But I do apologize for how long its been! School has finally kicked off, and I'm afraid that I was far to busy learning about death, dying and disease to think about anything else. But I'll get back to that...
As of now, I can say that I am a seasoned world traveler. I have been to East Grand Rapids, the West Side of Grand Rapids, the southeast side of Grand Rapids (which is by far the best...) and now... Italy. Which is so similar to Grand Rapids that I could hardly tell I was there. Right.
(You'll have to excuse my comments tonight- I'm in a rather feisty, peculiar mood that comes from being in the library all day.)
Anyways....
Right, Italy.
Well, way back when in September five of my APU-Oxford friends and I climbed on a bus at midnight to begin our long, student-discount-style journey to the beautiful country of Italy! A 6:00 AM flight out was not exactly our idea of a good time, but we were all appeased by the thought of cappuccino waiting on the other side.
One short delay to an airline strike later, we landed in Rome, Italy, known to its lovely, vivacious, and rather loud residents as Roma. Rome, Roma, yes, we mastered that Italian word with ease(: Our first stop was caffeine, our second stop, everyone's (or maybe not quite everyone's depending on why you were invited here) favorite stadium this side of the Atlantic:
The Colosseo
It once was the home to hundreds of gladiators and not-so-nice lions, now its the giant litter box to about 300 of our favorite feline friends (alliteration was my favorite tool in high school...)
Seriously, how could anyone not think this was cute?
(Don't answer that, Dad)
Here's another view of the inside. Its pretty run down, obviously, since its so old, but its not too hard to picture all the things that happened here:
I think we all expected to feel a bit differently walking in, knowing what horrible things had been done to the early Christians amid cheering crowds, but those type of feelings didn't really surface for me. Perhaps it was because one felt a touch of irony that the empire whose existence was once exemplified by this pile of stones has now faded to our history books, but the very people who they persecuted walk boldly among the stands. God is certainly good.
Our next stop was the Fontana di Trevi, or the Trevi Fountain! No street leads directly to it, but as you walk closer, you can hear the rushing waters, and then you round the corner, and...there it is!
The deal was: throw one coin over your shoulder and you're out one cent. Throw two coins over your shoulder, and you'll find true love. Throw three coins over, and you'll come back to Rome. Don't ask me how many coins I threw in, its a secret(:
Apparently the Trevi is also a famous for being in the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn. I've never seen it, but my friend Emily Brandt could barely stop grinning. I guess its her favorite movie or something.
We liked it so much we went back at night(:
We ended our first night as everyone in Italy always should: with gelato.
It just so happened that our lovely church apartment that we were borrowing in Chinatown was right down the street from the oldest gelato place in Italy. Let's just say they used their time wisely: it was the most delicious thing I have ever had(: After Cheesecake Factory Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake, of course.
You were allowed to pick three flavors from among about 40-50 flavors. I think the first night I had nutella, tiramisu, and white chocolate, the second night I had dark chocolate, hazelnut, and white chocolate cheesecake... you get the drift(:
Trust me, we were actually happy to be eating it.
And to all who are looking at their calendars for next summer's vacation plans, just think gelato and you'll know what to do.
Anyway, thats all for tonight. More later!
Roma looks fabulous! When you come and visit me at Penn someday, I will take you to get yummy gelato here. It's the best. :)
ReplyDelete