calda Toscana e fredda Roma ( Warm Tuscany & Cold Rome)

I have gotten over a week behind in writing to you all and I apologizeeeeeee!!!! I have planned to several times but then something else has come up.  I first want to tell you about two weekends ago in Toscana, one of the 20 regions of Italy.  It is where Cortona is, a very small town in the countryside on a tall hill.  It is where Under the Tuscan Sun was based off of and we found the house where the lady from the movie actually still lives in to this day!

The town is absolutely beautiful and you can begin to understand the beauty of it from the pictures I posted.  It is really unexplainable in words.  The panoramic view took our breathe away.  We took the train going towards Firenze (Florence) and it only cost us 4 Euro.  Then we took a bus up a very steep hill to the center of the town.  We walked around in our t shirts because it was so warm...truly we were under the tuscan sun and we loveeeed it. I can see why people who by chance come to visit this little town end up moving here!  Everyone was very friendly and spoke hardly any English which was definitely a challenge when trying to find the Tuscan villa from the movie.  The name of the Villa is something like Barcesole which literally means craving sunlight.  As the sun set we could see how the villa got this name.  Because the terrain is so many hills and flat areas the hills block a lot of the sunlight.  I can't wait to go back to this spot in the spring to see all of the green hills and vineyards and sunflowers.


As for Roma! Oh my gosh so much to say.  We took a train there on Friday afternoon and it only took us 2.5 hours.  The train did have one stop and we missed the next train so it was a long day of traveling.  We found our hostel quite easily but the whole day it was rainy and traveling with 7 girls was stressful.  The hostel was really nice.  We stayed in two different rooms and only paid 15 Euro each.  We went out that night to this bar with other people from our program.  It was a very long night that ended in McDonalds haha...strangely enough.  It was so much fun though and we all took care to make sure we got back okay.  The metro system in Rome is pretty easy to get the hang of, though can end up being expensive, so we walked a long way home from our friends hostel to our hostel.  In the morning we didn't want to pay for towels so we used our sheets haha and went off sightseeing! 

We first went to the Vatican...with my student ID was only 5 Euro!...and I could not believe how enormous it was!  There was so much to see! So much history, sculptures, paintings, maps, religious icons...it was amazing.  I could go on and on about it but hopefully the pictures tell about themselves!







 And of course the Sistine Chapel was absolutely amazing. That was the one place we couldn't take pictures but my friend stole one!  In the picture you can see the famous painting of the hand of God giving life to Adam. (top left)







There is so much history, religion, and culture in this city!  The city itself is huge and noisy...it can be compared to NYC and it made me so happy that I am living in Perugia, but it was a fantastic weekend trip.  Here is a picture of one of the many cathedrals.  We did not have a tour or guide.  Us girls just did this all on our own but I still feel like I missed the important significance of a lot of it.  I know I will be visiting again soon though so I am not worried.  All of the cheapest flights fly out of Roma so we will be there a lot, which give me time to learn about these beautiful things.

  Next we went to the Basilica and St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.  It was so amazing even on a rainy gloomy day.  We had a lot of fun in our rainboots and umbrellas.  The Basilica was absolutely gorgeous inside.  The tallest ceilings I have ever seen and detail from the floors and from every corner.  Inside there were tombs where some of the past Popes were buried.  Even if you aren't religious you would have felt the spirituality of the place all around you.  There was no talking, unless it was prayers under your breath and people were kneeling or touching the feet of saints/statues of saints and past popes.  It looked like some kind of Catholic ritual. 

It was such an amazing experience being in there, and I thought it was pretty cool the Pope was there at that time!!!  

Afterward I met up with some friends from Stonehill and we went out to find the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.  Both of which we found!!! We bought a couple bottles of wine and took many pictures, especially at the fountain.  We all through in a coin so I best be coming back here at some point later in my life <3

That night we had another positive experience at a hostel... It was seven girls in one room though! haha but we had so much fun and it worked out fine of course.  3 Bunk beds and a single bed.  They were very comfortable and the place was brand new with a terrace!  We all felt very safe and had an enjoyable experience.  Also on a side note I had the best nutella crepe and the thickest hot chocolate the day!  It was heaven after a very long day sightseeing in the rain.



On Sunday morning we got woken up to the cleaning lady because none of us woke up to our alarms.  I quickly showered and used the sheets again as a towel.  We are getting very cheap...

We were excited to see the Colosseum & the Roman Ruins!  We took the metro over to them in the morning and we took a tour of it.  At this point I called my mom I was so excited...forgetting in my excitement it was 5 40 am....This was my favorite place that I saw in Rome.  Early Roman Civilizations and gladiators are sooo interesting to me. Anyhow, I couldn't believe how RUINED the ruins were though.  It is hard to imagine what this place was really like.  All of the floor is gone which was interesting because that enabled you to see the complex workings of the "underground" infrastructure where the lions and beats and slaves use to be caged and trained.  The ruins were so awesome too.  We walked on Palentines hill and saw the first "botanical gardens' in Europe.  It was just awesome knowing that at one point this was the center of Roman civilization.  So many generations and eras have changed the landscape and the architecture.  It went from pagan structures to Catholic cathedrals which is really interesting.