Wash Away

This entire trip has been pretty much devoid of normal weather here in Rome. The summer heat keeps plodding along (in fact it is supposed to climb up to 76f this weekend) and yet people keep insisting that it is usually much cooler by now. In fact, I have been warned that the buildings don't usually turn on the heat until mid-November (which might be annoying, because I already feel like our apartment is too warm at night, so I really hope it cools down enough to counter act any artificial heat). All I can say is that I miss my odd Seattle weather patterns. We were given our first rainy day yesterday (it has rained before, but usually only for like an hour before returning to sunny or just grey skies), and while it was one of those things where it kinda interrupted what you were doing or planning to do it was nice to listen to the rain beat down and breathe in the air after the rain cleaned up some of the smoky atmosphere. The fact that this was the first storm we have had was also sort of exciting. Growing up in the Seattle-area means that I have seen storms before, but we usually don't have quite the view at home. It is strange watching lightning illuminate the skyline and cast light over the buildings. I kept thinking it would be really interesting to try to capture the moment on the camera, but I decided I don't really have the ability to take the shot right as the light hits. When it wasn't too blustery it was relaxing to sit in the doorway, listening to the rain and just being in the moment, however the wind liked to pick up and if you weren't careful you ended up soaked as well as getting water all over the house (as was the case with a couple of my roommates...).

Setting the scene for yesterday, we had gone to the Vatican museum and wandered through its crowded hallways seeing a large collection of art and artifact, and finally being packed into the Sistine chapel (which was smaller than I imagined, but still pretty cool). This meant that the evening was more of a time for relaxing than being productive (even though I really should have been drawing for class), and despite reading and just kind of meditating while listening to my music, it was nice to let the rain run over you and in a way clean off the mess, much like it was doing to the city. Sometimes you just need to relax and let yourself be washed away.