"obviously...

these lion heads are gutters" -our tour guide at the catacombes

i was flattered by his assumption that we "obviously" knew some pretty unobvious things

this place was really cool

there are 80,000 underground graves dug out of volcanic rock
it had 4 different "floors"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Catacombe.jpg

we walked through hallway after hallway seeing holes in the walls like this
mom- you probably shouldn't go in there. you'll hyperventilate

melissa, amy, leslie and me outside the church that was built above the catacombes

rachel and me outside the same church
she's our gta for the trip
we share a love for italian cappuccino's

american embassy
god bless

we went to see bones
not a joke
the capuchin crypt

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1240/901488191_e28c9ded81_o.jpg
it was pretty, but it gave me the heebie jeebies

"mouth of the truth"
story goes, you put your hand in its mouth to see if you're telling the truth
you lie, you die
just kidding. you just lose a hand

peek wanted to keep her hand so she picked his nose instead

jenny & me
honest-folk

inside of the church next to the mouth of truth

dear hanyon, i found our triplet

this is an amphitheater
dad- the holes are from where the marble used to attach. it was completely covered in marble. the romans liked to recycle the marble and use it for their new buildings. you love facts.

part of the jewish ghetto

this is cinzia ("chin-zee-uh")

she's our translator/planner/mom/friend/hero

we love her

dear sarah cowart, i found your husband as a child

"mi chiamo ragazzo di mucca mike" 

my name is cowboy mike

the tiber river

on the right is rome's only island- it's tiny

then my camera died

& i contemplated paying 5 euro for 4 batteries..nope

just look at kaitlin's blog to see our last stop

kaitlinbarton.wordpress.com

ciao ciao!

embarrassing

today in italian class i had a few mispronunciations. i was innocently trying to say "busta" (bag) and "pane"(bread), and had some seriously inappropriate results.
very embarrassing
and hilarious
maybe i'll just stick to ciao for a little while longer...

we've been visiting the fruit stand for fresh, local apples oranges, bananas, and anything else you could want

here's a small section, notice the "busta" roll

juiciest oranges you'll ever eat

he noticed me taking pictures, so he posed
interesting choice
they kept saying "bella americana, bella americana"

i bravely ordered "fettucini to the porky mushrooms"
(you can tell they just typed the italian words on the menu into a translator to make an english version)
hilarious
america has better mushrooms
sorry italy

we toured some more of the chigi palace yesterday (pronounced key-jee)

i loveee the leather wallcovering
it's gorgeous

here we have the chigi family tree
wow

i'm sure she's on that tree somewhere
this is a very popular hairstyle during the chigi reign
hmm

here is francesco writing a love-letter to peek
joe burrell in 30 years, anyone?
he's demonstrating how the chigi family used their desk
notice the leather wallcovering (same as pictured above)

"and here is how they rang the bell"

we go into rome tomorrow, so hopefully i'll have something more interesting to post!

ciao

$6 cola-lite

yikes. but delicious! not to mention, it had ice in it. is it weird that i already miss that?
you can see it in this picture..that little stinker

backtrack to yesterday...

dear emily, i found your room in the palace
that's francesco. he's nice, you'll like him

these walls are covered in stamped leather
the stamps that were used are against the wall

our cheapest dinner yet...3 euro
pizza yummm

dear kaki, your favorite part of europe is rubbing off on me

you know you're in italy when you receive a plastic bottle of wine-to-go from the restaurant for your birthday
so funny

now fastforward to today....

we took a train into rome

solo shot
i'm not sure what church this is. (still can't read)
don't worry, we have to take these photos for class
i thought you'd be amused

kaitlin and meredith inside the church
that's the back of a statue next to them

dear rebekah & caroline, there were flags in every window of this building

america and italy are clearly best friends

kaitlin high fived the pope

our bikes

i wish

italiaaa

dear rebekah, italians skate 

entertainment

italians are snuggly

solo shot 2

you're welcome

the view on the train ride back to ariccia

i'm so thankful for this opportunity and the sweet girls i've gotten to know so far. can't wait to see what the lord has in store for the summer!

italian-ignorant

well, we had our first italian class today! maybe i'll begin communication soon. there is a lot more than just the language to learn in order to relate to the italians...

their summer doesn't start until june, even though it's hot here already. everyone is wearing turtlenecks, scarves, leather boots and jackets, and a lot of black. meanwhile, 23 american girls walk by in shorts, sandles, and no sleeves. so much for blending in

kaitlin and i will never blend in. our hair is too light. we've contemplated joining in on the bright red hair fashion trend going on over here. maybe we'll be trend setters in the states.

next good thing to know: the double kisses start on the left cheek

yesterday we visited some little towns near ariccia. i'll post some pictures for you

dear inds juniors: this is how we will survive the fall. espressos = sooo muchhh caffeineee

our lunch on wednesday consisted of hot mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto. notice the pig made of pork on the left. how strange.

this is not an accident..

we have the same sun as america. i can't wrap my mind around that

the roman road. incredible, right??

you can see over 17 miles of italy behind us

this church smelled so old. probably because it was built before the church split.

here' s the church's name
maybe you can read italian

italians have very very very small cars

cruising the streets. tripping is inevitable. it's like walking on the old concourse.

dear alex, you were right. here are some normal and some non-polyploidy strawberries (impressed?)

dear mom, don't be embarrassed. i didn't know what tortellini was until thursday's lunch..

dear abby, this is the pope's summer home. he's not in there; if you were wondering.

lake albano. aka- the pope's backyard

more to come!

ciao