Nothing exciting to report. We studied all day long and then took our midterm. We went out tonight as a group and had a three course meal but it wasn't THAT great... I'm excited to go to Florence because I've heard the food is better.
Tonight I think everybody is going out. We have a day off tomorrow and it's our last day in Rome so I think we'll tour around and possibly relax. That's about it for today though.
As always, I hope all is well and I hope everybody has a great weekend.
Much love,
Ash
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Day 12
Hello everybody!
Today was mostly lecture. We did everything for today and tomorrow (which is 1/3 of the class material) in one day. It was a little much and my brain feels like putty at this point. After our last lecture we decided to go this art gallery which had a lot of modern art. I got to see some works by Monet and Van Gogh which was cool. Now I have to go study for our midterm (again) which is at 6PM tomorrow... I think the next week is going to kick my butt... not to mention the next 24 hours. Oh well, it's the price you have to pay to be here.
Sorry nothing more exciting, today is the half way day though! It's kind of crazy to think I've been here this long. I do miss the states though, I miss eating food where I know what it'll taste like before I get it.
I hope all is well and everybody had a good week,
Love,
Ash
Today was mostly lecture. We did everything for today and tomorrow (which is 1/3 of the class material) in one day. It was a little much and my brain feels like putty at this point. After our last lecture we decided to go this art gallery which had a lot of modern art. I got to see some works by Monet and Van Gogh which was cool. Now I have to go study for our midterm (again) which is at 6PM tomorrow... I think the next week is going to kick my butt... not to mention the next 24 hours. Oh well, it's the price you have to pay to be here.
Sorry nothing more exciting, today is the half way day though! It's kind of crazy to think I've been here this long. I do miss the states though, I miss eating food where I know what it'll taste like before I get it.
I hope all is well and everybody had a good week,
Love,
Ash
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Day 11
A day in Pompeii!
Pompeii was buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted. It was covered in 25 feet of ash in only 3 days. Almost all of the people died with in 3 minutes and because of the ash it was really well preserved.
It was so amazing... it was a lot bigger than I expected and in better shape. We had a tour guide and I believe he said that there was 60 some acres in the town and it was made up of predominantly wealthy people. It was originally created by the Greeks and then taken over by Romans. You could actually see where the Greeks had built walls with volcanic rock and a stucco material and then the romans had rebuilt it with brick. They were very innovative too. For street lighting they used tiny white marble stones in the sidewalks which shines in the moonlight apparently. They also had raised stepping stones across the street. Apparently they used to throw refuge in the streets and then the aqueducts would send water through the streets and carry the mess down to the sea. They even had pipes- even if they were lead. Oh and the city was built on the sea- it was a seaport but when Vesuvius erupted the sea moved back about 3 miles!
We even saw some of the plaster body casts, there weren't a ton of them though. I think most of the artifacts like those have been moved to museums. These casts were made when they found holes in the ground when they were excavating. They were curious so they filled them with plaster and found out they were empty spaces where bodies fell.
A lot of the art work was saved too. They would paint pictures/murals on their walls as decoration. The coloring was even still rather vivid. It was an overcast day so the lighting was perfect and I have really good pictures to show everybody!
It was so interesting to see all of this. So much of it is still standing- it's amazing. It was definitely a highlight of my trip so far. Mom- you would have LOVED it... someday when I'm rich and famous I'm bringing you there.
I even got to ride a real train! It was a fun experience. The first train we took was EXACTLY like Harry Potter- with the little rooms for people to sit in. The other one back though just had seats. It's definitely been an experience though.
Last night was the midterm and overall I think I did okay, we'll see once he grades them. After that we all had a group dinner. It was pretty good. Tonight I'm not sure what's going on. We have some reading to do for tomorrow's lecture- only 2 days until another midterm and journal is due! We might all just chill tonight, we're pretty exhausted from all of the traveling. It took almost 3 hours to get to Pompeii and we had to take two trains each way.
That's about it, I believe tomorrow is the half way point of this trip. It's going by so fast! I'm ready to be done with Rome though, I feel like we've seen anything and I'm super excited to experience Florence and Venice (again!). Anyways, I hope all is well and everybody had a good day!
Love ya!
Ash
P.S. Kelly- I am 7 hours ahead of you so I'll probably have to wait until the weekend to call you unless you are free earlier in the day at all... Let me know your weekend schedule.
Pompeii was buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted. It was covered in 25 feet of ash in only 3 days. Almost all of the people died with in 3 minutes and because of the ash it was really well preserved.
