Midterms Week!

So I've finally caught you all up on my Florence adventures but I've been busy here in Rome since we got back also. I'll just do a quick recap of life since Saturday night as a study break, then back to the books.

Saturday after everyone had gone to their respective apartments the boys came back to our place cause we just weren't ready for the fun to be over! It's sad that the entire purpose of the hang out was to walk to the burger place under the arches between the boys place and St. Peter's. After a few card games and stories shared with Sophia and Ginny we all walked to the halfway point between our apartments to the most amazing burger place! It's just a little hole in the wall where we always see young people eating burgers late at night, there's no seating and the burgers are the size of two American burgers. I don't know what goes into "salsa rossa" but I want to bring it back to the states! Yum! After that Sophia Julie Peppers and I walked to St. Peter's at night because it was so nice out and we wanted to stretch our legs.

Sunday was a very relaxing day where we got to all sleep in and recover from our busy weekend. I'm so glad we decided to come home on Saturday and leave Sunday for unpacking, unwinding, and looking at that stack of books in the corner we should be studying. Julie and Sophia went for a feast/adventure in the Jewish Ghetto (there are places to go for groceries and food on Sundays!) and came back stuffed to the gills but so very happy. I'm eager to go see what all the fuss is about in the near future. Gatto was feeling ambitious and wanted to prepare some lasagna for everyone for dinner. Please note this woman is an amazing cook and we all worship her. I hope she never washes a dish while she's here. Since Kat was so excited for her lasagna I got to thinking and decided that the sunny crisp fall day was perfect for an apple pie. Problems: no pie crusts, no pie tins, no brown sugar, and no baking skills. All minor problems. I tried to make a graham cracker crust, nope no graham crackers in Italy. So I ended up taking my favorite Panne cookies and crushing them up, putting them in a square tin we had and then  sort of guessing at and combining recipes for the sugary goodness that gets drizzled over the layer of sliced granny smith apples. Popped it in the oven which made the apartment smell so cozy, and we all enjoyed it for dessert. Not too shabby. I think I will be recreating this dish (but of a larger size) for our Fall Break potluck on Thursday (yikes! tomorrow!).

Dinner was fantastic with Gatto's main course and my dessert, a little wine, and then Pepperoni, Julie, and I "studied" for our Baroque midterm. There might have been 20 minutes of actual review before skype, imgur, gmail, and a host of internet distractions broke through. So 20 minutes of studying with 2 and a half hours of "studying". At least we had fun!

Baroque  midterm came and went. I only woke up a few minutes earlier than normal to double check some dates before heading out to class. I think it went well. I had my hour Forma Urbis class afterwards which was all review, I had done some preliminary studying between the exam and class so thankfully when he asked for questions I had a couple. Feeling ok but need to study more. I came home and studied studied studied!

Today I woke up for my Renaissance midterm which I destroyed! About 2/3rds of the works are located in Florence and I saw them up close in person! It's much easier to remember locations when you have seen them in that church or that gallery or just a block away from my hostel and walked by them every day! Tomorrow holds the greatest challenge for me: Conservation followed by Forma Urbis! It'll be over by 2pm so I hope I'm prepared. Then celebration potluck! hooray!

Kat and I leave on Friday at noon for our romantic couples retreat to Dublin (where there will be a few IES students at the same time!), Edinburgh (Hi Mere!!!!), and Nice before returning to Rome for the weekend before school picks back up.

For good luck Italians say "Nella bocca al lupo!" and the response is "Crepi (il lupo)!" meaning "in the mouth of the wolf" and "may the wolf die"

Saturday in Firenze

Another late night out, this time at Space, and another bright beautiful morning to wake to! Our checkout time at the hostel was 10am so around 9:15 we were stirring and showering, packing up, cleaning up, trying to stuff our beautiful leather goods in the small luggage bags we brought. By 10:15 we were ready to roll, the kind hostel owner told us we could leave our luggage in the storage room while we explored in the morning because our train wasn't until 6pm that night.

