Siamo Arrivati!!!

Buon Giorno, Tutti!

Ah, what a weekend! We arrived into Fiumicino, with everyone quickly meeting up and rushing to grab the Termini Express. With a slight delay (KUDOS to Luke's Italian teacher - he was able to handle what could have been a very difficult situation with a little Italian and a lot of diligence), we strolled to our hotel, just a block or two from Termini, and checked in. Hotel Diana even had rooms available for us, so we got 10 minutes to drop off bags, splash water on us, and meet back downstairs. By my advice, we didn't break to shower or rest - gotta get our bodies ready for the time change! We grabbed some pizza al taglio, and headed to our ancient day (students have a brochure of a description of every sight we saw, but it was in backwards order!). After 6 solid hours on our feet (going from shade spot to shade spot, right guys?), we hopped the Metro back to Termini, and the kids quickly learned why I prefer to avoid the Metro (ah, the humanity! Ah, the humidity!). We returned for a few hours of shower and rest, and then went to dinner at Pancrazio's, which stands over foundations of the Theatre of Pompey. Full of fabulous food, tired and drained, we stumbled back to the hotel and crashed. But not for long . . .

Saturday morning, we rose and did a morning stroll through the rest of Rome, starting at the Piazza del Popolo and going all the way around to the Vatican. We split up right after grabbing more pizza al taglio - some went to the Vatican museums, others to the Castel Sant' Angelo. We all met back up in the Piazza di San Pietro, and flew through the line into the Vatican. The place was packed, and much was blocked off, with seating in there - this week is the summer holy week for the Catholic church, beginning on June 24 with the Feast of St. John the Baptist, and ending on the 29th (or on the 2nd in Siena - PALIO) with the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Again, stumbled on our blistered and swollen feet back to the hotel (the kids figured out the bus system pretty quickly) to rest, before heading to Montecarlo Pizzeria. Hope they enjoyed my treat of the misti fritti appetizers - Trevor liked the potato croquettes, Stephen, Becky, and Brenna liked the stuffed fior di zucca (zucchini flowers), and Luke and Ian enjoyed the suppli (arancini) - balls of a mixture of rice and tomato paste, wrapped around a ball of cheese, and breaded and fried. Good sleep that night, good rest on Sunday morning, and, after 3 hours of bus ride, we were in Siena!

We covered every tourist location in Rome, and in 36 hours flat (and, hopefully, got some sleep). Needless to say, my feet were protesting by this morning. Everyone is in their placement tests right now, and classes start at 9! Palio events start tomorrow - so much to share with you in our next blog!!!

This is a shorter one - other students waiting to use the computer - gotta go!

Pace,
Laura :)