A Day In the Life...

As we are now in the full swing of the 'study' part of 'study abroad,' we thought we would share with you a typical school day in the Saint Mary's College Rome Program. 

We usually wake up to the bustling of the street traffic as the city awakens. Leaving our hotel, we head over to Pascucci's, the local bar where we eat our breakfast and lunch during the week. 

On our walk to school from our hotel.

The street on which resides our classrooms, library, and bar Pascucci.

Pascucci's is a famliy-run bar and has been the breakfast/lunch place of the Saint Mary's Rome Program for over twenty years (in other words, they're used to us and our confusing Italian). While eating a cornetto (Italian version of a croissant) and sipping on a cappuccino, we attempt to chat in Italian with one of the members of the family: either Signor Bruno or Signor Antonio (the elder generation) or Signor Bruno's nephews, Stefano and Patrizio. They try to speak as much Italian with us as possible and are generous and helpful as we struggle through a conversation with them, though they occasionally give confused looks and laugh when we accidentally make up our own words and phrases!

The cappuccinos at Pascucci's are the best we've tried yet!

A typical breakfast: a cappuccino and a cornetto di cioccolatto. 

We're then off to class or to the library to spend some hours catching up on homework, but hopefully not too many! When we're back at Pascucci's for lunch, we eat one of their many delicious panini (our favorite is the simple tomato and mozzarella!) and sometimes order a frulatto too (a fruit milkshake/smoothie for which Pascucci's is famous). After lunch we either have more classes or are free to explore our neighborhood. Some of our favorite places to roam during the week are the areas around the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, or Trastevere, a neighborhood across the river. 

The very inconspicuous door leading to our classrooms.

One of the classrooms (Megan has her Italian class here)

Another big classroom where most of our classes are held. In the classroom building there are also some more classrooms as well as some study rooms.  

We usually try to get a little bit of homework done before dinner; Mondays-Wednesdays we eat with our entire group, but Thursdays-Sundays we're on our own. When we're with the group our meal consists of three to four courses: an antipasto, a pasta and/or primo piatto, a dessert, and, of course, lots of bread! Our favorite dinner place with the group so far is il Grotto del Teatro Pompeo, which is conveniently right next to our hotel. The waiters and owner are very nice and accommodating, but you have to make sure to eat all of your food or else they will give you funny looks! When we don't eat with the group we usually explore and find a delicious but cheaper option than the previous nights. Some of our favorite places are right off of Campo di Fiori where one dish of pasta is more than enough for two people!

This door opens to a complex with our library. 

Katie is hard at work!

After dinner we usually take a little walk around one of the same places as mentioned above (though one of our favorite places to go at night is the Vatican) and sometimes stop for gelato (we try to save this treat for only the weekends!). Once we have completed our "passeggiata"around some of the most beautiful sights of Rome we head back to our room to finish up some homework or relax with friends on one of our hotels many terraces... Just another day in the wonderful city of Rome!

One of the beautiful terraces at our hotel. 

Tombs, Tombs, and more Tombs!

This past Saturday was full of Etruscan tombs as we visited the necropoli of Tarquinia and Cerveteri with our Saint Mary's group. Just to give a little background, the Etruscan civilization is a pre-Roman civilization that occupied the same area of Italy the Romans eventually conquered when they grew to be a dominant force in the Mediterranean.  Everything we pretty much know about the Etruscans comes from their necropoli (cities of the dead--aka tombs and cemeteries) outside of their cities. Both Tarquinia and Cerveteri are home to the largest and best preserved collections of Etruscan tombs (and have been the topics of study for our Archaeology and Art History classes these past two weeks). 

We first traveled out to the countryside of Tarquinia to explore its painted tombs. When we got off of the bus in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, we were welcomed by a rare absolute silence, which we gladly embraced. At Tarquinia we were able to go down into and take a look at some of the most well-known Etruscan painted tombs that we had been studying in class (and conveniently had a test on on Monday--a perfect studying tool!). What's interesting to note about these painted tombs is how they focus on the joys of life instead of the reality of death, for most depict scenes of festive banqueting or celebratory games.  

The Tomb of the Leopards

The Tomb of Hunting and Fishing

The view from the Tarquinia necropolis.

As a break in between our day of adventuring tombs, we had a picnic lunch on one of the beaches outside of Tarquinia. While a beautiful day, the beach was absolutely deserted, which allowed to us to explore freely. There was a nice section of rock next to the water where we all convened for lunch as we took in the sights of a few boats and para-gliders on the water. Even a couple of brave souls (not us!) went for a quick swim in the cool water. It was a perfect and relaxing break before we switched gears back to tombs. 

Beach at Tarquinia!

At Cerveteri we explored a different type of tomb, rock-cut tombs (tombs that have literally been cut into the rock). Most of them are formed in tumuli (mounds of earth) and are big enough to house large families. It was extremely impressive to see how they resembled actual houses, for many had multiple rooms and were filled with rock-beds, benches, and even decorations. We were able to go inside five tombs, and while extremely musty, they were in great condition considering they were thousands of years old! 

One of the many rock-cut tombs. 

The Tomb of the Beds

While it was a long day of learning about Etruscan tombs, it was exciting to see and experience them first-hand; we can't wait for our next Saturday field trip!