First concern once we were out the door was food! We thought it'd be fun to just wander around and if we couldn't find a cafe head back towards Astor. We found one further up the street from Astor, right across from the apse of the Duomo. Today was a little bit chiller than before because the wind was really moving. The cafe we stopped in was playing music videos on the tv so we watched some Italian and some familiar American music videos and reminisced about the past two days of fun. During a break in the program there were updates about Parliament's vote of confidence for Burlusconi and the "protesting" in Rome and around the world. If Parliament had a vote of no confidence in Burlusconi (only off by maybe 15 votes) he would no longer hold power and there would be new elections ect. They voted for him so he's got the power still. This on top of the protesting already taking place (which we were warned to stay away from because it was very likely to be violent) caused just a smidgen of mayhem in Rome. While we were chomping into some delicious panini in Florence the streets of Rome were being torn apart and set on fire by the Black Bloc. This small group of individuals attend peaceful protests and create confusion and destruction. No matter what is shown on tv 80% or more of the protesters wanted nothing to do with the violent destructive acts that took place. We sat in amazement watching places we've been for field studies swarmed with people and riot police. We all thanked our stars we were far far away.

A Noir Bloc is hitting the car while the media ignores the peaceful protesters
Grazie Gatto ;) 

What we saw on the news, burning cars in Rome!

But this is what we saw on our way to breakfast

After another great meal abroad we headed back to the leather market because Kat had second thoughts and decided she needed that beautiful brown leather jacket she fell in love with the day before. We all went back, we introduced Julie to O.A.F. (Our Albanian Friend) and she bought lots of bracelets and a little pouch of leather while he tore her apart! His first comment to her was "Where did you get your sunglasses? the Barbie Store?" haha please see the cute pictures of her in the pink cateye sunglasses. Later he mentioned the Jersey Shore again and I remembered "Oh yeah! Julie's from New Jersey!" He turned to her and said in the most serious voice with his broken English accent "You, go kill yourself" then burst out laughing. He was hilarious!  Julie loved him just as much as the rest of us and he even gave her a bracelet for free since she bought so much. Another fun moment when my heart was bursting with happiness was sharing the math homework cheating joke with my friends. It was a solid five minutes of laughing in the middle of the market in the sun. Then we all split up because most of them wanted to go shopping but the smart ones (Julie, Aven, and I) were going to the Uffizi Gallery!!!!  How could we go and NOT visit the Uffizi? Especially since I am taking a Renaissance class here and we have studied a third of the museum!

Aven, Julie, Pepperoni

The three of us found the river and walked along it in the bright sunlight, stopping to admire some statues and public art and the ponte vecchio on our way to the museum. We found a cool sculpture that was some sort of rounded column type form but based on the sun's position it was a sundial in the afternoon and would show what zodiac sign we were in. It was very cool. Once we reached the Medici building where the Uffizi is we got a little turned around trying to find the entrance and the correct line. We decided to give the line 30 minutes and if we were nowhere near the doors we would leave and go to Santa Croce instead (still bummed I missed that). After 45 minutes were inside! What a short wait! The first room in the Uffizi houses Cimabue and Giotto's Madonna and Child Enthroned side by side. What?!!??! My favorite artist's second most influential work right next to his master's!!! That room was heaven for me and I'm so glad to see it first because it's a long museum and by the end we were dragging our feet. I honestly cannot describe the joy that nearly every room of paintings and sculptures brought me. I can't list every amazing work of art I saw. The number of things I've studied from Sturd sophomore year all the way through my classes here in Rome. Please visit it, please please please. It is full of Renaissance masterpieces! Julie and Aven aren't quite as experienced with art history as I am so I was a mini-tour guide (yes Aven that's tore not two-er). Aven would walk up behind while I am sighing over some artwork and say "So tell me about this one. What's important?" and off I would ramble! It was a blast and they humored me as well as giving new names to some artworks and pointing out some of the funnier looking portraits in the backgrounds of works. General conscientiousness though: John the Baptist looks over-served in every image (when he's not a baby). Must be because he was starving in the wild or something, but the red crossed eyes didn't help his case either.

Aven and I with Ponte Vecchio behind us

A cool statue along the river

Since it was getting late (we spent about 2.5 maybe 3 hours in the museum) we left to go back to the hostel to meet up with the group, collect our belongings, and go to the train station. On the way back Aven and I stopped in Festival del Gelato (which again I had read about in the guidebook) which we happened to walk by.  They have over 70 different kinds of gelato and we were hungry! I tried the snickers with chocolate fondante (70% cacao) and kiwi! Aven copied me but got strawberry on top. Honestly the snickers was a big let down, not very good nor tasted like snickers. The chocolate was AMAZING! I'm going to try and find something similar in Rome. The Kiwi was also very good but a little too crisp and fresh for the chilly day (never too cold for gelato?).

