Ciao Roma e buongiorno Sicilia!

Today I leave for Sicily and say goodbye to my first time in Rome. Though it was a lot of fun and I experienced many new and interesting things, it will be nice to be away from the city for a little while and be apart of a program. The camp I'm staying at does not have internet, so updates may be few and far between, but as soon as I can, I will! If you would like to take a look at what I'll be doing every day, they give a breakdown of it here: http://www.kalat.org/en/archeolodida/campi_estivi_kalat/programma_giornaliero.html. Wish me luck and ci vediamo!

Sono un'italiana!

Okay, so apparently I’m not too great at this blog thing. Maybe that’s why I haven’t done one before? But in my defense, I’ve come home exhausted every night and also, I’m lazy. But the first almost week here has been crazy, there have been lots of ups and downs (but mostly ups). I’ve seen some amazing things that I’ve known only in pictures. I finally feel like I’m starting to get the hectic Rome train schedule (and have realized that you don’t really need a ticket…) and I’m beginning to understand why they say, “Rome, a lifetime is not enough.” I’ve seen a lot in the week or so that I’ve been here (can it really be a week already?) and instead of giving every little detail of my days, I’ve decided to instead show the things I’ve seen that have literally taken my breath away:

1. Pantheon

2. Colosseum

3. Trajan’s column

4. St. Peter’s

I also did the Scavi tour underneath St. Peter’s which I’ve decided is a MUST if you’re visiting Rome. Aside from the bones of St. Peter, which were cool and all, the thing that absolutely impressed me the most was the Roman necropolis we saw and walked through, almost perfectly intact. We even got to go inside one of the mausoleums and see the tombs, urns, mosaic floors, and frescos still in almost perfect condition on the wall. The tour was definitely one of the coolest and most interesting things I’ve ever done.

So far I’ve taken a day trip to the beach Sperlonga, where I ran into a friend from my Italian classes, and met the people he was with, who were all fun and great to hang out with. Sperlonga was a very pretty beach town, and the water was AMAZING. There also was a small museum showcasing artifacts found there in what used to be a villa and grotto of Tiberius. One of the girls I met and I went through the museum and even went inside the grotto, which was eerie and awesome at the same time.

Today, I took a day trip to Ostia Antica, which was beyond what I had expected it would be. I won't go into too much detail right now because it's time for bed, but my day was basically one long day of getting to climb all over and explore a huge ancient city.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll post again soon and get better at this blogging thing, but I leave for Sicily in two days. Yay! I'm really looking forward to this portion of my trip. Until next time...

Ci vediamo!

P.S. I've been asked for directions by an Italian at least six different times, but today I felt like I must really look like a Roman because I was asked three times where to go, and two of those times were within five minutes of each other! Tricked you, Italiani!

Buongiorno Italia!

So I'm here in Italy now and had a day filled with firsts. First time getting so irritated with a child on a plane that I actually said something to the red-headed she-devil, first time getting overwhelmed with the enormous airport crowd, first time getting lost on an Italian bus, and quite a few more like that. But, I also had a day of really great firsts, such as the first time on a trans-Atlantic flight, first time getting my own euros, first time speaking speaking Italian IN Italy (and the lady said that I spoke really well! :) ), first time doing a really difficult navigation in a foreign country by myself, and the first time eating REAL Italian food (and drinking their blasphemous Coca Cola Lite)! Although it wasn't the best day ever, it's the first in my collection of memories, so that's great! Here's a few pics I took throughout the day:

Not looking like a tourist at all...

A couple views from my seat on the plane...

Passport check!

Finally in Rome, and on my walk to find something to eat...

First meal in Rome!

Hey everyone! Here's a little bit of info about my trip...
I leave from Houston July 7th, and I arrive in Rome July 8th. I'll be staying in Rome until July 18th, then I'll be taking an overnight train down to Sicily for my archeology program that runs July 19-31st. I'm not positive whether or not I'll go back to Rome after the program, or instead stop somewhere else on the way up, but nevertheless, I leave out of Rome on August 4th. Here are some links if you would like to take a look:

The hostel I'll be staying at in Rome...
http://www.foresteriaorsa.altervista.org/

The archeology program I'm participating in:
http://www.kalat.org/en/archeolodida/campi_estivi_kalat.html

The benefits of solo travel! (Just for you, mom)
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/5eb5b/

Until next time!
Arrivederci!