Ciao Roma

Ten p.m. here in Florence and we have finally settled back into our apartment after a truly awe-inspiring weekend in Roma, Italia.

    As a student through the API Study Abroad Program, I have access to three weekend trips, free and pre-planned, throughout the semester. The first of these trips, to Rome, was certainly a success if I may say so (And I do say so).

    Rome, at a glance, is pretty much like Florence on steroids- larger, louder, older, and taller. It is another stunning city, casually throwing the Trevi Fountain and cheap souvenir stands side by side. The alleyways wind and weave together to create life-sized labyrinths, making hidden cafes and pizzerias a staple of the region. Our three day stay in Rome was jam packed with excellent tours, 24,000 steps per day, and more than a little geeking out the entire time.

    While there are many things I could tell (and bore) you endlessly about, I wanted to share two of my favorite experiences, that even my poor memory won't be letting go any time soon: touring the Vatican Museum/ St. Peter's Basilica and visiting the Colosseum.

    Now the Pope, if you haven't heard yet, is kiiinnndddaaa a big deal in the world of religion. So is the Catholic Faith (just read a Western history book if you don't believe me). They are such important institutes that they have their own nation within Italy, known as Vatican City. Apparently residents of Vatican City can even get their own passports, which I think is pretty dope. Anyways, Vatican City, while being home to some pretty fancy individuals, is also the home of some of Europe's most impressive and awe-inspiring pieces of art, by masters such as Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello. We were able to make our way slowly through most of the Vatican Museum, accidentally stumbling into the Sistine Chapel, and then finally landing in St. Peter's Basilica. I came out of both the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel with an aching neck and a dry mouth that hung open in awe 90% of the time (I was the very image of grace). Some hallways held hundreds of statues, others were embellished top to bottom with so many frescos it borderline ridiculous. The Sistine Chapel also, as you may have guessed, was stunning (and much smaller than I thought it would be..?).

    But truly THE work of art, the creme de la creme, the most beautiful man-made structure I have ever had the privilege of seeing in my 20 years of existence, came at the end of our exploring: St. Peter's Basilica. Honestly, words cannot do the Basilica justice, and that breaks my heart. I was  humbled by the beauty, mastery, passion, and care dedicated to the creation of this building. Every inch was a masterpiece, a honor to the saints, the Mother Mary, Christ, and God Himself. Needless to say, I will not be forgetting my experience here any time soon. Walking through its arches and carved hallways, I was thankful, and so incredibly excited, to be a member of the group of human beings bearing the responsibility of artist, who had brought to life such a stunning structure. Seeing this crowning glory of man-made beauty reminded me why the pursuit of the artistic craft is so vitally important for humanity. It is our attempt at replicating heaven on earth, in ways even Mother Nature could not do. Where she has the Alps and the Great Barrier Reef, we have St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

   Another humbling experience not soon to leave memory was the Colosseum. It's quite a famous structure, both for being the cultural epicenter of Ancient Rome as well as the home to famous competitions like the the fights of the Gladiators. It is quite an otherworldly experience, walking through such an ancient structure and trying to imagine what it must have looked like during its prime. In America, the oldest structure I know barely scratches 100 years old- that's toddler age compared to the West. I stood where  ancient Romans stood, trying vainly in my mind to recreate the large, dusty arena, the hundreds of thousands of cheering spectators, the noises and the smells. No matter how creative I might get, however, to try and reconnect fully with history and understand what the culture  must have been like is impossible and I resigned myself to never having that clarity. It was quite a humbling realization.

Below are some photos from this weekend, (terribly sorry they aren't better, my brother is the photographer, not me). It took me a literal week to upload just these few photos. I'm convinced that slow wifi will be my shadow forever. Oh joy.

I hope everyone is doing okay back home
-Leah 

A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events

   Today was a great milestone for me- I stood upright for a solid 15 minutes straight and ate an actual meal (eggs and toast) for the first time in four days! There really is no better feeling than those simple victories.

    I have been pretty off the radar lately, not because I'm on a social media break, nor because I've taken less photos, but simply because I have been pretty much dying since Thursday. Last Sunday (Super Bowl Sunday) I began to feel pretty under-the-weather, but chalked it up to lack of sleep or allergies. Well, on Thursday, everything went down hill, and I have been bedridden in our tiny apartment for the past four days, too weak to make more than two rounds to the kitchen per day. Needless to say, I haven't been doing much exploring lately. My roommates have been my connection to the outside world, bringing me back chocolate from the Florence Chocolate Festival, picking up drugs and food, and updating me on the goings on of the outside world. The doctor who visited me yesterday believes that I have bronchitis, so I am about to get hopped up on a whole lot of steroids and antibiotics. Woo! Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have enough strength to at least walk to class and back, but we shall see if that's being too ambitious or not.

    Being bedridden in Florence isn't exactly the best feeling in the world. At home, if I were sick, I'd happily be a lazy bum. I'd do the bare minimum and enjoy every second of it. But here, each precious moment is one less street explored, food tried, or statue seen. I've also had more time alone with my thoughts than needed and have spiraled into a homesick sadness more than once. (Yes, it's only week three and I'm homesick). Between being pent up in my apartment, unable to move, sick, miserable, stuck with my thoughts, and coughing like a three pack a day smoker every ten seconds, it's been a lovely few days.

