Free weekend?

Howdy y'all!

Welcome to our free weekend in Rome! You know what I'll be spending it doing? Sleeping, working on my projects for my two art history classes, and attending a Liszt concert and the La Traviata opera. And that's what separates me from a lot of other people... haha.

A lot of people are traveling this weekend. Their destinations include Venice, Milan, Sorrento, and probably others I'm unaware of. It would have been awesome to travel, but knowing who I am as a person and knowing how much my wallet is screaming at me, I decided to stay in Rome for these three days. I'll live vicariously through my peers' pictures and stories. I think there's seven of us out who opted to stay in Rome out of the 22 of us.

Here's a few thoughts I'm having today as I'm killing time before I walk over to Piazza Navona for my concert:
1) At this point, almost the five week mark of our trip, I'm actually pretty excited to go home and see my family, my friends, and my dogs. We have done so many things and I have already made memories that I will never forget. I've been saying since we got back from Naples that I would not be disappointed if we were leaving the next day. But on the other hand, I hate to rush the last ten days we have here, because I know as soon as I get back home I'll get back to the grind of work and life. At least I decided not to take the Summer B physics class, because if I did, I would be hating myself right now.
2) I'm a bit worried about stuffing all of my items back into my suitcase to take back to the US. I've bought souvenirs from every city we've visited, and I've gotten some gifts for my family (even my dogs). Bringing everything over here was a bit of a squeeze, so we'll have to see how I pull off packing for the trip back. It looks like it's $100 for an overweight bag... O_O we shall see.
3) Next time I travel, I'm bringing some BFFs. Everyone I have met on this trip has been super nice, but I feel like I would enjoy everything so much more if I had some of my good friends with me. But hey, that's what the future is for :) Dr. Murphy keeps saying, "When you come back..." and I hope to make that a reality!
4) I am going to be so glad to just get in my car and drive places when I get home. Walking and using the metro are fine, but I'll be glad when I'll be able to drive 15 miles to go a significant distance instead of walk 15 minutes to go a mile.
5) I miss Target and Publix. That is all.

So yeah, that's my life. I should probably begin the process of looking presentable and prepping myself for the 20 minute walk to this church. TTYL!

~ Dani

Alive and well!

Buon giorno!

I knew this would happen. It's been almost two weeks since my last post... and since then a lot has happened! I have been posting an excessive amount of pictures on Facebook and almost all of them have captions so if you follow me on there you're in the know, but obviously my poor blog has been neglected. So let's break it down into the important parts, both so you all can know and so I can remember later.

On May 27th we had an optional visit to the Castel Sant'Angelo, which I went to, and it was cool to see the magnificent half ancient-half modern fortress and all the rooms with the beautiful frescoes. The view from the top of the Castel was awesome as well! After we were done at the Castel, Dr. Murphy walked us over to Piazza Navona and showed us the fountain and the obelisk in the piazza. This part of Rome was very pretty, and I am actually going back to the church in Piazza Navona, Sant'Agnese in Agone, to see a chamber concert this Friday night! I'm very excited about it! After the piazza we walked to a nearby church that housed some Caravaggios, and what was interesting about it was it was free to get in, but you had to insert coins into a box to turn on the lights to see the actual paintings. Then we went to the Pantheon, which I think was the highlight of my day. It was beautiful to see in person and it was great to experience the artistic importance that the building holds. It was a very full day, followed by a delicious group potluck taco night at the kitchen in the dorm.

The view from the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo

The Pantheon! So awesome!

After a few relaxing less-full days, on May 30th we met at the base of the Capitoline Hill at 9:30 am for a tour of the surrounding area, including the Teatro Marcellus, some temples, a church, (I'm sorry the names are escaping me), the Circus Maximus, the keyhole at the Knights of Malta headquarters atop the Aventine hill, and the Rose Garden. It was another full and very tiring day, mostly because of the commute there. Our dorm is more in the Vatican City area, a couple blocks away from the Lepanto metro stop, and we had to get all the way to the Colosseum area. So we braved the metro ourselves and walked a good distance but we finally made it there in one piece! And I ended the day with some beautiful rose pictures, and I bought some neckties for my doggies. :)

My attempted picture of the view through the keyhole at the Knights of Malta headquarters. You can see St. Peter's Dome from it, trust me!

One of the many beautiful roses in the Rose Garden.

June 1st was a big day and my favorite day in Rome so far, because on that day we went to the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Roman Forum! Honestly, they speak for themselves. The Colosseum was incredible to see, being one of the most well-known monuments in Rome, and it was awesome to walk through the ruins of the renowned Roman Forum. I was having a lot of flashbacks to my Latin classes at Bolles. So here's some pictures!

The Colosseum and all its glory!

Dr. Murphy leading us in to the Roman Forum

June 2nd was a national holiday in Rome: the Festa della Repubblica, or Republic Day. It was the day that the people of Italy opted for a Republic in 1946 after 85 years of monarchy. We went to the parade that morning, which featured all of the military branches, military bands, horses, and a flyover with the Italian flag colors. It was great to be a part of the experience this year!

On June 3rd, we departed for Naples. Dr. Murphy warned us that Naples is a bit more "sketchy" than Rome and we needed to be extra aware of pick pocketers, and when we got to Naples we saw why. I honestly got a downtown Jacksonville vibe from the buildings. They were run down, covered in graffiti, and the town just looked poorer than Rome or Florence. We stayed in a nicer part of town, the Spanish Quarter, at the Hotel Toledo. We met up with our tour guide, Santiago, and he gave us a 3 hour walking tour of the city. The next day, we visited Pompeii, Oplantis, and Herculaneum, three sites that were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24th, 79 AD. Santiago gave us a tour of all three sites, and it was amazing to see how everything was perfectly preserved. The technology that these ancient peoples used was amazing to see as well. After a long ancient excursion, the next day we had a free day. On that day, my roommate Trish and I took a ferry to the Island of Capri in the Bay of Naples and I had the best day ever. The water was so blue, the cliffs were magnificent, the people were so friendly, and the scenery was beautiful. Honestly, Capri has been the most beautiful place I have been to on this trip. I hope I'll be able to go back and visit someday. :)

Overlooking Pompeii!

Capri. Just Capri. It's so beautiful!

Yesterday was essentially a free day. It felt so great to sleep in, and I spent most of my day watching Netflix and not doing anything was GREAT. We went to the Zen Sushi place again for dinner. Today we are going to see the Ara Pacis, which I actually need to leave for right now. So for now I'll say CIAO, and I'll try to keep this up a bit better! 12 more days until iced coffee!! :)

~Dani