When in Rome

I just got back from spending 4 days in Rome, and I had the most AMAZING time there.  I have never before seen so many famous buildings/paintings/sculptures/obelisks/columns in such a short period of time- I'm pretty sure it is only possible in Rome.  I arrived on Saturday evening and was a bit discouraged by the fact that I understand literally zero Italian.  I meant to look up some basic phrases before I left, but that never ended up happening. The only word I know is "grazie," and those of you who have heard the "grazie" story from my summer trip to Europe will appreciate the hilarity of that word.  

I flew with Ryan Air from Memmingen to Ciampino, took a bus to Anagnina metro station, then took the metro to the Termini station in Rome.  Luckily my hostel was really close to Termini, the main train station, so it was really easy to get to different parts of the city. The metro system in Rome pales in comparison with the U-bahn and S-bahn system in Munich, but they have a pretty extensive bus system as well.  One HUGE difference I noticed immediately between Munich and Rome is the number of beggers and poor people in general. You very rarely see anyone who looks anything less than affluent walking around the city of Munich. In Rome, there are gypsies everywhere as well as men selling gimmicky touristy items illegally- they crowd the piazzas and streets nearest the major tourist attractions. On the bus ride from Ciampino airport to the Anagnina metro stop, we passed a huge gypsy camp with little kids running around in nothing but rags as their parents sat outside of shacks and trailers in the blazing sun. The warm temperature was another difference, but a welcome one :)

I found my hostel without any trouble and was excited to see that there were two guys in my room when I got there.  I assumed I would spend most of my time in Rome by myself, which I was totally fine with, but these guys ended up being awesome, so we did a lot of sightseeing together. They are both in the British Army and currently live in Germany near Cologne, and they were in Rome to run in the Rome Marathon on Sunday.  I won't bore you with details of all of the things that we saw, you just HAVE to go to Rome if you haven't been there already, and if you're not sure what to do or see, just ask me, because I'm obsessed with Rome.  Shocking, I know.  I survived my first pantheon sighting (barely), and I also barely survived my encounter with Bernini's Apollo and Daphne sculpture in the Borghese Gallery, which is one of my favorite sculptures.  I did a short presentation on this sculpture my junior year in college, so to see it in real life was incredible. This picture does not do it justice, but here it is:

Obviously seeing both the inside and outside of the Colosseum was incredible, as well as the entire Roman Forum. There aren't really words to describe how vast the collections in the Vatican Museums are, and St. Peter's is even more gargantuan than you would expect. One of my favorite things that I did not expect to do was climb up to the dome of St. Peter's where you can look down into the transept.  You can then climb up much further and walk around the top of the dome and look out onto the city. The view from the dome onto St. Peter's square is awesome.  Another awesome view was looking down onto the Italian and Austrian alps from the plane window. 

The one British guy that I met, who is definitely someone I will keep in touch with, has some of the best stories I've ever heard.  He is 23 as well. He was once dared to get the name of his favorite soccer team in Liverpool, Everton, tattooed across his forehead. The scar is from getting that tattoo removed. He also once drove a moped from the street into a hotel he was staying at and directly into the indoor pool.  Apparently there is also a youtube video involving fireworks and him that has a million views.  He was quite a character, but a really nice guy.

When I got home, Mimi and Stef had just gotten back from Mallorca. We shared stories and Mimi opened some birthday presents (a toy parking garage and a big toy cement truck, obviously). She turned 4 on Tuesday! I always miss Mimi and Stef and Matthias when I'm away- it really feels like my second home here.  Here is Mimi playing with her parking garage...

Today in my language course we had a big international breakfast, and we represented 20 different countries all in one room. It was pretty neat. Everyone brought a breakfast food that is specific to his/her home country, and everything was delicious.

Grazie for reading.

Scrunchies still exist.

It's been a while since I've written. Nothing too eventful has happened, and I've been super busy! I just have too many friends. Just kidding. BUT... everything is still going great and I do have a few thoughts/observations/exciting things to share!  I love the number format, so that's what I'm going with today.

1) I'M GOING TO ROME ON SATURDAY!!! My host mom is the best and booked me a roundtrip ticket to Rome a couple of weeks ago because she and Mimi will be gone as well. So if you get news next week that I am no longer alive, I can assure you it's because I had a heart attack upon seeing the Pantheon and/or the Sistine Chapel in real life. At least you're prepared.

2) I started my language course last week! I'm in level C1, which is the highest level. I was really nervous at first because I thought I would be the most inept person in my class, but it is actually the perfect level for me. This course prepares people for the DaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache/German as a foreign language) test, which is a standard, internationally recognized test for German language competency. If you pass the DaF exam with a high enough score, you can then apply to study at German universities.  So passing the DaF exam will be my next big challenge. I spend most of my days reading children's books and cutting fruits and vegetables into bite-sized pieces...needless to say I've been starved for intellectual stimulation lately. It's a VERY good thing that this class started.

3) Staying on the subject of my language course, I need to mention something alarming. 3 girls wore scrunchies to class today.  THREE. And all three of them are from Russia. I can only conclude that this was not a coincidence, and that every female living in Russia not only owns but also regularly wears scrunchies. If these girls were over the age of 35 I wouldn't really be concerned. However, they are all my age or younger.

4) Some people here exercise in the most ridiculous outfits. I wish I had photographic evidence of some, but by the time I can get my iPhone out to take a picture, the moment is gone.
Examples:
- Woman, mid-30s, out for a light jog with her knee-length North Face jacket on
- Boy, teenager, out for an intense jog wearing loose-fitting jeans
- Woman on my volleyball team, early 30s, practiced in a long-sleeved, fitted Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt.

5) Old people. I have never seen so many old people as I have since I moved to Munich. I've realized that this is because many old people here actually leave the house, take the train, ride their bikes, go skiing, go for daily walks, etc. Generally speaking, old people at home tend to stick to cars and the great indoors.  And I am referring to OLD old people, as in people well into their late 70s and 80s.  Opa, Mimi's grandfather, is 76 years old (possibly older?) and goes skiing regularly every winter. And he is a phenomenal skier. It's really amazing to watch.

That's all I can think of right now. I have a practice exam and a presentation to finish for my class tomorrow morning at 8:30am... and I haven't started either of them. Not much has changed since college! I just can't stop thinking about Rome... and scrunchies.