A sartorial injection.

A curious element of the Year Abroad is one's wardrobe. In some ways the whole experience is merely one long, extended holiday and therefore one's possessions are controlled by airline regulations. There's a limit on how much you can bring and, similarly, you must consider how you're to get everything back within your weight limit before you can go home. This factor is a serious dampener on a girl's desire to shop.

As I get nearer to my departure date I have started to think about luggage and what I may even have to leave behind. I even used my April trip home as an opportunity to return all my coats, jumpers and... less essential footwear to the UK. However, as a girl who likes her clothes I must confess now that I am itching for a trip round the shops. Even with what still looks like a fairly full wardrobe, I'm tired of all my clothes. I'm sure I've found all the possible combinations for this particular set and worn them out. What I'm basically saying is

I have nothing to wear!

However, all hope is not lost. The joy of living with three other girls is that we've developed the very unoriginal concept of the communal wardrobe What's mine is yours, and all that jazz.

What's this got to do with anything? Well, despite having been looking forward to Saturday night all week. Because, well you know, it's Saturday night. Despite having had an excellent day in Tivoli and being in good spirits for the evening. Last night, I genuinely considered passing on the festivities because... the shame, I didn't have anything to wear!

Another reason to love my flatmates. Anna committed herself to supporting me through my temporary insanity and getting me to a dancefloor. She listened to my craziness and then disappeared. returning five minutes later with to of her own dresses that I was yet to play dress up with. Needless to say, I eventually perked up, manned up and got dressed.

It's alarming how one new garment can transform, if not one's wardrobe, then at least one's own perception of it. Anna's dress was just the sartorial injection that my Roman armadio needed and I felt brilliant. Also, it was a dress that I probably would never even try on in a shop. I just wouldn't have supposed it to be very 'me'. I would be missing out.

I'm so glad Anna thought to share and committed to supporting me through my wardrobe/brain malfunctions as last night was so much fun! Even though we pre-partied the same as every other Saturday, and even ended up at our usual club it really was one of the best Saturday nights I've had in Rome. It was so good that when the club kicked out at half past four, we all decided to find another bar, rather than call it a night and go home!

I'm still aware of my baggage limits, but I think I'm going to go shopping this week. I think a couple of new Spring/Summer staples could perk me right up and see me through the rest of Erasmus with vain, fashion conscious peace of mind.

What do you think? Is this post just self-indulgent and materialistic, or do your clothes help you think positively too?

A Day Trip.

I have a tiny confession to make. Ever since I came back to Rome after my last trip home I've been somewhat less than enthusiastic about my life here. This has bothered me. Please, don't get me wrong- I love my life here and I'm in no hurry for my time to run out, but having had such a wonderful trip home part of me has been pining for that part of my life, leaving me somewhat disconnected from all things Roman.

Today, however, has given me a new wave of excitement about this place. I'm finally excited about all the things I still haven't done or seen here. Why? Well, we went on a little day trip today, and it was lots of fun!

The train coming into Tivoli.

This week I started to make a list of things I'd like to do before I run out of Roma time; you know... nearby places I'd like to visit; landmarks I haven't yet stumbled upon. That sort of thing. Well, this morning Anna and I both woke up feeling uncharacteristically energetic and enthusiastic and so we though 'No time like the present' and set about checking something off our wishlist.

By lunchtime we'd convinced Rosa to join us and were sitting on a train to the nearby town of Tivoli. About an hour's journey away and less than €5 for return train fare this was a lovely afternoon. We didn't know anything about Tivoli, but had heard that it was very pretty. Five minutes out of the station we came across Villa Gregoriana and ere not disappointed by the beauty of the place. We also had a really fun hike!

We spent the afternoon following various trails, gasping awestruck at the   waterfalls and magnificence of the valley we were in... and took lots of pictures. Not even rain could dampen our spirits and so we trekked on and made the most of our afternoon exploring caves and ancient temples, enjoying the exercise of our rambles and taking lots of photographs!

When Rosa tells you to get in a cave and look like an enthusiastic starfish... YOU DO IT.

More cave fun.

The three of us looking over the 'Valley of Hell', post rainfall.

Rosa and I in an empty water feature.

