Vatican, Perugia, and Assisi

Tuesday, I had my first big class presentation here. In cinema, Sara, Daniela, and I presented over the movie “Rocco and His Brothers”. At almost three hours long, it was quite the challenge to get through it. Plus, it had a really twisted plot, which just made us all really uncomfortable. But, of course we rocked the presentation!

Wednesday night, I went to an opera! Through the school we only paid 20 euro, even though the cost of the ticket was almost 50 euro! We saw “Turnadot”. Interesting story line, but I’m SO glad I googled it before-hand, otherwise I would have had NO clue what was going on! It was really cool seeing all the men in their tuxes and women in their long dresses with fur coats. I felt like I was Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman”. Bonus! People really do use those little binoculars at operas! :)

During the final bow of "Turnadot"

Thursday’s classes were so relaxed that it’s funny! In Made in Italy, we had a class long discussion on the pros and cons of fast food vs slow food in a community. Then in Cinema, we finished watching “Rocco and His Brothers” (see first paragraph). Having already seen it, Daniela and I just made fun of it all the way through, trying to keep ourselves entertained, and I ate an entire jumbo bag of pistachios. Oops! Then while in Cinema, we got an email saying our Italian class was cancelled because our professor was sick. Poor Bruno! But it meant our weekend started even earlier!

Friday was super fun! Daniela and I went to the Vatican area and went shopping! We also kind of bopped in and out of Tara and Georgie’s apartment to see if they needed help with dinner (will explain this later). It was really fun wandering around a different area, because I would’ve never guessed there would have been so many shops! Then at 6:30 pm, we went on a night tour of the Vatican museum! It was so beautiful seeing inside the old papal apartment and looking at some of the most famous paintings and sculptures of all time! Plus, we got to go inside the Sistine Chapel! Its beauty is so breathtaking that it brought me to tears. It’s amazing that we got to stand in the same room where just months earlier a new pope was being elected. Pretty awesome I would say. After that, a bunch of us went back to Tara and Georgie’s apartment and ate dinner! They made Chinese food! It was so tasty and fun to all be together.

            

Saturday Daniela, Sara, and I got up and had to be at termini train station at 7:30 am! We hopped on a train to Perugia for the Eurochocolate festival! That day I learned something very interesting about Italy. They sell more train tickets than they have seats. So, the three of us got to spend the 2.5 hour ride there sitting on the floor! It was terrible, but funny to laugh about now. Once we got to Perugia, we had about a half hour walk up to the top of the hill where the festival took place. We got these cards where we could get free samples at a bunch of different stands! There was so many chocolate creations that my mind would never have been able to come up with! It was so much fun! But, of course you have to give yourself a chocolate break, so we took an hour and went shopping… Again.

There was a "chocolate couple" in the street! They looked so delicious, I could've taken a bite!

The look of pure happiness with all my chocolate purchases!

Chocolate kebab, anyone?

After the festival, we left about an hour before our meeting time to get back to the train station. Instead of ending up at the train station, we ended up at the bus station, which are 4 kilometers apart. As the meeting time got closer and closer, we started FREAKING OUT. We were not about to miss our train, but we had no idea how to get back. Finally, we gave in and just hopped in a cab. We arrived at the train station with just enough time to grab some McDonald's. Luckily, we did manage to snag seats for the ride back!

Overjoyed because 1) We got McDonald's. And 2) We got seats! Victory!
(Don't mind the MASSIVE bag they gave me. I swear it's just a burger and fries in there.)

We got back to Rome at about 9 pm, and we raced to get ourselves all beautiful for the evening activities. Luckily, everyone in our program met at our apartment, so we had a little extra time! We all went to a clubbing area about an hour walk from my apartment. As fun as it was supposed to be, I was so exhausted from the day that I left pretty early. Thank goodness I did because some of the girls in our group got in a little altercation with some very inebriated and angry Italian girls. At that point, I was sleeping like a baby!

            

Sunday morning, twelve of us met at school at 8:30 to go to the Umbria region. We arrived in Trevi at about 11. We picked the coolest time of the year to be there because they were celebrating the “new oil”. That weekend, the first of the year’s olives were picked, so the first batch of olive oil was created! It is a huge festival in the town, so a lot of the kids I was with bought some! Instead, I bought some celery. Strange, I know. But the celery in Trevi is grown so it doesn’t have the annoying stringy stuff in it. It BLEW MY MIND, so I just had to buy some. Best purchase thus far!

            

Then we drove a half hour to Assisi. I was a little nervous to go back to Assisi. I remember it being one of my favorite places last time I was in Italy. And you know how sometimes when you have such good memories about a certain place that you don’t really want to go back in fear of being disappointed? Yeah, that was exactly my fear. And yes, I was slightly let down. I mean, I still absolutely love Assisi. We saw the tombs of both St. Claire and St. Francis. But last time I was in the Church of St. Francis, I remember hearing the monks singing their Gregorian chants. This time, the church was loud because it was full of tourists. Kind of a let down but still beautiful.

Church of St. Francis

STORY TIME: While we were in Assisi, our tour guide stopped us outside of a pastry shop and said we had time to get something if we wanted. I tried to be different and not go with the typical gelato. I saw this really delicious looking cookie, and it was only about 2 euro! Perfect, right? So I ordered it, pulled out my 20 euro bill, and paid for the cookie. I noticed I only got a 10 euro bill and some change back. That’s right. I BOUGHT A NINE EURO COOKIE. In my dumbfounded state, I took my change and my new sweet investment and walked out the door. It was too late to turn back. So, now I have dessert for weeks. Yay for me!

            

Before completely leaving the area, we drove down the hill and stopped at a church that St. Francis himself rebuilt. We showed up at about 4:55, and mass was beginning at 5! It was the fastest tour of a place I have ever been on. We walked in, quickly looked, and power walked the heck out of there! Yes, we were running out of there while the beginning procession was happening, but it made for a good laugh!

We got back to Rome at about 9 pm, and I have only one thing to say about the ride home: Roman traffic is absolutely awful.

            

Then today, I officially went in and dropped my Mythology class. I’ve been avoiding it for a week now. But the professor understood and was really nice about it. Then in Rome Through the Ages, we went on a site visit to the Roman forum. It’s so cool to remember everything we talk about in class and then see it right in front of us! I loved it. After class, Daniela and I had to go shopping again! the new H&M opened up on Via del Corso, so we were pretty much obligated to go. (Don’t worry Dad and Mom. I am done shopping for awhile… I think.)

The Roman Forum

Now, I’m laying in bed, barely keeping my eyes open. I still haven’t recovered from the lack of sleep I got last weekend, but hey, I’d rather not sleep and get to experience as much of this place as I can! For the time being, buona notte!