Finally an Update!

Sorry everyone that I've been so bad at updating the blog! Pretty much all my recent internet usage has been talking to Jess or planning spring break, but now that spring break is planned, I have time to let all of you know how I've been.

First, not much happened last week after the last update until Friday when I went on a day excursion to Tivoli, about an hour on the outskirts of Roma. Two art history classes were required to go on this trip, but anyone else could sign up to go. The first stop was Villa d'Este, the villa of a former governor of Tivoli. At this villa, there are 2,000 fountains! However, I never got to see these fountains running, because they occassionally shut them off for maintenance or whatnot, so I was really bummed about that. I'm planning on going back when the weather is nicer and I know the fountains are running!




The second stop was Villa Adriana. No fountains on this one, but here is a scale model from 1956 showing the property, and archeologists are still discovering more!


Villa Adriana was built during the Roman times. It is so impressive to see! The Romans were amazing when it came to innovation, design, and construction. They even had heated floors in their bath houses! The ruins were so incredible to see and were possibly one of the coolest things I've seen on the trip.





On Saturday I met some friends at the Colosseum, but because they all took so long to get there (half an hour late), I didn't have time to walk in the Colosseum or the Roman Forum. I'll have to save that for a nicer day as well. Here are a few pictures I took from the outside. The clouds provided some dramatic pictures, but I still wish it would be sunny and warm up. The off-and-on clouds, rain and sun, but mostly overcast weather makes me feel like I'm in Oregon again. I sure do miss Northern California weather.





Starting last week, I began thinking spring break and as of last night, that is all officially planned out. The plan went through several minor changes and I had to cut a few things out, but I'm fine with that decision and I think I'll enjoy the break more because of it. So here's the week:

Jess will be flying out for a week and will be here from March 26 to April 1. On the first, after she leaves, I'll be flying to Milan. April 2 I will visit Il Autodromo di Nazionale di Monza, and then see a few main sights in Milan. The next day I fly to Brussels and transfer to Bruges via rail. I'll be in Bruges for two nights and will be there the day of Easter. On Monday the 5th, I'll take the train to Spa, visiting the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and the race museum in Stavelot on the 6th. I take the train back to Brussels and fly to Nice, where I'll be spending two nights, on the 7th. While in Nice, I'll sight see in Monaco as well. On the 9th, I am planning on travelling back to Roma.

It will easily be the best spring break ever. I had to cut out visiting the Nurburgring and Genoa from the plan, because it would have been too much in too short of a time to really enjoy each spot. I figured I would rather spend a full day at Spa, taking in that track as much as possible, rather than briefly see it and rush to Nurburg. But also by cutting out those trips, the amount I'll be spending on travel and lodging is much lower (I also found some good, cheap hostels) so I might be able to fit in a weekend trip or two that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

This week will be pretty low-key once again until Saturday when I'll be going to a huge rugby game, part of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament. I'll definitely have an update after that, but if I do anything cool this week, I'll be sure to let you all know.

Love you all and miss you a ton!

New Encouragement

It's the start of the second week here in Roma and things are starting to look brighter. First things first though.

The final exam for my Firenze class was very easy and I received an A in the course. It wasn't nearly as intensive as I thought it would be, but at least I got 3 semester credits out of it. The bus ride from Firenze to Roma wasn't bad, except for the weather. The weather so far has been fairly miserable, which is why I haven't explored quite as much or taken as many pictures as I would like. The sun has broke out a few times but for the most part it has been very cold and overcast and sometimes raining. It even snowed the other morning!

Classes have been pretty lame so far. The European Union class picked up a bit today and hopefully the others follow. Italian has been the biggest let down, though. So far, I have learned nothing new and between that and local Italians speaking English to me, I have not gained any confidence in my Italian. I am really hoping this improves as I do want to learn the language and increase my fluency.

After class today, though, was easily the best so far. I walked around with guy named David for a bit and then we went to dinner. He wasn't hungry but I had a great full meal (buffet for 9.90 euro) and a very tasty beer. But the best part was easily the conversation he and I had. We talked about our relationships with God and our pasts. He doesn't party at all; he'll only have a beer or two like I do. I can easily see him being one of, if not for sure, my best friends on this trip. It was so encouraging to talk to him. He asked how he could pray for me, and for me and Jess. I told him I would get back to him on it. Anyways, I have new hope and encouragement for this trip now.

That's about all that's new so far. Hopefully I'll have more updates soon. Here are some more pictures for you all to enjoy. Love you!

Daniel

Pictures!

Well that was an easy exam! Here are some pictures!

Venezia















Siena















Siena















Pisa

Final Exam and Roma

This is going to be a really quick post. I'm packing in my room right now. I have my final exam in an hour and then after that, we hit the road pretty soon after to go to Roma. I will write a longer entry tonight and I'll include some pictures!

Love you all! A presto.

Venezia and Siena

Finally, a day off from massive activity. It was certainly nice to not be running around today. Anyways, Venezia was pretty cool to see. It would have been much nicer if the weather had been warmer and I could definitely never live there. There is not a whole lot to do in that city once all the main tourist spots have been hit. San Marco’s basilica was amazing though! Probably my favorite spot of all of Venezia. The mosaic make-up of the inside walls was incredible and I cannot even imagine how long that would have taken (I missed it if my tour guide did say a time frame on the building of it). The museum and art gallery visits would have been a lot more enjoyable, too, had it not been below freezing in the buildings. I know it’s hard to heat a huge marble building, but those places were ridiculously cold. It was pretty cool to see it snow briefly, too.

Yesterday was a day excursion. The sun was out and shining bright, but it was still frigid. I think Siena was even prettier than Venezia (and not because of the weather only), but just like Venezia, there’s not much to do outside of seeing the sights, at least that’s how it seems. However, one day I would love to go back for the Palio, the famous horserace they have twice a year, once in July and another in August. In the main square of the town is where they race. Riders representing the 17 districts of historic Siena compete every year to bring honor and bragging rights to their district. They race around the edge of the square while 25,000 people crowd inside the track. It would be an incredible sight to see! The Palio lasts three laps around the square in around 76 seconds. I sprinted one lap of the square in 58 seconds! I’m only three times slower than a horse (adding time for loss in stamina), which is pretty cool!

Only a few more days of class and then onto Roma! This week will be a little bit more laid back than last week. I’m passing up an opportunity to go on a wine-tasting tour tomorrow. I know that’s probably the thing to do in Italia, but I’m really not a wine person and it will be nice to have tomorrow free as well. Unless anything major comes up, I probably won’t update until I’m in Roma, just because then new stuff will be happening. Hope you’re all doing well! Look at Facebook if you can for the majority of my pictures. It’s just a lot easier to a lot of photos there, rather than slowly update them on here.

Love you all!