Day 31

Hello!

This will be my final post. I figured I'd write one last one to wrap it all up!

I woke up at 6am Paris time (12am Orlando time) and began my travels an hour later. I said bye to Katia and Ana Maria and started the day with an apple pastry from the bakery across the street. Then we headed down into the metro to ride it to Gare d'Est then Gare du Nord to hop the train to Charles de Gaulle airport. It went very well!

We made it to the airport at 8 or 8:30 and were at our gate by 9:30. You know how it's always a good idea to have snacks on a plane? Especially a nine hour flight? Well I always wait until I get to my gate to pick that stuff up, but the only places to get food around our gate were a little cafe and a souvenir stand. So I got a small bag of peanut M&M's that I had to ration in between airline-provided meals. Other than that, though, the flight was awesome. The plane was huge and barely filled in the back of the plane where I was. So I got a row to myself! I could lay down, put my feet up, and just do whatever I wanted to be comfortable. It ruled. Especially since there was a TV screen right in front of my face. I watched The Great and Powerful Oz, Life of Pi, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and part of Beasts of Southern Wild, plus an episode of Baby Looney Tunes and Arrested Development. Plus the food wasn't so bad.

After that great flight, we landed in Charlotte, NC. Coming down for the landing was awesome - there were rain clouds around us, so I watched as we descended from the high white clouds to the dark grey clouds, and I saw where rain was falling. As soon as we touched down, the rain started falling on us. I called my mom and dad first thing because I could. Then we got off the plane, said bye to Rosie, and went through customs and security again. The TSA people there weren't the sweetest. We got to our gate and I immediately got a pretzels and hummus and realized how much I missed it.

As we waited, I talked to a few women around me. We boarded late and one of the women was right behind me so we talked a little more. Then I talked with the two people in my row a little bit, because our flight was delayed nearly an hour. The president was leaving Charlotte right around the time that we were, so all the planes were held while Air Force One took off. We finally took off and from there the flight seemed super short. I really just did sudoku for an hour and a half.

When we landed those of us who were still together went to get our luggage, said goodbye, and went to the curb to be picked up. As soon as I saw Tanner and Kelly pull up, I started crying. I knew I would. I was just so happy to see them. I sobbed. It was awful.

We got home, Greg opened the door, and I began to unpack in the living room. I was delirious at this point. I had been awake for like 19 hours at that point. Then I threw laundry in the wash and showered and the four of us went out for Chipotle and frozen yogurt. I drove for the first time in a month and we all made it home okay! Then I unpacked more and passed out at 10. That wasn't the best idea. I woke up at like 4:30 this morning and ended up getting up at 5:30.

I miss Europe but I'm so glad to be home with my friends and my bed and Netflix!

Day 30

Bonjour!

Today was my last day in Paris and my last day in Europe. We used our time today to go to the two best museums in town: the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay!

So we began today at 10am with some pastries from the bakery across the street. Today I got a plain croissant and a flaky pastry with hot apple sauce in the middle. So good. Then we got on the metro and took it to the Louvre. We initially headed for the "secret entrance", Porte des Lions, but it was a big locked door that intimidated us so we just went to the huge main entrance, you know, the glass pyramid. So we went through all that and made our way in. We began together but eventually broke into two duos and a trio. I wandered with Ana Maria. We got lost several times and started off terribly confused, but we eventually found our bearings and made our way through pretty much everything. I missed just a few key things, though I was in the right section to see them, I just thought they were in a closed section until other girls said they saw them. Anyway, I saw a whole bunch of amazing art that I never thought I'd get to see in my life. It was stunning and bone-chilling and just amazing. I want to list things but my mind is numb from all that I saw today. It was really just a ton of stuff that I've learned about in my art history courses over the years. It's funny how much more I liked some of the pieces in person than I did while viewing it as a flat digital image.

