Last week, I was planning on spending my day alone in Rome, after my mom left obscenely early but before my own evening flight to the south of France, working on the 15 page analysis of Cezanne’s later work that is due shortly after I return to Paris, a project that has been the quiet menace over my whole spring break. However, rather than sitting at a café and being productive in the Mediterranean sun, I decided to run around town alone (in the Mediterranean sun).  After breakfast, I walked up past the Pantheon, quickly because I had spent an hour there a few days before. I found one of my art history professor’s favorite gelato places that had eluded me on my last visit, though, and after perusing the really tempting flavors (Limoncello was exciting, but I was mostly curious about the Champagne flavor) I decided to keep walking and come back later because I was still so full from breakfast. I took a detour to the Templo Adriano, just because I saw it was on the map and it was nearby—I couldn’t go inside, but it was these amazing columnar ruins that had been entirely built around—like, the other side of your bathroom wall could be 2,000 years old. Then I made my way to the Ara Pacis, one of the museum/monument combos that I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss (I was deciding between that and the Borghese Gallery on my solo day, but I figure I get enough of those old masters at the Louvre). The Ara Pacis was amazing. The building itself is really modern/Mondrian looking, all white and glass, but it makes a really marvelous setting for the temple—the inside is marble and filled with light. And, the museum is so cool, it actually explains the space, why it’s there, and why people are ambivalent about it. Then, I was looking for a cute spot to eat nearby and saw there was a church that is supposed to be filled with paintings by artists that I studied last semester, so I figured I’d check it out. I walked across to the Popolo square which you can literally see from the Ara Pacis, and which is home to not one, not two, but three different churches. After a few minutes of map reading, I walked towards the one I thought was right, opened the door, and was in the sacristy. Ooops. Then there was some side museum with some stuff about Da Vinci, then a lot of stairs that led to a nun’s house, then another side museum where I finally got the courage to ask where the afkwehsr2o3ik door actually was and the looked at me like I was totally crazy….it was right next to it. Whatever there was also a French family following me like I knew where I was going. So, after like 10 minutes of looking for this door, I (and the family) walked in…to Sunday morning mass! Oops again. I just followed suit of the other tourists in the church, who I thought were praying at first but then I realized they were just focusing their cameras really, really intently on the chapel painting. It ended up being pretty cool, but the work that was the biggest draw to the church was under construction (?) so I couldn’t really see anything. Then I grabbed some gelato, pistachio because a) I wanted a classic to see if it would actually be better b) I don’t even really like pistachio, so if I did at this place I knew it would be good c) my guidebook made a big deal about how they are special Sicilian pistachios (oh yeah, I’ve also grown out of guidebook-shame. Whatever, maps help and so do recommendations!). I can never (in the maybe 4 times I've had it) really tell the difference between gelato and ice cream, and maybe the only technical difference is that one is made in italy, but this was like they chopped up a thousand pistachios and then made them sugary and icy. So delicious!