The Lost Weekend.

As you've probably figured out, this weekend we got lost. A lot. Saturday night started out well at Mapi, now our favorite restaurant in Trastevere. We ate their awesome pizza, ordered beer on purpose this time, and split the half bottle of limoncello (between 8 people, don't worry) that the owner decided she wanted to give us. And then around 11pm, we made our way to Rome's ice bar. It's a bar. Made out of ice. Sounds crazy cool, right? Well, it is and isn't.

 First, the positive: it actually is entirely made of ice - the walls, the bar, the seats, glasses, everything. The bartender was Irish and had actually heard of North Carolina. We had to wear these giant silver cloaks because it's 23 degrees Fahrenheit inside. They kind of make you feel like a penguin ... for some reason. Now the negative: it's entirely made of ice, so you can only stay for so long. The drinks are all vodka mixed with more vodka, so you have to be super careful. The cover was 15 euros, so you feel the need to stay inside and freeze just to get your money's worth.

Overall, it was an interesting experience and I'm glad we went, even though it took us a good hour and a half to get home because public transportation on the other side of the river stops running after midnight. I thought we were going to have to walk home from the other side of Rome. And I was the only one not wearing heels. Long story short, we walked forever but finally found the number 8 bus which takes us back to Trastevere and I am never going out on the other side of the Tiber again.

Lookin' goofy at Ice Club Roma. 

On Sunday, we went to this place outside of Rome called Castel Gandolfo. Look it up on Wikipedia and it sounds like a great place. It's where the pope has his summer residence and was supposedly voted one of the most beautiful towns in Italy. It's located inside a volcanic crater which has been mostly filled in with a lake. The lake is gorgeous, but not worth what we went through to get there and especially what we went through to leave. To get there, you have to take the H bus to Termini Station and then the subway out to the very last stop, then another bus to Castel Gandolfo. That bus drops you off along the top of the crater and then the real trouble starts. There is no pedestrian path leading down to the lake. So you get to walk along a narrow sidewalk along a curvy road for a good mile or two before you make it to the town, which cannot possibly be one of the prettiest towns in Italy. We swam in the lake, for like ten minutes and were ready to go. In our group of six, the smarter three called a taxi to take them to the top of the hill. The two morons I was with (yes, you Alex and Julie!) decided they'd rather just walk. And surely there had to be a better way to go than the original way we came down, so we started walking in the OPPOSITE direction of where we needed to go. So once again we walked along the side of the twisting road, getting honked at by Italians until, after about four hours, we somehow made it back to the bus stop. Then to another bus stop. Then back to the subway. Then back to Termini Station. Then back to the H bus. Then Trastevere. Then our apartment. Longest. Day. Ever. Thank God our trip next weekend is guided. I can't handle any more adventure for a while. 

     

Night at the Vatican.

It took me forever to find the right shutter speed to take this picture. Night photography is hard. All the other pictures from last night will be on Facebook very soon!

Last night, Alex and I made one of the best decisions we've ever made. We went to the Vatican at night. Alex had heard about their "Vatican museums under the stars" offer in which you purchase your tickets for 19 euros and you get to see almost everything except the basilica (which I'll go back and see another day). The best part of this entire experience was that we didn't have to wait in a single line. Not to get through the doors, not to pass security, not to print our tickets, not even to get into the Sistine Chapel. To give you an idea, some of our friends had tried to visit yesterday morning and gave up when they realized they would have to wait four hours just to get in.

Anyway, the only thing we were a little nervous about was actually getting there, but we almost made it without any problems. A few tips on finding the Vatican if you've stayed on the bus one stop too far:

•  follow the group of Asian schoolgirls and try to blend in. 
• when you lose the Asians, follow the nuns.
• look for attractive blonde men in goofy suits. whatup swiss guard. 
• now you've found the vatican.

Like I said, we breezed right through the metal detectors, exchanged our online vouchers for real tickets, and practically ran up the escalator to the galleries. Then began two hours of long hallways full of incredibly old statues and tapestries, followed by rooms of classic and then modern art, some well lit, others wonderfully dark and creepy. We saw paintings by Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon, and others before we made it to the Sistine Chapel. Oh my God, the Sistine Chapel. I really cannot describe how amazing it is. The figures on the ceiling are so real it's eerie. I felt like at any minute one of those bodies was going to fall down on me. I can't imagine how insanely crowded that place would have been during the day, but at 9 o'clock at night, there was plenty of breathing room. Alex and I even found a place to sit along one of the walls, so we basically just hung out in the Sistine Chapel for a good half hour. Rebel that she is, Alex tried to sneak a picture of the ceiling. She both succeeded and failed. The guard yelled at her but didn't make her delete the picture, and I got a good laugh out of it all.