After we all made our way through the galleries we met at one of the cafes in the museum for lunch. I got a fruit cup and a blueberry muffin. Then we left and walked right to Musee d'Orsay across the river. Musee d'Orsay used to be an old train station, and it now houses some of the best French art in history. So much Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and more. I saw one of my favorite paintings, Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel. It's so beautiful and soft. I say it and literally ran to it. Anway, Ana Maria and I wandered around together again and made sure to see everything in the 2 hours that we had. Some of the most famous paintings are in there, like Renoir's Moulin de la Galette and Manet's Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe.

I saw so much amazing art today that my mind can't even comprehend it yet. I mean, I've seen more important art in the past month than I ever dreamed I would see in my lifetime. It's ridiculous and wonderful and I don't even understand it.

After we left Musee d'Orsay we began walking towards the Opera house in hopes of seeing it then getting dinner. Ana Maria, Katia, and Brittany separated there. So Rosie, Zoe, Amber, and I marched on. We stopped in a few shops, one of which was a cute jewelry store playing the new Vampire Weekend cd, so I got to enjoy that while the other girls shopped. After that we continued walking and eventually stopped at a cute cafe for dinner. It was so great. I got this ravioli dish with a green sauce that I'm assuming was spinach based. I don't even know. I just know it's one of the best things I've tasted on this trip. Then I got a bowl of veggies and a bowl of French fries (again, ha). Both things were scrumptious. Plus we had some bread on the table. French bread. That was also tasty.

After dinner we walked over to the Opera house and just looked at the outside, because it's beautiful and because it was too late to go in to look around unless we were going to the show tonight. Once we were through with that we got on the metro and headed back to the apartment. I showered and packed and now I'm ready to go home, physically and emotionally.

The past month has been the most incredible time of my life. I've learned a lot about myself and the world around me. My eyes have been opened to different cultures and different ways of life. I feel stronger than I ever have before. I know that I can take on anything with ease and grace if I try hard enough. But through all the admiration and love I feel towards the past month, I've missed my family and friends. I've missed the comfort of being home. I can't wait to get home tomorrow, see a few friends, do laundry, and lay in my bed forever.

Bonsoir!

Day 29

Salut!

Today was fun and pretty relaxing. We slept in and got a late start at 11am. We left the apartment and crossed the street to a bakery on the corner to get "breakfast". I got pain au chocolat, which is exactly what it translates to: bread with chocolate. It was delicious and perfectly flaky. When we were done we headed down into the metro station, bought a couple tickets, and hopped on the train. We took it to a stop right next to the Louvre, so we walked through the open area in front of it and took a bunch of pictures. The museum isn't open today so we'll be hitting it up tomorrow. After that we headed for Musee d'Orsay, hoping to go today. We ended up not going, so we're saving museums for tomorrow.

Instead, we decided to wander through the city in hopes of ending up at the Eiffel Tower. We walked for a while enjoying all the beautiful architecture, then we stopped in a Starbucks because some of the girls needed caffeine. After sitting in comfy chairs for a few minutes we hit the road again, only to be stopped by the lure of a macaroon shop. A few of us stopped to get a small bag of cookies to eat with our lunch later. I got chocolate, vanilla, citrus, and raspberry. All were delicious (but chocolate was the best). After that we made it to the Eiffel Tower!

We walked around the park a bit then spotted a food stand in the shade and got lunch there. I got a crepe filled with strawberry jam and shared some French fries (ha) with Ana Maria. We sat in the grass in front of the tower to eat. That was beautiful. The weather was perfect all day (sunny with a high of 64, low of 48) so walking wasn't bad at all.

When we finished our lunches we walked under the Eiffel Tower and then strolled along the river towards Notre Dame. I just looked it up and that's about a 4 mile walk. We walked at least 7 miles today. Go us! So we made it Notre Dame after a while and it was beautiful! Though there were stands and weird stuff set up, obscuring the view. Kind of a bummer but whatever, I saw it and got pictures of the gargoyles and heard the bells. After that Rosie and I split from the others to come back to the apartment for some much needed rest. She just made us some poached eggs and they're delicious!

Now I'm going to go through my pictures or something then maybe go out again. One more full day in Paris then I'm headed back home!

