Last Day In Roma

Tomorrow I leave for Paris. Bright and early. However, I had time for one last perfect day in this beautiful city.
I started off by saying goodbye to the Colosseo. I must have just sat in front of it for about 45 minutes just staring and thinking about how much I'll miss seeing this amazing monument everyday. Then it started to rain so I ran over to the Pantheon. Seeing the rain come down into the Pantheon from the oculus (or "great eye") truly looks magical. I mean it literally looks like magic fairy dust or something falling down and making everyone's wishes come true. When it stopped raining I strolled over to St. Peter's Basilica and got my final gelato on the way (clementine and chocolate...yum!). Inside the basilica I walked around for a while taking in all of the amazing art and architecture. Then I noticed that there was a baptism going on so I watched that for a while as well. I finished up my trip to St. Peter's by sneaking onto the back of a tour group going down into the catacombs. It was really cold down there but also really neat. So many tombs of popes. After that excursion I met up with my last remaining roomie, Dre and her mom. We walked around and shopped for a bit. I realized that I had spent so much time in Rome but never actually bought anything for myself. I ended up getting a Roma soccer scarf and a cute green dress from Zara (Kate Middleton shops here!). Now I am completely exhausted and plan on taking an early night. Yet, all in all a very successful last day.

It's A Bittersweet Symphony

This past week has been an emotional roller coaster.

I started off being stressed about my final papers. But then, when hope was just about lost, I found a Rachel! Having Rachel come visit was fantastic. I loved showing her around Rome and running around eating gelato, crepes, and cannoli (this is not a mistake. cannoli is plural). I was also fun to show off my Italian language skills :)

However, Rachel left after a few days and I was left in the middle of finals week and completely stressed out. On Thursday I took my last final. The feeling of not having to memorize anymore emperors or popes was amazing. However, the joy of being done with finals was quickly replaced with denial and sadness. Thursday night IES hosted a farewell dinner and it was almost impossible not to cry. It was the last night that we all had together after spending four of the best months of our lives together in Rome. One of my roommates was leaving early in the morning so we stayed up all night saying goodbye to people and then went to Gianicolo. Gianicolo is by far one of the best sights in Rome. It is an overlook of the entire city that we pass on our way to school everyday. During the summer Gianicolo is filled with lovers and happiness, because who wouldn't be happy when you look like your life should be on a postcard? However, last night Gianicolo was home to seven girls laughing and crying and reminiscing about the best four months of our lives.

I am still in denial about leaving Rome but it's starting to hit me and it makes me incredibly sad. Yet at the same time I am happy to be going to Paris to see some of my favorite people and then to go home and be with my family, who I have missed very much during the past semester. I am currently packing all of my belongings and cleaning our apartment and buying last minute Christmas presents. I'm going to miss Rome but I know that I'll make it back one day and it'll feel the same. After all, Rome is the Eternal City.

My Oh My, How Time Flies

I cannot believe that is is December. That means that I have to go back to America soon. Sometimes it feels like I only got here last week. But before I go I have so many things to do! This past week I went to the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. AMAZING. I'm definitely planning on going back before I leave though. I was really impressed with all of the ancient statues, especially, the Laocoon and the Augustus Primaporta. However, the painting/frescoes definitely topped the statues. I was overwhelmed by the size of Raphael's School of Athens and Parnassus and of course the Sistine Chapel is just as amazing as you think it would be. Here are some pictures of my life:

Laocoon

Augustus

School of Athens

Sistine Chapel

In other news, I have actually been doing schoolwork and not just running around Rome being fabulous. Finals are upon me and therefore much studying and essay-writing has been taking place. However that will not stop me from continuing to visit all of the places in Rome I have yet to go. This mainly refers to my attempts to discover the best gelato in Rome.












Now onto the exciting events that will occur before I leave for America. First, Rachel, my very good friend from the COW is taking some time away from philosophizing at Oxford to come romp around Rome with me! I've very excited to finally have someone come visit me so I can use my vast knowledge of Rome for the forces of good! And by that I mean that I'm really happy to see a familiar face and help her explore the wonders of the Eternal City!
Once my study abroad program ends and Rachel goes back to Oxford, I will be going on one last grand adventure. This adventure will take me to PARIS, a beautiful city that I have fallen in love with before and will most likely do again. Except this time around I have the added bonus of being there with many friends and the one person who I'm most excited to see... Mike! aka Boyfriend! Ahhhh! So excited!
But lets not get too ahead of ourselves, I still need to get through finals first.