Pope's blessing, London, and FLYING!

Its getting progressively more difficult to stay on top of the blogging now that classes are in full swing and I'm traveling every weekend, so here is the highlights of the past 3 weeks!

Three weeks ago now, I had the privilege of going to the Vatican and standing in St. Peter's Square as the Pope gave his weekly Papal Angelus, or blessing. The square was packed full of people from all over the world, waving flags of their home countries. When he came out of the window, the crowd erupted with noise and joy for the Pope. At the beginning of his speech he welcomed everyone and when he didn't receive the response he wanted when he asked how we were, we asked again jokingly like a teacher does when talking to a class, which was pretty funny. He acknowledged each group present in the crowds, Brazilians, Argentinians, Grecians, Spaniards and more. He spoke of loving our neighbors and letting God into each situation and part of our lives. He spoke about the threats from Isis and other terrorist groups as well as other goings on in the world. He moved into the blessing and he closed the speech with "Have a blessed Sunday, now go home and eat lunch!" Haha he was very light hearted and joking which was great to see and experience. He spoke slowly enough in Italian where I could understand much of what he said which was awesome! At one point during the blessing I became aware of what exactly I was witnessing. I was watching the Pope, in person, bless ME and hundreds of other people. Not everyone gets this opportunity and I was so moved by that feeling, is is something I will never ever forget.

The next weekend, I WENT TO LONDON!! We stayed in this cute little neighborhood called Paddington, right off the tube stops. First of all, THE TUBE is incredibly complex and confusing. Compared to Rome, which has 2 metro lines, London had at least 6 different lines that go every which way. But we figured everything out eventually. We arrived Thursday night around 11pm but no restaurants were open! So we went to subway for dinner, which was actually great because it tasted just like home haha.  Friday morning was one of the best days of my life- I WENT TO THE STUDIO WHERE HARRY POTTER WAS FILMED. Words can't describe my excitement walking through the ACTUAL doors of the Great Hall to a huge backlot full of real props and sets from all 8 movies. I was in heaven and I won't be able to watch the movies the same. I may or may not have started tearing up leaving the studio because I didn't want to leave. But it was a self guided tour so we took our time and saw everything. One staff member said the record for the longest tour was 13 hours!! I loved each and every second of it! (If you haven't seen my pics from Facebook, GO LOOK, it was epic)

Later that day, we ventured over to the London eye. We actually ran into a group of kids on our program there which was pretty funny. We were in line to get tickets for the eye when we spontaneously decided to upgrade ourselves to the champagne experience haha! So the four of us got our own little pod (when the normal pod was packed with around 20 people) and our own personal champagne 'pourer' / person to point out things / photographer! The view was INCREDIBLE from the top of the eye, especially just as the sun was setting. We got dinner that night at a local pub and I had a hamburger which was great, I've been missing them! 

The next day we did everything else in London, we saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace! The royal band was playing a Michael Jackson medley which was very unexpected but funny and showed they had a bit of a sense of humor. We got lunch at CHIPOTLE!! AH it was so great! We also saw Picidilly circus, Harrods, The Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Kensington Palace and had a nice stroll through Hyde Park at sunset. The last stop that night was Kings Cross Station! Of course, where platform 9 3/4 is! There was a huge line to take pictures with the trolley half inside the wall, but it was worth it!!

The next morning before leaving, we visited Abbey Road. It was a bit hard to get to and the traffic was actually pretty heavy (making it difficult to get a good picture and not get ran over!) and there were of course other tourists doing the exact same thing. I think it took us an hour to get pictures we were happy with haha. Our very last stop was Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, it was closed to tourists on Sunday, so we stayed outside and snapped a few pictures, including the classic telephone booth pic with Big Ben in the background. After that we headed to the airport!

 All in all, it was a crazy fun, unforgettable trip!!  

Alright, I'm pretty much up to date here. Friday we hung out here in Rome. We got dinner at one of the best pizza places in Rome, Dar Poeta! OMG it was great. I had a mushroom, sausage, and cheese pizza. My mouth is watering thinking about it. 

