A Dome, a Grape Harvest, and the Greek Olympics...All In Our Own Backyard!

Feeling like it’s midterms and having the best time ever in the same week? It’s possible on the UD Rome Campus! I’ve been rather behind on the blog due to studying for multiple tests and quizzes this week, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have to have some fun along the way.

Sunday the 23^rd was a special day as a few UDers and I went to climb the Cupola, that is the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. We arrived early (maybe 8-ish?) to skip the lines, which worked out beautifully for us. We were able to choose between taking the elevator for 7 or 8 euro or the steps for 5 euro. I have two feet…they have one elevator…yeah, I can walk. Besides it being more economical, it’s more thrilling to take the steps. Speaking of which, until you’ve climbed all 320 steps up to the top of St. Peter’s dome with only a couple of brief pauses, you have absolutely nothing to complain about going upstairs to fetch that grocery list you forgot. Talk about steps! Crazy angles, tight winding staircases that never seem to end…but it’s worth arriving to the top breathless and having your breath taken away again the second you look down on St. Peter’s Square and the papal gardens and overlook the entire city of Rome, like one of those “I can see my house from here” moments. It was one of the grandest sights I’ve seen from one of the grandest places on earth!

Monday was our grape harvest. We cut the grapes from the vines, tossed them (if not at each other first) in some baskets which were picked up by the tractor and taken to the main bin for smashing. After a good hour of harvesting, some of the students were able to get into the bin and smash the grapes the traditional way: barefoot! Being tactile sensitive as I am, I opted not to squish grapes, but I was still bombed with grapes by Meghan, a classmate and great friend of mine. I mean she squished an entire juicy bunch on my head like a confetti egg. I was just dying with juice running down my face and all, but hey, I guess I deserved it for dozing off in Dr. Osborn’s class on the Bacchae (involving Dionysus, the god of wine). I guess I got to be Dionysus for the day.

Thursday was a particularly fun, and most likely my most favorite, day on campus. It was Greek Olympics day! Take field day in school, and multiply it by 10 or 20. It was super awesome! Every student wore togas in the color of their team (our team was grass green), and the faculty and staff were dressed as the Greek gods. It was really fun getting into the Greek spirit the day before we set out for our Greece trip. The teams lined up in the vineyard’s main path and ran its length following the torch bearer for the Olympics (yes, the torch was actually lit), all of us screaming and howling excitedly as we made our way to the soccer field where the events were to take place. Each team made presentations for their team name and team spirit. Our team was named “Caesar Salad” for our green togas, and our presentation was extremely improv, ending in “Veni! Vidi! Vici!”

The games consisted of an assortment of crazy competitions, all of which would take ages to discuss since some are known more to past UD Romers than the rest of the world, but some more recognizable ones include an egg toss between teammates (I think the furthest they went must have been a good 100 feet), a water balloon toss using a giant slingshot to catapult the balloons at our professors for points, and a “sculpture” contest where we had to cover one or more of our teammates in shaving cream to make them look like a familiar Greek (or Roman or Etruscan) statue. For that one, our team did the caryatids of the Erechtheion (Google it), which won us first place on that round as that particular sculpture had never been done before by the students. At the end of the Olympics, our team, the Caesar Salad, took the gold and won a forno dinner at the forno we have on campus! It was a shocker for us (or at least for me), but we were extremely excited. Since I had avoided getting messy with shaving cream--my tactile sensitivity ensured I would stay clean--I stuck around after the Olympics to help clean the field, which was still hard to do due to the fact that there was a lot of shaving cream. Turns out all that yucky work earned me a 10 euro capp bar card, a highly coveted tab card for those of you unfamiliar with UD’s famous cappuccino bar in Rome. I hadn’t even expected to receive such a card from the RAs, so it was a really nice bonus for helping out.

The Winning Team: Caesar Salad!!!

