Sleep can't be that important...

After a weekend in Cinque Terre, a group of five small towns on the coast of Italy, I am officially exhausted. We left on the midnight train on Friday, slept on the beach (more like a big rock) along the water until about 7 am then started our day. You hike along trails to get to each town, so you get some amazing views. (I took about 300 pictures total this weekend.) It was absolutely gorgeous! I really can't put it into words, much like everything else I have seen. The water was perfectly clear, and it was a nice break from the sweaters and scarves every day in Rome, and not to mention a break from the sirens and other noise from the city. On our way back to Rome on Sunday, we stopped in Pisa and took the typical picture "holding up" the leaning tower. It was acutally a lot cooler than I thought it was going to be! This weekend was definitely a learning experience with the traveling, but each train ride it gets easier. The most important thing you have to learn here is to go with the flow. You really can't travel with ease unless you learn this. Speaking of traveling, I'm off to southern Italy from Tuesday at 6 am to Saturday night. We will be staying in Naples and visiting Pompeii, Paestum, a couple archeological museums, and Capri the last day. Hopefully the weather holds out and we are able to enjoy the beach! Hopefully I will be able to catch some free time next week but who knows with the craziness here. I have two midterms next week and then I'm going to Dublin that weekend!! So, like the title of the post implies, who needs sleep when you live in Rome?
Love you all,
Anne

P.S. GO COLTS!! And Happy Halloween to my favorite little cousins!!! I will miss trick or treating with you guys! I better see some pictures of your costumes! Love you :)

Catching up...

Sorry I have been neglecting keeping you all updated! I have found that there is hardly any time to sit down and relax, let alone sleep for a significant amount of time. I will start by catching you up with last weekend (Oct. 11-12). On Saturday we had an early morning wake up call and the whole SMC group was on the bus by 7 am on our way to Tarquinia, a necropolis of the ancient Etruscans. After about an hour and half bus ride there, I was kind of annoyed to wake up to see a field of openings to go underground to the tombs. However, the tour turned out to be very interesting and exciting. You had to be observant and pick up on the patterns as we went to each tomb. It was actually fun to think of the meanings behind the scenes and structure of the tombs, whether it could be a depiction of the afterlife or a person's life. Then we went to a museum to examine the sarcophagi (coffins) and other artifacts of the Etruscans. I thought it was fascinating how they took aspects from Greek culture, but still managed to have very unique and defined techniques. As fascinating as all of this was, I can only take so much of tombs and pottery, so luckily we got a much needed break with pizza and a trip to the beach along the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was really refreshing and relaxing to just walk along the water and enjoy the beautiful weather. After this we headed to Ceveteri, another Etruscan necropolis. The tombs here were much different than the ones in Tarquinia. Here the style switched to a tumulus, which was often build more above ground. I really enjoyed these because you could explore and actually go into the tombs. It was kind of creepy sitting where the dead once laid, but it was definitely one of the cooler things I have done. 

We got back to Rome at about 5:30 in the evening, exhausted and dirty from the day, but in usual fashion of our lifestyle here, we were up and going not long after that. MTV was putting on a free concert in a piazza by the Colosseum (about a 15 minute walk). The concert consisted of an Italian band, John Legend, Italian rappers (which were horrible), and The Cure. When we first got there the crowd wasn't too huge, but it gradually built up. The Italian band and John Legend were pretty good, but The Cure brought out some weird people. It was the first and only time so far that I haven't felt completely safe here. By the time we left, the crowd was almost never-ending, but luckily we made it out safely. 

The next day, we went to Porta Portese, a huge local market on Sundays. There are rows of a large variety of tents, including clothes, jewelry, shoes, decorations, music, etc. I found some black skinny jeans, and was able to haggle the price down a little to 9 euro, and I found a silver watch for 3 euro. If you want to be in on some of the fashion in Italy, go for purple and boots. You can't go wrong with those two here. Also, you never go out in public without looking your best or at least presentable. It is a huge change from dragging myself out of bed and going straight to class at SMC, but I really kind of enjoy it now. It's nice not looking like you just woke up all the time. :) Hopefully I can keep this up when I get back!

Well that's a quick catch up for now, but I will be updating again tomorrow on this past weekend, including the Scavi Tour and other awesome adventures in Rome! Thanks for your patience with me! 

Pictures are up!

Check out some pictures here: Assisi

and Roma

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad!

First of all, I would like to wish my lovely parents a wonderful birthday! (Don't worry, I won't share with everyone how close you are to turning 60!) All my friends are amazed that my parents were born on the same day, same year, and in the same hospital. 

Anyways, this weekend we went to the Roman Forum and Colosseum.

Both of them were equally incredible. It was so hard to wrap my mind around where I was as I stood a room of the house where the Roman emperor Augustus lived, or as we could see the indentations from chariots in the stone. On Sunday, we attended Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and then saw Pope Benedict at the Angelus! It was probably the most surreal and best weekends of my entire life. I plan on going to the Vatican as often as possible. Sorry this is a short post but I have to be off to class. 

La Dolce Vita

Where to begin? I have no idea how to describe Rome. It is very overwhelming. I want to go out and see everything, but there is so much it's hard to know where to start. Our hotel is on a main busy street of downtown Rome, much different than I expected. For some reason I pictured something a little more quiet and not as central. The campus, which includes classrooms, offices, a chapel, and library, is about 2 minutes from the hotel. Then another 2 minutes from there is the Pantheon. I wish I could capture the beauty and profoundness of the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican, and everything here, but it cannot be captured in pictures or even words. Last night was probably one of the best nights I have had in Italy so far, and it really began to set in that I am living in Rome. It is the most amazing feel in the world to realize that you are living in one of the most ancient and greatest cities in the world. My friend Caroline Arness (another Cathedral grad) accompanied me to meet with Father Casey, Father Pat Biedelman, and a group of St. John's parishoners last night. They have been in Italy for almost a week, and we were finally able to spend some time with them on their last night here. They treated us to a delicious glass of white wine in a fancy hotel, and we sat and chatted with them for a while. Everyone was so welcoming, friendly, and so fun to be around. Also, we made a great connection with Father Pat because he is currently living in Rome. He offered us tickets to the Scavi tour in the Vatican, which includes seeing the bones of St. Peter, on October 18. Usually you have to book this tour almost a year in advance! Hopefully we will be able to make it! After Father Casey insisted on getting us a taxi back to our Hotel, Caroline and I enjoyed some delicious chocolate gelato while sitting on the steps of the fountain right in front of the Pantheon. Can it get any better than this?? Well, yes, because we are going as a group to tour the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum on Saturday and then attending the Papal Mass and Angelus on Sunday. I have to get going on some reading for classes (yes, those things that interfere with exploring Rome). Thank you so much for reading my blog! I hope all is well back in the States! 

Love always,

Anne