Arrival!

wow that was a long flight.... but it was so worth it! none of us slept more than an hour. the rest of the time we stared out the window pretending and hoping we could see a shoreline somwhere. I really dont like flying... the turbulence was rough, especially with the cloud cover we kept going in and out of. 

BUT at about 1am your time, 7am our time we met the sunrise coming up over southern france and it was AMAZING. This picture doesn't do it justice of course, but the colors were incredible all bouncing off of the top of the cloud cover. 

and then when the sun was almost up we started to notice shapes within the clouds... mountains! the snowy white peaks of the Pyrenees range on the boarder between france and spain. it was really amazing to see the little villages suck in between the cracks in the mountains, i had to wonder how they arrived there and what, besides scenery caused them to stay? 

Flying over the Italian country side was so cool too. It made me so excited for you mom! the horizon was full of the Dolomiti Mountains and little lakes spotted the rolling hills of tree lines farms. Every so often you'd see a little cluster of an ancient hill town with these amazing terra cotta roofs and impossibly winding roads.

all this excitement just from the plane!

so first impressions of the city: 

(disclaimer: it was freezing and wet all day so i didn't have the best first experience)

rome is a mess! i'm convinced there are no traffic laws, or at least no enforced traffic laws. You'd be insane to attempt driving anywhere around... even the highways leading to and from can be anywhere from 2-5 cars wide. 

and i have yet to meet a friendly roman. They seem pretty rude, but we are tourists in their home and probably seem way too outgoing and interested in the streets they see everyday. 

but the streets, oh my goodness the streets! we walked for hours (yes, in the rain) just exploring the streets. so tight at times we'd have to squeeze up against the walls of the buildings to let little electric cars go by. but every little turn you'd make was like a postcard- so old and picturesque. 

We also stopped into the pantheon on our way to see our studio- amazing. dad, i can't wait for you to see the concrete.... and the bricks... the bricks are amazing! 

and then we have my dorm... i'll post pictures of it sometime when the sun is out and i can get a good shot- it's incredible. the rooms themselves are really old and nasty though, but we'll be fine. There's a giant courtyard inbetween with gardens and planters.... so beautiful. the ceilings are so high with arched doorways and a huge old granite spiral staircase that takes you up right off the streets of rome! its really wonderful... minus the grimey rooms. 

so anyway, i'll put more pictures up when the weather is nicer. Hopefully in the next day or two! For now, i hope you're all well and thanks for checking up on the blog!