In Rome and Loving It

Buon San Valentino!  Happy St. Valentine's Day from Italy!  While I don't have a Valentine to share chocolates with or send flowers to, a group of girls on my floor decided it would be fun to cook a Valentine's Day dinner together.

This past week has been crazy!  I went on a lot of field trips for class: Colosseum, Roman Forum, and a five and a half hour field trip to see S. Sabina, Post Office Via Marmorata, the Garbatella District, and the EUR District.  I've done so much walking that I am going to need to buy new shoes soon.  The soles in all my shoes are starting to wear down.

S. Sabina

Post Office Via Marmorata

   

EUR

This past weekend, while all my apartment-mates went to either the Swiss Alps or Paris, I stayed in Rome and was hostess for my friend Elizabeth who was visiting from Florence.  Elizabeth and I were first year roommates at Smith College and have kept in touch with each other ever since!  Elizabeth came to Rome from Florence by train with three other friends from Smith studying with her in Florence.

Elizabeth and me

Olivia and Janelle

Trevi Fountain

We had a great weekend!  They got to see Rome for the first (or second time), and I got to do some of the touristy stuff I normally wouldn't do.  We visited the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and Pantheon.  We made a homemade meal on Friday and Saturday and went out to a few bars later on in the evenings.  We did a lot of walking and they got lost on the bus a couple of times.  It was so great to see Elizabeth and to be able to catch up since we last saw each other in September when she visited me at Conn before she left for Italy (she is studying in Florence for the entire year).  With my program, I will be going to Florence on March 14 and 15 and hopefully we will be able together then.

On Sunday (February 13), I decided to go with two friends to Via del Corso (where all the major shopping is) and I found myself in the middle of a protest against Berlusconi.  It was crazy!  The entire Piazza del Popolo was packed with people, mainly women.  It turns out that the protest in Piazza del Popolo was the main protest among 200 protests around the country against Berlusconi.  I was amazed that I was able to be a part of Italian history.

In case you haven't been following World News, Berlusconi is currently the Prime Minister of Italy and has been caught in multiple sex scandals.  He is under investigation for paying to have sex with a 17 year old Moroccan girl.  The protestors against Berlusconi have been enraged for how Berlusconi degrades the female sex as a whole.  For more information on the protest, check out this news site: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=12906229

(I'll let you look this quote up...)

"Naked or dressed we are finished!"

Last night, my roommate and I bought tickets to go to Brussels, Belgium this upcoming weekend.  We are very excited to see Belgium!  I'm especially excited to go to the country that is world renowned for chocolate (and beer, too).  If you have any suggestions for places in Brussels I should visit, please let me know!