Friday

Yesterday was our first day off from class. Mica went out of town for the weekend, so it was just me and Kate, plus the fourth roommate. Kate and I got up, before everyone else as usual (around 8:00 or so) and went out onto the terrace for breakfast and coffee. Christiana came and sat with us, since she can't get any cleaning done until people wake up and leave their rooms (which with some of the girls, doesn't happen until after noon). We conversed and had a nice time, teaching each other more words in English and Italian (bionda capeli (blonde hair); buona colazione (good breakfast); fine settimana (end of the weekend). The same thing happened for this morning (Saturday), she came out onto the terrace and sat with us and we discussed Mickey Mouse (Italians apparently love Mickey Mouse), Romanian discrimination, our studies at college, boyfriends and news from home.

After breakfast yesterday, Natasha, Kate and I went and hit the street where Italians do most of their shopping. This street is really cool. We went down a side street and found a neat Mona Lisa store that Kate really liked; it had lots of paintings spoofing Mona Lisa. We had lunch at a cafe where the waiter was terribly rude to us for speaking Italian badly (until I showed him my hearing aid and made him feel bad!) and then went all the way down the via to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is just one of the coolest buildings in the world, and it's one of the few truly intact and ancient structures from the classical world. A picture of what the interior looks like (that I pulled from the Internet, I didn't take this picture).



The Pantheon was mind blowing as soon as you walked in. The coffered dome is literally perfection, and there are no pictures that can give you an accurate sense of how HUGE it is on the inside. It's still used as a church today. All around, there were assorted niches with various beautiful sculptures and artwork, but one of the most amazing things was Raphael's tomb. Like, seriously, the tomb of the Great Raphael of the Renaissance! We spent some time in there, and then on our way back, we ate gelati from one of the more famous gelati stores in Rome (Giolitti's), wandered into various clothing stores (Natasha bought me a bag that was meant for me--it says "A" on one side and "I (heart) bags" on the other). I dared Kate to go pet a horse, but she wouldn't unless I went with her. We did pet a horsey in the piazza in front of the Pantheon, and it actually started falling asleep when we were scratching his neck.

On the way back to the subway, we had a conversation with a sidewalk muralist from Australia. This guy was pretty interesting, and we guarded his money box and his artwork while he went off to get something to drink. He was attempting to do a reproduction of Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" on the sidewalk. We showed him some of our sketches. Next to his artwork (which he had only gotten started on, it typically takes him four weeks to finish a complete sidewalk mural) he had chalked up a sign for "lost tourists." This was hilarious. Some excerpts from this sign:

"Every day, lost tourists keep asking me the same questions; so here are the answers..."
... "Colosseum--it's too difficult to explain so go to the Pantheon instead."
... "St. Peter's and the Vatican--walk down the street until you reach the river, and follow it to your left. Cross te bridge with the statues on it and then simply follow the trail of African guys selling fake Prada handbags.
..."Nearest McDonald's: So... you travel to a new country to experience a different culture, famous all over the world for its food, wine and all you want to do is eat at McDonald's..."

The last bit was particularly hilarious because Natasha had indeed eaten at McDonald's earlier this week at the Termini train station.

Oh! We figured out why the gypsy man on the train was trying to bait Natasha with an one euro coin. This is part of a scam, where when they put the coin in your hand, they will slide any rings that you have on as they take away their hand! They're apparently so adept at doing this you don't even feel them taking off your rings. Natasha had actually gotten a very expensive ring for her recent wedding, one that her husband took out a second mortgage on their home so they could afford it. When getting ready to come here, she considered bringing it, but then ended up deciding to leave the ring at home even though they had insurance on it. She got a very small, thin, silver toned ring for the trip instead, and even with just that, the gypsies still tried to go after it! Crazy stuff.