Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. On Thursday (14 July) we had class and then we finished up our independent studies presentations with one on "Mithraism" and one on "The Black Plague". After that, we trekked across town to the only movie theatre in Rome playing Harry Potter in English and we went to the best restaurant with the best food I've had in Rome!
On Friday (15 July), we took a charter bus to Tivoli (a small city southeast of Rome about an hour away) where we saw two villas. The first villa was built by Emperor Hadrian about two thousand years ago and the second villa was Villa d'Este. This villa had one thousand fountains and was has been in several movies (like "The Lizzie MacGuire Movie"). Franz Liszt also lived there for a period of time. There's not much to say about them, but you can see the pictures. When we got back, we had our last group dinner with Ricardo as he is leaving tomorrow for a safari in Kenya. We had Indian food. It will be very sad to see him go and he said that he will miss us.
Villa Adriana
Villa Adriana
Villa Adriana
Villa d'Este
Villa d'Este
Me & Ricardo
View from Villa d'Este
On Saturday (16 July), I had the day free and I spent it visiting Castel Sant'Angelo which was at one time the tomb of Hadrian and then it became a castle and fortress of the Popes. After that, I visited the Vatican Grottoes and climbed Saint Peter's Basilica. It was an amazing view since nothing is allowed to be built higher than that. After that, I visited the only gothic church in Rome and the only collection of artifacts that the Vatican says proves life after death. Most of them were just pieces of cloth with finger prints and handpaints, but it was interesting.
Castel Sant'Angelo
View from Castel Sant'Angelo
Me & The Vatican
View from Saint Peter's Basilica Dome
Me & Saint Peter's Square
On the Roof of the Basilica
Today (17 July) was another free day and it was spent going to one of the largest flea markets in the world where you could find almost anything and back to the Rome Center to write a paper for my anthropology/sociology/literature class. I wrote about the themes of gift and sacrifice present in a short story by Oscar Wilde called "The Nightingale and Rose."
Class tomorrow!
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