Roman VIP

Ahh. Rome. Oh, Rome. Ridiculous sometimes, beautiful always, and never without surprises or smiles. As a young American female, I am treated like a celebrity here- all I have to do is smile or wink and I am IN. I love Roma, I love Italia. Anyway.. two days ago Meghan, Caroline, and I had an appointment in the ND archie classroom building further toward centro storico (basically the main drag through "downtown" Roma, even though there isn't really a downtown) to do our paperwork for our permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay for longer than 3 months). We found our way through Vatican City, through the tip of Trastevere, and over the Tevere down Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and somehow found the building. One thing you have to understand about Roma is that there is no grid, there is no order to street or building placement, and random alleyways are, in fact, streets. Street names are carved onto the sides of buildings about 10-15 feet off the ground into a standard plaque-ey looking square. And streets have similar names. There might be a via della S. Maria and a via della S. Maria dei Chiavi, via della S. Maria Maddalena... you get the picture. The city is so ancient that streets kind of evolved into this huge CRAZY network that looks like an insane spiderweb of triangles and awkward rectangles on a map. But I love turning around a corner into what seems like an alleyway only to encounter another street bustling with gelaterie, trattorie, osterie, and small businesses and apartments. So after the meeting, we walked to Trastevere to JCU so that we could sign up for a trip to two small Tuscan hilltop towns. We stopped at an al forno pizza place (carry-away pizza priced by the etto- 100 grams) near school. Went back to the Medag, chilled out for the rest of the day, and then decided later that night to go to piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) and la fontana di trevi (Trevii Fountain) because they're all lit up at night. Swung by Giolitti (yay!) where my two euro went toward un piccolo cono con mora, mirtillo, e banana (blackberry, cranberry, banana) gelato.
The next day (yesterday-Saturday) Caroline and I slept in a bit and, facing the blazing Roman sun, decided that we didn't feel like roasting, so we looked in our guidebooks and decided we were feeling a museum. There are like fifty thousand excellent musei filled with ancient Roman art, Renaissance Italian frescoes, palaces and ville decorated to the teeth with gold and Berninis and Michelangelos, with Botticellis and Raphaels. We decided on the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums). Took the A-line Metra to Termini, transferred to the B-line and got off at Colosseo. The museum was full of the famous Roman art you read about in textbooks. It's the world's oldest museum complex, founded in 1471, and is made up of Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo and is connected by an underground passage that leads to the Tabularium and these incredible panoramic views of the Roman Forum. Those views alone were worth my 8Euro!! Gorgeous. Went home, got ready to go out, and left for dinner by the Colosseo- at this pizzeria called Luzzi. It was wonderful- 6Euro pizzas, 2Euro house wine, tiramisu unlike any other I've ever had. Italian restaurants' tables are practically on top of one another, so these two middle-aged italiani were sitting next to me. They heard us speaking English and started talking to me. They wanted to know all about where we were from, what we were doing here, and then the conversation progressed to a political discussion about the upcoming American elections. Imagine talking to two Italian men in italiano in Italia about Obama vs. McCain. They then asked me my opinions about various Italian politicians and parties- Berlusconi, etc, and were so interested in what an American thought. It was the coolest thing ever. Mario was all for McCain and Fabio was all about Obama. So then we went to Club Avenue- John ran into this guy Alfredo the other day who apparently is a friend of a friend and does PR for clubs and parties in Rome. We were on the VIP list because of this connection.. Avenue overlooks the Colosseum and is a outdoor poolside discoteca with 3 levels and about 6 bars. AWESOME. (Pictured is the lower level of the VIP section)All the men wear tight jeans or white pants with white or blue striped button down shirts unbuttoned to show a bit of chest. Most women are dressed in what must be the latest D&G and/or Prada lines, and everyone is Italian, young, and quite beautiful. Especially Carlo. Because we were VIP, we got to go into a legit VIP section guarded by bouncers and a rope. Celebrity. In Italia, there is no such thing as rejection for women. They are the ones who reject the men, so armed with this knowledge, I didn't feel bad about blowing off Eurotrash or overly friendly drunk Italian 20-30somethings. Around 1am it started picking up, and when I finally got to bed, the clock read 5:00am. VIP- oh yes I am.

