I’m here! Here being Rome. The flight itself was an adventure. From Atlanta, I flew to Toronto and was accompanied by a man with a cat. The cat held his tongue, thankfully, and did not combust. I was a little worried about him with the pressure changes that occur while flying. Cat and I intact, we arrived in Toronto. Customs was easy. Another girl in the program forgot to remove pepper spray from her book bag. The nice customs man informed her that, had it been bear mace, there would be no issue, but to please come with him. Note to self: bear mace is not considered a weapon against humans.
The flight to Rome was sleepless and very trippy. They fed me a meal, which I can’t name, around 11pm home time, and then again at 7 am Rome time. Neither of these made sense, and what made even less sense was the lighting situation inside the plane. It was like crawling through the threads of Joseph’s Technicolor Dream Coat. We began with a white-ish blue for our first meal and drink service. It changed to a yellowy green for dessert, a fiery magenta at one point and eventually, went completely off. The next “morning,” we did it all again. Maybe the change was meant to get us sleepy or somehow adjusted? Overall, a very trippy traveling experience.
First afternoon/night in Rome was a complete and fantastic stereotype. We had DELICIOUS dinner on a cobblestoned street while a man played the accordion. Katy Cowles and I shared a plate of pasta that was really just one hugely long noodle and then we danced in the moonlight until dawn. False, but not far off. I had unbelievable pesto gnocchi, a 3 euro glass of water (?!) and because of some miscommunication with the waitress, the most unbelievable bruschetta of life. I did not know that tomatoes could taste so good. The accordion and cobblestoned street are a true story.
After dinner we wandered around Rome for a while and literally stumbled across the Pantheon. Turned a corner and there it was in all it’s ancient, stony glory. Jaw dropping stuff. I’m learning that any noteworthy sculpture, fountain or building in Rome has an obelisk in front of it. The Pantheon did not disappoint. On the way to dinner we found St. Peter’s, the Trevi Fountain, and afterward a giant and very important fountain that I couldn’t identify. But I know it’s important. It’s the four major rivers of the world with four gods around it in the Piazza Navona and it was BEAUTIFUL. Furman should look into revising some fountains based on this one.
The vegetation in Rome seems really conflicted to me. There are pine trees, palm trees and bamboo within three feet of one another. The buses are super confusing. No one was paying, so we decided not to make ourselves an exception. You have to ring a bell if you want to get off. This becomes a challenge if you don’t know where you are or where you are going. And if that gets out of control, a philosophical dilemma.
I’m three cups of coffee into my day, not too jet-lagged and pretty excited to see Rome with eyes that have not been jaded by a trans-continental flight! I will dig my camera out of my suitcase today so that there are illustrations to my future posts. We meet up with the whole group at 5 and then I have no idea what. It all starts, the hoopla, the art, everything. And now I need another cup of coffee.
