This weekend was so amazing, to say the least. Firstly, it was a while 4 days, which is longer than my entire week of school. Secondly, I had some amazing and new experiences. Thursday was the day of rest after a hectic first week of school, figuring out where to get books, starting to get into the groove of being back in school after being on winter break for more than a month. We ended up sleeping in, then going to a meeting at school with the U.S. Embassy. The meeting was pretty informative, but seemed as if it's sole purpose was to scare us into behaving, which I would have done without the scare. The woman presenting at the meeting told us what to look out for while at extremely tourist-y places, not to accept open beverages from strangers, to be safe if/when we would go out at night, etc. It was mainly a refresher scare from freshman year of college when they warned us of the safety issues and what will result from irresponsibility. Afterwards, I had talked to a girl who knew about my computer situation (refresher: it was not charging because of the cord, but there was no problem with the computer) and told me about a computer store called Euronics, which, to my EXTREME delight, had a cord that worked! That night, 3 of my roommates and I went to a wine bar, where one of our teachers had recommended us to go. So, we sat around for a couple hours, just talking and laughing. It was a great way to celebrate our first successful week in Rome!
Friday we had wanted to go to visit the Colosseum, but we ended up sleeping in a little too late, so me and Cindy (one roommate) made the trip to the supermarket, finally, to get food for ourselves for the apartment. The supermarket was not what we had imagined, as it was MUCH smaller than your average Jewel or Dominick's, with tiny aisles and an extremely different selection. There was so much more pasta, different cheeses, salami, and bread than there was at home, in comparison to the chips, pop, and junk-food aisles. However, there were still frozen pizzas, to both of our amazement! I got a little of what I would need for a week or two, then scooted off back home.
Saturday, again, we woke up very late, but ended up making it to the Colosseum! I went with a classmate, Dana, as well as Cindy, one of my roommates. By the time we got there at 4:30pm, the inside was closed, but we were able to wander around the entire Colosseum a few times, up and around the streets surrounding it, and get MANY good pictures, both in daylight and at nighttime. The Colosseum was one of my favorite places to visit, as of now, but that may change! Around the Colosseum there were tourist shops, but further along the winding streets we came upon a mini fountain, a quaint market, beautiful stores with huge selections of cheeses, pizza, paninis, and anything delicious. After a couple hours of walking, it got to sunset, and we made it back to the Colosseum, and got amazing pictures of this wonderful building at night, (I will post some after).
The next day we got up "early" (compared to the rest of the weekend) and made it to the Colosseum before it closed. The line was a LOT longer than we had anticipated, but we eventually made it in. Let me tell you, it was phenomenal. We opted out of spending the extra money for the guided tour, but we still were able to take in the sight of the place, and appreciate what happened there so many years ago. Looking over into the arena, I thought it wasn't as large as it seemed from the outside, but the entire Colosseum is not only grand for the arena, but also for the areas around it, where people used to flood through the entrance arches, squeeze between so many others to get as close as possible to see all the action. In the arena was no main ground, but it was fallen apart enough to see the entire underneath of the arena. This is where the wild animals, slaves, and gladiators would stay. We saw parts of an unworkable pulley system, which is how they released the gladiators and animals for the fights. In the upper level, you could see that the Colosseum was as grand and masterfully built as you would think. There were parts of marble statues of emperors, animals, heads of commoners, and mosaics that would have been found in the Colosseum in all it's glory. It was simply amazing. Looking out over Rome surrounding the Colosseum, you could see the old Roman Forum that is now in ruins, part of the Vittoriano, Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy, who was the first King of Italy. Beautiful.
Once we had our fill of the Colosseum, we walked down the main street near it, which was closed off for the afternoon. Walking down the street we saw a Michael Jackson impersonator on a lunch break, a man and a woman dancing the tango in front of a statue of Marcus Aurelius, as well as a team of break dancers. I do not think it was for a festival, but was fun and an exciting place to be none-the-less. By the time we reached the Piazza Venezia, we were able to marvel at the Vittoriano, which was absolutely beautiful. Not only was it grand for size and for its statues and sculptures all around it, but also for its color- bright white marble. This was, at that moment, my favorite place to be. We walked up all the stairs and just stood in the warm sun, leaning on the cool white marble overlooking the Piazza.
The rest of the day paled in comparison to our exciting morning and afternoon, but we walked around, then took the Metro back to the apartment, took a nap, and worked on homework the rest of the night. Oh the life of a student in Rome! Quite a long post this is, but it was one of the most amazing days I've had so far. I have also talked with my mom and she has booked our flights to Athens for the first weekend in April! I am very excited for my family to come visit; Dad in a couple weeks, and Mom, Emily, Carol and Kathleen a couple weeks after that! What a great weekend! More to come, including pictures.
xoxo Erica
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