We grabbed our luggage and friends and went back to the train station by Santa Maria Novella. We were very early but just wanted to make sure we knew what tracks to go to. Thank goodness!! Turns out the tickets we bought were from a different train station and to get there we had to take a train! The nice man at the information desk saved us. We hopped onto the short 5 minute train to the other station. There we had time to kill so we bought some pizza for dinner and played a celebrity name game Tom shared with us. Then onto the train and home to Termini. We weren't sure we were going to be able to catch a bus from Termini because of all the rioting that was taking place. Thankfully once we were at the station our bus was running and there were quite a few police standing around with nothing to do so we felt safe.  Rome again Home again!

Thus ends my wonderful Florence experience. So far Florence is the best vacation city I've ever been to. I wouldn't want to live or study there because there are so many tourists that English is heard on the streets more than Italian. I didn't see the gritty heart of the city like I can find in Rome but still it's classical beauty is peaceful and calming.

Ciao Firenze

First Full Day in Firenze

After a short sleep (or long nap) after Twenty One we were all up and about at a reasonable time thanks to the beautiful sunlight pouring through the window and the sounds of a market just outside our hostel. What a wonderful way to wake up! It took the seven of us a little while to get out the door between everyone showering and us girls primping (ok Aven too) but we hit the streets in search of brunch. When we went outside we realized that the large empty portico/covered square we saw the night before had transformed into a bustling crowded market of stalls selling leather goods, shot glasses, scarves, and mementos of all sorts. We stopped for a couple minutes to browse. In the meantime Lexi and I formed a plan to meet up at Astor for our lunch and a coffee break for her after classes. We walked out of the market and past the Duomo, getting a good look at it in the daylight and of course Ghiberti's doors on the baptistery. If you're not familiar with the contest for the bronze doors do a little research on it. Donatello was a sore loser and never returned to metalwork afterwards! While everyone chatted admiring the buildings I was turning round and round trying to absorb it all, I didn't know which way to look! Aven handed me his camera and said "I don't know what I'm looking at, take pictures for me"  what a sweetheart. So I used up nearly all his memory I'm sure. Just on the opposite side of the Duomo from our hostel (that would be the north side for those keeping score at home, padre) we found Astor. Astor is a casual economic dining place during the day, offering hamburgers and breakfast!! Two things I haven't seen in a while and everyone was very excited to see again. At night however they clear out all the tables and it becomes a dance club. We met up with Lexi and she was rushed through all six of my friend's names, sorry Lex! So we chatted and her friend AJ showed up for a bit. She grabbed my guidebook (thank you Snoble!!!) and started pointing out and writing down all the best restaurants and clubs and museums that she has been to or heard of, including Dante's Pizzeria which gives students free wine. Dinner plans were quickly decided upon. We chatted for a bit more but Lexi was headed to Napoli for the weekend and needed to get home. It was wonderful seeing my high school friend while in Italy and I hope to see more soon Ellisians!

Aven rubbing the boar's nose for luck
at the market just outside the hostel

Gatto and I in front of the Duomo

The Dome

beautiful

Ghiberti's winning panel is the upper right

After we stuffed ourselves we got in line to climb the campanile (bell tower) of the duomo. My (Snoble's) guidebook said it was less crowded and a little more interesting which I completely agree with! There were only a few other climbers besides us, there were scenic views where you could stop and breath or just soak it all in (while the duomo gives you no rest) and best of all it was a little cheaper. You MUST climb the tower if you ever visit. It is breathtaking and each platform you reach just gets more and more amazing. As we climbed the wind grew stronger and was whipping my scarf until I had fear it would fly away! It was exhilarating! There was a point near the top where you can look down a grate straight to the bottom level. The staircase was nice and wide after St. Peter's and had windows looking out over the sprawling city soaking up the morning sun. Giotto was a pro (literally) and made a beautiful campanile. Once we reached the top and stood in silence looking out over the city we all agreed that one moment was worth the price of the trains and hostels, just for that single moment in the sun looking out over picturesque Firenze. Climbing back down was just as pretty but the rush of racing up to the highest point was past. We somehow got a little split up at the top and a couple of us sat on the benches from the night before gazing at the church and tourists and Italians while we waited for the other group. My tummy was full, my friends were around me, and Giotto was in front of me. I was so happy. This entire trip was amazing.