Bonsoir!

Day 28

Bonjour!

Today was a looong day. I was in bed by 11pm last night and woke up at 5:30 to say bye to Chelsea before she left for her flight home. Then I went back to bed for 2 hours then got up for good to eat breakfast, say bye to Emily, and pack before going downstairs to hop in a taxi. On my way out I hugged Geoff and told him I was going to cry in the cab. Then I hugged Dr. Zaho and it was like she was squeezing tears out of me. Ugh. So I got in the taxi with Sarah and Ana Maria and we made it to the airport in one piece.

Once we got in, Sarah and I discovered that there were at least 9 separate areas with hundreds of airlines to choose from and we had no idea where ours was. Long story short we ended up finding the rest of our Paris group, our check-in area, and a place to sit for a few hours before the airline people arrived. Three hours later we went down to the check-in station for Kuwait and ended up waiting even longer before some people from the airline came along, pushed us back, and formed a perimeter with ropes around the area we had previously been occupying. We found it hilarious. Then they let one of us through at a time to check in. After we were all checked we made our way through the maze that is the da Vinci airport in Rome to get to our gate. Then they changed the gate. Then the boarding time was pushed back like 30 minutes.

But when we finally boarded the plane everything was wonderful! There were a ton of seats and most of them were empty, so I got to sit in a window seat and see the sights. About 30 minutes into the flight, they served us a meal. Like, a full meal. And the flight was just an hour and a half. The meal included pizza, an egg sandwich (that I didn't eat), coffee, water, a muffin, real silverware, ketchup, a refreshing towelette, and other odds and ends. It was awesome and I was pleasantly surprised. Then I just listened to more music, played more solitaire, and cried when I saw the Alps. Then I saw the Eiffel Tower and we landed!

We made it through the airport, got our luggage, and got on a train with little to no problems. Then we got to Gare du Nord, a major train station, and all hell broke loose. We were supposed to get on another train, but getting off the first one was awful and we were just dumped into a sea of sketchy people. We weren't cool with it so we went outside, ran into more sketchy people, and got into cabs to take us to our apartment. This place is beautiful and it's in a safe building that's pushed back from the street. It rules. We've seen barely anything of the city but I'm excited to do that tomorrow!

Bonsoir!

Day 27

6/2/13

Ciao!

Today was our last day in Rome and last day in Italy. You’d think it would be Bummer City for us, but we all had fantastic days today. Our group of 13 split into 4 separate, smaller groups that individually did what they really wanted to. Some people went to the Vatican to see Papa Francesco, a few went to the park at the Borghese to relax, and others stayed in the hotel for the afternoon before we all met up for gelato at 2.

Ana Maria, Geoff, Katia, and I broke off and did our own thing. I really wanted to see San Carlo Quattro Alle Fontana, a gorgeous Baroque church. So the four of us headed that way and stopped in a basilica that occupied a space that functioned as public baths when Diocletian ruled, however long ago that was. The place was huge and stunning inside. The outside looks like brick ruins. But once you walk in the front door the ceiling leaps up at least 3 stories into a not-really-coffered dome. There were a few big chapels in there and the sacristy led out into a tranquil little courtyard. Man, it was all so gorgeous and surprising. We left there and went to the church I’ve been looking so forward to seeing. It did not disappoint. The Baroque exterior was undulating and pulsating in the afternoon sun. We crossed the street to see it better, and upon doing so, I saw that the door was open. As soon as there was a break in traffic I ran across the street because I know it’s never open and I had a feeling that I had a small window of time to enter it. We ran in, looked around very briefly, snapped a few photos, and got pushed out. I believe that the only reason we got in was because it’s Sunday, there must have been mass, and the man who was closing the church was chatting with someone. I was so happy. So we went back out, looked at the façade some more, and left.

