Buonosera a tutti!

As much as I don't even want to write about my third week here (yes, it was one of those weeks) I am going to because you can't appreciate the good times without experiencing and acknowledging the bad. So, here we go..

Last Monday I woke up thinking about what I was going to wear to our trips planned that week to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum. I instantly realized that I had forgot the dress that I was considering wearing, in Florence! I surprisingly didn't go into panic mode, but was more concerned with what I was going to wear the next day (my long dresses were dirty).

Luckily, when I got to class, I spoke with my professor about my irresponsibility and she got on the phone with the hotel and within minutes she told me they would be shipping my dress to the AUR. How nice!? I am telling you, people, Hotel Torre Guelfa has outstanding customer service!

Since the world didn't end due to my missing dress, I continued on with the rest of my day as usual and sat in class until 5pm (yes, it's as boring as it sounds--most of the time). After class, though, my roommates and I decided to take an impromptu trip to the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) since we still hadn't been. We got there around 5:30 and it was packed! There were people crowded around the gorgeous fountain and pictures were being taken left and right.

We got a few pictures, but decided to head towards the Pantheon soon after. It was just too crowded and we decided we would come back at another time.

We walked over to the Pantheon, went inside and observed the Dome for a little while and then decided that we should head home to get some rest before our busy day the next day.

As we were walking home we passed by a pizzeria that looked pretty appetizing. Sarah stopped to look inside since she was starving, and then I took a look inside too since I was also pretty hungry. Before you know it, we were being dragged to a table by the owner and our drink orders were being taken. Let me just clarify that this was literally not by choice-- the Italians are very convincing, sometimes.

We got our drinks-- beer for myself, wine for Sarah, Lourianne and Jordan, and sprite for Ashley. Then we were brought out an "appetizer" of what looked like these fried potato balls my mom would get sometimes when I was younger, but instead of them being filled with meat, they were filled with rice and cheese. Then came out a platter of different pizza slices and what looked like pigs in a blanket.

Before we ate, though, we checked with the waiter to make sure that we were getting the "happy hour special"-- pizza and a drink for only 6 euro since we didn't ask for any of the food that was being brought to us. The waiter responded, "normally, no, but for you, yes." So we started eating.

Well, the food was far from great, but it definitely curtailed my appetite, the beer was good, we got free dessert, and only paid 6 euro each-- win, win, win....win?? Okay, maybe that's kind of pushing it. ;)

The waiter also had us sign this little booklet he had of guests from different parts of the world. I wrote "Go Gators!", of course, to make my dad proud.

Anyway(s), after our little experience at the pizzeria we headed back to our apartment, Ashley and Lourianne got on the tram once we got to the stop, but Sarah, Jordan and I opted to walk. I almost took the tram, but I'm glad I didn't.

We ended up going down by the Tiber River where all these white tent "shops" and bars are lined up along the water and taking a quick look around. Then once we were walking down the street our apartment was on, we made a few more stops at a couple of street vendor stands. We each ended up getting a couple of dresses for a really cheap price, and I had something to wear the next day to St. Peter's! Now that's a win, win, win right there. :)

Once we made it back to our apartment we worked on our homework a little bit, relaxed, showered and got some rest before our long day the next day. Well, at least they did. I, however, ended up purchasing train tickets online for myself and two other girls to get back to Rome from Venice the upcoming weekend. Stupidly, I didn't save the confirmation page after my purchase was made (even though I had just saved the confirmation page for the football ticket lottery I paid for 5 minutes before!). That, of course, kind of worried me and made my ability to fall asleep that night a little harder.

I woke up Tuesday morning, tired, but ready to go to St. Peter's Basilica. My roommates and I got there, thankfully and surprisingly, without any issues.

We met the rest of our group in the front of the basilica and started our tour. The tour guide wasn't as good as our's from Florence, but the basilica itself was incredible! If you ever have the chance to visit anything in Rome, you must go into this lavishly decorated basilica! We saw (among other things) the holy door, the Pieta by Michelangelo, and Pope John XXIII's [dead] body on display in the middle of the basilica! It was creepy, but pretty awesome at the same time.

After the tour of the basilica we had the opportunity to climb to the top of the Duomo. As much as I wanted to, I was exhausted and wanted to go to the train station to try and settle my ticket situation before class. -- I can go back to the duomo anytime I want and climb it, so it wasn't really a big deal if I didn't do it right then, anyway.

