June 11th

So I didn't have class on Wednesday, so I decided to do some sight seeing. I hung around my apartment and did some school work until after lunch, when I went to Castle Sant Angelo. It's pretty huge, so I got an audioguide thing (4 euros!!!) to tell me some interesting facts. I like audioguides cause the English ones are usually British guys and I feel like I'm being led around by some awesome British historian. Anyway, this one was super confusing and I couldn't ever follow it the way you're supposed to because I kept getting lost and confused. The really cool part is the view from the top of the castle, where you can look out onto Rome and see it in all its glory. After that, I got some gelato (raspberry, yum) and headed down to the Piazza Navona. I found it all by myself without any use of a map! I was so impressed with myself. However, I was quickly taken off my high horse when I tried to find the entrance to Palazzo Altemps and wandered around it for quite sometime. In my defense, it was kind of hidden. Anyway, I went in the Palazzo, which is mainly a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. I didn't get an audioguide this time, another 4 euros, seriously who do they think I am, the Queen of England? Anyway, it was nice to just wander, plus almost all of the descriptions were in English too, so I knew what I was looking at usually. I saw this one bust of Hera and the description said it was a sculpture that Grand Tourists had to see and that it was of particular inspiration to Goethe! I read that! (Goethe's tour of Italy where he talked about this sculpture!) what a coincidence! Also it was kind of funny because a lot of the statues were restored in the 17th century, and the new plasterer made a lot of mistakes - putting the head of Aphrodite on the body of another goddess, etc., because they didn't know as much about the sculptures as we do now and also it said that his benefactor just wanted an Aphrodite or whatever. I know nothing about ancient art, by any means, but even I could tell sometimes when the styles didn't match up. Anyway, it all made me very excited about by Ancient Greek history class in the fall!!
So on the way back from my adventures, around 5, the road I was walking along was all blocked off and there were a ton of guards, carabinieri, and policemen all over the place. I figured I'd just keep walking until someone stopped me, which eventually happened. and then - who comes by, but the Pres. of the god's country! He just won't stop following me around! It was weird too, cause the limo had DC license plates... I guess they just bring them over. anyway, a ton of motorcycle cops sped by before Bush's limo, and then buses of journalists and the like. Quite a spectacle - and a rather huge inconvenience to the city of Rome as traffic was backed up forever! luckily I was walking!
so who's ready for some change we can believe in???

Amalfi Coast

This past Friday I headed down to the Amalfi Coast, generally agreed to be the most beautiful coastline in Europe. I took a train pretty early from Rome to Salerno, which is a little past Naples. From Salerno I got on a bus that was supposed to take me to Amalfi. It didn't - mainly because I got on the wrong bus! However, I didn't realize this until I was almost at the end of the bus' line, where I decided to ask the driver where we were. When he found out that I was trying to get to Amalfi he said, "you made large mistake." which, I had clearly already realized.. anyway, he put me on another bus that took me back to Salerno, and then I finally boarded the right bus... it was a good 2.5 hour trip. Whoops! I always make fun of people that make such dumb mistakes. looks like it came back to bite me! anyway, it wasn't a huge deal, cause it was really gross weather, and I wouldn't have wanted to be at the beach anyway. And this way I got to see some Italian countryside.. what countryside that was, I still have no idea. Anyway, I got to Atrani, a smaller town about a 10 minute walk from Amalfi, where my hostel was. And seriously.. it is an amazing coastline. Again - pictures would be nice. Anyway, its very steep and the cliffs plunge into the ocean, or sea rather, and all the pretty yellow, white and pink houses are built into the side. Its quite impressive. The hostel I was staying at was fine, but the owner was super super nice so that made everything much more enjoyable. He makes everyone free breakfast in the morning and put a smiley face in my cappuccino - too cute. He was also really helpful and excited about everything, so it was fun. However, the weather was (STILL) gross. Now we know why everyone in Europe is worried about climate change... because it rains ALL the time! anyway, I got some (late) lunch and then walked down to Amalfi to check things out - but it got kind of chilly and gross so I headed back to the hostel and hung out for a bit. I met a fellow solo traveler there and we went to get dinner and then walked around and went back to a bar near the hostel - it was "crazy hour" and all the drinks came in ridiculous pitchers with these ridiculously long straws.. Saturday I got up early, intending to hit the beach, but it was cold still, so I sat for a while fully clothed near the ocean. The beach was really just 100 meters of rocks.. there isn't actually much beach here because the mountains just go straight into the ocean. So about 11 it started to pour, so I ran to a cafe and worked on my paper, that was due today, some. Luckily after lunch, the weather cleared up and it turned out to be a super nice day. I practically sprinted down to the beach when the sun came out because I wanted to get all the sun in I could! I laid out for a while, swam in the freezing water, and then went on a hike up to Ravello, a small town further up the mountain. It turns out I hiked up the back way, meaning I had to climb up 1000000 stairs rather than down.. but it worked out. I was struggling for sure though! Anyway- Ravello! pretty much paradise.. that's really all I can say about it. There was a British group there for a wedding (i'm assuming) and all dressed up and looking classy. It would be the most amazing place to get married, (for future reference to anyone) I'm sure. The views of the rest of the coast and the beach were spectacular and you can all look forward to seeing the 300 pictures I took! Ravello is pretty touristy, but there are adorable cafes and shops all along the way. Point is - we should all go back... Spring Break 2009, anyone? The hike took a pretty long time, and I couldn't figure out how to get back down, so I just followed the road. It worked though. Saturday night I got dinner with my hostel friend. When we were in Amalfi we saw some people setting up a stage, so after inquiring, we found out that there was going to be live (free!) jazz that night. We, of course, went. It was equally ridiculous and amazing. Super super cheesy, but it was also fun. Plus I knew every song they played. When we were walking over a woman was singing "Georgia on My Mind." I thought that was a good sign. After that spectacle ended, we went to the other bar near the hostel (there were two) and chilled for the rest of the night. I came back to Rome yesterday, Sunday, and came to the school to work on my paper. Turns out its kind of inconvenient not to have a computer when the lab closes at 7 and you have a paper due the next day.. it worked out though.
The rest of this week I have class and I'm going to do some more Roman sight seeing. I think I'll head over to the Vatican on Wednesday. I've still got an awful lot on my list to see - and this is my last weekend in Rome! CRAZY! School ends June 20 and on the 21st I'm headed off to Venice for a few days, then Cinque Terre for a few days, and then home!
I hope everyone is well in the States. I miss you all and love you!

