La Prima Settimana

Ciao! The past 3 days have been a constant whirlwind of new experiences and I think we walk an average of 10 miles a day, but the sore feet and exhausted mind are so worth it. Our art history teacher, Daria (a Rome native), wasted no time opening our eyes to Roman churches, considering we went through 4 or 5 churches in class Tuesday morning and 2 more today, in addition to countless piazzas (squares) and palazzos (palaces). Yesterday our literary and cultural arts class, normally taught by our UNC professor, Lucia, was comprised of a 3 hour tour of the Roman Forum from a quirky and witty archaeologist named Yan, and then I spent the afternoon reading for class today along the Tiber River while everyone else was napping (not surprising that I can't seem to nap in Rome either). The tickets for the Roman Forum that Lucia had to buy for us also included a pass to go inside the Colosseum that expired 24 hours later, so today after art history class in the morning and a delicious lunch of fresh fruit and bread at an outside market in Campo de Fiori, we went to see the inside of the Colosseum and it blew my mind! The sheer size and architectural scale was so impressive; I now understand why it's the second most visited place in the world (second to the Eiffel Tower). I've taken about 400 pictures so far (overkill I know...) so I thought I'd share a few here since that is more exciting than just words...

Before dinner the first night a few Italian jokesters (creepsters?) photo-bombed our apartment picture...

This is a museum near our apartment that Lucia disdainfully/fondly calls the "abominable wedding cake".

830am before our foray into the Forum (the GGB made it to Rome!!) 

Sloping steps up Capitoline Hill, one of the seven Roman hills...basically hell at 830am, but characteristic of how our walking journeys go each day.... 

One of the ancient ruins in the Forum against a beautiful Carolina blue sky :) 

This is Yan, our archaeologist guide in the Forum...he liked to talk with his hands...

At the top of the Forum overlooking the Colosseum.

Ancient Roman version of Fetzer Field! (#hwgh) 

This is Lucia, our literary and cultural arts class professor! 

How beautiful is the Tiber River? I'm lucky enough to live 3 minutes away from it...I was so struck by its beauty yesterday afternoon that I got up at 630am this morning with one of my roommates, Eric, to go for a run on the bike path down besides the water. 

This is the ridiculously impressive inside of one of the churches we went to this morning... A lot of the churches look similar so I figured one photo would capture the essence of my church-going experience here in Rome. 

Amanda, Emily and me in front of the fountain at the center of the Piazza Rotunda that contains the Pantheon.

The Pantheon! SO BIG 

The girls of the group inside the Colosseum.

I thought I'd end with the token solo picture inside the Colosseum... 

If you've made it this far in this post, we leave for Florence tomorrow morning which I'm sure will be fabulous, so I will probably post Sunday night about my adventures there! Until then, ciao!!