Rome

I am going to have trouble remembering everything Hilary and I did in Rome. It is such a big city with so many things to see. It was somewhat overwhelming. I didn't like Rome as much as Florence. It felt a bit chaotic to me. Although the sites are brilliant.
We arrived late in the evening from Florence so we just found our hostel and went to bed on the first night. I didn't like this new hostel as much. There were a lot of party type people there so it was noisier and messier.
The next day we started our Rome adventure. Hilary likes to walk so we walked everywhere. It is quite a large city so that got tiring. We headed to St. Peter's Basilica. On the way, we saw quite a few things like a castel/fort thing and the Pantheon.
St. Peter's is crazy. There were so many people there and it is soooo grand and ornate. Hilary and I went into a small museum off the side where they had a lot of past jewels and goblets and other various decorative things from old popes. I find it unbelievable that so much money and time has been poured into this religion. Looking at the pope's thrown, I thought about the fact that you aren't allowed to worship anyone or anything more than God and yet there was all this stuff for the pope. It is as if he is worshiped. I don't know too much about Catholicism in detail so I could have the wrong impression, but it certainly did seem overboard. I do appreciate the art that was produced though. It was wonderful to see Michelangelo's Pieta.
Next we went to the Vatican museums. We found the signs for the Sistine Chapel and followed them. Hoards of people followed the signs as well. They take you through a maze of hallways and rooms. I suppose they want to make sure that the people who are just coming to see the Sistine chapel see a few other things as well. I really liked seeing the School of Athens painting by Raphael. I also enjoyed the map paintings. I have always liked maps. Since some of them were so off from what we know the world looks like today, it made me think of when Aled would draw made up maps of his own worlds and spend hours coloring them in and naming all the countries.
We finally arrived at the Sistine Chapel. People were packed into it. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer for the main tourist season. People kept trying to take pictures. You were supposed to be silent and photos weren't allowed. The security guard would yell, "Silent! Silent! No photo! No photo!" Then it would be quiet for about a minute until the noise level raised again and people regained confidence to snap another photo. Hilary took this photo. I don't think I would have taken a photo even if I could. My camera was too full and couldn't take any more pictures.
Hilary and I actually preferred the exhibition right before the Sistine chapel. It was a Contemporary Religious Art exhibition. It included artists such as Dali, Chagall, Klee, and Matisse. Most people wizzed by; I don't think they knew what they were missing.

After the Vatican we walked around the city more. This is a picture of the Castel fort thing we went into earlier, but at night. We saw the Trevi fountain and walked down one of the main shopping streets.
The next day was Colosseum and ancient ruins day. We saw the Trajan Column and then got in line for the Colosseum. There were all these guys dressed in gladiator costumes. They would try and get tourists to take photos with them and then charged them a euro or two. There were also a bunch of people trying to get tourists to join tours and things. It felt pretty chaotic. When we finally got inside it was nice, but not spectacular. It basically looks just like the photos. Still, I am glad I waited in the line to see the inside. Now I can see I have seen it.
After that we walked around the ancient ruins, which I really enjoyed. I didn't realize how much is left. I guess I didn't expect that much. I love columns. I don't know what it is about a row of columns that no longer have much of a purpose, but I just find them beautiful. I feel like they really give you a sense of how grand the buildings were. They give you a sense of the dimensions. We also got to see these old frescoes. I find it really amazing that they have survived all these years. They were so lovely. I wouldn't mind having them on my wall today. The deep yellows, reds, and greens were quite modern.
So that was Rome. My one piece of advice to anyone who is going to visit Rome would be to bring a guide book specifically about Rome. I felt like there wasn't much information printed about the ruins and things. I would have liked to learn more about what I was seeing. The next day we got on a train and headed back to Aix. Actually, we only made it to Nice that day. We stayed in a lovely hostel, but we were only there for a total of about seven hours. I will have to go back though because they were so friendly.

More to come

I just put up the Florence post. As you can see, I started it long ago so it is dated March 10th even though I just published it.
I will try and put up both Rome and Ryan's Visit tomorrow. I have the pictures chosen and ready, which is the part that takes me the longest.
Today I met up with Maud. I was put into contact with Maud through my second cousin, Justine. Maud was the babysitter for Justine's daughter Eva when they were living in Aix. Maud no longer lives in Aix either, but was here for the day and was kind enough to meet me. We went to a cafe and then went to a few shops. She was very friendly and it was nice to find someone with whom to speak French.
That sounds crazy since I am in France, but as a result of the striking, I haven't had much of a chance to meet French students and therefore haven't had all that many opportunities to speak French. When I say speak French, I mean more than what you would say to someone in a shop or a restaurant and different from the way we speak French in class. It was good to have a normal and somewhat lengthy conversation.

oops

So it has been quite some time since I posted. I promise I will catch up. I still need to finish writing about Italy. Then I also have to write about Ryan's visit, which was great. I am sick again. Miserable. I have a lot of homework to do today so I need to get that done and then I will work on my blog. Expect lots of posts for the rest of the week!