After Mass and a delicious buffet-styled dinner, we Greeked out watching Disney's Hercules, which I had not seen since I was maybe 7 years old. As a kid, it was one of those movies that was really weird, scary and disturbing, not to mention some inappropriate content involving pointless sensuality. Finally watching it years later, it was really interesting because I watched it with a discerning mind, taking everything I've been learning from all of my classes here, particularly from Art & Architecture, Western Civilization, and Philosophy, along with my past art classes at UD, and plugged them into the movie. I was able to reap more from the movie than I think most people would have watching it for the sake of entertainment, which I never do. I mean, I think most of the students were right there with me doing art history in the movie, saying, “Oh! That’s a Doric column! Ha! That’s a spin-off on caryatids. Hey! That’s black-figure technique on an amphora,” and we all laughed out loud when an Oedipus play was mentioned. I was able to appreciate the film for the sake of its style, art and historical content, but for entertainment, it was…okay. Definitely intriguing, a little slap-sticky here and there, but definitely not anywhere in the top ¾ of my list of favorite Disney films.

Now we’re all pumped for our10 day Greece trip. I will update y’all on the next blog post which will have to wait until I return from Greece since I won’t have any internet access at all. It’s going to be a blast though. Greece here we come!
 

Capri: In Paradisum or Dreaming with My Eyes Wide Open

I fell in love…in love with the sea. In Capri we made a bond that can never be broken and memories that will never be erased. I had booked this trip maybe a month and a half in advance with EuroAdventures, a kind of traveling agency that assists study abroad students with trips. Their trips include guides and (depending on the trip) a place to stay. No one from UD was going on this trip, so this was going to be my first trip alone. To be honest, I left campus that Thursday evening feeling pretty scared at the idea of having to find my way alone. I don’t mind traveling alone. Actually, I really like it so long as I know where I’m going, but if I’m in unfamiliar territory, I need someone to guide me. I’ve been lost before back at home and it’s the worst feeling. But this was a good way for me to push past that fear and dive into it headfirst. Thankfully, there were a few UD students who were heading off to the airport on the bus, so I had someone familiar in my sights for awhile, but after they left and I arrived at the metro station to get into Rome, I thought, “Well, guardian angel, I guess it’s just you and me now.”

I almost have all the metro stops memorized from Anagnina down to Termini, the central train station in Rome, so navigating was not all that bad, but EuroAdventures was having us meet in front of a hotel five blocks down. After only a little difficulty, I found the hotel. The only problem was that I had arrived almost three hours before the designated meeting time, obviously no one was there and it was already dark outside. I opted to hang around Termini for the time-being. At least it was well-lit and there were lots of people milling about. I explored Termini for awhile until I’d walked past every shop and train terminal, then just sat and people-watched for a good two hours. I even prayed a rosary for courage (sheesh! I’m really a fraidy-cat. I’ll never survive the world like this). About twenty minutes until 10:30pm (our meeting time), I went back up the street to the hotel. Thankfully, the EuroAdventures staff and most of the students were already there. Since this was among the first three trips of the semester for EuroAdventures, they gave each student a pair of sunglasses and a wine bottle opener (might come in useful for future Romers). About half an hour later, the bus that had picked up the students from Florence arrived and picked up the Romers. I did my best to sleep as much as I could on the bus, particularly because they were watching some pretty horrible movies, and when I say horrible, I mean ipod-earbuds-are-going-in-music-is-blaring-I’m-going-to-sleep, morally objectionable and highly offensive horrible. Moral objectives set aside, I still have to wonder, why do people, particularly young students, like watching such depressing movies about the most pointless, frustrating, miserable situations that make life worse than it needs to be? I think I’ll sleep and dream of better things and turn 21, thank you very much (Yes, my birthday fell on a really cool weekend). I think we arrived at the hotel in Sorrento at about 4 in the morning. The hotel was an outdoor one with the rooms designed as bungalows. It was really charming. I ended up with two fairly decent roommates, probably the best of the bunch, both studying at John Cabot in Rome. We were kind of the “rag-tag” group.

