La Dolce Far Niente

It is definitely springtime in Roma. The trees are flowering and the weather is sunny and warm (in the low 70s).

Cherry Blossoms in Our Courtyard

Therefore, we decided it was the perfect time to take a trip to the beach! It turns out that Roma has a train in its metro system that takes you from the stop closest to us to Ostia Lido, one of the public beaches. A group of us spent the entire day there. After an intense week of projects, an Italian final, and little sleep, it was so wonderful to spend a day basking in la dolce far niente ("the sweetness of doing nothing"). We soaked in the sun, waded in the cold Mediterranean, built a sandcastle (complete with a tunnel), and stayed late enough to watch the sunset. Having never been to the West Coast, it was the first time I've seen the sun set over the sea.

Sunset at Ostia Lido

Our daytrip to the beach, combined with our Southern Italy study tour this coming week, is making it really start to feel like summertime. It's going to be hard going back to classes and finishing out the semester after we get back from "spring break number four."