Night on the town...

Tonight I went out to Campi di fiori with a bunch of friends, had a lovely dinner, then used our direction following abilities to find a gelateria (ice cream store) recommended as the best in Rome. The night started as a simple walk with one of our directors to a gym that we have the option of joining while here in Rome. I miss my gym back home so I went along just for kicks. This gym was located in the Campi di fiori, a small square located about 20 minutes on foot from the convent. Since we all didn't remember how to get to the Campi di fiori a bunch of us went along planning to get dinner around that area afterwards. There are tons of great little places to eat ranging from simple pizzarias to full scale fancy dining and we were feeling like a nice sit down outside meal. So, after the gym tour we asked our director directions to the Campi di fiori and a good place there to eat. He did so, and though we had every intention of going to the place he recommended, after entering the Campi di fiori we got distracted by this restaurant on the way and decided to eat there. The square is a popular night spot for people to hang out, locals and tourists alike, and there was music, street venders, and artists everywhere. We ate outside and our waiter was this hilarious Filipino man who spoke a fair amount of English. He made everything funny and entertaining, like when we would try to flag him down across the tables he would wave back and yell "I love you, too!", or when he brought our water bottles he said "Vodka for you, gin for you..." It was all very funny. I had a delicious tomato and mozzarella pizza. Fantastico! It was really cool just to chill there, talking, listening to the music and bustle of the square, and enjoying some fabulous Italian cuisine.

After dinner we decided we needed gelato. We had been told by our resident assistance, Tunde, that the gelateria Fior di Luna in Trastevere was her favorite in Rome, and since Trastevere was very close to the Campi di fiori we decided to go. We had gotten directions from Francesco-the man who took us to the gym-and we tried our best to follow them. It was a mixture of his directions, our memories from orientation, and stopping and asking taxi drivers (luckily two of us spoke pretty good Italian, thank you Jessica and Chrystal!) where it was. But we found it, and oh my goodness was it good. Best I've had so far, definitely worth the walk. Not half a bad night at all!

Buonasera a tutti!