View from the Half Way Point

I have a count-down clock on my desktop.  Today it says "45 Days left in Roma."

Usually, these clocks are used to count down to a celebration, but this one is different.  It's a little way of reminding myself to make the most of every day and fully experience this incredible time in my life before I take to the skies and head back home.

When I started writing this post in my head, it was a few days before the half way point, 56 days.  It's taken me a little while to get it down on virtual paper, but I think half-way reflections are in order.

Things I'm going to miss about Rome

3.  FOOD!  Pasta, Pizza, Brushcetta, Suppli, Nutella, Mozzarella, Gelato and so much more!  All of the food I make here is delicious!  I am convinced it is the ingredients.  Back home, if you want fresh, clean food, you pay a little extra at the local grown organic farmers market.  But here, it's the exact opposite!  You want preservatives trucked in from across the country?  You shell out more cash.  Perfect for the college budget!

2.  The PEOPLE!  From the lovely ladies of apartment 3A, to the friends I've made from around the world, there are some incredible people here that I am going to miss.

1.  ROME!  I walk out my door and I see some of the most historically important and impressive ancient artifacts of all time.  I can eat gelato by the Pantheon!  I can take the bus right by the Colosseum!  This city is truly amazing.

Things I miss about home

3.  FOOD!  I love Italian food, but I've been craving Chipoltle, Olga's, and Dad's Sunday steak nights for a long time.

2.  ENGLISH!  Italian is a beautiful language, but it was very nice being in England and knowing what people were saying.

1.  The PEOPLE!  From my Leo3 peeps to K through 12, my friends around the world to my wonderful family.

This experience is amazing and I am enjoying every day, but I'm also going to love going back to Michigan and Washington, my two favorite places in the world.

5 Years Doesn't Change A Thing (Spring Break!)

Cardiff Bay

 I walked through the arrivals gate At London Heathrow airport with the Love Actually soundtrack ringing off the walls. Ok, that last part may have been in my head, but it was very...British, and I was very excited. Excited for food other than pasta, a language I could understand, and, of course, my lovely cousins (most of whom I last saw in 2006).

Millennium Centre 

I have to say, I'm fairly proud of myself. I managed to get from my apartment in the suburbs of Rome to the Cardiff bus station with minimal friction. I say minimal because traveling with Emily never seems to go completely smoothly (or maybe I just happen to notice the cultural confusion and awkward little hiccups of life).  I left 5 hours before my flight, just in case.  I hopped in the H Bus to Termini Station. I successfully purchased my train ticket and then ran around the station trying to find my platform. I got to the airport, printed my boarding pass, took the tram to my terminal, and sat at the gate. I was still 3 hours early.

View from the Hoe

The only entertaining event was going through customs at Heathrow.  They gave me a form that asked for the address where I would be staying. Oops. Forgot to take note of that little tidbit. I gave my form to the woman at the desk. "You're staying 8 days, where?" "Sorry, I don't have the address. I'm staying with family."  "And what family do you have here?" "Um...my mom's cousins." "and they live...?" "Well, I'm going to Cardiff tonight on a bus-" "a coach. You're taking a coach." "...Yes, that." "All the way to Cardiff?"  It went on like that until I exchanged my cousin's cell number for entrance to the country.  Four hours later, (1am) I was dropped off on a busy street in Cardiff...with now idea where I was.  I wandered around a bit until I found Peter and Sue.  They took me home and put me to bed.

Exeter Cathedral

Day 1: Cardiff
Peter and Sue took me to Cardiff Bay.  It's a beautiful pier with a mix of historic and contemporary buildings.  We saw the harbor, the Millennium Centere, and Techniquest (The science center where Sue works).  After a quick spin around Cardiff, we drove over to Exeter.  I arrived at Hilda's to a delicious lunch of chicken and mashed potatoes made by the fabulous Princess Anne, and we spent the evening looking at family photos.

Dawlish Warren

Day 2: Plymouth
After a great night's sleep in a bed that was most certainly not a rock and a hot shower, Christine, Martin, and Amber picked me up from Hilda's and whisked me off to Plymouth.  This historic harbor was where the pilgrims said goodbye to England and hello to the deep blue sea and a questionable future.  A few hundred years later, here I am!  We wandered around the Hoe, ate lunch along the river, and had smoothies at Juice Mouse at the Drake Circus.


Day 3: Dawlish Warren
Adam took the day off work and drove me down to Dawlish Warren, an amusement park by the sea side.  We walked along the beach and sat down for refreshments.  After a beautiful morning, we drove over to Hilda's for cheese sandwiches made by Chef Adam.  A few hours later we met Amber down town for a delicious steak dinner (a much needed break from my pasta-based diet).  We finished the day off with a night of joking, laughing, and movie watching.

Perfect Pasty!

Day 4: Exeter
After another heavenly night's sleep, Christine took me on a historic tour of Exeter.  We strolled along the cathedral grounds and down to the key where we saw swans, bikes, and cute little shops.  Later, we picked up Hilda and drove down to Teignmouth to surprise Chris at Luder's, which was bustling with customers.  It was quite posh, as they say.  We got hugs and goodies (which we sampled at tea), and the first chocolate Easter bunny of the season!  That night Hilda took us all out for dinner at a pub overlooking Dawlish.  It was so nice to be with family, telling stories and reminiscing.


