Tours, tours, and more tours

Sorry for not posting yesterday! It was crazy hectic with all of the tours. Friday night was fun! We went across the Tiber to the small town and stopped at a few bars. The first couple weren't that great and the prices were too high for us. It took a while to find somewhere, so a girl texted our RA, Miss McHugh, where she would recommend. We found the bar but were disappointed to see it was not only a tiny room, but it was empty. We walked in anyway to check it out and sat down for a minute. It didn't take long though before we got up to leave. A few girls were getting very frustrated not finding anywhere to go so the next bar we found we stopped at and tried to get a table inside. The place was packed, the prices were good, and it seemed like a great place to hang out. But, of course, they didn't have room for all 10 of us so we ended up paying to sit outside in the cold and drizzling rain... I got a ciocolatta calda con la crema di whiskey and I loved it. We just sat and talked. A few of us were getting kind of hungry so we ordered nutella crepes and they were amazing!! I may have found my new favorite sweet food, next to gelato of course. The rain completely cleared and we sat for about an hour before deciding to head back. Most of us had the 9am tour the next morning so staying out too late wasn't a great idea. A couple girls did stay out, though, and apparently they had an even better time. I personally loved the sleep.

The next morning it was almost impossible to get up but we managed to drag ourselves out of bed, and into the cold. At precisely 9am, the entire group of new students sat anxiously, with coffee in hand, to go to the Roman Forum. Twenty minutes later, when all coffee was finished, and girls were getting a bit unhappy, the two professors arrived. Without an apology for their tardiness, we began our weekend of unending walking. In about 5 or so minutes, we reached the strip of street reaching from the "Wedding Cake building" (giant white building that looks like a cake, but the nickname actually came from the fact it was dedicated to the man who united Italy) to the Colosseum. The whole length of road is lined with ruins dating back to ancient and imperial Rome. We all couldn't wait to get to the Colosseum and when we went to the gate of the Roman Forum to go for a walk around it, we felt taunted by the gigantic building. I really wasn't too excited for the Forum because tons of the ruins are visible from the street we had just walked along. I felt we had seen enough and I wanted to go see the Colosseum. But to my surprise, the Forum was a major highlight of my trip so far. We got to explore the house of Augustus and the complex of the Vestal Virgins, which apparently both are newly opened. The museums inside were also extremely interesting. Our tour guide was my art history professor, and she told us all about the history of just about every important structure. This tour ended around 12:20, and lunch wasn't until 1, so we explored the Forum on our own for a bit before heading back to the Tiz. For lunch we got a meat and cheese platter, pasta with pesto sauce, and fruit salad for desert. Directly after lunch ended, we went for tour number 2 of the day. We all thought it was silly to walk all the way to the forum in the morning and back to the hotel just to walk back to the Colosseum an hour later, but it worked out fine. The Colosseum was amazing. There were displays of bones found when excavating and we heard tons of history. Apparently there were enough pulley's for animals and trap doors to bring out 60 lions at the same time. We walked up and down stairs for two hours exploring every nook and cranny, but sadly our program didn't feel like buying us the tickets that also get you into the newly opened this winer bottom portion of the building, which honestly was what I was most excited for. That takes you down to where the cages and rooms were for the animals and gladiators. It is supposed to be amazing. I think I will have to go back. Once again, though, when the tour ended, we stuck around to take more pictures. Tyler and I decided that we would walk to the Piazza del Popolo afterwards. Miss McHugh said that one of the most amazing things she has seen in Rome is the sunset from the top of the hill at this piazza. We got to the main road leading there to realize it was packed with people protesting slaughter houses... To avoid them, we went to a different street and cut in a different way. By the time we got to the hill we were dead with throbbing feet. The longest we had sat all day was our 45min lunch. Still, we made our way up the extremely steep walkways to the top. It was so worth it!! After the sun went down the view was spectacular. We rested on a bench to watch the whole thing for an hour and when we felt rested enough we made our way back to the hotel. For dinner, we went to a small restaurant across from Pantheon (which is literally around the corner from the hotel). I had a bruschetta, pizza, and white wine. After that we head back to the room thinking we were going to crash and put up our sore feet. Instead a few girls convinced me to go out. I got showered, dressed, and head out. We started at Abbey Theatre, which is a very cute small bar, but was far too crowded. Instead of repeating friday night's adventures, we went to a bar we now know well, Scholar's. It was a blast! We all hung out and talked, and eventually joined another group of American students. We stayed out til about 3 and then head back to the hotel to get some sleep before our next tour.

Sunday morning my alarm went off far too early and we dragged ourselves out of bed once again to head out on another tour. We got to the Vatican around 10:15, and mass was at 10:30. We spent a little time outside in the main piazza area, then head into St Peter's at 10:20. Mass didn't look like it was going to be too crowded so we explored the basilica before heading up to the very front section for mass. We all sat in a pew just a few minutes before it began. While completely in Italian, I followed along decently well, and I think it may be one of my favorite Masses I have ever been to. It was gorgeous. Afterwards, Miss McHugh said we were going to get to see the Papal Audience, when the Pope goes to his window and speaks to the crowd, but turns out we didn't. Our tour started right away because we didn't have enough time to do everything before we needed to get onto the next tour. So while still in pain from the day before, we toughed it out for two hours. By the time they finished it was 1:20. We had to be back at the school building for the next tour at 2 and the walk is at least 20 minutes. Plus all we had eaten all day so far was a croissant and hot chocolate or coffee at 9am. We got back as quickly as possible, ran into the hotel to quick change into more comfortable touring shoes and clothes, and ran to the small cafe to get lunch. We got panini to go, and I got a powerade (which is surprisingly much tastier here in Italy.) While a few minutes late, the professors didn't mind. They let us have a minute to sit and eat, but as soon as we took our last bites we were herded out the door and to the Capitoline Museum. Now, after spending all day Saturday on our feet and all morning running around to meet our ridiculous schedules, we were all in throbbing pain and seriously craving some time to nap. We walked to the museum, climbed the massive hill to the top, and walked for 2 hours looking at some absolutely amazing art (which was the only thing keeping me going at that point.) We heard incredible stories about each piece we stopped at, and I got some neat photos. As soon as it was done, we hobbled back to the hotel and crashed. At 6:20, we got a knock on our door and our neighbors stopped by to tell us that they heard from some of the other American students from the night before. Apparently we were meeting them for dinner. My roommate and I once again pried ourselves away from our delightful beds and went out with them. Dinner was delicious (spaghetti with tomato sauce, nothing fancy), and the gelato after was even better. I came back to the room right after to relax since I have an 8am class, but some girls continued on with them to Scholars.

I must now depart to finish some reading for tomorrow and sleep. I will post again soon! Arrivederci!