Mattie Garrell '07

Mattie was one of 17 Wingate students who participated in the Fall 2006 Wingate-In-London program. The group of juniors and seniors lived together in flats and studied art, history, theatre and English literature with one Wingate faculty member and British adjuncts. Mattie grew up in a small town in North Carolina not too far from Wingate. She enjoys reading, watching movies, hanging out with friends and family, and art (especially photography).

Heavenly Gelato in Rome

Posted by: Mattie on 11/24/06

Well all, I have not written in a while but have been busy seeing England and Italy. Last weekend a few of my friends here on the trip with me went to Rome for the weekend. It was soo nice to get away from the normal here in London. Well if that is a good thing to get away from London! We left really early fro get to the airport but ended up having some delays but we just took advantage of the opportunity to do some homework. We arrived safe and sound in Rome and were a lil freaked out when we got off the plane because we didn't quite know where to go to get to the city. We found out that we were about 30 min from our hostel so we just decided to splurge and get a cab to take us. All in all it was not that much per person because we got a group rate. Only 12 euros a person is not really that bad. From the hostel we got no rest form the flight but dropped off our stuff (well our packs because we were living out of a backpack for the weekend) and headed to St. Peters. It was about a 20min walk but it was quite refreshing after the long ride on the plane. As we walked through the pillars to see the round center of St. Peter I was amazed at how big it was and also how beautiful. We stood for a while in aw and then went inside and were struck again at how beautiful it was. I have seen my share of gothic cathedrals but this one was built in the neo-classical style like the ancient Romans. How fitting. By the time that we were finished there it was dark because for one thing we lost track of time and also that it gets dark so early here in the UK and in Italy. I guess that we were farther to the north than NC is?

But after dark the city just shuts down and all the business close except for the nice restaurants and the gelato shops...Oh my gosh, the gelato is heavenly and it soooo good. It is ice cream that is whipped and made with the real ingredients also with whole cream instead of plain milk, so it is really bad for you but it is sooooo good that you just have to have some at least every day if not after every meal…hahah. We made our way back to the hostel by nine and crashed. We were up early every morning so that we could see all that we could in three days. We toured the Vatican and saw the Sistine Chapel. (Shushhhh, I got a pic though I wasn't supposed to, so remind me to let any one see it if you want.) But all the art there was simply amazing and worth every penny that I spent getting there if that was all that I was able to see. We saw the ancient Roman ruins and also the Coliseum. Just being there made me thing of the movie Gladiator…not weird right? It just made me thing about all the people and animals that had died in the arena just for entertainment. It still is a marvel how it was built and that it is still standing today.

I could talk for days about the Rome trip but I will skip over to today. It is Thanksgiving Day and I had a blast. Not the usual blast but a special one. My cousin is here visiting me for break and I have been showing him London and all the sights. We toured the Tower of London and learned way too much history about it if that is possible but it all was very interesting. But the best part of all was seeing the Crown Jewels!! I will never forget seeing so many diamonds….I was literally speechless at all of them. After all they are a girl's best friend…ha. I was talking to one of the guys here in the program and he asked me why go women get diamonds and guys only get dogs as their best friends? My only reply was that women are jewels and need to have them, let's just say that he almost fell out of his seat in laughter, but whatever. But for the evening my cousin and I and some others went to a concert at the Hammersmith Apollo at Hammersmith. I had wanted to go to a show here because there is such great music all over the place here and I finally go to today!!

Whew…. Well now that you all are bored I will end the longest blog ever. It is about two weeks till we arrive home and get back to life as it normally is, but I know that I will never be the same after London.