What I was up to this week

This week I:

1) Made a friend online who lives in Rome. There is a site called FriendsinRome.com that gives tips, advice and such but also includes a forum where people who want to exchange languages can meet. I have started chatting with a woman named Lorella who will help me practice my Italian while I help her with her English. That also gives me a brain to pick on what bars, restaurants and shops are good in the area. Always best to ask a local right?

2) Downloaded some Italian music. I figured it might help me to pick the language up more easily. So far I am digging Alessandra Amoroso and Emma Marrone. There are several Italian Radio stations on iTunes that I listened to first and when I found something I liked I would download it.

3) Listened to Earworms Rapid Italian (an audiobook that I am using to learn Italian vocab) while painting. I'm an artist and there are some local art shows coming up that I am in. I hope to be able to sell some stuff to earn more money before the trip.

School too of course.


I also did a little shopping to get some of my list of things to bring. I am lucky though because I am going to be able to borrow some things I will need.

I can't believe how close it is getting to the trip. I am so excited! It seems like it is always just in the back of my mind.

To Check or Not to Check

I have read a lot of posts and articles online about what kinds of things to pack when traveling internationally etc. It seems like there are a lot of people that tell horror stories about lost luggage and warnings not to check luggage. Others simply suggest you keep at least one change of clothes in your carry-on just in case. I want to make sure that I am prepared but I am wondering how much of a problem it really might be.

 

Have many students dealt with lost luggage on trips like this? Has anyone had this problem when traveling elsewhere? And if your stuff gets lost, how often do you get it back a few days later?

Out of the Blue (Guide)

So I started ordering the books from the syllabus for the class. Today, I got the Blue Guide and started reading all about places in Trastevere, the area where we will be staying. I figured it might be interesting to learn more about the area nearest the hotel and work outward. It is amazing reading about all of the crazy awesome art and architecture that will be that close. The Palazzo Corsini is one of the locations that houses part of the Galleria Nazionale D'arte Antica, where you can see works by Fra' Angelico, Rubens, van Dyck and Caravaggio amongst others. I have read about the works of these artists, seen reproductions in books and studied them in class but to think that works of that caliber are on display within walking distance from where I will stay for two weeks ... it just blows my mind. In fact, every time I think of one of the iconic pieces of art or architecture that I will be able to see I am filled with overwhelming awe. This is going to be the experience of a lifetime. I know that there is so much to see that we won't be able to see more than a fraction of it but seeing any of it is verging on miraculous to me.

Making me CRAZY!!!

I want to tear my freaking hair out! I am working on entering each individual flight for each leg of my trip into the International SOS form online as part of the scholarship requirements for the Rome trip. I struggled with it in Internet Explorer (which is the recommended browser) so I switched to Firefox and it seemed to work. I entered every single $%$%&^ detail then clicked save... only to get an error message and losing all but the first flight. AAAAARGH!

Almost all the required forms have been filled out but this one is killing me!

Deep breaths ... You get to go to Rome... you can handle this .... ::sigh::

Wish me luck!

Note: I completed it when I went back in. Everything was fine. But I do STRONGLY suggest that anyone who has to do this clicks "save trip" after each flight is added. It adds an extra few steps, because you have to open the trip again to add a flight, but you won't lose any info either.

Thinking about Florence

The students on this trip have the option to visit Florence for a day. I only wish we could have more time to see this city as well as we will Rome, especially after reading this LA Times travel article about it : http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-florence-20110717,0,4596462.story

Another article pointed out a museum in Rome that focuses on contemporary art rather than those of antiquity. I may have to see if I can visit this place during down time from the class-arranged tours. MAXXI

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-newmuseums-20110717,0,1718755.story