If you’re a fan of Dan Brown’s novel Angels & Demons then this is the blog post for you! Unfortunately, I have to admit that I was one of “those kids” who didn’t read the book, or even see the movie for that matter, before coming to Rome.
Thank you to Kate and Emma for sitting down and making me watch it. (I’m glad I did!!!)
For those of you who haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I’ll do a little explaining. But don’t worry, I won’t give any parts of the movie away!
There are several scenes in Angels & Demons that you can actually go to for yourself.
- Castel Sant’ Angelo
- Piazza Navona
- Santa Maria del Popolo, in Piazza del Popolo
- The Pantheon
- The Sistine Chapel
After this weekend, I can say that I have been to every single one!
The picture above is the Castel Sant’Angelo, right on the Tiber River. (Yeah, the same river that Temple Rome is on, and only a few blocks away!) And the picture below is a fountain you can see in Piazza Navona.
I can’t stress enough how much “cooler” these sites are after you have seen them in the movie. This really applies to any movie set in Rome though. I mean, the first time I visited the Trevi Fountain or the Coliseum I can’t say there wasn’t a small part of me that wanted to burst out into “Hey Now” by Hilary Duff and get swept off my feet by an international pop star.
Enough about movies and sightseeing for now, I bet you’re just dying to know how my classes are going. But before I talk about classes here in Rome, I cannot help but to talk about classes back in Philadelphia.
I consider myself lucky! Choosing to study abroad during the semester that Temple seems to have more cancellations and delays due to snow than actual school days is definitely a blessing. Sure there are days that I would much rather sleep in than go to class, but when all you need is your umbrella and a sweater in the middle of February how can you complain??
I should note that if you looked at an Italian on the streets in Rome you would think we were in Philadelphia. Italians dress for the calendar, not necessarily for the temperature. What Americans would think is perfect sweater weather is freezing to the locals. You’ll see women in fur coats, men with hats and scarves on, and it’s even safe to say that the majority of (small) dogs I’ve seen are dressed up in their finest designer jackets to protect themselves from the “cold.”
Anyway, back to classes….
It seems like just yesterday I was talking about how classes were just starting and then they were picking up, well guess what? My professors have officially started talking about midterms. I refuse to believe that we are almost half way through our semester abroad. I feel like there are still so many trips to go on and events to attend, how could we almost be half way done? THERE’S STILL SO MUCH I WANT TO BLOG ABOUT! It’s alright though, I’d rather have to narrow down what I want to blog about than have nothing to say… but let’s be honest… it’s kind of hard to have nothing to say when you’re spending your semester in Italy!