Day Trips! Bomarzo and Florence

(I don't want to study right now)
This weekend we had two trips. One led by CEA and one that we planned ourselves. Friday we went to the monster park at Bomarzo. And Saturday we decided to go to Florence and go shopping.

Bomarzo is just north of Rome, still in Lazio, but the very northern edge of it. However it looks just like Tuscany.

On the way to Bomarzo.

Pretty pretty fields and hills.

Hay fields!

A small town on our way to Bomarzo.

One man killing another, and of course,
it's all because of a woman.

Tuuuuurtle

It's Pegasus!

a BIIIIIIIIIG Fish.

The front of a fountain possibly.

Tilted house!

This house was really fun. But also really freaky.

Walking was difficult because you
kinda always felt like you were falling.

Lidia and Katie just hangin' out!

Looking out the windows was really freaky too.

An Elephant!

And a River God. One of my roomates correctly
identified this because our art class is awesome!

Dragooooooon!

A vase.

 Apparently that vase was supposed to look like an Etruscan Funerary urn, but they were usually shaped like houses or had some way of showing whether they belonged to a man or woman.

A sleeping woman.

Woman representing Peace or abundance or Fertility.

Elephant that's eating someone!

Monster face!

 This had some sass against the Catholic Church. Basically suggesting that Hell might not be all that bad. It's quite daring for its time. And to sass the Church was to risk death. Even for someone as rich as a member of the Orsini family (creator of the park).

A weird combination of siren types.

More typical siren.

Lions!

Temple dedicated to the creator's wife.

Another big face with a ball and castle on top.

Suburb on the way home.

So pretty.

Hay! Feels like home.

All weekend I've been feeling like I'm home, or in Texas. It's weird to think that in a mere 6 days I'll be back at my actual home and really in Texas. I can't decide if I'm more happy or sad about that. I'll miss Rome, but I can't wait to go home and see everyone.

More pretty fields.

Little hillside towns.

Just outside of Rome.

Some more apartments.

And some more.

I'm not sure if there are really people who live in regular suburban homes or if everyone near Rome lives in farmhouses and apartments.

Florence was fun, but this time I forgot batteries for my camera. It's always something. Of course, I returned to my favorite markets and bought some more stuff that I'm sure I didn't need including two new scarves. We walked by Il Duomo which I wrote my paper on. And by the copy of Michelangelo's David and the Gates of Paradise which two of the other girls did their papers on. It was a really fun day and we got lots of great deals. But by the end I was ready to be back in Rome. We all slept on the train, and then ate dinner and did some studying, but mostly uploading photos and the like.