Vista on the way up

It keeps getting better

 

What a beautiful city

From the top

Made it!

ciao duomo, colline, e la mia citta perfetta

The baptistery from above

Picture of the Centro ladies on the trip

Fierenze, Italy 2011

Since I kinda know my stuff about Renaissance art (beep beep?) and Snoble had gifted me a sick guidebook of Florence I was charged with producing suggestions for our itinerary. I suggested Santa Maria Novella because it houses Masaccio's Trinity (one of the biggies at the turn of the Renaissance) aaaand Giotto's crucifixion, what could be more perfect for the low low price of 2,50euro? We trooped over and actually ended up finding the side of the church (right across the street from the train station!) so we could admire the architecture which ties in with, but is different from the facade. Around the front of the building though we discovered a pleasant green piazza without the confusion of cars or shops, just a quiet place to rest and admire the beauty of la chiesa. We walked inside (sadly no pictures allowed) and found the price was a whopping 3,50euro and after the hour or so we spent inside I would have paid 50euro for that place. It is amazing how many influential artists they have collected or have worked on this building, and it's some of the better known works of art! Sure the only Michaelangelo they had was a vase (which was still cool) but the chapels were all so elaborately decorated in different styles each perfectly expressing a significant artistic trend and for the most part designed or produced by really really famous artists! I was in heaven. My favorite piece was the round stained glass window at the back of the church, with piercingly brilliant colors perfectly lit by the early afternoon sun. I tried to share some of my info with my friends who patiently listened to my rushed excited whispers, but at some point I drifted off and had little moments of peace, trying to memorize every moment inside that church. This was my favorite part of the trip. When I wandered back towards the alter where my friends were seated, all together, chatting with each other, giggling, resting, admiring the church around them, that was my perfect moment. I was in the most gorgeous church I have ever seen and with some of my best friends in Firenze. Perfect.  What was even nicer, when they tore me away from my Santa Maria Novella we went out to the piazza again where a small band had set up and was playing sweet folky music to a gathered crowd by the fountain. We all took a sit break in the grass, in the sunshine, goofing off and planning out our next move together. It was really nice to have these relaxing times as well as our nutso dance offs and potlucks.   thanks guys :)

Sitting on the obelisk in front of Santa Maria Novella 

This video makes me smile

Aven in front of Santa Maria Novella

Tom was on the phone with Joe and Dre (a couple from our IES Roma program) who were also spending the weekend in Florence, to celebrate their two year anniversary. Too cute. So we met up with them at the duomo to try and do something fun together. The original plan was to go to the Uffizi next but I knew I would overload on art way too quickly after that feast inside Santa Maria Novella. When we found Joe and Dre they told us they had just been to the leather market and bought Joe a nice new jacket and that we just had to go and explore. They were going to see another part of Florence but we planned to meet up for dinner, turns out that cute couple on our floor of the hostel... yeah it was them! perfetto! So while the seven of us headed towards the fresh smell of leather and some serious retail therapy (and haggling practice) they promised to meet us back at the hostel before dinner.

The leather market is two or three long winding streets with stalls on either side selling a few souvenirs and lots of leather products. I'm talking so make jackets and purses and wallets I didn't know what to do! We all sort of split into small groups bumping into each other now and again and mixing it up. It was nice and sunny and little bit windy. I found a small change purse made from the softest leather. I keep losing my coins in my purses and my one crappy wallet and coins in Europe really add up (they love exact change and those two euro coins are important). Kat found a jacket she loved but couldn't bring herself to buy, Julie got the perfect small backpack and small purse, along with a cherry red wallet small enough to fit in said purse. Pepperoni got some belts and everyone bought little gifties to bring home to friends and family. At one point Pepperoni, Aven, and I bought bracelets from a vendor who was very outgoing. This man, dubbed "Our Albanian Friend", spoke English very well and had lots of cute smaller items at his stall. We chatted about NYC and Philly and how he doesn't like people from Philly (not sorry Tahm) and his impersonation of an American young man is very funny. We talked about the cast from The Jersey Shore who were filming in Florence not too long ago. He was just a funny funny guy and was cracking jokes the entire time we talked with him. Tom and Pepperoni were both wearing short sleeved shirts and were getting very chilly so they wanted to go coat shopping. Pepperoni didn't even bring a coat with him to Europe! boys. So we hit the more modern streets in search of a nice jacket. In the same store we found the exact style of jacket Tom wanted, the perfect coat for Peppers, a blazer that looks so fine on Aven, and when Mattly found us he managed to swipe a navy peacoat that makes that gentleman look like a model! We left the store with the boys looking sharp!

