as well as three fountains - the main one being right in front (with the Egyptian obelisk...evidently there's like 14 or so throughout the city) and dedicated to four rivers of the then four corners: the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube, and even the Platte in 'The New World'!

The SPQR means 'Senatus Populusque Romanus' which essentially translates to 'The Senate and People of Rome' (and it's all over the city - even on storm drains!). Underneath references Domitian's Stadium...

...and these are some old remains of the Stadium's entrance!

...so cool!!!

Next, we moved on to visit the Archivio di Stato di Roma - basically the National Archives - where evidently there is also a university...I was at the back of the group and didn't really catch that part. But it was a very cool building!

Then we took a few turns and boom! there was the Pantheon! It was very crowded, but totally awesome... 

...and look! another 2,000 year-old obelisk from Egypt!

...and then there was this hottie. 

Unfortunately we couldn't go into the Pantheon because it actually still acts as a church and mass was being performed (since it's Sunday), but Sabrina and I came back later and snapped some of these shots:

...the open oculus is literally open to the elements - there's no glass or screen at all! But our tourguide said that when it rains, the water turns to mist because it hits all the hot air inside, thus the damage to the floor is essentially non-existant!

...and one fact I had no knowledge of - Raphael is buried here! 

...and there is his bust! He only died at the age of 37, but his contribution to the Renaissance and his charm at court made him overwhelmingly popular with the people and the pope, earning him his glorious resting place. 

 After the Pantheon, our group went on to see several churches - many of which, again, we couldn't go into because of masses going on. But they were cool to see from the outside anyways!

The Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva - basically the church was built sopra or over an ancient temple to the goddess Minerva.

...and look! another obelisk!

these plaques on the church wall shows the different flood levels that have occured over time in Rome. The oldest is the bottom left one - it's written in old gothic script and it's probably six feet high...gives you some perspective...

This building is supposedly where Galileo was tried for his 'heretical' idea of heliocentrism and sentenced with house arrest for the remainder of his life. Now it is a public school! haha.

The Church of Sant'Ignazio - one we actually could go into!

...this oculus was meant to imitate the one in the Pantheon, but it's totally not real - it's all a painted illusion!

See!! This is the view from straight up....so crafty.

We also came to a square where on the side of this building there were all these ancient pillars still intact! Crazy!!

Here's what the pillars were originally a part of - an ancient Roman temple!

Then, continuing on our walking tour, we also stumbled across this beauty! No, it's not Trajan's Column - though I did freak out a bit before I realized it wasn't - but it's actually the Column of Marcus Aurelius! It was completed by 193 AD and is based very closely on Trajan's Column's design - only it commemorates the reign of the later emperor. 

This is a statue of St. Paul that probably was originally a bronze figure of Marcus Aurelius but was melted down and transformed in the 16th century.

As we continued on our tour, we were shown some of the nice shops next to this column (which we came and visited a bit later! I even bought a dress and a top at the H&M...couldn't resist!) and I just wanted to show you guys how lovely one of their little indoor malls is...

...look at that ceiling! So pretty!!

And you know what else was pretty? The Trevi Fountain!!

...and here I am with a classmate about to toss that coin over our shoulder into the fountain! Then I am guaranteed to come back to Rome!

...yeah I don't know if I made it...

So, who knows if I'll come back...maybe I'll try again when Tibby gets here!...but some of the other girls were hitting people in the face with their coins so at least I have a bit more hope than they do! haha!

Anyways, after the fountain, we made our way over to our last stop - the Spanish Steps!

And with that, our walking tour of Rome was complete! Even though we didn't see the Colisseum or the Forum like I had thought we would, it was really a good, comprehensive tour. We were all totally turned around - it's much bigger than Florence - but it was good to get a general idea of where everything was! 

Afterwards, we all kind of dispersed - like I said before, Sabrina and I did some shopping - clothes and groceries too! - and then decided that our feet hurt and we were hot. lol. We got some sandwiches from a little place near the Pantheon for lunch but eventually headed back home to sit down and rest for the evening...

...this symbol of the She-Wolf is also really popular - like SPQR - since she represents the twins Romulus and Remus...like in Siena!

...and you'd think this fountain would be one to stay away from - but they're all over the place! And they bring in water like the ancient aqueducts that is fresh and cold from the surrounding hills...

...it's so cold and yummy! We need these in Colorado!

So, with full water bottles in hand, we finally made it back to our awesome little apartment where we whipped up our first meal! It was spaghetti and red sauce with freshly-grated parmesan cheese, and a side of fried zucchini!

...it was the perfect end to an even more perfect day...

Roma!

We made it! Early this morning we finished packing up all our stuff - including our toilet paper and condiments, because we weren't leaving those behind! - and then we caught a taxi to the station where we boarded a train for Roma! 

The ride was relatively quick - just an hour - and though the train was really fast, the scenery we passed was movie-perfect...small Tuscan villages tucked away amidst patchwork vineyards and crops...it was gorgeous.

