A Wednesday in Rome

Our Rome trip was rescheduled due to the snow the previous week.  We were bummed at first but the day was so beautiful and worth the wait!  We took a bus from Orvieto to Rome, our first stop being the River Tiber boasting a far view of the Vatican. We then made our way over to Piazza Navona.  This piazza has two gorgeous fountains, Fontana del Moro and the Fountain of Neptune, as well as the statue of Pasquino.  Then we visited two churches, Eglise Saint-Louis-de-Francais and Chiesa di S.Ignazio di Loyola. The Trevi mountain was wasn't too crowded which was great on a such a nice day, and neither was the Pantheon to my surprise.  Lastly we visited the Spanish steps and the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna. Overall it was a packed day but i enjoyed every second!

Snow in Orvieto!

The weather the first couple of days was glorious! It was chilly but sunny and the view from the top of the plateau was clear and vibrant.  It gave us some time to take in our surroundings, get acclimated with the grocery store and walk to school in optimal weather conditions.  Now that these posts are so far behind it's hard to remember what exactly the process of events were.  We started school last week and took a few tours of the town.  My Etruscan art teacher took us on a few tours of the city's attractions such as the clock tower (a central point of town), the Cathedral Duomo and underground Orvieto.  Underground Orvieto has over a thousand man made caves! They were used by the Etruscans for entrance, hiding, storage and shelter in World War II.  The system they had was incredible.  A whole town was thriving above us while we walked around the dirt caves!

Here's a few pics of the snow, Cathedral, and underground Orvieto.

The walk on the way to school

Cathedral Duomo

Piazza della Republica where our apartment is located

Walking into school

side of Cathedral Duomo

View from the city on top

some of the roomies!

view again - can't get enough!

Pretty architecture

Orvieto Underground

Rock the Etruscans used to make olive oil

Renovations made twenty years ago to keep the caves from crumbling

A well they used to get water.  They used to repel or use footholds to scoop water up.
Imagine if you had that job!

You can see the footholds on the right side of the well.

The front porch with all the snow! We woke up to this and had no idea!

SO MUCH SNOW!!

Roommates!

Our tour of the Cathedral

The nativity scene

The baptism of John the Baptist

The rose window with the figures of the twelve disciples

Entrance to the Cathedral

Front

Looking upwards

On top of the clock tower!

The view was phenomonal

couldn't of asked for better roomies

The Cathedral from the clock tower

The bell at the top