lazy Saturday

Hoorah! Done with one week of classes! I'm glad it's the weekend, it's nice to just relax and get through a bit more of the readings, take naps, get groceries, etc. Finally got to do some laundry tonight, which will be VERY nice seeing as how all my clothes I have right now fit into a tiny carry-on bag and I've been here for over a week! Also, tonight I made dinner: sauteed up some onions, bell peppers, and garlic, added tomatoes, basil, and tomato sauce, and served it over gnocchi! It was pretty tasty.

On Friday we went to Trajan's Column and Market, and to the Pantheon. I had been to both already since coming here, but it was cool to learn more about them. I forgot that Raphael was buried at the Pantheon (yes I took a picture by his grave, which was maybe a little weird...heh), and that both the circumference and height of the dome are 144 feet, so that it could enclose a perfect circle. Pretty neat!

Here I am at the Pantheon
After we visited the Pantheon, Lisa took us all out for gelato to what is now my new favorite gelato place! I'll definitely be going back there again. They had all kinds of flavors, and after much thought I finally chose white chocolate and biscotto, topped with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Mmmm!

On the way home, a couple of us decided to stop in at the giant building opposite Bernini's Four Rivers fountain in the Piazza Navona. It turned out to be this really beautiful, highly decorated church:

I wish photos could capture how amazing these churches are. Walking into one is just breathtaking; there is so much art and marble and gold everywhere! We are not going to many churches at all as a group, so some of the girls from my apartment and I are thinking about doing a little "church tour" of our own, because there are so many beautiful ones in Rome!

Also yesterday I met this dashing Italian man...haha

Last night a group of us went to the Spanish Steps, which was a lot of fun. Getting everyone organized to go was kind of a complicated process, as well as finding a place that would sell us a bottle of wine so late at night, but it worked out in the end. It's maybe one or two miles away and a pretty nice walk. It was really relaxing to just stand at the top of the stairs and look over Rome at night. The weather was perfect, and the city lights and various church domes made for a lovely view. There were fireworks somewhere but we couldn't see them.


The people-watching was pretty great. Mostly we watched rose venders prey on unsuspecting tourists. Here's how it works. A random guy comes up to a couple and gives the lady a red rose. She, of course, is flattered. Then, one of two things usually happens: he might ask for the euro after a moment or two, and the man doesn't want to look like a cheapskate in front of his girlfriend, or have her think that he doesn't want to buy her a rose. So he pays the euro, and the vendor leaves. OR, the vendor gives the lady a rose, the couple walks away, he follows them and gives her one or two more roses. She smiles and thanks him. Then he kind of stalks them for a while, and taps the guy on the shoulder, and demands some money. At this point the man gets angry, and the woman is uncomfortable, and the flower vendor starts harassing them a bit and pointing at the roses and yeling, and sometimes even pushing the guy around, until they either pay up or give the roses back. We tried to gesture to the people not to take the roses but they still did. Argh!

The street vendors can be pretty annoying. They sell the most useless things, of course the usual fake handbags and sunglasses, but also noisemakers, cheap toys, chunks of goo that magically become the shape of a face, ugly parosals (see below) etc, etc. I guess it's just a part of being in a tourist center!
Mona was planning on taking us to the beach tomorrow, but it looks like the weather will be bad so we're going to the flea market instead! I'm really excited--apparently it's the biggest flea market in the world, so I'm hoping to browse around for a while and find some good stuff. :-)