1. Took the bus to school because it was raining. Otherwise, I would have walked the 1.7 miles.
2. Learned why Rome is walkable in my history course. Since it's founding, the Romans have designed cities for the pedestrian.
3. Walked to the open-air market to buy local fruit and veggies. Some of the best oranges I've ever had come from this market.
4. Walked to the grocery store to buy other necessities and vino. I've learned the only cheap thing in Rome is the wine...and I'm poor...so that's excuse enough for me to drink it a lot.
5. Walked, groceries in hand, up the 125 steps to my apartment. That was my upperbody workout for the day.
6. Took a nice, long siesta. Notice how after all that walking I have to take a nap to recover, or so I tell myself.
7. About to cook dinner while drinking vino.
:) Ahhh...life is sweet in Roma.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Stairmaster
Well, I've officially finished my first week and a half of classes here in Rome, and I'm not sure yet if I should get credit for "going to school" here. Our classes consist of daily walking lectures, led by our brilliant professors, which I have to say, in some aspects I feel like I'm paying tuition for really, really good tour guides for a 3 1/2 month vacation. It's pretty sweet. Don't get me wrong, we're going to be doing a lot of work while we're here, too. But, who wouldn't want to walk the great city of Rome and diagram the streets while sitting in a sidewalk cafe...sipping on, what else...a caffe? Yes, this has really been my assignment for the last week. I would barely describe that as work. However, there is another aspect of Rome that is work...the climbing of the great stairs...
I'm learning that these frequent "moments" are the ones that make Rome such a great place to visit and live. Every bend in the medieval streets, every balcony covered in flowers, every detail of the architecture provides an element of surprise and curiosity. These architectural and urban gems are making each day here different as I discover something new during my daily walks.
The only moment of my day that I have begun to dread is the time I turn the corner to see that the 125 stairs leading up to my apartment are...ugh...still there. Why is it that just when I think I've climbed all the way to the top, I break my concentrated stare (pun intended) at the ground (As an aside, I should tell you that Romans do not care about cleaning up after their dogs, and these dogs leave some stinkers right on the sidewalk! Point being, you must watch your every step or you might wind up with an unexpected "surprise" on your shoe.) to realize there are 2 more flights left to climb. Urgh! Damn steps make me out of breath and sweat everyday (but let's be honest, for those of you that really know me probably knew that the sweating was an issue before I even got to the stairs - ha). However, what really takes my breath away is the view from the top of the Janiculum Hill, the hill on which my apartment is located and one of the 7 hills of Rome.
I'm learning that these frequent "moments" are the ones that make Rome such a great place to visit and live. Every bend in the medieval streets, every balcony covered in flowers, every detail of the architecture provides an element of surprise and curiosity. These architectural and urban gems are making each day here different as I discover something new during my daily walks.
Posting pictures on this blog is almost more work than the stairmaster, sans the physical workout, so I am just going to keep my pictures on my Picasa account. You can find it here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Claire.E.Watson
Tomorrow we're off to visit Ostia, followed by a weekend trip to Orvieto, Todi, Perugia, Assisi, Spello, and Spoleto. I imagine I'll be walking more than ever in order to see 8 towns in 3 days!
Ciao Ciao!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...
Well, I finally made it to Rome, but not without a good story...
After a quick tour of the Georgia State Capitol by "Represenator" Bob Smith (a story in and of itself), Robert and I arrived at the Atlanta airport around 5:00pm to scoot through security within 30 minutes. We, of course, found a place to grab a bite to eat and a cold beer to drink and waited for what we thought was a 7:30 flight. As we got to our gate, we realized the flight had been pushed back to 8:30. "Oh well," we thought; "What's another hour?"
