We Love Rome.

What a day yesterday. We woke up at 5:15am in order to meet in the vestibolo by 6:15. A special-sized bus (extra large on Orvieto scale) came to pick us up and bring us down the cliff to Orvieto Scalo. There, we got on the train to Roma! It was incredibly helpful to have Matt with us, who has lived and worked in this area and Rome for some time now.

It only took an hour and fifteen minutes or so to arrive at the terminal in Rome. Then the whirlwind began.

First stop was for cappuccino in the nearest piazza to the National Museum, which didn't open until 9am.

Second, as soon as the doors swung open, Matt took us into the museum to start our art history tour of Rome. He began with his favorite piece in the entire city. The piece is a fresco of sorts that originally lined all the walls of Livia's palace courtyard in the 1st century b.c. (She was Augustus's wife). It is a detailed, life-like and lively painting of various fruit trees and birds flying. It was pretty incredible to start there, surrounded by 2000-year-old walls. After gleening as much knowledge from Matt as we could, we went wandering in the museum for a while. We saw mosaics, sculptures and frescos of all shapes and sizes. We were so glad to have been told what things to watch out for as we perused the millenium-old artwork. I think the the mosaics take the cake for me - their intricacy is beyond anything I was imagining about that ancient artform.

Next, we swept off by bus towards the Pantheon. Matt took us through some side streets to find our way there. Oh my goodness. This was most certainly our favorite place of the day. The looming outside and the unasuming yet gorgeous inside just epitomized Rome for me. You could see the various centuries embedded in each different part of the building. We both loved the ceiling the most. It's just phenomenal to stumble upon this historial monster snuggled into a perfect Roman piazza complete with fountain, caffe, pizzeria e gelateria. Heaven.

Next was heaven's gelateria (yes, before lunch). Matt deemed it to be the best gelateria in Rome, so we just had to go. Penn got cinnamon, crema and Bailey's flavored gelato and I had chocolate, pistachio and After Eight flavored. It was a great moment in life, I tell you.

We walked with our gelato to find lunch. We took lunch (Italy's famous folded pizza, which ends up being really just like a panini when you eat it) in the open market square. Yum.

Next destination was the area containing the Forum. Again, holy cow. You just don't see this stuff anywhere else. The ruins looked so stunning sitting unbothered right next to a busy Roman street. It was a really peaceful break overlooking the Forum and then walking over to the Coliseum. Once there, too, we listened to Matt's wealth of knowledge a bit more and then rested from the sprinting around.

Finally, heading back towards the train station, Matt showed us one of the famous Basilicas of Rome. This one was St. Mary's, I believe. In contrast with the Pantheon, this place utterly smacked you in the face with its ornate insides. Gold as far as the eye could see and marble and frescos and mosaics. It was certainly something to behold, but not our style. It tuckered me out after just a few minutes of dropped jaw wandering. Then it was time to sit in the sun for a while before heading back. And yes, we did make it back safe and sound without a pick-pocket story to speak of.

This was, of course, one of many trips to Rome that are planned for the program. We are a lucky bunch - especially with a leader whose enthusiasm is so contagious. This is going to be a great semester.

A Different Perspective

Today Matt took us on a walk to a monastery on one of the hills opposite Orvieto. We climbed and climbed and each new pit stop revealed more of the fantastic cliff retreat that is our home. At the top, we walked through the monks' gardens and olive orchards (do you call them orchards?). Matt and Sharona's kids (Silas - 5, Ronan - 3 and Kiara - 11 mos) were a joy. They have tons of energy and are starting to warm up to all their potential babysitters! (We have a ton of pictures, but the uploading here is next to impossible. There is free WiFi nearby, so on the day off tomorrow, we'll catch up on all the updating.)

Penn and I needed some refreshment after the sunny hike so we indulged in our first "Coke Light" since we've been here along with a Kebap Panini from a little shop. My Italian needs some work...but we made it through and I'm pretty sure we paid the right amount...

