Finding a Balance Between School and Adventures!

Classes have begun full force. I have to keep reminding myself that I am here to study and learn...in the classroom and out and about! However, I am slowly discovering that my classes are like adventures in themselves. For instance I will be going to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum for class on Tuesday. And I am only doing 12 credit hours, something I have never been able to enjoy until now. On top of that I have four day weekends. So really I have NOTHING to complain about. I will be taking full advantage of this light load. But these are my classes that I'm in: Art in Rome (on-site class), Food and Wine of Italy, Introduction to acting (I get to be in a play!) and History of Late Antiquity. Every class overlaps with things that I do and see in the city so it is a constant learning experience combined with adventures!

Last Wednesday we had our Mass of the Holy Spirit at St. Ignacio downtown Rome. It was beautiful inside (and cold). After that we headed across the street to a local restaurant that apparently Bill Clinton ate at once, called Le Cave. The best Mozzarella I have ever had!!!!!!!!! After that we ventured throughout Rome!

Friday, trip to Florence. We (me, Tiffany, Lindsey, and Courtney) woke up at 5 am to catch a 6:45 train. That was rough. But after getting to the train station, witnessing an Italian man ask my friend Lindsey out, and figuring out our tickets it was all settling into place. Traveling by train is wonderful! It is a spectacular way to see the countryside. Also we saw a gorgeous sunrise over the mountains. That 6:45 train was worth it.

We arrived in Florence around 11 am. We went to our hostel, which by the way I had a great first hostel experience. It was clean, cute, and the owners were so friendly and helpful. They also made us breakfast the next morning! It was funny because a group of guys that I met in Rome were staying in the hostel as well. It's a small world after all.

Our day was jam packed, and I didn't even get to do everything I wanted. Things I did: visit the Duomo, go to the Bargello Museum which contained many of Michelangelo's works, bought a leather jacket (When in Florence do as the Florentines do), and ate dinner at a local pizzeria. I never thought I would appreciate my Classical Mythology class that I took last semester as much as I did being in some of these museums. SO many sculptures and paintings are based on mythology and I recalled a lot of it. Also, we sat at the Piazzolo Michelangelo, the tallest point of Florence, and watched the city at night. Gorgeous. I think my favorite part of the evening was listening to a young British musician play Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel songs in the Piazza della Signora. Things I didn't get to do: see the David, visit the Uffizi museum, and the shoe museum. Oh well, I guess I just need to go back!





























Saturday. After a relaxing morning, we headed to Orvieto. A very small town between Rome and Florence. The city sits on a cliff and you have to take a tram up to it from the railway station. There is a magnificent church in Orvieto, called the Duomo. It is so unique in that it is contructed of black and white marble. It's beautiful. I thought a lot of my mom and dad while there because they kept telling me before I went there how much they loved it. After exploring the town, me and Tiffany decidied to take the tour of "Orvieto Underground." For the past 3,000 years the Etruscans (people from Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio regions) have dug these caves for use as their workshop and market place. The caves were very eerie. Apparently within the 2 mile radius of a cliff there are about 1200 caves. It was funny because our tour guide shared with us that her family has a personal cave connected to their home. Apparently 70% of the caves are of private and personal use! I wish I had my own cave.



The day was very rainy and cold. My tennis shoes were soaked. By 6 pm I had enough. The only other shoes I had were high heeled boots. I thought about it and those sounded so much more appealing. So I put on the boots. Imagine a girl back packing for the weekend in Europe...now imagine a girl back packing in Europe with heels on. That's me. I got some funny looks but at least my feet were dry. We ended the night with a delicious dinner. I had bruschetta, gnocchi, beef with arugula, a house white wine, and the best olive oil! I am growing to love olive oil.

We got home around midnight that night...Exhausted!

Sunday. I didn't want to waste a beautiful day in Rome at the JFRC. So Lindsey, Gina, Luke, Bridget, and I went to the "Bone Church." It is a church associated with Cappuccuni monks, who in the past (from the 1500s to 1800s) would bury their dead in the crypt of the church. However, they started running out of room to bury all the monks and started forming art with the bones on the wall. The bone art was beautiful and from afar didn't even look like bones. Up to 4,000 monks were buried there. Some skeletons were still intact and robed in the traditional brown Cappuccin attire. They were only about 4 ft (as people weren't very tall hundreds of years ago) and some still had flesh on them. They were mummified almost.


It was a chilling and eerie experience especially with this quote engraved on the floor in the crypt:

"As you are, we once were. As we are, you shall be one day."

We decided we needed some gelato after that experience!

We then visited Il Gesu, the first Jesuit church in Rome where St. Ignatius and St. Xavier have their tombs. The church was the most elaborate I have seen yet! Being a lover of the Jesuits, I really enjoyed Il Gesu and will most definitely go back.

This weekend I will be jetting off to Venice for Carnivale. Until then I plan on getting my homework done. Also on Wednesday we have tickets for a Papal Audience. Sounds like fun.

Love you all!