This shall be the final post for jamieinrome.blogspot.com. If I start another blog, I'll let my mom know, which means the whole rest of the world will know soon enough. The new blog is looking unlikely, though: seeing Father Hesburgh getting a haircut (as I did yesterday) isn't quite as exciting as seeing the Pope, although around these parts he may as well be the Holy Father.
Anyhoo, here is the last batch of pictures from the European excursion. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
Wednesday, January 23
Friday, January 18
Back at Notre Dame
I'm sorry for not updating more, but I'm pretty busy, and Notre Dame busy is not nearly as exciting as Europe busy. This kind of busy is more like "responsibility". For example, I'm applying for jobs right now. Exciting! Okay, not at all. But I do need a job, so, you know, if you need some help this summer...
It is nice to be back at Notre Dame, though. I do love this place, and my classes (Economics and the Law, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Intro to Political Economy, Globalization and Asian Music, and Medical Ethics) are fairly interesting. Not as interesting as my on-site art history classes in Rome, but, hey, I can't get everything I want all the time. It's also nice to see the old chums. Good times.
The picture up top is my room. I'm living in a single, which is quiet but nice. It's all the room I need. I shouldn't have too many distractions, which may be a bad thing. I may need something to take my mind off of work, because I do have that Lee Ann McGinnis worry gene. Oh well.
Anyways, here are some pictures from Austria with the parents and Zurich by myself. I had a good time there.
Also, I don't know how much I'm going to update. I have at least one more picture post to go, but I'd like some feedback: should I keep this thing rolling? Notre Dame blog probably won't be as exciting as Rome blog, but if there are people out there who really want to keep up with my not-as-exciting life, email jmcginni@nd.edu. Grazie mille.
Thursday, January 10
Wednesday, January 9
It's over. But the good times never end.
As you can see, I am back home in Charlotte (and John McCain won New Hampshire again).
Last night I said my third goodbye to the Pantheon, my second goodbye to Piazza Navona, then I went to Da Baffetto for a Baffetto pizza. I ate my meal with Marcello, an Italian. Ironically enough, I had my longest conversation in Italian the last night of my trip. It was great. Then I walked to St. Peters and said my second long goodbye to the Vatican (you may notice I am terrible at goodbyes), rode the metro over to Piazza di Spagna and walked up the Spanish Steps for a final time, then walked to the hostel to sleep. I did not sleep well. I was probably excited to go home, I suppose.
I woke up this morning at 5:20, half an hour before the alarm. I lugged my bags to Termini, and made an earlier train to FCO than I planned. I was the first one on my flight to check in, and I ended up switching to a window seat I wanted. Also, I was able to get some Tazza D'Oro coffee for my mom, something I forgot to do yesterday, because there is a Tazza D'Oro store in the airport! Lucky me. The flight was painless, and customs and the re-check in at Dulles only took half an hour, so I made my connection. Lucky me. I also managed to not see any newspapers, so it was a bit of a surprise when I watched the DVRed national championship game, even though I did see a guy in an LSU jacket at the airport. Boring game, though.
I may post more, grander thoughts on the purpose and lessons from the trip, if I decide to get introspective, although I really have not spent too much time thinking about that, for better or for worse. Even if that never happens, and I'm way too tired for that right now because I only slept half an hour on the plane after 5 hours last night (and the 6 hour time difference), I will be posting pictures, so the blog is not done yet.
Here is the first set of pictures. Batches will come probably one every few days for a week.
Monday, January 7
Last day in Rome
Wow. So today has been a busy, busy day, but it's nearly done now.
I woke up at 7:30, and headed over to the American embassy to ask about my passport issue. I went to the Repubblica metro station, purchased a day pass on the metro, and rode one stop to Barberini, because the embassy is on Via Veneto, which I did not know until recently. I waited until the place opened up at 8:30, at which point the Italian police on the outside would not let me in, because I had my backpack on. And they wouldn't let me drop it off with them, for security purposes. Darn. I needed to be back by 12:30, when the American citizen services shuts down for the day. Okay.
I rode the metro over to Cipro, and walked up to Medag to say my last goodbyes. I got my last cappucchino at the bar across from Medag, then walked down to the market to get my favorite pastry for tomorrow morning, but they did not have the ciavattone con crema. Damn. Then I went to GS looking for something to eat, but I ended up eating nothing from GS. I then walked to Old Bridge for a last gelato, but they did not open until 10 AM, so I jumped on the 492 bus, because I wanted to go to Campo for some shopping. I got off, shopped, then went to Tazza D'Oro for a granita di caffe. So, so good. I shall miss that. I even got a caffeine/sugar buzz off of it. I also said goodbye to my favorite building in the world, the Pantheon. I then rode the 492 up to near my hostel, which is north of Termini, an area I barely know.