    But for those four lovely days of sickness, I find myself a little thankful.

    I have been forced to sit and do absolutely nothing. I've read some books, watched some movies, and slept for four days straight while in Florence, Italy. That sounds almost like an oxymoron. Bronchitis has not been fun, and neither has the homesickness, the stress, etc. But now, as I begin to get my strength back, I find myself much less stressed out about a lot of things on this semester's bucket list. I've won round one in the fight with homesickness. I've hit my first rough patch in the road, and I've survived it (mostly). So, yay for sick days. Here's to hoping my meds kick in soon and I don't have to find the bright side of more sick days again.

~Leah

(Update: Roomates came home today with an odd array of sprays, syrups, and horse pills, complete Italian instruction manuals, for me to begin taking. After failing hopelessly to read the instructions written by the doctor who visited me (turns out baad handwriting is a universal trait..?) I spent a solid thirty minutes Google Translating all the instructions on my medicines in a desperate attempt to keep myself from overdosing. So now that I've intelligently guesstimated what the correct dosage is for each medicine, let's hope that this works. Nothing like self-prescribing medicine. What could go wrong, right?)

First Weekend Travels

 (This was written on February 3 while on a bus and then edited later)
   
     Can I just say that "The Fault in Our Stars" is an extremely painful movie to watch?? Painful in the way that the touch of a hot stove, the scratch of a claw, the burn of an iron - each demanding to be felt and endured long after the encounter - is painful. Sometimes, the best way to sooth such pain is to introduce a calming balm. Luckily for me, I have been surrounded by such a balm for the past three hours. I have had the privilege of busing through the unapologetically powerful, all-consuming Alps Mountains, in all of its rolling, mighty glory, while watching this heart-wrenching movie. As a daughter of the Appalachian Mountains, I considered myself a true connoisseur of Earth's rocky giants. I chuckle now at such a foolish thought and accept that the mountains of this world exist solely to humble all who presume to understand and lessen them with boxes and categories.... even daughters of Appalachia.
    Well... my first weekend in Europe was certainly eventful (Did I mention I spent 26 hours on a bus?) My roommates and I booked a three day trip to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg, driving twelve hours through the night to Budapest first. (I have discovered that being nearly 6 ft. tall and trying to sleep on a bus is NOT possible AT ALL- I have the bruises and eye-bags to prove it).
    There is so much I could say about all three cities, but my personal favorite location was Budapest, so I'll tell you about that. We began our day with a walking tour of the city, guided by a hilarious woman who reminded me of a pixie in a neon pink cap. She was full of clever stories and facts that I found amusing. Now I can give you a Budapest for Dummies Crash Course!

    1.) When the Hungarian people were governed by the USSR after World War II (I believe that's correct..? ) they were gifted a giant statue of a laurel-bearing little girl from the Communists as a symbol of peace that loomed over the city of Budapest. After the liberation of the area from Communism, the people of Budapest put a giant tarp over the statue, symbolizing their freedom from the regime. Well... unfortunately... that symbol lost all its solemnity when the people realized that it now looked like a massive.. condom.... Needless to say, they removed that tarp soon thereafter.

    2.) The people of Budapest can't seem to remember how exactly they ended up settling there, as their ancestors were nomads directly from Asian and Mongolia and didn't keep may records. So they made up their own version of history. Legend has it that one day a massive, fat, ugly bird stole an extremely important sword from their ancestors and flew off with it. Frantic to get the weapon back, the nomadic peoples packed everything up and followed the bird halfway across the world until it eventually dropped the sword in Hungary, causing the people to settle in that region.

    4.) They are a wickedly sharp people, producing 14 Nobel Prize winners, all of them being from Hungary's Jewish population. "So", concluded our guide, "if you want to be a genius here, you only need two things: to speak Hungarian and be Jewish!"

   5.) The people of Budapest are fervent food lovers, specifically of everything fatty and greasy. To gain good fortune in hunting for the best grub, they erected a statue in the middle of the city square of a rotund police officer whose copper stomach, should you rub it, will grant you such luck. (You best bet I rubbed that belly). Apparently, they love their food so much that the people of Hungary are the fourth largest in the world! (Can you guess who is the largest..? )

    6.) The final, and most important fact our guide told us was this: NEVER EVER join whatever side Hungary is on in a war, because you will lose. Every national holiday the people celebrate is either religious or a day of mourning for the lives lost during some failed revolution or battle or war. They have not been on the winning side of any conflict in the past 500 years apparently. Yikes!

     After our walking tour, we had the chance to visit the Thermal Baths of Budapest and it was woonnndeerrrffuulll. Giant, steaming pools filled with hundreds of scantily clad people in the middle of winter is a lot more fun that one would expect. We ended up staying long enough to relax and get super pruny.
    Below are some photos from our visits to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg, as well as the drive through the Alps. (Sorry if they are super poor quality, my brother is the photographer, not me). While freezing cold and bone tired most of the time, I had a pretty decent time and saw some truly inspiring structures and places. However, Florence still stands as the favorite city.

   ~ Leah