Ciao!

Hi!

Well, as you may know or have guessed, I'm in Roma. I arrived and moved into my apartment yesterday. I live with six other girls in an apartment in a quieter area of town about a dozen blocks from the Vatican City. It's fantastic. We took a little tour of the neighborhood yesterday, and it's just so cute and convenient. We're just blocks from a couple small pizzerias, gelaterias, the supermarket, and a wonderful open air market that spans about three blocks. After settling in a bit, we went out for dinner and for drinks at an Irish pub a few blocks up the street (I know I know, it's Rome and we went to an Irish pub.) It was just so nice...we got to meet everyone, get to know one another better, and just hang out.

Today, after sleeping in for a while, we walked over to our school (it was a long walk...but we have to go through Vatican City to get there...very cool), checked it out, and then went to do some sight-seeing. After visiting Campo dei Fiore, a piazza where there are a lot of bars and restaurants, we went to Piazza Nuvona, another beautiful place, and then decided to check out the Pantheon. The Pantheon is just so impressive. We walked around a corner, and there it was--huge, impressive, shocking even, and just so Roman. As we were all hungry, we ate at the nicest little outdoor restaurant right across the way. It was all quite surreal really, eating fantastic food at 3:30 in the afternoon in Rome, right across from the Pantheon. And, as would be expected, lunch was fabulous. We got the "menu special": pizza, a drink, and expresso afterward. And then, as a surprise, our waitress brought us all a small glass of limoncello as dessert--on the house.

After lunch, we briefly checked out the inside of the Pantheon (they were getting ready to close), then decided to move forward in our sight-seeing venture by grabbing some gelato and heading toward the Trevi Fountain. Unsurprisingly, it was very crowded, but completely wonderful. We stayed for a little while, took some pictures, tossed in some coins to ensure our return to Rome, then made our way toward the Spanish Steps. Less crowded, and with more space to sit down and relax, we sat on the steps and watched the people--vendors, shoppers at the high-end fashion shops (Dior, YSL, etc.), locals, and other visitors for about an hour. Though we could have sat all evening, we decided to make our way back across the city. The walk back, while really long, was so nice...we were able to check out interesting things along the way and make notes of things we want to do later.

Finally, upon making it back to our neighborhood, we ran to a 24 hour convenience-like store (the grocery closes at 1:00 on Sundays), grabbed a few necessities, and came home to shower (it's SO HOT here!), relax, and call it a night.

Anyway, that's what's happening here. I hope that all is well at home, and I would love to hear what's going on. Keep me posted on everything! I miss everyone already! Ciao!

P.S. I'll be uploading some pictures soon! I just need to figure out how (again..I'm new to the blogging thing)!