Italian Sun

Yesterday started off a little later than normal. Jordan and I woke up at 10 and were out the door by 10:30 to catch an 11:39 train to the beach.  One hour seems like plenty of time to get to a train station that is less than four miles from our apartment... that is, until you are dealing with the Italian transportation system. However, one hour and three minutes, a creepy guy who was hitting on us, an almost left behind pair of sunglasses, and two buses later, we had arrived. With six minutes to go, we were in a full out sprint toward the front doors of the train station, running through vendors and across lanes of traffic. Finally making it through the doors, we found our train's information on the screen and headed towards 'Bin 27.' We decided that with five minutes to spare, we would kick it into a fast walk unlike any other, zipping past people and whizzing through the crowd.  And as we made our way around the corner to Bin 27, there she was- Our train, creeping along the tracks, leaving us.

Jordan and I have had a lot of close calls this trip. Almost missing our flight to Rome from Paris, almost being late to class on numerous occasions, and almost missing the bus that would get us to our train to Cinque Terre. But every time, we have somehow managed to make it. And yesterday, aside from having to wait an hour for the next train, I think we were more mad that our infamous line: 'we're totally fine, we always make it' line, had totally let us down.

Needless to say, we made it to the beach, found a private little area away from the crowds, spent time with some great girls, and learned our lesson for the day: when in doubt, just run (or just leave earlier...)

Trastevere

Today was so wonderful in so many ways. One of my absolute best friends, Mary, just arrived in Italy to study the language here. We all met up in our newest favorite discovery- Trastevere- where we discovered some restaurants, pubs, and pastry shops- all with a young, up-beat flare to them. It was refreshing to see such a young crowd of people because, although we love it, the neighborhood we live in isn't exactly full of people our age.

We were trying to plan a trip to Spain this weekend, but after finding this new little niche, we may have to change our minds. We really love this city.

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre is breathtakingly beautiful. It is made up of five small villages that are the quaintest things with so much personality. We splashed around in the ocean, ate the best meal we have had yet, hung with the locals, laid by the water, and spent an afternoon hiking. After a short 30 hour trip, we were back on the train to Rome with lots of amazing memories.

Roman History

Top to bottom: The Coliseum, The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, some beautiful flowers in The Forum, The Pantheon, Pools and Roses in The Forum, The Trevi Fountain, one of the hundreds of fallen columns in The Coliseum, The Forum. Jordan and I were all over the place earlier this week, learning all about the history of this wonderful city. And although I would love to tell you all about it, I'm afraid I may bore you with the bits and pieces of information I have gathered. Hopefully these brief pictures will do the trick.

Rome

I love this city because around every corner, you discover a whole new world of restaurants, shopping, history, and people from all walks of life. Each day is full of a whole new experience, and that's what makes it so special. So today, Jordan and I got out of class early and discovered the orange trees on campus. Needless to say, we couldn't decide if the oranges were supposed to be that tangy or if we picked a bad one [oops]. From there, we made our way into the heart of the city to our new favorite hang out, Campo De Fiore. We spent our night there with friends last night but decided to venture back there for the day where we discovered a bustling market with fresh vegetables, olive oils, pastas, clothing, and cheeses, and a new favorite panini shop where the bread is homemade and the vegetables are fresh.  Along the way, I became particularly jealous of Jordan's converses... I may have to trade in the sandals for comfort [my feet are dying].