Back to Life. Back to Reality.

Wednesday night and Thursday morning brought nightmares and terrors... literally! Waking up not knowing where I was, the morning started off quite turbulent.

My drawing class was working with tones, so by 8:30am, I had to be at Palatine Hill. From there... a quick sandwich with Ashley at my favorite deli, back to school for in between class work, Italian, and then Design. My design class met at the infamous Campo Di Fiori. From there we walked to the famous Fuksas office. Fuksas is a famous architect in Italy. A nice Hungarian architect, who happened to be very cute, gave us a tour of the office.

Being Blanche's last couple days in Rome, we decided it appropriate that I spend them with her whole-hearted-ly and even stay with her at the Grand Flora Hotel. So, Thursday straight after classes I journeyed to the hotel. Now... I say journeyed because it was quite the adventure. I jumped on the wrong bus, and a trip that should take no more than 20 minutes took me an hour, if not more.

Once I finally got there, exhausted from my lack of sleep due to nightmares, and my extremely busy and long day, we headed straight to dinner. We had dinner near the Spanish steps, and I finally got my beef carpaccio. It was delicious! Afterwards, we headed over to a gelateria and then home to rest for the next days festivities.

We began Friday morning with breakfast on the roof top terrace overlooking Roma. It was beautiful. Rome is beautiful... From there, we were off to the Jewish Ghetto, but not before stopping at the quoted, "Best Espresso in Roma." I really enjoy the ghetto. I feel at home there. All I could think and hum was, "I'm a Jew and I'm proud." Though, we did not get to walk inside the Great Synagogue due to Sukkot, it was still glorious... and so many good looking men! One was even carrying a lulav and etrog. When I saw him, I tried to stop him. Scuzi signore, may I shake your lulav? It is a mitzvah after all. Unfortunately, he didn't hear me. He was too far away. Blanche was quite relieved!

As we walked through the ghetto, Blanche googled information on her Blackberry for our very own private tour. We even went to a very exclusive hidden restaurant that has no sign. We even had to become members of a cultural association in order to eat there. It was soooo good!

After the ghetto, we went to the Capitolini Museum. This is where the famous Romulus and Ramus statue is housed, along with many other famous pieces. There was also an exhibition on Michelangelo. Everything there was incredible! To my surprise, outside the museum, in the famous Michelangelo designed piazza... was a poster of Gilad Shalit, and in Italian it said, "Free Gilad Shalit." It was nice to see the support, and Italy definitely scored some more points with me.

After making it through the museum, and taking a bunch of goofy pictures, we made our way to our next stop. Our next stop was the famous Bocca della Verita. Bocca della Verita is the Mouth of Truth, and it was made famous in the movie, Roman Holiday. The rumor is if you tell a lie, your hand will be bitten off.

The following stop was for gelato. We deserved it, and it was about time. We went to a place that had 100 flavors, and I finally found my perfect combination. I had passion fruit, and black passion. Black passion is dark chocolate with raspberries. It was sensational! I'll definitely be going back!

Once we came off our gelato high, we made our way to Piazza Navuona. I hadn't been there yet, and I was definitely not disappointed. Music, art, and glorious sculptures filled this Piazza and brought it to life. Street musicians and local artists shared and sold their work. It was buzzing with creativity. The young drunken American tourists began to sing and dance. Some drunken Spanish tourists joined in for the festivities, proving that not only Americans drink and make fouls of themselves. Still, they were having the time of their life. They were surrounded by friends, and did not have a single care in the world. I thought of my friends, and wondered what they were up to at that exact moment.

From there, we came home, showered, and made our way to Trastevere for dinner.

Saturday morning started off a bit gloomy. Booming thunder made us a bit hesitant to get out of bed. Luckily, by the time we woke, it was gone and the sun was on its way!

I first took Blanche to Piramidi. Piramidi holds on of the oldest, best preserved structures in all of Rome. The funny part is that it's a pyramid! It used to be a mausoleum. Now, it stands as a monument, along side the Aueralian Wall and Museo della Via Ostiense.

After taking a picture or two, since that's all there is to do there, we made our way to Terme di Caracalla. I had been wanting to go, but had not yet had a chance, and so I decided to take Blanche. These ancient ruins are the remains of the Roman Baths. There are quite majestic and very large. The roman baths used to be a major part of a Roman's day. They went there not only to bathe, but also so socialize, participate in sports, and much more!

From there, it was time for a Gelato break, and so I took Blanche to the oldest gelateria in Italy. I love it there! Amber and I are frequent visitors!

Once we had our fix, we strolled over to San Maria Maggiore, one of the four main churches in Rome. As you would expect, it is definitely a sight to behold! After, we quickly grabbed a cafe at the oldest cafe in Roma.

Before the evening's festivities, but after our shower, we made our way to the fanciest hotel in all of Rome to have a drink. The service was impeccable, and it really was something special.

Once our buzz had kicked in, I took Blanche to the oldest Jazz club in all of Italy. It was definitely magical. After a quick conversation with the musicians outside, not knowing they were the ones performing, we went inside to fill our our membership. The way it works is you become a member for the month. Then, you can frequent the club as often as you like for a very small nightly fee. You wouldn't believe how cheap if I told you. It was awesome. We saw a quartet with a special guest trombone player. They really were world class musicians, and the best part is the place is right around the corner from my apartment. :)

Sunday morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn. We grabbed a quick breakfast, and Blanche was off to airport. I was back to life... back to reality.

Turns out, reality aint so bad! After a little more sleep, I awoke for my day with Amber. We had planned to finally go to Porta Portese, and so we did! Porta Portese is the largest flea market in Rome, and I would argue in the world! Though we have no real sense of how much ground we covered in relation to the whole market, we walked for what seemed like forever and still didn't reach the end. Not only that but, we got lost half way through within the flea market! It was wonderful though. I bought sooo much stuff! Carry-on luggage for my trips, boots, boots, will go back for more boots, shirt, wrap, and some more. We had the greatest time exploring around. You really can buy ANYTHING there.

When we were completely exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, we decided to go get some grub. There was a Chinese place we've been meaning to try and so we decided today was the day. Though we'll never tell anyone about it, it was INCREDIBLE! We finally found Chinese that tasted like Chinese, and it was cheap and delicious, and officially the secret Amber and Roxanne hide-out. :)

We were so excited, we insisted on celebrating at our favorite gelateria. I have finally found the perfect triple combo with their flavors; chocolate, mango, and frutti di bosco... Mmm. On our way out, we found an Asian supermarket... that accepts credit cards! What a glorious day!

Once home, I began doing laundry which seemed to take FOREVER! Some of it is still drying, and will be til at least tomorrow. My jeans though, and all my pants in general, I decided to pay to dry them. Towards the end of the second drying cycle, Drew decides to skype me. Though excited to hear from him, I had a feeling...

Sure enough... Drew keeps me just a few minutes to long, and I get upstairs at 9:02pm. The door is locked, and every pair of pants I own is locked inside. Pant-less and wearing very short shorts, I go outside to the porter to see what he can do for me.

Thank goodness! The porter felt some pity for me as I stood in front of him shivering in my little shorts and t-shirt. "I have no pants to wear tomorrow, signore." Quietly giggling, he gives me the keys and asks me to be quick. "We never do this. I'll make an exception this ONE time." "Grazie, grazie." I respond. I bolted upstairs, and of coarse returned the key almost instantly.

Midterms this week... but the week's end brings much excitement! Can't wait!

Signing off,
Ciao Bella...