Paris

So this weekend 5 of us decided to go to Paris, and it ended up being a great experience. We flew using an airline called Ryanair, which is a low-cost airline flying out of very low-cost airports, but they were great. The planes were clean, and on both flights we took off right away and landed 15-20 minutes early, so we were happy. We got to Paris Thursday night, and made it to our hostel by about 11:30. The hostel we had ended up being really nice. It was a 5-bed room, with our own bathroom, and breakfast every morning. Thursday night we went to bed pretty early so we could get up the next day. On Friday we decided to begin walking and see where it took us. We realized that we were in a good area of the city, and ended up walking to the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame Cathedral. Everything was amazing. The Eiffel Tower actually had snow on it because of a special event they were doing, so we got to snowshoe around the promenade. We walked up to the top of the first and second stories, but the summit was closed, so 600 stairs was as high as we climbed. We enjoyed the day and did some more sightseeing. That night we went to a pretty nice restaurant, and tried some escargot and had a good meal. We tried to hit up the nightlife scene in Paris, and realized very quickly that most of the clubs have decided to play nothing but 70s and 80s dance music, and quickly got bored and wandered for the rest of the night. Saturday we explored the Louvre, and after 4 hours inside, we had only seen about 1/5 of it, but had to leave. I did get to see the Mona Lisa and the Statue of Venus which was amazing to experience. Notre Dame Cathedral was stunning as well. It is very hard to believe that a building of this magnitude could be built when it was. It is a beautiful building, and we had found out that at 2:30 on Saturdays they give a free tour in English, so we hopped on that tour. We learned a lot, and the history of the building was fascinating to hear about. The rest of the day we enjoyed the city and had a nice dinner together before packing it in for the night, since we had to get up at 4:30 this morning to get to our flight on time. Next on the list is Germany, but I'm sure I'll have more updates about Italy before then. Hope all is well back in the states, and keep in touch.

~Mike

Colosseum, Imperial Forum, and Roman Forum

So this post is a little late but it works anyway. On Tuesday of this week I had the chance to go to the Colosseum, the Imperial Forum, and the Roman Forum. Since it was with my Art and Architecture of Rome class, I was able to get into the Imperial Forum for free. The Roman Forum is always free, and the Colosseum I will have to go back to again, since we ran out of time and only saw the outside. All three are absolutely amazing. My professor was explaining to us that much of the Roman and Imperial Forums still are yet to be unearthed, but what is so far is amazing. For those who don't know, the Forums are thousands of years old, and in some cases, still so structurally sound that it is actually possible to go inside them. Seeing the detail in the architecture is spectacular, and it really is hard to imagine that not only did they achieve detail this precise, but that they were able to construct these buildings so that some of them are still standing. It seems like it's going to be a good class, especially since I get to explore the city every week. Pictures are below as usual...This post is kind of short because I'm about to write about Paris as well. Enjoy!

Trying to blend in

So I've been here close to a week and a half now, and things are going great. My first week of classes went very well. While I'm here I'm taking International Business, Italian, Art and Architecture in Rome, and Theology. Lucky for me, that means that I only have class from Monday to Wednesday, giving me a nice four-day weekend every week. I think my most fun class by far should be the Art and Architecture in Rome class, since it consists of us traveling during each class to a different place in Rome. This week I'll be visiting the Colosseum. It should end up being a great class. Aside from that, I spent most of my week settling down and getting paperwork taken car of. For anyone who has never needed to stay in another country fro an extended period of time before, it ends up being a lot of paperwork, and this week we all had to get a "permit of stay" which allowed us (coupled with our visas) to stay here legally for the time we'll be here. On Saturday my roommate and I spent time touring the city, which actually isn't quite as big as we thought it was. We realized as we walked around that we were hitting familiar spots frequently. We stumbled upon the Stadio Olimpico, which was the site of the 1960 Olympic Games, and is currently home to the AS Roma soccer team. Since we all have been dying to go to one of the AS Roma games, we were pretty excited to find it. My Italian seems to be getting better, since it pretty much has to. We also found a nice pub down the street from us that is filled with American and Italian students every night, and it seems like a cool place to hang out. Their food is pretty good, and their prices are reasonable. They also have a little taste of home with some burgers and fries (although they make them much better than we do). This weekend my friends and I are taking our first weekend trip to Paris, France. We found a really cheap flight that leaves Thursday afternoon, and we'll be staying there until early Sunday morning in a hostel right inside the city. We're pretty excited since none of us have ever been, but we're trying to watch our money the best we can. Not only is the exchange rate horrible, the general cost of living is much more here as well. I don't have a ton of pictures this week, but after I go to the Colosseum and to Paris I'm sure I'll have more, so stay tuned. Hope all is well back in the states.

