Last Few Days

I'm starting to lose track of the blog and updating my pictures a little bit as things start to pick up. My last post was after our return from Orientation, and since then we've started classes, had some more awesome times, and experienced a taste of weekend life around Rome. I went to a bar to watch a soccer (calcio) game a few nights ago with my roommate whos favorite EPL team was playing, also have had my first two classes, had some failed searches for my first gelato, and strolled around the neighborhood without a destination on my own for the first time, something I love doing.

Yesterday, a few Marquette friends and I took a trip to Civitavecchia, a seaport town directly west of Rome. A one euro bus pass is all it cost each way, and it was nice to get out of the city for so cheap and explore some new areas. It was a sweet little town, kinda had this California feel, with an awesome beach front full of open stores, arcades, ridiculously colorful carnival looking shops. We out-Italianed the other Italians and found a secluded spot on the rocks and ate our lunch of cheese, salami, bread, clementines, and wine. It was so awesome, and after exploring that area a little more we asked a local for the best gelato spot around and......WOW! It was amazing, a literal slice of heaven - one scoop of extra dark chocolate, one scoop of cream gelato, topped with whip cream and an extra piece of cone. I dont think I'll ever be able to get enough of that, and luckily our other searches failed cause nothing else could have been this good.

We got back to Rome and had a freaking amazing night. I tagged along with some friends to a jazz club - SWANKY AS HECK! All the spots were reserved in the upstairs of this high class restaurant where the band was performing, but somebody didnt show up so the five of us got a seat. Unbelieveable performance, and my first live jazz show, and in this incredibly classy joint, with a couple bottles of wine and an appetizer for 85 euro split between five people, it was great. One of the coolest things I've ever done, but I've said that for about four or five different things already on this trip.

I've been getting pretty overwhelmed with planning trips and money and such. I'm finding it much more difficult than I expected to plan trips while trying to do everything as cheap as possible and conserve money for the hole semester. I want to do as much as possible, but I need to save for my two week trek after semester ends, and for some reason the internet doesn't have a database having everything Zach D'Arienzo needs in one place to plan his vacations; what a bummer, what use does it serve anyway? That being said, my Marquette friends are much better planners than I am, and I'm pretty sure we are getting tickets tomorrow for next weekend in Florence in Pisa, should be awesome!

I'm getting pictures up soon of Civitavecchia and a little day trip I took today to Villa d'Este, the summer residence of a really rich cardinal in the mid 1500s, awesome place.

CIAO!