We walked down the street a bit and realized that we were walking between the buildings where the president of Italy lives and works. It was a weird moment but so cool. We then walked through a big piazza, down a hill, and ran into the Trevi Fountain. We continued walking and ran into the Pantheon. Not a bad walk. After that we went to Giolitti to meet everyone at 2 for our final gelato. I got a medium cone dipped in chocolate with vanilla, chocolate, and oreo cookie gelato topped with cream. I don’t care how gross or fat or whatever that makes me sound; it was the most delicious final gelato I could have had. We all enjoyed our treats then split up once again. A bunch of us hadn’t eaten lunch so we walked a few blocks to a pizza place we had stumbled upon the other day that I had said, “it’s older than my grandpa, so it must be great” about it. I was right, it was delicious. I got this cheese pizza topped with tomato chunks. I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t like tomatoes very much at home; here it’s an entirely different story. I’m going to miss these tomatoes.

After that we split up even more. Sarah, Emily, Amber, Ana Maria, Krista and I wanted to see the Spanish Steps so we hoofed it over there. As we approached it all we could see was an ocean of people. As we got closer, all we saw was that ocean spewing out onto the steps themselves. I could barely see any steps because a ton of people were sitting all over them. The six of us kind of just looked at each other thinking the same thing. This was not worth the walk, even if it was just 10 minutes. I think I was the one to say “so uh, do we really want to walk up those or are we okay?” and everyone agreed we would not be walking up the Spanish Steps. I was more excited to see the Keats/Shelley House at the foot of the steps. So we honestly just walked up 6 steps to the first landing then turned right around and began out walk back to the main road.

On the way to a bus stop I knew we were close to the Pantheon so I asked if everyone would be down to go there and they all were. So we returned to my favorite place and I got to spend a while in there just soaking it in. I bought myself the single thing they sell in there: a pair of books explaining the Pantheon (plus some charity work the church is doing in Africa) for 10 euro. I’m so excited to read it when I finally get home. We ran into Katia and Brittany on their way out so some girls left us to go back to the hotel with them. Sarah, Krista, Ana Maria, and I were left to make our own way back eventually.

When we were ready, we went to a bus stop nearby to hop on one to go home. The first one that we could take came, and it was packed so we waited. The next one that we could take came, and it was also packed so we stayed off. We then walked to the next bus stop on our route in hopes that we would have better chances there. A bus pulled up that didn’t seem to crowded, so I led us to the back (I yelled, “To the back!!” to the girls and Krista said the Zaho is strong in me) where it didn’t seem so bad but oh man was it bad. Within the first minute, the man next to us got a handful of my butt. This was not okay. I immediately shoved my elbow into his side and just kept pushing for a good 30 seconds until he got the message and there was space between us. As it turns out, he got the message that I wasn’t having it, but he moved on to my girl Ana Maria. He was a major creep and Ana Maria let him know that she wasn’t okay with it. He eventually got off and we had more room in the bus to complain about gross people, then we got off and returned to our rooms.

After about an hour of just hanging out in here, we all headed down to this little lounge in the hotel to sit and have what was essentially a final meeting. Man, typing that made me sad. We just sat in a big circle and talked about our days and laughed with each other and that was it. We left that room and won’t be all together again until who knows when.

After that we went back to our rooms. Some made plans for dinner, we hung out a bit, I got sassed at for not going out, then I came and sat on my bed to write out postcards to friends that I’m going to send out once I get home to Florida. In my mind it’s the time that I write the card out that counts, not when I send it or where from. I ate a sleeve of cookies for dinner because I’m an idiot. Actually it was mostly because I bought those to snack on for the next few days before I decided that I wasn’t going to spend any more money today. So they became my dinner. And by dinner I mean I ate like 12 sandwich cookies over the span of 5 hours. All right, I’m going to stop digging myself into this hole.

I’m going to listen to the two Edith Piaf songs I have on my laptop right now to get stoked about Paris.

Arriverdeci!

Day 26

6/1/13

Happy June, everyone!

