Weekend # 1

So Saturday was a lazy morning. Lauren was finishing a paper and I slept in. I finally caught up on sleep since arriving in Italy. We've been going non-stop all week and it felt good to recoup a little bit. We actually have to work/teach all week so I can't completely burn out already! Lauren and I decided to attend La Traviata (an Italian opera by Verdi) at the Chiesa di San Paolo in the evening. Now that we knew where we going we left with plenty of time. We got to the church, bought our tickets, and went to an Irish pub next door. I got a pizza with mozzarella, ham, and egg....it was AMAZING!!! I'm going to start making egg pizza at home! Don't judge me..... So after dinner we attended the opera and it was incredible! The soprano was absolutely breathtaking. No joke. She gave us both chills. Usually I don't like sopranos very much because they sound shrill and shriek a lot....but her voice sounded effortless and just beautiful. I'll try to attach a video to this post. It was just amazing to be sitting in a church in Rome watching a real Italian opera by real Italian artists. They did not have English subtitles so I didn't know exactly what was going on (I just read the synopsis) but I didn't care. It was incredible anyway. After the opera we returned to our lovely accommodations at Il Faro.

This morning we had every intention of going to Tivoli (a little town about 45 mins away from Rome that houses some beautiful villas with fountains and gardens). We slept in and got up around 10:45 and started getting ready. We left around 11:45 and headed downstairs to ask Cleopatra the easiest way to get there. As we were downstairs I was reading my Rome travel guide and it mentioned that the villas are closed on May 1 (it's their Labor Day).....so that sucked! Cleopatra then suggested Ostia Antica, a little town about 25 mins from the city that had some beautiful ruins from during the Roman empire. It was a gorgeous day so we figured "why not??" So we took a bus (that everyone, including a guy at the bus stop, warned us about saying it was a hot spot for gypsies to steal your things) across town to the Piramide train station and then took the train to Ostia Antica. We got there and didn't see much of anything so we followed what looked like a logical route. We found the ruins but it was CLOSED!!!! My guide book and even Cleopatra said it would be open today! We were bummed! By this point we REALLY needed lunch so we kept walking towards the town. Before we got to the main road we found a sign that said "La Kucina - 800 meters this way" and pointed down a country dirt road....so we followed it! The walk was stunning. There were fields and farm animals, little houses, etc. It was beautiful!! After walking nearly half a mile we kept following the arrows to this restaurant. Turns out it was in the back of a farm house or something. We walked up with 9 people and they were able to seat us. Well, their Sunday special was 30 Euro/person for appetizers, first course, second course, dessert, two bottles of wine, and water. We didn't want to spend that much and didn't need that much food so they made a special deal with us....20 Euro each for appetizers, our choice of first or second course, wine and water. We accepted and waited for the food.....and then the food came. It was probably the most epic meal I've ever had. EVERYTHING was just fantastic. It was WELL worth 20 Euro and we all left stuffed and happy! Then we walked back to town, got our daily gelato (1.50 Euro for 3 scoops and whipped cream!) and then headed back to the train. We finally arrived back home to Il Faro at around 6:30. It was the perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. Even though we didn't get to see the ruins we had a truly authentic Italian meal on a farm in the middle of nowhere. We couldn't have been happier!

Next weekend 9 of us are going out to Florence and staying in a villa in Tuscany. We are still working out the details and have no yet nailed down which villa but it is going to be epic. I am hoping to come home with some Tuscan wine and I hear the shopping in Florence is fabulous! We're going to Florence Friday after school and either staying until Saturday night or Sunday afternoon. I am voting for Sunday afternoon so we can really enjoy all of it but if we come back Saturday night then maybe we can go to Tivoli on Sunday. There is just SO much to do and not enough time to do it all! We still haven't toured the Colosseum, Roman Forum, or the Pantheon! Hopefully we can do those on nights after school during the week.

Tomorrow I get to teach the middle school choir for a bit! I'm introducing a new song to them so that should be fun! This is the stuff I love to do! I'm tired of rehearsing for this dance festival :( And Lauren and I have been recruited to dance with the kids at the festival on Thursday so that will definitely be interesting....we're the giants next to the students! haha. It will be fun, though :)

Time for bed before another great week at school!

Ciao!