So, I went to Rome a little while ago and typed this up when I got back but didn't quite finish it. While my project is taking forever to render, I figured I could catch up on some bloggin :)
I was beyond excited to finally be able to go to Rome that when my alarm went off at 6 am, I didn't even hit the snooze. I had around a half an hour to get ready before I had to leave so it was the perfect amount to be able to eat breakfast slowly and take my time getting ready. I left and went to the bus with a few minutes to spare and found my friends who I was going on the trip with. I sat with my friend Mary Haley who goes to Baylor University in Texas and we slept for a majority of the bus ride. She will from here on out be referred to as MH because I do not feel like typing out her full name every time.
We got to Rome on time and all I kept saying was, "Oh my gosh, I am actually here" over and over again but it was ok because MH was doing the same. We were allowed some free time to go get lunch so we walked to a pizza place with our friend Celia and we all split two large Margarita pizzas. On the way back after lunch we got some gelato from a place we had noticed earlier and the the flavors were very good. I don't remember now what they were, but they were delicious.
We started our tour with the Vatican Museum and then went into the main attraction, the Sistine Chapel. I am not much of a museum person, but this was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined it being. It was very busy and almost every surface was covered, but it was so beautiful. We went from the Sistine to St. Peters basilica and it was gorgeous. I love walking through old churches and seeing all of the old art and statues that they created. It amazes me the beautiful things that people are able to create with their hands, especially when they are giant chunks of marble. After the basilica, Celia and I went into the gift shop and looked around for about thirty minutes because Celia couldn't choose the rosaries. We went in and out of the shop probably a total of five times because she kept on forgetting people who she needed to get rosaries for, it was pretty funny.
We rode the bus to the hotel and had a little while before dinner was ready to be served. It was dark by this time but the three of us still wanted to walk around so we went quickly to our hotel rooms and then went out to the city. The room was very nice and it was even a little on the big size for the hotels that I have stayed in. We went out to the street and started our wandering process. Since it was dark, it was hard to actually see what was around us but the lights that were on allowed us to look into stores and see the fronts of the buildings. MH with her savvy navigation skills was able to get us back to the hotel even though I doubted a little bit that she knew where we were or where we were going, similar to Chris in Pompeii, only this time I didn't attach us to a group of high school German boys.
When we got back from our walk we had a few minutes to freshen up before dinner.We headed down and sat with two other girls that I don't remember the names of, but they were really nice. Dinner was super delicious. It was a pasta dish for starters and then for the main dish it was a mixture of a type of potato salad, beans, and pork loin (is what I am calling it). It was really good but I still have yet to find a potato salad that beats either my mother's or Mrs. Marshall's German potato salad. For dessert we had some sort of vanilla pie that had chocolate drizzle and it was delicious. Dinner was so much fun. The five of us girls were laughing so hard that at one point I was crying a little. The peak of the night was when the waiter came over and grabbed our vinaigrette bottle and said "oh you girls were laughing so much I thought this was wine!" And then later on he proceeded to call me special, I am still not sure what type of "special" he called me.
After dinner Celia and I decided that we wanted to go see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain at night time because it is probably a once in a life time thing to be able to see, at least once in ten years thing to see. We went with a girl from my Italian class and her friends who were very nice and full of laughter so it was perfect. We went to the Trevi first and wandered around on our way there. Once we made it there it was beyond beautiful and I am so glad that I went at night time. It was just so peaceful and not very crowded at all. Obviously there were tourists there, but it wasn't too bad. The lights from the fountain at night time project a really pretty green onto the building it is attached too and almost makes it look kind of eerie in a way.
When we decided that we were a little on the chilly side, we made our way over to the Spanish Steps. I thought they were going to be a little bit larger, but they weren't. I had the same feeling I had when I saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time, all this hype and it was only about half as big as I thought it was going to be. Anyhow, we took a lot of pictures and then sat a bit near the top before they verged off in two different directions. I went to the top to look over the city and it was beautiful. Celia and I went down to tell the girls we were with that we were heading out. On my way back up, I tripped. I tripped up the Spanish Steps. WHO DOES THAT? Classy girls like me, I guess. Gosh, I am my mother's daughter. Oh well, not many can say they have done that. Is that a bright side?
