Rome & Cinque Terre

I'll just start by saying that it is sunny and 90 degrees in Florence, I hear it's rainy back home so I'll try to bring some sun back home for everyone. There is most definitely more than enough to go around...

So Thursday we took the Eurostar straight into Roma with my architecture class. We checked into the hotel where me and Kristin immediately booked an extra night to stay ourselves. The man working at the desk, Paolo, really liked my Italian last name. I was hoping for a discount but it didn't end up working out, haha.

What ensued was a whirlwind tour of Rome: the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Roman ruins, the Coliseum, and a few churches. Rome is known for it's Baroque style of architecture, so our professor focused mainly on that. The elements of water and sky are used in much of the architecture around the city, for example there are many open bell towers included in the buildings and there is a fountain at nearly every glance. [Sorry that these posts are getting progressively lazier, I'll have pictures up soon.]

We got dinner in Campo de Fiore, a central part of the city by the river, at an old pizza restaurant. Our professor claims that it has been in business since 1850, and let me tell you it was that delicious. Not only was the pizza good, but the bruschetta complete with olive oil was ridiculously good. Easily the best (and largest) meal I've had in Italy thus far.

The next day we saw St. Peters (words can't describe) and some more of the city. We also visited a museum where there is a preserved Roman altar that is over 2000 years old. Even more interesting is an American architect designed the contemporary building that it is kept in, which is completely soundproof.

The rest of the class left to return to Firenze but Kristin and I got dinner at the Hard Rock (just had to) and then split a bottle of wine at a bar. We stumbled upon it just as we were getting very lost, and it ended up being really awesome; there was live music and there were lots of local students there.

Saturday morning Kristin and I woke up at literally the crack of dawn (5:30am) to take on the Vatican. Italians really aren't morning people, and finding breakfast at 6:30am was quite the task. The Vatican was beautiful, once again words really can't describe it. I think that no matter what you believe, the place most definitely has a certain feeling to it. It's a very soothing place. We took the rest of the day to roam the city, which is a very cool place.

We arrived back in Florence around 7pm and got an early night for Cinque Terre (literally, 5 lands) on Sunday. Yet another early morning, we arrived at the train station for the journey at 7:15am. Three hours later we arrived in Cinque Terre, probably the most beautiful place in the world. We hiked for about four hours total, which was kind of rough in 95 degrees. There are five cities along the coast, each more gorgeous than the next. We stopped for lunch with our tour guide at this tiny restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean, and had some really great pesto and pasta. Back at the apartment by 9:30pm, where we discovered that our street is closed on Sundays so all of the restaurants can set up tables in the street. Seriously cool. What more can you ask for in a weekend?

Pictures soon.