Rrrroma!

When correctly pronouncing Italian words, one rule is to role your R's. For example in Italian Rome is pronounced, 'Rrrroma!' And Florence is pronounced, 'Firrrrenze!' Picking up the different accents that they do not teach you in class has been fun.

On Friday and Saturday i put my accent skills to the test when i went to Rrroma. We were offered to be apart of a private tour of the Sistine Chapel on Friday night. The Michelangelo class was going with one of my professors and if anyone else in his classes wanted to tag along they could. So of course i did! I got my self to Rome at about 2:00 on Friday. The tour was not until 6:00 so i did a little exploring on my own, which i had not been able to do yet and i really enjoyed. It was raining but still a fun adventure. I went to the Villa Borghese gardens to walk around and enjoy what i think is one of the prettiest places in Rome.

The gardens are beautiful and i even came across a street called 'Viale Delle Belle Arti' which literally translated means 'Street of The Beautiful Art.' How perfect! In these gardens there are two museums. One is the Galleria Borghese and the other is the Museo di Villa Giullia. Both of which i had heard of before but i only had time for one so i went the the Villa Giullia. It is one of the most well known museums for ancient Etruscan art. I put on my head phones, put down my wet jacket and bag, and walked around the whole museum, which is not that big, but was the perfect size for a solo trip. I got to see one of my favorite statues too! It was originally placed on top of the Temple of Aplu which was a temple built in the late Etruscan period dedicated to their equivalent of the Hercules god. Its one of my favorites simply because it has this funny smile that is known as the 'Archaic Smile.' To me the Archaic Smile looks as if the sculptures really wanted to portray people smiling and happy but they could not quit get the smile right, so they ended up with a somewhat creeper smile that has closed lips and curves up at the sides just enough to make you think that the sculpture is about to wink at you. Im not sure if you can really see it in this picture but i hope you can imagin it and laugh a bit!

After i had explored the gardens and the Villa Guilia i headed over to the Piazza San Pietro (the famous building with the dome and two rows of columns that surround the round piazza in front of the building). It is in the Vatican City and right near the Vatican Museum which is where the Sistine Chapel is. The piazza is amazing. And definetly one of those moments when i decided that my text book pictures do Nothing to represent the real thing! I walked around a corner and onto a busy street, looked to my right and there it was! Haha i am really loving when that happens, because it happens a lot in Italy.

I am not really sure how to describe the Piazza San Pietro and give it justice. The best way i can think of is when you walk straight up to it you first you see a very tall pointed Obolisc at the center, then two long arms of columns creep into your peripheral vision and almost pull you into the center of the piazza, where on your right and felt are beautiful matching fountians, then you fallow the columns to the amazingly decorated facade and dome of the main building. All along the top of the column arms and edge of the building are huge statues that look down on you, all representing different people. I hope that gave you a good visual.

After i was done messing around in the Piazza it was almost 6:00 so i headed to the entrance of the Vatican museum, which is not as obvious as i thought it would be but luckily i met up with the class that i was tagging along with and we all went in together. Now this time i really do not have any words to describe what i saw in the Sistine Chapel... If you have been there before you know that when you get inside it is packed with people, it is not quiet, and you are not allowed to take pictures. We went as a group of 25 on a private visit. The moment we entered the chapel the entire group went silent as all of our heads tilted back. And the guards that took us to see it were really nice and let us take pictures, of the SISTINE CHAPEL!!! (one of the MANY moments when i was sooooo happy i have the amazing camera that i have) We were there for two hours all by ourselves, able to roam around, heads tilted back, mouths dropped open, and never blinking! Well at least that is probably what i looked like the entire time :)

So they let us take pictures but asked us to keep it at a minimum of like one picture per person. I took about seven, and wanted to take a hundred more but also wanted to respect the fact that they let us take pictures in the first place. I figured seven pushed it far enough, haha. Anyways it was beyond amazing and i am so glad that i took advantage of a truly once in a life time opportunity!

Saturday i roamed around Rrroma a little more and saw the National Rome Museum. Rome is a very big city and i was able to get most of my museums visiting done this weekend. So that when Dad comes to Rome in a little over a week i will not have to drag him to museums (although he said he would be ok with that if i wanted to, hahaha he does not know what he is getting himself into!). Instead i will take him around and we will explore the outside things: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and what ever other adventures we can find!

With LOVE!

p.s. I finally got the guts up to ask Lucca (the son that lives at home) to cut my hair! He used to be a hair dresser before he got in his accident and so i asked if he could just trim mine... Italians do a pretty good job cutting hair :)