After a few hours of rambling and exploring we finally made it to the highlight of all tourist destinations and cultural institutions: the coffee shop. We were very lucky that it was just as we went in that the heavens really opened, and threatened to completely drench us,  that we stumbled upon this delight. We had a coffee, with free peanuts, crisps and biscuits... and then decided to stay and have a beer too, as the rain decided to get heavier just as we were thinking of heading back to the station. The people in the bar were lovely, and made sure we always had snacks. Warm snacks too.A wonderful afternoon. We also found out that there are two more villas in Tivoli, and so may go back again soon.

So after a day of fun, I'm once again very excited to be here in Italy. I've got lots more on my list, and so hopefully I'll be busy exploring (and blogging) over the next few weeks!

If you're ever in Rome and feel like getting out of the city for an afternoon- try out Tivoli. It's beautiful! And the whole day (Train, villa entrance and drinks) all cost us less than €15 each!

Easy Tiger

This week my Facebook and Twitter feeds have been overflowing with reports of how glorious the weather currently is in England; the land of cold and dreary. Only as far as weather goes, of course. I suppose that's me getting my just desserts. Having spent most of the last fortnight gloating about the beautiful weather in Rome, how I'm out gallivanting in shorts and vest tops and how nice it is to just sit in the sun with a gelato. Well, I suppose Rome still has that advantage. I love my country, but the English don't know anything about ice cream!

Moving swiftly on... on rather returning to my point. Over the last few days England has been sun bathing, barbecuing and boasting about it. I spent yesterday looking out at the rain and, although today was dry, I have been forced back into full length jeans and long sleeve t-shirts. This is not what I had in mind when I moved to a Mediterranean country, especially not in late May.

However, as a natural optimist I think it always better to focus on the positives. So having now had my mini moan about the past few days allow me to tell you about the weekend and the good things that came my way.

This weekend I went to Sicily for the Evento Nazionale. A weekend of fun, where Erasmus students studying all over Italy come together in one holiday resort to make mischief. Maybe I'll come back to the mischief in another post. For now, I'd like to simply take a moment to remember the warmth and the sun. I'd like to talk to you about tanning.

I'm basically from Essex. Give me this one break!

I'm not going to say to much about my time in Sicily as, I'm almost embarrassed to admit, I didn't really do anything there. I didn't see any sights or do anything remotely cultural. I spent the morning my the pool with my book and the afternoon dancing by the pool with my mates. Sorry. All this pool time did lead to some good results, mind you. The tan. I'm not completely bronzed- bitter disappointment, but there's still time- however, I have been reminded of the one great affliction of sunkissed skin. Tan lines.

Some of you may have been somewhat confused by the title of this post, but now here it is. Why is it that a bikini, a vest top, a pair of shorts, whatever you wear, will eventually leave you striped like a colour-confused tiger! *Grumble*

Oh well, I'm sure they'll fade/fill out. There's still time to work on my 'I live in Italy' tan!

That's all I have to say. It was a fun weekend, but as I told you, I didn't really do anything. Which was lush.

Party on Erasmus!

A place to rest.

Sitting in the parte antica, back in January.

Some of my friends- well all of them actually- were somewhat alarmed and confused when I told them that I've been volunteering at a cemetery. This post will attempt to convey the beauty of the cimitero accatolico per gli stranieri a Roma, to explain what I've been doing there and to remove any idea that this is a strangely morbid way to spend your days in the Eternal City.

Keats' grave.

I first came across the cemetery back in October, when my parents first came to visit. We were all enchanted by our find. As a Literature student it appealed to me as the final resting place of Romantic poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. I then started thinking about the fact that it's a place for foreigners For those away from home. It's said that 'all roads lead to Rome', and I'm was curious about some of the paths and journeys that ended here.

I spotted a photo of a little boy's grave and was fortunate enough to meet the director of the cemetery and she was kind enough to show me where I'd find it. We got to talking and, long story short, I soon began volunteering in the Visitors' Centre.

Shelley's grave.

Yes. So for the record, I've been working in the Visitors' Centre. I haven't become a sexton and taken to digging graves, as many people have asked!

It's an interesting place and I've met all kinds of people. From the visitors themselves who come from all over the world. People looking for the graves of famous writers, artists and politicians. People looking for deceased friends and relatives. The volunteers themselves are quite fascinating. Most of us are foreigners here, having found their way to Rome from England, America, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, and so the list goes on. Many of them have lived all over the world, done something truly interesting and all of them our happy to share their experiences and the wisdom they've learnt.

