Two picture-perfect afternoons.

I don't quite know what it is, but something about when the weekend rolls around things go from fantastic to stellar. Our weeks are always amazing and, because I'm nerdy like that, I actually really enjoy going to class, but there's just something about our weekends - they always bring really exciting adventures.

For the past few weekends in particular, it has just been awesome. I've been going into the weekends with just a few plans and not too many expectations and they have just been turning out like a dream.

On Friday night we did something that we hadn't yet done, and that's to go out at night in our particular area of Rome. It's a really hip, young area with lots of bars and hot-spots that stay open late at night/early morning yet my roommate and I hadn't yet been out. So Friday night we went out to this bar with a group of our friends and it was sooo amazing!! It was super small and crowded upstairs but then we discovered that there was a whole downstairs with tons of seating, cool tables and awesome patterns and prints on the furniture and walls. They had TVs playing music videos of popular songs but then the DJ from upstairs was blasting all downstairs too. It was so amazing and we had such a blast.

Then, the next day, we slept in and when we woke up we decided to get some lunch and explore our area a bit more, being that going to that bar opened our knowledge up to a whole different part of our area. So we went over there and what did we find? A little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant!!! Now, while this may not seem all that exciting, you have to realize that here in Italy like 98% of the food is pizza, pasta or panini so when we saw a Chinese restaurant it was so amazing!

We went in and it was far from a hole-in-the-wall, by the way. It was very large, so nice and the food was soooo good!! It was only $4.50 for my chicken with cashew entree and they even took the meal vouchers we get through our program that pays for some of our food and groceries! Score!!

Then today we went back to that same piazza and ate pizza for lunch while sitting on the steps of the fountain in the middle and then went to this adorable coffee shop down one of the adjoining streets. It was so peaceful and truly was an "I'm in Rome" moment.

Such a lovely day, and might I add, one of the best study environments I could ever ask for! Ahhh [contented sigh] :)

Love and Style,
L.M.

My roommate and I at the adorable bar!

The awesome Chinese place! A total gem of a discovery. :)

Viva Roma!

Anyone who might know me would know that I, of all people, am not a sports person. I'm much, much more on the side of music and arts rather than sports. I've been to a few sporting events in my life, but it's never been something I get really excited about.

However, coming to Italy, I definitely wanted to see a soccer game, since soccer is so, so popular here, and yesterday was my chance! My school put on an outing to a soccer game at the Olympic Stadium here in Rome and tickets for us were only 10 Euro! 

The game was Roma versus Palermo and I was, I can't believe I'm going to say this, extremely excited to go! My roommate and I got Roma shirts with the team colors on it and wore them proudly yesterday!  Of course, I had to keep it stylish, so I also rocked my new brown suede Italian boots and Louis Vuitton tote bag, but that's beside the point. :p

There was just such an energy about it all. The fans were so supportive of their home team - much more than I have ever seen in my (be it little) sports experience. They were so passionate and so involved, it was wonderful.

By the end of it, I was even humming the Roma chant song in my head, though I couldn't really make out the words with the -what seemed like- thousands of people singing it all together.

And soccer is a good sport for me I'm realizing. If I had to choose one to watch, I think it would be soccer. Games are only 90 minutes without stopping the clock, plus some added time at the end, and then that's it! I can totally handle that. :)

My roommate and I both said we would love to go to another game while we're here, so we are now on the lookout for a guest team we would like to see Roma play. 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really loved that soccer game yesterday! It was so much fun and the atmosphere was out of this world. I can't wait to go again!!

Love and Style,

L.M.

Speaking of fashion and travel...

Check out this article I saw today! For me, and I'm sure it's the case for many of you too, it's always such a challenge to figure out what you're going to wear when traveling. You need something comfy, something to fit the weather in the plane and outside and you need something without a ton of metal to take off when going through security. And we mustn't forget you need something with style!

This article comes at a perfect time! I love their looks for travel and, even though they're still out of my budget for now, maybe I can create something similar with what I already have!

Check it out here!

Love and Style,
L.M.

An awesome day.

Today my friends and I went out shopping on one of the main streets for shopping in Rome! It's called Via del Corso, and we had some serious good times today!

We started the day off by sleeping in (something we hadn't done in a long time) and then got up, got ready and went to our friend's apartment for what was a totally awesome lunch! We had manicotti, green beans, fruit salad and periferols for dessert!