It was so amazing... it was a lot bigger than I expected and in better shape. We had a tour guide and I believe he said that there was 60 some acres in the town and it was made up of predominantly wealthy people. It was originally created by the Greeks and then taken over by Romans. You could actually see where the Greeks had built walls with volcanic rock and a stucco material and then the romans had rebuilt it with brick. They were very innovative too. For street lighting they used tiny white marble stones in the sidewalks which shines in the moonlight apparently. They also had raised stepping stones across the street. Apparently they used to throw refuge in the streets and then the aqueducts would send water through the streets and carry the mess down to the sea. They even had pipes- even if they were lead. Oh and the city was built on the sea- it was a seaport but when Vesuvius erupted the sea moved back about 3 miles!
We even saw some of the plaster body casts, there weren't a ton of them though. I think most of the artifacts like those have been moved to museums. These casts were made when they found holes in the ground when they were excavating. They were curious so they filled them with plaster and found out they were empty spaces where bodies fell.
A lot of the art work was saved too. They would paint pictures/murals on their walls as decoration. The coloring was even still rather vivid. It was an overcast day so the lighting was perfect and I have really good pictures to show everybody!
It was so interesting to see all of this. So much of it is still standing- it's amazing. It was definitely a highlight of my trip so far. Mom- you would have LOVED it... someday when I'm rich and famous I'm bringing you there.
I even got to ride a real train! It was a fun experience. The first train we took was EXACTLY like Harry Potter- with the little rooms for people to sit in. The other one back though just had seats. It's definitely been an experience though.
Last night was the midterm and overall I think I did okay, we'll see once he grades them. After that we all had a group dinner. It was pretty good. Tonight I'm not sure what's going on. We have some reading to do for tomorrow's lecture- only 2 days until another midterm and journal is due! We might all just chill tonight, we're pretty exhausted from all of the traveling. It took almost 3 hours to get to Pompeii and we had to take two trains each way.
That's about it, I believe tomorrow is the half way point of this trip. It's going by so fast! I'm ready to be done with Rome though, I feel like we've seen anything and I'm super excited to experience Florence and Venice (again!). Anyways, I hope all is well and everybody had a good day!
Love ya!
Ash
P.S. Kelly- I am 7 hours ahead of you so I'll probably have to wait until the weekend to call you unless you are free earlier in the day at all... Let me know your weekend schedule.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Day 10
Today we got to see the Pope!
One of the boys got tickets and we attended the "audience with the pope". It was in this big auditorium and people were cheering as if he was a superstar. They would repeat almost everything in about 5 different languages too. Each person/cardinal would stand up and announce certain groups from certain areas. Had we been smart we could have had our group announced. Oh well. When they announced this group of nuns they went crazy and started chanting- I totally got it on video. It's super cute/funny. A lot of people were waving flags and scarves too. And he blessed everybody. There was even a bride there!
It was pretty cool, minus the fact that most of it was in Italian and there was a screaming child in front of us. Oh, and they did the "our father" in Latin! I have it written on the back of my ticket... it was pretty cool.
Hopefully we'll do well on our test today since we are blessed and all ;)
That's it for now, we are going to be studying all day. Our midterm is at 7PM, noon for all those in MN. I'm not sure what's going on tonight, me and another girl might just chill in the rooms like I did last night and see if we can get a movie in English somehow. I think our professor said he had some but they might be educational... we'll see. Tomorrow is Pompeii and it'll be an early day and a long train ride but it should be amazing. Last night I stayed back in the hotel while everybody went out. I'm not really a bar girl and I was looking forward to a little quiet time alone, I made a few calls, did a little studying, and went to be early. It was actually really nice- even though it makes me a loser :P
I hope all is well in the States! I'm almost half way done with this crazy experience which is ridiculous. Time goes by so fast here because we are doing so much. We have only two morning of lecture before our next midterm and then a week later we are done with the entire course. Time is really flying... this is amazing.
I love you all and hope everybody had a good day!
Ash
One of the boys got tickets and we attended the "audience with the pope". It was in this big auditorium and people were cheering as if he was a superstar. They would repeat almost everything in about 5 different languages too. Each person/cardinal would stand up and announce certain groups from certain areas. Had we been smart we could have had our group announced. Oh well. When they announced this group of nuns they went crazy and started chanting- I totally got it on video. It's super cute/funny. A lot of people were waving flags and scarves too. And he blessed everybody. There was even a bride there!
