On that note, Rome was fantastic. Seriously. It was a trek from hell - literally, hell. After the 8 hour bus ride, we ended up in Barcelona thinking we could catch the next bus to the airport, which was 1.5 hours away. Turned out the next one wasnt til 6 hours later, at 330 am. So we just sat around the bus station (there was a group, dont worry) until we got kicked out at 1am so they could clean. So we wandered around Barcelona for 2 hours with all out bags, exhausted and pissed off, until we could buy our tickets. Then we got to the airport, checked in, and slept til our flight left at 8:30 am. Then in Ciampino, we waited in like for 2 hours for a bus to take us in to Roma. It turned out to be 48 hours of traveling (both way) for 72 hours in Rome. And 200 euros in transportation when all was said in done. So lesson learned: Ryanair SAYS its cheaper, but in the long run - NO! f-you ryanair. you suck.
In the end, it was worth it. Rome, when we got there, was AMAZING. Seriously. Amazing. I think I was in shock just about the entire time. We saw the pantheon, roman forum, colosseum, vatican museums, sistine chapel, the baths of caracala, st. peter's basilica, and we saw the pope say mass on sunday morning in saint peter's square! it was so cool! i just about crapped my pants with excitement when I saw michaelangelo's pieta and the birth of adam. and the Dali and Marc Chagall paintings, and all the scultpures in the vatican museum, and the trevi fountain, oh yeah, and the colosseum. and everything else. everytime i turned around there was something else AMAZING to see! Cat and I ate gelato at night by the pantheon and had a fantastic pasta dinner by the Pizza de Navarro. Fettucine with pesto. The best of my life. And when we were eating, drinking wine, and chatting, a music group came up and played music in the street. i was like out of a postcard. And then we asked for our bill after sitting there for 2 hours, and our waiter told us to finish our wine, first! As servers ourselves, it was an odd experience to be denied our bills in such a manner. And then, after we payed, he basically kicked us out because he wanted our table. It was a funny experience to say the least.
Some of the girls I went to Rome with outside the Colosseum!
Inside the Colosseum
Lauren and I haning out on a 2000 year old pillar. Cool.
I was just loving these guys.
Here am just about crapping myself with excitement after seeing Michaelangelo's Pieta.
The Birth of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. Its a big no-no to take pictures, but i snuck one it.
Cat and I hanging out in St. Peter's Square just after mass.So there are a few highlights - the rest are online with the rest of my pictures.
Burgos has been good. We're resting/getting ahead with schoolwork this weekend, as we did last weekend. When one person gets sick, its like a tital wave of illness with out Western group. So we figured its a good time to let our immune systems rest. Lena, the crazy crazy crazy professor Lena, has loaded on papers and exams all of a sudden, so thats cool. Its not like I'm here for school or anything =) I got a 'notable' on my first exam, which kicked just about everyone's butts, so i can't complain about that. It was just plain hard. Spanish grading is a bit confusing and completely different that in the US. I got a 7 out of 10, but thats considered really really good. So thats good, I guess. Who knows.
Lately, I've been hanging out with Elena, the Chinese student who lives with us. She's really cool, and has been teaching me a little bit of Chinese! I've learned "north" "south" "capital" "hello" and "thank you" -- i figured ya gotta start somewhere! And i've been volunteering 3 times a week serving lunch at the homeless shelter, so thats been a lot of fun. All the sisters LOVE us, and we're getting to know the people who either live there or frequent it. And I started doing this intercambio where us WMU students work with small groups of spanish students our age who want to learn english. Its been cool getting know more people my age abd learning about spanish culture. Plus then I'm not the one making an ass out of myself everytime I open my mouth. It's a nice change =)
I'm just happy as a clam. Life is good. I'm so excited to meet Lauren in Barcelona next weekend, and then I think Cat and I are heading to Toledo, then to Madrid to see a Real Madrid soccer game. Then we're thinking about going to Lisboa, Portugal for the weeked, then parents are here! then kim! then we're going to Galicia to see Santiago de Compostela and A Coruna. The exams, then home! I can't believe how fast the time is going.
Well, its almost 2am, and I'm tired. Goodnight, love you all.
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