One of the things I've been doing in the VC has been to help another volunteer with his labours to research and compile information about the lives of everyone buried in this unique place. Flipping through those folders I've been amazed at the adventurous lives so many of these people lived, saddened by some tragic circumstances and impressed by some of these peoples' accomplishments.

The Angel of Grief

The cemetery itself is beautiful and has such a perfect atmosphere of serenity.It's full of little paths, hidden gems- both in beautiful sculptures on graves and equally beautiful words- and also a great number of cats.

The Cats of Rome are famous and there's quite a big population living it large in the cemetery. In fact there's another group of volunteers working in the adjacent cattery. They feed and care for the dozens you see strolling around the grounds.

This is Theo.
 He mostly just sits here, in the window of the VC.

I'm realise I'm probably doing a rubbish job of explaining what a lovely place this is, but it really is beautiful. Now that the weather's nice, I often just stay and read on the grass. It's just... peaceful. And at the end of the day, that's what a cemetery should be. Not creepy, or dark, or eery. When we lost a loved one we say, 'may they rest in peace', and I think that here people really do. People from all over the world, of all creeds, lying side by side in peace. With nothing in common but where they came to rest.

Having just said all that about strangers, you also find friends.
John Keats & Joseph Severn's graves, side by side.

So yeah, it's a lovely place and if you're ever in Rome you should definitely check it out. I've brought several of my visitors here and they've all really liked it. 

My Aunty exploring.

                                     

Feel free to leave a comment and ask my anything if you still think I'm mad. I wouldn't be offended, or surprised. Promise.

Find out more here: http://www.protestantcemetery.it/

That's going to hurt in the morning.

The sun's reappearance in Italy has me totally energised and so this week I've been out of the house more or less all day, everyday. Somewhere between finding these new reserves of energy and finding all my shorts and sun dresses I somehow got the notion into my head that exercise would probably be a good thing to do.

I imagine it happened seconds after I realised that soon after shorts comes bikini.

In general I've enjoyed all this new activity. I've always been a fan of walking places, rather than waiting for buses. Playing games in the park is lots of fun. Busting out an exercise DVD with dancerise and toning work outs, felt good at the time, but has left me very achy.

I had this 'brilliant' idea on Friday. On Saturday my legs were to achy for me to even be bothered with getting 'all the way' to the park. The shame. I'd promised my flatmate I'd clean the bathroom yesterday, any kind of bending or crouching was uncomfortable and unpleasant, and as the rest of the day taught me it's also unavoidable. Did you have any idea how bending you actually do in a day? Moving from standing to sitting on chair? More exertion than relaxation- gah!

I blame the squats. And the crunches. Grumble, grumble...

Despite this moan, I'm hoping to be less achy tomorrow, and give it another go. It probably is still a good a good idea and, as my mother likes to remind me,

"No pain, no gain"

Sorry to moan, but at least I'm still somewhat motivated. I think I hae to be, because that bikini isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's coming out on Thursday.

Gosh.

The joy of doing nothing.

Over these past few days we'e been truly blessed. The weather has been fantastic. Spring is heating up, the sun is shining and I've been spending as much time out of doors as possible. Sun dresses and shorts have come out of the wardrobe. Plans for the beach are being made. Sun cream has been bought.

The weather has completely put an end to my homesickness and reminded me that I love living in Rome. It's helped by the fact that it's raining in England.

What I've loved about the past few days is that when the weather's fine I just can't bear to sit indoors and so I've been getting up earlier- woken by the heat of the sun on my window- and have just been doing something, or a lot of lovely nothing.

Villa Torlonia

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." 
-Winnie the Pooh 

While the sun and the heat are still novelties and completely delightful I'm really enjoying pointless walks, sitting for a minute as I go through the piazza and heading over the the park. The gelato tastes better and the Kindle is getting a lot of use. John Thornton and Margaret Hale will be out of my life in no time. Which is actually a shame, because I'm loving North and South.

It's alarming how much time I've actually whiled away in the sun over the past few days. Today, for example, I was somewhat surprised when I realised actually been at Villia Torlonia for three hours. Blanket out, Kindle out, zoning out. There's something so peaceful and calming about enjoying your surrounding entirely and letting yourself get lost. Yesterday I ended up having a cheeky nap when Anna and I were at the park and earlier I'd been devastated when I realised that it was time to get up and head over to uni, having been enjoying my time in the Parte Antica, after finishing work at the Cimitero Acattolico.

