Roman Catacombs

Hallway of Bones

This weekend I visited the Roman Catacombs of the Capuchin monks.  These catacombs had four rooms, each wall completely covered in bones of monks.  Each room had a different specialty-- one would be covered completely in skulls while the next was covered completely in pelvic bones.  The ceilings were covered with elaborate designs made out of vertebrae.  Lanterns hung in the hallways made entirely of bone.  In one room, two perfectly preserved arms made an X in the center of the wall.  Each room was not complete without the mummified body of at least one monk... and on some, I could even see their faces!  This had to be one of the creepiest yet coolest experience I've had thus far.  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what I saw.

Mummified monks surrounded by skulls

Mummified arms and room of skulls

Vertebrae decoration on the ceiling

Venice for Carnivale!

Last weekend, despite the freezing cold temperatures (and I mean wind chill 15 degrees!), I braved the cold and ventured to Venice, the center of Italy's Carnivale celebration.  During the two weeks of Carnivale, people come from all over and fill Saint Mark's Square to celebrate. The weekend's celebration included music, masks, a wine fountain, and tons of crazy costumes...most of which were Renaissance but some of which were just plain crazy!  Being there to celebrate one of the biggest Italian holidays with people from all over the world was quite the cultural experience and definitely worth the cold.
Here are some of my best shots!

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Snowmen of Rome

Which one do you like the best?                                                  Can you tell which one is mine?

Snow in Rome!

Good morning, Rome!

Finally checking in for blog post number two and this past week has been quite the adventure!  Last Sunday was "free day" at the Vatican Museum so I made the trip over there...along with every other person within 10 miles of Rome.  But working my way through the crowded museum was totally worth the wait and the crowds.  From the Greek and Roman sculpture to Raphael's frescoed rooms, I worked my way through the museum, marveling at one ancient piece of art after another.  It's hard to believe that so much history and beauty is all housed within the same building.  Finally I made it to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel where I must have spent 30 to 45 minutes of my time.  Every inch of this giant room was covered with fresco from floor to ceiling.  This was yet another breathtaking experience to add to the growing list I'm compiling while here in Rome.

Snow Ball fight at the Arch of Constantine

After a rather uneventful Monday through Thursday at school (amazing how even in Rome, the days of class all seem to blur together), we were scheduled to have our first make-up day on Friday.  However, Thursday night's weather suggested otherwise.  Temperatures dropped below freezing and classes were cancelled.  I awoke the next morning and looked out my window to see something very foreign to a Texas/California girl.  Something white was falling from the sky...Snow!  It continued to snow for the rest of the day and into the night until

The Roman Forum

everything was covered in a beautiful white blanket.  This weather breaks records of 25 of 30 years here in Rome!  Saturday morning's persisting weather forced us to cancel our trip to Siena so I spent the day instead seeing the sites of Rome covered in snow... and what a day well spent this turned out to be!  Romans seem to be much like Texans or Californians in the snow: they don't quite know how to deal with it.  Almost all public transportation had been shut down and pedestrians were taking over the streets!  What an experience... just goes to show you that even when your intended plans get cancelled, the day might turn out even better than expected.  But after seeing snow on the streets for the rest of the week, I'm definitely ready for some warmer weather!

However, this snowy weather lasted long enough to get our Monday classes cancelled as well which allowed me to stay up Sunday night for the super-bowl.   Never having been a big football fan myself, I have always enjoyed the atmosphere and company of the super-bowl parties so Sunday night we headed for Scholars Lounge- one of the few places that would be open until 5AM when the super-bowl ended.  Finally I was surrounded by English-speaking people!  It was almost as if I were back in the US, watching the game.  This definitely turned out to be a well needed break from the culture shock of Italy!