Flashback: Rome Update 5
September 27, 2004
Hey Y'all -
The past week absolutely FLEW by. Some highlights included my first
visitor to Rome, another weekend trip and my first letter from home --
thank you Aunt Ginger and Uncle Bill! :)
My good friend and sorority sister, Lydia Toso, is doing service work
outside of Florence and came down to visit me this past week from
Tuesday to Thursday. She studied in Rome a few summers ago so she knew
her way around, and we just had a wonderful time catching up while
visiting old favorite places of hers and new favorite places of mine.
One of the places we saw was Villa Borghese which is a beautiful park at
the north end of Rome. It is quiet and green and you can actually hear
the birds singing (as opposed to cars and bus motors) and I am really
excited to go back one day with a picnic lunch and a book as it was so
peaceful. Lydia and I had so much fun together and are hoping to plan
some trips to other parts of Italy together, since we are both here - we
both find it kind of surreal. She is a wonderful friend and we had
great talks and great times.
Soon after I parted ways with Lydia on Thursday, my roommate, Christina
and I and a friend named Chris took off for a weekend in Naples. We
took the train and arrived in the late evening just in time for a dinner
of the famous Neapolitan pizza. Friday morning we went to Pompeii and
wandered around the old village that was preserved by the lava from
Mount Vesuvius. It was a beautiful day and we all agreed that the
village would make a great place for little kids to make a fort or to
play hide and seek. Friday afternoon, back in Naples, the three of us
split up and I went window shopping. The people in Naples are SO NICE!
Not all of them speak English, but they are so thoughtful and much nicer
than the people I've met so far in Rome. If Christina, Chris and I just
stopped on a street corner to look at our map to determine which street
to take, more often than not, someone stopped and asked us if we needed
help and gave us directions to where we wanted to go. They were very
sweet.
Saturday, the three of us spent the whole day on the Island of Capri,
and it was BEAUTIFUL! I wish there was a study abroad program there.
It was very tropical, which I wasn't really expecting and as we walked
to and from different sites, it seemed that every view we saw was more
breath-taking than the last. We saw Villa Jovis where Jovis used to
through his enemies into the sea, and we took a chairlift to the top of
Mount Solaro, and we saw the outside of the Blue Grotta. My favorite
part was being on top of the mountain because you can see the entire
island, the sea surrounding it, and I loved being so high. It was nice
and windy, and I could have stayed there forever. Another thing I
really liked was the Villa of San Michele which was a home built by a
doctor before the first world war. He described the house as 'having
small rooms but plenty of terraces and patios to watch the sea, the sky
and the clouds. After all, the soul needs more room than the body." I
love that quote and I hope one day I can say the same about my own home.
The whole island was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen
and I really want to go back.
Sunday I spent the majority of the morning at the Cathedral of the
Duomo which was a beautiful church near our hotel. Then I went to the
National Archaeological Museum which was free admission that day, and
there was a jazz band playing among some of the statues which was really
cool. Then I did homework at the train station until our train left.
The temperature has dropped here considerably over the weekend. It's
gone from tank-top to long sleeve shirt weather. Apparently it is
illegal for anyone to turn their heat on before October anywhere in
Rome. I think that's a little weird, but at least October is just
around the corner, so we'll be fine. I'm a little under the weather
today with some congestion and a sore throat, but I'm trying to get more
rest and stay warm and hopefully this won't turn into anything serious.
I hope all is well where you are and I'd love to hear from you and all
that is new and wonderful in your world. You are all in my prayers. As
always, visitors are more than welcomed here in my little villa.
I love you all!
- B
September 27, 2004
Hey Y'all -
The past week absolutely FLEW by. Some highlights included my first
visitor to Rome, another weekend trip and my first letter from home --
thank you Aunt Ginger and Uncle Bill! :)
My good friend and sorority sister, Lydia Toso, is doing service work
outside of Florence and came down to visit me this past week from
Tuesday to Thursday. She studied in Rome a few summers ago so she knew
her way around, and we just had a wonderful time catching up while
visiting old favorite places of hers and new favorite places of mine.
One of the places we saw was Villa Borghese which is a beautiful park at
the north end of Rome. It is quiet and green and you can actually hear
the birds singing (as opposed to cars and bus motors) and I am really
excited to go back one day with a picnic lunch and a book as it was so
peaceful. Lydia and I had so much fun together and are hoping to plan
some trips to other parts of Italy together, since we are both here - we
both find it kind of surreal. She is a wonderful friend and we had
great talks and great times.
Soon after I parted ways with Lydia on Thursday, my roommate, Christina
and I and a friend named Chris took off for a weekend in Naples. We
took the train and arrived in the late evening just in time for a dinner
of the famous Neapolitan pizza. Friday morning we went to Pompeii and
wandered around the old village that was preserved by the lava from
Mount Vesuvius. It was a beautiful day and we all agreed that the
village would make a great place for little kids to make a fort or to
play hide and seek. Friday afternoon, back in Naples, the three of us
split up and I went window shopping. The people in Naples are SO NICE!
Not all of them speak English, but they are so thoughtful and much nicer
than the people I've met so far in Rome. If Christina, Chris and I just
stopped on a street corner to look at our map to determine which street
to take, more often than not, someone stopped and asked us if we needed
help and gave us directions to where we wanted to go. They were very
sweet.
Saturday, the three of us spent the whole day on the Island of Capri,
and it was BEAUTIFUL! I wish there was a study abroad program there.
It was very tropical, which I wasn't really expecting and as we walked
to and from different sites, it seemed that every view we saw was more
breath-taking than the last. We saw Villa Jovis where Jovis used to
through his enemies into the sea, and we took a chairlift to the top of
Mount Solaro, and we saw the outside of the Blue Grotta. My favorite
part was being on top of the mountain because you can see the entire
island, the sea surrounding it, and I loved being so high. It was nice
and windy, and I could have stayed there forever. Another thing I
really liked was the Villa of San Michele which was a home built by a
doctor before the first world war. He described the house as 'having
small rooms but plenty of terraces and patios to watch the sea, the sky
and the clouds. After all, the soul needs more room than the body." I
love that quote and I hope one day I can say the same about my own home.
The whole island was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen
and I really want to go back.
Sunday I spent the majority of the morning at the Cathedral of the
Duomo which was a beautiful church near our hotel. Then I went to the
National Archaeological Museum which was free admission that day, and
there was a jazz band playing among some of the statues which was really
cool. Then I did homework at the train station until our train left.
The temperature has dropped here considerably over the weekend. It's
gone from tank-top to long sleeve shirt weather. Apparently it is
illegal for anyone to turn their heat on before October anywhere in
Rome. I think that's a little weird, but at least October is just
around the corner, so we'll be fine. I'm a little under the weather
today with some congestion and a sore throat, but I'm trying to get more
rest and stay warm and hopefully this won't turn into anything serious.
I hope all is well where you are and I'd love to hear from you and all
that is new and wonderful in your world. You are all in my prayers. As
always, visitors are more than welcomed here in my little villa.
I love you all!
- B
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