Celia and I took a quick walk back to the hotel because we were both freezing and I looked like Rudolph in all of my pictures already, so I didn't want to risk getting sick. The fact that I was exhausted was only part of the reason for heading back early. We got ready for bed and I feel asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Con amore, Ciao!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
November 21st-24th
Rome will come, just maybe next weekend once I have a moment to relax, in the meantime, here is last weeks postings!
Well, as it turns out, school has really gotten in the way of me posting these puppies and I am NOT happy about that. So as you can see as the dates for the post, this is going to have to be another week update. Not a whole lot other than homework happened last week but it will still be good for me to give an update or two of what happened each day.
Monday 21st:
I woke up early and started working on my project for a little bit before I had to go to my lighting class. I wanted to make sure that my presentation was exactly what i wanted it to be so my teacher could see all of my progress that i have made since the previous week. I am building a custom book case that will be installed to another one of my finals and it is coming along quite nicely. We went on a field trip to a few local stores to look at their choices for their lighting fixtures and to evaluate them. It was interesting and much more informational than when we had to go on our own for our midterm projects. We have to write a paper about the lighting choices and analyze the stores. In sustainable design, we showed our progress for our final projects and our teachers were pleased with our work. I am happy with the progress of my group because, unlike last time, it seems like they are willing to put in the effort that is needed to complete the project and have it be presented professionally. After class I went home and spent the rest of the night doing homework.
Tuesday 22nd:
Woke up and went to my Revit class which was very productive and emotional all at the same time. I found out that I have been selected to be published in our school's catalog of projects and that my work is going to be on display in our final showcase of the year. I am very excited but also very nervous to have my work on display. It will be a week filled with little sleep in order to get my work done, but I know it will be very worth it to put all of the extra hours in. I came home and had lunch while doing homework. I skyped with mamma for a few minutes and then headed off to Italian class to dominate the quiz. After class I came home and spent the rest of the night doing my Revit project.
Wednesday 23rd:
I went to wine class and it was a very exciting day. We presented our wines we had made the previous week and tasted each groups version of the wine we had made. My partner's name is Summer and so we decide to have our wine's name be "Moore of Summer", our slogan of course being that everyone wants some "Moore of Summer". Seriously, I should change my major to advertising. However, I should not change my major to wine making because ours tasted absolutely horrendous. The one that tasted the best was of course mixed by students who are studying wine as their major, they are here on a year long program taking only wine courses. To be honest, I am not sure how they function during the day. On my way home, I got dried ginger from my fruit man at the San Lorenzo market. It tasted horrible. I love ginger with my sushi and I love eating candied ginger from time to time, but this ginger made me want to vomit. I even gave it a few more tries on my way home, but I just couldn't do it. In order to remove the taste from my mouth I got a kebob for lunch which is always a delicious thing. I can't wait to make them for my friends at home and to introduce my family to the goodness that is the kebob. Once I got home I ate my kebob and waited for my roommates to get home so that I could try and give them my ginger. Success. Each of them tried it and then had the exact same reaction that I had. Even though it is mean, watching their faces was a rather funny thing to see. I finished the day with homework and trying to get as far ahead as I could on my project before the weekend and Thanksgiving the next day.
Thursday 24th:
I started my morning with laundry and Revit. So much of my time has been devoted to this project but I am so nervous that I wont complete it in time that it is difficult for me to focus on any other project that I have been given. Horrible, I know, but for those I have more time. There is so much of a time crunch and pressure when it comes to getting this project completed on time. I spent most of the morning working on my project and then I skyped with my mamma for a few minutes, as is our normal tradition on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was definitely weird waking up knowing it was Thanksgiving and that I would not be spending it with my family. I went to class and our teacher gave us what were basically eclairs from her favorite bakery. She said that this was the best she could do in order to try and give us a Thanksgiving, it was so sweet of her to think of us. I got back my quiz and I received a very good grade on it so I was very happy with that. I went to the grocery store with Valarie to get what I was assigned, two loaves of bread, and headed home to start my homework before heading out for the thanksgiving festivities that were to begin around 730. After about an hour of productivity I helped Ellen make baked apples and also a cheese-rice-broccoli casserole. We got ready and headed out to her friends house where everyone was gathering together for dinner. We unfortunately had a vegetarian dinner unintentionally because no one cooked the bird and then no one had any meat in their dishes. It was definitely different than I am used to, but I was so thankful to be around such nice people and to have a feast on Thanksgiving. After we ate all of our food and finished the many bottles of wine, we decided to go out to a bar in town that everyone really likes and spent the rest of the night there. It was a really great night and it is a Thanksgiving that I will remember for a very, very long time.
