so i've officially been in italy for a month. it's flying! this past week has been pretty busy with quite a workload and 3 of my best girls from saint mary's came to visit on their fall break. tuesday we walked to the vatican museums to see the sistine chapel which was pretty awesome. yesterday i went for a run along the tiber, which i thoroughly enjoyed even though i was violently attacked by a massive flock of birds. the weather here has been unreal - only 3 light rains and it has been sunny and high 70s every day. i'm even conquering the art of walking on the cobblestone streets in heels, oh, except for that one time where i faceplanted in front of the tiz and now look like i just fought in a boxing match. but no biggy.

if anybody's looking for some last minute christmas gift ideas, i have one...

A NEW IMMUNE SYSTEM!
sounds great, thanks!

mi scrivi!

while in rome there is nothing better than getting snail mail!
write me:

Tiziano Hotel
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 110 - 00186
Rome, Italy

access DENIED

i love sundays in rome. there's not many people who can call saint peter's their place of worship for an extended period as i do. not many people can confess they were denied access to the basilica either. again i say, i was. the plan yesterday was to go to mass at 5:30 following a long day exploring the sunday market and finishing up homework. so, a group of us embarked for the vatican in our sunday best. so i, modestly dressed as always, was absolutely stunned when a jerk of an italian man aggressively refused me from entering due to my dress being "troppo corto." after several attempts to get me to leave ("vai! vai"), and even more sad attempts to improvise with scarves around my knees, etc., another saint peter's wardrobe enforcer, this one a charmer, kindly allowed my entrance. and then we entered only to find that mass was at 4. it was 5, and right on time for vesper's. nice one. we then proceeded to l'insalata ricca, where the wine was a little too robust for a merlot, but then again i'm partial to the soft of california grape.

oh, and for the tenth time in the past 2 weeks, yesterday and today i was approached by foreign men who asked, "sei spagnola?"

tarquinian tombs, tyrhennian sea, john legend and scary men

today was such a long day, but got to go to the beach in between the tombraiding and to see john legend in concert in the city! there's nothing quite like a massive stage in all its glory aside the basilica of san giovanni. sooo cool. i also learned a very valuable lesson - one. when 3 italian men surround you and creepily exclaim "bionda! bionda!"...relocate. and when another man follows you through the piazza yelling, "vieni! vieni! sono molto tranquilo!" ...RUN! mamma mia. maybe i should look into a new hair color.

so, yesterday i, along with 2 other saint mary's girls, had the privilege of attending an ordination at Saint Peter's basilica for the NAC. it was awesome, and never in my life have i been surrounded by so many collars! it was also a really big treat to be in the company of all english speaking americans - it was a much needed little piece of home. today i had class until 10 and then had to walk alllll the way across roma with the group to an art museum. tomorrow we are being brutally awoken at SIX AM to go on what is referred to as an "all day excursion" to a place by the name of tarquinia. not to say i'm not looking forward to it, but after 3 weeks of being constantly on the go, i'm completely burnt out and can't seem to shake the sickness that has plagued me since arriving in europa, or the jet lag. ah geez. the weather here has been bizarre for october (nearly 80 and sunny), but i'm not complaining!

oh, and good news: dierdre is absolutely taking the modeling industry by storm! in the 2 weeks she's been in nyc, she's shot with seventeen and kohl's and has quite an impressive list of go-sees underway!

i like it when you call me big PAPA, throw yo hands up in the air YEAH P. BENNY yo yo

went to mass at saint peter's this morning and received a blessing from benny himself afterward. soooo cool! i loved how diverse the congregation was and being able to exchange the sign of peace with people from who knows where!

the collosseum: TYRA WAS HERE!!!

had class yesterday until 7, went out for dinner in piazza navona (discovered my previously unbeknownst taste for chianti), got kicked out of my hotel room for excessive noise, reinstated 3 minutes later, and finally out around town to a few bars etc. one of which was of spanish decent and i almost scored drinks free of charge for looking spanish. hmm. today we toured the forum and the collosseum. it absolutely rained cats and dogs. most people were amazed by the ancient-ness of these monuments and the like, but i was more intrigued by the fact that tyra banks and her top model clan from a recent season shot an episode in the collosseum!

"PAPA CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

took a walk to il vaticano ieri sera. what a magnificent place! by the time we left, however, we could've sworn we heard papa benny shouting out his window to get the heck out his yard.

vintage, so adorable

loving life in the city more and more each day! yesterday i went exploring down a quaint little sidestreet full of boutiques and cafes and stumbled upon a few hole-in-the-wall, stinky, smelly but goldmine vintage shops that made me want to shower and sanitize again and again but came across some bona fide treasures (none other than burberry pants and gucci bags). will definitely be checking back there as time progresses! on the downside, after searching high and low all over the city of rome for chewy bars and even contacting quaker myself, i am devastated to hear that europe as a whole is completely void of this necessity. tonight i am planning on walking to the vatican, that is, if the weather holds! buonasera!