Today was the first day of classes in Rome. I only had one class today and it was International Business. I really liked the professor, however, it is going to be a struggle for me to sit still for that class since it is two and a half hours long. My professor seemed like he could offer a lot of insight into the topic since he has a lot of personal experience himself. After class, I finally walked into town and got a european blow dryer. I was with my friend Michael Flowers when we walked into town. We went to this gelato place and I had strawberry gelato; It was amazing. Flowers got a nutella crepe which was out of this world. Words can not do this crepe justice.
This past weekend was crazy busy, which is why I haven’t posted until now. On Saturday, the entire JFRC (John Felice Rome Center) student body took a trip to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. You only need to buy one ticket to gain entry to both attractions. When entering the Colosseum, you would not believe how many street vendors were trying to sell selfie sticks to tourists. If you looked like a tourist, they would bombard you and ask you to buy one. Honestly, it is a good idea to sell them outside of the Colosseum. Most students bought one. I already had one from home so I didn’t need to buy one. It was very interesting to see how these people bargain with tourists. My friend, Christine Cole, was offered to buy a selfie stick for 15 euro. Everyone else who had bought one only paid 5 euro so she refused. He then came down to 10. She said she only had 5 euro on her. When she finally started to walk away he said “Okay fine 5 euro for you.” Word of advice, don’t ever buy a selfie stick for more than 5 euro.
On Sunday, we all took a day trip to Tuscia. We had a tour guide take us around because it is such a historical place that we needed someone to tell us everything we needed to know. The first place we took a tour of was called Villa Lante. It was this gorgeous garden with many fountains. The pictures I was able to take were gorgeous and I’ve truly enjoyed everything that Italy has offered me so far. The other place we visited was called Villa Farnese, which was the castle of the Farnese family. This castle has 365 rooms and no bathrooms. They had certain rooms designated for each season and they wouldn’t use them unless it was the appropriate season. The amount of detail put into this castle was amazing. I truly think that as the world has gotten older, we have lost an appreciation for the arts and made thing less magnificent. This castle had hand painted murals on each ceiling and every single room was different. I personally cannot imagine living somewhere like this. Sometimes I wish I lived in a different time period because I truly appreciate the history at each site we have visited so far.
Next weekend we all take a weekend trip to Naples, Italy. I am looking forward to seeing what we will visit there. I am also looking forward to starting the rest of my classes this week. I will post later this week to talk about the rest of my experience!
xoxo S