It was definitely a struggle to get myself up this morning,
but that is about the only complaint that I have! It’s more humid here than I
am used to, so my hair takes a very long time to dry, so when I left the
apartment today my hair was still dripping! I cooked for the first time in my
apartment this morning (just some scrambled eggs because we had nothing else to
add to it), so that was fun! And then Kasey and I headed to the Auditorium on
campus (and by campus I mean the five buildings that make it up) to participate
in the first yoga class of the semester. It was actually very challenging
because we did some advanced poses, but I felt so great afterward! (I was even
able to do my handstand!) And then, of course, we went to the Barbeque/semester
kick off right after yoga and had a burger and some delicious brownies that
someone brought for us.
We went up to the terrace of what’s called the B building
that you can get to from the garden on campus, and I was blown away by the
beautiful view of the city. It’s a lot different than an American city because
there are no skyscrapers, so when you can get up high, you can see the city just
reach out forever into the mountains.
And then the real fun began! All of my roommates and two
other students we have befriended who live right around the corner from us on
Trastevere, Dan and Matt, decided to cross the river into the historical center
of Rome and wander around for the rest of the day. It was absolutely amazing.
And I actually remembered to grab my camera this time! We took the tram to a
random stop we chose to get off on, and then walked through the city for about
five hours.
Here’s a list of some of the places we saw (you can read
about what they are and some of their history in my
page – as soon as I get around to writing it!):
·
Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary
·
Pantheon
·
Piazza Venezia
·
Altare Della Patria, AKA“The Wedding Cake”
building
(the view from the top of the building)
·
The capitol building designed by Michelangelo
·
The Roman Forum
·
Ampitheatrum Flavium (AKA the Colosseum)
After we visited the Pantheon, we went and got gelato for
the first time! The shop was packed, and they had an overwhelming 150 flavors
to choose from, so I bought my ticket, and got Kit Kat and Cioccolata al Latte
(Milk Chocolate) – IT WAS DELICIOUS! Now I’m just going to have to restrain
myself from buying it every day!
We finally got tired and hungry enough to make our way home,
and found the supermarket that is near our apartment! It is quite literally
tucked away in a back alley and the doors are next to the dumpsters in what
looks like a loading dock area. We got a few things we needed for the night and
other snacks and went back to the apartment to make our very first dinner. It
was surprisingly good!
I also think someone may have tried to steal from my purse on the tram on the way back, but I'm not entirely sure. Those people are sneaky!
Observation of the
Day: my feet can take the pain. All of this walking is not the greatest on
anyone’s feet (and the cobblestone streets designed to turn everyone into a
klutz do not help), but I will literally walking all day if it means seeing
more of Rome! It is a magical city, and I can’t believe it’s my home for three
and a half months!
