getting involved.

Hello again!

I'm officially involved! As of today I am the study abroad chair for Student Government at AUR. I'm definitely excited for some of the events that are being planned. We're doing a murder mystery event, a casino night, a graffiti cleaning up event and several others! I'm also on the committee for the farewell event in May. Possible suggestion were renting out the top of Castel Sant'angelo! I'm excited! It will be a fun to get more involved with the school!

Arrivederci!

roofies, the ghetto, and break ins.

Sooo I should probably wait awhile before I bitch and complain about a given day! Turns out this weekend was GORGEOUS! I can definitely smell spring in the air!

When I woke up on Friday morning it was absolutely pouring out, but by 11 it had stopped raining and the sun was starting to poke out! I met up with a group of people from AUR to go on a tour of the Jewish ghetto in Rome. Highlights were the synagogue, the ancient fish market, Teatro di Marcello, and the bakery! I got a cranberry muffin and a chocolate chip cookie!! Soooooo good!!! After the ghetto tour we went to an "interactive" exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci. They took a bunch of Leonardo's sketches for inventions and re-created them. It was an interesting exhibit, but the most interactive it got was turning a few cranks.

I really enjoyed Leo's bicycle. :]

After that we decided to make some lunch. We went to Campo di Fiori to go to the market to get fresh ingredients as well as a local supermarket. We ended up making mozzarella stuffed zucchini in a tomato sauce served over rice! It was really really good! After that we started to plan out some more possible weekend trips, I'll keep you updated as they get confirmed! :]

That night Vivi, Clara and I ended up going to an exhibition opening at an art gallery in Trastevere. It was for British artist Tracey Emin. Her work included a lot of embroidery, one painting, and a piece of video art. It was a very interesting collection, I definitely wouldn't want to purchase the art I saw, but I was glad we went.

After we got done we decided to find some food. Since it was still super nice out we got some pizza and just sat in the main piazza on a fountain and enjoyed the scenery.

The fountain that we were sitting on for dinner.

We then decided that dessert was a must! :) The previous night we found a gelateria right by my apartment that has the greatest assortment of pastries EVER! So naturally we had to go back for round two! I think I might be a regular by the end of the semester! :] Right as we were getting ready to bite into our desserts we got a call from a friend asking if we wanted free dinner. A group of people we knew had made reservations for 13 people but only 5 showed up. Thus we got the call and free food! It was at the restaurant that I ate at my second weekend here, Le Fate. Dinner was soooo good! Thankfully the pizza we had had before wasn't all that big because La Fate treated us really good! For appetizers we got bruschetta, another bread thing like bruschetta, soup, a cheese plate, a meat plate, and a plate of steamed vegetables. Then for the main course there were three different types of pasta, a penne, a spaghetti, and a carbonara. Then after all that we got tiramisu! And of course there was abundant amounts of wine and coffee and tea afterward! To say I was stuffed would be an understatement.

Saturday I slept in and did some cleaning around the apartment. Then for the afternoon I met up with people from school again and went on a tour of Aventine Hill. We got to see an orange garden which had a beautiful view of the city as well as two churches. We also got to look through the keyhole which had a perfect view of St. Peter's through it. I'm going to try to get a good picture of it eventually, but there was a line when we were there! After the tour Stephen took us to see St. Johns. It's a gorgeous church that is actually the oldest basilica and ranks number one in importance in Rome. When we went there was mass going on, so I'm definitely going to have to go back and take pictures there as well.

Outer facade of St. John's.

That night all my cravings were answered and we got Chinese food!! I was extremely happy! I will say that the food definitely is different here. The chicken fried rice, had significantly less fry to it, and the sweet and sour sauce had a lot more vegetables. Nonetheless, it was a good change in food!

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. We went to Bocca della Verita, or the mouth of truth. The legend is that if you are a liar and place your hand in the mouth it will get bitten off. It got popularized in the movie Roman Holiday. Lucky for me I'm not a liar and still have both hands! :]


We then went again to Porta Portese flea market where I got a calculator that I needed for my class. We decided to grab lunch and stroll through the park that's right across from our school. It was really pretty and the weather was simply fantastic! The rest of the day I spent doing homework, cleaning, and enjoying a little downtime.

This is the front gate to my school. Our campus is really small and only consists of 5 buildings.

Also, very typical of me, I slept through a ton of commotion at our apartment last night. I went to bed early because I'm trying to shake a cold before I head off to Austria. Just after I went to sleep my roommates came home from the weekend and thought that someone had broken into the apartment, because their door was blocked. They ran upstairs and called the AUR emergency line. So then the AUR people and the police came to the apartment and checked everything out. Turns out the small closet door to their room had opened causing the door to not open. So everything was fine, and clearly no one had broken in because I was home all weekend. In true Lindsey fashion I didn't even find out until noon today. EPIC FAIL.

That's all for now!

Love and miss you all!

rain rain go away.

I just wanted to say that I'm starting to despise the rain.

It is not ideal for walking in, waiting in, taking notes in, or taking pictures in.

I should have gotten rain boots when I had the chance.....

That is all.

tales of the creeper.