We slept in until about ten in the morning. It was a rainy day, so EuroAdventures decided that we would play it chill today and visit Pompeii and Naples. The nice thing about EuroAdventures is that all excursions are optional. You can pretty much go wherever and do whatever you want. They just set you up with travel and rooming. I followed EuroAdventures to Pompeii and hung around town for maybe an hour while the rest of the students went into the ruins. I’d already visited Pompeii a week before, so it was no big deal skipping out on it. After my roomies came out, we headed off to Naples for lunch at the famous Pizzeria da Michele, which is packed every hour of the day, even by the locals. It’s apparently the same pizzeria where they filmed Julia Roberts eating pizza in the movie Eat Pray Love. They serve only Margherita (tomato sauce and cheese) and Marinara (tomato sauce, garlic and oregano) pizzas, but it’s literally the best pizza in the world. We waited in line for about an hour, chatting with a kind Italian man for a little while before our number was called for us to go in. After tasting such an unbelievably delicious pizza, eating any other pizza must be considered an atrocity. It was that good! And it was astonishingly filling too, despite the thinner crust.

 

After lunch, we headed back to Sorrento for a nap. EuroAdventures took us out as a group to eat at Terrazza delle Sirene, a very nice restaurant with a gorgeous seaside view which we couldn’t appreciate as much because it was dark out, but the far off sparkling city lights were still brilliant to see. I couldn’t afford very much and I wasn’t all that hungry after such a filling lunch, so I just ate a simple salad. Our table did get a couple of bottles of wine to share for my 21^st birthday (darn, I thought that just for kicks, for once in my life I would get through my birthday with no one knowing about it, but it had to come out when I was asked my age and birth date). I guess it paid off, literally, because everyone at the table covered my tab. Everyone got a free limoncello shot too, but I took only a couple of small sips as I already had two glasses of wine.

Limoncello is already very strong to the taste, like extremely over-sugared lemonade, and it’s not my favorite drink, so it wasn’t too disappointing to pass it up. We walked back to the hotel in the rain and went right to bed. I ended the evening with a plenty lucid mind but an ever so slight waver in my balance and slightly warped vision. I officially despise the effects of alcohol. They are the curse of alcoholic drinks. Or wait, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? *face palm* I’ll just stick with one glass limit…and avoid limoncello if I’ve had wine.

The next day was the highlight of my visit: Capri!!!! EuroAdventures took us on a 30 minute ferry to Capri, where we landed and just marveled. The colors of everything in the environment were vibrant and bright. The typical haze in the atmosphere that we had seen a week ago on the coast was minimal on Capri, so everything was much clearer and far more gorgeous than anything I had seen on the coast. It was very crowded as it was the height of the tourist season on the island, but I didn’t mind all that much. There comes a certain thrill of watching the busy streets next to a marina. I kept thinking, “I want a boat,” as I watched the boats coming and going from the harbor.

In a short while, EuroAdventures set us up on our boat tour around the island. We were only supposed to go halfway around the island and back because the water was so choppy and dangerous, but literally at the last second, conditions improved a bit giving us the opportunity to go around the entire circumference of the island. The boat trip was supposed to be something they called a “booze cruise” which the students took very seriously, but I was after an untainted experience of gazing at the glory of the island, sans alcohol, and that was exactly what I did. I even listened to my ipod to blot out the foul talk on the boat. With that setup, I was on cloud nine…and beyond. No words can describe how glorious the experience was to be sailing right alongside the jagged white limestone cliffs topped with vivid greenery. My camera couldn’t even capture the full grandeur of the seascape. And that water! That brilliant, blue water! It was too blue to be real, but OH! was it real. I was sailing in a dream…with my eyes wide open. And I didn’t have to wake up. And right there, I fell deeply in love with the ocean. I’ve always loved the ocean, but right here, that love was consummated and made unbreakable. I even said a Glory Be as the cliffs sailed past, praising the perfection of God’s creation.