"You have to allow a certain amount of time in which you are doing nothing in order to have things occur to you, to let you mind think."
-Mortimer Adler

So far I'm having a great week. I've been busy, but I'm most busy doing nothing. It's lush!

p.s. New favourite song, as of today.

A real page turner.

When I was home my mum gave a book. A book she read over a year ago, but I've had to wait for, as naturally she leant it to all of her sisters and half of her one thousand friends before I got my hands on it. It was definitely worth the wait though and I gobbled the whole thing up in less than a week. God love transport for the time it gives to bookworms!

"Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself."
-George Bernard Shaw

The book was Me and Mine, a portrait of an Irish family living in London. It was heart-warming, anecdotal and quite honestly it made me think so much of my own family. Not just because they were from Longford and reading the Longford Leader, which once reported my own parents marriage- completely inaccurately! This book is a real page turner and I quite literally couldn't bare to put it down. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It depicts family exactly as I think it should be, a hub of loving intrusion and jest, both in spite and because of each member's imperfections as well as their strengths. 

"The definition of a page-turner really aught to be that this page is so good, you can't bear to leave it behind, but then the next page is there and it might be just as amazing as this one."
-John Burnside

As you know, at Christmas I got a Kindle. This was a very practical decision, supported by two very simple reasons. 

1. Books are very expensive here, especially foreign ones.
2. I have my luggage allowance to think of, and lots of books would certainly weigh me down.

As much as I enjoy playing with my new toy and the delights of finding literary freebies, it was wonderful to have a real book in my hands again. A real page turner, complete with pages to turn!

Having devoured this treat so quickly I have now returned to my new found technological ways and you could say I'm even being conscientious by having started North and South, by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. This is one of the set texts for 'The English Nineteenth Century Novel', a module I hope to take next year at Warwick. I'm really enjoying it. I can't help but wonder if people really were as eloquent as characters in these old novels though. Margaret Hale, the protagonist, speaks so poetically as she describes her old rural home to her new friends in the North that I wonder have we forgotten the power of poetry, simply become too lazy to fully describe all that we perceive, or rather have become sadly unaware of the beauty and the music in the world around us? 

I'm just a quarter of the way through now- thank you Kindle and your handy little percentage bar- and am really enjoying this read. I hope the rest of the books on this reading list treat me as kindly.

Also, yes... I have seen a BBC adaptation of this tale. And no, it doesn't hurt to imagine the dashing Richard Armitage as the leading man, John Thornton. Do you judge me, fellow Literature students? 

I'm going to stop now as I have a book to be getting back to...

p.s. If you like the sound of either of these books, here are the links to them on the Waterstones website.

• Me and Mine, Anna May Mangan,  http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/anna+may+mangan/me+and+mine/7441649/
• North and South, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell,  http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/elizabeth+cleghorn+gaskell/north+and+south/8585681/

Dancing in the street.

"Callin' out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right for dancin' in the street."
-Martha & the Vandella's.


May Day. A cheeky bank holiday to celebrate in the spring time. We all know it's steeped in tradition; such as white dresses, dancing around a May pole, etc etc and yet all it really means to most Brits today is a long weekend and a week without that Monday feeling.


In Italy, Primo Maggio (1st May) is still a holiday -yay!- but apparently is a much bigger deal. Also known as Festa dei lavoratori (Workers' Day) it its actually celebrated on 1st May, and not the nearest Monday. This means that on Tuesday, next to nobody was at work and there was a great deal of fun to be had.


Here in Rome the occasion is marked by a huge concert in front of San Giovanni. It was so surreal to see a massive stage rigged in front of one of the city's most imposing basilicas. The streets were packed from early afternoon through to midnight and the atmosphere was really relaxed and lots of fun.

I spent the afternoon on the rooftop terrace of a friend, living very nearby, where we had a barbeque. After a showering of rain earlier in the day we feared this plan may yet go awry but in the end we were very fortunate and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon.

After watching the sun set, which was even more stunning with that view, we headed back down to the piazza to enjoy the concert and the atmosphere. Most memorable May Day by far. Grazie Roma!

That's all for now- so much shorter than my last post!

p.s. We dip-dyed Rosa's hair. We're proud of the results!
p.p.s. Anna has a really annoying habit of looking cool in photos!