Day 22

Today was our last final push: our art history final. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be and I feel very confident! To celebrate, my friends and I walked all over the city. Our first stop was Campo De Fuori where we bought homemade pasta to take home. From there, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe to treat ourselves to American food (pizza and pasta is getting soooo old). 

We also walked all around the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain to do some last minute shopping! From there, our group split up. Some went shoe shopping and my friend and I went to the Victor Emmanuel Monument. We took the elevator to the very top where we had the most amazing view of the whole city. We could see the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Vatican, the aqueduct near the American University of Rome, and more! 

Well, this is it. We've come to the final blog entry. I can't believe I've lived in Italy for almost the entire month of July. It's crazy to think that once we have become so familiar with the city, it's already time to leave. Thanks to those of you who have taken the time out of your day to read my blog that I have forced myself to write on days where we got home late. 

Until next time, Roma

Day 21

Today we went wine tasting. Since I don't drink, I was rather bored but the location was gorgeous. You could see hills and lots and lots of green. Just to say I had wine in Italy, I had a small sip. I guess it's an acquired taste because I absolutely hated it and wanted to spit it out. Afterwards, we had lunch at the winery. 

We had a very long bus ride back in which we all slept. We didn't get back until 7:30pm and we had to walk down a ton of stairs in the rain to get to the tram! That was quite an experience. For dinner, my friend Lauren and I went to our favorite pizza shop. I have gone here almost every day and the guys all know me now! 

We also went to our favorite gelateria where they also know us! 

I can't believe tomorrow is my last full day here. Where does the time go?

Ciao for now! 

Day 20

Today our group went to Florence. We took a 2 hour walking tour with our fabulous guide Marco and got an idea of where we wanted to go during our 6 hours of free time. I particularly enjoyed seeing the replica of the statue of David, since its so famous. Maybe if/when I come back to Florence I will see the real one. 

During our free time, Allison, Lexi and I went to Leonardo da Vinci's museum. We got to touch most of his inventions, so it was fun! I sat in some device that helped pull heavy weights.. Talk about girl power! 

I also pretended to be Mona Lisa! 

From there, we ran into our friend Sebastian so we expanded our group. I enjoyed this because I had never talked to him before and I feel like I made a new friend. Once he joined our group, our day became very interesting. We ran into some teenagers from Spain who were participating in a contest where they had to take pictures with different people at different sites. We all formed the Eiffel Tower with them and then they were on their way to the next site! From there, we went to a tie store where we gave girl advice on formal shirts and ties. Since the store owner liked us all, she gave Sebastian a discount and told him to treat us all to gelato (which he did!) 

We also went to a euro only store (a 99 cent store) where we saw a gypsy steal some makeup. It was a very interesting day indeed. 

Ciao for now! 

Day 19

Today we left our apartments at 6am for our weekend trip to Tuscany. Everyone was super tired and grumpy, so the bus was nice and quiet! After about an hour and a half, we arrived in Siena. I had never been there before, so I was pretty excited. There was only one problem....I had the worst stomach ache/nausea. During our three hour walking tour, I sat down in the shade and didn't really hear anything the tour guide said. After the tour was over, I immediately went to get food and a coke which made me feel a little bit better. Two of my friends and I went to a local Italian restaurant where we had the best mushroom risotto EVER! I had fun ordering in Italian-- that's definitely something I will miss in LA!

After lunch, we went to our hotel 2 hours away. The hotel isn't in a great area and there's nothing to do. Maybe we will actually be able to study for our last exam on Monday! On a side note, I can't believe this trip is almost over. I'm sad to be leaving Italy but I'm happy to return to my family! Only a few more days until I never have to complain about transportation again! Haha.

Ciao for now!

Day 18

Today was our politics final. No matter how much we studied, we still felt unprepared. The test consisted of multiple choice, true/false and an essay. The information seemed to be more of the minor details so it was harder to remember facts. Oh well! 

After our final, my friends and I decided to go therapy shopping. We took the bus to Vatican City, where we shopped around stalls. It was suuuuuper hot, so we didn't stay long! For dinner, we had a goodbye dinner with our Italian professor. We went to the Jewish ghetto, which was cool but veeeery expensive! 

Most people went clubbing after dinner but my friends and I went back to the apartments. Now, we are painting our nails and doing each others hair. A girl has to be pampered every now and then right? 

We are off to Florence tomorrow and we have to wake up early so... 

Ciao for now! 

Day 17

Are you ready for the shortest blog entry yet? Because this is it (mainly because I have to study for my politics exam tomorrow). 

Today for art history we went to multiple churches. It was our last class so it was hard to concentrate, but I somehow survived the three hours. I feel confident enough with the information to do well on the final, so I'm not too worried. Too bad THAT final isn't tomorrow!

During politics, we had a guest speaker. He was far more engaging than our actual professor and I loved his insights. Unfortunately, that information will be on our final tomorrow. Tonight we watched a documentary on the cons of living in Italy. The film was pretty interesting but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it hadn't been the night before our final! The directors were also there, which was pretty cool. 

It is now past 9pm and I need to study so... 

Ciao for now!

Day 16: Exactly One More Week

Today was one of the longest days yet. We left the apartment by 7:45am to get to class at the Vatican by 9:30 (public transportation takes THAT long). Luckily, we didn't have to wait in super long lines like everyone else. We did, however, have to take notes for art history-- lots of them. We analyzed specific paintings, rooms and eventually the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful and since I had never seen it before, I was very excited. The rooms were hot and crowded and class was over 3 1/2 hours today, but I had fun nonetheless. 

The above painting isn't in the Sistine Chapel but I love all the detail... So, I decided to post it!! 

Afterwards, we had free time. My friend and I went on a quick gelato run while waiting for the bus (that seems to be the usual routine on hot afternoons). I guess the buses don't run as frequently here because we were waiting for a good 45 minutes. We then had to wait another 15-20 minutes for the tram! I will never complain about public transportation in LA, or anywhere for that matter, ever again! 

Ciao for now!