I'm So Behind!
Okay, i know it's been two weeks, but here they are finally, i hope you have a few hours, because it took me about 5 to write it all!
06Feb2005 - Sunday
I did nothing really the rest of the day. After my shower I found a Natalie going to Hermes so I went with her to eat. Everyone left for Carnavale and I stayed at the center with Natalie, and a few other people. We edited pictures and uploaded them to the internet on my laptop for the main part of the day. Then I went to dinner and after dinner I talked online for a little while. Then I went upstairs and took a short nap before going to the Super bowl party at Regiro's. It was fun, but kind of boring for me because everyone was getting really drunk and I wasn’t drinking at all. I had an amazing pizza and then I left at half time and came back to talk to JereBeth for a while. Then I went to bed.
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07Feb2005 – Monday
I slept in because I didn’t have class till 3and got up around 10. Showered. Dressed. Hung out till lunch. Ate lunch. Took a nap till time for class. Went to class, and got two projects, then we split up into groups and I was the odd man out and was added to group be default as usual. Our project was to do an analysis of a fragment of the city measuring 6 meters cubed. So my group went and found place to do our fragment, and did a ton of measurements for everything for the next half an hour. We then came back and redrew some things and decided who was going to do what in our group and we decided that Kim and I would do the model and Andrew would do the drawings before going to dinner. After dinner the center showed It’s A Beautiful Life and we watched that. Then I got online to talk to JereBeth for a while before going to bed.
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08Feb2005 – Tuesday
I got up around 9 and got showered and dressed. I then went to studio to start working on our model of the fragment. At 11:15 I went to class to have an introduction to my history class for half an hour. After that I went back to studio and worked on our model until time for lunch. After lunch I came back and worked on the model until dinner time. After dinner I came back and worked on the model until it was finished. I finished it about 11:30 that night. Heh! Kim didn’t really do a lot on the model because it’s really hard to work on a model with two people but she did make a wire sculpture type thing of the fences that were in out fragment and they turned out really great. Then I talked to JereBeth for a little bit before going to bed because I had to get up early for the field trip on Wednesday.
I got up around 9 and got showered and dressed. I then went to studio to start working on our model of the fragment. At 11:15 I went to class to have an introduction to my history class for half an hour. After that I went back to studio and worked on our model until time for lunch. After lunch I came back and worked on the model until dinner time. After dinner I came back and worked on the model until it was finished. I finished it about 11:30 that night. Heh! Kim didn’t really do a lot on the model because it’s really hard to work on a model with two people but she did make a wire sculpture type thing of the fences that were in out fragment and they turned out really great. Then I talked to JereBeth for a little bit before going to bed because I had to get up early for the field trip on Wednesday.
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09Feb2005 – Wednesday
I had to be on the train at 8:30 so I got up early and showered and dressed then went to the train station. We arrived at the train station in Florence about an hour and a half later and I followed professor LaPastina to the Duomo where we waited between the Duomo and the baptistery for the whole group to get there. We then broke into smaller groups and all of the architecture students went with Paolo. We went into Duomo first thing and it was really beautiful. It was definitely one of my favorite buildings of the trip so far. Then we went to museum across street from the Duomo that had a lot of sculptures and other stuff in it. I liked the museum more than the things on display and didn’t really pay too much attention to anything going on but took a lot of pictures. After we left I went with a group of my classmates who were going to a leather store and then to lunch. I tried on a few jackets after pressure from the shop owner, who was very outspoken and insistent, but nothing looked good on me and they were extremely expensive anyway. We then went to a little restaurant away from all the touristy stuff that Alexis had heard about. We had to wait 15 minutes to be sat, so Chalyce and I went to market nearby and looked around. I saw a sweater that I knew I had to get, and planned to do so after lunch. We went to lunch, and it was really good. While we were there we talked to some cool Italian guys at our table and had a pretty good time. After lunch I went in search of an ATM and didn’t find one anywhere. So I met up with the group back at the market, and we found a lady running one of the shops who told us where one was. Then a few of us went to the ATM before returning to the market. I ended up getting the sweater and a “Ciao Ciao” shirt. Then we went to Santa Maria Novella which is a really famous old church we knew of. It was beautiful, and the stained glass windows were projecting gorgeous colors all over inside of the columns and walls and floor. They were extremely vivid greens, blues, and magentas and it was like nothing id seen in any of the other churches. After we left there we went to a gelatteria and then decided to go ahead and come home. So we got on the train and came back, and made it back in time for dinner. After dinner I talked to JereBeth a little bit and answered some e-mails then went to bed.
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10Feb2005 – Thursday
Got up and showered and dressed and had to meet with my group for our history class at 10:45. We got together and decided on our three questions we had to have prepared for class discussion. Went to class and had discussion. Then we went to lunch. After lunch I decided I wasn’t going to go to studio since I had already finished my part and had nothing to do. So I went and watched a movie on my laptop, Predator 2, and then took a nap. After a few hours I got up and went downstairs to see what was going on. I checked with my studio group to make sure everything was going well, and found that we were finishing up drawings. Then Kim and I put the finishing touches on our model. After studio I went to the Co-Op with Jason, Jon, and Brett (it’s like a grocery store basically) and we were going to get our hairs cut on the way back but instead made reservations for next day. We came back and ate dinner and then I rented Snatch from the bar and a big group of us watched it in the student lounge. After the movie I talked to JereBeth for a bit and went to bed.