The Long and Hilly Road: Assisi in a Day

We spent little time relaxing on Sunday as we were off to the train station at 6:30am for a full day in Assisi with a group of Saint Mary's girls. It was our first trip on our own in Italy! 

On the train to Assisi!

After a relaxing train ride with beautiful scenes of the Italian countryside, we arrived at the Assisi train station. 

We've arrived!

Assisi, which is the hometown of St. Francis and has a basilica named in his honor, is located on a big hill/small mountain (we say both because as we shortly discovered, it is way too big to be called a hill). In order to get to Assisi from the station, one can either take the bus, pay a taxi, or walk. Instead of being logical and taking a quick taxi ride or bus into town, we all thought it would be fun to walk in order to save money. 

The city in the clouds.

On our walk to Assisi; it's not that far...

Or maybe it is.

Let's just say that not a moment went by while walking up the hill/mountain to Assisi that we weren't having seconds thoughts about our money saving option. We knew Assisi was hilly, but we hadn't realized that literally Assisi was only hill, and in order to get anywhere in Assisi, the walk is not a walk, but rather a trek. If you ever want to visit Assisi, be more prepared than we were to get some exercise! 

The long trek up the hill.

Looking up at St. Francis's Basilica.

While it was a long uphill battle (pun intended), when we reached the city and travelled up the steps to the Basilica of St. Francis, the views of the Umbrian countryside (the region in which Assisi resides) were absolutely spectacular. 

The view of the countryside from above.

Friday was St. Francis's feast day (Pope Francis had spent the whole day there- we just missed him!), so we caught the tail end of the festivities; flags and balloons still lined the streets, along with some posters greeting the popular pope. 

Decorations for Pope Francis. 

We made it up the hill in time for a beautiful Italian mass at St. Francis's Basilica. After mass, we spent time exploring the city, taking in the views, visiting some historic religious spots pertaining to St. Francis, and shopping! 

St. Francis's Basilica, where we went to mass.

On our way up one of the many hills in Assisi, we saw a sign at a shop that said something along the lines of "Come in and try the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar in Umbria. Do it now because you're not going to want to walk up this hill again!" This sign alone convinced us to go inside the shop and see what it was all about. We ended up meeting the little old man who owned the shop, and we had a wonderful conversation with him. While Italian, we learned that he had lived in the US for many years before settling in Assisi. And yes, the balsamic vinegar and olive oil were amazing, so delicious that we bought our parents a small bottle of each! 

At the end of the day we decided Assisi was well worth the possibility of being sore the next day. The city was absolutely charming and quiet (something we haven't been used to since coming to Rome), the views spectacular, and the people kind and gracious. We also decided that the benefits of having all of these steep hills were a) all of the little pockets of amazing views, and b) the guilt-free feeling of eating gelato because you deserve it! While a long and exhausting day, it was a great way to start our many weekends full of adventures in Italy and all over Europe! 

Time to say goodbye! 

Touring Villa Giulia and Villa Borghese

After a busy first week of classes, we spent a rainy Saturday touring Villa Giulia and the Villa Borghese gardens. We began the day with a long walk from our hotel to Piazza del Popolo, which is located on the edge of the city and served as an entrance point to the city hundreds of years ago.

Piazza de Popolo and churches created by Bernini.

An Egyptian obelisk in the center of Piazza de Popolo.

We spent a couple of long hours at the Etruscan museum located inside the villa, which is the subject we have been discussing in class this past week. A highlight of this museum visit was the possibility that our group was on national Italian news! For what? Well, in one of the exhibition rooms a contemporary Italian artist was creating a work of art out of paper, so we were allowed to go inside and take a sneak peak. When the Italian news came, they wanted shots of people walking around the exhibit admiring the work (or at least looking interested), so they asked our professors if our group could be the "extras" for their news story.  Of course, all of us thought it was funny that they wanted 34 obviously American women who all looked the same age to walk around, but everyone deserves their 15 seconds of fame on national Italian news! We have yet to find the news story online, so we don't know if it ever broadcasted. 

Villa Giulia, which holds the Etruscan Museum.

We then ventured into Villa Borghese as the sky opened up to reveal a beautiful Saturday. Set on a hill, Villa Borghese is the Rome equivalent to New York City's Central Park, with a lake, gardens, walkways, beautiful scenic views of Rome, and museums, including the famous Borghese gallery (which we hope to visit soon!). We had a quick lunch at one of the many bars and explored the quiet park, which seems to extend forever in all directions. We found some outlook points on the edge of the hill with some amazing sights of city, where we could see all the way to the Vatican and the Colosseum!

View from an outlook point in Villa Borghese. 

Looking over Piazza del Popolo.

While walking through the park, we found ourselves on top of the Spanish Steps, which provided us another view of the city and of the busy piazza below. We spent the rest of the day leisurely walking back to our hotel along Via del Corso, one of the main high-class shopping streets (we only 'window-shopped'). For dinner we were craving something other than traditional Italian cuisine and found out that a local supermarket had made-to-order large salads for only €4! You always find the deals when you're a college student! 

At the top of the Spanish Steps.