Hello everyone! Can you believe that it is already seventh week? Only a week and a half of the Oxford Michaelmas term remains. Then all of us SCIO folks have our ninth week to finish our long essays, then we will break our fellowship, possibly until the end of the world.
However, there are good times to remember and rejoice in. The most recent occurred this weekend. Courtney and I have been planning to go to Rome and the Vatican for quite awhile, and this past weekend we went! We left Oxford at one in the morning and arrived at Stansted Airport outside London at about four Saturday. Our flight left after six and we landed in Rome about two and a half hours later. I did not sleep until we got on the bus from the airport to Termini station in Rome, which took about an hour. Needless to say, I was exhausted. Somehow Courtney and I made it to our convent, which was about five minutes from the Vatican!!!! The Vatican is amazing, and regardless of your religious persuasion, you should go. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We checked in to the convent, which looked like a nice apartment building, and then proceeded to take a nap. At about one in the afternoon we decided to go exploring and find something to eat. We stopped at a neighborhood pizzeria and we each got a pizza margarita. It was so good! Then we took loads of pictures of St. Peter's Square. Words can't describe it, but it's probably the most beautiful architecture ever. I am in love with the Vatican and would love to live there and dust all of the gorgeous statues.
Next we went in search of the Piazza Navona. We cross over this beautiful bridge, Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, and headed down Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. We eventually made it to the Piazza. It was breathtaking. The beauty of the sculptures and fountains, the composition of the square, and the surrounding architecture, where only further enhanced by the life within the piazza. The living statues, art vendors, and just people--it was profoundly moving. I almost cried, and I never cry. One of my favorite moments occurred when I got to pose with a living statue. Courtney and I got gelato and it was as wonderful as everyone said it would be. Next we wandered over to the Pantheon. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go in, but it was still cool to just be there and see it. We were getting tired, so we decided to head over to the metro stop by the Colosseum. On the way we passed this beautiful building called Complesso del Vittoriano, which Peter tells me the Italians don't like and refer to it as "the wedding cake." But Courtney and I liked it. We wandered past the Roman Forum, which looked particularly ghostly and ancient at night. Then...the Colosseum!!! It's beautiful. So huge and as monstrous as its bloody history, but so gorgeous, even in its crumbling state. We took tons of night shots of it and then we headed back to the convent for a good night's sleep.
However, there are good times to remember and rejoice in. The most recent occurred this weekend. Courtney and I have been planning to go to Rome and the Vatican for quite awhile, and this past weekend we went! We left Oxford at one in the morning and arrived at Stansted Airport outside London at about four Saturday. Our flight left after six and we landed in Rome about two and a half hours later. I did not sleep until we got on the bus from the airport to Termini station in Rome, which took about an hour. Needless to say, I was exhausted. Somehow Courtney and I made it to our convent, which was about five minutes from the Vatican!!!! The Vatican is amazing, and regardless of your religious persuasion, you should go. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We checked in to the convent, which looked like a nice apartment building, and then proceeded to take a nap. At about one in the afternoon we decided to go exploring and find something to eat. We stopped at a neighborhood pizzeria and we each got a pizza margarita. It was so good! Then we took loads of pictures of St. Peter's Square. Words can't describe it, but it's probably the most beautiful architecture ever. I am in love with the Vatican and would love to live there and dust all of the gorgeous statues.
Next we went in search of the Piazza Navona. We cross over this beautiful bridge, Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, and headed down Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. We eventually made it to the Piazza. It was breathtaking. The beauty of the sculptures and fountains, the composition of the square, and the surrounding architecture, where only further enhanced by the life within the piazza. The living statues, art vendors, and just people--it was profoundly moving. I almost cried, and I never cry. One of my favorite moments occurred when I got to pose with a living statue. Courtney and I got gelato and it was as wonderful as everyone said it would be. Next we wandered over to the Pantheon. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go in, but it was still cool to just be there and see it. We were getting tired, so we decided to head over to the metro stop by the Colosseum. On the way we passed this beautiful building called Complesso del Vittoriano, which Peter tells me the Italians don't like and refer to it as "the wedding cake." But Courtney and I liked it. We wandered past the Roman Forum, which looked particularly ghostly and ancient at night. Then...the Colosseum!!! It's beautiful. So huge and as monstrous as its bloody history, but so gorgeous, even in its crumbling state. We took tons of night shots of it and then we headed back to the convent for a good night's sleep.