Got up and showered and dressed and had to meet with my group for our history class at 10:45. We got together and decided on our three questions we had to have prepared for class discussion. Went to class and had discussion. Then we went to lunch. After lunch I decided I wasn’t going to go to studio since I had already finished my part and had nothing to do. So I went and watched a movie on my laptop, Predator 2, and then took a nap. After a few hours I got up and went downstairs to see what was going on. I checked with my studio group to make sure everything was going well, and found that we were finishing up drawings. Then Kim and I put the finishing touches on our model. After studio I went to the Co-Op with Jason, Jon, and Brett (it’s like a grocery store basically) and we were going to get our hairs cut on the way back but instead made reservations for next day. We came back and ate dinner and then I rented Snatch from the bar and a big group of us watched it in the student lounge. After the movie I talked to JereBeth for a bit and went to bed.
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11Feb2005 – Friday
I got up and first thing ordered some flowers to be delivered to JereBeth on Valentine’s Day. Then I answered some e-mails, took a shower, and went to meet the guys for our haircut appointments. They’d already left so I hiked down there and met them. I ended up waiting around for an hour and reading magazines while they took their turns and then finally got my hair cut. Then we all went to pay and to our surprise we all found out it cost 19 euro. We were all shocked and very upset about it. Well, we missed lunch because the haircuts took so long, so went to a pizzeria and got pizza. Then we came back to the center and ate it then watched a movie on my laptop, Goodfellas, took a nap, then got up for dinner. After I ate dinner I got online and talked to parents for a long time and JereBeth for a little bit then went to bed.
I got up and first thing ordered some flowers to be delivered to JereBeth on Valentine’s Day. Then I answered some e-mails, took a shower, and went to meet the guys for our haircut appointments. They’d already left so I hiked down there and met them. I ended up waiting around for an hour and reading magazines while they took their turns and then finally got my hair cut. Then we all went to pay and to our surprise we all found out it cost 19 euro. We were all shocked and very upset about it. Well, we missed lunch because the haircuts took so long, so went to a pizzeria and got pizza. Then we came back to the center and ate it then watched a movie on my laptop, Goodfellas, took a nap, then got up for dinner. After I ate dinner I got online and talked to parents for a long time and JereBeth for a little bit then went to bed.
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12Feb2005 – Saturday
I got up and showered then went to the train station with my roommates and got food on the way before getting our tickets to Cortona. Actually, we took the train to Cumarce-Cortona or something to that effect, which we thought was a stop inside Cortona. Well we quickly found out when we got there that all the signs in the city were pointing away from the city saying Cortona. We realized that we were in a neighboring city and ended up hiking up the mountain for next 2 hours and 4 miles to Cortona. At one point we actually went through this old mans crops by accident and at first he came to yell at us but then ended up being really nice and showing us how to get to the road to get up there. When we got there we looked around the main square, and took a lot of pictures. We went in a few shops, and went up and down the main corso before deciding to get some pizza. Wes accidentally ordered two pizzas instead of two slices and it was really funny. We went and sat on the steps of the town hall and ate our pizza while all the kids in the town hung out in the main square. While we were eating it was getting dark fast and when we finished we decided to figure out how we were going to get back down the mountain. We went outside the main city walls and saw a tour bus. A tour bus! We ran over to them and asked if we could get on and the lady we were talking to told us it was private and to go to the bus station and pointed. We started in that direction and it was already dark and we couldn’t see anything really. Well a few minutes later we saw a guy walking across a parking lot and Wes shouted at him asking if spoke English. He did and we asked the best way to get to the train station. He said he might be able to give us a lift and told us to hang on for a minute. He went and asked his buddy if it was okay and then they gave us a ride down the mountain. We made it to the train station just barely in time to catch a train home. When we got back to Castiglion Fiorentino we hiked back up to the center where I talked on internet for a while and then went to bed. In the end it was a really memorable and fun experience.
I got up and showered then went to the train station with my roommates and got food on the way before getting our tickets to Cortona. Actually, we took the train to Cumarce-Cortona or something to that effect, which we thought was a stop inside Cortona. Well we quickly found out when we got there that all the signs in the city were pointing away from the city saying Cortona. We realized that we were in a neighboring city and ended up hiking up the mountain for next 2 hours and 4 miles to Cortona. At one point we actually went through this old mans crops by accident and at first he came to yell at us but then ended up being really nice and showing us how to get to the road to get up there. When we got there we looked around the main square, and took a lot of pictures. We went in a few shops, and went up and down the main corso before deciding to get some pizza. Wes accidentally ordered two pizzas instead of two slices and it was really funny. We went and sat on the steps of the town hall and ate our pizza while all the kids in the town hung out in the main square. While we were eating it was getting dark fast and when we finished we decided to figure out how we were going to get back down the mountain. We went outside the main city walls and saw a tour bus. A tour bus! We ran over to them and asked if we could get on and the lady we were talking to told us it was private and to go to the bus station and pointed. We started in that direction and it was already dark and we couldn’t see anything really. Well a few minutes later we saw a guy walking across a parking lot and Wes shouted at him asking if spoke English. He did and we asked the best way to get to the train station. He said he might be able to give us a lift and told us to hang on for a minute. He went and asked his buddy if it was okay and then they gave us a ride down the mountain. We made it to the train station just barely in time to catch a train home. When we got back to Castiglion Fiorentino we hiked back up to the center where I talked on internet for a while and then went to bed. In the end it was a really memorable and fun experience.