But finally the train began to slow and suddenly we were hurrying through the train station and jumping into taxis headed towards our new apartments! Ours is on Via Mameli which is in a beautiful little part of the city - tons of flowerboxes in the windows and cobblestone streets with corks stuck between the cracks. And everything is so much wider in Rome as opposed to Florence. The streets aren't as narrow and there's so much green! I can't wait to explore more of the city. But from what we saw on our walking tour, it looks beautiful and old and like everything I've ever imagined! Don't get me wrong, I still am in love with Florence, but this new home is stealing it's way into my heart as well...

Our apartments were super nice as well. It's still Sabrina and me together and so far we're loving our new place! It's got two bedrooms - well one and an overhead loft - instead of one large one, it has a nice kitchen (with an oven!), a cute little bathroom with a sink from IKEA and a bidet!, and then we even have a nice living room complete with a speed bag for all our boxing needs!!

Our 'lofty' bedrooms!

the top for me!

the bottom for my roomie!

our kitchen - with complimentary modern art tile-work!

so our washer isn't in our kitchen anymore - it's in our bathroom! yay for peeing and washing clothes all at the same time!

bidet!

IKEA sink...so chic.

...sitting room

and see, they even knew to include this for our boxing workouts.

Anyways, after we all got settled into the apartment we all met up for that walking tour and saw where our school was, how to take the tram, how to read bus schedules, etc. But later on, we all got together for a group dinner to celebrate our arrival and man was it delicious! The restaurant was so lovely with heavy white linens and glistening glasses and an extremely attractive waiter with a physique deliciously similar to the recently-visited David........oh, and the food was good too. :)

We had three courses - the first was a pasta - penne in red sauce accompanied by the best garlic bread I've had in a really long time, the second course was a dish of thin slices of meat in a savory broth with arugula, and then the meal was finally finished off by a cup of creamy custard topped with pastry and chocolate syrup. It was sooooooo good!!

Afterwards, we had some of the girls come over check out our apartment (they were totally jealous!), and now we are just about to head off to bed - ready for tomorrow where we will finally see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum!!! I can't wait!!!!!

Arrivederci Firenze!

My last day in Florence! Well that is, until the lovely miss Tibby arrives. Then I will get my FINAL look at the gorgeous city I've come to love so much...

But today was a good last hurrah. First, we had our class midterm which was basically just writing essay questions based on what we had learned thus far - it was pretty easy. 

Then for the rest of the day we had nothing planned except for cleaning up our apartment and packing. Sabrina and I did exactly that and when we were finished we sat around for a bit, she read her novel and I researched more on my upcoming trip to Greece (I'm going after our 2 weeks in Rome). Also, Sabrina might come with for a few days which will be so awesome!

Anyways, after our hour of sitting we got hungry and for lunch had some of the most meat-intense sandwiches I've ever eaten. See, since we're leaving, we have been trying to eat the rest of all of our groceries and unfortunately we had just recently bought more packages of turkey and salami, so we had to finish it all today.

They were delicious but very intense and then, of course, we had to finish off the ice cream we had bought as well as some fruit. Needless to say, we were in a bit of a food coma afterwards.

But we were tired of sitting around and so decided to take a little stroll over to see the Leonardo da Vinci museum. It was really cool. Basically they had built a bunch of Leonardo's machines and even recreated some of his sculptures and then showed his original sketches beside them. They had made his armored tank, a few of his flying machines, some of his other war machines, and scientific measuring contraptions....

Here are a few:

flying machine!

machine study of how a wing moves

prototype of Leonardo's fountain pen

...some kind of boat/hydraulic mechanism

one of his war machines...the blades at the back rotate as the horses move. Very nasty way to go for the soldiers...

...armored tank

another flying machine!

copies of his notebook sketches...

After the museum, we kind of just wandered around that part of the city - taking in the sights before we had to leave. We stumbled across the Jewish synagogue - Tempio Maggiore - which was beautiful and huge.

 And we even found a big public park where we sat on this bench...

...as you can see, it was not easy, but it sure was fun to try!! haha.

Then after our butts got sore, we eventually wound our way back home again and somehow ended up watching a video on Jeffrey Dahmer after reading MSN reports on the cases of cannibalism that have been all over the American and Canadian news...

We were a little freaked out.

But eventually we left to meet up with the rest of the gang and go to a final group dinner provided by our study abroad program. The restaurant was so cute and the food was really amazing - two different kinds of pasta, a platter of mixed meats (included rabbit!), and then a dessert of a delicious fruit tart. And even the waiters were hilarious - one in particular (a wiry, gray-haired fellow) was always urging us to eat more and more and telling us how much he loved some of the girls' tattoos but never had the guts to get any himself. lol!

Then after our stomachs felt like they were about to burst, we all headed back over to our neck of the woods and to a bar with two particular good-looking twins. Oh yes, tonight BOTH Paolo and Marco were present... But personally I liked talking to one of the other workers - this tall quirky bartender (I think he might've been the owner) who was super funny and constantly joking around with us. Also, when I ordered a kahlua and cream, he was a bit confused and somehow I ended up with whipped cream on top! But we both laughed about it and really it was delicious anyways and so pretty!

So now I'm here - last night in the apartment and anticipating our next stop - Rome! - with bated breath. Can't wait! And will that I'll blow a kiss to you Firenze, until we meet again!