Rome Is Where the Heart Is: Lean on Me

This is our last weekend in Italy. I never saw it coming haha. But Anne and I planned one more excursion together. Yesterday we took a train to Florence and met up with our friends on the trip, Davis, Akash, Chelsea, and Nick. We set off to find the famous Il Porcellino, aka the original RAZORBACK. There is a copy on the U of A campus. We all got pictures rubbing its snout for good luck. Then we killed some time by going to the bridge across the river Arno. Then we all went back to the train station and caught a regional train to Pisa.

Pisa was awesome! Davis, Akash, Chelsea, and Nick had already been briefly the day before so they led us around and Davis was our official tour guide, he had a flag and everything haha! We walked through some great shops and then we got to the main piazza and found the Leaning Tower! Even though we've all seen so many pictures of it it's so different to see it in person. It's so odd and wrong to look at and the whole time I just wanted to reach up and tip it back so that it would be straight. Davis informed us that the little part at the top was added later and they tried to balance it out and make it straight but it kind of makes the tower look more odd. So we took the classic pictures with it and had fun watching other people with their hands in the air. You couldn't walk around without walking through someone's picture haha. We also went into the cathedral there and it was just like the early Christian basilicas from the Medieval Period that we studied in Art with the gold flat ceiling and the columns lining the aisle. It was really pretty. We got lunch and hung out for a little while and just really enjoyed the relaxing day. Then we took a three hour train back to Rome. It was really nice to take just a day trip instead of staying the night somewhere, one less thing to pay for! You really don't need much time in Pisa because there's not too much to see.

After we all went out to eat for pasta and tiramisu, Anne went with me to use my tripod and take night pictures! Since the camera shutter needs to stay open longer to take in more light you have to use a tripod so that the camera doesn't shake. We grabbed raspberry and chocolate gelato from Grom and walked to a bridge across from the Vatican. I took a bunch of pictures there and after I was done another group of men with tripods came and took my spot so I know it was a good one ;). Then we walked to the Colosseum because they light it up at night. It was really hard to get back far enough and get one without people walking through it but I managed to get one with the car lights trailing at the bottom that I really like. It was really late when we got back and I'm so glad Anne went with me!

Today is a day of studying for finals and catching up on reading for the last four days of classes! School is almost over, again! Haha it's super weird to be taking class in the summer but I would do it over and over again. It is so much fun! We have met so many great people in our group as well and I can't wait to hang out with them back in Fayetteville.

Salve!