It was pretty cool, minus the fact that most of it was in Italian and there was a screaming child in front of us. Oh, and they did the "our father" in Latin! I have it written on the back of my ticket... it was pretty cool.
Hopefully we'll do well on our test today since we are blessed and all ;)
That's it for now, we are going to be studying all day. Our midterm is at 7PM, noon for all those in MN. I'm not sure what's going on tonight, me and another girl might just chill in the rooms like I did last night and see if we can get a movie in English somehow. I think our professor said he had some but they might be educational... we'll see. Tomorrow is Pompeii and it'll be an early day and a long train ride but it should be amazing. Last night I stayed back in the hotel while everybody went out. I'm not really a bar girl and I was looking forward to a little quiet time alone, I made a few calls, did a little studying, and went to be early. It was actually really nice- even though it makes me a loser :P
I hope all is well in the States! I'm almost half way done with this crazy experience which is ridiculous. Time goes by so fast here because we are doing so much. We have only two morning of lecture before our next midterm and then a week later we are done with the entire course. Time is really flying... this is amazing.
I love you all and hope everybody had a good day!
Ash
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Day 9
Laundry day!!!!
haha yes, we did laundry this afternoon. It was super expensive (7 euros total to wash and dry... which is around 10 bucks...) but at least we have clean clothes again. It's kind of nice :)
This morning we had another early day. We went to the Borghese Museum. It's a mansion that was owned by a cardinal I believe, and then he sold it to the city of Rome and state of Italy. It was already a museum at the time and all of the art work came with the place. Apparently it used to be used by the Pope to show to ambassadors and stuff. It was filled with cool art. My favorite were the sculptures created by Bernini. They had his version of David and several others based on mythology. They were so beautiful. I bought post cards of each of them to show everyone when I get back. The detail was amazing, they would have two figures holding each other and you could actually see where the hand of one imprinted on the skin of the other.
After that we decided to go to the Spanish steps while we were out and in the area. They weren't as exciting and cool as I thought they would be but we did see a pick pocketer in action! We were standing above the steps looking down and saw this suspicious woman. We watched her for a while and suddenly she motioned to a group standing near her and they all ran up to this man with his family. One tried to take his watch, one tried to grab into his pocket, others were trying to "beg for money". Luckily the man reacted really quickly and they didn't get anything from him. It was crazy though...
Then we decided to head back to our hotel- we got our clothes together and did our laundry. Now everybody is napping once again. There must be something wrong with me, I don't nap like everyone else apparently does. I would much rather be out exploring the city... oh well.
Last night we ended up going to another pub called Trinity College. I'm not sure what's going on tonight but unless it's something cool like the Ice bar thing I think I'll stay back... it's not really my scene. Then tomorrow we have a midterm at 7PM. We're all kind of nervous. The material seems straight forward but we just learned about a third to a half of a semester's worth of material in 5 days. It should be interesting to see what the midterm is like. Everyone who has taken this class before said it's a pretty tough one.
Anyways, I guess I'll get going. I hope all is well!
I love you all!
Ash
haha yes, we did laundry this afternoon. It was super expensive (7 euros total to wash and dry... which is around 10 bucks...) but at least we have clean clothes again. It's kind of nice :)
This morning we had another early day. We went to the Borghese Museum. It's a mansion that was owned by a cardinal I believe, and then he sold it to the city of Rome and state of Italy. It was already a museum at the time and all of the art work came with the place. Apparently it used to be used by the Pope to show to ambassadors and stuff. It was filled with cool art. My favorite were the sculptures created by Bernini. They had his version of David and several others based on mythology. They were so beautiful. I bought post cards of each of them to show everyone when I get back. The detail was amazing, they would have two figures holding each other and you could actually see where the hand of one imprinted on the skin of the other.
After that we decided to go to the Spanish steps while we were out and in the area. They weren't as exciting and cool as I thought they would be but we did see a pick pocketer in action! We were standing above the steps looking down and saw this suspicious woman. We watched her for a while and suddenly she motioned to a group standing near her and they all ran up to this man with his family. One tried to take his watch, one tried to grab into his pocket, others were trying to "beg for money". Luckily the man reacted really quickly and they didn't get anything from him. It was crazy though...
Then we decided to head back to our hotel- we got our clothes together and did our laundry. Now everybody is napping once again. There must be something wrong with me, I don't nap like everyone else apparently does. I would much rather be out exploring the city... oh well.