Saturday, was one of the highest points of my trip (pun intended). I WENT PARAGLIDING OVER LAKE COMO.  It was a solo trip which made me nervous but it ended up going great. I left Rome at 7 am and took the 3 hour train to Milan. From there, I took another train to Lake Como. It was a bit cloudy and I wasn't sure I would be able to fly that day. But even in the clouds, the lake was gorgeous with the mountains cradling it, dotted with little villages everywhere. The guy from the company met me at the train station and got me a cappuccino while we waited for his co-worker to report on the conditions from the take-off point. After much back and forth, we decided we would at least try! So, we drove up the winding and VERY steep road up one of the mountains to the take off point. We met his buddy at a local restaurant across from the point and decided to go for it. The family who own the restaurant came out to greet us and to watch us take off! (Side note: The bar was called Viking and the dad had on shorts and wooden cloggs.. not important but very funny). 

It all happened so fast! I got into my harness as he set out the parachute and he clipped our harnesses together and said "When I say walk, you walk. When I say run, you run. Okay?" and we took off! I maybe got four steps in before I was no longer touching the ground and we were in the air. I JUST WALKED OFF A CLIFF! It was a crazy incredible experience to fly. We were around 1200 meters in the air and the scenery was breathtaking. It would have been better had there been sun, but I was in awe of the beauty of it all even in the clouds. After about 10 minutes he told me to hang on and we'd be doing acrobatics! Of course I said yes! We tilted from side to side in huge swoops and then all of a sudden we started spiraling into a nose dive about 100 kmh (or around 65 mph). 

We straightened out and landed softly and without issues next to the lake at the bottom of the mountain. I was actually very proud of myself I didn't chicken out and I would do it again in a heart beat! 

Next week I'm headed to Venice! Woo!

Its been a crazy few weeks

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been so busy with class (yes actual real classes) and exploring more of Rome. Since we traveled to Florence, a lot has happened. That next weekend, we chose to stay around Rome and explore a bit. Thursday, I went to my first professional European soccer game!! It was AS Roma vs Parma. From what I understood, Parma is one of the worst in the league so Roma should have won.. but it ended in a 0-0 tie. The Roma fans afterward were SO mad they were yelling and screaming at the players! It was crazy!The Roma Roma Roma Anthem!  Start the video at the 1:00 mark and that is the anthem of AS Roma. The entire stadium sang it together, it was definitely an awesome experience (of course I got one of the scarves).

The next day we went exploring and walked up the Aventine hill to the gate of the Knights of Malta. The keyhole in the gate that opens into the headquarters of the Knights of Malta has a perfect view of St. Peters Basilica. (Yes, I took this picture, it's not fake!)

 Next we explored Villa Borghese. I was beyond excited to walk the ground of the Borghese Pope and his family. After learning so much about him, his family, the scandals and drama involved during his time as Pope in the 1400s in a documentary I watched before coming here, I was pretty psyched I was able to walk where he did. We weren't able to go inside the Villa, but the grounds were gorgeous and so extensive! It was a beautiful Valentine's Day and we saw a proposal and a few minutes later we saw wedding photos being taken!
That weekend we also went to one of the most popular open markets in Rome, called Porta Portese. It seemed like it went on forever! There was a mix of clothes, jewelry, furniture and everything in between. All of the vendors would yell at you as you walked by, which got a little annoying but it was a cool experience.

The next weekend, one of my classes, called Communications and Social Transformations had a field study in Milan! We left Friday morning very early and took a 3 hour train ride north to Milan. We went straight to a Public Service Studio called Rai, and we watched a taping of an episode of a show called TV Talk. We got to go behind the scenes of the studio and they explained a lot of how everything works. From there, we went straight to a Rai radio studio in the same building. There, we were able to sit in the radio studio while they were live on air! It was a very cool experience, and I found I actually understood about 75% of what they were saying! That night our professors took us out to eat, which was delicious, then we all went out to a bar and got to relax. The next day, we woke up early and we found a bagel shop!! It was heaven! I didn't realize how much I missed bagels and cream cheese haha. We then went up to the top of the Duomo, which was beautiful, even in the rain. After, we stopped by another radio studio, a local one called Radio Populare, which was more of a smaller community radio station. We got on the train home later that afternoon!  That night back in Rome, my roommates and I somehow managed to get into a fancy private club without being on any guest lists and had a blast!

