Roma is Amor backwards

Roma is the Italian name for Rome. Our TCU program took us to Rome this past weekend. Honestly I hadn't ever had high hopes for Rome because I always assumed it was all hyped up and touristy. I had thought too much about the mass crowds of tourism I forgot about the fact that tourists went to Rome because it has so much to offer. When it comes to crowds of people I guess I get distracted. We departed by train Friday morning and arrived in Rome about an hour and a half later. Rome was packed as I had anticipated so I wasn't overwhelmed. Luckily it wasn't like Walmart. Walmart is always packed and I always go in with a bad mood because people don't know how to get in and get out. The same with Whole Foods and other overly populated grocery stores. I'm a girl who knows what she wants and when people get in the way walking as slow as they can my mood changes drastically.

Anyways enough talk of my grocery experiences, again. Back to Rome.

We arrived by train and took a private bus to Hotel Navona. My roommates were Sam (of course) and Veronica. It was a nice little roomy hotel. Nothing more, nothing less. Once we unloaded we went to a little to Pizzeria Teal and Sarah had been to a few weeks before. They had all kinds of pizza options. They even had pizzas with fried eggs in the middle. Teal and Monica seemed to enjoy them! Sam and I shared a pizza with rocket (lettuce), fungi (mushrooms), tomatoes and cured ham. Pretty good. After that we went to a little gelateria nearby that offered the typical gelato with chocolate or whipped cream topping with no charge! That's how the Italians eat their gelato. After filling our appetites we walked over to Campo di Fiore which was a square nearby that has a market open till 2 everyday except Sundays. It offered dried fruits, flowers, clothing, souvenirs and other foods. Once our little break was over our Tour guide, Freya, took us around to some of her favorite palazzos and piazza's. Freya is the a young tour guide from Australia. She came to Florence to study Art history and never left. Now she is married to an Italian and gives tours in Italy. She knew her stuff! It makes me happy to see people follow their dreams even if it means leaving all they know behind. She showed us around and we ended at the famous Trevi fountain. It was packed of course so we weren't there for long. I made two wishes, one with a penny and one with a 1 cent euro piece, and threw them into the fountain.

After our tour we came back to the hotel and rested for about an hour and a half then headed to Hard Rock Cafe! We knew we were going to have Italian the next night so might as well get our fill of American food when we had the chance. I have never gobbled down chicken wings and nachos so fast in my life! It was so good. Y'all may think I'm crazy but I miss American food really bad. Pizza, Pasta and Paninis is what I eat the majority of the time. It's cheap and convenient. After eating at Hard Rock we took a 30 minute hike back to our Hotel. I thought I was going to be sick from all the food I had. But it was SO worth it. I had ranch with my wings. No regrets.

Saturday we woke up early, had the typical Italian breakfast at the hotel, very similar to our breakfasts in Sorrento. Croissants, bread with meat and cheese and coffee. Carbs, carbs and oh wait, more carbs. It was all delicious. We left from the Hotel and headed to the Vatican. Once we arrived we went through the many lines of security. Freya described many important works of Art when we stopped in front of them. This trip to the Vatican was far above my expectations. I saw so many pieces of artwork I had studied, but didn't realize was there. One room I came into I turned around and saw Raphael's School of Athens. This is one of my favorites! It's a paintings of Aristotle and Plato giving their theory's on life. Aristotle I believe supported heavenly wants (thus pointing towards the heavens) while Plato support worldly wants (thus pointing towards earth). This painting is awesome because it portrays lots of historically important philosophers and their beliefs; worldly or heavenly. Raphael also puts his portrait in the crowd. He is the one person who looks out towards the viewer. Prettty coool! Sorry I think I just wrote an art history paper.

Anyways, the Vatican was so much more than I expected it to be. Of course the Sistine chapel was nothing less than amazing. Props to Michelangelo. I'm sure his neck was never the same after painting it. Once we were finished with the Vatican we were free for the day. Sam, Veronica, Ian and I decided to go get some pizza and sit on the Spanish steps. Once again, these steps were full of sweaty tourists. After finishing our pizza we of course got gelato and began walking towards another cathedral. This cathedral was known for it's crypt full of Franciscan monk bones. I can't even describe it. It was morbidly fascinating and at the same time a holy place. Each room was covered in Monk bones and decorated with bone chandeliers. Skulls were stacked on top of skulls. There were some bodies still intact in Monk attire. You could tell they were still- fresh? (They still had skin). It was mandatory that these bodies were not to leave the church grounds, so they just started adding them to these rooms. At the end of this hallway, there was a plaque that said, "What you are now, we once were. What we are now, you will be." Pretty creepy.

After seeing that, we went to yet another cathedral with a sculpture we had learned about in art history. This sculpture consisted of an angel stabbing St. Teresa. It shows St. Teresa's passion for Christ. After this cathedral we headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner. For dinner we made reservations at a popular Italian restaurant called Maccaroni. I ordered Tonnarelli alla Cabanara. This is pasta with eggs, bacon and a white cream sauce. It was so delicious. I'm so bad at taking pictures of food. I always dig in before I can capture the presentation. Haha whoops.

Laocoon, my favorite sculpture of all time. Vatican.

Hannah's Pizza at lunch. Sausage, onions and mushrooms. Yummy!

Commercialized Italian Gelato, Blue Ice.

Beautiful flowers at the market in Campo di Fiore.

Pantheon.

Pantheon.

The roommie Sam and I.

Making a wish with an American penny and a one cent euro piece.

Sam and I, being us.

Beautiful scuplture along the Tiber river.

Our guide Freya analyzing the Sistine Chapel for us.

Showing the texture of the ancient marble.

One of my favorites, School of Athens by Raphael. Vatican.

Angel stabbing St. Teresa.

Roman Ruins.

Amphitheater.

Coliseum.

Roommates in front of the coliseum. Minus Claire.

Inside the Coliseum.

TCU group. Go frogs!

Up close and personal column.

Symbol for Rome.

Crema Gelato. The usual :)

Tune in next time for Prague. I'm going to go get some rest before the ballett tonight. They are performing Swan Lake!

~Ciao~