i have a bunch of pictures of rome (enjoy)

545

that is the number of steps it took to get to the top of St. Peter's Basillica.

the pictures speak for themselves

walking to class.. oh look, the vatican walls..

where i am in rome is where queens is in new york city. it is out of the way from what you would call the "center of rome" or manhattan where all the areas that evoke images of rome would be. spanish steps, pantheon, colliseum, all that stuff.

however, i did get to see the spanish steps, pantheon and treve fountain the other day and they were fantastic. it is like people thousands of years ago with nothing to do though to themselves, "well, i am bored, i think i will build something magnificant today and in the future when people walk by my creation they will say to themselves, wow, that is impressive!"

needless to say, they were on point.

we also saw the changing of the guards at the italian government building. it was a lot of pomp and cirumstance. they need to make up for the poor showing in actually battles i suppose.

ZING!

i would love to post pictures but a las, my digital camera is still pooping out so this is just a text entry. other than the touristy sites i have frequented the open air market they have in my neighborhood. it feels like nyc in the late 1800s with all the shops open. whatever food you need, you can get and it is much cheaper than the supermercado. five apples, 1 euro, good price.

of course, my mime has improved but the italian is running along with it. you truly learn a language more when you practice it in a country that only speaks that language.

as of now, it is only functional italian. i did ask my art professor how to say something that expresses immense displeasure towards an object or person, essentially how to curse. i don't think she was ready for such a question, but it is absolutely necessary especially with the way italians drive. makes some drivers in new york look like 80 year old woman behind the wheel.

other than that, getting use to the european ciestra [sic] which is during the day around 1pm to 4pm where most shops and stores close to go home and have lunch and nap. that would be nice to have back in america.

that is all for now, again, hopefully pictures start popping up soon; i have to see if i can get all the ones some of the other people took when we went into the center of rome.

arrivederci, hugs n kisses,

cos

from astute germans to crazy driving italians: my journey to rome

i forgot that change set off the metal detector.

the beginning of my journey involved me being thoroughly searched for any type of contraband or bombs or anything. my parents in the distance looked over in concern but i was able to flash them my, "hey, it's ok! i'm studying abroad in rome and even though i am being thoroughly bodily checked by a big, burly aiport security guard, it is awesome!" smile. i don't remember the guard being big, burly.. but it adds to the statement i guess.

i had a choice when choosing flights. either take british airlines on a flight with some people also going to rome from stj or save 300 dollars and go on a spirit journey. if you know me well, at all, the latter was the immediate choice.

i flew over using Lufthansa. it is run by ze germans and i must say, they run a fine airline. the first flight over from JFK to frankfurt was an alright flight though i had a combined sleep time of 1 1/2 hours.

not that it wasn't comfortable just it is unsettling to be able to look at a tv monitor and it shows where you are on the trip and your speed and altitude and distance away. for some odd reason it creeped me out.

the second part of the trip was lovely since the fliht was only half booked. i do not think i ever felt any greater sense of joy when i had a seat open next to me. it really was that fantastic.

the frankfurt airport which was where i had my lay-over before the rome flight had a goofy set up. initially, i thought i was leaving the airport for i had them check my passport and stamp it. i was wrong; but initially i thought i was screwed because i had to go through airport security again, which was funny because i was asked to have one of my bags checked. the security guard was infactuated by my game boy advance and binoculars which snap on. i never seen a happy or at least amused german up to this point of the trip.

but it seems like if you need to get to any other section of the airport i had to go through security. need to use the ATM? security check. want some food? security check. i wasn't annoyed, in fact i became a pro at the procedure.

i arrive at the fucimino international airport, collect my luggage and head outside to get a taxi. the taxis are quite nice and on the trip to my apartments i experienced italian driving. i'm surprised we didn't get into at least 7 accidents. i was amused though that in the right hand-lane in america you usually just go around the slowpoke but in italy, they get out of the way. also, i did not see a blinker used once. the flashers though were used a lot more.


i managed to take a couple photos of so you can see what the apartment is like:





i would take more but i have the worst digital camera known to man. "card error" how the hell does that happen? i say that has been the only problem so far on this journey; electronic items. the voltage convertor i purchased is only 50 watts, and 50 watts does not charge a laptop. i've been doing this entry on 5 percent battery since the charger manages to keep the battery steady. hopefully both situations are rectified soon.

other than that, this blog should be updated regularly on my hijinks and other shenanigans rome-related. arrivederci!