We had to pass up visiting the famed Blue Grotto, the crowning jewel of Capri, because the water was too choppy and dangerous to enter. A heartbreaker, I know. We did stop to see the extremely narrow opening of the Blue Grotto (the top of the opening may have been three feet above water level) which would disappear altogether when the waves would rise up and then reappear when the waves receded. Definitely too dangerous for even a swimmer to enter let alone a boat. After more slack-jawed beauty, we made a stop at the Emerald Grotto for a swim where the water was a brilliant blue-green. I hadn’t brought a towel and the deep water looked more aggressive than I felt comfortable swimming in, so I opted not to swim, but I did stick my arm in the emerald water. I watched the majority of the other students go cliff jumping into the water, which was pretty exciting.

After the Emerald Grotto, we continued on until we reached the Faraglioni, the most beautiful giant rock formations protruding out of the sea and towering above boats. The middle rock has a large arched opening big enough for a boat to easily pass under, which we did. I’d have to say that moment was probably the best and most magical moment of our tour. The water after that became incredibly aggressive so that our boat rocked wildly back and forth. It was ever so slightly scary, but I guess I could dub it as the most “adventurous” moment of the ride. We didn’t capsize and the water calmed down after about fifteen minutes or so.

After arriving back on the island, we had a good two hours to explore and do whatever we pleased. I explored the seaside shops again, only this time I actually entered into a whole bunch of them, then I took a very long walk along the nearby pebbly beach where waded in the glassy green water and did some sea glass hunting for souvenirs. I daresay the sea glass on Capri was nicer than the glass I’d collected from Positano. I was so in love with the water, so carried away by the waves, that I lost track of time.

I hurried back to docks to look for our group, thankfully five minutes before our ferry was scheduled to leave, but I was getting a little antsy as I did not see them. I figured they might be back near the shops where we had usually met. As I headed in that direction, I asked my guardian angel to point me to where the group was. I immediately had the notion of heading back to the docks and going in a little deeper to where the ferries were boarding passengers. I don’t know why I ignored that thought and went looking amongst the shops where the group had usually met. When I’d finally decided to follow that advice of going to where the ferries were, I looked at my ticket, which matched the time and realized that the ferry I was supposed to have boarded was already 50 yards off shore and had just departed. If I had followed my angel’s advice, I would have made it on the ferry. I could almost hear my angel sighing, “Tsk tsk! Don’t say I never told you so.” Apologizing to him (or rather “it” since angels are genderless), I quickly purchased another ticket for the very next ferry which departed 30 minutes later (16 euro?!?! Really?) Needless to say, I was pretty steamed that I had missed the group’s ferry, not so much that I was separated from them or that I was stuck on Capri (which was actually quite a thrilling idea), but that I had been irresponsible and was now having to pay for my mistake. For me, that was a serious financial blow as I was completely unprepared for it. “Hey, you live and you learn.” That’s precisely what my dad would have said with a shrug and a compassionate smile. I felt a little better at the sound of the water when the ferry took off, but was very shortly sad as I watched Capri drift away. I bid it goodbye, a tear or two escaping, but hoped that goodbye would not be forever. “Someday,” I thought. “Someday. I will return to see you once again.”

After docking, I easily made my way back to the hotel. I was already quite familiar with the main square of Sorrento as well as the path home, so finding my was a cinch. My roommates were quite relieved upon my return as were the EuroAdventure staff. I rested for a short while, dreaming of the dream I had just left behind. Later I reluctantly went out to dinner with my roomates. I say “reluctantly” because after that financial blow, I could not afford any other luxury. I joined them anyway at a nice restaurant (they’re all nice in Sorrento) with a relatively inexpensive spaghetti with tomato which was molto bene!