Last night we ended up going to another pub called Trinity College. I'm not sure what's going on tonight but unless it's something cool like the Ice bar thing I think I'll stay back... it's not really my scene. Then tomorrow we have a midterm at 7PM. We're all kind of nervous. The material seems straight forward but we just learned about a third to a half of a semester's worth of material in 5 days. It should be interesting to see what the midterm is like. Everyone who has taken this class before said it's a pretty tough one.
Anyways, I guess I'll get going. I hope all is well!
I love you all!
Ash
Monday, January 7, 2008
Day 8
Hey,
Today we toured at the Vatican. We went in the back entrance and walked quickly through the museum (which was fine by me... and most everybody else in the group.) and straight into the Sistine Chapel. I imagined it differently but it was still AMAZING. The ceilings was so high up, I can't imagine Michelangelo actually laying there and painting every stroke. It was beautiful. I secretly snapped a couple of pictures too. The coloring was really good too. We read that while the ceiling has been restored, they have managed to make the coloring almost exactly as it was originally. The blues were very blue, the skin tones were just perfect and the detail was AMAZING. It's also amazing to think of how massive the figures must be for them to be so clear from the floor.
Once we left the chapel we decided not to go take a closer look at the museum and went to St. Peter's Basilica. We first took a tour through the catacombs where past popes were buried. We saw Pope John Paul II's tomb. It wasn't as decorative as many of the others, just a simple slanted slab of marble. There were flowers there and some people were standing around and crying. It was so sad and amazing at the same time- to think how people are effected so much by one man. I was really irritated though when one of the girls said something about not understanding why they were crying (but in a snotty way...) seriously, even if you're not catholic you should be able to at least open your mind to the idea that some people are and this is something that meant a lot to them.
We also saw the tomb of Saint Peter- it is located directly under the alter. That was very cool even though it was behind a lot of glass.
After that we went into the Basilica. It was massive. Near the domed roof there is lettering which is 7 feet high, but from where you're standing on the floor it looks like normal print. I believe they said it was the largest church in the world. It reminded me of a stadium. They also had several niches where smaller mass services were held (they were having mass while we were there at one of them) There were also tombs of popes. One was encased in bronze and one was one of the more recent popes and he was preserved- you could see him through the glass. I also saw the Pieta which was created by Michelangelo. It was a statue of Mary holding Jesus after he was crucified. The Pieta was one of the things I was dying to see so that was awesome.
Then, as a group we decided to walk up half a billion stairs into the dome of St. Peter's. Dad wouldn't have liked this much... It was a trek but we got to look down inside the basilica from the domed roof. Then, we climbed a billion and a quarter stairs into the TOP of the dome and got to see the entire city of Rome. It was amazing. It wasn't a super clear day but the weather was beautiful and you could see everything. I'm so glad we decided to make the trek.
After that we went out into St. Peter's square outside the basilica and looked around. We saw a crazy woman feeding the pigeons. They were flying onto her and everything. Then we went out of the central Vatican area and ate lunch and sat for a bit. On our way home we stopped at a couple of stores and then split up. The group I went with ended up stopping and getting some really good gelato (ice cream but better) and we ate it at the Trevi fountain. It was wonderful.
Now we're all back at home. Everybody is napping but I don't really nap so here I am. Tonight I think we might either try to visit the Spanish Steps (supposedly cool and close by) or go to a bar which is completely made out of ice which sounds like fun. Tomorrow we have to be up earlier again for a museum visit. We're getting close to midterm time though so I think we're going to start studying for that too.
Oh, and I bought a cool picture of the Trevi fountain, a bunch of post cards so I can show people everything I've seen (better quality than my pictures) and I bought grandma a pretty rosary at the Vatican- literally from on top of the dome! Shhh don't tell her though. I'm still working on other souvenir ideas. I think I'll get the majority of stuff in Florence and Venice.
That's about it. This computer is really slow so it's literally taken me about 20 mins to write this. I hope everybody is well!
I love you all!
Ash
Today we toured at the Vatican. We went in the back entrance and walked quickly through the museum (which was fine by me... and most everybody else in the group.) and straight into the Sistine Chapel. I imagined it differently but it was still AMAZING. The ceilings was so high up, I can't imagine Michelangelo actually laying there and painting every stroke. It was beautiful. I secretly snapped a couple of pictures too. The coloring was really good too. We read that while the ceiling has been restored, they have managed to make the coloring almost exactly as it was originally. The blues were very blue, the skin tones were just perfect and the detail was AMAZING. It's also amazing to think of how massive the figures must be for them to be so clear from the floor.
