Roma, Ti Amo

Our sojourn into Rome could not be described with a wider array of adjectives: exciting, exhausting, entertaining, eye-opening, awe-inspiring...the list goes on. Most of us left early Friday morning, some Thursday night; either way, almost everyone was traipsing through the Eternal City by Friday afternoon. On Friday alone, we climbed the Spanish Steps (la Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna); made wishes on coins dropped into the Trevi Fountain (la Fontana di Trevi); stood beneath the oculus of the Pantheon (il Pantheon); and saw the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine (il Colosseo e l'Arco di Costantino) in all their breathtaking glory. After all of that, we went to the Hard Rock Café for as American a dinner as we could get, then a few of us saw Sex and the City 2 in a very Italian theater. Did you know that you could purchase cappuccino, espresso, wine, and cocktails, cake and gelato, as well as hotdogs, popcorn, and nachos in an Italian theater? And very much like an airplane and a first-class Eurostar train, they give you assigned seats.

Saturday was a hectic day - most of us were touring the Vatican and the city at large. Just a recap: the Vatican City is a landlocked sovereign state within the city of Rome, and the capital of Catholicism. I Musei di Vaticano - the Vatican Museums - house innumerable works of art (including Raphel's "School of Athens," Perugino's "Madonna and Child with Saints," and Giotto's "Stefaneschi Triptych" -- shout out to Marcia Cooper for Art History 116!), as well as the legendary and magnificent Sistine Chapel (la Capella Sistina). Over 4 million people visit the museums each year.

And let me tell you, that statistic isn't lying.

Gorgeous and unforgettable though the Vatican museums and gardens were, it was a long, hot, sweaty, crowded, hurried, exhausting trek through the beauty, art and history of hundreds of years. That isn't to demean the experience itself; that is just to say, make sure you have stamina and a lot of water.

I'll leave you with this, as I have to head over to the other apartment for dinner. Here is a grocery list of what I learned in Rome:

1. Crazy Roman drivers trump crazy New York drivers any day.

2. Asking for crepes in Rome is bound to be an adventure.

3. Everyone is going to sell you something.

4. Nobody cares if you're in the way.

5. Sneakers will be your best friends and taxi cabs the luxury you wish you could afford.

6. Learn to haggle.

7. Police officers are no help. They don't know where they are anymore than you do.

8. There will always be more people than hairs on your head.

9. You will always feel like you smell. Don't worry, everyone else does too.

10. Though chaotic, tiring, loud,  crowded and ridiculously large, Rome really IS as beautiful as everyone says.

Buona serata! :]

 xoxo Ashley