Love at first sight

   
     So everyone drinks wine like it's water with meals. We ate lunch at 11:30 and I had red and white wine and only like a sip of water. Water isn't free by the way, and neither is the bread that they bring to the table. But it's so good. The water is really good and fresh too, but you don't get enough--they conserve a lot more than we do. I didn't think I would ever drink out of a communal water fountain, but when you're touring for seven and a half hours in 85 degree weather, you'll do whatever you can to get water so you don't pass out.... It was actually really cold and refreshing.

     We ate lunch at Da Vito E Dina and tried a variety of dishes including spinach ravioli, mac and cheese, lasagna, and another noodle dish that was delicious. Then they brought out dessert which consisted of a fresh fruit cup, tiramisu, flan, and a creamy thing with raspberry on top..mmm.

     After lunch, we began our tour with Max (our landlord who is so sweet and planned out everything for us to do) but the bus drivers went on strike today so we walked miles and miles, but we saw a lottt. Definitely going back to some of the squares we walked through to go shopping. We walked through a pretty park with a beautiful lookout of the whole city, and a pond where you can canoe. It led us to the Borghese, the art gallery we toured. The Borghese had tons of famous paintings and sculptures, mostly the work of Bernini. Outside of the gallery was my first communal water fountain experience. Our tour guide was hilarious and we all looked like tourists because we all had the headsets so we could hear everything. She also led us on our other adventures...

     We went to the Trevi Fountain!! Our tour guide said "When you see a bunch of Koreans, you know you're getting close to the Trevi Fountain!" And she was right, there were a lot of Koreans and it was packed! I held a coin in my right hand and tossed it over my left shoulder, which means that I will return to Rome one day! If you toss two coins it means you will return to Rome and fall in love with an Italian man :) but don't worry Shawn, I only threw in one! ;)

   
      Then we went to the Pantheon, which was beautiful. The first two kings and Rafael were buried in there, and our tour guide said that Rafael's tomb gets more attention than the kings's haha.

   
 We ended in Piaza Narvona, which had a beautiful church and fountains, and tons of art was being sold right in the middle of the square.
        After that we went to a gelato shop, Fridgadarium, which was the best I've had thus far...I got staccilleto or something like that which tasted like chocolate chip cookies and cream, with chocolate shell on top...so good.

     Long and busy day, we didn't get home until almost 8, but I saw a lot of awesome sights!

Pizza, Pizza!

My first meal in Rome was Margherita Pizza at a little cafe. The crust was so thin and crisp, and the mozzarella cheese and tomato was so fresh. It was delicious! You eat a whole pizza by yourself, but it's so fresh and light, that it's actually the perfect amount of food. And only 7 euro- I could get used to this as a meal :)

Woke up on the plane this morning and looked down to see that we were flying over the Alps!  It was absolutely breathtaking!

JMU Study Abroad! Living in Rome and working with 4th graders in a private Italian school with an English curriculum (thank goodness!). Also traveling to Florence, Venice, and Elba!