Today was a lot of fun! We started out the day like any other with breakfast and rough plans to go to a few places. We hopped on a bus at the train station in hopes of getting to the church where Emily was going to do her presentation. As soon as we got on and all sat down, the rain came pouring down. We sat at the station for about 20 minutes before the bus started moving. Once we got going, we were headed up to the area where we were yesterday for the catacombs. Then we kept going further. And further. Then we made a big turn and were headed back the way we came. And we kept going. We finally got off after being on the bus for an hour and a half; Brittany asked Dr. Zaho, “How far are we from the hotel?” and Dr. Zaho responded by pointing to the building at the end of the road about two blocks away and said, “There’s the train station.” You know, the place we left from. We essentially rode the bus in a giant circle to avoid the rain and travel two blocks. Nobody was upset though; we got to sit down, hang out, and see the city all while being out and avoiding the rain.

We made it to the church around noon, afraid that they were closing then. Emily had enough time to present, though, which was awesome. She did her project on the Coronaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria. This chapel features a fantastic sculpture of the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa and portraits of the family that owns the chapel, all by Bernini. It was beautiful. The whole thing. And a nice priest lit it up for us when he heard that Emily was presenting information about it. So cool. After that we went back out and walked towards the Capitoline Museum, over a mile away.

On the way there we decided to stop for a quick lunch. We chose a small pizza/pasta place in a piazza at the bottom of a large staircase. It was a bad choice. I got a slice of bad pizza for 2 euro and a cup full of sliced strawberries for 4 euro. 4 euro is a lot for a cup full of sliced strawberries. But it was worth it because those strawberries were delicious and I felt the need for some fresh fruit this afternoon. Anyway, no one liked the food they got but we were hungry so there were no complaints.

Once we left there we were walking past the Vittorio Emmanuel memorial building, also known as the Wedding Cake. My parents had told me all about this place after their trip to Rome, so I was excited to be close to it to share it with them. The gate to the front was open, so Dr. Zaho decided that we might as well walk up all the stairs and see what was up. So we walked up all the steps (there are a lot) to the front doors, entered, didn’t see a ticket booth and kept going. Zaho wanted to get as high up as we could so we went out to a terrace and got a nice view, but she wanted more. So we turned a corner and found a huge glass elevator precariously placed next to the back of the building. She ended up buying us all tickets to get ride it to the tippy top of this huge building. The ride up was really cool (I compared it to the glass elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and the view from the top was spectacular. It really helped us all get a bearing on the geography of the city. I got to see the Pantheon from way up high and we were so close to the Forum and Colosseum, so all the wide shots of the view were dominated by the coolest monuments here. It was awesome and the sun has never seemed so bright as the time we spent up there because we were surrounded by the bright white of the building.

We descended after about 25 minutes up there and walked around a corner and down a few steps to get into a church that butts up to the terrace level of the Wedding Cake (which, by the way, was built in the first decade of the 1900s). This church had the coolest chapel I’ve seen in Italy. It might have been so cool because it was so different and unique, but it was designed to look like a cave. Seriously, it was dominated by stone and the paintings in it were layered like a stage set. I loved it. There were also these round portraits surrounding the top of the wall just below the ceiling that featured what I’m assuming were saints. These images were literally emerging from their frames. One woman looked like a superhero while the man across from her couldn’t keep the crucifix he was holding within his frame. I loved them and that church was incredible.

After the church we walked down a flight of stairs with over 100 steps (Dr. Zaho told us this then I heard a man counting out loud with his son as they were walking up) just to get to the bottom, turn a corner, and walk up a bunch of stair-type things to get to the Capitoline Museum. These steps and the courtyard outside the museum were all designed by Michelangelo; that’s pretty cool, I guess. We stood out there for a while discussing the Marcus Aurelius statue in the center, then made our way inside. When we entered the museum and saw the pieces of the giant sculpture of Constantine, only to find them all covered with clear plastic and scaffolding or something but I was still excited to see it. After that we began going through rooms.

Before we even saw anything really memorable (besides a cool Archimedes exhibit and some old murals and mosaics) we ran into a family from UCF. The two boys go there and the father is an astronomy professor. Weird, right? One of the guys was wearing a UCF shirt so we spotted him and talked for a few minutes, though the guard kept telling us to be quiet and the professor dad had no interest in any of us, including Dr. Zaho.