 Afterwards, we walked around the main square of Sorrento and down the charmingly-lit main street, Corso Italia, where the city came alive with the bustling of many tourists, artists, musicians and shops. There were hardly any cars that went through there, so it was easy for everyone to walk in the streets and sidewalks. The temperatures outside was just right and there was such lively music being played every few blocks. It was a perfect way to end the day. After a couple of hours we wound up at the English bar where EuroAdventures got us discounted drinks, but I passed on the drink. Tired, yet quite satisfied with the magical day, I headed back to the hotel an hour earlier than my roommates but once they arrived, we crashed and went right to sleep.

Sunday was the day EuroAdventures was taking us to Positano. I had already been there the week before, but I had wanted to explore it further. However, the whole weekend I had been anxious about where I would attend Sunday Mass. I would not miss my Sunday obligation for anything, no questions asked! I had previously checked out a couple of the churches there in Sorrento and took down their Mass times just in case I didn’t get the times for the churches in Positano, which I didn’t due to lack of internet. So I opted to stay behind in Sorrento alone and attend Mass there and explore the city afterward. Mass was in Italian (of course) which was interesting as it sounded like a cross between Spanish and Latin. Thankfully I sat in front of an Italian lady who spoke very loudly, so it was much easier to follow and join in the Mass responses in Italian.

After Mass, I explored the streets of Sorrento, this time by daylight. Still very charming on a Sunday morning. I stopped at two different balconies along the sea cliffs of Sorrento and ate my energy bar as I watched the vibrantly blue Mediterranean and the beaches below. After a time, I went down to the beaches and strolled along the coast, making my way to the marina and docks where we had initially left for Capri. For at least three hours I just sat and watched the water, marveling at its blue-greenness and bonding with it as the sail boats went by. I was practically looking for mermaids that were whispered to dwell in those magical waters. During my time by the sea, I decided that I would very much like to live next to water (the ocean, a river, a lake, a pond for all I care!) and own a sail boat. Maybe even live on a boat. Wouldn’t that be something! After a time, I finally went back to exploring the half of Sorrento that I had not yet explored. Every corner I turned, every shop I passed, every park I walked through gave me so much happiness and appreciation for the coast and all of creation, short of me saying, “I want to live here!” I think I explored roughly three-quarters of the entire city of Sorrento by the end of my trip (it’s not very big) and I would have finished it if I hadn’t been so hungry. I picked up a cheap roll for sustenance and ate it while standing at a new point on the sea cliffs, where I stayed for a while overlooking the afternoon coast for the very last time. As the time drew closer for me to return to the hotel to meet up with EuroAdventures to head back for Rome, I tearfully bid the sea goodbye, praying that I would one day return to see it again.

I met with EuroAdventures at the hotel and we headed off soon after. More depressing and horrible movies ensued on the way back to Rome. One movie should have been re-titled with a major cuss word and another blatantly and viciously attacked the dignity of women, so much so that I wanted to curl up and hide, praying that the guys on the bus wouldn’t see me or any other girl there as a mere object of amusement. Thankfully I found refuge in praying the rosary with Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Simonetta on my ipod and playing “asleep.” It was a nicer way of ending a bad bus ride, and to my delight, after I had prayed the rosary, the DVD started skipping and freezing up, so much so that it was unwatchable (I’m pretty sure that my guardian angel had something to do with it by infiltrating the system). Once we arrived in Rome, we dispersed and I headed back home, catching a great number of my fellow UD Romers on the bus back to campus, exchanging stories and experiences.

All in all, the Capri day made it to the top three best experiences of my life (my EWTN visit is going to be an extremely hard one to dethrone from my #1 experience.) I still sorely miss the ocean and am just itching to go back even as you read this. I fell in love with the ocean and will always return mentally to that magical place of Sorrento and Capri whenever I handle the sea glass I collected or whenever I go sailing anywhere. Glory to you, oh Lord my God, who has made all things good and beautiful!

UD Trip: Campania (a.k.a. Cloud Nine!)

