Buongiorno!

I write you once again from the comfort and safety of the villa Pieve in Perugia. We have spent the last two weeks traveling about the country: first a week in sicily as mentioned earlier, and 7 days spent in the heart of it all, Rome.

Our days in Rome were spent touring the Roman Forums and other famous sites through out the city. The forums are an area in the middle of of Rome located between the Capitaline and Palentine Hills. They hosts some of the most notable Roman architecture: Arch of Titus, Arch of Constantine, the home of Augustus, Forum of Trajan, the Victor Emmanuel and oh yes, the Colosseum! Our days began at 9 and traveling by foot, we made our way to each of these sites. There was a whole lot to take in and many times stressful, but if you could manage to take a moment and as mark says "separate time and space" you can begin to create a idea and feel a sense of what the great city once was. Each of us were responsible for researching two of the sites and giving a brief oration on the topic upon arrival. I spoke about the Forum of Trajan and the Ara Pacis Augustae.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan's_Forum

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ara_Pacis

One thing is for sure Rome can leave your ears ringing and if you're not careful you may be claimed by a  pickpocket. But looking both ways and keeping a weary eye peeled we were able to make it out un-scaved and will some euros left to spend! On Saturday I was able to spend some time along the Tiber river with a line in the water, though no fish were had on that occasion.... Nearby our villa there are chances to fish so that we be my priority on the weekends! I will not come home fish-less!

And the food... so many pizzas were consumed. Had my first Peroni in the process as well. My favorite meal was at an Irish Pub, where I had beef and mash stew with a pint of Guiness. That paired with some football on the tele was a top notch evening.

On a side note, I had my hair cut in Rome and it was the most expertly crafted and executed dressing i've ever had!

Alas, we've made it back to the peaceful villa. Yester-eve we hosted the Italian bowl, a jeopardy style game to quiz what we had all retained from our whirlwind of voyage. The 4 teams represented the 4 houses of Hogwarts. We were Hufflepuff and we took the victory in the final round!

We've also began our water color course here at the Villa with Jim Baken as our fearless leader.

Tomorrow we are taking a short trip to Sienna for some water color in the field... sigh...

Now that I've returned to the usage of a computer i can communicate more frequently, so expect to see many photos and posts! thats all I've got for now.

Ciao!!