I'm glad to have finally been able to spend a quiet, slow morning in this Saturday. I woke up, showered, and took my time getting ready before I met up with a friend to talk travel plans for our first week-long break in February and then we headed up to Prati to meet up with two other girls to check out Villa Borghese. It was a beautiful day to be outside with blue skies and sun shining bright (even though it was a bit chilly at only about 50 degrees out...) considering it's been drizzly and gray for most of the time I've been here.

On our way over to the park we passed by Piazza del Popolo where there were throngs of people gathering in front of a stage setup and I immediately recognized the truck advertising for Rai, a local TV station. It seemed to be some sort of event for Chinese new year but the festivities had not yet begun, so we took a detour route and decided to pay a visit inside Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo. From the outside it's just a gray marble building sitting on the side of the Piazza, but the ceilings towered above our heads and an ornate granite chapel loomed to the left and paintings by Caravaggio adorned the walls next to the apse. It was a very beautiful church, but I now see why so many people suggest Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere because it just had so much more grandeur and ambiance in my opinion with its golden mosaic and detailed ceiling.

Exiting the church, we climbed a few sets of stairs to enter into Villa Borghese. After yesterday's brilliant park visits, I had high hopes for this one as well. It was indeed an impressive park, but it we were all a bit taken aback by how many things were going on at once (since the parks we saw yesterday were so serene). We entered the park to find a children's carnival, areas blocked off for fireworks, tandem bikes, roller bladers, and four-seater pedal carts. The park was sectioned off and many of the monuments were under construction or renovation (probably because it's the off season), but much of the green space was filled with umbrella pines and paths lined with bushes and magnolia trees. Many parts of the park looked like they could have provided inspiration for the forest in Alice in Wonderland. We made our way around, passing an adorable old man playing the accordion, to find the Galleria Borghese where we sat at the little gift shop cafe to enjoy a quick cappuccino and a delicious chocolate muffin topped with a little dollop of nutella. We didn't end up going in the actual museum but did enjoy the back garden area and found the derpiest statue we've seen so far.

Making our way back to the other side of the park, we came across a view of the city at golden hour. Unfortunately the best lookout spot was fenced off for the weekend but hopefully I'll be back soon to snap some more photos overlooking the Vatican. We did find, however, that Piazza del Popolo was filled with people watching the performances which had finally begun. We made our way into the center of the crowd to watch a group of Italian tai chi and wushu students who kicked and jumped their way across the stage and the big screen. It was definitely interesting to see the crowd and performers of mostly Italians celebrating Capodanno Cinese to ring in l'anno del cavallo.

After a quick rest in my friends' apartment on Via Cola di Rienzo we ventured out to find some dinner at the perfect time to catch the fireworks show at the end of the street (over the piazza we had visited earlier). Our hunger getting the better of us, we looked around the mercato across the street from their apartment but very few stands were open at that hour so we ended up in Franchi, the gastronomia our professoressa has mentioned almost every day to recommend we try different foods. It was a wonderful place filled with interesting Italian street food including croquettes, pizza, calzones, and supplì. We learned about supplì during Katie Parla's food lecture at the study center and were all excited to try the intriguing fried snack (separate post to come!). We returned to my friends' apartment satisfied with our outdoor adventures and all exhausted from our first week of intense walking and city exploring, and now I am home catching up on blog posts and Japanese TV from this past week. I feel like even without a definite plan I always end up doing a lot of things during the day and visiting multiple sites just because it's so accessible by foot and public transportaiton... and there is just so much to see, everywhere, all the time! I'm glad to be finally finding my way around the city and getting a feel for the local foods, and am ready for a good night's rest and to see what adventures are in store for me tomorrow.