"Marry me, no money"

The last couple days my friends and I have been walking around trying to get ourselves acquainted with the city and see everything. Boy have we walked a long way! The picture below is the river that separates my apartment from the major part of the city. The water is so dirty because it has recently flooded and there are many areas where staircases and boat launches are under water!


Yesterday we went shopping and found some really good deals; I got cowboy boots for 20 Euro! It is hard to find deals after the month of January because in Rome they really only have sales twice a year; once in the summer and once in the winter right after Christmas. It was pouring rain all day so we didn't really take the time to look at many significant buildings, but we passed the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. They are neat any day.

Today we decided we wanted to see what Rome is all about so Katie, Laura and myself decided to walk around the city; and man did we do that! We must have walked atleast 6 miles. It was really interesting seeing the Roman ruins that have been here for centuries next to other more modern looking buildings. It is cool that you can just turn a corner, not knowing where you are and then a major icon of the city or time period can be right in front of you. I also thought the buildings were farther apart but they are closer and smaller than most people think. On our excursion we saw the Roman Forum, The National Museum, Trevi Fountain, and The Pantheon. I am sure we passed many other monumental places on our walk, but none of us knew what the places were. I wish I would have payed more attention in history class now!

But out of the places we went, the Roman Forum was my favorite. We didn't have enough time to go in and walk around, but seeing the ruins from outside the gates was spectacular on its' own. And I will be here for 4 months so I'm sure I will see it again shortly!



We then made it over to the Pantheon to meet some friends and we didn't have a map, so after a couple minor wrong turns we made it! Pretty impressive that we didn't get totally turned around. It is so easy to get lost here. Once inside, Laura got yelled at while inside because she is always so loud! Outside the Pantheon there is a man dressed in Ancient Roman guard attire, headdress and all. He basically stands around so people can take pictures with him, but don't get sucked into his fancy talk, he charges atleast 5 Euro per picture...thats $7.50 for one picture! When Katie, Laura and I were standing out front waiting for some other friends he came up and started talking to us in his broken English and pressuring us to take a picture with him for 5 Euro. We poilitely denied him, but he wouldnt take it. So he then lowered is offer to 1 Euro, but then added "marry me no money." We thought it was hilarious that if we married him he would save us one Euro; what a nice Italian man. haha.



We also went and saw the Trevi Fountain which is AMAZING! so many people go to see this everyday...rain or shine. It is truly breathtaking. No picture can describe how beautiful some of these places are. That just means you have to come visit me =]




We then headed home but needed to buy some supplies for our art class tomorrow. I picked out a couple things but when I went to pay, she asked me how much the pencils were (i think) but I dont know my numbers so the only way I could tell her was by using my fingers. It was very embarassing.


...more pictures later! our internet is VERY slow...
-M