Mike

The Vatican

So today was a great day here in Rome. After horrible downpours yesterday and into this morning, Ken and I got out to visit the Vatican today, since it's right down the street from us. It was amazing. We started out walking there not knowing too (my metro stop...also the Vatican metro stop)
much about how to get around or what we would be able to so once inside, but we were in awe at the size of it, as well as the amount of people there, and how open they are about letting everyone seeing various parts of it. The nativity scene and Christmas tree that they had out from Christmas was like no other, and from there we wandered around a bit, and then ended up going into both the tombs of the popes and the Basilica. Both were amazing. The tomb was very interesting, and we were able to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II as well. No photos are allowed down there in respect for the sacred place, however you will see some of my photos of the Basilica instead. The Basilica is unlike anything you can
(the Vatican Wall at the end of my street)
imagine. Seeing it and imagining how hard it must have been to create, and the time that went into making it the brilliant piece of art that it is, plays with your mind. Despite what we had been told, they were allowing photographs inside, so i ended up with a few good one. The pictures on this page are just a few of them. I'm going to end up uploading all of them soon onto a website, but for now this is the best I can do. For those of you that have Facebook, they'll probably be up there first. It's still weird for me to think that I am this close to the Vatican, and that I am actually in Rome. I have added
(me leaning on the Vatican Wall)
some extra pictures below just because I had more pictures to show then what I had to say. I hope you all enjoy, and good luck with the snow!

~Mike















(the Vatican's Nativity Scene)








(Me outside St. Peter's Basilica)





(The inside of the Basilica)










(Vatican City)

Finally in Rome

So I made it. It took a little while longer than expected, but I made it. Let's start from the beginning.
My roommate Ken and I took a flight out of JFK at 7:30 on Wednesday night. we made it to London's Heathrow Airport by 7:30 AM local time. When we got there, we had about a 2 1/2 hour layover, and found out that we would have to transfer terminals. We did that, but at the next terminal since we had transfered, we were required to go through security again. When we went through, both myself and Ken were informed that our carry-on luggage was too large (it wasn't, mine had about 6 inched to spare on the previous flight). We asked how the problem could be fixed, and he told us that we had to go over to customs and tell them, and they would take it from us. Since customs was next to security, it didn't seem like a problem, so we went over. Once we got there, we were informed that to re-check our bags we had to go to the departure check-in (as if we had never gotten on the previous plane), which meant that we also had to get our passports stamped and be officially let in to London. After doing all this, we still made our flight with about an hour to spare.
We arrived in Rome at 2:00 P.M. Local time (8:00 AM U.S.), and after getting all of our baggage and the cab drive over, made it to
(view from one of the balconies)
the residence at around 4:00. The residence is awesome. We are in a 4-person apartment that has a living room, bathroom, kitchen, two bedrooms, and two balconies overlooking the residence and street.
Last night St. John's took us out to a nice Italian restaurant next to our residence. The food was excellent. Today we had orientation where we got to see the undergraduate campus, walk around Rome, etc. After that my roommates and I ate at an excellent pizzeria for lunch, and stopped at the market on the way back to pick up some groceries. We relaxed for a while, and then
I made pasta for
(on my way to campus)
dinner for the apt. We're going to the bar (coffee shop) across the street in a little bit just to see how it is, and then probably getting to bed early again tonight, seeing as we're still all pretty tired. Tomorrow is more orientation, and then Sunday we get to just walk around and explore if we want to. Monday classes begin, and it's going to be an interesting feeling actually taking classes here, since it doesn't feel like I'm at school right now. Adjusting to the Italian customs isn't that hard yet since we had been told about them, but they definitely are very different than the American ones. I am yet to see a single obese person, nothing, especially food, is ever wasted, people are very nice, and they seem to like Americans more than people think. The way they drive here makes Manhattan look sane, but it's nothing that is unusual for a city. The city is
(a church on my way to campus)
amazing, and it looks like the months are going to fly by. We began trying to plan trips already, and we're all excited to explore as much as we can. I'm going to go join my roommates and watch some Brittish CNN as they cover the U.S. Elections. It's very interesting to hear about it from their point of view. I hope all is well at home, and please keep in touch.
My address is:
Michael Storiale
Via Gualtiero Serafino, 8
00136 Roma, Italia
Viale Medaglie d'Oro, 73
Apartment 415

~Mike

The Beginning

So here it is...

I can't believe that I've been planning this trip for so long, and that it has now all come down to this. I leave on Wednesday, at 7:30 P.M. from JFK. I'll be traveling through the night, and arrive early morning in London. After a short layover, I'll be on my way to Rome, and should touch down in Rome a little after 1:00 P.M. local time. For those of you that don't know already, I will be staying in an apartment in Italy, about 6 or so blocks from the Vatican. I will be in Italy until May 5th, and will be taking 5 classes through St. John's University. I know that this post is short, but I just wanted to give everyone the basics, and make sure everyone knew about the blog before I leave. I will keep this updated with posts and pictures as I travel, and feel free to send this along to anyone who I might have left off. I will also try to make sure I update everyone via E-Mail whenever I post so everyone won't have to constantly check the blog. I hope all is well with everyone, and I'll be in touch soon.

Mike