November 19, 2011

November 19, 2011

This morning I woke up around 8:15, got ready and headed down to breakfast around 8:45. I had another delicious and filling breakfast before heading out for the day. All three tours were optional but I ended up going on all of them (Nikki, Ellie and I were the only three to do so). We met Jodie in the hotel lobby at 9:30 and the ten of us students plus her headed across the river to Villa Farnese. It was an absolutely beautiful villa, dedicated to love and entertainment so all of the artwork was fun, bright and playful. After about an hour and a half there, we power-walked across town to Capitoline Hill where Jodie and Gail led us through the Capitoline Museum, filled with artifacts found through the excavation of Rome as well as the foundation of the Temple of Jupiter itself. It was a very interesting museum and, once again, nice to have such a small group. It is just so incredible to me that there are entire cities beneath our feet that are just waiting to be discovered. There is layer upon layer of history down there that may never be brought to light because of the modern buildings on top. There was a special exhibit in the museum of sketches and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, which was also very interesting.

When our time there was done we walked back to the hotel to rest our feet. I was still pretty full from breakfast but I ate the sandwich I had made at breakfast for lunch and got a delicious crepe at a little place around the corner from our hotel. At 3:00, we met Gail in the lobby and we walked to San Clemente (once again there were only about ten of us). The site was really quite incredible, not only because there is a beautiful church, but mostly because, upon excavating beneath, they found three other churches from different time periods below—one right on top of the other. To make it even cooler, you can actually go down underground to each level of the churches—20 meters under today’s street level. So that was very interesting and very cool!

After that Ellie, Nikki and I walked part of the way back with Gail and then veered off to go back to the gelateria where we went yesterday. It was crazy busy! This time I got cinnamon, caramel and some flavor that was delicious but I can’t remember the name. We finished up our gelato and then headed back to the hotel. Nikki had a meeting with Jodie about her final paper so I rested my feet, lay in bed and did some reading. Then I met her and Becca and we got incredible pizza from the “forno” across the street from our hotel. After our quick dinner we hung out in the lobby for a while with some other friends. Then we decided to find a grocery store to get some treats and have a girls’ night in since we were so exhausted. We got some cookies, chocolate and wine and headed back to our room. We flipped through channels on the TV but weren’t finding anything. Right then Becca (a different one…there are four in our program) came in and asked if we wanted to watch The Gladiator with them. So about ten of us snuggled together on the two beds, pushed together, and watched. We didn’t end up watching all the way to the end, however, because most of us fell asleep about half way through. So we decided to turn it off and head to bed around 11:30. I fell asleep the minute I hit the pillow. 

The Roman Forum from the Capitoline Museum