Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Piazza di Campidoglio

So I'm currently in between classes, enjoying a salad of last night's leftovers (rosemary chicken and broccoli pesto pasta) mixed with tomatoes and carrots...hardly enough carbs for an Italian meal.

I just enjoyed a trip to Michelangelo's Piazza di Campidoglio with my Art History class. It's official. I love Rome. This magnificent piazza was designed by Michelangelo and finished years after his death at the top of Capitoline Hill, the hill on which rests Roman's capitol building, similar to ours in Washington DC, and in front of which I am in a facebook picture or two. Surrounding this square, which is actually trapezoidal in shape to give the illusion of spacial expansion, are museums which house your typical glorious Roman statues and artwork on the walls. These statues include the original Marcus Aurelius statue, which is the only survived bronze equestrian statue from ancient Rome, as all the others were melted down for other uses. From within and around these museums and this piazza, great views of the Colosseum, the Roman forum, and even St. Peter's Basilica are available to visitors.

I know I sound like a guide book, but this was just about the most exciting tour I've been on, and it was for class! How great is this place? So there is your history lesson for the day. It just excites me so much, and I thought I should share my excitement with the blogger world.

As for my normal life...since yesterday, not much has changed. We threw a small surprise party for one of our friends who just turned 21 last night. He was glowing when he walked in. It was a lot of fun. Everyone tried his new creation of a drink: vodka, orange juice, carrot juice, and whole blood oranges, chopped up to absorb all the other flavors. I might be missing an ingredient or two, but it was by far the most delicious drink I have ever tasted.

Tonight is the pre-dinner drink with the Italian students. The plus about these "apertivi" is that at them are served "appetizers"...obviously you all know what appetizers are, but their reason for being in quotes is that when we attend such things, we just stuff our faces with the food provided to save on dinner. Economical, I know. The life of the study abroad student.

As for the rest of the week, I realized that in the grand scheme of Rome, I have been absolutely no where! So my goal is to get out and get to seeing. I have not even seen the Vatican yet! Granted, I live far away and I've only been here a week, but I am still an American at heart and time's a-wasting!

Buon giornata a tutto!

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