This past weekend Vivi, Clara and I set off for Firenze, Italy, otherwise known as Florence.

We left on Thursday night after our class. We almost missed our train due to confusing train boards and unhelpful information workers! Turns out when you buy the super cheap tickets your train doesn't even make it into the main station, we had to walk about ten minutes down the tracks to find the side platform where our train was leaving from. After that the train ride went smoothly, it was a four hour ride, which we spent talking and planning out the weekend. I did feel like Harry Potter though, as I haven't been on a train since I was about 8. :)

We got into Florence at 11 and headed towards our hostel. There wasn't anyone to actually let us in, so we had to call a number to get into the building. Our hostel was the floor of an apartment with 5 rooms and bathrooms, but for only 8 Euro we had nothing to complain about....yet. So since we went with the cheapest possible room, we were in a 5 mixed dorm. Well lucky us, there was one other occupant to our room that was a 30 something year old from Bucharest, Romania. Turns out he was living in the room for the past few months. That first night he pretty much told us his life story, including showing Vivi (she was the only one who is really good at understanding Italian) all his certificates from Elementary school on.

We got up early on Friday morning and made a quick escape from our room. First thing we went to was the Uffizi Gallery. It is an art museum that holds the works of Michelangelo, da Vinci, Botticelli, Raphael etc. It was really cool. We then got lunch where I had a calzone as big as my face! It was intense! We then decided to walk around for a bit and saw things such as Palazzo Vecchio, where the replication of David is, Santa Croce, and Ponte Vecchio. Ponte Vecchio is a bridge and on the way to I saw Lucchetti d'amore for the first time. It's a tradition in Italy for couples to carve their initials on a lock and throw the key into the river thus sealing their love. Needless to say I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the locks, they're everywhere!


After simply walking around and enjoying the city we decided to go to Santa Maria del Fiore otherwise known as "Il Duomo." The Duomo is the main church in Florence and is absolutely gorgeous! For eight Euro you can walk up to the top. It's a total of 463 steps and is quite a trek. We complained the whole way up, but once you get to the top it's quite literally breathtaking! You can see ALL of Florence and some of the surrounding Tuscany. We ended up staying there for at least 45 minutes just taking in the view!



We then decided to go back to the hostel and relax for a bit before dinner. When we got there our lovely roommate was talking about washing. We were all confused until he went to the window and presents us with my sweatpants. I had left them on my bed that morning, and our roommate washed them. It was super weird! He was trying to be nice, but it just added to his creeper status. Thankfully I had leggings with me, so those were my pajamas for the rest of the trip. After that awkwardness we found a fabulous restaurant where I had chicken, roasted potatoes, bread with olive oil, and a nice glass of Chianti! It was delicious. We then went to a bar (a bar here is where you can buy coffee, wine, and usually sandwiches and pastries) where we got desserts that were heavenly! We were on chocolate euphoria for the rest of the night! :D

We got up again early on Saturday, but before we left the creeper interceded again. He told us he didn't like to leave the room because he hates Florence and gave us five euro to buy him shampoo. So after that we went to Santa Maria Novella, which is a church. We got to see the work of Masaccio, which was very cool. After that we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia. This is the art museum that holds Michelangelo's David. Even though I've seen it before, it's such an impressive statue! If only pictures were allowed! They also had an exhibit of the Medici's instrument collection. It was super cool, I'm hoping the exhibit is still up when Josh comes! :] We then walked around and saw things such as Dante's house (he's EVERYWHERE in Florence), and the Orsanmichele. After a nice lunch of paninis we went to the Bargello, which is another art museum. Since we got there a half an hour before it closed we got in for free! We got to see Donatello's David as well as Ghiberti and Brunelleschi's contest entries for the Baptistery doors. It was really cool. We then walked across the river and I had my first official gelato since I've been here! As I ate it I dedicated it to my little Biscuit and her undying love of ice cream! :D


We then walked around some more seeing Palazzo Pitti, Santa Trinita, and Piazza della Repubblica. There was even some chalk drawing in honor of San Valentino day.

We went to dinner at another local restaurant and I had the house macaroni, which was a penne pasta in meat sauce for the first course and grilled chicken with cooked spinach for the second course. Plus the traditional bread with olive oil and wine. I do love Italian food! :D After dinner we tried finding a chill bar/pub to watch the Olympics but failed miserably.

Our last day in Florence was pretty relaxed. We checked out of our hostel, said goodbye to the "agoraphobic housewife" and then walked to an arts and crafts market that Clara had read about. Turns out it was more like the Porta Portese market here, which is like a mixture of Goodwill and cheap street vendors. I did get some AMAZING dried fruit though so I was happy.


After the market we walked to the train station and got lunch, we still had an houror so to kill so me and Clara went to go get another gelato. I got a cone with half nutella gelato and half white chocolate gelato, it was good, except that it ended up being 8 euro!! I definitely learned to always ask the price!

The train ride home went smoothly enough, but it took us about an hour to get back to our apartments, because the bus never showed up! Stupid public transportation!

