Highlights of Week 4 & 5 in Rome

*I stayed in Rome for 2 weeks. At first, it didn't interest me, but by the end, I love it. My dad asked me "So what's near your hotel?" The only way I could answer is to say "Everything." I mean, the Roman Forum, Coliseum, Piazza Campidoglio, the Pantheon, the Vatican, and I could go on... were all within a 20 minute walk from the hotel.

* Rome is literally built up of layers of history. For example, my hotel was built on top of the ancient Pompeo's theater. In the restaurant below, where we watched the soccer game, you can see the pre-existing structure they built on top of.

* Each block has some kind of famous building. There are also crazy situations when historians argue if they should tear down one building to look at the layer beneath. Which is more important?

* My favorite Food there:

- Honey Salad: lettuce, cheese, beef, honey dressing, apples, walnuts

- "Crazy lady restaurant" - literally next door to our hotel was a restaurant where the "crazy lady" would force everyone to order the same things since it was all made from scratch and she couldn't handle 14 different orders. But the food, (my tortellini with cream sauce) was fantastic. And she doesn't write down the orders or prices, and according to my Professor, she hasn't made a mistake in 17 years.

* San Clemente: I presented on this basilica for class, but also found great interest in it in general. The basilica has the ground floor 14th century basilica, but has recently revealed past layers of history. Unlike most buildings where they "built over stuff," San Clemente was built "on top" of other layers. You can go down 2 levels below the ground, the lowest level being a 4AD Roman house, and the middle level being the 4-11th century basilica. I will go more in detail if you ever ask, but it is a MUST SEE NON-TOURIST TRAP in Rome

(I will soon post about Florence and make a list of all the Gelato flavors I've tried. Thanks for reading! Ask questions if you have any! I will probably add more to this post later)