It's been a crazy awesome few weeks!
Below: Duomo in Milan in the Rain

Firenze!

Everyone I've talked to in my program so far has had a "Wow, I'm in Italy, this is incredible" moment, either in San Paulo Basilica, overlooking the old city from the Aventine hill at night, or visiting the Vatican. I finally had my moment this past weekend in Florence. But I'll recount our adventures chronologically first and get to that part later.

Our group consisted of 3 of my roommates and 2 other girls from our program. Our train had been delayed by 2 hours leaving Rome, so we sat and enjoyed some drinks at the train station. We finally left Rome at 10:30 pm and arrived in Florence around midnight. We knew our hostel was only ten minutes walking distance, so we weren't too worried. However, walking into the hostel was a different story. It was pretty dingy, VERY smelly, and tiny. That night was pretty rough, and  I actually slept with my coat over my head because the smell was horrible! Thankfully, my roommate Katie told her mom about it that night and by the morning her mom had booked us a new hotel for the following night. The next morning we packed up our stuff and left around 9 am to check into the new hotel. After putting our stuff in our new room, we headed out to explore the city. 

First, we visited the Duomo. We went all the way to the top, 432 steps! And obviously the views were amazing! After taking a multitude of pictures with everyone, we made our way back down, and decided to go to see the Ponte Vecchio, the picturesque bridge full of little shops. They were mostly very expensive jewelry shops :( but it reminded me of something out of beauty and the beast, or a little quaint town in France.. just a very cool and unique place! We decided to walk to Piazza di Michaelangelo, a square that overlooks Florence in its entirety. We climbed up a series of steps that had the stations of the cross along side with the Tuscany countryside in the background. 

These steps led us to the square up on the hill, and this was when I had my "Oh my gosh, I'm living in Italy. I'm living in this beautiful and historic place" moment. I was absolutely in awe of the view.

 I can't even appropriately describe how breathtaking it was, to see the elegant and timeless countryside existing right next to the city of Florence, with its orange rooftops cramped together and gathered around the Duomo and the surrounding cathedrals. It was something I had only seen in pictures, and I knew I was very blessed to have the opportunity to visit the historic and magnificent city and take it all in for myself. It was a truly humbling experience, one that I will absolutely never forget. 

After being blown away by the view, we made our way back down the hill, and decided to climb the tower right next to the Duomo. This tower had 416 steps and we felt every single one. It was a pretty rough climb (we're all extremely out of shape given all the pasta consumed so far) but we made it! It was so windy up there, we didn't stay too long. Just enough for a few more pictures. After that, we were pretty burnt out so we headed back to the hotel and picked a place for dinner. We went to a place right on the river which had a great view of the Ponte Vecchio, needless to say it was full of carbs and chianti which were both GREAT.  That night, we explored a few local clubs where the students go and had a lot of fun all together!

The next day, we visited the local leather markets and vendors and explored some backstreets before visiting the David. The detail and the size of the statue was incredible, I still can't believe how he created that! It was so impressive! We got lunch at Gusta Pizza near the river and it was the best pizza I've had so far, HANDS DOWN.  Holy moly it was delicious, I highly recommend it!

All in all, my step counter said we walked over 20 miles on Saturday. My calves are still burning from all the stairs (~1700 steps in total). It was an exhausting, but very fun and amazing weekend. We ended up getting back to our apartment in Garbatella around 10 pm.  

Today after Italian class, I had my At Home in Rome class, which is a culture & history class about the city of Rome. It is basically a 3 hour block every week touring the city with our own tour guide     ( aka professor K. ). She is an amazing story teller and I've already learned so much history about the city. We went to so many places! We went to the Vittoriano, also known as the wedding cake because of its appearance, to Piazza Navona which was featured in Angels and Demons, which has the fountain where a cardinal was almost drowned. However, the fountain isn't that deep and it couldn't have happened.. haha. We saw Piazza Fornese and Piazza Argentina. That is where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death! Finally we saw the Pantheon. Did you know that the Pantheon currently standing is the 2nd version built in 118 a.d because the first was destroyed? Me either! 

