May 23-25

I am off school on fridays, so I headed down to Piazza Venezia, where the Victor Emmanuel monument is, as well as a lot of other sights. I went to the Galleria Doria Pamphilji, which houses the familys private late-Renaissance art collection. (also i cant find the apostrophe on this italian key board, so sorry!) The family still lives in part of the building, which i imagine is equally as nice! It was a gorgeous gallery, but you cant take pictures... also i dont have my camera cord with me (i brought the wrong one) so i cant show you any pictures! Anyway, there were some cool paintings, notably a famous picture of Pope Innocent X by Velaquez. Innocent X was a member of the Pamphilji family, thus moving it to one of the most important and powerful families in Rome in the 17th century, which explains all the art.. anyway, I really liked the Gallery. I also saw two saints bodies in glass cases in the Chapel. One member of the Pamphijli family supposedly took the body of Saint Justin around with her wherever she went - creepy if you ask me. Also on Friday I went to the Pantheon again and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Romes only Gothic church. Saturday, I headed off to the beach with my roommate and a few other girls. The beach was really super crowded, but was only a 30 minute train ride outside of Rome, so it was easy and convenient. We didnt stay too long though, as it got cloudy and kind of cold. Yesterday, I did some running around and then spent most of the day reading for school and working on a presentation I had due today in class. It went well, and I was glad to get it out of the way so early in the semester. So all in all, I had a pretty good weekend. Im excited about Florence, this weekend, with my friend Lauren from AU (shes studying in Nice). Ive been running down along the Tiber river, which is about a block from my apartment, which is going really well - gotta get in shape for the Marine Corp Marathon! Its a pretty nice place to run, away from traffic, and most people tend to leave me alone! I hope everyone is well in Georgia, or wherever you may be! (im sure i have devout blog followers all over the world). I miss and love you all!