Well, as it turns out, school has really gotten in the way of me posting these puppies and I am NOT happy about that. So as you can see as the dates for the post, this is going to have to be another week update. Not a whole lot other than homework happened last week but it will still be good for me to give an update or two of what happened each day.
Monday 21st:
I woke up early and started working on my project for a little bit before I had to go to my lighting class. I wanted to make sure that my presentation was exactly what i wanted it to be so my teacher could see all of my progress that i have made since the previous week. I am building a custom book case that will be installed to another one of my finals and it is coming along quite nicely. We went on a field trip to a few local stores to look at their choices for their lighting fixtures and to evaluate them. It was interesting and much more informational than when we had to go on our own for our midterm projects. We have to write a paper about the lighting choices and analyze the stores. In sustainable design, we showed our progress for our final projects and our teachers were pleased with our work. I am happy with the progress of my group because, unlike last time, it seems like they are willing to put in the effort that is needed to complete the project and have it be presented professionally. After class I went home and spent the rest of the night doing homework.
Tuesday 22nd:
Woke up and went to my Revit class which was very productive and emotional all at the same time. I found out that I have been selected to be published in our school's catalog of projects and that my work is going to be on display in our final showcase of the year. I am very excited but also very nervous to have my work on display. It will be a week filled with little sleep in order to get my work done, but I know it will be very worth it to put all of the extra hours in. I came home and had lunch while doing homework. I skyped with mamma for a few minutes and then headed off to Italian class to dominate the quiz. After class I came home and spent the rest of the night doing my Revit project.
Wednesday 23rd:
I went to wine class and it was a very exciting day. We presented our wines we had made the previous week and tasted each groups version of the wine we had made. My partner's name is Summer and so we decide to have our wine's name be "Moore of Summer", our slogan of course being that everyone wants some "Moore of Summer". Seriously, I should change my major to advertising. However, I should not change my major to wine making because ours tasted absolutely horrendous. The one that tasted the best was of course mixed by students who are studying wine as their major, they are here on a year long program taking only wine courses. To be honest, I am not sure how they function during the day. On my way home, I got dried ginger from my fruit man at the San Lorenzo market. It tasted horrible. I love ginger with my sushi and I love eating candied ginger from time to time, but this ginger made me want to vomit. I even gave it a few more tries on my way home, but I just couldn't do it. In order to remove the taste from my mouth I got a kebob for lunch which is always a delicious thing. I can't wait to make them for my friends at home and to introduce my family to the goodness that is the kebob. Once I got home I ate my kebob and waited for my roommates to get home so that I could try and give them my ginger. Success. Each of them tried it and then had the exact same reaction that I had. Even though it is mean, watching their faces was a rather funny thing to see. I finished the day with homework and trying to get as far ahead as I could on my project before the weekend and Thanksgiving the next day.
Thursday 24th:
I started my morning with laundry and Revit. So much of my time has been devoted to this project but I am so nervous that I wont complete it in time that it is difficult for me to focus on any other project that I have been given. Horrible, I know, but for those I have more time. There is so much of a time crunch and pressure when it comes to getting this project completed on time. I spent most of the morning working on my project and then I skyped with my mamma for a few minutes, as is our normal tradition on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was definitely weird waking up knowing it was Thanksgiving and that I would not be spending it with my family. I went to class and our teacher gave us what were basically eclairs from her favorite bakery. She said that this was the best she could do in order to try and give us a Thanksgiving, it was so sweet of her to think of us. I got back my quiz and I received a very good grade on it so I was very happy with that. I went to the grocery store with Valarie to get what I was assigned, two loaves of bread, and headed home to start my homework before heading out for the thanksgiving festivities that were to begin around 730. After about an hour of productivity I helped Ellen make baked apples and also a cheese-rice-broccoli casserole. We got ready and headed out to her friends house where everyone was gathering together for dinner. We unfortunately had a vegetarian dinner unintentionally because no one cooked the bird and then no one had any meat in their dishes. It was definitely different than I am used to, but I was so thankful to be around such nice people and to have a feast on Thanksgiving. After we ate all of our food and finished the many bottles of wine, we decided to go out to a bar in town that everyone really likes and spent the rest of the night there. It was a really great night and it is a Thanksgiving that I will remember for a very, very long time.
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