Via de Nomentana

The view of Rome from our terrace

Ciao from beautiful Roma! As I'm writing this, I am overlooking the street of Via de Nomentana. (But I'm not eating Gelato) This is the street that I currently am now living on! And what an adventure it took to get to this beautiful place! All of our flights went very smoothly. No delays, no cancellations; things were great! It still feels surreal to say that I am now living in Rome, Italy! So many interesting stories to tell! After landing in Rome we got a shuttle to our hostel, which was more like a camp ground. The bare minimum. (Had to get the hostel experience sometime, right?!) But hey, it was a place to rest our heads after 2 days of travel! (which I think I got maybe 3 hours of sleep, inconsistently). At this particular hostel, a country club, to be specific, there was an outdoor bar with hammocks and jacuzzi included! After enjoying a delicious strawberry dacquiri and a slice of real Italian pizza, I fell asleep on the comfortable hammock! Sleep was slightly nonexistent that night as well. In the morning, we paid 50 euro just to get a taxi to our apartment, which took us about an hour to get there. We did however drive right past the Colosseum. It kind of came out of the blue and when we passed it, it really took me by surprise. "Wow, there's the Colosseum!" When people warn you about the driving here in Italy, they are not joking. Everyone thinks they have the right away and that everyone should look out for them. We had a few close calls, but we made it there in one piece...and short 50 euros (insanely expensive)! On the ride there, our taxi driver was calling/texting while driving, and slightly swerving down the road; saw a motorcycle driver tip his bike over and get up like nothing happened (which apparently was not big deal seeing as traffic continued to go around him); and had a random guy come up to the taxi car at a stop light and clean the windshield. No big deal.

The roommates that had already arrived went on a little adventure on the streets around our apartment. Street signs are pretty rare, and usually hard to find. But with our wicked map reading skills we found CEA campus where we will be taking all of our classes! Next on our adventure: grocery shopping! And to put it plainly: Success!

But once seeing our apartment, all that craziness is forgotten. It is absolutely gorgeous. It's cute, if I do say so myself. The best part, by far, is the terrace we have the overlooks the entire city with mountains in the background. (I will have to try and post some pictures on here sometime soon). We enjoyed our first homemade dinner with the roommates (7 total!) out on our terrace with homemade pasta, olive bread and white wine (boxed wine for 79 cents! can't beat that! Granted, it wasn't the best but hey, pasta dinner in Rome is not complete without some wine!) And for dessert, none other than Nutella and crackers! Perfect!

Our quaint living room

Once getting unpacked and situated in our apartment, we enjoyed homemade sangrias! (compliments of the guys in Scala C!) Delicious! Thanks guys!

Well, Via Nometana definitely has my approval! It is undoubtedly a city of walking, which I definitely enjoy! The next few days are orientation with, what sounds like, some awesome excursions in store! (Sunday might just be a Mediterranean beach day!)

Hope things are going well at home! Miss you all!

Our terrace

Arrividerci! Until next time! :)

~Laura