FIRENZE

So I'm a little behind on my blog posts.. My Professor gives us about 200 pages to read a night for class, so that takes up quite a bit of time. Anyway, no more excuses! Two weekends ago I went to Florence, where I met a friend from AU, Lauren, who is studying in Nice. We got there Thursday afternoon, grabbed a snack, and walked around Florence until dinner time. The hostel we were staying in a ridiculously nice - it had a pool, jacuzzi, restaurant, and bar! The shower was 10000 times better than the one in my apartment, I was sad to leave it. Anyway, the food in the restaurant was really cheap.. so we ate there the whole time. The theme of the trip was see how little money we could spend, yet somehow, we still spent a lot. We headed out to an Irish Pub on Thursday night and just chatted and caught up and such. Friday we went to Siena. We took a bus, which took a little over an hour. It was horrible weather, really rainy and cold, so we ran into the first cafe we could find and hung out for bit. After warming up, we walked around some more and saw the sights of Siena. Lauren studied in Siena for a few months a few years ago, so we walked down to where she lived. It was great cause she knew where to go the whole time! Eventually it got nice out, and the day was much more enjoyable. We went to the Palazzo Publico, which houses a series of frescoes on good versus bad government. That was really interesting to see, they are from the 14th century, so not all of the frescoes were in very good shape. It was impressive nonetheless. We also went to the Duomo, which was crazy cool. It's really bizarre how elaborate it is... the Duomo is Florence is really cool on the outside, but pretty simple on the inside. However, Duomo in Siena is ornate both inside and out. There is hardly an inch that isn't covered with statues or paintings or mosaics. I wish I could post pictures! Anyway, those are the two main things to see in Siena, but we walked around for a long time and hung out in the Piazza del Campo. Siena was really beautiful (especially after it stopped raining...) and its a cool place just to wander around.
Saturday we stayed in Florence. We had both been to Florence before, so we didn't feel it was necessary to stand in line for hours upon hours to get into the Uffizi or the Accademia. But it was good because we got to see some less well-known sights and churches. However, we did go into Santa Maria del Fiore and do the whole climb up to the Duomo, where you can look out over Florence. Can't really pass that up. I had never been to the Santa Maria Novella Church, so that was pretty cool too. We did some more wandering, got gelato, hung out on Ponte Vecchio, etc. etc. Sunday we saw some more churches (i feel useless explaining them without pictures...) and wandered around some more, and then both headed our separate ways in the afternoon. We had a really good time, even with the bad weather.
Then it was back to Rome! We didn't have class on Monday because it was the day Italy became a republic, therefore national holiday.. but it was rainy (AGAIN!) and everything was closed.. so I didn't do much all day. Its good to have a day to chill every now and again!