oh, yea- and FYI--> http://picasaweb.google.com/cstecyk116/Roma1 (more pictures)

Everything is in Italian Here

Even my internet- google, facebook, websites- appear only in italiano. Rando strangers have legit convos with me in italiano. I understand just about everything of what I hear. This is cool! Soo update. Lately life has been filled with all kinds of lovely things.. including but not limited to boring orientation sessions, perfecting a white wine and cream based cheese pasta sauce, nutella gelato (and straciatella, and chocolate, and banana, and amarena, and pesca...), a decently legit NDesque apartment party, italian grocery shopping, riding the Metra, and last but not least, being ogled by italian men of all ages- they do it to anything female and it's still entertaining at this point. Oh, and dodging smartcars and motorini as they zoom across every possible Roman street, backstreet, sidewalk, and paved or cobblestoned surface in the city in every direction.

Yesterday's meeting at JCU was all about obtaining our permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) and how to fill out all the crazy paperwork involved. Afterwards, we decided to get lunch in Trastevere near school in an osteria hidden in a small alleyway. Trastevere is absolutely beautiful- sunwashed colors, shutters, cobblestones, huge churches, piazze filled with fountains that are works of art in and of themselves. We ate.. we wandered.. we found a gorgeous fountain right outside of la chiesa di Santa Maria in Trastevere full of l'acqua potabile (potable). A few of us eventually walked back to Medag, cooked dinner, and then decided a night expedition to the Colesseo is so worth it. Soooo I led the way and armed with a map and about 15 minutes until the Metra was about to shut down.. we set off. After we got off the Manzoni stop on the Red Line we walked up v. Vittorio Emmanuele and SAW IT. AHH. Glowing orb in the middle of the city, HUGE. And what's cooler is that as we walked the mile or so toward it, the clock was turned back about 3000 years- columns and ruins started surrounding us. That's what happens when you enter center city.. it all becomes ruins. Amazing. Walked back, saw il monumento di Vittorio Emmanuele at night, walked near the Forum, through St. Peter's square... and back to Medag. But not before a trip to Old Bridge for gelato at 1,30 am [nutella, cioccolato, straciatella].

Woke up today, Caroline and I decided to do some more exploring bc there is a sick amount to see here. Soo we hit Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish steps, both Fontane di Trevi, and then went toward the Pantheon so we could go to GIOLITTI! Giolitti is my favorite gelateria in the world. And the combo I got today was absolutely the best one I think I've ever gotten-- pera, mela verde, e mora. Pear, green apple, blackberry. SOOO GOOOOD. It is unbearably hot here, easily 90 degrees or more from 9am until about 3pm. And those Roman cobblestones absorb every last degree, so between the bright sun, cloudless skies, and heat, it's kinda warm. But never fear! Rome has this awesome system called the aqueducts.. has for a few thousand years, and Romans still use them in the form of random water fountains around the city. The water is so cold, and the fountains are beautiful. And they're everywhere.