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13Feb2005 – Sunday
Ah… I slept in and then got showered and dressed. Then I went downstairs with my roommates and we checked the train times online and got some food. We went to the train station and got tickets and got on the only train headed to our destination at our time that we had checked online. Well we watched the whole way and never saw our stop and ended up in Florence. We then went to information to figure out how to get to the outlet center. They told us, but we didn’t want to buy another ticket so we just got on the train. It had taken us an hour and a half to get to Florence and no one had checked our tickets, and this was only a half an hour so we figured we’d be okay. Well, we got caught and had to pay a 5 euro fee and buy the ticket. Finally, we got to right city and there was a van taxi waiting at the train station for tourists going shopping. We got in and went to outlet. Once we got there, we discovered it was nothing like what I’d heard. I had heard somewhere that this outlet had shops with all of these big name designer labels, Gucci, Prada, etc. , and they were selling last years and the years before's styles at insanely discounted prices. We’re talking something like 5 euro for a shirt. Well it was nothing like that, there were clothes there for like 600 euro and I think the cheapest thing we saw was a tie for 40 euro at the Armani store. Well we went ahead and looked around in all of the big name shops since we were already there and afterwards my roommates wanted to go find another outlet with the Prada and Dolce stores, but I was disappointed and frustrated with the whole trip already and knew nothing there was going to be any cheaper, so I was going to try to catch an earlier train. I waited around for another van taxi and then went back to the train station only to find out that there wasn’t an earlier train and I was stranded at train station for 2 hours. During that time I decided to walk around the city close to the train station a little, but everything was closed on Sunday except one pizzeria. Well I was starving so went in and ordered a pizza from these people who spoke absolutely no English at all, and thought was going to get it soon. But after half an hour I asked the girl when it would be ready and she said 7o-clock which was really disappointing. I had ordered it at 6 and my train was leaving at 6:58. So I was bummed and didn’t know how to tell them to cancel it so I just left and walked back to station. I waited around some more and my roommates showed up about 5 minutes before the train was going to leave and they’d both gone back to the Armani store and bought hundred euro jackets... We got on and went home, but the train stopped at every city on the way and it took forever. Finally we got back about 8:30 and I went straight to Rigero’s. I ordered the same pizza I’d had at the Super bowl party and Daniel ordered two pizzas. We ate then went back to the center where I talked to my parents and JereBeth online for a while and then went to bed.
Ah… I slept in and then got showered and dressed. Then I went downstairs with my roommates and we checked the train times online and got some food. We went to the train station and got tickets and got on the only train headed to our destination at our time that we had checked online. Well we watched the whole way and never saw our stop and ended up in Florence. We then went to information to figure out how to get to the outlet center. They told us, but we didn’t want to buy another ticket so we just got on the train. It had taken us an hour and a half to get to Florence and no one had checked our tickets, and this was only a half an hour so we figured we’d be okay. Well, we got caught and had to pay a 5 euro fee and buy the ticket. Finally, we got to right city and there was a van taxi waiting at the train station for tourists going shopping. We got in and went to outlet. Once we got there, we discovered it was nothing like what I’d heard. I had heard somewhere that this outlet had shops with all of these big name designer labels, Gucci, Prada, etc. , and they were selling last years and the years before's styles at insanely discounted prices. We’re talking something like 5 euro for a shirt. Well it was nothing like that, there were clothes there for like 600 euro and I think the cheapest thing we saw was a tie for 40 euro at the Armani store. Well we went ahead and looked around in all of the big name shops since we were already there and afterwards my roommates wanted to go find another outlet with the Prada and Dolce stores, but I was disappointed and frustrated with the whole trip already and knew nothing there was going to be any cheaper, so I was going to try to catch an earlier train. I waited around for another van taxi and then went back to the train station only to find out that there wasn’t an earlier train and I was stranded at train station for 2 hours. During that time I decided to walk around the city close to the train station a little, but everything was closed on Sunday except one pizzeria. Well I was starving so went in and ordered a pizza from these people who spoke absolutely no English at all, and thought was going to get it soon. But after half an hour I asked the girl when it would be ready and she said 7o-clock which was really disappointing. I had ordered it at 6 and my train was leaving at 6:58. So I was bummed and didn’t know how to tell them to cancel it so I just left and walked back to station. I waited around some more and my roommates showed up about 5 minutes before the train was going to leave and they’d both gone back to the Armani store and bought hundred euro jackets... We got on and went home, but the train stopped at every city on the way and it took forever. Finally we got back about 8:30 and I went straight to Rigero’s. I ordered the same pizza I’d had at the Super bowl party and Daniel ordered two pizzas. We ate then went back to the center where I talked to my parents and JereBeth online for a while and then went to bed.
