Tivoli

The last two days have been kind of crazy. Yesterday, we went to the Colosseum and the Forum. Major dejá vu from going in high school. I think I could hang out in the Colosseum all day. Last night we went to Trastevere, which is like an area with lots of bars that is more Italians than Americans. Small cobblestone streets lined with shops and bars. It was awesome. Tried some beer called "Elephant", which was good. Pretty much my first beer experiment. I also got a Guinness in a bottle. Never again. Today, we went to a small town about an hour away from Roma called Tivoli. We went on a tour of Villa D'Este, which is the home of a Catholic Cardinal from Roman times. Lots of awesome artwork. Beautiful garden with amazing views. Incredible fountains. It was the most incredible house/property I've ever seen. The Church has always had money. No doubt there. After that we went to a small restaurant that was inside of a site that was over 2000 years old. Yes, 2000. The owners of the restaurant said there's still more to be excavated, but it was basically like eating in a cave, and the food and wine were delicious. Then we wandered around the city for a few hours, got some gelato, and enjoyed people watching in the main piazza. It was a great day. Classes start tomorrow. Yuck. I think it'll make me realize that I'm here to stay, which is good. So far it's felt like a nice vacation. I don't really like the way this thing uploads pictures, so look at Facebook if you care to see photos. Arrivederci, i miei amici.