Weekend in Roma!

Ciao ciao- annie here. We had a great weekend in roma- its making it really hard for us to leave. Wednesday night, we had food and wine at our friends apartment and then we all attended a free ben harper concert in piazza del popolo. It was PACKED! But ben delivered and we had a blast rocking out with our fellow Italians. We even met some Americans (so great to here regular English). Rachel and I of course skipped class on Thursday (I blame the wine) and we went to galleria borghese. This collection is comprised of the most fabulous sculptures I have ever seen (mostly Bernini). Im not even that big of an art person at all but I was blown away; there is also a room dedicated to Caravaggio paintings (he is quickly becoming a favorite). Rome is wonderful, I am always reminded of how lucky I am to call this place home. Afterwards, Rachel and I strolled through the gardens and stopped for a quick ciocolatta. Our next target was trastevere- which is the most delightful place to find yourself in the afternoon. We grabbed a bag of pistachios and strolled the backstreets- discovering new surprises around every corner. We stopped in the square and listened to some fabulous music and watched the little bambinos run around. But we couldn’t wait too long because we had to go to the colosseum to meet up at our friend, kimbo’s apartment. Our friends convened and we went to grub at an Indian restaurant. It was my first experience trying Indian food and it wont be my last. I have begun a love affair with non, delicious Indian bread. Friday, I woke up still full from my Indian fiesta but there was no time to waste, we had a date in borghese. Kimbo, bri, scott, Rachel, and I all met up and staked our claim on a little patch of grass next to the divine lake in Borghese. All together, we prolly brought a grocery store of food (which somehow all disappeared over the course of our picnic) and we plopped down to enjoy the park, along with the ducks of course. We played cards, ate, talked, read, and played games. 3 hours later we all reluctantly returned to reality and began plotting our night of debauchery. The girls got dressed and three bottles of wine later, we headed to testaccio to get drinks and dance our picnic feast off. We went to a bar and then to a dance club, where we spent the majority of our time on the dance floor. I’ve learned that Italian clubs are all the same- the males don’t seem to know where their hands belong. After a couple of hand slaps and exclamations of ‘NO!’, they get the picture that we mean business. The highlight of our dance club experience was when the DJ yelled over the microphone system, “aren’t the Americans great!”. Of course, we had no idea what he said since it was in Italian but an Italian man tapped me and told me what the DJ had said- you can imagine that after that point we only stood out more (as if the blonde hair wasn’t enough). The swarming just got worse after that point so we decided to split- plus, kimbo was getting hungry. So we all head to a small hot dog stand on the corner where kimbo gets a hot dog that is probably half the size of her (think toppings like mushrooms, French fries, etc.). I tried a bite, sans hot dog, and it was heaven. My head hit the pillow around 3 something and I was out like a light. Saturday we slept in late (hmm.. 1:30!) and the gals head to insalata ricca (a staple) for a late lunch.  Stuffed, we head home to shower and get out of our clothes from the night before after a quick gelato. Saturday night we all head to kimbos for a more relaxed night of wine, chocolate, and Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn.  We spent most of our time shouting the names in the movie instead of watching it. Again, a weekend of fun, friends, and Roma, the most delightful city that I have come to love whole-heartedly. Until next time- ciao!