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14Feb2005 - Monday
I got up and talked on the internet in the morning. Answered some emails. Took a shower and went to lunch. Then I took a nap before class. I went downstairs as our group was about to present so we did the presentation of our project. When it was over with I couldn’t decide if the profs and guests had said good things or bad. Well we sat there for the next 2 and a half hours as everyone presented and the panel of critiquers argued amongst themselves. Finally we finished and I took another short nap. After that I went to dinner, and after dinner we watched the Monday night movie the center was showing in the theater which was A Holiday In Rome with Audrey Hepburn. I really enjoyed it and afterwards I talked to JereBeth. I checked the Fed-Ex tracking on her flowers and found out JereBeth hadn’t gotten them. At this point I got pretty upset about it and got Josh to help me track them down since I couldn’t call The States. We found them, but josh had to go to a meeting, so then I had to get my roommate from last semester, Greg, to go get them for me. It was really late at this point so I had to go to bed before I found out if she got them or not.
I got up and talked on the internet in the morning. Answered some emails. Took a shower and went to lunch. Then I took a nap before class. I went downstairs as our group was about to present so we did the presentation of our project. When it was over with I couldn’t decide if the profs and guests had said good things or bad. Well we sat there for the next 2 and a half hours as everyone presented and the panel of critiquers argued amongst themselves. Finally we finished and I took another short nap. After that I went to dinner, and after dinner we watched the Monday night movie the center was showing in the theater which was A Holiday In Rome with Audrey Hepburn. I really enjoyed it and afterwards I talked to JereBeth. I checked the Fed-Ex tracking on her flowers and found out JereBeth hadn’t gotten them. At this point I got pretty upset about it and got Josh to help me track them down since I couldn’t call The States. We found them, but josh had to go to a meeting, so then I had to get my roommate from last semester, Greg, to go get them for me. It was really late at this point so I had to go to bed before I found out if she got them or not.
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15Feb2005 – Tuesday
I got up and took a shower and got dressed and found JereBeth online for a few minutes. Found out she got the flowers and felt a lot better about it. I wasn’t feeling too good and generally was having a pretty bad day though. Next I wrote my paper that was due at 11:15 that morning and then went to class where I listened to an overview of details regarding our Rome trip. Then I listened to a lecture about things we would see in Rome and tuned in my paper. Then we went to lunch, and after lunch I got in van to go to our first meeting of our stone carving class. We met our professor who was really nice but spoke no English. Then I had my first ever experience with stone carving and as of right now, I’m not very good at it from what I can tell. Some of the guys were having fun though and decided to stay later and walk back but I got on bus with the 2 girls that were there and went back at regular time because it was freezing outside and was starting to snow lightly. We got back to center in time for a short nap before dinner. I was still feeling pretty cruddy at this point. Went to dinner and ate and left early because I was still feeling cruddy. I got online and wanted to talk to JereBeth but she was studying for a test and then went to a test. So I talked to Jen her roommate for a while until she got back and then finally got to talk to her. We talked for a few hours and then said goodbye for the next couple of days as I was about to go on an extended trip to Rome for 3 days and then was staying after in Pompeii for a day or two possibly and was going to have no way to talk to her after that.
I got up and took a shower and got dressed and found JereBeth online for a few minutes. Found out she got the flowers and felt a lot better about it. I wasn’t feeling too good and generally was having a pretty bad day though. Next I wrote my paper that was due at 11:15 that morning and then went to class where I listened to an overview of details regarding our Rome trip. Then I listened to a lecture about things we would see in Rome and tuned in my paper. Then we went to lunch, and after lunch I got in van to go to our first meeting of our stone carving class. We met our professor who was really nice but spoke no English. Then I had my first ever experience with stone carving and as of right now, I’m not very good at it from what I can tell. Some of the guys were having fun though and decided to stay later and walk back but I got on bus with the 2 girls that were there and went back at regular time because it was freezing outside and was starting to snow lightly. We got back to center in time for a short nap before dinner. I was still feeling pretty cruddy at this point. Went to dinner and ate and left early because I was still feeling cruddy. I got online and wanted to talk to JereBeth but she was studying for a test and then went to a test. So I talked to Jen her roommate for a while until she got back and then finally got to talk to her. We talked for a few hours and then said goodbye for the next couple of days as I was about to go on an extended trip to Rome for 3 days and then was staying after in Pompeii for a day or two possibly and was going to have no way to talk to her after that.
