La Dolce Vita in Rome :)

Ciao again!

Everything's going very well here still, although it's been so busy I know this semester is just going to FLY by. This week has been so full, I've had to go back and look at the pictures I took just to remind myself of all we've done!

Much of it has just been classes: Art and Architecture with the sarcastic but witty Professor Lev, Moral Theology with the soft-spoken Professor Pal, Italian class, and our fourth class, Roman Perspectives, starts on Tuesday. The classes are longer than the ones at Christendom, although they are less often during the week, and the tours that go with the Art and Architecture class can get pretty hard on the feet. But overall our experiences have been pretty amazing, and our days are packed to overflowing with cool sites and new experiences.

Last Sunday, just for kicks, Jordan and I took the metro to check out St. Paul Outside the Walls. It is easily the biggest church I've ever been in, with the exception of St. Peter's Basilica, and it is beautifully designed, in alabaster and stone. Jordan counted: there are about 80 massive columns lining the main part of the church!

(Yes, believe it or not, I really am here, too: I know there aren't many pics of me usually but that's because I'm most often the one behind the camera.)

One day this week Fr. Bergida took us on a tour of the North American College (or "The NAC," as it's seminarians affectionately call it), where he is currently studying, and said Mass for us there. Then he took us to the top of one of their buildings for this unparalleled view of Rome.

 We loved Nettuno beach so much, and it's such a short train ride away, that we went back for a short visit yesterday:

 

We're making all kinds of other discoveries in our neighborhood, too, that I have forgotten to take pictures of. For instance, this morning being Sunday, we decided to splurge on donuts. So we walked around the corner to the nearby 24-hour bakery called Dolce Maniera, and got four huge, warm-fresh filled donuts. I was expecting it to be a little pricey, as it's a really delicious bakery. Quanto costa? One fifty!

 Mi scusi?

Yes, four huge, freshly-baked donuts for one and a half euros. If you had only seen the looks of sheer delight on our faces when we made this discovery!

"Eating is a way of studying, too," said the very tongue-in-cheek Professor Lev today, and the group is definitely taking that maxim seriously. Every Sunday night we have a potluck in which everybody makes and brings something, and good cooks are popping out of the woodwork. Last week I just made bruschetta; but then I was so impressed with the skill of the other folks that I decided I'd have to up my game a little, and I baked an apple crisp . . . which was gone within minutes of me putting it on the table. (The supreme compliment to any cook . . . )

Speaking of Professor Lev, this week she took us on a tour of the Capitoline Museum, which was the first-ever public museum, originally created out of the generosity of Pope Sixtus IV in the 1500's. We're learning a whole lot about different art forms and styles, from the ancient Greeks to the Medievals, and it's truly a fascinating class. I only wish it didn't entail being on my feet for two and a half hours at a time.

Art can be moving and inspiring . . .

"The Dying Gaul," sculpted for Julius Caesar.

Or . . . hmm  . . . perplexing.

Andrew gets a closer look at Bernini's Medusa.

 Unfortunately, some Italian workers group was going on strike that day, and the Museum people decided that was the perfect excuse to close early and get more free time that weekend--without warning us. Professor Lev was livid; she's good-tempered, but to be in the middle of teaching a clasnd suddenly be told: "Cinque minuti!" would make anyone frustrated!

To try and re-schedule some of what we had missed, we had a make up lecture/tour today of the Roman Forum and the Coliseum. It was cold and rainy, but still very impressive. It is mind-blowing to think how ancient most of these places are. 

The whole group of us, voting someone down in the arena (hehe):

 That's all for this week, y'all! I'm having a fantastic time, although I'm very busy, and I need to go catch up on homework, so arriverderci!


xo Lauren