Interesting/memorable things we saw in the Capitoline Museum: archaic Greek pottery; the real Marcus Aurelius statue in a beautiful modern space; a sleeping guard in this beautiful modern space; ancient statues; some paintings; a statue of the Dying Gaul. As we were walking underground from one side of the museum to another, Dr. Zaho made us walk up even more steps to a seemingly hidden balcony area with the most astounding view of the Roman Forum. Man, was it awesome. We were all stunned when we reached the top of those steps and saw the Arch of Titus glowing in the sunlight. We all took a lot of photos and just relaxed while music quietly played from some mysterious source.

When we were done with the museum, a few of us hopped on a bus to return to the hotel to grab cash for dinner and a surprise for Dr. Zaho. When we were ready to go to the restaurant for our final dinner, we hopped on a packed bus at the train station. And when I say packed, I mean we were like sardines in a tin can. It was pretty awful at the beginning. Fortunately, I was sandwiched between Rosie and Brittany but I know others weren’t as well of as me in the situation. When we finally got to our stop, we hopped off and it began raining. None of us brought our rain jackets because when we went back to the hotel the weather was beautiful. So we pushed through if, hugging buildings and hopping from awning to awning. Then it got worse. It was basically a torrential downpour when we hit the spot with no awnings or coverings of any kind. Suffice it to say, we were all soaked. But it began to slow down and we were about a block from the restaurant, so we went for it. As we were about to make a right, we almost literally ran into Dr. Zaho and Chelsea, who were heading in the opposite direction. So we joined them and went the correct way to Hostaria Costanza.

Hostaria Costanza, the restaurant we ate at, is in a location that was part of the Pompeo Theater, the place where Julius Caesar was murdered so many years ago. So this place has a neat history, it’s adorable, and everything everyone ate there was perfect. Katia and I shared a veggie appetizer; this plate had zucchini, onions, eggplant, and green peppers on it. All were grilled or fried and each thing was delicious. Ugh. I can’t even talk about how good those onions were. I’ll never eat onions that good at home. After we finished our appetizers and ordered our main course, we gave Dr. Zaho her surprise. While we were in Florence, my roommates and I stopped in an old bookstore near our apartment. Geoff found this amazing book about Florence that was written in English and published in the early 1900s. We had to get it for our professor. So we gave that to her tonight, as well as a lovely card with an illustration of our beloved Santa Croce on the front. She didn’t see it though, because she didn’t want to open it and cry too hard at dinner.

We ended up telling her how much we appreciate everything she’s done for us, and she pretty much did the same. A lot of very nice things were said. I cried. A lot of us did. This trip has been so incredible and wonderful but still stressful and hard at times. It got pretty tough to be together with 12 other people all the time, so tensions ran high sometimes, but overall we all get along really well as a group and we’ve learned to love one another and notice all the little things about each other. It’s a wonderful thing and we’re all aware of the bizarre and beautiful nature of our relationships with each other, a kind that we won’t be able to find with anyone else.

Anyway. After our little festival of kind words, we got our food. I got gnocchi al tegamino, which was potato gnocchi with a tomato, mozzarella, and basil sauce. It was so good. Maybe the best thing I’ve had on this trip, I don’t know. Katia got artichoke ravioli that was also very tasty. Once we were done with our meals we did the best and worst sights, sounds, touched, tastes, and smells of Rome. My bests: entering the Pantheon for the first time (sight); the live music everywhere (sound); playing with one another’s hair (touch); tartufo (taste); and fresh cut flowers at an outdoor stand (smell). My worsts: men on the street outside our hotel (sight); squeaking noises made by dumb teenagers during Rosie’s presentation (sound); the cold and wet marble in the catacombs (touch); purse sandwiches by the end of the week (taste); and bathrooms (smell).

