The Three Most Gorgeous Days

A few days ago, Italiaidea, our Italian school, took us to Mussolini's estate. Obviously Mussolini had two huge Egyptian obelisk's, one in the front yard and one in the back. Obelisks, palm trees, golden light... So all day I just pretended I was in Egypt.

Pretending I'm in Egypt again, sitting on

nonsensical hieroglyphic mosaics on the floor of his house.

His Swiss-style second home, located within a few hundred feet of his main mansion. It was filled with beautiful stained glass.

Friday Art History Trek to Palestrina

Yesterday on our art history tour, we went to Palestrina, a small town located about an hour away from Rome. It was great to get out of loud Rome, into a simpler town. Everywhere I looked was picture perfect, so pictures can't do this place justice. 

Our wonderful EHP group!

We went to a museum at the top of the hill dedicated to the Temple of Fortuna. This home was built upon the Temple and now serves as a museum. 

Panoramic views everywhere. 

Then we drove about forty minutes away to Hadrian's villa, which was absolutely stunning. Another place which was picture perfect everywhere. The sun was shining so brightly all day through the olive trees as we walked around on the trails and visited all the ruins of his enormous complex. Talk abut conspicuous consumption on Hadrian's part. And it was all completed in the 20 years of his rule.

Breaking all sorts of rules. Our teachers encourage us to trespass so I walked across this moat on the Maritime Theater (It used to be Hadrian's pool house) which was blocked off for some reason. What's great about Italy is that no one is there to enforce the rules, because no one cares. People in America need to chill out.

Thien, Hamed and I standing in this amazing structure...

This was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was the golden hour, the sun shining on the olive trees. I couldn't stop looking at it because I literally felt like I was in heaven.

Today's Day trip to Assisi

Assisi is a beautiful little Medieval town located about two hours north of Rome. It is small and easy enough to walk the length of in a day, exploring. We had a beautiful day here. This day and the last couple of days have been some of the most gorgeous of my life. I loved how this was a small medieval town located on a hill. This is the Italy that people fall in love with, because it is a quiet residential town (though there actually is a very decent number of tourists). Plus the sunlight these days is so stunning that it makes everything look heavenly. Assisi was recommended to us by Ezio, our art history teacher and coordinator, who lives on the top floor of our dorm with his awesome family. He has a house in Assisi as well, and he was actually there this weekend but we didn't run into him.

Our first stop, at the Basilica of St. Francis. I can't even describe how beautifully the light was hitting it. 

The inside was just as beautiful. I really loved the colors of the frescos and how it was so brightly lit.

We saw a tower in the distance, so we decided to climb up the hill to reach it. Turns out it wasn't open to the public, so we decided to hop the fence and trespass into this plot of olive trees. It was gorgeous. We walked down the hill and ended up in someones yard. My friend even tried to break into a house, but I didn't know this because I was too busy trying to find an escape out of this blockaded yard. Finally we were able to climb down a stone wall without being seen.

We got this beautiful view. Look what we would have missed if we didn't trespass!

We climbed to the top of this castle, Rocco Magiore, on both sides.

That long tunnel on the left was what we walked through to get to this side of the castle. It was a very long, cold, and dimly lit corridor. It was incredible to stumble across.

They shouldn't even have bothered to put lights. I imagined that I was a soldier who had been shot in the arm with an arrow through one of those tiny windows.

Just laying and frolicking on the fortress walls which have a sheer drop on each side. But like I said, no one cares in Italy. We stayed there for a while. I have never seen views like this. We were SO high up. It was like a castle in the sky.

I am also going with some of the same girls on Spring break. We booked our plane tickets to Barcelona, where we will be from April 13th until the 15th. From there we will fly to Morocco and stay for 3 or 4 days (Yes, I insisted this. It is the closest I will be able to get to Egypt for a long time), and from there we will fly to France, to see Paris and the south. I am extra excited for Morocco because I will ride a camel through the Sahara Desert! My life's dream!