There is a very good chance I will begin every blog entry with some form of "I am exhausted." Today I am, more so than the past few days, believe it or not.
Today we got to sleep in! Well, sort of. I was woken up by a flatmate around 10.30 or 11 this morning because apparently we were meeting some friends downtown [what I call the area around the Study Center] to explore the city. Somehow we managed to make the commute in about 35 minutes. Go figure. Anyway, we met up with two friends, one of whom I knew from school and one of whom was armed and ready with a map and a destination: he wanted to find Campo de'Fiori, and on the other side of the river, explore Trastevere [both are areas of Rome where there are supposedly many clubs and discotheques]. Campo de'Fiori was easy to find, and we bought some fresh oranges from one of the fruit vendors there. It was also easy to find places to eat because the area is so touristy, so we gave into our hunger and ate at a pizza place in the surrounding neighborhood. Man, the pizza here is something else. The pizza joints have from four to ten huge pizzas on display, shaped like long and narrow ovals, which are sold by weight. You choose what kind of pizza you want [potato and sausage, cheese, and margherita are three examples I've tried - all delicious] and they cut a big rectangle of pizza for you [you tell them how big you want it], the slice is weighed, folded in half, and the halves are placed front to front and wrapped in a small paper wrapper. Then you pay, then you eat.
After absolutely gorging ourselves on huge slices of pizza [see myself and flatmate Emily, above left], we set out to walk to Trastevere. We had to cross the river [left] and after finding what seemed like a central area, we decided to just put the map away and explore. After a short uphill walk we came upon some serious stairs, which our noble leader decided we would climb, much to our displeasure. We found ourselves in what we thought to be a wealthy suburb of Rome, and wandered the streets for a bit before we made a certain realization: that we were in the neighborhood where the ambassadors to Italy lived, but not before we happened upon an amazing site. Next to the Spanish Ambassador's quarters, there was a clearing with an unparalleled view of the Eternal City. Because we were probably in one of the highest places in Rome, we could see miles and miles of buildings, churches, and ruins. On the opposite side of the street was this gorgeous fountain[below, with all the flatmates in front of it]. We had no idea when it was built or why [FYI: knowing Latin would be a real help if you ever come here], but we took photos and kept on exploring. We found some sort of mausoleum hidden in part of the Spanish quarters, walked through some small town-like things, and stopped in a gallery to use the restroom. When they asked where we were from and we said we were from California, we were promptly told that use of the restrooms would cost us 4 euro per person. Yeah right, lady. Strangely and luckily, there was a free restroom two floors up. Whatever.
We walked and walked, walked up stairs, walked down stairs, walked up hills and walked down hills. And then to mix it up a bit, we walked some more. By some ridiculous fortune, we were spat out of that neighborhood exactly where we needed to be to cross back over the river to get back to the Study Center which our fearless leader shamelessly took credit for. [Ha! Like we would let him get away with that one]. I reluctantly had to give him some credit later, when we decided we were up for some more walking and he led us straight to the Pantheon, which I've been very excited and anxious to see. It really is something else. You just stand there, dwarfed by this perfect half-sphere so high above you it almost seems fake, like a projected image onto a wall. There is some sort of magical quality in the Pantheon, because everyone is so fascinated with the sheer existence of the architectural feat we're in, but also because we all know that we are standing in the same place the ancient Romans used to worship their gods; this place has stood more years and seen more history than we could ever comprehend, and for that, we owe it something greater than respect: reverence. It dwarfs you physically, right here, right now, but it also dwarfs you in the greater scheme of things; your place in the world and your very existence are shrunken into an insignificant piece of the mosaic that is human history.
Wow, that was kind of intense. But truthfully I really mean it all, and I want to go back there and explore it some more. Back to the day... we shamelessly asked the Swiss Guards in the Pantheon if we could take a picture with them, and they were nice enough to indulge us in our touristy ways. After the Pantheon, we all were in need some some sort of sustenance: two of us wanted alcohol, two of us wanted food, and I wanted gelato. Our ultimate destination was the Trevi Fountain, but before we found it or nourishment, we walked right by the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, which I had studied last quarter in an Art History course. We went in. It was very baroque, with varicolored marbles and gold decorations and huge relief carvings and statues, but beautiful nonetheless.
We set out again to find the Fountain, and on our way found a little restauranty-thing that served pizza, other food, beer, and gelato [I held out because the gelato selection was skimpy and not-super-delicious looking]. We found the Fontana di Trevi, which I actually knew very little about. The piazza it was in was full of tourists, but the fountain itself really is gorgeous and very whimsical, although I'm still skeptical and unsure of how Neptune taming the waters is so romantic. Regardless, we all threw our coins behind us into the fountain [ensuring we will return to Rome again - I liked that], took some pictures [obviously], and got gelato. There were two gelaterias in the piazza and we unfortunately chose the wrong one, as the two men inside the place severely messed with us and made multiple inappropriate remarks about our boobies that made even the toughest of us blush. Oh well.
While eating said gelato, we saw two men dressed as Roman centurions and my flatmate Emily and I wanted to take pictures with them. They plunked their huge [smelly] helmets on our heads and gave us their swords to hold for the photos our friends took, and then proceeded to tell us it would cost us 3 euro each. We gave them 5. Damn the man! [EDIT 1/24/08: check out the AMAZING picture to the left]
We made it back home and all fell asleep. Tomorrow we have a walking tour of the Colusseum, the Forum, and Palatine Hill. After walking for more than five hours today, we may be sorry, but it was totally worth it.

[NOTE: There are some great pictures from today that I don't have because my flatmates took them, but as soon as I get my little hands on them I will either put them in the post or set up a link for your viewing pleasure]