The boys in their new jackets!
Aven, Pepperoni, Mattly, Tom, Joe

View from Ponte Vecchio at sunset

The girls
Dre, Kat, Julie, Me

All together now!

The roomies and Mattly

Back at the hostel we compared our purchases and haggling skills. Mattly walked away with the most (aka no food money for a month now) we think but he looks so good in his new coat and shoes, what a stud. Joe and Dre came over to our room and we all sat around chatting for an hour or so to recharge for that night. Tom's friend insisted that we go to Piazzale Michaelangelo at sunset so Tom got us moving out the door in that direction. We took the slightly longer route to get there, traversing Ponte Vecchio and stopping for a photoshoot. Once across the river we were faced with a mountain to climb! We thought we had reached the top, but oh no, that 300 step staircase was waiting for us. Whew! First the bell tower, then the hill, now the stairs! Told you we climbed a lot. The hike is most definitely worth it though. We were just a little past sunset but the fierce fiery orange sky contrasted with the pitch black skyline which was so crisp that night. We could see out over the entire city and the river from this spot. The bell tower was nice because you had the 360 view of Florence, but from Piazzale Michaelangelo it was spread before you like a picture in a book. The stunning view left us all silent for minute as we soaked up the view, the reality that we were in Florence, studying in Italy, and with the greatest group of friends. We walked around a bit at the piazzale until the glowing lights were brighter than the sinking sun. Next stop was dinner because we were famished! We walked along the river for a while but it was quaint because it was mostly modernish stores and houses styled after the originals, so it was neither obnoxious and new nor crumbling and sketchy. It was a pleasant walk to Dante's with big carved wooden doors to every house or apartment building. Once at Dante's we foolishly forgot to get a reservation for the nine of us. Sorry! But we only waited for maybe ten minutes before they could seat us in two groups. Aven, Pepperoni, Mattly, Gatto and I all ate together, trying to take bites of our food between laughing. It was a fun meal and just a little classier than usual. I treated myself to the tiramisu for dessert..... I just don't know what I'm going to do when I get home. I'm in love with this food. It was just .... nope. no words. so good. Sadly the waitress informed us that the free wine discount was only for students studying in Florence, but that was ok with us and it's a nice idea (hint hint Roma, catch on). After we had all eaten and the other table sipped their grappa we slowly made our way along the river back to our hostel with grins on our faces and good Italian food in our bellies.

Piazzale Michaelangelo

Only thing keeping this from perfection:
Principe is taking the picture instead of in it

Fierenze

Dinner group

At the hostel we all changed for the club, more than one of us had heard that Space is a really cool club and it wasn't far from our hostel (primo location) so we thought we would check it out. We started off in that direction, then realized we actually didn't know where we were going exactly so we ran back up to our room to double check on the laptop. Did I mention we were on the 4th floor of this hostel and that the elevator fit only 3 people at a time. Lots of stairs. Once we were confident with the directions we found the club and again no cover charge, but there's a catch. They cleverly hand out tickets when you enter and every time you get a drink they punch your ticket. It's ten euro for the ticket and one drink, but you pay when you leave. So either you had had enough to drink that you don't realize how much you've spent, or what we liked was that we could go in and dance without the initial guilt "wow I just spent ten euro, this had better be fun". Also if you lose your ticket they make you pay 50 euro when you leave, ouch. So we all took good care of our tickets and avoided more than the first drink that came with the cover charge. We all had the dancing fever and shared another fantastic night out on the floor together. One bummer of the night: I took charge of Julie's camera because I take more pictures than she does, to make it fit in my pocket I moved my cell phone into the pocket with my new change purse and over the course of the night I didn't realize my phone fell out! We searched the club, Pepperoni went back to the club after he walked home with Kat and I and looked again, I even called the club's number and talked with a gentleman who called the cleaning people but to no avail. I lost my phone (sorry Victoria!). Thankfully it's not my real cell phone, just a cheapo nokia vodafone. So that needs to be replaced pronto. Besides that, great night! We were all so tired from our adventures and the late night we cuddled up with our pillows and went to sleep.

