I saw God...

...or the closest thing to God I think someone like me can ever see.

Friday was probably one of the most amazing days of my life--definitely one of the top ten experiences I think I will ever have. It was also the first day I think I really realized the power and reputation of the Stanford name...but let me stop rambling and get on with it...

Early Friday morning, the 35 of us left for the Vatican. There, we were given exclusive access to two collections--the most impressive ancient epigraphical collection in the world and the other, one of the most exclusive collections of Christian art and sarcophagi in the modern world. Let me say that although both of these collections were amazing and beautiful, they did get old very quickly. It probably had something to do with the fact that I can't read ancient Greek or Latin, but generally after epigraph number 275, even the most academic of individuals gets a little bored ;)

That took as all morning, and then it was time for lunch. It took us, even with the help of the guide, exactly one hour to exit the Vatican museum. There were thousands upon thousands of people and there's only one way out--through the Sistine Chapel--so we had to walk through the entire museum in order to grab some lunch. We had maybe 15 minutes to see St. Peter's Basillica on our way out, and of those 15 minutes, I spent 10 staring in awe at Michelangelo's Pieta.

After lunch, we met at the Scavi Vaticanus, another one of the Vatican's exclusive exhibits. I gave my speech on the history of St. Peter's tomb, and then we went down, under the Vatican crypts to see the pagan Necropolis and the Christian sarcophagi. It was absolutely breathtaking, looking and watching Christian history melt away before my eyes. We learned about Caligula's Circus Maximus and the entire "Catholicized" story of the search for and finding of the saint's bones. Only 200 people a week get to enter this exhibit--we were incredibly lucky!

Afterwards, we met up with our lovely guide Francesca for a 2 hr private tour of the Vatican. Yeah--I said private and yeah, I said 2 hours long!

We saw beautiful pieces all over the museum, but the best part was when we spent 45 minutes looking at the Sistine Chapel. We just stared, and stared and stared. We took pictures, we studied the painting--and then we took it all in.

I've never seen anything so beautiful and never been so priveledged to see such a beautiful and important work of art for such a long amount of time. It was the like the more I looked at the colors and the composition, the more beautiful and moving the entire piece became. I think it might have been the closest to a religious experience I will ever have (at least in regards to art ;).

I am obviously still on an art high that I don't think I'll ever get to repeat again.

Today we went to Pompei and Naples. Also cool, also beautiful, also interesting--but how do you compete with the Sistine Chapel?

Naps...

..might be the best thing ever invented. I'm finding myself constantly searching for a good nap, particularly after a day walking around the city.

Today was a little less hectic than most, with the group visiting three churches and the Jewish museum before an evening lecture series. Maybe I'm indulging in nap time a little too much--I found that I slept through dinner last night--and maybe I should try and temper it a bit. But on the other hand, this IS the start of my vacation, so I think I may deserve time to relax ;)

Also I found that I have, so far, done the minimum necessary to graduate in all of my classes. I'll have my degree conferred on the 3rd of April, which seems frighteningly soon. The sooner I have my name on that degree, the better.

In other news, I am rather irritated by the guy Alex who is part of the continuing studies group that's also here on the trip to Rome. He's this scrawny CS Engineer at Google who lacks personality and makes up for it by being creepy and really awkward. He's 25 and a non-Stanford student. He asks stupid questions and has little to no sense of humor. Lastly, he follows girls around and makes them feel uncomfortable, including me.

Sadly for him, his roommate is a horrible snorer and Alex is having a hard time sleeping. The coordinator of the trip asked me (because I'm the only one with a single) to see if I would mind sharing a room with him. I mean, I feel bad for the guy, I really do. And if I could help him avoid having to spend an extra 1800 on this trip I would, but the thing is he makes me feel so freaking uncomfortable. He looks at me weird, he makes stupid jokes, and more than anything, he's an annoying little douche. So, I refused the coordinator's suggestion, and now Alex has to make do with his snoring roommate. I feel really bad, but at the same time, I know that spending extended time with him, especially in a sleeping situation, would ruin my time here in Rome. I know I did the right thing, I'm just hoping I can get over my Catholic guilt soon ;)

Otherwise, things are good. Sorry for the rant, but this thing with docuhe bag has really been consuming my thoughts...

Hope all is well!

Laura

PS--I slept through dinner again. Fuck.

I'm beat.

Just got back from walking around what seems like the entire city of Rome. We hit the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill and everything in between. 

It was a soggy day that started out promising and slowly degenerated in to a very wet, windy day. 

Overall, though, I have to say that it was a day of massive monuments and ancient egos. Everything we saw today had to do with propaganda and self-aggrandizement of the ancient Emperors. It was such a treat to be able to see these fantastic monuments and to be taken around by such an incredible guide. 

Felix, Professor Fonrobert's son, was on another hyper-active rampage today. There must be 35 people watching out/babysitting this little trouble maker, and it still feels like there aren't enough people! I'm very impressed with his energy and his stamina--what a trooper and what an adorable little punk. 

I'm off to take a nap before dinner. I hope all is well and I'll post again tomorrow!

L

Just Arrived!

I just checked into my room about an hour ago and am all set up. I've got free DSL from the room and all my electronic gear syncing and charging peacefully. 

I arrived at about 6:30 am this morning at FCO. I took the train to Roma Termini, caught a cab, and arrived at my hotel by 7:45. Because my room wouldn't be available until noon, I dropped my luggage off and went wandering toward the Vatican. It only took me about 20 minutes to navigate, and I arrived at quite the spectacle. There were tons, and tons of people lined up to enter the inner part of the square. Vendors were everywhere (as expected) and more nuns and priests than I've ever seen in my life. Because police were checking people's belongings, I decided against going in to the inner square and settled for watching the Italian police trying to control dozens of unruly, picture-happy tourists. After 30 minutes of entertainment, I decided to return to my hotel for a snack and some leisure time. 

On my way back to the hotel, I decided to take a different route across the other side of the Tiber. Brilliant me, I took a wrong turn somewhere along the way and managed to find myself a bit lost and in the midst of a torrential downpour. I ducked into one of the few open cafes (Easter Sunday) and waited the rain out. I returned to the hotel soggy and exhausted  and decided to read in the lobby until noon. 

I ran into a few of my classmates and both Professor Gregg and Professor Fonrobert. It was great to see familiar faces after a long day of trudging along by myself. 

Anyway, I'm about to hit the hay for a three hour nap before our city tour and orientation. Hope all is well!

Welcome to my World!

So I'm 9 days away from the end of my Stanford undergraduate career and from the start of an epic trip through some of the (arguably) most exciting cities in Europe. I have to admit that everything seems a bit surreal right now. Obviously, I'm excited to go to Europe, I just can't believe that I'm going to be gone for so long! At the end of the day, I know that this is going to be a wonderful experience and I can't wait to finally be on that plane, particularly after suffering through all these damn papers and exams. Everyone says I'm going to miss Stanford once I'm gone, but I can promise you that I won't be missing finals week ;).
Anyway, I'll be leaving the 22nd of March for a nine-day stint in Rome. From there I'll be headed to Casa Blanca, Morocco for four days with the lovely Josephine Anderson. I'll follow that up with a week in fair Paris, and then end my escapade with four days in London. I'll then move on to NYC to spend some days with Kate, and then end my travels with a week-long stint in Houston with the parental units.
I'm off to bed with three papers and two exams to look forward to in the coming days. Oh joy!

Best of luck with finals,
L

P.S. I'll hopefully have my first post up on the 23rd--until then, aurevoir mes amis!