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16Feb2005 – Wednesday
I got up and got packed and ran to the train that was leaving at 7:58. I got on and headed to Rome. When we got there we got on a bus that took us to our first stop pretty close to the coliseum. I got off the bus and could see it and was amazed! We then took our first tour of Rome that included the coliseum, the ancient forum, the dungeon where Peter and Paul were held prisoner, Egyptian obelisks, the pantheon, and then the square where we were to meet after lunch. It was finally 1:30 and time for lunch so I ate some pizza and bought a new beanie and some leather gloves at the market in the square for really cheap. Then I met up with some people at the gellateria and had my first ever pistachio ice cream (well gelato) and it was delicious! Then we went to a fountain and I hunted for some patches. I found one, but not of Rome, and was a little bummed about that. Then we went to a really heavily ornamented and frescoed church before heading back to the square to meet. My feet were absolutely killing me at this point because the ground wasn’t even close to even, it was like were walking on big rocks everywhere we went. So we met the group and walked back to meet the bus and then rode the bus back to our hotel. We proceeded to get off and check in. I was exhausted and so were my roommates (we’d only had about 4 hours of sleep before doing all of this walking) and so we all took a nice loooong nap. When I woke up I was hungry and found most everyone was about to go find dinner so I got with a group to go eat dinner including my roommates and a bunch of people from Colorado state. We started walking in a direction and then there was some question as to where we were, and not being able to find it on the map, so we walked back to the first street we were on, then there was a lot of fighting between all of the CSU people, and one guy, Nick, and I heard the girls say lets just go eat back there, so he left pretty annoyed, and I followed him, and then we got there and discovered that no one had followed us, so we went back, and they were gone. (lol! what a run-on!) So we walked in the direction we thought they had gone and didn’t find them anywhere. So he got some pizza at a place near us, but it didn’t look very good to me so we went back to a bar we saw some people I recognized in, but it was late and they didn’t have any food and everyone was talking so I left on my own in search of food because I was starving. Finally I found a pizzeria and got some food that looked good and went back to the hotel. When I got there I ran into a bunch of people all hanging out in their rooms and chilled with them, then went upstairs to take off my jacket because I was hot and came back down only to discover they were about to go out. So I went back to my room and got my jacket and then went with them and we took a nice long night time walk to this fountain that was supposed to be really cool. I saw the coliseum lit up at night and then we ran into my roommates who I chastised for abandoning me, then we finally made it to the fountain. It was gorgeous and well worth the 45 minute walk it took to get there. We hung out there for a while and then made the 45 minute walk back to the hotel with everyone a little bit tipsy and having a lot of entertainment from Marcus who had probably had the most to drink. (Everyone but me of course, I’d had nothing to drink because I have no money to spend on alcohol.) Then we got back to the hotel and we hung out for a little longer before I went to bed around 2.
I got up and got packed and ran to the train that was leaving at 7:58. I got on and headed to Rome. When we got there we got on a bus that took us to our first stop pretty close to the coliseum. I got off the bus and could see it and was amazed! We then took our first tour of Rome that included the coliseum, the ancient forum, the dungeon where Peter and Paul were held prisoner, Egyptian obelisks, the pantheon, and then the square where we were to meet after lunch. It was finally 1:30 and time for lunch so I ate some pizza and bought a new beanie and some leather gloves at the market in the square for really cheap. Then I met up with some people at the gellateria and had my first ever pistachio ice cream (well gelato) and it was delicious! Then we went to a fountain and I hunted for some patches. I found one, but not of Rome, and was a little bummed about that. Then we went to a really heavily ornamented and frescoed church before heading back to the square to meet. My feet were absolutely killing me at this point because the ground wasn’t even close to even, it was like were walking on big rocks everywhere we went. So we met the group and walked back to meet the bus and then rode the bus back to our hotel. We proceeded to get off and check in. I was exhausted and so were my roommates (we’d only had about 4 hours of sleep before doing all of this walking) and so we all took a nice loooong nap. When I woke up I was hungry and found most everyone was about to go find dinner so I got with a group to go eat dinner including my roommates and a bunch of people from Colorado state. We started walking in a direction and then there was some question as to where we were, and not being able to find it on the map, so we walked back to the first street we were on, then there was a lot of fighting between all of the CSU people, and one guy, Nick, and I heard the girls say lets just go eat back there, so he left pretty annoyed, and I followed him, and then we got there and discovered that no one had followed us, so we went back, and they were gone. (lol! what a run-on!) So we walked in the direction we thought they had gone and didn’t find them anywhere. So he got some pizza at a place near us, but it didn’t look very good to me so we went back to a bar we saw some people I recognized in, but it was late and they didn’t have any food and everyone was talking so I left on my own in search of food because I was starving. Finally I found a pizzeria and got some food that looked good and went back to the hotel. When I got there I ran into a bunch of people all hanging out in their rooms and chilled with them, then went upstairs to take off my jacket because I was hot and came back down only to discover they were about to go out. So I went back to my room and got my jacket and then went with them and we took a nice long night time walk to this fountain that was supposed to be really cool. I saw the coliseum lit up at night and then we ran into my roommates who I chastised for abandoning me, then we finally made it to the fountain. It was gorgeous and well worth the 45 minute walk it took to get there. We hung out there for a while and then made the 45 minute walk back to the hotel with everyone a little bit tipsy and having a lot of entertainment from Marcus who had probably had the most to drink. (Everyone but me of course, I’d had nothing to drink because I have no money to spend on alcohol.) Then we got back to the hotel and we hung out for a little longer before I went to bed around 2.
