So, I am going to break down my time in Rome in days to make it more accessible...I hope.
Day 1: The first day, we had to wake up at 3am to catch a flight out of Heathrow at 6. We hired a car to take us to the airport and I cut my ear on the car, a source of constant irritation throughout the trip. We finally got to Rome at 10. We hopped on the airport shuttle and headed towards the hotel. Unfortunately, the directions the hotel gave us were out of date, so we got lost. We ended up having to take a train to a metro to a bus. We finally got to the hotel around 2:30 and decided to head out to the Spanish steps to do some sight seeing. After the steps we walked to the piazza Venezia, but first we went to see the pseudo column of Trajan. Which was really cool, although, clearly made of plaster. Later, we headed to some Roman ruins and took silly pictures on top of capitals. We then went in search of dinner and found the only neighborhood in Rome with absolutely no restaurants. We then headed home to a nice warm bed.
Day 2: We woke up early and headed into Rome for our first full day of fun. We jumped right into it and headed straight for the Pantheon. It was 9 in the morning but there were still men dressed up as soldiers trying to get you to take their picture. The building was beautiful. I had no idea how colorful the marble could be. It was kind of weird to see Roman Catholic paintings in this VERY Roman building. We then headed to the Trevi Fountain to throw in some coins for luck. The Baroque statuary was breathtaking. Next we went to Lunch with my roommate’s friend Br. Adrian. He took us out to a very cute and authentic restaurant near the Santa Maria Maggiore. The whole church was covered in ornate gold and marble. Not to mention some lovely Baroque altar pieces. After the church, we decided to amble towards the Barberini palace. We stopped at the opera house (very disappointing, although I am sure the inside is lovely). We also ran though the piazza republica. We passed by it everyday on the bus but I never really looked at it before this day. Then we went uphill to the four fountains and the church with the floating dome attached to it (the Santa Maria di quarto fontane). Later we went to the Crypt of the Capuchin monks. This crypt is covered in sculpture and decoration made completely out of bone with the inscription "As you are we once were and as we are you will one day be." Next we headed up river to the Altar of peace museum. This museum was built around the altar but has a weird minimalist exhibition downstairs. Finally, we went to the Barberini palace and had a look at their collection. There were a couple of really nice ceiling paintings and the stars of their collection were the Fornarina, by Raphael, a painting by Caravaggio, and Henry VIII by Hans Holbein. We finally ate dinner and went back to the hotel, thoroughly exhausted.
Day 3: Day 3 was all about Vatican City. We started out at the museum. We saw the Sistine chapel ceiling and Raphael's "School of Athens". We missed a lot of the museum though because it was so hard to get around. Then we went to the Basilica and climbed to the dome of Saint Peter's. We got some great pictures of the city from the top of the tower. Later we went down into the church to see all of the beautiful art and sculpture. My favorite part was the Pieta. I didn't realize how moving it would be in person. We then walked out of the basilica to the Castle d'sant Angelo (of course we had to stop and get gelato on the way). Finally, we headed to the Piazza del popalo and the Campo di Fiori. The campo was disappointing as all the venders were in for the night, but the Piazza was still a lively art market. There were some beautiful fountains in the piazza. Finally we returned to the Pantheon for dinner. We were the only ones in the restaurant...us and the bright orange de-cor.
Day 4: Day four was all about ancient Rome. First, in a stroke of genius, we bought tickets for the Palentine, the Coliseum, and the Fori. We also saw the Arch of Constantine on the way. We then went to the Santa Maria in Cosmedin to put our hands in the mouth of truth. We then went to the Coliseum. It was completely packed with people and it was hard to get around. Fortunately it wasn’t tourist season, so we ended up getting some nice photos of the interior. We then went to the Palentine Hill. We went into Augustus' house where I got to see some authentic Roman wall painting (all three styles, it was really neat). The next stop was the Roman Fori where we saw a couple other arches. There were also a couple of Roman temples. After the Forums we went to the San Pietro in Vincoli to see Michelangelo's Moses. Our final stop was to the Capitoline Museum to see the Colossus and the Marcus Aurelius bronze. The best part was the view of the fori at sunset. Beautiful. We ate dinner at a nice little restaurant in the Piazza Novana.
Last Day: The morning of our last day we went to mass at the Vatican and stayed to see the pope's blessing from his apartment. I have actually seen the pope. After the mass we headed upriver towards the Piazza del Popalo where the Carnevale was being held. A million adorable children were dressed up in animal costumes. We then headed into the park and saw the Galleria Borghese, which was, unfortunately sold out for the day. By the time we got there it was 4 and we had to head back to the train station to get home. What a great adventure in Rome.

