What I did today:

Today was Friday, and that means I had plenty of free time to explore Rome! Here's a quick run-down of what I did (I'll post pictures in a separate post in a few days, so just bear with me for now):

-Viewed the remains of the Ancient Aquaduct Appia (it was so deep! I can't imagine what it would have been like with water in it)
-Saw the apartment where Gregory Peck's character lived from Roman Holiday. (This sight required some stealthy doorbell ringing in order to get into the courtyard - I felt like a tourist ninja.)
-Iced tea in a cafe that had dozens of life-size sculptures all around the bar. It was so beautiful to drink tea amidst so many statues!
-Climbed castel san'angelo and saw a great view of Rome. The castle was free today, so I took advantage of it!

But the best part? My friend Claudia told me about this library she visited in class. We went at noon, but they told us to come back at 3. I wasn't so sure that any library would be worth that wait, but I'm SO glad we went back at three. Why? because at 3, we were greeted by a personal tour guide who led us into this room:

My jaw literally dropped open and I felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast when he presented his library to her.

I got the chills because of how beautiful all of the books were and how perfectly the natural sunlight entered the room - not too much, but enough to read by and illuminate the splendor of the volumes.

The woman who was guiding us told us a lot about the library's history, and internally I was just marveling at the fact that I was having a private tour of what certainly must be one of the most beautiful libraries in Rome, and it was absolutely FREE! This is the kind of thing I wish I could do in all of the cities I visit - it's touristy and culture specific, but also very much off the beaten and and SO much cooler because of it. That's one of the advantages to being able to spend 4 months in a country, I suppose!