Rome and my new home, Firenze

Hello!!

I’m spending the semester in Florence, Italy! Woohoo! :)

I arrived in Florence on January 8 and met up with all my engineering buddies and then the next day we packed up and headed to Rome for the opening tour.  I was in Rome from January 9^th to the 12^th and it was so neat, every bit of it. 

Rome

Day 1:

Got in around 2 and had a 3 hour walking tour of Rome at 4:30.  In this tour I saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Rooms of St. Ignatius, many churches and ruins.  The tour ended at the place where we were having dinner.  Dinner was fun since it was a multi course meal with lots of time in between and there was a cute old man playing the piano and singing and at one time he played the “YMCA”.  So fun!  We had vegetables, pasta, veal (I think that’s what it was…) and cake and it was all yummy!  After dinner, I walked back to the hotel and fell asleep (jet lag is rough).

Day 2:

Visited the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.  The Colosseum is absolutely huge and I can’t imagine how it was built.  It was neat walking through the Roman Forum and seeing all the old building and ruins and it brought back memories of learning about Rome in 7^th grade at Stella with Mrs. Tennis.  Definitely brought history to life!  After this, a group of us grabbed a quick bite to eat at a little pizza place, which was tasty.  The afternoon was a trip to the Villa Borghese, and we went in and got a tour of the museum.  There were lots of neat paintings and sculptures.  For the evening we were on our own, so Michele Cusick, Megan Cunningham, Julie Nowak, Emily Zikmund and I went to find a place to eat.  We wandered over to a place across the river and found a nice place to eat.  We all got a pasta dish and shared a bottle of wine (can’t say I drank more than 3 sips…) and it was simple and delicious and fun to be with good company.  Then we had gelato to top the night off. 

Day 3:

This morning we went to the Vatican museum and St. Peter’s Basillica.  The Sistine Chapel was absolutely amazing.  St. Peter’s Basillica was huge and again, it amazes me how all these huge, gorgeous buildings were built.  We were in our tour groups for this again and it was so nice having a guide to point everything out.  The afternoon was on our own, so we had lunch (pizza and salad) and then we walked down the shopping area of Rome and it was crazy!  So many people out and about.  Next up was a nap before dinner at 8.  Dinner was at a yummy place and the whole school group went.  I sat with Megan, Michele, Julie and Emily and we had a lot of fun together and enjoying each others company.  Dinner lasted over 3 hours and it was so enjoyable to eat and laugh.  Dinner started with a bunch of little tasty appetizers and the waiters kept bringing out more and more.  We also had 3 different types of pasta and one of them was in the shape of what Michele thought looked like maggots.  That kept us laughing for awhile.  Next was salad and a huge platter of meat was brought to the table for us all to pick what we wanted.  It was an interesting assortment of meats.  Then was dessert!  I had chocolate cake.  The funny part of dinner was that I actually enjoyed the wine for once.  I only poured myself a small amount and was drinking it, until I realized that the amount in the glass never seemed to actually go down.  That’s when I figured out that every time I would be distracted laughing with Michele, Emily, Julie and Megan he would pour a little more into my glass.  It was all fun J

Day 4:

Last day in Roma!  This morning I walked over to St. Peter’s Square with Michele, Lauren, Emily, Ryan, Julie, Megan and we met other people from Gonzaga while we were there.  At noon Pope Frances came out from his window  and said a blessing in Italian that lasted for almost 15mins.  I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I think it had something to do with everyone being a family.  This was definitely a cool experience to be a part of.  There were so many people and there were people holding flags from their countries.  Very neat.  Then we grabbed a sandwich on the go and headed back to the hotel to leave for Florence.  By the time we all got back on the bus, we were exhausted.  Never before have I done that much walking!!

Monday brought the first day of classes.  I got up and ran with Michele before classes, it is nice to have someone to run with in the morning since it is dark when we have to run.  I had all five classes on Monday; Ordinary Differential Equations, Renaissance Architecture, Dynamics, Statistics, break for lunch and then Mechanics of Materials.  After classes we all did some homework in the pensione since everyone is an engineer in my pensione and then had dinner.  I have McKenzie for both math classes and he is hilarious.  It is going to be a lot of fun to have him as a teacher, and he likes running too! Renaissance Architecture is neat since on Wednesdays we walk around and the Professor tells us about Florence and the buildings.  Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials will be hard, not because of the material, but rather the language barrier.  Both of these Professors are from Florence and teach in Italian at their respective universities.  It is fun though to have them since they are from Florence and don’t speak English as a first language.  A bit of a challenge is always good. 

Tuesday I have Ordinary Differential Equations, a break, then Dynamics and Statistics and then lunch.  Michele and I ran before class again this morning.  After lunch, Megan and I walked to the Uffizi Museum so we could buy a pass to go see the museums nearby.  We then spent nearly 2 hrs walking through the museum looking at all the statues and paintings.  We got tired after awhile and decided we would come back later and went to get gelato at a really yummy place.  I will definitely be back to that gelato place.  I had caramel and chocolate.  So good!

And Wednesday, today!  Today I went on a 7mile run and ran past the Ponte Vecchio and then back and forth over lots of bridges.  It reminds me of the “Double Bridges” run in Spokane!  Then I had a tour in Renaissance Architecture where we went to the Piazza della Signoria and walked through the streets and learned about the different buildings and statues.  Florence has so much history.  Then lunch happened and then Mechanics of Materials class.  I didn’t do anything too exciting this afternoon, just some math HW and then after dinner I went to a review for math at school and walked to the Duomo and got gelato.  I also walked past a group called “Firenze Corre”.  Turns out every Wednesday night a group meet and runs. I want to join some Wednsday night, I am going to bring Michele and I think it would be funny if we could convince Professor McKenzie to go too, since he has been talking about a cool 18 mile run he went on. 

Hmmm…what else?  I am staying in Hotel Cordova and all the Engineering students are in the same place so we all do homework together at the tables so we can get help.  It’s quite handy.  Breakfast is served every morning at 7:30 – 9:30 and there is usually granola, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cereal, rolls, oranges and an assortment of jelly and nutella.  Lunch is at 1:00 and is the largest meal, so there is usually a pasta dish then a meat dish.  Today was a pasta with four cheese and then the next course was chicken and broccoli and a little ice cream bar.  Dinner is at 7:00 and tonight we had lentil soup and then a tomato and mozzarella stuffed puffed pastry thing and salad.  Truly every meal has been great so far!  Everything is so simple, and so tasty.  I love how much care is put in to all the food we eat.  So great!  I am absolutely loving everything about studying abroad right now. 

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the last day of classes for the week and then the three day weekend!  I think our pensione has an event planned for Friday night and then I might take a train somewhere on Saturday.  So many options and things to do all the time! 

Much love to everyone at home!

-Al

P.S. I can' figure out how to put pictures on here, look on my Facebook for those if you want.