"I didn't mean to call you a fat cow!"

Ciao tutti!

Now that I am fully recovered from jet lag I am starting to enjoy Roma much more. Today we started off by getting breakfast and coffee at the hostel bar, did a little reading for classes, then set off to explore the city! I rode the bus for the first time and that was an experience. We went to the Therma di Caracalla (baths of Caracalla), which Shieda is presenting for her project. We all have to present a site to the group for our Art History class. The ruins of the baths were huge! Apparently there were different areas for different purposes-outside for talking and eating, then inside for exercising, bathing, massages, and so on. It was pretty amazing to think about how much work it took to build the baths, as well as how they old they are and yet still partially standing. Pieces of the mosaics from the walls were scattered around, along with parts of columns that used to be standing. The tile on the ground was also still there in some areas.



Me and the ruins!



After our visit to the baths we got lunch at a pizzeria, walked around for a bit, then went to see the Campo di Fiori, which is where the UW Rome Center is located.

My lunch! Molto bene!


We took a bus back to the hostel, napped for a few hours, and then went out to dinner! We walked for almost an hour to find an area that someone had recommended to us. There were eight of us, and we definitely stood out in the area-everyone else was Italian. It was an adventure. But we asked someone where a good restaurant was and ended up at a place called the Porca Vacca. It was SO GOOD! The menu was all Italian (a lot of the restaurants in touristy areas have English menus) and we found one server who spoke a little English. I had insalata mixta, gnocchi con pesto, and we all shared some vino.




And it was Nick's birthday! So we celebrated with tiramisu and another desert that our server brought for Nick. We sang him happy birthday too. Our server was super nice-his name was Ergent, but he goes by "Erie."


The group with Erie (minus Maggie-she took the picture)


Oh and here is a picture of the entrance to our hostel. I am sharing a room with 4 other girls from the program, and some people from the program are in 6 or 12 person rooms with people they don't know. It's been a good place to crash for a few nights.



Tomorrow we finally move into our apartments!