Week One

So I'm finally here! Its been an incredible first few days. The flights went fine but were fairly uneventful, except for seeing this:

a great view of the alps on our flight
from frankfurt to rome. literally took my breath away!
(tip: click on any picture to make it bigger)

upon arriving, we learned real quick how crazy the driving in rome really is. tons of tiny cars and scooters are flying around, cutting each other off - its just madness! the taxi ride to the residence was quite an exciting way to start.

the residence is a very nice place to be living. i have three other roomates in a two bedroom apartment. here's some pictures.

me & kate's room (i'm on the left)


ummm, we have a bidet...?!?!


our common room


teeny-tiny kitchen


wrap-around balcony & kate enjoying wi-fi


the scooters are everywhere!

every day we've been enjoying the 35-40 minute walk to the school building, which sits right on the Tiber river. the weather is much warmer than we were expecting, a comfortable 50 degrees and overcast. we walk through an open-air market which is just full of vendors selling different foods i can't wait to try- its also very interesting; the butchers have whole pigs and chickens, boar's heads and meats, the fish vendors have octopus, clams, all different sorts of fish, and huge swordfish heads, and there's tons and tons of fresh produce and cheeses, everything you could want. we need to learn some more basic italian before shopping there though, for now we've been going to the local grocery store.

my first experiences eating out were very good. the first morning i went across the street from our residence to get some cappucino and pastry - it was probably the best coffee i've ever had! on wednesday night my roomates, two friends and i went to dinner near the piazza novono at a place called the jazz cafe, our waitress spoke english so we were relieved. we had some bruschetta, salad, pizza with gorgonzola and pears, and the house red wine, all very good. (the pizza here is so good, i've had it every day so far!)

roomates, friends & i at the jazz cafe

fountain at piazza novono

sculpture restoration at piazza novono

after dinner we went to a bar, also with an english-speaking staff. everyone in rome is very friendly (especially the men towards the american women) but we already know how to ignore that! :)

we were treated to a round of flaming shots!

on thursday i went on a walking tour lead by one of the temple rome students who has already been here for four months. i was really suprised and excited about how well he seemed to know the city. he gave us good tips on places to eat near school, and good pointers on using the public transportation. he showed us the piazza del popolo, which is just a short walk from school. it's a square that has three streets branching off, each has a plethora of good shopping, and all lead to a famous landmark or monument. here's a few pictures of the piazza from a good lookout spot we were told about (i had to go back again at night to see what it was like too - gorgeous! pictures just don't do it justice).

the piazza del popolo - very close to school
(vatican in the distance)

the piazza del popolo at night

after visiting the piazza, we took a bus to the argentina district- we passed another famous monument called the wedding cake (i forget the italian name) but we only saw it from the bus, so i didn't take any pictures yet. once we got to argentina, we saw a really cool site of ruins (all of the ruins in rome are below the current street level). i don't think the spot was a big tourist destination, but i found it fascinating- it turns out that this spot was the site where julius caesar was assassinated, but now its purpose is a cat sanctuary. i want to adopt a roman cat! here's some pictures.

look close and you can see some kitties!










if i were a cat, i'd love it!

after watching the kitties for a bit, our group got some pizza across the street- definately the best i've had so far! a simple pizza with tomato sauce, fresh mozz, cherry tomato halves and fresh basil was so tasty! i'm probably going to come back weighing 300 pounds, haha. we finished the tour at the famous spanish steps, but by that point my batteries had died... i'm sure i'll be back.

today has been uneventful so far, we just have to take care of business as far as getting our wi-fi on the laptops for the school set up, and also complete the "permit to stay" procedures. we've been waiting in lines all day. i got an italian cell phone and number today, i will give it out to whoever would like it - however i'm going to try not to make any outgoing calls to outside of italy since they're very expensive, but all incoming calls and texts (for me) are free. i also have the address of the school, where mail should be sent, incase anyone wants that as well!!! :)

anyway, i'll try and update this as often as possible with the stories of my adventures and pictures! i'm missing all of you back in the states - come visit me!

love, ashley