While we were in the middle of sharing our experiences, we paused to take a look at the dessert menu. As we were doing this (rather quietly, I might add), a man that was sitting behind us stood up and started speaking to Dr. Zaho in a harsh tone. None of us speak Italian but we all knew he was saying we were disturbing his dinner. I turned around and looked at the woman she was with and the couple sitting near them; both women looked pissed and pretty much ugly as hell with the bitter looks on their faces. Dr. Zaho talked this guy back into his seat then got up to tell management that we had been disturbed. All the waiters pretty said they don’t like that guy anyway, but the owner likes him because he has money. So a waiter came over and, according to Dr. Zaho, “schooled” the guy. As he was doing this, the man from the second couple began yelling at us. Literally yelling at us, the same phrase over and over. This man was complaining about us being a disturbance but he hushed the entire dining room with his shouts.

It was ridiculous. But I urged us to finish out bests and worsts, so we did, and the second couple was so annoyed that they left. We decided against dessert there because we wanted to leave and I suppose not give any extra money to the owner or something like that. As we were leaving, Dr. Zaho went over to the man who had started this whole scene and said something to him along the lines of, “Bye, enjoy your dinner! Have a good night, and good Sunday.” I didn’t notice this, but the man was apparently wearing a large Star of David necklace, and as you probably know, Italy is a very Catholic country that is very serious about Sundays. So by her saying have a good Sunday, she took a great subtle jab at him. Oh man, it was great. I didn’t see his reaction but I guess he had nothing to say to that.

So we left the restaurant in search of dessert. We decided to head back to Tre Scalinin in Piazza Nuvola for some more tartufo. No complaints there. It was just as delicious this time as it was the first. After hanging around for a while and chatting amongst the group, we made our way home. A few split off to go out, but me and others came back to the hotel. We got on another packed bus. I won’t miss that part of Rome. Well, I probably will in a weird way. I didn’t shower last night so I was stoked to come back here and shower. As soon as I got into my room I realized that Ana Maria was out and would be out for a while so I decided to pamper myself. I cleaned and clipped my toenails, shaved, showered for a bit longer than usual, and just took my time to get clean and comfortable. It was wonderful.

Now it’s 2 AM and Ana Maria isn’t back yet. I’m so tired and tomorrow is our last day in Italy and I don’t even know how I’m going to handle that. I plan on eating gelato and seeing a few more sites before I can say I’m done. Who am I kidding, I can never really say I’m done with Italy. I’ll miss the heck out of it. And the people I’m with. I can’t wait to be home in my own bed but jeez, I’ve become so comfortable here in this situation. All good things must come to an end though, right?

I’m going to bed now. Good night!

Day 25

5/31/13

Today started out pretty poorly for me. I woke up feeling great at 7 and was at breakfast by 7:15. I ate a little bit then made my sandwiches for lunch. As I was walking out with these sandwiches not discreetly tucked under my arm, I grabbed a donut to eat in my room as I got ready even more. The guy working the breakfast buffet saw me and stopped me and tried to get my room number but I basically told him that I was going to eat these things in my room and that I didn’t want to sit down there anymore. He didn’t say “okay you can go” or anything, I kind of just walked away. We all know he’s been watching us take sandwiches this week, he just needed an idiot like me to give him a time to say something. So I came back to my room feeling like a total dummy, hoping he didn’t say anything to anyone else. He did. So we’re done taking sandwiches from there for lunch. But we only have 2 days left here so whatever.

So after that I just felt weird and sad for a while. We met at 8 and got in taxis to go to the Borghese for our 8:30 ticket time. As we stood outside discussing the history of the building and of the museum, it began raining. So we quickly ran into the line to get inside, with people butting us left and right. As we were just about to go through the doorway, Dr. Zaho put her arms in front of the people who skipped and made sure we all got in first. Once we were in, the woman in front of us began chatting with us. She was from Wisconsin, traveling with her 14-year-old son. This kid did not look 14; he looked at least 17. We all commented on his appearance while Dr. Zaho was like, “Take it easy Mom! Let the kid live it up!” It was pretty funny.

