“The unexpectedness of life, waiting round every corner,
catches even wise women unawares…to avoid corners altogether is, after all, to
refuse to live.”
Alice Steinbach referred to this quote in her excerpt in the
Smiles book, and it caught my attention.
Around every corner, around every bend we run into something new. Whether it was exiting the metro at the
Colosseo stop on the first day and being in awe that the Colosseum was right
there, or to finding a cute little café with the most amazingly delicious food,
there is something to discover around every corner of Rome.
On Monday, we were given a student lead tour of Aventine
Hill. It was beautiful, everything we
saw was amazing and at the end was my favorite part. We went into the gardens of this church and there
was a breathtaking view of Rome. We
could see everything in one glance, some things we could point out and others
were just incredible in all of their mystery.
Something we all weren’t expecting to see in that church garden.
On Tuesday we went on a walking tour Piazza Della Rotonda
and Piazza Navona. And as the quote said
there’s unexpectedness around every corner.
Aimee and Rachel led the tour and showed us this little hole-in-the-wall
bakery that had the best cannoli’s we’ve had in Italy so far. Amazing!
Wednesday was our free day spent writing our 490 midterm
paper, doing laundry and studying up for our Italian midterm that night. All went well in case you were wondering!
On Thursday we went through another unexpected turn and
found ourselves at the Museum of the Mind.
It was an old psychiatric hospital turned museum. Even though everything was in Italian, we had
our guide and Danilo, helping to translate our way through the exhibits.
Friday we all boarded the train with our luggage and headed
off to Florence. It was so beautiful and
even though it was small I felt like I kept finding new places around each
corner. I finally found balsamic vinegar
for my parents, something they requested long before I left for Italy, and have
completed my shopping list as far as Christmas presents go. Katie and I climbed 463 stairs to the top of
the duomo, which had a spectacular view of all of Florence. You can check out Facebook for pictures! All in all a good weekend!
We are now half way done with our trip here and it feels
like the time is slipping away from us!
With surprising turns still to come and the path we’ve already woven,
Rome is turning out to be a pretty impressive place. I cannot wait to see what week five has in
store…Stay Tuned!
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| Lunch after Aimee and Rachel's Tour |
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| The class being studious! |
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| The Museum of the Mind |
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with your opening paragraph more! Rome is such an amazing city. I love how you never know what to expect and all you know is that something great and unexpected is about to jump out at you!
Katie,
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the little bakery on My and Rachel's tour! So so yummy! I also agree that the end of Danielle and Amy's tour in the Gardens was my favorite! So pretty!
Ciao Katie,
ReplyDeleteGood blog. Liked the connections between your experiences and the readings. Keep up the good work.