come se dice.....?: "I have never seen a Texan before! Only on television!"

Sorry for the delay... this is Italy not America.... bad internet

The last few days I think I have walked about 25 miles total. We spent one day in Mantua and two in Rome. We saw EVERYTHING we could in Rome and did not stop until we took our night train to Sicily. The architecture that we saw was indescribable. First, in Mantua, we saw the St. Andrea. This was the first church that we traveled to. The serenity that is felt within this space is magnificent. I have never been a place that was so serene and quiet.

Next, we traveled to Rome on a train. Rome was interesting. I would call it the New York of Italy. However, it is a little sketchier and dangerous than the other towns that we have visited. The boys that travelled with us made us walk on the inside and herded us onto the subway. They were very good at keeping us alert... you're welcome dad.

I have always been told how immense the cathedral's in Rome are and how you will never experience it until you get there. I can now understand what all of my professors meant. Walking into St. Peter's was an experience that I will never forget. As we walked in, a mass was going on and the people were singing. It was literally like you were in a dream. God was in this place. I could have stayed at that one place all day because of it's majestic beauty. It is something everyone should experience. You truly feel the presence of the Lord in a space like that. The pride that these individual's took in their work is what amazed me the most. The beautiful details that were carved and thought through truly make the space what it is. However, the way that the sounds echo in the space create a sense of peace.

I know this should be a serious discussion about the cathedral's and everything, but I have a funny story. So....Channing, Andrew, and I were sitting on the floor at the back of St. Peter's admiring it's beauty, and a little bird flew over us. "Oh guys look it's a bird! Cool place to live." So the bird lands hiiiiiiigh above us because of the incredibly high ceilings. About 5 second later.... splat. Yes, we were pooped on in St. Peter's. I am not sure if that was bad luck or not? Pray for me.

The next day we saw Renzo Pianos Parco de la Musica. This building is more contemporary. We then saw the Maxxi Museum by Zaha Hadid. This was one of the most incredible contemporary buildings I have ever seen. The way that the forms worked together and created movement throughout the building was very impressive. The lighting that they used truly brought the space together as a whole and finished off the structure nicely. Jeremy, you would like this building! The glass work was incredible!

The night train was an experience! We have become fast friends with Professor Perbellini's 9 year old daughter. Yes, Mason.... I am hanging out with the children. Big surprise I know! She asked if she could stay in our room on the train, so we had a little slumber party. Around 12 Perbellini knocks on our door and says that someone booked that bed and was supposed to sleep there, so she had to get Celeste. The lady who is supposed to stay then walks up.... we will just be nice and call her a hippy. Perbellini sees this and is now arguing with the woman and the train guy outside our door. Italian arguments. AWESOME. So, being my Mother's daughter, I am grabbing everything and putting it in my purse and, sorry for the information, sticking my wallet and passport in my pants. They argued for awhile.... then, the train conductor comes back and just tells us to lock our door. The hippy never returned again.... and by hippy I mean maybe a gypsy.

We got to Sicily and checked into our precious hotel! We are in the butterfly room. I will take pictures! We grabbed a croissant and headed straight to the beach where I may or may not have gotten a sunburn. Oops. We just had our first class meeting. We are having an architectural "battle" if you will. Each of us has a battle name that they specifically gave to us and mine is Aurora, meaning, "light display in the sky". We are studying with an architect from Rome, who travelled with us to Sicily. He is really interesting! Very vivacious to say the least!

On that note, I have to go eat dinner but I hope you all enjoyed this post!