Alas, now the vacations over and it's back to classes! This weekend I'm staying in Rome. I'm going to try and take more pictures from my part of town! :D Then next weekend I'm off to Vienna and Salzburg, Austria! I'm super excited!!

I'll post pictures to flickr and facebook either tonight or tomorrow!

...Also, I'm sorry this post is sooo long, I try to make it short but there's just too much to tell! :]

days go by.

This week just flew by!! The majority of the week was school as usual!

Monday night my lab got out an hour early because the electricity went out and my teacher couldn't find the guard to get into the circuit box. I felt bad, but I was definitely okay with a shorter class! I don't know how the school is set up but in the apartments if you use more than 3 kilowatts of electricity the power goes out! This forces you to turn off lights and appliances you don't really need! Yay eco-ness!

On Tuesday night I went to a cooking lesson that's provided through our school. We made a white bean soup with garlic and parsley! It was then served over bread, and of course we had wine to accompany it! :) It was soooooooo good! It had been pouring pretty much all day so the hot soup definitely hit the spot. Next week is a kind of spicy pasta, so I will definitely be going again. We all know I'm obsessed with food, and the food network, so this is right up my alley! Plus it's a great way to meet new people!

Wednesday for my Art of Rome class we went into the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Although the subject matter was interesting, it rained all morning and it was a bit difficult to hold an umbrella and take notes. I'll definitely have to go back inside on a nice day!

Well that's about all the exciting stuff that happened this week besides class! Tonight after class I'm off to Florence so I'm sure on Sunday you will get a post with lots of stories and pictures! :D

ossa.

I can't believe I've been in Rome for over a week already! That's soooo crazy!

This weekend was a lot of fun! Friday Viviana and I went on a mission to go to the bank. There was a bus strike during our journey so it took longer than usual to get there. While on the tram we randomly stopped and some guy told everyone to get off. Thankfully the bus we usually take to Piazza Venezia was still running!

So after successfully getting to the bank we just decided to walk around for a while. We ended up walking through part of Villa Borghese, but since it was raining we didn't explore too much. I definitely want to go back there on a nice day! We also ended up over by St. Peter's so we walked in there a little bit as well. The nativity scene was being taken down, it seems even the Pope is late at taking down Christmas decorations! :]

Saturday morning we went to the market in Campo de Fiori. There was a lot of different vendors selling produce as well as a few random knick knacks as well. I didn't end up buying anything this time around, but I definitely plan on going back in the near future!

After the market we met up with people from AUR and went to Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, otherwise known as the bone chapel. Underneath the church there is a crypt that is decorated with the bones of 4,000 Capuchin monks, as well as one of the Pope's niece and nephew. It was a bit eerie! Pictures were strictly prohibited, but since we all know I have an addiction I snuck some anyways! :]

This was on the ceiling of the last crypt. There was also a sign reading "What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be."

Another crypt. And yes, those are all pelvic bones!

After the bone chapel, Clara, Viviana and I decided to go to Piazza del Popolo for the kick off parade for Carnivale. It was really fun! Everyone was dressed up and it was definitely a great opportunity for people watching!

We eventually fought our way through the crowds back to Trastevere where we had dinner at Le Fate. They have a student menu where you get wine, an appetizer, pasta, and dessert for ten euro! It was soooooo good!

Today was much more laid back. We walked around the Porta Portese market a bit and then decided to book a trip for next weekend. We originally wanted to go to Venice for the end of Carnivale, but everything was booked. So instead we booked a trip to Firenze (Florence) for Thursday to Sunday of this next week! I'm super excited! :]

Well I suppose I should actually go do some homework....I mean it is Study abroad!

fotografie.

Here's some pictures from the last few days! Hope you enjoy!

I'll post more to flickr this weekend.

academia.

Well I've officially had all my classes and I think this semester is going to be a lot of fun.

Monday was our first day and I had my masterpieces of Italian opera class as well as environmental science. I think my opera class is going to be super interesting! Our teacher is very passionate about music and seems like he could talk about it for days! :] We're also going to two operas over the course of the semester. We're seeing both Tosca and Mefistofele. I'm SUPER excited! My environmental science class I think is going to be easy. My teacher is Swedish and I think he teaches all the science courses at the school. Mind you there's only about 3 of them. I also had my lab for environmental science. It's at the top floor of my school which is about 9 flights of stairs. I'll definitely have to get used to that!

Tuesday I had my intro to Italian culture class. I think that will be a fun class. At one point in the semester we get to do a wine tasting! Delicious!

Finally today I had my art of Rome class. This is by far my favorite of all the classes. It's taught on site so I'm going to get to learn about a bunch of art as I'm standing in front of it. Today we went to the Pantheon and the statue of Marcus Aurelius on Capitoline Hill. It was stunning up there! Next week we're going to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. If you come to visit me get ready for a lot of facts!

Well I just wanted to fill you in! The sun is shining, and it's gorgeous! I'm going to go give my camera a workout!!

Ciao!

appartamento.

Here's a few pictures of my apartment:

My Room.

My room again, with view of balcony.

Kitchen with baby appliances.

Kitchen again.

I'll post more pictures of the rest of the apartment later!

Ciao!