I swear, I learn more in a 3 hour span on a tour of the city, than I would in a month in a classroom back in Michigan. 

I love this place more and more every day. 

Although, it would be nice to understand the language and be able to efficiently communicate with locals. I can't wait to go to Spain and finally be in my element with the language and my love of Spanish music. Hopefully I'll make it there soon!

Buonanotte!

2/1/15

Yesterday we went to the Roman countryside to a farm/restaurant on Lake Martignano. It is a volcanic lake that used to be one of the major lakes supplying water to the aqueducts of Rome. There we had a traditional Italian multi-course meal with meats and cheeses, lasagna, potatoes, chicken and a tart for dessert. The food was so good! Then we took a tour of the farm and got to see how to make cheese! We tasted freshly made ricotta which was great. FYI ricotta means twice cooked, which is how they make it! It was partly rainy and sunny all day, the weather actually reminded me of Michigan weather, it can never make up what it wants to do! Haha all together, it was a great day. We got home around 6pm and took a quick nap around 9 pm to prepare for a night out. During the day, you would never expect this bar and the places next to it to be anything more than just run down shacks, but at night the whole street came alive with people, lights and music. It was nothing like back home! We went to a bar called Cayote and danced all night. It was a blast and we got home at 5 am!
Today I think my roommates and I are going to lay low and explore the winding roads and the park behind our apartment. There is also a huge farmers market at Circo Massimo which is said to have great produce and food.

1/30/15

So, today we went to the Basilica of St. Paul or Basilica de San Paulo. It is only a 5 minute walk from our school and its gorgeous, inside and out. We had no idea that one of the most important basilicas in Rome was only a few minutes away! It is so windy outside, trees were falling and we had to run to the sides of the buildings so we didn't get hit with any flying debris! While I was at the Basilica of St. Paul my roommates had gone grocery shopping. So later I had to go by myself and it was a little nerve wracking. I was able to get mostly everything I needed without any trouble. However, I didn't know that when buying fruit and veggies you need to weigh it at a special counter first before heading to the checkout line. So, the cashier wasn't very happy with me when he had to go back to the fruits and do it for me.. oh well. Its difficult not knowing Italian when we go out, my roommate said its almost like being handicapped haha. It's definitely going to take some time. But our Italian classes start on Monday so hopefully I'll learn fast!

Ciao!

Ciao!

Ciao! It's been such a whirlwind traveling here to Rome and attempting to settle into Roman life. It's my third day here, but it feels like I've been here much longer. While I'm here, I'll be taking classes through Arcadia University, but the classes will take place at the local Roman University called Roma Tre (The third university to be established in Rome).  The first day, we were taken to lunch and dinner where we had a night bus tour of the Circo Massimo, Piramide, and the Aventine Hill which looked over all of Rome which was breathtaking. Then we had our first real Italian pizza! It was amaaazing! To help us get over our jet lag, they kept us up until 11pm so at that point I had been up for over 24 hours! The next day, we were woken up at 9 am and made our own way to a little cafe close to our apartment and had a classic cappuccino and croissant and sat through our orientation. That night, my 5 roommates and I went on an adventure and rode the metro for the first time! I'm sure we looked a little ridiculous, 6 American girls that didn't know what we were doing, but we survived! We took a night stroll past the Colosseum which was all lit up. Then we made our way to the Trevi Fountain, which unfortunately is under construction until approximately July :( so we won't be able to see it in all its glory. Rome at night is just magical, there are no other words.
Today we had another early start and had to take our Italian placement tests. I think I made a mistake in telling them that I could speak Spanish because they now think I can understand Italian because they're so similar.. haha I'll find out on Monday!  We also went to the Testaccio market, which is full of vendors that have been there for generations. There was SO much fresh fruit and veggies as well as clothing, shoes and handbags (I just bought one that I love).  I bough a panini for 3 euro and it was AMAZING.

Well this is my first real blog, so it can only get better from here right?

Ciao!