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17Feb2005 – Thursday
I got up and took a shower and got dressed and barely made it to breakfast at 8. Then we had a meeting on how to use the subway in Rome, etc, etc, and left to go to Vatican City for the day. The subway was really crowded like you wouldn’t believe. I mean people were crushed against the doors and spilling out at every stop, but it was a lot of fun and my first ever experience on a subway. We got to the stop for Vatican City and waited for the whole group to get there (the subway was so crowded we had to take a lot of different trains at different times, but they were only about 5 minutes apart) and then we walked to Vatican City. We walked in the gate and straight into one of the loggias of the Vatican and I was in awe and wonder. It was amazing, just the loggias! So I took a ton of pictures and then the group met for a historical lecture out in the middle for the next 45 minutes… We weren’t happy about this, because we were all really excited to go in to St. Peters! But it was interesting and we made the best of it. Finally, after a lot more pictures we made our way into the line to get in, and then we had another historical lecture for a little shorter time (maybe 25 minutes this time) just outside the entrance. Then we finally got to go in, and my jaw fell to the floor. This was easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. The entire place was so richly ornamented it could only be the Vatican. Everything was either gold or marble. That’s it, pure gold and pure marble. The entire St. Peters Cathedral! It was gorgeous and I took a ton more pictures. I didn’t stay with the group for the lecture (yet again) but instead just took pictures and saw everything. Finally, I ended up meeting with a group and decided to stick with them for lunch. We started out and stopped at some gift shops and I found a bunch of patches. (Yay!) Then we went in search of food and everything was so expensive it was ridiculous. Finally, we ended up at this food expo in one of the squares and we wondered through the different booths and found places that were selling sandwiches for pretty cheap. We ate and talked and just generally hung out before those of us in architecture had to meet at 3:30 for our next tour of the day through contemporary architecture in Rome. We got on the subway and made our way to the stop and got there a little early and waited for everyone to arrive. Then around 3:30 we started our tour with our studio prof Peter leading the way. We saw some pretty cool buildings and a water fountain that the guys joked around with and then a lot more really cool stuff. One thing that I thought was cool was the Square Coliseum that JereBeth and I had actually seen in the movie Titus last semester. Well finally around 6 we were supposed to go to a museum, but they were closed early because their budget was tight so the profs let us go and we started walking back to the subway. On the way we saw the most phenomenal thing I saw on the entire trip. We looked up to see what must have been millions of birds all flocking to the same area of the sky and I think what they were doing was riding the air currents. That’s my theory anyway. But it was amazing. They were all swirling around and flying in no specific pattern and it was just absolutely amazing, I really can’t explain it, but there were millions of them and they just kept coming. Some lady that lived there was talking to Peter and told him they do it almost everyday until 7 and then they just disappear. I’d never heard of it at all but it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Kim had her video camera and we got it on film for at least 5 minutes and I’m putting it on my laptop soon. It was really indescribable, you’ll have to just see it for yourselves, but it was probably one of my top 3 favorite things of the trip. Well anyway we went back to the hotel and I met up with “the guys” and we hung out all night while they drank and we watched a soccer game. It was a lot of fun and some girls kept coming over and wanting us to go next door to their room to watch the game and we just generally had a good time, ate some dinner, the usual. The game ended with a 0/0 tie and then they all wanted to go out to a pub. But it was 11 and I was beat so I went to bed. At about 4:30 my roommates came in and woke me up and then we all finally went back to sleep at about 5:30.