We are going to Rome on Saturday! Did we already mention that? Matt is bringing us on what he is calling an "ambitious Rome trip." It sounds like he's going to be packing a lot into the day, but we couldn't be more excited. I'm sure there will be lots to tell after that day.

The Ash Wednesday service in the duomo was incredible. I understood none of it, but to be inside Orvieto's famous cathedral and to get ashes ground into my hair by an Italian priest was once in a lifetime. Penn was exhausted from his day, so he stayed home for reading and a nap. We're quickly getting used to the Italian tradition of shutting everything down from 1-4 for "pranzo"(lunch) and "pelo" (nap). How these people make any money I have no idea.

Well, for now, off to my own nap before dinner! Ciao.

Pizza and Tours

We had our first Italian Pizza a couple of nights ago! It was wonderful. Lots of different kinds and just kept coming out of the kitchen onto our plates.

Today we got a morning tour of the city from the History professors. We went around to the various churches and important spots in terms of the progression of this city since the middle ages.

Then, in the afternoon we got another tour of the city from the Italian professor, who is a local 20-something wonderful girl named Laura. She showed us all the important cappuccino places, the free internet cafes and the cheap clothing stores.

A good day. Gotta run! Ash Wednesday Service tonight!

Skype

Quickly...Our Skype username is:

cameronlivingston

If you're ever around your computers from 11am - 12:30pm EST, we'll be here waiting! Please add us to your contacts and also let us know your various usernames so that we can Skype you.

Penn started classes today...Italian History (taught by Tal & Agnes Howard) and Italian Language (taught by Laura, our Italian RA).
Grace started a book, a puzzle and her first of many nun-observations.
We both re-started our Gelato addictions. Pistachio Gelato is perfect.

Photos take forever to upload, so we will look into comparing the upload times for flickr/facebook/blogger.

(Just Skyped with Aaron!!!! Now it's officially an addiction on par with Gelato.)

Love you all.
G&P

Torture Toss-Up

There are millions of things to say, but little time to say them. So, here's a quick story:

Both the air and the water at the monastery are heated by very expensive oil. The way it works, the oil can only devote itself to one or the other at a time. So, when our rooms finally reach a bearable warmth level, the water has to be cold. As a method of saving money and getting around this weird situation, the whole system is on a timer so that the heaters only come on for pertinent periods of the day and only in specific areas. We have to time our showers for when the heaters are not on. That means, when you're finally cozy in the air, a warm shower to top it off just isn't an option; and when you finally get a semi-warm shower, you're stepping out into frigid air. Believe me, we're as confused as you are. Nonetheless, we're learning to appreciate monastic life, shivering and all (and by shivering I mean shaking so much that you can barely squirt the shampoo into your hand without flicking it all over the shower walls)! Though, when you finally finish, dress and head out for the day, attending Mass at a church built in 1004 pushes shivering right out of the mind...

We made it!

Arrived at DaVinci Airport. No explaining necessary at customs — they didn't ask a single question about anything. We met Matt Doll, the director of the program, as well as one of the art professors. We then got on a bus for an hour and forty-five minutes, which brought us to Orvieto. We then had to haul our luggage up a few cobble-stone streets to the monastery.

There are active nuns (though we haven't seen any) and yes, there is a monastery cat. Our room has the most amazing view of the surrounding hilly landscape as well as the rest of the town below.

We unpacked and organized everything, went to orientation meetings and then proceeded to a "light" lunch at Locando del Lupo (the contracted restaurant for our stay). Great bread, pasta and a stuffed turkey dish. After lunch we took a brief walk around town, familiarizing ourselves with all the landmarks. We got to see the duomo, which is in the middle of a large piazza.

There appear to be many places to get lost in, including numerous small shops, gelaterias and cafes.

We can't wait to explore it all . . .

Address

Here's the address of the monastery we'll be in:

Monastery San Paolo
Via Postierla, 20
05018 Orvieto (TR)

Send us brown paper packages tied up with string.