Italia: Sirio Giam, my Italian bf?

Like I said I would in my last post... Monday night after class, I went to Rome to meet up with the gang for dinner. We met at the Spanish Steps at 7:00 and immediately started looking for a place to eat nearby [because the last metro was at 9:00]! We grabbed a seat at the first place we saw and were very excited about eating inside where it was warm! The restaurant ended up being more "Americanized" than we had expected but it was nice to be able to speak the same language as the waiter for once...

Our waiter was very nice and mom and Mrs. Dalziel were really enjoying talking to him. Like always... mom asked him if he would take a picture of the 4 of us and he jokingly said, "Oh, with me?"... [little did he know she was going to think that was a great idea]... she replies, "Yes!!" and immediately tells me to get one with him. Awesome. He says, "No, no I am kidding! She is turning red!!" ... At this point, it would have been more awkward to not take the picture with him so I get up and let her enjoy the moment. After I sat back down [and he walked away] we all died laughing, passing around the camera. The worst part was that I hadn't showered that day and had on a thick ear warmer the entire night [because it was freezing]... so in the picture I look like a cancer patient [that's horrible, I know!] They were all making fun of me but I did not care because no one was ever going to see the picture again... Wrong!

Minutes later... our waiter comes back and asks me, "Could you possibly email me that picture?" My first thought was, "Uh, are you serious?... Why??" but I say, "Yeah, sure!" He then WHIPS out a sticky note where he had hand written his email address and proceeds to spell it out for me to make sure I can read his handwriting. ((I know what you are thinking--- Wait, did he really go write this before even asking? Yes.)) So anyways... he tells us his name is Sirio Giam but due to his accent, we thought he was saying "my surname is Giam" and Emily and I were thinking... well that's nice but what is your first name?! and Mrs. Dalziel thought he was saying "John" so she got excited and tells him she has a son named John! He corrects her and we all continue to laugh at how dumb we are sometimes... [It wasn't until we read it on the way home that we saw his name was Sirio- and realized he wasn't just repeating his last name to us haha] ....So I take the paper and put it in my purse and we once again all laugh and joke about how awful I look in the picture and at the fact that he wanted me to send him a copy!! Then.. I realized that the picture is on mom's camera so I would not be able to email it to him... and she has no idea how to begin to do it... soooo... we awkwardly tell him we need to take ANOTHER picture with my camera! haha and he replies, "Oh ok! How about outside?!" As we are following him out... Mrs. Dalziel quickly pulls my earwarmer off and my pony tail holder out hoping I would look better in this one. Unfortunately, I don't think greasy, creasy, all around nasty hair has a chance of looking good but at this point, I didn't have a choice! Still laughing at this entire situation, we take the picture [on the right camera this time], thank him for being a great waiter, and leave... as he tells us we must come back next time we are in Rome! ...Don't get your hopes up too much, Sirio...I know this boy named Matt and he just might have a problem with that plan :)

Moral of the story: Do not wear an ear warmer in Rome after not washing your hair that day... you might have to take a picture with [and forward it to] your Italian waiter!!!!! :)

The picture with Sirio Giam and my gorgeous hair!!

Today, Tuesday, we got up at the crack of dawn to take a 2 hour bus ride to Civita di Bagnoregio, which is a small town on the border of the Lazio region in Italy. Most everything was closed when we got there because it was so early, but it was still very neat to see. There is an olive oil mill that has been there 400 years that still makes and sells oil and bread.... I was really hoping they would be open!

Civita di Barnoregio is almost like a secluded island- on land! The view was incredible!

Civita di Bagnoregio in the distance!

Longggg hike up!

1/2 way there!

We made it!

An unbelievable view!

After we successfully walked back down the hill, we got on the bus, and headed to our main destination, Orvieto, a medieval town across the Lazio border, in the Umbria region. The main attraction is the Orvieto Duomo- a cathedral that is entirely white and black marble with very detailed gold and colored designs on the front. There are two chapels inside [that we could not take pictures of] that are amazing paintings. One masterpiece is of the "last judgment" by Luca Signorelli.

Oriveto in the distance! (pic from the bus)

Orvierto Duomo

Love love love the coloring.

All real gold detail!! So awesome.

The massive organ.

Alter.

All black and white marble, inside and out. So detailed.

After visiting the church, we were free to eat lunch, then met back up to go to St. Patrick's Well. None of us knew what all the hype was about this well... until we got there. From the outside, it seemed so simple, we were wrong! The pope had the well built in 1527 to provide water incase of a disaster. It is 174 ft deep, with 248 stairs. There are 2 spiral staircases [with separate entrances] so that donkeys could easily maneuver down to the bottom.

St. Patrick's Well

From the top! (70 'windows' in the inside for light)

Finally made it to the bottom!

Emily making her wish!!

Once everyone started to head back up [I was still taking pictures of course- and got a little behind] then I panicked realizing I was going to be the last one in this big, creepy well so I started running up the stairs to catch up. Well.. I could hear some of the girls voices but it seemed that I could never catch up to them... even while running! I was shouting to them through the window openings and they kept telling me to stay there because I was above them and they were almost to where I was [but I knew this couldn't be right]. Suddenly, I realized I had gone up the down staircase and freaked out! Without thinking, I ran as fast as I could BACK down to the bottom and then BACK up to where I finally caught up with them. At this point, I could barely breath and my heart was racing. Emily thought this was very funny.. but I was truly scared! haha... Needless to say, by the time we got back to the top I think I had climbed [or ran] over 600 steps and I was reminded how out of shape I am. Silly me.

You have a lovely well St. Patrick... but I do not think I will be visiting again :)