London

Hey everyone I know that I haven't written in a while everything is well. I just have been so busy!!!
We just got back from London yesterday, and I had the best time of my life!! It is so much fun and I wish my school had a study abroad program there. We tried to do everything that was possible in four days...but failed. This means that I will be returning in the future!! Here are some pictures from my London adventure!!

The Colosseum and Circus Maximus

Two weekends ago we took a trip to the Colosseum. I always had a picture in my mind of what it would be like, and the actual structure was completely different to what I had imagined. It was like an actual stadium! As I was walking up the stairs to the top level I felt as if I was going to a bears game. Even the inside seemed to be like a giant sports stadium. I now know what modern sports arenas modeled their buildings after. It was fun learning about everything that took part there, and how there were actual turnstiles to count how many people came to watch the Games! I thought that was so cool. This Sunday I went running at Circus Maximus something that I have always wanted to do. It was uncanny to believe that so many chariot races took place there, and I got the ability to go run in the same place.

The Roman forum

This past weekend we took a trip to the Roman Forum. I had an idea in my mind from books and pictures of what it would look like, and when I got there I was completly blown away! I did not realize how massive ancient Rome was. All of the buildings that were still standing were built so well that it didn't even look like time touched them. You could still even see the mason stamps on some of the stone walls. It was memorizing to see all of the gardens and fountains that the Romans built, and its amazing to see how advanced they were in technology. One of the coolest things was you could still see a game board stamped into one of the ancient steps! Everything was almost perfect!!

The Vatican

After a very long day of classes, reading an art history book, and typing my first philosophy paper I just could not wait for another amazing dinner at our hotel! We had this awesome pizza made with veggies and some of the best gelato ever! Well...needless to say my friends and I decided that we needed to walk off what we ate, so we went on a little adventure to the Vatican. Its so cool that we can just go to the Vatican to have our evening stroll. Well anyway once we got there the site was simply breath taking!! There weren't that many people in the square so we all just pretty much took charge of the holy site. There was a fountain spewing holy water for the public to have, and like good catholic girls we thought that drinking the water would make us more divine. There is also another picture of my friend Christina and I pretending to be statues in front of the Vatican. We all just in awe of where we were and had to take in the moment, and at a little silly in front of where the pope lives. Most of the pictures that you are seeing are of the Pope's home....which is where I would love to live! It is just a massive place, and it is completly crazy that people actually get to live in there. I have also included a little video that I took while we were there. I know that you cannot see our faces, but the light up Vatican at night needed to be on film.Well needless to say our evening walk tonight was one to put in the record books. Its not everyday you can say that I just decided to the Vatican to walk off that extra slice of pizza and gelato.

Classes and Shopping

Well today is my second day of classes, and they really are not that bad. We are all still getting over the shock of actually taking class in Rome! I have this amazing Scottish priest as a professor, and I love hearing his stories of traveling around the world. He is so nice. My art history professor is actually Greek, and is in every way possible what I envisioned an art teacher to be. The classes are long and challenging, but I believe that I can handle them. I was eating lunch by the trevi fountain today and could not believe everything I was seeing all around me! I have learned that the real way to see this city is to actually get lost, and ask the local businesses where a place is. It is so much more fun to walk down some side streets and see all of the wonderful shops, and to get away form all the tourists. I love looking at all the clothes and shoes in the windows contemplating on what I should buy. Bartering with the street vendors is a lot of fun too. I love seeing how low I can get a watch or pair of sun glasses for!

ROMA!

We finally made it to our hotel!! I am all unpacked and ready for classes tomorrow. I still can not believe where I am right now! It was a 3 hour bus ride to get here from Assisi, but I slept most of the way. As soon as we arrived I had to find a pizza place. The one i found has the best pizza that i have ever tasted in my life!!! I love it. As we went on our walk around the city (by our selves) we stumbled upon the Pantheon and then the Trevi Fountain! It was beautiful. I just had to take it all in . My friend Christina and I actually started crying! We just couldn't believe where we were!! Well Im off to bed now. Its time for me to study hard!

La Roca

Today we went to the castle La Roca! It was completly awesome!! The picture to the right is me on the top of the tower. Its amazing to see something built so long ago still standing, and actually safe to go into. The stair case going up and down the tower was so scary!I put up some pictures form the castle. It is freezing here!! I didnt bring a coat so my friend let me borrow her jean jacket, but I was still cold!

This morning we went to see the basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.If you do go to Assisi the basilica is one place that you need to go see! The frescos are so colorful and tell the story of St. Francis. We couldn't take pictures in the actual church but i did sneak a picture of his cloak. It was so well preserved! I was in awe!

Another place that we saw was a newly created museum of an ancient Greek temple that is in the city. I was just discovered that below the temple are well preserved sculptures and Greek writings on marble. It was crazy that I actually got to touch something over 2,000 years old!