Campania. Beautiful Campania. That is where I spent my weekend. Friday morning, all of the UD Romers were packed onto three buses and were en route to Paestum, Italy, about a six hour drive south from Rome. We made our first stop at Montecassino, a beautiful abbey up in the mountains where St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery. It was such a gorgeous and peaceful place with breathtaking views from their balconies. Our next stop was at the Archaeological site of Pompeii. We toured through the ancient ruins for a few hours, listening to all of the fascinating stories of what Pompeii was like, and then viewing some of the uncovered pottery and castings of some of the people who had tried to escape. It was pretty amazing. Finally we checked in at a four star hotel in Paestum and enjoyed a delicious dinner (and my first time to ever taste tiramisu, which was awesome!)

 

 

 

Saturday involved one of the best parts of the Campania trip: a boat tour along the Amalfi coast, leaving the docs of Salerno and sailing on until we reached Amalfi where we stopped to pick up passengers, and continued on to Positano. I stuck around with Dr. Osborn and his family and another thirty or so students on one of the beaches. I volunteered to watch people’s things while they went swimming. It wasn’t all that bad anyway, especially since I was in the shade of the sea cliff and was able to chat with Mrs. Osborn who introduced me to the hobby of sea glass hunting. Even though I didn’t go swimming, I did let the waters of the Mediterranean kiss my foot. It’s okay. I’ll be going to the Amalfi coast again this weekend anyway for some serious blue water and swimming. We then sailed back to Amalfi where we visited the Cathedral of St. Andrew and enjoyed a lovely stroll along the charming streets. We finally headed back to Paestum for dinner. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I was on cloud nine the entire time. I can't even pick a favorite moment, it was that good. Now I am very determined to live on a coast or on a boat, or at the very least go sailing every once in awhile.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday: Mass in the morning, a delicious breakfast, and a visit to the Archeological site of Paestum where we visited Temple of Hera I and II. They look even better in real life than they did in the textbook. Following a few on-site lectures, we were able to visit the Paestum museum and saw more ancient artifacts. It was really something. After lunch at the hotel, we had a long ride home. I will never forget this Campania trip. Apparently, it’s a pretty new thing added by UD Rome program since this was only the second time they’d done it. Don’t ever stop doing this trip, UD! It was the best!

Capitoline Museum = Best Museum Ever!

Today we visited the Capitoline Museum. What a place! The UD staff was not kidding around when they said that the Capitoline was probably one of the best museums in the world. It was glorious!!! So many Roman statues, many of which I’m sure were copies of Greek bronze sculptures. But all I could think about while going through the museum was “I am so studying these statues for human figure classes next semester!” Who better to learn from than the Roman sculptors? We even found some of the pieces we had memorized in class, particularly the “Dying Gaul” sculpture, to which we were like, “Ah, so you’re the one who’s been causing me problems in class.”

This was also the last week that some of the old Vatican documents were being exhibited, including the final verdict of Galileo’s trial, the excommunication papers (it was really a book) of Martin Luther, a letter to the Pope from Saint Bernadette, and other amazing documents, all handwritten flawlessly. It was an incredible experience of a lifetime.

In other news, I got the job as one of the sacristans here on campus. The bonus: it’s a paid position! I’d practically do it for free, it sounds like such a wonderful job! But poor college student that I am, I will take anything at this point. This job is not formally work-study, but it’ll definitely do for some extra cash. I’m really looking forward to this job!

The Best Professors Since...Well...Ever! (Part 2)

MONDAY - For starters, the Art History quiz was a breeze for the most part. I feel pretty confident about having made an A. It rained quite a bit today and the crazy weather made for some spectacular cloud formations in all directions. You can bet that I went photo-happy. If there’s one thing I think anyone can appreciate about living in a more rural area, it’s the amount of scenery available.

