I'll fly away....

Hi all!

So, right now I'm in the middle of day one of Duke in Greece. So far, its awesome. Everyone in the program seems pretty cool. We had a very short walking tour of the city in Crete in which we are staying, pointing out various historical buildings, then have had the rest of the after noon for free. We have a two hour "class" in about an hour. .. We'll see how that goes. But, let me catch you up to speed on my adventure from the last post about Rome....


so, last time I wrote it was the night before we went to go see the Sistine Chapel. as i recall, i was totally excited. and ohhhh man oh man. it totally lived up to my expectations. we actually spent a whole day going through the chapel and the vatican museums that go along with it. if you go, you really do need at least a good six hours to go through and appreciate all of the art work that the vatican museums contain. so, yes. the sistine chapel = breath taking. no, i didn't cry when i saw it, but i got teary eyed. its just that over whelming. i'm telling you, micheangelo was a genious. seriously. the pieta, the sistine chapel (remember, not only is it the ceiling, but its also his last judgement that's on the wall - and oh, don't forget the various side panels that show scenes from the lives of Moses and Jesus too - yeah, all in one room. C.R.A.Z.Y.) it really is a lot to take in at one time. amanda and i spent about a total of two hours just sitting in there looking at it. and oh, my suggestion is to spend a whole day there for the museums and the chapel, go right to the chapel first, then go back through the museums, then spend the last bit of the day in the chapel again. if you go in there right before the museums close, its basically empty. we waited until they kicked us out to leave.

yeah, so it was great. it was actually smaller than i had previously thought. but, the detail is still so incredible. the angels on the ceilings literally look like their legs are dangeling down. it was way cool.

and OH, okay, so you like walk through these museums / rooms on your way to the chapel, and like two rooms before you get there - Raphael's School of Athens is literally just chilling there on the wall. LITERALLY. it was AWESOME. i'm not even joking. its just there. just hanging out. no class protection. no special seperation. I LOVED IT.

the art that I have seen on this trip has been... PHENOMINAL.

okay, so, we did that. that was great, and it was a whole day - so afterward, we got a nice dinner, some gelato, hung out, then headed back to the hostel.

BTW. I think i must take the opportunity now to mention the Swiss Guard.
Okay, just so everyone knows, the Swiss Guard is the group of guards assigned to guard the pope and the vatican city, etc. OKAY, so walking out of Saint Peter's the last time we went ( OMG. THE PIETA IS SOOOO COOOL!!) ... I saw the most beautiful male on the face of the planet. He was one of the Swiss Guards. and if you know anything about the horrible clown suits they have to wear, then I believe that says something. lol .. too bad they can't marry. what a waste. hahahahahahahah. :)

okay, back to what actually matters....

So, our last day in Rome was really chill. We went out to Orstica Attica ( or something ot that extent, i'm too lazy to look up the spelling of the name of the place right now) - which had the ruins from an ancient port town. lots of old columns. way cool. it was really relaxing. then, we came back into town, and just hung out in a park by the coliseum. then we had a way nice dinner, then had to go back to the hostel and pack, etc.

All in all, ROME ROCKED. It was great. the people were great. there were nuns having fun, everywhere, which i totally loved. :) if Rome were a person, i'd want to marry them, and then have their ancient, catholic babies. :) that's the only way i know how to say it. haha.

and oh just another btw: my spell check on this isn't working for some reason. sorry for the errors. :)


so: ROME is as follows.

nuns. pasta. ruins.
churches on every corner.
michaelangelo.