Back 2 Skewl, Back 2 Cool

Written while google translating the directions on my instant coffee mix and wondering when I became one of those people who drinks cappuccino...am I a European yet?

Welp, we're back at it today.  After a nice, long weekend (half day Thursday and orientation Friday included) today we found ourselves walking into the IES Rome Center for our first day of classes here.  Needless to say, the walk looked easier than it really was.  It's a beautiful walk, going from our apartment through Vatican City and then down the street, across the bridge, and then taking a left before reaching the IES Center.  But, boy, are there crowds!  And a whole lot of them...thank you tourism season & summer break & US News and Report for ranking Rome as the #2 most popular travel destination just behind-wait for it-Paris.

So, walking to class wasn't that easy, having to push past crowds of tourists all vying to see the Vatican and people selling tote bags, Pope postcards and drinks/snacks on the street.  But, we made it with enough time to find our way up to Classroom 3B, where we had our first class of the day: Rome as a Living Museum.  I am actually obsessed with our teacher, who has actually condensed his full semester class into a 6-week summer program at the Rome Center and then into a 2-week component for our traveling program.  He's awesome.  Again, thank goodness I took MEHAP in high school because I was able to pick up on the historical components pretty quickly and be able to focus on the important stuff: Rome's different monuments.  Tomorrow we will be visiting 2 different churches, which I am excited about, because I'll actually have pictures to take!  After class, we were all so hot from the high humidity and lack of ventilation in the room that we went to sit on the 2nd level terrace (see views below) before going to a little sandwich/lunch place for lunch.

We had a nice break between classes today-4 hours to be exact-so we actually managed to go back to our apartment between classes to rest up for the rest of the day.  With a little time left, we stopped to get gelato at a little gelateria on our street-today's combo was chocolate and mint, yum-and then walking back to the IES Center for our second class of the day.  Our Museums and Heritage class is taught by an Italian Cultural Economist, so she really knows what she is talking about, and even though the class was long (almost 2 hours straight) it was quite fascinating.  Italy has so many museums and historic sites-Rome, Florence and Venice have 200+ alone-that it requires a lot of cultural preservation.  After class, we walked back through the Vatican crowds (seriously, like the line is 3 million people long all day every day) and made our way back home to relax and do our readings for tomorrow.  I even made myself dinner tonight-scrambled eggs!  So maybe not your typical Italian-or even really American-dinner, but I was craving eggs so I made them with some turkey and fruit on the side.  And though it may not be traditional European, I'm making myself a cappuccino to give me a little caffeine boost to push through the readings we have due tomorrow.  And maybe even making some in the morning if it turns out well (or if I need some improvement) to give myself some energy for our 2 field visits tomorrow and dinner at Eataly!

Gelato from yesterday-Chocolate & Caramel!

Gelato from today-Chocolate Fondente & Mint!

And if you may have noticed..or not, I added another city to my list!  That's right, this weekend I am going to FLORENCE!  Firenze is a city that I have had on my travel list since I learned about it in MEHAP, and I am excited to be using Bus2Alps for my day trip adventure.  We're taking a bus from the main train station here to Florence, where there will be a walking tour of the main sites and then optional visits to different monuments and an included dinner at a restaurant before driving back to Rome.  The company came highly recommended by my friends who have been abroad in the past year, and I am happy that it is just a day trip so that I can make the most of my time here in Rome.  We're actually here for the shortest amount of time because we had orientation days in Paris and will have closing days in Madrid, so every day here is precious.  But, we start visiting sites tomorrow for class and I am excited to see what this ancient city is all about!

Until then, it's off to reading and attempting to make cappuccino for me...oh did I mention that cappuccino is totally not a night drink here?  Yeah, people only drink it before lunch but I figured I might as well try it since I got it from the grocery store.  So, maybe I'm not as European as I'm making myself out to be, but I sure am trying.

Addio bella!