The Adventures of Garth in Roma

Ciao Friends,

I don't even know what day it is. This trip has been flying by. We have spent the last two weeks in Florence with a few day trips and one weekend trip. So many touristy things were accomplished there, I did some solid work on my bucket list. From the top of the Duomo to the Uffizi Museum, to dropping 30 euro for gross overpriced pasta in Venice, I have to say I have done much more than expected. Becky and I climbed the Duomo, ran up to the Palazzo Michelangelo, ate tons of pizza and gelato of course and enjoyed the sighting in Siena and Venice.

When in Florence we took a 2 week, 4.5 hour/day Italian Language and Culture Class, I actually enjoyed it. Beatrice (my lovely teacher) rocked, so much Italian was thrown at us over this two week period, but it has been a wonderful experience to be able to use some of my knowledge to engage with the locals.

Now down to the good stuff: FOOD. Seriously, everything does taste better in Italy, well except for the "Fried Chicken Delicacy" and "mashed potatoes" that were served to us one evening for our free hotel meal, food in genearl is just that much yummier here. I'm for sure a coffee addict now, #hipster. I need my espresso every morning, along with my croissant.

Florence was a very beautiful city, but two weeks was the perfect amount. I was very good at being an American Tourist too. We left Florence on Saturday afternoon, and arrived in Roma, where we will officially be living for the next 3 months, Saturday evening. We moved into our apartment, it is "so Italy." I have four other roommates, and we have two bedrooms, a living room, two bathrooms, and a kitchen, with a washing machine and dishwasher, thank god. We were greeted by our landlord, a very friendly cute old man along with his son, his daughter, and his granddaughter, they gave us chocolates too. Our apartment is located in the Trastevere region of Rome, it is a great neighborhood, lots of restaurants, and lots of bars (this is key). Our walk to school is about 15 mins, based on the walking I have been doing the past few weeks I have been here, 15 mins is a walk in the park. Tomorrow we start classes, I'm not sure how I feel about saying that, I have gotten in a routine of attending one class, sightseeing, and eating, and now I actually have to go to class? Weird. Don't worry Mom, I'll take a first day of school picture along the Tiber River.

Now that I actually have working internet, here are some photos over my stay in Florence. More posts and photos to come.