Adventures and Sick Days

An update is long overdue, I know. I've been too busy making friends with some Italians, known as my bed and apartment walls. They are very friendly and have seen me at my worst. We don't even have to use words anymore. Last Sunday began this lovely, yet clingy relationship. I wish they would give me some breathing room. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to leave the apartment for more than 3 hours. I think my apartment was jealous of my love for the country outside these 4 walls and decided to pass the worst Italian cold onto me through my hotel walls in Pollino. Yes, inanimate objects can be this sneaky. All that aside, I do have some swollen tonsils and an all around sickly body, but between Advil, antibiotics, tea and honey, and some wonderfully nurturing friends, I am on the path to health. Hopefully this will be the last of my sick days. I've missed far too much school and opportunities to explore.

Last week provided me with more pleasant days, such as exploring ancient ruins under one of the oldest churches in Rome and traveling to Pollino in Southern Italy. One of my favorite parts of school in Rome is our close proximity to history and art. No need to look at pictures in books. In my Roman Emperors class, we took an excursion to San Crisogono Church.

 We went down these stairs into another time, the door even closed behind us. I thought we might not make it back out into 2010.

 

bones of a saint where put here, close to another object, such as a piece of cloth, to turn that object into a relic

Very old fresco

 Tomb of a poet or musician because the muses are depicted on the side.

Pirates?!

 

 Ruins from the Byzantine Empire

 Just hanging out with a 1500 year old pillar. A typical day in Rome.

i'm saving Pollino for when I can steal some of my friends' pictures. I'll add them in my next update!