Finally, Rome.
When we arrived, I was stunned by just how beautiful this city is. As Sam and I whipped around the city in a taxi, old castles, Fascist buildings, and towering monuments flew by in a matter of minutes. Our professors have always expressed how Rome’s history is ingrained in the fabric of the city, but seeing it in person really puts that idea into perspective.
One of the benefits of our apartment is that people are coming over to bask in the cool of our AC and to sit in our living room (complete with floor to ceiling windows). A couple nights ago a bunch of people came over for dinner and wine; there is something I thoroughly enjoy about sharing food and conversation with a group of friends at home. We all went down to the river, where there are a few pop up tents with some, clearly touristy, bars and restaurants. No complaints about the touristy aspect, considering we all got to spend our time laughing and drinking cocktails out of cups that looked like giant palm trees next to the Tiber.
We made plans that night to go to the beach. So yesterday we took an hour long train ride to Santa Marinella, a little beach town still technically part of Rome. The 10 of us spent the day basking in the sun, floating in the sea, and tanning on some rocks (that were an EXHAUSTING swim from the beach). It was very enjoyable to be in the Mediterranean again, made even more pleasant by the knowledge that I’m home now, for the next four months. I’ll have the opportunity to take trips like this whenever I feel the itch to see a new place (that is, whenever school work permits. But whatever).
I can already tell this is going to be unforgettable.
All of life is a foreign country. -Kerouac
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Read more from Holli at https://holliesmundo.wordpress.com/
Read more from Holli at https://holliesmundo.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the U of A Rome Center semester program for Architecture, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/romecentersemester/
