Day 1: Arrival in Rome

Our hotel.

This morning, after a long flight from the US, we arrived in Rome. A shuttle took us from the airport to our hotel, the Villa Santa Maria in the Monteverde neighborhood.

View from the hotel window.

I was super-tired from the flight and the jet lag, but apparently it's best to fight jet lag by staying awake as long as possible and trying to force your body to adjust to local time. So after everyone got settled in their rooms, we took a walking tour of the neighborhood.

Local pizzeria.

We saw where some of the local restaurants, pizzerias, gelaterias, and convenience stores were and we also walked to a huge park not far from the hotel. Lisa and Aaron also gave us handy maps of the city to help us get around and they talked about how to use the bus and metro system, something we'll be doing a lot of.

Near the study abroad center.

After we got lunch from a pizzeria, we took a bus from Monteverde across the Tiber to central Rome and visited the study abroad center run by the company helping to organize the program. We met with their staff and got a crash course on adjusting to a couple of weeks of life in Rome.

Villa Doria Pamphili, a large park near the hotel.

After that, we headed back to the hotel and a lot of us took a nap, although some of us walked around the neighborhood and the nearby park, the Villa Doria Pamphili. We all met back in the lobby around 6 pm for a discussion about the program expectations and a little preview of our activities tomorrow (a trip out of Rome to the Etruscan tombs at Tarquinia). For dinner, we had a group dinner at a delicious restaurant next door to the hotel, Il Focolare. The antipasti bar was fantastic and so was the table wine!

Now, it's time for bed. Hopefully I can get over this jet lag soon!

Welcome to the blog!

This blog is meant to give you some idea of what you'll experience if you decide to join our study abroad program to Rome from May 25 to June 9, 2014. Every few days, we'll post a new entry as if we were on the trip right now. Our hope is that the pictures and text will show you a little bit of what you'll see, do, read, eat, and learn in Rome. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments section or, if you prefer that they remain private, e-mail one or both of us.

Finally, some reminders about practicalities of the program:

What: Ancient Rome: Physical Place, Literary Symbol (4 credits)

Where: Rome, Italy (with excursions to Tarquinia, Pompeii/Naples, and Ostia)

When: May 25 to June 9, 2014 (applications due February 1)

Who: Aaron Wenzel, Lisa Bevevino, and you

How much: approximately $4400 (for 12 students), $4000 (for 15 students), $3800 (for 20 students). Note that this cost does not include airfare to Rome.

Why: because you have an interest in the history, literature, architecture, and archaeology of the ancient world

Apply here: http://umabroad.umn.edu/programs/europe/literary-rome/apply