D'accord....so first of all, sorry it has been so long since my last blog. I started one on October 8, but then had to rush off being the usual busy self that I am. However, I am determined to finish this one tonight!
And we did. We arrived there seconds before the lights started flashing for about 5 minutes or so. It was pretty glorious. We just stood there, arms around each other, in astounding awe of such a magnificent structure that held so much within it. So much history, beauty, architectural sense....it was truly magnificent. We got a few pictures with it while we were still under its mystical spell. We hung out around the tower for a while when everyone else arrived. We noticed some armed guards around the tower and I remembered that there were bomb threats made a couple weeks before so thought they were there for that....little did I know that there was a terrorist threat made in Paris earlier that day! Hmmm...weird!
When it got late enough (or early enough) we got on the bus to take us to Beauvais, where our airport was. To make a long story short, we got on the busy fine, got to the airport, our flight was delayed by like an hour I think, but we got on it being so sleep deprived we didn't care. We arrived in Rome at about 1:30 and checked into our hostel, Alessandro Downtown, earlier than expected. The hosts at the desks loved my last name!!!! After we had lunch across the street, we came back to our room and basically collapsed on our beds for a couple hours. We woke up on time though, for the Pasta Party; the owner's mother-in-law makes pasta every night for the guests! So we got our free plate of pasta and met quite a bit of the guests, and later on went out with them.
The next day, Matt, Jessica and I checked out the Colosseum. It really came out of nowhere. We were marveled by it. I actually got chills there and felt a peaceful feeling while walking through it. I know that sounds strange seeing how this is a place where people were brought to watch others die. But it was quite serene to be honest.
Afterwards, we had lunch at this restaurant not too far from the Colosseum and it was simply Heaven. Our pizzas were exquisite, the service was exceptional and a man playing an accordion stopped by to complete the cliché moment ;) And to top it off, we had a clear view of the Colosseum from our table. This was bliss.
Afterwards, we checked out the forum (with a free tour!) and such which was also really impressive and we were able to get on a terrace and have an awesome view of Rome. Then, we got back to the hostel for the pasta party again and met some new people. We eventually went out with them and got to this discothèque where it was mostly just us haha. But it was still loads of fun I thought.
The next day (our last full day in Rome :/), we visited the Vatican and saw the Tombs of the Popes, the Spanish Steps, many other places and of course the Sistine Chapel. We met Andrea, who was visiting Rome by herself, so she came with us during the day. I felt like we got so much done by seeing all these places! We saw some pretty devoted women kissing the tomb of John Paul II. Not really too shocking just sort of interesting. We found out that if one was to look at every picture for a minute at the Vatican 24/7, it would take 13 years! Personally, I don't think it's worth it, which is why I'll be home when planned haha. But we did see some amazing sculptures, paintings and other masterpieces in the Vatican, and especially the Sistine Chapel (where photos were strictly forbidden ;)). So glad we came.
The next day we made all the pasta that we bought the first day, because we hadn't had any of it yet. When we bought it, we figured we would eat some every day but we got full from the pasta party every night! haha. So we cooked all of it but could not finish all of it! So we covered it up and stuck it in the fridge in the community kitchen. I hope someone enjoyed it! While we waited for our bus to take us to the airport, we had some gellato :) So glad we got some before we left; definitely worth it.
We caught the plane back to Paris, had some dinner at a pretty cool restaurant (pizza encore bien sûr)) and spent the night there. After some sneaking around the hotel (since we only booked the room for two and not for three, since it'd be cheaper), we finally fell asleep. The next day, we picked up some lunch at the train station while we waited for our train to take us back to Angers. We brought our lunch outside and sat in the glistening sun. We saw a number of army-looking-men around the train station, no doubt due to the recent terriorist threats against Paris, and in France, England and Germany in general.
We arrived back in Angers around 8ish? I think. It started to rain slowly which was a sneak peek of the week to come. As much as I was already missing Rome, I was glad that we were back in Angers. Almost 3 weeks later, I have met tons of new students who came for the actual semester (October - January), and have loved it. After changing my classes because c'était trop facil, I love it.
Les Français have been striking (le grève) and protesting (les manifestations) the retirement reform bill that is looking like it's going to pass the Senate (they vote either today, tomorrow or Sunday on it). As much as I dislike all the trash lying around and the fact that my friends can't make their travels, I love that the French people are keeping their government in check. I truly admire the French for that, among many things :)
I'm not quite sure what I'm doing for halloween, but I am going to Bruxelles and Amsterdam in about 4 weeks, with Matt and Jessica. Very pumped :)
Well thanks for reading this longer than usual post and sorry it took me so long. I've been awfully busy as I'm sure you can imagine :) One last thing however! I bought a new camera today. I truly really like my Canon PowerShot, but it is somewhat burdensome to carry with me just to bars and such. So I got a smaller camera (et pas cher) to bring to places where I don't need all the wonderful features of my Canon, and where it's much more mobile :)
Merci encore et j'essaierai écrire pas trop bientôt mais pas trop tard aussi bien sûr :) Thanks again and I will try to write not too soon but not too late either of course :) I hope to write some of my postcards this weekend. And read maybe a chapter of my new book~Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort :)
à bientôt,
Vincent
