ROME, RECENTLY

it's been a while since i've posted about rome, so here's an overdue update. life has been busy but in the best way! there is always something to do or see here so i'm always on the move. i've been seeing a lot of rome and lazio with my classes, which has been great (who knew learning could be fun??).  my art professor took us to a villa farnese in caprarola last week (pictures above) and later to natural hot springs which smelled like sulfur but were really cool. another professor took us to the maxxi museum last week, and they had the coolest exhibit about food. my favorite part of the exhibit might have been "last meals", which was a curation of death row prisoners' last meal requests, recreated with photographs (gruesome, right?).

at school i had the chance to attend a wine class/tasting and now i think i'm an expert sommelier. i learned all kinds of new words to describe wine that i'm planning on using in the snobbiest way. i've been eating a loaf of bread per day (crusty loaves with olives are my current fave) and pasta to wash it down. it's okay to bring 10 extra pounds home as a souvenir, right?? i'm trying to make up for it by finding all of the hills to hike up in rome.

also, i recently discovered the magic that is the italian aperitivo. aperitivo is like happy hour but SO MUCH BETTER because there is a massive buffet of roman food to keep your drinks company. why has the united states not caught onto this yet?

the weirdest thing lately is that i am beginning to seem like i belong in rome. i must look comfortable here, because people keep stopping me on the street and asking for directions. unrelated, but people also keep asking me if i am russian. do i look russian?

does anyone know where to get lavender gelato in rome? that is my priority this week.
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things i've been enjoying:

eataly a culinary showcase of italy that overwhelmed me with options
maxxi museum coolest exhibit called spoon to earth (or cucchiaio al mondo in italiano)
come il latte the gelato that made me look down on all other gelato-seriously. freshly whipped vanilla cream and melted chocolate on every cone. you must go here
monte mario hike 2 km to the top and you will be rewarded with breathtaking views from the highest hill in rome
frenzi e frizioni huge aperitivo buffet and decent mojitos with the hippest crowd in trastevere
algianico del vulture someone tell me if i can buy this wine in the states??