 

Perfect day.
Simply Perfect.

Thursday Oct 13th: It Just Kept Getting Better

Thursdays are my Ginny days, where we travel around on our Conservation and Forma Urbis field studies together all morning. We started off to IES so that Federica could finish our discussion of xrays, then we hopped a couple buses and hiked up a hill (turns out we ended up on top of the Spanish steps) to reach Villa Medici. I believe the Villa is a garden/park/museum type place? Not really sure. We just breezed through the door and waltzed past the off limits ropes up to a garden area. Federica led us to the studiolo (small study) of Ferdinando de'Medici which is right above the Aurelian walls. When the French Academy took possession of the estates they painted the walls with whitewash, covering up one of the most scientific and precise (and earliest) depictions of North American wildlife which was frescoed on the ceiling. This fresco was uncovered in the 80's and restored, but the ethics, techniques, and goals of restoration have changed drastically since then. There is a team working on the studiolo now undoing or revising what they can from the previous restoration and simply "enhancing" what is already there, not adding or altering the original work. Surprisingly watercolors are one of the preferred tools of conservationist today. There are people getting paid (very little money, but still) to sit and listen to their ipods as they watercolor all afternoon in some of the most exclusive and exciting venues in the world!! What a life. We were permitted into the small room amid scaffolding and tarps and a wheelbarrow and buckets and many things I do not know the name of in English, with all of the workers and their bright white overalls and hoodies. That was really really cool to go inside where they were working. We couldn't see the ceiling very well but through the slits we got some glimpses...... then Federica and her best friend who was running the show took us up the ladder onto the scaffolding to examine it up close. Zero restrictions on photographs, I touched the fresco and examined it under raking light. So. Incredibly. Awesome. We had full private access passes to a work in progress with very funny Italians. It was such an amazing morning and I never wanted to leave! If you check the title of this entry though, you know that it only gets better from here (what a starting point!)

View from the back gardens at Villa Medici

Romping through the gardens

I really like this picture

Looking up at the ceiling through the scaffolding
We thought this was as close as we could get until....

Climbing up the ladder

ta-da! Ginny and Lauren

Jamming to their ipods ignoring us to continue watercoloring

Peacock fresco

Guy on the right was in charge and Federica's friend

Blurry picture of me

Next stop? Il Colosseo! For my Forma Urbis class we met Gianni at the Arch of Constantine for a quick review of the Valley of the Colosseum's layout. We then headed into the Colosseum for a tour with Gianni. After walking uphill to Villa Medici the very tall steps on the very steep staircase in the colosseum were not appealing, but climb I did. (Just now realizing how much climbing I've done since Thursday morning, you'll catch on shortly).At the top Gianni stopped and let us take a bunch of pictures, then proceeded with his lecture. At one point somebody asked about the authenticity of the movie Gladiator, thankfully he fully loves and supports that movie! He then broke down four or five scenes from the movie and used it to help teach our class. So cool. Of course he's worked on the colosseum before but no special tours this time. I learned lots academically, can't seem to remember anything fascinating or cool at this moment; except perhaps that when Nero was emperor he builts the Domus Aurea (Golden Palace) which was huuuuuge all the way around the valley and onto the three hills and he created a lake in the valley, exactly where the colosseum stands today! They used the foundations from the man-made lake to support the colosseum. The history of this area and the structures around it really exemplify the role of emperor and his goals as well as the interests of the public and their daily lives. We walked all around and up and down the colosseum looking at the bricks and arches and travertine. Gianni explained everything in a concise, interesting, and informative way just like he always does. After the colosseum we went out to the Arch of Constantine again so we could discuss it. I'm not quite a huge fan of the arch just because he stole from older monuments (including the Nerva Forum) to create his triumphal arch. Rude. Just pay people to make new art and stick it on your arch instead of defacing such treasures! In reality I can't be entirely upset with the arch because it is really cool and connects a lot of emperors together. Gianni apparently wrote a thesis book about the arch so he went on and on and on. I love him, it's all very interesting, however I had to run back home to do some last minute reviewing for my Italian midterm and pack for Florence! He finally let us go so Ginny and I came back to make lunch (at 4pm), study, and I packed. I was only a little bit rushed and no disasters.

