July 15th
Ciaowdy! The Baton Rouge Crew will take you through day two!
Veni. We only had enough time for 6 hours of sleep before the morning wake up call, but after what seemed to be an eternity of travel, that six hours was the best six hours of sleep any of us have ever had. Once we packed our bags from our short sojourn in our hotel in Rome, we went to the lobby level (Floor Zero!) for heavenly breakfast. The all-you-can-eat eggs, bacon, pastries, yogurt, salami, and (much to Kyle’s delight) expressos put Hampton Inn continental breakfast to shame. Now with full stomachs, we boarded our bus to the city center.
Vidi. After a beautiful drive with trees that seemed too perfect to be real, we began our day in Rome at the Fori Imperiali, or the Imperial Forum, navigating the pathways built by Emperor Trajan and his famous column. We passed many old shops and temples as we meandered our way through the heat towards the Roman Forum, built by Caesar as the original forum in the city Rome. Once there, we ventured into the site of the Curia (home of the Roman senate), Caesar’s altar, Arch of Titus (the original Arc de Triumph), Basilica of Constantine, Temple of Romulus, and so much more. During this time, it’s not a fun trip without some people getting lost! Luckily, however, after 30 minutes of searching for the group of stragglers (which included Sid), we were reunited and continued our trek through the forum. Struggling from the intense heat, our group elected to cut the guided tour a little short and head straight to the Colosseum. After we hiked the remaining distance to the iconic monument, we paused for some photo ops.
Vici. Encumbered by gallons (or, for the sake of Italy, liters) of sweat, our group splintered off as we sought out various locations for lunch. You can’t go to Italy without having pizza, and thus 9 of us headed down the block to a local Pizzeria (Gavi Cafe for those interested). We scarfed down our food and water, quenching our immense hunger and thirst, and then sauntered back to the bus to begin our trek to Assisi, our home for the next few nights. Caesar would be proud – we truly came, saw, and conquered Rome.
To end the day, we settled into our rooms, wandered the streets of Assisi near our hotel, had a wonderful group dinner, and (of course) ate gelato! We also found a fun, elderly rock band performing at the Temple of Minerva.
As the sun begins to set on July 15th, us writers wanted to give a special shout-out to Mrs. Annie Scheumack (Sid’s mom), who’s birthday is today! Buon Compleanno Mamma!
Sid Scheumack ‘27 and Kyle Oubre ‘27