Sorry about the lack of photos. My internet is being so horrible at the moment that I can't upload any. I will be sure to post a whole blog-full when the net gets back in check.

Make Way

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post.
The past few weeks have been rather low key, as mom forgot to sign me up for social programs. I do have some interesting tid-bits. The week after my last post my class took multiple trips to the national gallery. I had a paper due on the portraits of Henry VIII, so I managed to look at a couple of portraits for that paper as well as some beautiful ones of Queen Elizabeth I. We also went to New and Old Bond street to see Sotheby's and the art market. The Sotheby's impressionist show was on exhibition, and it was amazing. Any museum would have loved that collection.
On Friday I went shopping at Oxford Circus. It was absolutely packed with people. Apparently London ends work early on Fridays to go shopping. It was fun while it lasted, but I think I will avoid Oxford Street on weekends from now on. Later that day my roommates and I went to the Fullers Brewery in Chiswick to do a tour and tasting. The brewery itself was interesting but the beer was not my favorite. I have to say that I am not at all fond of British beer. They like it really bitter. The best flavor was called Honeydew and no one actually drinks it except hippies as it is an all organic honey sweetened beer.
Saturday my roommates went to Stonehenge so I decided to journey out on my own into London. I was going to go to the Saatchi gallery, but instead decided to head to the aquarium. Unfortunately it was being remodeled, so I didn't get to see much. The good news is there were some sharks. They had a huge tank with sharks in it that made my day. I also got to see the touristy part of the South Bank which was really nice. The aquarium is right next door to the London eye so I got to see that too. Later that day I went back to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs again. Unfortunately there was a huge line so I couldn't get in. I decided to go see the spiders instead which was actually a really fun exhibit. I still hate spiders.
On Sunday my roommates and I went shopping. First we went to Chinese New Years down in China Town. Everything there was decorated in red and there were a thousand Chinese lanterns everywhere you looked. First we got some scarves (as it was starting to snow) and then got Chinese buns for breakfast. The whole place was packed with people so we waited until the Lion Dance started. Amazingly I have never seen a lion dance live. It was fun and everyone got very into it, taking pictures and clapping along. Later that day we escaped the crowds and went to Camden Market to shop. The market is huge although, unfortunately for us, it is an open market so we couldn't stay that long in the snow.
The rumors are true everyone, it did snow in London on Monday. We got a whole 15cm and a snow day. London, unlike Boston totally shuts down at the hint of snow. All the stores were closed and everyone in London was in Hyde Park having a snowball fight. The whole flat went out, and I made my very first snow man. It was so much fun. Londoners love the snow, unfortunately they don't really know how to deal with it, so now it is just a lot of ice piling up in the streets. It should melt off soon.
Tuesday was perhaps the most exciting day of this post as I went to the Sotheby's art auction. It was incredible to watch. The auctioneer was so talented and knew exactly when to push people and when to sell a piece quickly. They sold a Degas Bronze ballerina for 11.8 million pounds! The whole auction was exhilarating. I am thinking about going to the Christies auction next week.
In more exciting news, my roommates and I are heading to Athens over Easter. So that makes Rome, Athens, Paris and York on the agenda. Any more suggestions? Does anyone know anything useful about those places? Let me know!
This weekend I am headed to the Dover Cliffs. Should be fun!