Waking up in Rome

Sorry that it has been so long since I blogged.  Schoolwork hit us hard but I finally have some time to sit down and go back.

The Roman holiday was pretty cool.  We went to St. Paul’s Basilica where there was a large street fair.  The locals were all enjoying themselves and we even got to see the Basilica.  Then there were fireworks.  They were beautiful.  I decided Italians know how to celebrate.

Last week a friend and I decided to take a short walk one night to de-stress and chat.  We ended up at the Vatican marveling at the incredible beauty and majesty of the square.  This was after 12.  Walking the city, we were able to see Italians party it up—on the streets, by the river and in clubs.  They really know how to party.  We started our walk back and made some detours to see more monuments at night.  Then we got lost.  Legitimately lost.  We walked around the city (in what we thought was the correct general direction) and tried to find our way back.  All the party people were long asleep and the streets were dead.  The middle of the night in Rome is a sight to see.  Light from the moon and streetlights, breathtaking monuments completely deserted—all of it was so incredibly peaceful that we didn’t care that we were lost.  Then the sun came up and the small cafés were preparing for the day.  The sunrise here is unparalleled.  We finally found our way back using buses at around 8.  Definitely not the wisest choice I have ever made (we had class at 3) but definitely something I will never regret.  I can sleep when I get home.  But watching the city of Rome go to sleep and wake up is more like once in a lifetime.

On Friday we took a bus tour outside of Rome.  We got to see the Italian countryside.  There is something spectacular about the beauty and simplicity of the country.  And this is coming from a city girl.  My favorite tour of the entire trip was the gardens of Villa Lante.  Walking through the gardens, I could imagine life in the 16th century—living in this beautiful place.

The weekend was very relaxing.  Yoyo and I went to the flea market on Sunday which was an interesting experience.  There were so many blocks of vendors that I could not see either end.  We didn’t buy anything or stay too long (because it was SO hot) but we enjoyed getting lost in the crowd of locals simply observing.

Yesterday we saw the Vatican.  Even though it looks amazing from the outside, I had no idea how dazzling it would be.  The museum tour was a little long but the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica were worth the wait.  I was able to stand underneath Michelangelo’s the Creation of Adam.   That’s just awesome.  The largest wall in the chapel is another Michelangelo work, The Last Judgment.  Fun, amazing fact: the beautiful blue color was made from stone.  The chapel is surprisingly small, however, you could spend days just looking at all of the art and still discover new things.  The basilica is my favorite church in Rome.  We’ve been to a lot of churches.  St. Peter’s is definitely (imho) the most spectacular.  When I walked in I just had to stop and stare.  I’m decently sure I looked like a star struck toddler at that moment.  After the Vatican we went to the Castel S. Angelo.  This place was really cool, too.  The view from the top was worth all the stairs.  Which is saying something because the humidity was incredibly high and we were all literally dripping with sweat.  Attractive, I know.

We turned in our first papers today so we are all a little tired.  But we don’t have class tomorrow so it’s like Friday night.  We’ll see what fun stuff waits.

In closing, I must add somewhere that although the trip is not necessarily what I expected and that everything took quite a bit of adjustment I am so thrilled that I came.  I love living in a downtown apartment, walking the streets at night, late night gelato, the Italian sunsets…  I am so thankful for these experiences.  Last night I went out on the balcony to write that paper.  It must have been 8ish and I was able to sit there while the sun set.  That took my breath away.  I realized then that I am doing something that I always wanted to do—be able to live in a cute apartment in a city and enjoy the little things like having friends over for dinner or sitting on the balcony listening to traffic.

I promise I will try to be better at posting more frequent, shorter posts.  Thanks for the patience, miss you all back home.

"So don't buy in/ Live right now/ Yeah, just be yourself/ It doesn't matter if it's good enough/ For someone else" --Jimmy Eat World, The Middle