I got up and took a shower and got dressed and barely made it to breakfast at 8. Then we had a meeting on how to use the subway in Rome, etc, etc, and left to go to Vatican City for the day. The subway was really crowded like you wouldn’t believe. I mean people were crushed against the doors and spilling out at every stop, but it was a lot of fun and my first ever experience on a subway. We got to the stop for Vatican City and waited for the whole group to get there (the subway was so crowded we had to take a lot of different trains at different times, but they were only about 5 minutes apart) and then we walked to Vatican City. We walked in the gate and straight into one of the loggias of the Vatican and I was in awe and wonder. It was amazing, just the loggias! So I took a ton of pictures and then the group met for a historical lecture out in the middle for the next 45 minutes… We weren’t happy about this, because we were all really excited to go in to St. Peters! But it was interesting and we made the best of it. Finally, after a lot more pictures we made our way into the line to get in, and then we had another historical lecture for a little shorter time (maybe 25 minutes this time) just outside the entrance. Then we finally got to go in, and my jaw fell to the floor. This was easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. The entire place was so richly ornamented it could only be the Vatican. Everything was either gold or marble. That’s it, pure gold and pure marble. The entire St. Peters Cathedral! It was gorgeous and I took a ton more pictures. I didn’t stay with the group for the lecture (yet again) but instead just took pictures and saw everything. Finally, I ended up meeting with a group and decided to stick with them for lunch. We started out and stopped at some gift shops and I found a bunch of patches. (Yay!) Then we went in search of food and everything was so expensive it was ridiculous. Finally, we ended up at this food expo in one of the squares and we wondered through the different booths and found places that were selling sandwiches for pretty cheap. We ate and talked and just generally hung out before those of us in architecture had to meet at 3:30 for our next tour of the day through contemporary architecture in Rome. We got on the subway and made our way to the stop and got there a little early and waited for everyone to arrive. Then around 3:30 we started our tour with our studio prof Peter leading the way. We saw some pretty cool buildings and a water fountain that the guys joked around with and then a lot more really cool stuff. One thing that I thought was cool was the Square Coliseum that JereBeth and I had actually seen in the movie Titus last semester. Well finally around 6 we were supposed to go to a museum, but they were closed early because their budget was tight so the profs let us go and we started walking back to the subway. On the way we saw the most phenomenal thing I saw on the entire trip. We looked up to see what must have been millions of birds all flocking to the same area of the sky and I think what they were doing was riding the air currents. That’s my theory anyway. But it was amazing. They were all swirling around and flying in no specific pattern and it was just absolutely amazing, I really can’t explain it, but there were millions of them and they just kept coming. Some lady that lived there was talking to Peter and told him they do it almost everyday until 7 and then they just disappear. I’d never heard of it at all but it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Kim had her video camera and we got it on film for at least 5 minutes and I’m putting it on my laptop soon. It was really indescribable, you’ll have to just see it for yourselves, but it was probably one of my top 3 favorite things of the trip. Well anyway we went back to the hotel and I met up with “the guys” and we hung out all night while they drank and we watched a soccer game. It was a lot of fun and some girls kept coming over and wanting us to go next door to their room to watch the game and we just generally had a good time, ate some dinner, the usual. The game ended with a 0/0 tie and then they all wanted to go out to a pub. But it was 11 and I was beat so I went to bed. At about 4:30 my roommates came in and woke me up and then we all finally went back to sleep at about 5:30.
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18Feb2005 – Friday
I got up at 6:45 and was first in the shower and then got dressed and packed and headed down for breakfast. Man, those breakfasts were good. the first eggs and orange juice id had in like a month and it was fantastic. They also had rolls and cheese and ham and I decided to make a bunch of little sandwiches with them to try and have some meals taken care of. Anyway, so we checkout out at 9 and we had found a brand new pillow n the bottom of our closet that we didn’t think was supposed to be there and was probably unaccounted for so I now have a new pillow. (Yay!) Anyway we checked out on got on the subway and headed back to the Vatican because today was the Vatican Museum with the Sistine Chapel. We got there early and had to stand in this ridiculously long line that wrapped all along the outside wall of Vatican City for over an hour. We finally go in and got our tickets and I don’t know what it is, but I really like museums. The architecture in this one was fantastic as well. Anyway, I took a ton of pictures and we went through hours of rooms and thought were never going to get to the Sistine chapel. And then finally the very last place was it. Don’t get me wrong, everything else there was beautiful as well, but that was the only thing I was really interested in. And it was gorgeous. Absolutely breath-taking. And you weren’t allowed to take video or photography of any kind in there, but I did it anyway secretively and they turned out fantastic! Whoop! Anyway, it was amazing and we were probably in that room alone for a half an hour, then we left and I met up with my group for the weekend: Brett, Jon, and Jason. We decided to get some pizza in the café there and rest our feet before embarking on our solo journey. Then we jumped on the subway back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff that they were storing for us for the day, and then back on the subway to the train station. Then we got our tickets and got on our train to Napoli (or Naples) where our hostel was for the night. After some searching from bad directions for about 45 minutes we found the place and stayed in for the night. We played spades and watched Under Siege in Italian and talked to the really friendly people who ran the hostel before going to bed early in preparation for a really really long day.
I got up at 6:45 and was first in the shower and then got dressed and packed and headed down for breakfast. Man, those breakfasts were good. the first eggs and orange juice id had in like a month and it was fantastic. They also had rolls and cheese and ham and I decided to make a bunch of little sandwiches with them to try and have some meals taken care of. Anyway, so we checkout out at 9 and we had found a brand new pillow n the bottom of our closet that we didn’t think was supposed to be there and was probably unaccounted for so I now have a new pillow. (Yay!) Anyway we checked out on got on the subway and headed back to the Vatican because today was the Vatican Museum with the Sistine Chapel. We got there early and had to stand in this ridiculously long line that wrapped all along the outside wall of Vatican City for over an hour. We finally go in and got our tickets and I don’t know what it is, but I really like museums. The architecture in this one was fantastic as well. Anyway, I took a ton of pictures and we went through hours of rooms and thought were never going to get to the Sistine chapel. And then finally the very last place was it. Don’t get me wrong, everything else there was beautiful as well, but that was the only thing I was really interested in. And it was gorgeous. Absolutely breath-taking. And you weren’t allowed to take video or photography of any kind in there, but I did it anyway secretively and they turned out fantastic! Whoop! Anyway, it was amazing and we were probably in that room alone for a half an hour, then we left and I met up with my group for the weekend: Brett, Jon, and Jason. We decided to get some pizza in the café there and rest our feet before embarking on our solo journey. Then we jumped on the subway back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff that they were storing for us for the day, and then back on the subway to the train station. Then we got our tickets and got on our train to Napoli (or Naples) where our hostel was for the night. After some searching from bad directions for about 45 minutes we found the place and stayed in for the night. We played spades and watched Under Siege in Italian and talked to the really friendly people who ran the hostel before going to bed early in preparation for a really really long day.