I walked down to the bus stop and ate my pb&j and crackers as I waited. It took about 15 or so minutes to get there and I hopped on to head to the Termini. The bus turned the corner, stopped at the next stop and then sat there for a good 10 minutes before we started going again. Once we started heading towards the Termini, I was kind of aggravated, but tried to look at the long ride as an opportunity to see the city.

I finally got there around 12:30 (almost a hour after I started waiting for the bus) and quickly realized that there was no way I was going to get to talk to anyone from customer service that day. I took my number (594--they were on 519), stood there for 10 minutes and had to leave in order to make it to class on time at 1:30.

The next bus took a while, too, but luckily I made it to class [exhausted] with a few minutes to spare.

By this time, I was beyond exhausted. With the busy weekend we had just had and the late night and early morning, my body needed rest. I sat through Italian, but decided to go home after to take a [much needed] nap, stopping at the other train station near my apartment first, though, to see if I could speak to someone there.

They were closed. I was frustrated and tired and went home and slept from 5-8:30pm (it felt awesome).

I woke up, ate, did some school work and then went back to bed in order to get ready for my [other] long day the next day.

I had plans to go to the train station near my apartment again before our tour of the Vatican Museum Wednesday morning when they were open, but I slept through my alarm! Now you know I was really exhausted because I slept through my alarm Wednesday and woke up just in enough time to get ready and rush out the door to make it to the Vatican museum.

Unfortunately, the only one of my roommates that was still at the apartment was not as in big of a hurry as I was, but I had to wait because I wasn't exactly sure how to get to the museum.

We got on the tram (a little later than I would have liked) and started heading towards where we needed to go. Well, the tram stopped suddenly and it didn't seem like it was going to start moving anytime soon due to some other traffic (oh, Italian drivers!). So, we got off and started walking to the stop we were told to get off at from one of our directors. Once we got to the stop, we looked for the bus we were supposed to catch, but couldn't find it. We continued to walk around, but the time was slipping further and further away and I knew we were going to be late.

I suggested taking a cab, but my roommate felt that we could figure it out (and be on time). I wasn't a fan of this idea, but didn't want to leave her alone.

We finally decided to take the same route we had taken the day before, but once we got to the stop where we needed to transfer busses it was already about 30 minutes passed the time we were supposed to meet our group and I started to get really worried that the group would be inside when we got there.

I decided to just use my phone and call my teacher to find out where the group was and if we even needed to go anymore. She told me that the group was most likely already inside and there would probably no way for us to get in (she wasn't on the tour that day, our new Italian teacher was and another director from our program's coordinating company). The tears immediately started to fall from my eyes. All I could think about was my mom telling me how I "must" go see the Sistine Chapel before I leave Rome the days before and how upset she was going to be if I missed it. I was also upset because I had already paid for this tour and all-be-damned if I missed something I have worked so hard this past year to do!

My teacher was really nice and told me she would try and call the program director that was there and that if nothing could be done that she would set up another reservation and go with us the following week (without a tour guide, though).

This made me feel a little bit better, but I still wanted to try to make it on the tour that day.

I waited for her call back and made it to the front of the museum (with my roommate). She called and said the director was going to come out and try to get us in, but couldn't make any promises. Luckily, he was able to make it out and get us in. Unfortunately, though, we was not happy with us at all, which kind of made me made if I'm being honest here.

It was his instructions on how to get there that got us lost and they were not "easy" like he said once we got there (yeah, can you believe that?) and he was extremely rude to us once we were there. Although everything ended up fine, he was mad and rude for a good 5 minutes walking into the Vatican, which didn't help make my day any better. -- I guess I should mention that he did apologize after that, but it still irks me every time I think about his reaction to us getting lost after I had been in tears for at least 20 minutes before that.

Anyway, we made our way through the museum and met with our group. The museum was was amazing with all the ancient frescos by Michelangelo and Raphael, but of course the coolest part was the Sistine Chapel. Ah, the Sistine Chapel. How is it even possible that one man painted that entire thing by himself? Let alone that it is still in fantastic condition and available for the world to see (with a ticket to the museum, of course). It was absolutely stunning. Although, I wish I would've been able to take pictures for my mom, but unfortunately that wasn't allowed-- they had at least 20 guards in there "shh"-ing, "silenzio"-ing and "no pictures!"-ing everyone in there.

After the tour, I took a taxi back to the AUR with Ashley-- there was no way I was getting back on one of those busses again after the day before, and luckily I didn't since it took my other classmates a good hour to get back to class whereas it took us in our taxi, 8 minutes.

