Anti-Berlosconi Rally

Yesterday, after a long week of doing a lot of homework, we went to the park to ride bikes. After that, we went to a Anti-Berlosconi Rally in the Piazza de Poppolo. The Piazza was packed and it was not just young people who were protesting but everyone. A lot of older Italians were waving flags and carrying signs. Berlosconi had an affair with a seventeen year old prostitute. People don't mind so much about that but he used his power to get her out of jail after she shoplifted some stuff. He claimed that she was the niece of Former Egyptian President Mumbarak, which is not true. People believe he is not following the laws or the constitution and now he has to stand trial in Milan, in front of three women judges. Bye Bye Berlosconi!

We also went into a church by the Piazza to light candles or the Japanese People.

Two Days in Verona

I spent Monday and Tuesday in Verona. Verona, not only the setting of the greatest love story of all time but the sight of the most Roman architecture other than Rome on the mainland. I enjoyed my time in Verona so much, it is so calm and peaceful and every where you look, you see something interesting. After the train ride, we went to this little restaurant where we got the best hot chocolate I have ever had. It was so thick and creamy. For dessert, we got chocolate pie with whipped cream. It melted in your mouth as you ate it. After we ate and checked in to our hotel, we walked over to see Juliet's wall. To be completely honest, it wasn't very interesting because it was so crowded. What interested me the most was walking up stairs to see the letters to Juliet. People coming from all around the world wrote letters to her and you could read them. Many of them were very sad but some had some cheerful qualities, one even made me cry. After that, we got hearts with our name ingrained on it. I told him my name was John Champagne, he told me that we should be friends because he likes Champagne. I thought that was really funny. After that, we walked down to the river where an old Roman bridge. Now, you might just think it was another bridge but when the Italians Surrendered in WW2, the Nazis bombed that bridge and it all blew up into the river. As soon as the war was over, the City of Verona went into the river and rebuild the bridge from the remaining parts that were blown up. Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel to chill out for a while and then we went out to dinner. The next day, I woke up with a terrible cold. I felt terrible so we didn't do as much as planned. We went back up to the Letters to Juliet place and checked that our for a little while. After that, we went to Dante's sculpture. Dante was a poet who wrote the inferno which was a book on the different levels of hell and who sat there. The popes who had been greedy and cheated people were at the lowest level of Dante's hell. After that, we went and grabbed lunch and headed out back to Roma. I would say overall it was an amazing trip.
Ciao Bella,

John

A Week in Roma

Mi Dispiace, that is Italian for I am sorry. I am sorry I haven't been able to blog this week but I have been very busy. My mom's friend is in town who goes by the name of Jinny.
On Monday, we went to the Keats Museum. For those of you who don't know who Keats is, John Keats is one of the original British Romantic Poets. I really enjoy his poetry, so the museum was really interesting. He died in Rome, by the Spanish steps. The museum is the house where he died; they even have his bed. He was only twenty five. One of my favorite poems of his is Bright Star. Here it is.
Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art--
...Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
...Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
...Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
...Of snow upon the mountains and the moors--
No--yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
...Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
...Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
...And so live ever--or else swoon to death.




On Tuesday, we did homework all day and then for a reward we saw my favorite movie of the year "The King's Speech." It had just won the Academy Award! We couldn't watch them because they were on at two in the morning, and we don't have TV.
On Wednesday, we went to the farmers market and got a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

On Thursday, we went to Antique Roma. It was an exhibit on some of Roma's Ancient artwork. Then, we got an amazing Nutella crepe in Piazza Navona. I really like the fountain of four rivers in Piazza Navona. Then, we went to Frigadarium where they take their already amazing Gelato and dip it in warm chocolate with a cookie on top. It is the thing I wait for all day. Today, the guy let us go back there and help him work on the gelato and we got to hang out and have big things of Nutella. It was so much fun. After, we went back to Saint Peters, so we could walk up to cupola again. The Cupola is 550 steps; it is so much fun.