In one week from today I'm off to Seville, Spain for the last six weeks of my time here studying in Europe! So as always, I've been really busy making sure I fit everything in that I've want to get to in Rome! After yet another glorious karaoke night (my friend Maurits and I did Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now"!) I woke up early to get to a doctors appointment in the morning so I traveled to Circus Maximus, which is past the Colosseum! It was my first time taking the metro in Rome by myself but it was really easy, especially compared to NYC and Paris because there are only two lines! It was such a gorgeous day out I decided to walk home instead of taking the metro back! It was a wonderful date, just the city of Rome and I! I didn't know exactly how to get home, but I could see the Monument of Victor Emanuel not too far away, also known as the Wedding Cake Building, so I figured if I just walked towards that I would find my way. I somehow ended up in the Jewish Ghetto area where I stopped for a panini and drink, trying to fight the feeling of a hang over from the night before. I kept wondering and ended up in Campo de Fiori, where I was the night before! But it was full of vendors of a market rather than drunk American students. I made my way through the rows of different spices and came across a man selling cups of fresh fruit so I figured I would treat myself! I walked along the river on my merry way home enjoying my kiwi, melon, and strawberries! From there I walked through Piazza Novona, my favorite part of Rome. There's just something about the big crowds of artists and musicians surrounding the fountains I find really magical. I took a picture for a family of four from I'm assuming Ireland and then eventually went back to campus. The day itself has been on of my favorites in Rome yet. I love the fact that I feel comfortable navigating my way around the city, unlike in Paris where I couldn't tell you how to get to Notre Dame from campus... even though it was only like a twenty five minute walk! And all I could think about was "Eat, Pray, Love" and when she sat in Piazza Novona enjoying her gelato, but instead I had my fruit! And to top the day off Kimm, Bren, and Brenna's boyfriend Mikey went out to dinner at Tony's! The meal was delicious, as always, and this time we got free chocolate ice cream!
Wednesday I had class again (and my second Italian test! Cross your fingers, hopefully I did well!) and Kimmy and I made dinner (pasta with chicken, peppers, mushrooms, and basil! It ended up being really yummy! We decided it was good practice for living in an apartment next year with a kitchen!) and then we had a "Midnight Run" for community service, a lot like the one in Paris. The group that I was in went to the Vatican and handed out sandwiches to the homeless who were around there. It was really quick, but still a nice experience, even though I still like the Midnight Runs in New York the most!
Thursday I didn't have class until later so Amy, Jill, and I went out to lunch for salads and then I went to the top of the Monument for Victor Emmanuel where it outlooks to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum! From there we went to San Crispino's Gelateria, from "Eat, Pray, Love"! Just like in the book I got honey and hazelnut! It was so yummy, and a perfect end to a day out before my three hour moral theology class.
Today St. John's brought us to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel! Silly me realized that a couple weeks ago I saw the Treasury of the Vatican, not the Museum! But now I can say I went to both! The museum was great with all the sculptures, baths and tapestries. And of course seeing the work of Micheal Angelo is always incredible. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, but not what I expected. It was really crowded and security was watching over like hawks to make sure no one was taking pictures while "shhh"-ing the crowd since it is a place of worship, even though the only people I saw were tourists and no one praying! But all in all it was a great experience! Afterward I brought Jason, one of my good friends and Kimm's boyfriend who is studying in Paris, to Piazza de Popolo and down Via del Corso while she was in class! And right from there a group of us went to buy tickets for the Roma futball match on Monday night against Genoa! I am so excited! How cool is it that I get to say I saw a real Roma game! The games are so intense you have to bring ID to buy tickets, so we all had to have our passports with us, and our tickets each say our names on them! A couple of us walked back and sat out in the sun at Piazza de Popolo before coming back to get ready for dinner. Where did we go? Tony's of course!! This time us four girls, Jill, Amy, Hollie, and I, get chicken parmesan! None of us had had it since being in Rome; I definitely think it is an Amerianized Italian food, but it was still soooo good, as everything else I've had at Tony's!
Since it's St. Patrick's day tomorrow we decided to take tonight easy and have dinner be our "outing" for the night enjoying some wine and girl talk! Tomorrow we're planning on renting bikes and going to Villa Borghese for the day, and then seeing where the night leads us!
This past week has started off pretty stressful! Housing applications for Fall semester were due, and class registration is coming up quickly. It's hard trying to figure all of that type of stuff out as we're across the ocean, and St. John's isn't the best at communication. And then my mom let me know a letter came in the mail about a five years masters program St. John's has for English. But do I want to have a full load for the next two years so I can start master classes in my senior year? Or even be at school for another year? What if I can find an internship next year that will offer me a job after graduation? Or what if I just don't need a masters at all for what I want to become? All of this talk about the future, what?! It's weird to think how fast time has gone by; I'm already going to be a junior in the fall! And turning twenty when I get home! I'm really excited to go back to Queens in the fall; I filled out my application yesterday to be a Plunge Leader again so I would move in a week and a half early like last summer to take the new freshmen around the city to do community service, so hopefully I have the opportunity to do that again! So with all of that going on and then just making sure I make it to the last things on my list for Rome (the Keyhole of Rome, the American Embassy, and visiting the apartment where Liz stayed at in "Eat, Pray, Love") it can be a little bit overwhelming! But whenever my head starts spinning with all of this going on in the upcoming months, I just think back to my walk with my fruit cup in Campo di Fiori and Piazza Novona, and I just think to myself that everything will work itself out, because in the end everything happens for a reason, right?
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