Ashley and I got coffee and lunch and sat outside in the garden for a little while before class. It was just the relaxing girl-time that I needed after my stressful morning (and day before).

Once we were in class and everyone that took the bus showed up, I realized that I was not the only one that was having a rough week that week. Not that I ever wish bad days on anyone or want other people to feel the stress that I feel, but it was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one that was experiencing exhaustion and feelings of being overwhelmed that week. I was even speaking to one of my friends about it and she invited me over to have dinner, which was nice. I think we both kind of needed it after the kind of day we were having.

After Italian class, we had a break and then were supposed to meet in a park by the AUR to go to the Pantheon for my classic's class. A lot of people didn't show up, but I was glad I did even though I had already seen the Pantheon and Piazza Navona a few days before.

I ended up getting frozen yogurt around the corner from the Pantheon (first froyo in Rome!) and it was /m/ mmm /m/ good-- so refreshing with fruit and chocolate chips.

Once we ended at Piazza Navona CeCe (my friend) and I headed back to her apartment to cook dinner.

We made chicken, pasta with pesto, zucchini and carrots. It was so good and just the meal I had been needing after eating carbs after carbs after carbs all the time. I needed some protein!

We chatted for a while with her roommates (other girls from our program) and I headed back home around 8 to study-- we had two tests the next day!! (Yes, two tests during this crazy week that they scheduled two (three if you count the Pantheon) tours, class until 7 and no room to sleep-- my teacher actually asked us one day if we had had a chance to go see Rome a little on our own and just go hang out like locals... um, no. Were we supposed to this in-between the basilica, museum, studying, class, Pantheon, Florence, etc?! GMG)

After studying for hours that night, I finally made my way to bed and slept the best that I could before my two tests the next day.

The tests went fine Thursday and I was just so happy to be done with them (and that week for that matter) and my roommates and I wanted to go celebrate with a nice relaxing night out doing what WE wanted to do on our OWN time, before we all split off to our separate parts of Italy for the weekend-- (I was going to Milan and Venice. Jordan, Sarah and Lourianne were going to Cinque Terre and Ashley was staying in Rome with some friends that were visiting).

We went home after class and packed up our things for our trips the next day, freshened up and made our way down to Piazza Navona-- Piazza Navona was built on the sit of the Stadium of Domitian which was emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus' gift to Rome and it usually held athletic games. It later turned into an area of prostitution and was also the place that St. Agnes was martyred.-- Today it's one of my favorite places in Rome and probably the place where I first fell in love with Rome.

At night, like Thursday night, there are a bunch of street performers, tons of artists with paintings of the Colosseum, the piazza, the Basilica di St. Pietro etc., musicians and more out in the piazza surrounded by a bunch of restaurants and bars and of course the Church of St. Agnes.

We walked around the piazza for a little while before deciding to go back to what I believe is our favorite place in Rome so far, Cul De Sac (thanks again, Rick Steve's and Annie!) because Ashley really wanted to take her friend there (and because we loved it so much the first time).

I tried their chicken and peppers, which was very delicious (not as delicious as their meatballs and mashed potatoes, though!). We got the same wine we had the previous time (Borgo Del Cedro-Frascali Superiore-Lorenzo Constanini--- great white wine, goes so well with the meatballs) and this time, I tried dessert! I got the house sundae expecting gelato and some sort of biscotti. Instead, I got a vanilla pudding with macaroons, fresh strawberries and a ton of whipped cream! It was so good!

After dinner we walked around the piazza a little longer, enjoying the street performers and admiring the paintings. We even bought some of our own (I now have a little collection going).

Then, we made our way home as we had to get up even earlier the next day than we did any day before then.

I tried to get to bed some what early once we got home, but I think my excitement to go to Milan and Venice and worry that I wasn't going to get enough sleep, kept me up all night. I unfortunately got 1 hour of sleep that night (can you believe it!?). But, it was all worth it for the amazing weekend I had shopping the streets of Milan and Venice and even experiencing a gondola ride on the roads made of water. :)

More on that later, though. As for now, I need my sleep!

Alla prossima!

Cassidy

Ps: Isn't it crazy how this was probably my worst week in Rome so far, and I even started this post out saying I didn't even want to write it, but 3 hours have now gone by and I have written probably my longest post yet? It may be because I wrote about 4 days worth of activities in one post, or because there truly is light at the end of every tunnel and even after the [hopefully] what was the most stressful and overwhelming week here, it ended so wonderfully and it has only been getting better since. :)