Day 1- May 31

Today I arrived in Roma (serendipitously on the same flight as Kylee and Michelle) at a whopping 7:45 in the morning. Although Da Vinci airport has relinquished even a pretension to customs or security (not even a passport stamp- now who will believe I was here?), it still took until a whopping 10:30 to arrive at Collegio Leoniano. Along the way, Kylee and I learned that Roma has the biggest pigeons in the universe and they are infiltrating the airport for attack.

After unpacking, I went to see my favority attraction of the city: Castel Sant'Angelo, one of the greatest Ancient Roman buildings left in the city. I met a friend on Ponte Sant'Angelo (the bridge to the castle over the Tiber) and then walked around the castle, enjoying the view, the market, the complimentary yet overbearing vendors, and the benches among the lovely tree-walled pathway around the castle. Here we learned even more about Italian pigeons, witnessing their unique and complex mating rituals, to our great fascination.

This adventure was followed by- what else- pizza and gelato across the Tiber. Here I excercised my first rusty bits of Italiano, which went surprisingly well. I relearned the habits of Italian eateries, partaking of course in their beloved carbonated water (no ice), and dining outside in the beautiful streets, flowers atop many roofs and trailing down the walls. We then made our way meanderingly back to Collegio Leoniano, enjoying the delicate architecture and music of Italiano all around us, making a few stops at attractions such as obscure bookstores, where we mulled over literature such as the comic book Thor in Italiano.

Arriving back at the Collegio, I finally met up with my roommate Kristin, and most of the Loyola fourteen participated in an intense bonding experience in the line to get our laptops registered for Collegio wifi.

We ended the day with a walking tour of important spots for our stay: Il Vaticano, Castel Sant'Angelo, Piazza del Popolo, the frutteria, negozio di alimentari, farmacia, cafe, and more. We conquered the steps atop Piazza del Popolo to great rewards: a glimpse at the gardens which reside there, a clearly impoverished street singer with heartfelt if incomplete John Lennon covers and an elaborate sound system including voice modification, a hurried education on the state of the upcoming nuclear power referendum from Greenpeace activists sleeping above the city in an alarmingly yellow vat of 'radioactive waste', and of course a panorama of Roma perhaps only conquered by that from the top if the dome of Il Vaticano, which we have not yet seen. Also, throughout the tour I learned about the amazing resilience of the Ancient Roman aqueduct system which still provides the city with impossibly ice-cold refreshment from numerous fountains.

At the end of all this, at least for those of us lucky enough to be on the third floor, came the greatest sleep of all time.