Once we checked our bags and had our tickets, we headed upstairs to the painting gallery. We saw a lot of cool stuff! A few paintings by Caravaggio, a Titian, and some Raphaels. After that we headed down one floor and walked through the sculpture rooms. Some of the most beautiful pieces were in there. A lot of stuff by Bernini was in there. We stared at a statue of Apollo and Daphne sculpture for a long time but my favorite was Rape of Proserpina.

It’s a man, Pluto (the Roman god of the underworld) abducting Proserpina, the daughter of the seasons. The moment depicted is the second he steps into Hell with her. He has this smug look of self-satisfaction as he holds her at his shoulder. The look on her face is of sheer terror. She has a tear falling down her cheek and her eyes seem to be searching for some sort of salvation. Other details that I loved were her nails, his back, and the way that his hand visibly grips the flesh on her waist and hip. I wish I could post a picture link from Google but I don’t have wifi.

After we got our fill of art, we sat outside and ate lunch. The weather went from being bitter cold to being sunny and warm to being drizzly and wet. Then we walked through a beautiful park to get to a main road. We walked down this road to get to Il Convento dei Cappuccini, a place with a beautiful museum and an incredible crypt filled with hundreds of dismantled skeletons. It was really just a series of rooms filled with these wild designs made with all these bones. I can’t even explain it. It was amazing.

After that the group split into two: Zaho and a bunch of girls went back to the Vatican while Katia, Geoff, Chelsea, Ana Maria, and I explored the city a bit. We saw a lot of really neat shops on the way. Our favorite was this little store with nothing but an old man sitting in the doorway with his life’s work behind him. He’s a wood sculptor and his stuff was all around the area his shop was located in. There were pictures of him and his work with celebrities (including the pope) and in cool places. We were attracted to his shop because he was sitting in a chair in the doorway listening to the soundtrack from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on a boombox. He was precious and Geoff and I regretted not hearing his life story, though he didn’t speak English and none of us speak Italian.

After talking with him we went and got gelato at Giolitti again. It was still delicious. Then we went back to the hotel for a few minutes before leaving again to meet up with the group. When we were together again we jumped on a bus to take it to Basilica Saint Agnese to get a tour of the catacombs. When we went in, the tour guide was missing so we walked up a small hill to Santa Costanza to see a series of 4^th century ceiling mosaics. They were incredible. I mean, they weren’t super detailed or impressive or anything but just the fact that they’re 800 years old and essentially in the same condition as they were back then is mind blowing.

About 20 minutes later we headed back down the hill and began our walkthrough of the catacombs. This involved meeting up with a small, young Italian woman with a thick accent who would guide us through. We walked down a set of centuries old brick steps to get into this underground Christian burial ground. We saw all the shelf-like loculi that people once used to place a dead relative’s body to rest. There were a few that still had bodies in them, two of which were available to see. It was creepy but so awesome. I loved it. There was this musty smell all throughout the tour, but it was masked by a floral scent in the last room that houses St. Agnes’ remains. It was weirdly lovely.

After that trip to the catacombs we returned to the hotel where we all relaxed for a little bit before going out for dinner. I think everyone went to McDonald’s for free wifi except Katia, Geoff, Chelsea, Ana Maria, and I. We ended up going to a nice piazza to find a restaurant; we found one with great deals for students (according to the man who greeted us), including free bruschetta and free champagne. I got a salad for the first time since I’ve been in Italy and it was delicious. It was really just lettuce with tomatoes and cucumbers and some olive oil.

We wanted to do something real fun after dinner but we pretty much just ended up at the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina to watch all the cats that live in there. We saw them running and jumping and playing and it was wonderful. Then I walked down some steps to read a sign and I found a cat there. Chelsea and Ana Maria eventually returned with me to read a sign and we found a woman from NYC petting the cat. So we pet it too. It was so nice to be able to pet a cat!! After that Ana Maria and I hopped on a bus and made our way back to our area. We stopped for ice cream bars on the way in and they were delicious.

My eyes are drooping now, good night!!