Then we headed out for a day of shopping! I had many things on my list and I found most of them, the thing I'm most excited about being real Italian boots!! There are boot stores everywhere here. Boots are so popular and you see people wearing them everywhere you turn and just as much you see boot and shoe stores everywhere you turn as well. And we're talking nice boots here.

They're usually anywhere from 135 Euro to 160 Euro and upwards, bearing in mind that it's even more when you convert it to U.S. dollars, since one Euro is equal to about $1.40, roughly. However, I am suuuuuuuch a boot fanatic. I could literally wear boots every day, no other shoes, and be completely fine. They just make me feel like I'm so set to go anywhere and they go with so many things! So, with that said, I knew that I would really like and appreciate getting a pair of Italian boots.

However, they needed to be within my price range. I decided that, rather than buying 20 small things, I would rather buy 10 nice things while I'm here in Italy. Things that will last me for a long time and things that are truly special. And alas! I found boots today! They're such nice boots - brown, distressed suede with wooden soles that are going to be so great for walking around on all of the uneven, unfilled in cobblestone that is literally everywhere in Rome. It's so difficult to walk on because it's so uneven, it hurts your feet and scuffs up your cheap shoes something awful! But these are so sturdy and just walking home I could even tell that it was so much nicer walking with the thick, wooden bottom. Italian items are so well made. I've noticed that with clothes, shoes and handbags alike. Everything is leather and everything is real, classy, so nice and truly well made. You indeed may have to pay more, but the quality of the items is guaranteed to be nicer.

My new boots are so well made, real suede and they're made in Italy, bought in an authentic Italian shoe store (not some chain store; they are an actual Italian leather and such shoe store) and I only paid 110 Euro. Grant it, that is a lot more than I think I have ever spent on boots, but I am soooo happy and so excited to wear them. I got something that is truly special and that I can cherish for years to come.

I love shopping and I love Italian boots!!!!

Love and Style,
L.M.

Blogging on the highway.

I officially think that this is really cool. At the moment, I am riding in the inner lane of a highway going to Rome on our group bus. Since our apartments in Rome don't come with internet, we all got the internet sticks and I just found out that you can connect almost anywhere, including the freeway!

I love the internet.

I just checked my emails, tweeted and checked Facebook, all while stuck in traffic going back to Rome. Which leads me to my observation of the moment - traffic going into Rome (we're coming back from Pompeii) is very heavy. I don't know for sure, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the riots.

We have officially been on the bus for three hours and 15 minutes on a trip that Google maps tells me should take two hours and 30 minutes. I'm kinda ready to get off the bus, but, then again, now that I know I can get internet... I 'm actually enjoying it more than usual, even if it has been a looooong time and we aren't even off the freeway yet.

Anyway, that's all for now!
Ciao tutti!

Love and Style,
L.M.

Witnessing history.

Ciao tutti,

It's with a different tone that I write you tonight, as much has been going on today in beautiful Roma. We are on a trip to Pompeii, Naples and Capri this weekend and, thus, are not in Rome at the moment, but we learned this evening that riots have been taking place in Rome near the Colosseum since earlier today.

The riots are due to economic unrest going on and these riots are not only being seen in Rome, but in many, many countries, including the U.S.

See this article for a brief overview of the happenings.

Then see this for more details and history.

Tomorrow we head back to Rome after our weekend away, and I'm so interested to see what's going on. Tomorrow is also a very large soccer game which is sure to bring even more uproar, plus if these riots continue - it is sure to be an interesting time. Adding more turbulence to the situation is the fact that the happenings with Berlusconi just occurred yesterday.

While I'm excited to witness history in the making, I really hope and pray that things can settle without too much destruction to property and human life.

Love, Style and Thoughts for Peace,
L.M.

Art history, undergrounds and Orvieto.

I am absolutely loving my art history class here in Rome. It's called Intro to Renaissance and Baroque Art, and quite frankly, I was very nervous going into it. It sounded interesting, but I don't know the slightest thing about art history. Yet, it has proven (so far...knock on wood...) to be so amazing.

So far, each time we have gone on a field trip/site visit, which is almost every class being that only four of our classes this whole semester are in the classroom, we have seen what we're actually there to see and then gone beyond and seen the other interesting things about the location that maybe aren't what we're actually studying but yet are fascinating pieces of culture, art, etc.

