Easter Sunday and the Via Appia

Last weekend we had a four day weekend because of Easter! We had Friday off and Meagan and I spent the day shopping and relaxing. Then on Saturday a group of us went down to Ostia Antica to sit on the beach and enjoy the sun. Then on Sunday for Easter I went to St. Peter’s to see the Pope!! A whole group of us got up for an early 5:30am breakfast before heading over to St. Peters to wait in line until 8:30. At 8:30 they opened the gates and put people through metal detectors before letting them into St. Peter’s Square. Once people passed security, they literally ran to get seats! I even saw nuns pushing people to get ahead in line and running to get a good seat!


Easter Sunrise on St. Peters

I ended up with pretty good seats, but almost immediately after sitting down, it started raining. We had to wait 2 hours in the rain before mass started and then we had to sit through an hour of mass in the rain too! Although I was freezing and wet, it was worth it. It was really amazing to be in St. Peter’s Square listening to the Pope on one of the biggest Christian holidays during the year. There were so many people and everyone was excited to be there—it was awesome!



St. Peters Square full of people!


My view of the Pope

This week was full of classes. We worked hard on our studio projects because we have our mid review on Monday afternoon! On Thursday we went up to see the church of San Pietro in Montorio to do some drawing. One of the niches was designed by Bernini and it was beautiful!


Niche by Bernini in San Pietro in Montorio

On Saturday I walked along the Via Appia, which is a road from Ancient Roman times. The cobblestones on the ancient roads were enormous! Along our walk, we saw ancient baths, tombs, burial sites, and really cute old buildings. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, the sun was out and the flowers were starting to bloom, and the walk just put me in a great mood!


Pretty view of the walking path


Really cute house along the Via Appia


An ancient tomb


View down the Via Appia


Ancient vs. Modern cobblestones


Me on the Via Appia

Today, I am preparing for my mid- review tomorrow (and taking breaks here and there to post my pictures!) I miss you all and I hope you are enjoying reading about my adventures! I feel so lucky to be able to spend all of this time abroad!

The end of March

Ciao, Ragazzi!
As you can probably tell from the infrequency of my blog posts, classes have been a lot more challenging since spring break. One day I had scholarship applications due, a pinup presentation, and a final exam all in one day! Luckily, I have still been able to find a little bit of time to see the city!

On Monday we got our final studio assignment: to design anything we want along the aqueducts just outside of Rome. So, on Tuesday we had our site visit and our teacher took us on a 5 hour walking tour along the aqueducts... it was exhausting but really beautiful!


There was a herd of sheep and a shepherd out by the aqueducts!


Pretty aqueducts!

On Thursday, I went back to Richard Meier's Jubilee Church with my roommate to see the interior, which was beautiful!


View towards the back of the church




View towards the front of the church

On Friday of last week, our class split into four groups and we each went to a different site near Rome. My group went on a trip to the gardens of Castel Gandolfo, Villa Aldobrandini,and Parco Castelli Romani. All of the sites were outside, and we were lucky to have an absolutely gorgeous day.


We got lost on our way to the gardens of Castel Gandolfo, but luckily we were lost in a really cute piazza!


View of some beautiful gardens at Castel Gandolfo. We weren't supposed to take pictures here (I have no idea why) but I snuck a couple pretty ones!


A view of Villa Aldobrandini


A pretty fountain at Villa Aldobrandini


Cute town of Castelli Romani, famous for their yummy strawberries!


Strawberry farms!

On Saturday,I climbed up to the Orange Groves, a really pretty park up on a hill and just across the river from my apartment. I got some really pretty pictures of my apartment and the river from up there!


My apartment is across the river, towards the left of the picture

On Sunday, I went out to the place in Rome where the Olympics were once held. It was somewhat far away, but there were some beautiful buildings out there, especially Parco della Musica!


On the way there, we saw a Michael Jackson impersonator in Piazza del Popolo. He was surprisingly good and we stopped and watched him for a while!


Look at that crowd!


The exterior of Parco della Musica


The interior of Parco della Musica, SO pretty!