We got pretty lost on our way home, but at least my Rosetta Stone training taught me to count to ten, so I understood when the old man we asked for directions told us to take bus "quattro, nove, due," and we got home at a reasonable 10:30. 

As for the rest of this weekend, our plans include activities that will be either incredible successes or total failures. Either way, it'll make for entertaining blog posts. So get ready.

Routine.

I really didn't do anything worth blogging about today. I got up, went to class, ate lunch, went to class, walked home, took a nap, and cooked dinner. Kind of lame, but I have quite a weekend coming up, so my posts will improve dramatically over the next few days. Promise.

In the meantime, more food pictures. I am still so proud of myself for buying my own groceries, making use of our incredibly limited kitchen resources, and actually making something awesome. Go me.

"Study," part II

This morning I had my first drawing class, and I definitely think it's going to be my favorite class this semester. Our professor is the battiest, awesomest old Irish woman ever. Basically the class consists of going to different piazzas, museums and other gorgeous places around Rome and just drawing whatever we want. She grades us on our improvement over the semester and places a lot of emphasis on student-teacher interaction. The other great thing is that she's friends with a lot of important people at Roman museums, which means the class gets in for free. Less money spent on entrance fees = more money for wine and gelato. I love this lady. And since drawing is my only class on Wednesdays, my afternoons are totally free to explore or do homework or keep drawing or whatever I want. This may be my new favorite day of the week.

"Study" abroad? Oh, right.

I had my first three classes at American University of Rome today, and they went quite well. Waking up for my 9 o'clock philosophy class wasn't great, but the professor seems like a really cool guy, so I'll deal with it. My schedule consists of Classical Political Philosophy from 9 to 10:25, then History of Modern Italy from 10:35 to noon, followed by Introduction to Italian Language and Culture from 2 to 3:30. I think these classes will be challenging enough that I won't get bored, but not so insanely difficult that I have no time to travel or do other things. First impressions of all my professors were very good. Here's the breakdown:

• My philosophy prof is a native Roman who got his PhD from Columbia. Very laid back guy, which I obviously appreciate. I was a little nervous about taking a philosophy class since I've never taken one before, but I definitely think I can handle this. Hopefully an intense, discussion-based philosophy class will force me to get better at thinking critically on my feet. I also have to write a paper, but that's basically what I do for a living, so no worries there. 
• My history professor is an Englishman who wrote his PhD thesis on soccer under fascism. He studied how the fascists in Italy used soccer and other sports, especially alpine sports, to suit their own purposes. HOW COOL IS THAT?! Now, if you know me really well, you know I love studying those crazy fascists. (If you didn't already know that, please don't think less of me.) I'm definitely going to try to find his book. We also spend a whole week talking about the mafia. Automatic favorite class.
• My Italian professor is a younger woman named Élena who would fit right in at the Rice foreign language department. Cute, bouncy, and more than a little crazy. She's also pregnant, which kind of scares me. 

In other news, we finally found salt. It was like eating food for the first time. Alex made pasta primavera, and it was so good. I was the assistant vegetable-chopper/wine-pourer. It was great. 

           

Campo dei Fiori

             

I can't wait to try limoncello. 

The open-air market at Campo dei Fiori is where Alex and I are getting our fresh produce from now on. The stalls are cheaper and much more picturesque than the supermarkets. It's also a good place for me to observe how Romans live and pick up a little Italian. So far I've learned to bring only small bills and coins (vendors don't like making change for you) and to buy lots from the friendly folks and nothing from the cranky ones. As always, I'm keeping one hand on my purse at all times. I absolutely refuse to get pick-pocketed. It all seems simple enough, right? Maybe I can handle this whole living abroad thing after all. 

l'appartamento.

Transitioning to life in our Roman apartment has been interesting. The lack of air conditioning has been challenging, but cooler weather should be here soon, and at least we have fans. I've also never used a gas stove before and am convinced I'm going to blow up the apartment. (Thanks, Dad.) So far, so good though. I even made lunch/brunch/dunch today. No explosions as of yet. Also no salt as of yet, so the eggs were a little bland. Every market we've seen so far has charged at least €1.50 for a tiny container of salt. I don't get it. The Mediterranean is like five feet away and that sea is super salty. Anyway, we're holding out for cheaper spices.

The living room with a giant table.

Our cute little kitchen. We also have a fridge and microwave on the other side. 

Alex's and my bedroom. 

The cork board over my bed. To be improved over the course of the semester.

Overall, our apartment is nice. It's much nicer than I expected, to be honest. We have a living room,  a kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms, and a balcony. It gets pretty noisy with traffic (Roman drivers love their horns), but living on a college campus for two years means I can sleep through almost anything.