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19Feb2005 – Saturday
We got up and had a complimentary breakfast then headed back to the train station to go to Pompeii. A half an hour train ride later we got there and found our way to the city and ended up spending 3 glorious hours there. It was incredible. And I took a ton of pictures -anyone noticing a pattern - (one with me in it for mom) then we ate in the café at Pompeii which was really pricey and then it was starting to rain. We went back to the train station and waited for our train back to Napoli. We went back to the hostel and got our bags and picked up a guy from Colorado who happened to be staying there and was also heading to the train station and he walked with us to it. Well we just missed a train and were a little hacked about it, but instead found a Euro-Star that was leaving in about 45 minutes so decided to take it. It was a really really nice train, but was definitely not cheap. Anyway we got back to Rome really quick and then had missed the next train by literally two minutes. The next one didn’t leave for 2 hours so went to McDonalds and grabbed some food and waited and talked until we could board the train. We got on it and then a few hours later finally got back to home sweet home - Castiglion Fiorentino. We hiked back up to the center, which really took it out of me carrying a 50lb backpack, where I took a shower and then decided to take it easy the rest of the night. I got online and talked to JereBeth till about 4:30 then went to bed.
We got up and had a complimentary breakfast then headed back to the train station to go to Pompeii. A half an hour train ride later we got there and found our way to the city and ended up spending 3 glorious hours there. It was incredible. And I took a ton of pictures -anyone noticing a pattern - (one with me in it for mom) then we ate in the café at Pompeii which was really pricey and then it was starting to rain. We went back to the train station and waited for our train back to Napoli. We went back to the hostel and got our bags and picked up a guy from Colorado who happened to be staying there and was also heading to the train station and he walked with us to it. Well we just missed a train and were a little hacked about it, but instead found a Euro-Star that was leaving in about 45 minutes so decided to take it. It was a really really nice train, but was definitely not cheap. Anyway we got back to Rome really quick and then had missed the next train by literally two minutes. The next one didn’t leave for 2 hours so went to McDonalds and grabbed some food and waited and talked until we could board the train. We got on it and then a few hours later finally got back to home sweet home - Castiglion Fiorentino. We hiked back up to the center, which really took it out of me carrying a 50lb backpack, where I took a shower and then decided to take it easy the rest of the night. I got online and talked to JereBeth till about 4:30 then went to bed.
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20Feb2005 – Sunday
I got up at about 11:45 because of the freaking bells… the bell tower at the church next door rings its bells every fifteen minutes on Sundays and its ridiculous… anyway I got up and had showered last night, so I went downstairs and wrote a really long e-mail to JereBeth, then watched a movie on my laptop, Solaris, while waiting for Daniel to go eat lunch. We finally did around 4 and then got back at about 5. After that I came down here to work on my journal and that’s what I did for about 2 and a half hours before dinner. Then I went to dinner but left really early because the pasta filled me up - I was still full from lunch. So after my pasta and a gallon of water (I am so dehydrated) I came back up here to finish working on this journal entry. Now it’s an hour and a half later and I'm getting pretty close to finishing all of my editing and whatnot. So after I publish this I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do, but I have a date to talk to JereBeth around 11:15ish but more or less I think I’m just going to relax. This last week was the most hectic yet and my feet are still recovering to say the very least, lol! Well I love you all and I will talk to you later! Ciao!
I got up at about 11:45 because of the freaking bells… the bell tower at the church next door rings its bells every fifteen minutes on Sundays and its ridiculous… anyway I got up and had showered last night, so I went downstairs and wrote a really long e-mail to JereBeth, then watched a movie on my laptop, Solaris, while waiting for Daniel to go eat lunch. We finally did around 4 and then got back at about 5. After that I came down here to work on my journal and that’s what I did for about 2 and a half hours before dinner. Then I went to dinner but left really early because the pasta filled me up - I was still full from lunch. So after my pasta and a gallon of water (I am so dehydrated) I came back up here to finish working on this journal entry. Now it’s an hour and a half later and I'm getting pretty close to finishing all of my editing and whatnot. So after I publish this I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do, but I have a date to talk to JereBeth around 11:15ish but more or less I think I’m just going to relax. This last week was the most hectic yet and my feet are still recovering to say the very least, lol! Well I love you all and I will talk to you later! Ciao!
posted by c|young | 10:05 PM
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