Brrrrrr.

So even though all of the snow is melted, it is still absolutely freezing in Roma. Yesterday we had a snow day, because Italians do not know how to deal with snow. All schools and public offices were closed due to about 2 inches of snow on the ground, which was mostly all melted as of Sunday night. I decided to take advantage of my day off by exploring some new areas of the city. I went to lunch with some people from my school at a restaurant that was supposed to give us a 10% discount with our student ID cards. However, the Italian waiter had no idea what our ID cards meant so we got no discount. However, the food was still wonderful. I had spaghetti with clams (the first time I've had spaghetti here!). It was delicious. After lunch we decided to get on the metro, and to get off at a random stop we had never been to before. We decided on Flaminio- Piazza del Popolo. I haven't uploaded pictures of it yet, but it was basically a beautiful square with a giant obelisk in the middle complete with some fountains. We did some window shopping in the area. I went to a candy store called Jollyland and purchased my first Kinder egg, which is kind of like a WonderBall. It's a chocolate egg with a toy in the middle. It was yummy and my puzzle was also fun to put together:) We eventually found ourselves on Via del Corso, which is the best/most expensive shopping street in Rome. All of the big designers are located on this street. We also discovered an H&M, Gap, and a Northface store which I might have to pay a visit to if it continues to be bitterly cold!! After a long day of walking around, I took the metro home. Because I had such a large pasta lunch I did not want to make more pasta for dinner, so some of my roommates and I went out and got pizza at the pizzeria on our street. Our goal is to eat there often enough that we begin to get discounts (although it is only 3 euro for 2 slices of delicious pizza) and/or for the woman to memorize our orders (although I'm hoping to try something different every time I go!)

This morning I had my History of Architecture class. We were supposed to walk around the Colosseo/Roman Forum yet they were both still closed due to the snow. So instead my professor had us walk around in freezing cold weather at 9am while she talked about it. I knew the things she was saying were interesting yet it was so difficult to pay attention because I could barely feel my entire body! Our professor then took us to the Basilica di San Clemente which was a beautiful church. Underneath the church lies an actual house from Ancient Rome. Our professor told us that at y times churches and basilicas were built on top of preexisting structures so that no foundation was necessary. It was amazing to see how well preserved these ancient structures were! After visiting the church/house our professor could tell how cold we were and let us go a little bit early.

Later today I had my Ancient Rome class. Because most outdoor monuments were closed, my professor brought us to the Palazzo Massimo Museum. The museum was filled with ancient Roman sculptures and other artifacts which were really cool. However, one of the exhibits actually took my breath away. This picture does not do it justice. A group of students from the University of Roma were performing an excavation of a site near the Colosseum. They found these glass balls, which belonged to Roman emperors. They were usually found at the end of a long rod that they carried to demonstrate their power. I was so amazed because the artifacts were so colorful and shiny compared to everything else in the museum. I hope to go back again to spend more time admiring them!!

Tomorrow I have one more day of class and then it's the weekend again! We're supposed to get more snow in Italy unfortunately... I'm hoping it's not too bad because we have a school trip to Umbria this weekend! I don't want it to get cancelled!! Okay well it's time for bed! Until next time, love you all! xoxoxo