It's Beginning to Look a lot like Fall

A little birdie (or 5) told me that the MN folks have had some cold weather lately. Snow? You guys are tough. It dropped below 60 degrees here and I am dying. Uh oh I'm losing some of my cold tolerance. I figured since most of my audience is from MN, and MN people love talking about weather, I would dedicate some of my blog to talking about weather.

So here it goes. When I first got here, it was HOT. I could barely wait to go home from class and change into shorts and a tank top. That was how the weather has been most of the time here, until last week. One day last week Emily, Lisa, and I were walking home from class admiring the cool weather. Leaves were blowing everywhere and there was a nice cool breeze in the air. (It felt like home.) Then it happened. A downpour of rain and the strongest winds I have ever felt hit. We were about 7 minutes away from our apartment and I could barely walk, the wind was so strong. Since then it has been cool here.

I couldn't figure out why the chill was bothering me so much until yesterday. I realized that I only have 3 sweatshirts to wear, not my usually fall gear. What can I say, fall is a good time of year for me. Also, the buildings are old and not made of the nice insulation that I am used to. The cold air sticks and won't leave. I am not sure how to work the heater here, so basically I have no appliances that work right now.

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Our stove is acting up now. My roommates woke me up at 4:30 the other morning because the stove kept sparking on and off without anyone touching it. They thought that I would have an idea of how to fix it. Yep, because in my past life I was an appliance specialist and really handy early in the morning. I'm not even sure what happened to it. Our landlord did come over and thought she fixed our washing machine. My dirty towels say otherwise. So far here is the appliance failure list: showers (no hot water at first), washing machine, stove, oven, dryer (lack of), air conditioner (didn't leave the remote for it), and heater (no idea how to turn it on). I miss all of you of course, but I am not really homesick. I really just want working appliances!!! It's all a learning experience though, so I am going to be optimistic about it!

Good/bad thing. I am leaving Rome one week from tomorrow! I am really excited to go experience all that Greece has to offer! I like Rome, but I am excited for the change too. There's still more stuff I want to do in Italy though, so I guess that means that I need to come back. :)

I did more sight-seeing. Are you surprised? I forgot to tell you that last week I went and climbed the dome at St. Peter's Basilica. A few of us went early in the morning before class. The morning air mixed with a fantastic view of Rome was amazing! There are laws against building any structure taller than the dome, so it is guaranteed to be a good sight.

On Tuesday I went with a few girls to view the Vatican Museum. It was huge! I kind of rushed through it, maybe not a good idea, but I did it. I've seen so much art lately, I feel as though I wouldn't have thoroughly appreciated it anyway. We walked through a series of rooms that all had amazing paintings on the ceilings and walls. The 20 minute walk through the tunnel of rooms lead to the Sistine Chapel. It took my breath away. Haha actually, not at all. It's way overrated. Sorry Michelangelo. I enjoyed the paintings in the rooms that we walked through more than the actual chapel. I did sneak a couple of pictures while I was in there though. I got my last one of the famous "Creation of Adam" before the security guard came over and yelled at me. The paintings were amazing, don't get me wrong. I could never create any artwork as great as that. I just imagined it to be even more spectacular for all of the hype about it. Just reminds me not to get my hopes up.

It's a small world after all. A while back we were riding the Metro back from class and this guy asked us if we were from MN. Turns out he graduated from St. John's and figured out where we were from by looking at my roommate's St. Ben's shirt. Today I was going to take the Metro back from class and I saw a guy with a maroon and gold Concordia sweatshirt. I thought it couldn't be, so I had to ask. Yes, Melissa he is a professor from Concordia that is in Florence for the year!!! Crazy. He didn't know you though!

I have 1 final done and 2 to go. I will most likely be studying all weekend, but if something exciting happens I will be sure to write!