Florence

I love Florence. Hilary and I arrived from Bologna in the late morning. First we walked to our hostel, which was really close to the train station. Our hostel, Plus Florence, was great. The service was excellent and the rooms were clean and chic. I liked the pink curtains.
After we put our luggage away, we headed back out to see the sites. First we went to the Michelangelo piazza. It was on the other side of the city so on the way there we were able to see lots of Florence. Once we got to the top, the views were very pretty and even in the big city you could tell we were in Tuscany. We walked through a graveyard at a monastery and found a place to get some gelato.
When we got back down, we headed back towards the center of town by crossing the famous Pont Vecchio. There are lots of little jewelry shops on the bridge. They were all so cute and expensive. Hilary and I spent a long time looking in all the windows. My favorites were these coral rose earrings. Too bad my ears aren't pierced.
We then looked in the Duomo briefly and then went to the Pitti Palace where they have a large collection of paintings and also have some of the old royal apartment rooms on display. I enjoyed seeing the ornate rooms filled with paintings and glamourous furniture.
If I am remembering correctly, we then had dinner at a pizza place. It was very yummy. One thing Hilary and I found during our whole stay in Italy is that we got hungry way too early. People in Italy don't start eating dinner until at least 8pm. Since Hilary and I were so busy trying to see all the sites, we always got hungry early and wanted to be eating at about 6:30. We would try to hold off as long as possible, but usually gave in by 7:30. The restaurants would be empty and the waiters would look at us strangely. By the time we were paying the bill, others would start to file in. When I am in Aix, my roommate Ali and I rarely eat before 8pm. I think it was just because Hilary and I were so active during our vacation.
So...the next day was a museum day. We started by going to the Uffizi. I am so glad that we went early. We got there at 9am. When we were leaving I saw the lines and I would not have wanted to wait in them. Also, at the end, we started noticing a lot of big tours going through the museum. I understand that a tour could make a museum trip more enjoyable and interesting for some, but they just annoy me. They travel around in huge packs whispering to each other and blocking off paintings from other viewers. I am very happy that we avoided them for the most part.
Anyway, I enjoyed the Uffizi. It was wonderful to see all of the art that I have learned about in my Art History courses at Wellesley in real life. Some of my favorites were by Botticeli. I also like seeing some of Carravagio's work. I think quite a large portion of the museum was blocked off for renovation. That was diappointing, but in some ways I suppose it might have been helpful. I think I could have spent a whole day there and Hilary might not have been too pleased. Actually, we were pretty good museum buddies. We took about the same amount of time to look at things. We also both like to look at EVERYTHING.
Next we had lunch at a famous "hole in the wall" panini place. It was so good. I had a tomato and mozzerela and basil panini. There is always a line, but it moves quickly. He put mine together and poured olive oil on it. Then he put the other side of the bread on and squished it together to get the juices to spread all around. yum everything about it was delicious. You can also get a glass of wine from this place. They give you real glasses and they have these wooden shelves on the wall with numbers where you can put your glass while you are eating your panini. The numbers are so you remember which glass is yours.
After that, we went to see David. He was so much bigger than I imagined. I think the statue made an impression on Hilary. I don't think she was expecting much, but afterward she said that she liked it a lot more than she thought she was going to. I also liked the struggling statues. Mum told me that she had an unexpected emotional response to them. They really make you feel like you're suffocating.
When we finished there, we went back to the Pitti Palace to see the gardens. The gardens were beautiful with lot of fountains and statues. I know I would have loved to spend hours there as a child. There was so much to explore.
That evening we grabbed something to eat on the train and headed to Rome.

things that I now eat

I am still not writing about the rest of my trip, but I promise I will when I have more time. I want to do it justice. Right now, I am procrastinating the relatively (compared to the Wellesley workload) small amount of homework I have to do today. So, here is a list of foods that I eat now. I would have never imagined about two months ago that I would eventually enjoy this list of foods.

zucchini (courgette)
eggplant (aubergine)
olives
shallots
cooked tomato chunks (although I have to mash it with my fork)
onion (at least to a much larger extent than before)

The number one thing I still don't like to eat: mushrooms

...untitled

Sorry I haven't posted about Florence and Rome. I actually have quite a bit of homework to do this weekend so it might have to wait until next week. Ryan arrives next Friday so that is very exciting. That's all for now.

Bologna

Hilary and I left Cinque Terre early in the morning on Monday and went to Bologna where my friend Catherine is studying. It was great to see her. When we first got there we went to her dorm, where we got to check email! I can't believe how hard it is to go just two days without email. Catherine has such a different experience from us in Aix. Since she lives in a dorm setting instead of apartments she gets to meet a lot of Italians very easily. It was so nice to see them all getting along and joking around. I think two other things play into this as well. One, Catherine is a very out going, friendly person and makes loads of friends wherever she goes. Two, I think Italians may be easier to get to know then the French in general.

So after we had finished checking email and resting for a brief moment, Catherine showed us around some of the city. We visited the park where she goes running (I went running today!) and then she took us to a fabulous gelato shop (see picture below). After that we went into the Basilica in the center of town and looked at the Neptune fountain that is there as well.
That evening we went to get aperitifs with a lot of people from Catherine's program. It is such a great deal. You just have to buy one drink and then you can help yourself to as much of the apertif food buffet as you want. They had great mini pizzas, salad, cheese, olives, salami etc.

The next day Catherine had class so Hilary and I wandered around the city. We found excellent hot chocolate. It is very different in Italy. Almost like chocolate pudding (American pudding). We also climbed to the top of one of the Bologna towers where the views were very pretty. That burned off the calories from the hot chocolate : ) We met up with Catherine for lunch and had delicious pizza. At the end of our meal Catherine struck up a conversation with the guy at the cash register and we ended up staying another 20 minutes and having a free liqueur...it was an interesting experience.

That night we bought groceries at a market and cooked dinner for ourselves at Catherine's dorm. It was yummy. We then finished the night with a trip to Grom. Grom is a gelato shop and it is amazing. Hilary told me about them. Apparently there are two in NYC. We went to the one in Paris and I fell in love. Our goal is to go to one in every country we visit. I don't even know if there are Groms in any other countries. I just went to their website and there is a Grom in Paris, NYC, and the rest are in Italy.