Italian Men Seem to Love Me

Il secondo giorno a Roma. So.. today was extremely eventful so I felt another update was necessary. We woke up, and my apartment (the 7 of us- myself, Jackie, Katrina, Caroline, Megan, Michelle, Kayla) plus two girls from the upstairs apartment (Cat and Natalie) went to the open air market nearby to buy some fruit and whatever. We also headed to the supermercato and bought cheese, bread, and arancia rossa juice (blood orange juice-- soooo good). After that, the heat was terrible.. so we just spent the next hour or two relaxing, chilling out on the nice, cool marble floors of apartment 123. We made plans to go to the Pantheon neighborhood and sightsee for a bit. So around 4 we headed out, hit up St. Peter's square because it is our backyard and friendly neighborhood commute (stopping at Old Bridge gelateria on the way--fragola, straciatella, melone), walked past Castel san'Angelo (which, na zhal, is closed on Mondays- as are many important churches and monuments for some reason), and mostly enjoyed the views and the beautiful blue skies over Roma. So then (using my memory and a map provided by JCU) we found our way to Piazza Navona.. the 4 rivers fountain is under renovation and is blocked off by scaffolding, but never fear! They'll def be done sometime while I'll be here :) So then we got to the Pantheon, looked around, etc. So did you know that the hole in the very top of the Pantheon dome is 90 feet across? and that its diameter AND height are each 120 feet? After looking at the Pantheon, we decided dinner was a good idea, so we followed Rick Steves' advice (cheers to him for donating Rome books to ND) and headed to Miscellanea, run by this guy named Micky who supposedly served foreign students "sexy wine.." also rumored to be cheap, near the Pantheon, and not touristy. Check, check, check. Aweeessommmmeeee. I was the one leading the group toward 110 via delle paste and as I was looking for this place, a rando italiano comes to me saying in italiano "I know what you waaaaaant, you come with meee" and takes my hand and leads me as I'm like insisting to know where the heck he is taking me.. and so I was like "Miscellanea?" him:"Siiiii signorina! Free drink for you, on the house!" me: OK! He did indeed provide free drinks in the form of "sexy wine," which is strawberry wine with a little fizz kick to it.. soooooo gooooooood. He also kept teasing me and told me my eyelashes were too long and beauuutiful, that I must have purchased them alla farmacia (lies, I told him) and then he starts creeping and kissed me on the cheek, and then later on during dinner a different italiano like grabs my hands from behind me and starts clapping them (someone was a little tips, a little tips- and it wasn't me). Everyone got a good laugh at the affinity of rando italiani to me.. but that was before Giolitti, the BEST gelato place and still my fave ever in the whole world. I happen to know the little secret that if you flirt with the gelato scoopers at Giolitti, they will, in fact, give you more gelato. And whistle, and say "mamma mia.., bellissima" etc. So this was molto fun. Walked the hour back to the Medag, pausing to take pictures along the way of Rome by night, all lit up, pretty and sparkly. Il tevere glistening and reflecting the lights, all shiny and beautiful even after all these thousands of years... la cittá eterna.

Rome sweet home

Today, after way too many hours of traveling through three airports with two huge red suitcases, I found myself in ROME. This flight was the first international flight I've slept at all on, so that was a perk. We got here at about 8:00 am and collected our luggage in Fumincio Leonardo da Vinci and went to our apartments at the Medaglie d'Oro. Our doorman's name is Fabrizio and he is really nice- he already gave us advice on which international calling card is the best value (Europa, if you were curious). Hm. Right now I'm exhausted. After we were dropped off at Medag, we showered, relaxed for a bit, and unpacked until 3:00 pm.. we then walked the route from Medag (located north of Vatican City by a few blocks) toward John Cabot University, my ND away from ND this semester. We stopped in St. Peter's Square for awhile, took pictures, went inside the Basilica, which will never not amaze me. Then we continued onward to Trastevere, which is a neighborhood of Rome that is absolutely gorgeous. Trastevere means across (tra) the river Tiber (Tevere in italiano) and is such a colorful and quaint area. It's beautiful. Umbrella pines decorate the Roman hills in the background and cobblestones, shutters, and earth-toned buildings rise up around the Tevere. There are statues that look as alive as people everywhere, frescoes and dark-haired italiani everywhere. Visited JCU, had this awful orientation that I hardcore fell asleep during (wasn't a problem, apparently a good handful of other ND kids had the same experience that I had), and then ate pizza. Roman pizza= always good. A group of us took the bus back to our neighborhood but stopped for gelato. I finally got to speak italiano to the nice old lady at the bar just down the street from Medag and ordered un piccolo cono con fragola e cioccolato, senza panna (strawberry and chocolate gelato, no cream on top) and corrected the girl behind the cash register when she shorted me 50 cents Euro. I must admit that I felt sort of like a rock star. That leads me to now-ish. I'm sitting on my bed in my apartment whose balconies overlook cobblestone streets and look into the balconies of other brownish-red Roman apartments on this balmy summer night. Rome sweet home. Ciao ragazzi! So much love from Rome- I miss you all quite terribly (seriously).

T minus one week

Fra sette giorni saró a Roma! Right now I'm packing and waiting until I leave the country for 4 months.. stay tuned for updates from la cittá eterna! Ciao!