I luckily stumbled on a bar with wi-fi here in Rome, so I am sitting here putting up loads of pictures as I write this.

On my first day here, I threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain; climbed the Spanish Steps; and went to the Piazza Navona. That afternoon, we had a group session with this English art historian who teaches in Rome. He took us to the Pantheon, the Forum, and the Colosseum. I have to say, it was a bit surreal to be seeing them in person after studying Latin and learning about the Romans for so long.

Yesterday, we had a morning lesson at Santa Maria Maggiore, this 5th century church with lots of mosaics. Then I went to the Capitoline Museum, where they have amazing sculptures including the Marcus Aurelius Equestrian Bronze and the Wolf of Rome. Even though there was (a still is) so much to see here, I had to take a very long nap because living in close quarters has finally caught up with me and I have come down with a very unpleasant cold that is going through our group. I'm trying not to let it hinder me too much, though. We had a group dinner last night that was fabulous- eggplant; pasta with fresh basil and tomatoes; beef carpaccio soaked in lemon garlic sauce; tiramisu. But the absolute best part was sitting next to Brian Masters: he has had a very interesting life that I still cannot quite believe. He has been writing books and working as a travel guide since his 20's. Would you like to know who his best friend is? Oh, just Dame Judi Dench. NO LIE. He has known her for 40 years and is godfather to her daughter. In fact, while we were eating dinner, he was like, "Oh that reminds me, this is her favorite restaurant in Rome. I need to give her a call." He just whips out his phone and calls up an Oscar award-winning actress. "Hello, darling, it's Brian." Then he got to talking to Cristina about New York and theatre, and he nearly gave her a stroke when he said, "One of my friends is very involved in the Broadway world. Stephen Sondheim." He then proceeded to tell us a story about attending one of Sondheim's plays with Katherine Hepburn. To him, this is his life, and it's all as normal as can be. But we were freaking out.

Today was an entirely free day. I went with Max to the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi to see the 3 Caravaggio paintings they have there. Then we met up with Ali and Cristina at a church across the Tiber, the Santa Maria in Travastere. We looked at the mosaics there so that we could compare them in our journals to the ones we saw yesterday. Then we went to the Mouth of Truth (luckily, my hand is still intact) before eating pasta for lunch and then heading back to the hotel for some rest. Then I came here, and there you have it!

Tomorrow is our last day in Rome. We have a group session at St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums. I can't wait to see the Sistene Chapel, but especially Michelangelo's Pieta. Having studied it at Oxford from a slide, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I can't even imagine what it will be like seeing it in person.

Movie I have been craving this week: Roman Holiday

On a non-Europe-related note, I have felt very disconnected from life in America over the past week. From what is happening with the economy to hearing that Paul Newman died (and then seeing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on tv dubbed in Italian), it's been a sad time to be in a foreign country where life seems to be so little affected.