Once we left the chapel we decided not to go take a closer look at the museum and went to St. Peter's Basilica. We first took a tour through the catacombs where past popes were buried. We saw Pope John Paul II's tomb. It wasn't as decorative as many of the others, just a simple slanted slab of marble. There were flowers there and some people were standing around and crying. It was so sad and amazing at the same time- to think how people are effected so much by one man. I was really irritated though when one of the girls said something about not understanding why they were crying (but in a snotty way...) seriously, even if you're not catholic you should be able to at least open your mind to the idea that some people are and this is something that meant a lot to them.
We also saw the tomb of Saint Peter- it is located directly under the alter. That was very cool even though it was behind a lot of glass.
After that we went into the Basilica. It was massive. Near the domed roof there is lettering which is 7 feet high, but from where you're standing on the floor it looks like normal print. I believe they said it was the largest church in the world. It reminded me of a stadium. They also had several niches where smaller mass services were held (they were having mass while we were there at one of them) There were also tombs of popes. One was encased in bronze and one was one of the more recent popes and he was preserved- you could see him through the glass. I also saw the Pieta which was created by Michelangelo. It was a statue of Mary holding Jesus after he was crucified. The Pieta was one of the things I was dying to see so that was awesome.
Then, as a group we decided to walk up half a billion stairs into the dome of St. Peter's. Dad wouldn't have liked this much... It was a trek but we got to look down inside the basilica from the domed roof. Then, we climbed a billion and a quarter stairs into the TOP of the dome and got to see the entire city of Rome. It was amazing. It wasn't a super clear day but the weather was beautiful and you could see everything. I'm so glad we decided to make the trek.
After that we went out into St. Peter's square outside the basilica and looked around. We saw a crazy woman feeding the pigeons. They were flying onto her and everything. Then we went out of the central Vatican area and ate lunch and sat for a bit. On our way home we stopped at a couple of stores and then split up. The group I went with ended up stopping and getting some really good gelato (ice cream but better) and we ate it at the Trevi fountain. It was wonderful.
Now we're all back at home. Everybody is napping but I don't really nap so here I am. Tonight I think we might either try to visit the Spanish Steps (supposedly cool and close by) or go to a bar which is completely made out of ice which sounds like fun. Tomorrow we have to be up earlier again for a museum visit. We're getting close to midterm time though so I think we're going to start studying for that too.
Oh, and I bought a cool picture of the Trevi fountain, a bunch of post cards so I can show people everything I've seen (better quality than my pictures) and I bought grandma a pretty rosary at the Vatican- literally from on top of the dome! Shhh don't tell her though. I'm still working on other souvenir ideas. I think I'll get the majority of stuff in Florence and Venice.
That's about it. This computer is really slow so it's literally taken me about 20 mins to write this. I hope everybody is well!
I love you all!
Ash
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Day 7
Merry Christmas!
Yup, you heard it right, they are having their Christmas today. It's the Epiphany and it's kind of a big deal around here.
Well, one week down. Today we had lecture and then went and toured several churches and a museum. The museum was at a palace so that was pretty cool and there was a really cool ceiling in it. I'll show you all pictures when I get back. The churches were very pretty, most of them were baroque which means they were ornate and many had oval tiered ceilings.
This afternoon we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was sooo good, I was totally craving a cheeseburger and fries so it was awesome. I miss good old American food already... sadly I'm starting to get sick of bread and other carbs... and I really want some protein..
I think tonight we're going to bed early. We have to be up early in order to get to the Vatican and stand in line for an hour in order to get into the Vatican. It should be amazing though, hopefully there will be a good post tomorrow.
I love you all!
Ash
Yup, you heard it right, they are having their Christmas today. It's the Epiphany and it's kind of a big deal around here.
Well, one week down. Today we had lecture and then went and toured several churches and a museum. The museum was at a palace so that was pretty cool and there was a really cool ceiling in it. I'll show you all pictures when I get back. The churches were very pretty, most of them were baroque which means they were ornate and many had oval tiered ceilings.
This afternoon we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was sooo good, I was totally craving a cheeseburger and fries so it was awesome. I miss good old American food already... sadly I'm starting to get sick of bread and other carbs... and I really want some protein..
I think tonight we're going to bed early. We have to be up early in order to get to the Vatican and stand in line for an hour in order to get into the Vatican. It should be amazing though, hopefully there will be a good post tomorrow.
I love you all!
Ash
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