Roma, My Feet Hate You

So. Much. Walking. By unofficial calculations, yesterday we walked 15 miles, 5 of those in uncomfortable shoes.  I've passed through the Vatican and St. Peter's Square at least 8 times so far - it's on the way to basically every place we go - and I've made the resolution to always stop to appreciate that I'm THERE every time we walk through...whether day or night, the setting is spectacular.  I hope they never take that Christmas tree down!

We've already covered a ton of ground in Rome - always on foot, can't wait to finally try the very unfamiliar bus routes - but there's still so much to see!  Yesterday, we found Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, learned the route to our university here (an hour walk each way), and cooked a delicious suitemate dinner of pasta with both tomato and pesto sauce, a wonderful caprese salad (I've never had mozzarella so fresh or tomatoes so delicious), and of course lots of vino to go around - story of this semester?  We decided to go out that night, but a group of 30 American students clueless about directions with no knowledge of the bus system - thus forced to walk for hours - did not exactly bode well for our chances of all fitting into Scholars, an Irish pub near Piazza Venezia.  After five minutes of trying unsuccessfully to move anywhere, the group split and we ended up in Campo dei Fiori, which by day is a bustling market square full of street vendors, and at night is filled with people enjoying the multiple bars.  I can't wait to be able to find our own places that will hopefully be less crowded and stressful, but for now I'm still enjoying my legality.  By the time we returned home from the night, everyone's feet were in shambles.  Plenty of band-aids were shared and many foot massages would have been greatly appreciated (where's my boyfriend when I need him?)

This morning, we had to once again endure another hour-long walk through the Vatican and across the river to meet our program coordinator, Aida, who mostly works with the ND architecture students there (their program is based elsewhere in the heart of the city, which is why we had to walk there), and she took us out to a full three-course italian lunch consisting of risotto, pasta in an artichoke cream sauce, lambchops with gravy and potatoes, and TIRAMISU.  Anyone who knows me knows that that is absolutely my favorite dessert in the world and I was in heaven.  On a side note, I'm also convinced that I have eaten there before with my Res friends on our trip, maybe it was real deja vu!

In the afternoon we headed back to John Cabot to continue with our orientation activities.  Arriving there extremely early, we got a chance to explore the area of Trastevere that the University is in, and it's amazing - full of little shops and boutiques and restaurants all squeezed into narrow cobblestone streets and full of character and charm.  Why don't we live there, again?  The Medag is nice, but the neighborhood is not exactly exuding romance and history.  While at JCU I got a second charger for my phone, and that charger, like it's ill-fated predecessor, has also stopped working.  The woman told my I didn't need a voltage converter, and I asked "are you sure?" about 5 times.  She was sure, but she was also wrong.  Pretty sure I blew out that charger.  Let's hope the phone company is still there tomorrow so I can try a third charger - awesome.  On our way home, I finally conquered the Italian grocery store - learned how to weigh the produce, figure out what type of food to buy (mostly just fruit, cereal, yogurt, etc.  And wine, of course.), and managed to carry out the transaction when the woman who rang me up spoke no English.  I want to get more confident about using my Italian in interactions with people, at least to the best of my ability.  Maybe finally taking an Italian class again for the first time in over two years will help with that.

For now we're starting to tackle the giant problem of figuring out where and when we want to start traveling - the possibilities are endless, and there's so many things I want to see (while still having a savings account when these four months are over!)  Speaking of things I want to see, if someone locates my best friend who is also studying at JCU in Rome this semester but living far far away, let her know I'm wondering, "WHERE ARE YOU CARA?"  We'll meet up soon enough at school, though, and I can't wait to hit the town with her!

Time to take some advil, rub my feet, and get ready for another day full of walking.  Maybe tomorrow's the day to learn the bus system? Yes?

Buona notte, amici e famiglia!