Ostia Antica

Today we went to the ancient city of Ostia Antica. It was pretty cool to see the remnants of the old port town, like the bath houses, the forum, and the temples, even the toilets. The bathroom was really just on room, with a lot of seats covering "holes" for people to do their business. We have a very nice photos of all the guys sitting next to each other on the toilets.

A lot of the rooms could be heated, so we were able to go down below the surface into the area where hot fires were held to heat the marble floors. It was dark, full of bugs, and had very low ceilings (I saw Bennett hit his head down there).

We also saw the grossest scariest spider. It had a red body, giant fangs, and was pretty fast. I don't like bugs, but they don't usually scare me. This spider though, small as it was, scared the crap out of me.

After exploring this city, we moved to the beaches of Lido di Ostia. We went to the pay beach. It was basically awesome. There were little rooms that people could rent for the day, lounge chairs etc.. that people could rent for the day. We just ended up sitting on our towels by the water.

I know that people say that the water is really dirty, but we all went in anyways. It was amazing, I swam in the Mediterranean! The water as super salty though. I know I don't know how to swim, but I went out pretty far and Emily tried to teach me the "egg beater" way to tread water. I think I might have gotten the hang of it.... The water as super salty though. After some splashing we all ended up tanning on the beach, then went back to Rome.

Caffeine Addict, Oh No!

The coffee is amazing. Honestly there are coffee shops everywhere in Rome, and my roommates and I decided to go to a new coffee shop everyday before school.

Those of you who know me well know that I don't really drink coffee (I usually prefer a nice big cup of hot water actually) but it's so different here. Drinks are not super sweet, nor do they have a strange aftertaste that sometimes make me want to gag. And they're way cheaper; a cappuccino is about .90 Euro, and a cafe latte is about 1.20 Euro.

A cafe we often visit is Magnolia, in the Campo de Fiori, which offer student discounts. Another favorite of mine is one just around the corner of the Campo, who were so nice as to let us sit at a table even though we only paid to stand at the bar. They have these amazing croissant filled with jam and dusted with powdered sugar that I really need to go back and get tomorrow.

Note a strange thing here: it costs way more to sit down and eat or drink something than it does to stand at the bar. But if you pay to sit down, you can stay there all day. The owners don't give you dirty looks or anything like they would in Seattle.

Settling In

Rome is absolutely gorgeous. I love how sunny it is all the time, and how buildings almost always have terraces with pots of flowers hanging down over their balconies. Although it can get pretty hot, the sunshine seems to put Romans into a good mood, and they're all so friendly. I've gotten lost plenty of times, but I think it's great to explore the city and find new cafes and shops I've never seen before. Dispersed among the little shops I'll surprisingly run into a church or ancient piece of architecture too, so it's always an adventure as I walk out the door.

Every market and store seems like a small family run business, which I find really interesting; I haven't really sees any chain restaurants or businesses yet (except for that one McDonalds that I passed by during our first tour). I've really enjoyed that fact that there are markets everywhere, and I can buy whatever fresh vegetables and fruit that I want. I'll be cooking soon and hopefully it will be delicious (fingers crossed).

Let's Depart

This morning started out pretty well considering I'm running on one hour of sleep. Since I am a worrier at times, I spent the night searching through my luggage again and again to make sure I didn't forget anything. The only hitch so far has been that Shurui forgot his water bottle. And he won't stop bringing it up.