Outside the colosseum

The wood pretending to be a sand platform hiding
the basement rooms

Amanda was so happy to be here!!

Colosseum

I chose the right day to rock the gladiators
Gianni even complimented them

Picture inside the colosseum

I really loved the scenic views from the upper level
(maybe more than the actual building?)

Detail of Hadrian's tondi

Snapped a picture of the Arch of Titus from the Colosseum

Dacian prisoner on the attic of Constantine

Arch of Constantine

I sat for my written Italian midterm which was ok. We watched an interview with Audrey Hepburn from the 80's, turns out she is entirely fluent in Italian! Brava bella! Tom and I got out of our test early so we walked down the street to the kebab place and got sandwiches/wraps made from freshly shaved meat on a skewer. It was a little bit spicey but delicious. We walked back and met up with Julie to go to the bus stop, stopped by Fillipo's for Julie's dinner of pizza. Rode the most crowded bus ever to Termini, found one street was closed off and had to stay on the bus along an alternate route taking another ten minutes. Once at the station we met up with the others (Aven, Mattly, Pepperoni, and Gatto) to catch our train. The train ride was so much fun, in fact the entire weekend was a blast! The combination of our personalities magically balanced out to perfection. On the train Gatto, Mattly, and I were in one cabin and watched Gladiator on Mattly's computer (since Gianni mentioned it this morning). Aven, Julie, Tom, and Pepperoni played card games in the cabin next door and there was some floating between the two. We brought two bottles of wine for the two hour trip and some higher power was on our side because nobody drank more than is prudent (when going to a city you don't know and trying to find a hostel at 9pm), everyone was laughing and having a good time, and Gladiator was timed perfectly! We caught the credits while the train slowed to a stop in the station. From the station Pepperoni led the charge to the hostel which was very close and we didn't make any wrong turns. We all shared one big room, there were two double beds so two boys and two girls doubled up but otherwise everyone had a bed and plenty of space. There were two bathrooms on this floor (there was one other larger group on our floor and one quiet couple you'll hear about later). A great hostel, thanks to Sara's apartment for the tip from their previous weekend in Florence.

We are like three year olds on the train

Turning our seats into beds

Once we were unpacked and settled we started thinking about the evenings activities. While a couple of us were in the mood for a bar or quieter scene Julie's need to boogie won us over and we tried to find some clubs online. I texted my high school friend Lexi who is studying abroad in Florence for ideas and she hooked us up with three or four places. We decided to try Twenty One, a bar very close to our hostel which has a Wed-Sat special, 3 drinks for 10 euro. Considering the price of a single drink at a club is normally like 5-8 euro this was a bargain! We went exploring and found a place to grab pizza on the way to the club, once there we were told it doesn't open until midnight (it was 11:35) so we decided to explore more until then. In our wandering we stumbled upon the duomo piazza accidentally. Seeing Giotto's bell tower (one of my favorites) rise above me with the piazza opening up in front of me at night, with nobody but my friends around, that moment will remain with me forever. We were all in high spirits and laughing and running around so happy to be in Florence, and there in front of me is one of the most decorated and innovative buildings in Italy. Pure joy.We found a bench to sit on and admire the church until the club opened. Just after midnight we were starting to get chilled so we headed back to 21. As many of you know I'm not really a dancer, I'm not really a girl who enjoys "clubbing". Overpriced drinks, cover charges, drunk people, creepy people, loud music, and nonstop dancing aren't that appealing to me. I had so much fun at 21!!! The seven of us were the first people to show up (so cool right?) and we found out there is no cover charge!! That is unheard of in Rome except sometimes girls can get in for free. So for 10 euros we bought a punch card for three drinks that was good until Saturday night at 1am. We took over the dance floor (since there was nobody to compete with) and tried some new drink ideas. I loved every minute I was out that night. We had a blast and danced for hours! At one point somebody was a little tired and wanted to go home, we all look at eachother and agree "yep, we're tired too! let's all go back together and go to sleep!" It was the most cheerful thing departing together and dancing ourselves the two minute walk back to the hostel. The clean hostel and comfy bed was nice to come home to. What a night. What a day. I would say perfect, but if you can believe it Friday was even better. I've dubbed Friday the most perfect day in Italy thus far. An amazing academic morning and a great beginning to our Firenze trip.

We found the Duomo!

Campanile at night

Only people at the club!

Walking the streets of Florence