On Tuesday, September 2nd, Katie and I will take the train to Chicago for a few days with some Hillsdale friends before we leave. Our flight* will depart Chicago On Friday, Arriving in Amsterdam the next day in the morning. After an eight hour layover, we'll leave Belgium for Roma, finally arriving at about 7:30pm, local time. After an outrageously expensive taxi ride, we'll arrive at our small apartment which will be home (very very) away from home for the following three-and-a-half months.We'll live a short distance from the River Tiber in the neighborhood called Trastevere - within twenty minutes walk from basically every ancient landmark in Rome: the Pantheon, Coliseum, Forum, Circus Maximus, and various triumphal arches as well as many Renaissance buildings: St. Peter's Basilica (Sistine Chapel and other Vatican fun stuff), Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, the Campidoglio and many, many others. Not less exciting will be the many museums and galleries, as well as open-air markets and vignettes of everyday Italian life. We have even found a nice Baptist (in Rome!) congregation for Protestant Spiritual feeding while we are in a rather not-Protestant city. The Schedule is not yet firm, but I know we will take several week or so trips to each of the following: Venice, Florence, Tuscany and Athens.
The focus, of course, will be my architectural studies, which will commence on the eleventh, but Katie will not miss out; the world's greatest old city will be at her disposal, after all. It's the trip of a lifetime, and we are very excited!
*Not a DC-3