Day 5: Pasties, Labrador, and Torquay

Beautiful Dawlish

There is nothing better than a pasty.  A hearty beef-and-potato mix wrapped up in a soft, flaky crust, Mmm.  After breakfast, Hilda and I made a batch (ok, I just put the initials on the side).  We ate them for lunch and then drove down to Labrador Bay for an ice cream cone with a flake (Cadbrry chocolate bar, YUM) while we watched a paraglider attempting to take flight.  Next we drove down to Torquay for a lovely view of the sea side.  Apparently, the largest full moon in 15 years created the lowest tide in 15 years.  Pretty cool.

Black Swan!

Day 6: Dawlish
Hilda and I had a leisurely breakfast and then walked down Dawlish for the afternoon.  We climbed up Lea Mount and strolled down the shore, passing a beautiful coast line, shining beach, and the little nook where Hilda met her husband Henry. Say it with me now, AWWWWWW.  Dawlish is famous for its waterfowl, including the rare black swan.  We walked around the green and had lunch at a cute little cafe.  Afterwards, we sat on a bench in the park and ate Cadbury Creme Eggs. MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm!


Day 7: Heathrow

Oh hey, Stonehenge!

After spending some quality time with my cousins late into the night, I said my goodbye's and Christine and Martin drove me to the airport.  At the half way mark we pulled off to a cute little village with thatched-roofed cottages and a field of horses.  It was like a fairy tale.  We walked into the pub and were greeted by a huge, fluffy, newfie.  We ate lunch in the garden before jumping back into the car, zipping past Stonehenge, and arriving at Heathrow.


Whew!
I love England.  I love the culture, the atmosphere, and of course, the incredible people there that I love.  I have to admit, going back to Rome was difficult.  But I wanted an adventure that was different from anything else, so here I am! Already more than half way through with a jam-packed home stretch!


To see, yes, EVEN MORE PHOTOS click here!

A Walk Through Ancient Rome (Giant Snakes, Millions of Cats, and Communist Rallies)

Last Friday, my history class met for a "field trip."  We didn't actually go to one place specifically, rather, we walked around Rome, reliving the glory of the empire.

Tiber Island

We started out on Tiber Island, where legend tells us a giant healing snake god named Aesculapius made his home when he traveled from what we know as Turkey to Italy.  Later, one of the emperors remodeled the island to look like a boat to remember how the god came to Rome.  You can still see some of the boat-like decorations.

Really old meat market.

Next, we went across the river to the Forum Boarium, the original forum, or public space, in Rome.  It was used mainly for markets.  Barges would line up along the Tiber to unload goods.  Cattle were walked from the outer fields to the city to be sold at the markets.

Circus Maximus! Epic.

After that we visited the Circus Maximus, where the chariot races were held.  Apparently a race was only one lap.  The turn was very dangerous and caused many accidental deaths, to which the spectators celebrated with wild cheers. How do we know what people cheered for in 200 BC? I can't wrap my mind around it.  Regardless, it was pretty cool.

The usual residents

Largo Argentina was the end of phase 1 of the trip.  Most study abroad students know the site as "the last stop on the tram line that takes you to The Drunken Ship bar."  But in the daylight, it is the ruins of Pompey's Theater, the Baths of Agrippa, and a few temples to various Roman gods, some dating back to the 4th century BC.  It's also a home for about a million stray cats.

Campo Market

We finished up in Campo de Fiori, the historic public square that holds the oldest morning market in Rome by day, and the largest college student hangout by night.  In the center is a statue of Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake for heresy for claiming the Sun was just one of an infinite number of independently moving "heavenly bodies."  300 years after his death, this statue of him was put up in Campo.  Shaded by the hood of his cloak, his eyes stare coldly at the Vatican.

At this point we enter another episode of "How well can Emily survive in Rome?"

The "Wedding Cake"

So, there I was, listening to the last pieces of Professor Higgin's lecture in the middle of Campo, when she dismisses the class for lunch and instructs us to meet her at Piazza Venezia in one hour.  I looked around, and suddenly everyone was gone.  'Ok,' I thought to myself, 'get to Piazza Venezia.  I can do this.'  And so I started walking, alone and without a map.  I decided to get to the meeting place first and find some lunch around there so I could be sure I wouldn't be late.  So I started walking in what I thought was the right direction...until I stumbled into Piazza Navona.  Oops, wrong direction.

Communist Rally?

I turned around and walked back to Largo Argentina, and then strolled down a busy street until...there!  The Wedding Cake!  I was close.  I found a street going straight towards it, when suddenly two riot-proof police cars swerved in and completely blocked off the road.  I turned around, went another block over...and came to two more police cars.

Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo

This happened twice more before I finally found an open street and bee-lined for the meeting spot.  All of a sudden, the piazza was echoing with loud music and chanting.  People carrying big red flags came marching through, accompanied by about 100 police officers in riot gear.  Their flags and banners said "USB."  I thought maybe they were just computer people, but my professor told us it had to do with immigration workers rights...although I saw quite a few Hammer and Sickle flags which gave it a very different tone.

We always end up here.

After they cleared out, we walked up to the top of the Capitoline Hill, the Campidoglio.  There, we started the Imperial Forum tour.  We walked through the various forums built by emperors.  I've come to the conclusion that they were all just a bunch of insecure men fighting to be remembered, but in this fight, they didn't do much except build monuments to themselves and their families.  Caesar built his forum, then Augustus built his next to it because people liked Caesar more than him, then the next guy built a bigger one, and the next guy built one even bigger than that until there was really no more space to build forums and the next guy had to resort to building the Pantheon, which is where our field trip ultimately ended up.

Whew.  There you have it.  A walk through ancient Rome.







See more photos of my walk HERE!