Oh, No, Finals...

     So it's officially finals week for me. And I'm a little frightened. But I'm fairly confident it will be ok in the end. This weekend I haven't done much as far as leaving the apt goes, mostly just gelato, pizza, and grocery runs. I've been catching up on some homework, and working on my final project for my photography class.

I love Roma!

Main Synagogue in Rome.

Bridge... Near the Forum & Jewish Ghetto.

Moooooore locks. One of them had a Kiwi bird on it.

     We have to make a portfolio of our favorite pictures and some clippings and writings and stuff. I'm not super excited about this project, but I think it will be ok. I don't super hate all of my pictures so it will probably work.

     For my Art & Arch. class we just have a normal final which is nerve-wracking enough. But I did ok on the midterm, so the final shouldn't be that terrible. I'll just be spending most of the week studying.

Poster supporting Palestinians.

Inside a church... Not sure which one...

An old Roman temple near the Mouth of Truth.

     That being said, I will be really happy when I get to sleep forever on Friday. But hopefully not too late so I can still wake up on Saturday for my 8AM Train to Florence! I'm really excited to be spending the entire day there. I love Florence more than anywhere else in Italy (right now). And I just can't wait to go back and leisurely walk around the city. This will also be the first time I'm really travelling by myself.. So that's a little scary for me, but I'm pretty sure it will work out.

Picture of part of the group on the docks of Sorrento.

Me at the Mouth of Truth.

The Vatican!...So many times...

Sorrento, with one of our Admins, Andrea!

     Orientation doesn't start until Tuesday, and so I have plenty more time to travel/relax/explore Rome. I've been toying with the idea of visiting Milano, Bologna, Assisi, or Sicilia. I'm so torn, they all have their own merits. Milano - Architecture and shopping. Bologna - History, and architecutre. Assisi - peaceful, beautiful, different. Sicilia - (apparently) completely different culture & food, interesting social aspects, and just a different area of Italy altogether. But there are some problems with each, Milano - expensive for a short amount of time, Bologna - earthquake (2-3 weeks ago, left 17 dead), Assisi - have to deal with difficult transportation issues, Sicilia - need a flight, short term travel is impractical. So I'm thinking about just staying around Roma and visiting all the parks I've skipped so far. Anyways these are just my favorite options and their problems.

I probably won't have time to post anything until I finish with finals, but I'll put pictures of how my project turns out up here, I'm hoping it turns out well.

F is for Florence!

First, I'm just terrible about updating this if I have any school work that needs to be done. And I had to write a research paper. So, there haven't been many updates because I was spending 70% of my free time on that.

Yay sunsets and Domes!

(The rest of these pictures were all taken when it was dark, with different camera settings.)
This is part of the Roman Forum.

And again, with my highest ISO setting.

My favorite ISO setting of the night (around 200-400).
Il Colosseo is in the background.

Blurry, not on purpose pictures always turn out
better than blurry, on purpose  pictures...

Temple of Saturn and I forgot the long one... Julius Ceasar's Basilica?

Where Peter was held prisoner.
Walking photos at night are usually terrible.

Look, Cobblestones... They're so... "Fun."

Column of Trajan, so beautiful!

Markets of Trajan.

But on to the main points, we did some night photography Wednesday evening, which was surprisingly fun since my camera's pictures weren't as terrible as I'd expected. We met at the Vittorio Emanuele 2 monument at 8:30pm, and walked over to the Capiotline Hill and looked out at the Roman Forum then went to the Markets of Trajan and then went home because it was about 10:30.

Today I went to Florence with CEA. I've always liked Florence for some reason, maybe it's just that the time periods that it was at its best are my favorites, or that I just have more knowledge about it in general. I'm not sure, but whatever the reason, I love it, and today was just beautiful. We saw Il Duomo, the Doors of Paradise, Michelangelo's David, Il Porcellino, Ponte Vecchio and much more. I love the city, but since it was planned in the Middle Ages, it's a little easy to get lost. I ended up buying a scarf for 5 Euros, and a large purse for 55 Euros discounted from 68. I probably could have gotten a better deal, but didn't want to haggle over it. Only one other girl and I were returning to Rome this afternoon, so we headed back to the station around 4:15. I only got a little lost, and considered asking directions, then as soon as I had decided to do so, I realized where we needed to go, and we went. We arrived at the train station 3 minutes early, and got to talk to two of the CEA admins who had come with us on the trip. They were really great, but they told me that next semester I'm going to have to speak to them only in Italian... That'll be fun... But really the practice would be good for me. Upon arriving at Rome, each of them offered to share a taxi with each of us, very convenient since that would be able to drop us off closer to our apts, and was on the way for them. We gladly accepted, and went our separate ways.

The most beautiful church in Florence.
(At least on the outside.)

The Medici Family!

Their "palace" it's quite beautiful for how simple it is.

Basilica di San Lorenzo

The dome, 6 ft bigger than the Pantheon.

The doors of Paradise. - Nickname given by Michelangelo.

Palazzo Vecchio.

Markets by Il Porcellino

Ponte Vecchio

So now I get to read, and smell my new purse. (Are there people who don't love the smell of leather?)

My new Purse, big enough to hold a textbook or two!

My scarf, side 1.

My scarf, side 2.

I think I might go to a market tomorrow, or read, or do nothing... I haven't decided...