Caprarola and Bomarzo

Caprarola

Another cute town 

Palazzo Farnese 

one of the many STUNNING rooms, great windows 

il parco di mostri (MONSTER park) in Bomarzo

kind of creepy, but note the dog 

oh hey, a turtle

a horse with wings

very, very scary

big mouth

we almost got eaten alive.. 

Orvieto

Cute little town 

The Cathedral of Orvieto

Jewish star on the ground right outside the cathedral ?

cute coat 

so many cute dogs ! this adorable puppy could not stop jumping on my friend Allison

There is an entire underground city that is now open to the public via guided tours.  The passageways and secret rooms were used during wartime or as means of escape or as a place to breed pigeons.  I felt like I was back in the caves in Israel. 

The hot chocolate here is on another level

Love, love, loving the coffee.  I usually order a Cafe Americano (which sometimes warrants laughs/mocking from the barista or Italian customers--but WHATEVER).  The hot chocolate though is intense. Very, very chocolate-y.  But quite the yummy treat. 

I've been having some major computer problems.  Thought the hard drive crashed but took it to a computer "doctor" (who thankfully spoke English), and it turns out it's actually an operating system issue.  I have my computer back, but it's working so slowly.  The spinning circle of death is incredibly frustrating. Fingers crossed it magically fixes itself.

This weekend I'm going on two cool day trips: Orvieto and Caprarola/Bomarzo. Pictures to come!

Colosseo

We went on a guided tour of the Colosseum and the Forum.  It was led by one of the professors, and was incredibly informative.  Such a beautiful day.  We've been having the greatest weather, but apparently it's supposed to rain over the course of the weekend.

There's a special exhibit called "Two Empires: the Eagle and the Dragon" currently on display in the Forum.  China's terracotta warriors have "invaded" Rome.  The exhibit is meant to juxtapose to the two powerful empires.  My friend Alexis was in China over Winter Break, and when she got back, she told me about how fascinating the warriors were.  What a crazy coincidence that I got to see them too, but in ROME ! (It's rare that the warriors ever make it this far west...)

 The Piazza Venezia is so pretty when it's lit up at night.

Three weeks of intensive Italian language study have just begun. We were treated to a lovely welcome dinner, very traditional Italian--so many courses! 

 

It's cold, but chic women everywhere have gelato in cones

The Spanish Steps

View from the top

Piazza Trinita dei Mont

January is a big sale month, every window says "Saldi."  The Spanish Steps is a phenomenal shopping area, where all the high-end stores (Marni, Chanel, Miu Miu, Giuseppe Zanotti, etc.) are located.  It was a Saturday night AND sale month, so there were so so so many people out.  The best people watching ever.  

A wannabe Michael Jackson putting on quite the show

 in Piazza del Popolo

 Fontana di Trevi

 Hazelnut, Pistachio, Chocolate

Gelati !

The exploring begins

  

view from my apartment

walk to class

 

new school 

such a tourist

 

 

The PANTHEON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roma !

Arrived safely in Rome.  So thankful I made before the huge storm that is currently reeking havoc upon JFK. Got a little discombobulated with the time change and ended up sleeping from 11:30 AM to 4 AM. Wowza, but now I'm READY.

Plus, I've had coffee. Such a treat

30 hours

Michael !

Such a great day, so much love