I checked my flight, because I wanted to choose my seat. Apparently, they don't let me do that. Rejected again. I then rode the bus over to Barberini again, and went to the embassy without my backpack. They quickly let me in (no line), and within 5 minutes I was talking to an official about the issue. Probably not going to be a problem was the official line. Good. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. In and out within 10 minutes. I then metroed over to Ottaviano, because I had a hunch that the bakery in the market might have the pastry later in the day. Hunch= correct! I have breakfast for tomorrow now. So happy, I am. I then walked over to Old Bridge to have that final gelato. I got the 2.50 euro with strawberry, amaretto, and coffee. Yum yum yum. I strolled down to St. Peter's Square, and did a little touristy shopping along the way. I then got inside the square, and the Catholics suprised me in a most pleasant way by having the nativity scene still up, with the Christmas tree still decorated. Yay yay yay Jesus. So pretty. I expected it to be down, because yesterday was the 12th day of Christmas, and I had heard that nativity scenes go down then. I then said goodbye to my second-favoritist place in the world (after the Piazza del Pantheon), but I probably be back tonight. In fact, I'm sure I will be. I walked down Borgo San Spirito to Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, and I walked down that to the Architecture studio. I picked up my big green bag with most of my stuff in it, and hopped back on the 492 up to the hostel. Lugging the bag was a pain because I got off the bus too early, but eventually I made it to the hostel and my room. I rearranged my bags, took out the heavy stuff in the green bag and placed it in a carry-on. I also charged my US cell phone, which has been electricity-starved for months. I was probably done rearranging bags by 3:30.
Then came the most embarrassing part of the day. I was feeling especially good after the gelato, so I decided to do some pushups and ab exercises. Outside of a few sets of pushups one time in Austria, I haven't gotten any upper-body or core workout in 3 1/2 weeks. I am probably in the worst shape I've been in since freshman year. I could not do half the exercise I was able to do a month ago. This leads me to the thing I am most looking forward to when I get home: Rolfs Recreational Center. God, getting back on a treadmill will be murder, but I'm really looking forward to that.
The rest of the day is looking relaxed. I am going to shower, then go over to Da Baffetto for a Last Supper of sorts, walk around the last little bit, call it a night, and then wake up super early tomorrow, drag my bags over to Termini, take the Leonardo Express to FCO, and then America here I come.
I woke up at 7:30, and headed over to the American embassy to ask about my passport issue. I went to the Repubblica metro station, purchased a day pass on the metro, and rode one stop to Barberini, because the embassy is on Via Veneto, which I did not know until recently. I waited until the place opened up at 8:30, at which point the Italian police on the outside would not let me in, because I had my backpack on. And they wouldn't let me drop it off with them, for security purposes. Darn. I needed to be back by 12:30, when the American citizen services shuts down for the day. Okay.
I rode the metro over to Cipro, and walked up to Medag to say my last goodbyes. I got my last cappucchino at the bar across from Medag, then walked down to the market to get my favorite pastry for tomorrow morning, but they did not have the ciavattone con crema. Damn. Then I went to GS looking for something to eat, but I ended up eating nothing from GS. I then walked to Old Bridge for a last gelato, but they did not open until 10 AM, so I jumped on the 492 bus, because I wanted to go to Campo for some shopping. I got off, shopped, then went to Tazza D'Oro for a granita di caffe. So, so good. I shall miss that. I even got a caffeine/sugar buzz off of it. I also said goodbye to my favorite building in the world, the Pantheon. I then rode the 492 up to near my hostel, which is north of Termini, an area I barely know.
I checked my flight, because I wanted to choose my seat. Apparently, they don't let me do that. Rejected again. I then rode the bus over to Barberini again, and went to the embassy without my backpack. They quickly let me in (no line), and within 5 minutes I was talking to an official about the issue. Probably not going to be a problem was the official line. Good. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. In and out within 10 minutes. I then metroed over to Ottaviano, because I had a hunch that the bakery in the market might have the pastry later in the day. Hunch= correct! I have breakfast for tomorrow now. So happy, I am. I then walked over to Old Bridge to have that final gelato. I got the 2.50 euro with strawberry, amaretto, and coffee. Yum yum yum. I strolled down to St. Peter's Square, and did a little touristy shopping along the way. I then got inside the square, and the Catholics suprised me in a most pleasant way by having the nativity scene still up, with the Christmas tree still decorated. Yay yay yay Jesus. So pretty. I expected it to be down, because yesterday was the 12th day of Christmas, and I had heard that nativity scenes go down then. I then said goodbye to my second-favoritist place in the world (after the Piazza del Pantheon), but I probably be back tonight. In fact, I'm sure I will be. I walked down Borgo San Spirito to Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, and I walked down that to the Architecture studio. I picked up my big green bag with most of my stuff in it, and hopped back on the 492 up to the hostel. Lugging the bag was a pain because I got off the bus too early, but eventually I made it to the hostel and my room. I rearranged my bags, took out the heavy stuff in the green bag and placed it in a carry-on. I also charged my US cell phone, which has been electricity-starved for months. I was probably done rearranging bags by 3:30.
Then came the most embarrassing part of the day. I was feeling especially good after the gelato, so I decided to do some pushups and ab exercises. Outside of a few sets of pushups one time in Austria, I haven't gotten any upper-body or core workout in 3 1/2 weeks. I am probably in the worst shape I've been in since freshman year. I could not do half the exercise I was able to do a month ago. This leads me to the thing I am most looking forward to when I get home: Rolfs Recreational Center. God, getting back on a treadmill will be murder, but I'm really looking forward to that.
The rest of the day is looking relaxed. I am going to shower, then go over to Da Baffetto for a Last Supper of sorts, walk around the last little bit, call it a night, and then wake up super early tomorrow, drag my bags over to Termini, take the Leonardo Express to FCO, and then America here I come.
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