I enjoyed my first daytime walk through the vineyard while saying the rosary with Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Simonetta, which I highly recommend. It’s the most relaxing rosary you may ever get to hear/pray along with. Following that was a most enjoyable session of sky-gazing, proceeded by more homework under the palm tree. Fabulous time! After a great monday night meeting with the staff, some of us headed off to Dead Theologians Society, which is a weekly discussion meeting with the priest (we have Fr. Brown while Monsignor is out). We'll be talking about all kinds of topics including new age and occult practices, prayer life, religion and science, religious freedom, the 5 non-negotiables, angels and demons/exorcism, etc. I'll let you know how they go as they happen. It sounds like a pretty exciting semester!
TUESDAY - Sister Catherine is just fabulous for Western Theological Traditions. She's strict but knows her stuff. Sometimes, I feel like I'm in an apologetics course because she'll challenge us with questions that a non-Catholic might pose and tries to promp the answer out of us. It's really great!

Dr. Hatley is great. He almost feels like an echo of Lisot in that they talk about similar things. It was pretty cool because he allowed the students to pick their own nicknames for the semester, and he let us go as crazy as we wanted with those names. We have everything from UD heroes like Zeus and Dante to random names like Rumpelstiltskin. I chose the name Electra, one of the characters from the Greek Tragedies, although I'm sort of wishing I had picked the name "The Doctor" to see what other students' reactions would have been.

We also had our second People & Places trip to the Church of Cosmos and Damien in Rome which is down the street from the Colosseum. It was beautiful with the giant mosaic and Baroque architecture and artwork. Heading back to campus was terrible due to rush hour and so many people over crowding the bus, but we made it back safely. I tried my hand at table tennis and, after a few rounds of screaming at the ball as it rushed at me, I got the hang of it. It's going to be a long semester.

Long Weekend #1 Adventures

Rome is where the talent is. I really cannot believe how many talented people there are in Rome. If people aren’t trying to sell you some cool toy, they perform violin solos/duets, do drawings or paintings of caricatures or local Roman sites, or dress up and play statue (some literally look like living statues) or man with the invisible head. There are dozens more people out there who I’ve yet to see, but the talent rate in Rome skyrockets beyond NYC and California.

Anyway, Saturday was half spent “Rome-ing” throughout the Eternal City, where we visited sites we’d already seen and some of which were completely new. I just love those moments when you turn a corner and suddenly the Pantheon or Capitoline Hill is there. It’s such a sweet surprise. We also went shopping for religious articles next to the Vatican and even spotted some of Bl. Mother Theresa’s sisters of charity! For lunch, we paid a visit to the Scholar’s Lounge. That would be my first time ever visiting a pub. And no, I didn’t drink anything besides water.

I think, at this point, we have the metro system down to a T. Now to move on and try the actual trains. Eeeps! A little nervous about that one, but some of my suitemates have already said that it’s like the metro in the sense that it takes a little getting used to, but once you have it figured out, you’re good. Hmmm, I wonder if I should get a Eurail pass. I guess it’ll depend on what we decide to do for 10 Day and Thanksgiving break.

Sunday was all studying and getting ready for our Art History quiz on Monday. I think more students are freaking out about it than necessary, myself included, even though I’m already familiar with more than half of the material since I took Art & Arch I last fall. I think we’ll be alright though. Some of us spent the evening Saturday and all day Sunday studying at the whiteboard in the Aula Magna (that’s the Big Classroom next to the cafeteria) and quizzing each other, going over the artworks, dates, movements, Greek orders, mythological gods, time periods, vocabulary, etc. over and over again, all while listening to Baroque music, then the Lord of the Rings soundtracks, Irish music, Gregorian Chant, then back to Baroque. I think we surprised Dr. Osborn a little when he walked in with his brother who was visiting campus (he was giving him a tour). Guess he’s not altogether used to seeing students studying on the whiteboard. It’s been fun though. I’m particularly flattered when non-art major students come up to me and say, “Can I get some help with studying Art History?”