Yesterday we went on our first field trip to Rome. We took a bus and left at 7:30 am and didn’t get there until 10 because of morning traffic, I guess…I found it odd that the driver didn’t speed, because when I drove up with Maddalena and Pompeo it took us just an hour…maybe the driver was just odd. In any case, we saw the Mausoleum of Augustus, which was designed about 20 years before his death.

We also got to see the Ara Pacis Augustae, which until recently had been closed, apparently. Valentine is also retiring, so his collection of a lot of dresses, etc. was up as well…that was kind of bizarre because they were presented on all these gold mannequins with long freakish necks and no faces. Anyway, the Ara Pacis is amazing…it’s a totally propagandistic altar but whatever, it’s beautiful and I’ve studied it countless times so to see it in person was great.

We went to Piazza Navona, which has a beautiful fountain in the middle designed by Bernini…also known as the fuontain where someone drowned (or fake-drowned) in Angels & Demons. Lunch, and then the Pantheon, and then a few Baroque churches…The Baroque churchezs were beautiful, and we got to see the famous Caravaggio paintings of St. Matthew. A.Maz.Ing. We made it home around 7ish; it took us an hour to get out of Rome alone, which I thought was ridiculous but the traffic was horrendous, and as we all know, the Italians don’t seem to believe in traffic regulation or laws.

Tomorrow morning me and a few other gals are heading to Tuscany, more specifically Lucca and probably Viareggio or, if we’re ambitious, Forte dei Marmi, which are both gorgeous beaches. I’ll be out of touch until Sunday afternoon, but I hope all is well and I miss you all dearly.