After boarding, we crammed our bodies into two tiny seats in the center of the plane. In true character, I packed as much as flight regulations would let me, so I couldn't stretch out my legs the whole time because my oh-so-packed bookbag was taking up every last inch of the foot space in front of my coach seat. Reeeaaal comfy, let me tell 'ya. So this lasted about 9 hours, the last of which the pilot announced that we would not be able to land in London for our 2 hour layover because the terrible weather had shut down the airport temporarily. The second dilemma we faced was regulations which do not allow plane crew to work for more than a certain amount of time. This caused the powers-that-be at British Airways to divert our plane to Newcastle, England. The only thing I know about Newcastle is that there is a beer called Newcastle that I occasionally enjoy. :) I overheard one of the British flight attendants saying "I've never been to Newcastle in my whole life." This was not a good sign...
We landed in Newcastle with no guidance at all, only to be herded onto charter buses completely left in the dark. For all I knew, they were taking the entire group to Kazakhstan to be sold on the black market (that was for you, Dad). Luckily, that was not the case, and 6 cold, boring hours later, we arrived at the airport in London. Naturally, we couldn't get on a plane straight to Rome. No, we must wait again...we rebook our flight, and continue to wait to figure out our accomodations for the night. Luckily, we discover they are taking us to one of the nicest hotels in London...steps from Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. Room service, the TV in the shower, and the soft robes were all covered by British Airways. Yeah, so BA, thanks for making up for the 24 trip that should have only been 8 by putting us up in a 5-Star hotel. Too bad we weren't there long enough to explore the sweet area. Anyway...moving on...
We finally leave England the next day and arrive in Rome in the late afternoon. Thank you, God! This place lives up to everything I imagined...Can't wait to discover all it's wonders over the next four months!
Ciao!
After a quick tour of the Georgia State Capitol by "Represenator" Bob Smith (a story in and of itself), Robert and I arrived at the Atlanta airport around 5:00pm to scoot through security within 30 minutes. We, of course, found a place to grab a bite to eat and a cold beer to drink and waited for what we thought was a 7:30 flight. As we got to our gate, we realized the flight had been pushed back to 8:30. "Oh well," we thought; "What's another hour?"
After boarding, we crammed our bodies into two tiny seats in the center of the plane. In true character, I packed as much as flight regulations would let me, so I couldn't stretch out my legs the whole time because my oh-so-packed bookbag was taking up every last inch of the foot space in front of my coach seat. Reeeaaal comfy, let me tell 'ya. So this lasted about 9 hours, the last of which the pilot announced that we would not be able to land in London for our 2 hour layover because the terrible weather had shut down the airport temporarily. The second dilemma we faced was regulations which do not allow plane crew to work for more than a certain amount of time. This caused the powers-that-be at British Airways to divert our plane to Newcastle, England. The only thing I know about Newcastle is that there is a beer called Newcastle that I occasionally enjoy. :) I overheard one of the British flight attendants saying "I've never been to Newcastle in my whole life." This was not a good sign...
We landed in Newcastle with no guidance at all, only to be herded onto charter buses completely left in the dark. For all I knew, they were taking the entire group to Kazakhstan to be sold on the black market (that was for you, Dad). Luckily, that was not the case, and 6 cold, boring hours later, we arrived at the airport in London. Naturally, we couldn't get on a plane straight to Rome. No, we must wait again...we rebook our flight, and continue to wait to figure out our accomodations for the night. Luckily, we discover they are taking us to one of the nicest hotels in London...steps from Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. Room service, the TV in the shower, and the soft robes were all covered by British Airways. Yeah, so BA, thanks for making up for the 24 trip that should have only been 8 by putting us up in a 5-Star hotel. Too bad we weren't there long enough to explore the sweet area. Anyway...moving on...
We finally leave England the next day and arrive in Rome in the late afternoon. Thank you, God! This place lives up to everything I imagined...Can't wait to discover all it's wonders over the next four months!
Ciao!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Arrivederci!
Top 5 Things I'm Going to Miss
5. Southern Food
4. Kelly's Wedding Festivities
3. My Parents' Back Porch
2. My Sweet Dog, Bo
1. My Family and Friends
See you all in May!
5. Southern Food
4. Kelly's Wedding Festivities
3. My Parents' Back Porch
2. My Sweet Dog, Bo
1. My Family and Friends
See you all in May!
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