Weekend in Roma

I spent this past weekend visitng my friend Mary from St. Michael's in Rome. Even though I saw her just last weekend, it was great to see her for a couple of days. I arrived in Rome on Thursday afternoon and waited for Mary to get out of class at her apartment. That night we were going to have a homemade pizza meal by some guy friends we had made the previous week when I was visitng Rome. However, the flu got the better of our chef for the evening, and he had to call in sick, so our other friends joined us for some take out pizza. Eating outside on the deck with good food, people, and atmosphere we had a great night.

We awoke early the following day to go to a small countryside town called Tarquinia. It was a great day of sun, historical tours of the city, tour of a local vinyard, and a full course meal put on by the vinyard's restaurant. We arrived in Tarquinina and were given the option to either do the tour on bike or on foot. Due to my ankle, I opted for the foot tour, which actually ended up being the better option as I was able to get much more pictures taken of this beautiful historical town. It reminded me of Perugia but even more historically beautiful. Full of churches, old buildings that boasted full-wall frescoes and murals as well as beautiful fountains it was almost like we were in a town preserved from hundreds of years ago.

After the tour we were given some free time to roam the city. The weather was beautiful (as it has been since we arrived) and it was great just to sit in the sun and take in the beautiful weather.

After our free time, the bike riders still had a little bit of a ride left so the walkers departed for the agriturismo which is a combination of a farm/vinyard/hotel/spa/restaurant. It's really just a one-stop shop for everything you could need on vacation.

We were given tour of the vinyards where we got to taste the various grapes and find out which types of wines go along with them. Additionally we were allowed to taste them and learn how to pick them and how they are used to make the wine. After they took us on the tour, we had some free time to sit by the poolside and relax until it was time for the unbelievable dinner.

They provided us with a full meal provided solely by food and drink made on the farm. We had bruschetta, homemade antipasto platter, vegetable lasagna, potatoes, salad, chicken, and an interesting dessert that i'm still not sure what it's called. All in all it was a fantastic day out in the Tuscan countryside.

That night we went out and hung out with some of Mary's roomates and other people in her program. It was great to hang out with some other American's, since in Perugia even finding people in our program on a weekend night is impossible with the number of kids out in the piazza. They were so welcoming and it was great to meet all the people Mary has been living with.

The next day we spent a day just hanging out. We went food shopping for a big group dinner we were going to have that night. Walked around trastevere (the area where she lives in Rome). Hung out and did a little homework and just relaxed on her porch in the beautiful weather talking and listening to great music. We started making the dinner around 6 and ate at 7:30 with a bunch of the other SMC girls that are studying with her through John Cabot University. It was a great meal again (how can it not be great being in Italy) and then went out dancing. Kebabs were in order on our way home from the dance club. . . and I'm pretty sure we succeeded in finding the best kebab place in all of Rome!

Sunday was to be my last day in Rome so Mary and I walked around and did some sightseeing. We saw Dante's house and a few beautiful churches and ruins. We then went to a place that served real american breakfast!! Eating a bacon egg and cheese (even if it was actually pancetta and served on focaccia) was a great end to the weekend. As I packed up to leave I was sad to leave mary, but excited to get back to perugia where things are cheaper and life is just slower. As I walked to the bus stop, I heard some fireworks being set off, and I was extremely confused. Little did I know I was going to experience my first horrible public transportation experience since I'd been in Italy.

As I sat down to wait for the bus (which shouldn't have been more than 15 minutes at any point in the day) all of a sudden more fireworks were set off and i could hear a band off in the distance. Next, some police officers rolled up and began directing traffic away from one of the streets that was perpendicular to the one I was on. All of a sudden, an enormous parade of people started coming down the street, and at this point, traffic came to a complete stop! At this point I was panicked there were only two viable options and I wasn't sure I'd make either of them. The bus finally showed up after an hour and 20 minutes of waiting and as I made my way to the train station, there was only one train left on my schedule that could work. I made it to the train station and had an hour to spare so I went to McDonalds to get some free wifi to let mary know I made it ok. Little did I know, that the train i thought was scheduled to be free with my eurail had changed times and had changed to a eurostar train making it an extra 30 euro, which I did not have. This mademy option easy, I was staying another night in Rome and taking the earliest train back to perugia on monday.

A great weekend in Rome with an interesting end and now I'm off and running on another busy week of school, that will culminate in a weekend in Budapest!! Can't wait to upload some more picutres and let you guys know about Budapest!

peace and love to you all

xoxo
aisling