For example, on our first field trip to a church named San Clemente, we saw the frescoes we were studying but then, as a cool, cultural side note, she also took us down to the underground excavations that had been done there. Thus, we got to see the 12th century church that is currently standing on ground level, the 5th century church upon which the current one was built, and then the 1st century house believed to be Saint Clement's upon which both the 5th century, old church and the 12th century, current church was built. Thus, we saw three levels/layers of history, two of which were deep underground, all in addition to seeing the frescoes we were actually there to see.

Our teacher is awesome.

Our last field trip was just as amazing. We took a day trip to a Medieval town called Orvieto, about an hour and a half to two hours from Rome by bus. As was characteristic of Medieval towns, it is up high on a mountain and we even had to take a cable-car tram to get up there. Once there, we were greeted by the cutest town, filled with cobblestone streets, quaint cafes and boutiques, magnificent views and an atmosphere that was truly a community.

And the fact that it was the first day of real fall weather didn't hurt the day's ambiance either! It was such a magnificent day, and it's all because of my art history class that I was able to go. I've already experienced so many fascinating things with this class; I can't wait to see what else we see and do as the semester continues! :)

Love and Style,
L.M.

Oatmeal and apparently looking Italian.

Ciao amici!

I'm writing today with two completely unrelated topics on my mind. The first is one that is now stuck in my mind and it's frustrating because I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it.

I have a craving for oatmeal.

This started back last week when my roommate and I were in the supermarket down the street and a fellow American from another study abroad program came up to me and asked if I knew the Italian word for oatmeal. I didn't but wished him luck and that was that. However, the thought of oatmeal stuck with me.

This has only been intensified by the fact that, for the past few days now, my boyfriend has been eating oatmeal during our Skype conversations. The way the time difference works out, we usually talk during my night/his morning. He has just woken up and is eating breakfast, and his breakfast for a while now has been oatmeal.

It sounds so good!!! But I don't know if they have it here! I was looking for a little bit in the store yesterday and didn't see anything and I definitely haven't seen it out and about anywhere else but I'm going to look up the word and actually go talk with someone next time. We'll see what happens there, but I sure do hope they have it somewhere in Rome! :)

Then the second experience on my mind is the fact that my roommate and I have now been confused for Italians and been asked directions three times. One time we were going for a run and two ladies on a Vespa asked us where something was, another time a guy walking down the street asked us how to get somewhere and another time this couple asked us where something was. The couple was the most interesting, because, as was also the case with the ladies on the Vespa, we're new here and don't know where too many things are. Thus, we didn't know where the place they were looking for was. The ladies on the Vespa were totally fine and said o.k., no problem, but the couple had a different reaction. The lady of the couple got so frustrated that we didn't know where the place was and even made this frustrated gesture. Not quite knowing what the crazy problem was, we simply said "mi dispiace" and continued walking.

So that was funny, but the cool thing was that we have definitely been mistaken for Italians that know where they're going and know where things are three times now! There's a certain type of awesome feeling that comes with experiences like that. :) It feels rewarding and makes you feel like you maybe do actually fit in a little bit.

Love and Style,
L.M.

Oh me, oh my, oh time.

I just had a funny experience. Time zone-wise, Italy is seven hours ahead of Southern Illinois and nine hours ahead of my school in Los Angeles. However, sometimes these numbers get jumbled in my head and very often I don't feel as if I'm very far away from the States at all. I feel like that's a really good thing, actually, because it doesn't make home feel like such a long distance. It does, however, sometimes mess with your brain.

I got an e-mail on my school e-mail account saying that I needed to renew my parking permit, otherwise I would receive a ticket. Thus, wanting to avoid a ticket at all costs, I thought to myself, "oh, well they're closed now for sure, but they probably have some sort of answering machine so I'll leave a message!" I dial the number, fully not prepared to talk with a person, and after two rings I hear "welcome center, this is ___." I probably sounded so silly because I had to take a five second pause to figure out what was going on! Did they extend their hours to have someone there during the night? Ohhhhh... then I realized. While it may be 1:50 a.m. here in Italy, it's not even 5:00 p.m. in California.

Time differences are so bizzare to me. It's so crazy to think that at pretty much any given moment, some people are waking up while others are going to bed; to think about how we, as humans, can overcome jet lag and adapt to a whole different time schedule. And really, the whole concept of time zones fascinates me in general - how they exist and where the dividers are. They sure can be confusing though! It makes things a bit challenging when you want to talk to family and friends, but it's so, so interesting.

It's late though, so now I'm off to bed. :)

Love and Style,
L.M.