Buon Compleanno!

The title is a dedication to all the birthdays this week: Celia <3, my roommate Catherine, Brian, and two or three others from the Rome program. There were too many celebrations this week to count!

Thursday was a fun night. The carnival party was not at all what I expected. The bar, Elefunk, was empty when we got there. And even after the two hours of our stay, only about 15 AIFS people had showed up. This was a fortunate turn of events, as we were given three free drinks due to the absence of so many others. At midnight, we departed for Campo de Fiori, the popular night life site, which houses bars with names like the Drunken Ship and Sloppy Sam's. We went into a less American-sounding bar. It was very sheik. It was a bar, but everyone was dancing it up. We ran into a ladder, climbed it and found ourselves in a dance loft overlooking the bar. It was a lot of fun.

Last night was the first night I took it easy and actually enjoyed it.

After planning and finally booking what will hopefully be a very very exciting spring break: Paris-->Madrid-->Barcelona, two of my friends, Nicole and Ashton, and I spent the remainder of our day exploring. I had not yet been to the Vatican or seen St. Peter's Basilica, so that was our destination. We hopped on a bus and wandered around until we smacked into the thing. It was amazing. The Basilica towered over us as we stood in the piazza, looking somewhat ominous with the gray clouds that had accumulated in the background. We then walked down Via della Conciliazione and popped into a cafe to grab none other than a cappucino and a pastry. When we left the cafe, the sun had decided to come out, only to set behind the Basilica. It was so beautiful. We made a seat out of a street corner and watched the sky glow and fade in orange and pink, making the Basilica look surreal. In the last minutes of sunlight, we decided to separate and make our respective journeys home. I chose to walk, as all I need to do to get home is follow the Tevere. The sun had set and the bridges were all lit up. It was gorgeous. If the sights weren't enough, the weather was gorgeous yesterday, allowing me the luxury of walking around in just my Campus Activities Board rugby. After a lovely 30-40 minute walk, I was home.

I met up with Nicole and Ashton again for dinner. After walking around for a while, we gave up our search and settled on an Argentinian restaurant (You may wonder why we always choose foreign food here, but seriously, pasta and pizza will only get you so far). After dinner, we decided to take it easy and watch Inglorious Basterds. It was a great movie and a very relaxing night.

As yesterday was my roommates birthday, which she celebrated in Sicily, today we are planning a little gathering for her return this evening. Maybe some cake, maybe some wine, and hopefully we will discover a nice bar in our cute little area of Trastevere.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Ciao!