This past weekend, I went on my very last trip of my four months abroad to the capital of the country I've been studying in, Rome Italy. We left early Saturday morning taking a 3 hour bus into the city and walked to our hostel while the other group headed to their airbnb apartment on the other side of the city. After dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we made our way to the Vatican Museum, highlights include the Sistine Chapel and lots of information on the past popes. After, we visited Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican City and I was tempted to buy a teeshirt with the Papa Francesco's face on it. For dinner, we ate cheese, bread, and pasta in the apartment. The first day in Rome was crowded and busy and quite frankly, I didn't really like the city that much on the first day. I was glad I saw the Vatican, but I didn't like how the city was so busy, congested, disorganized and stinky kinda.
Second day we went to Saint Peter's Basilica, the most beautiful church I've ever seen. I saw Michelangelo's Pieta and the tombs of all the past popes which was really really cool. Then, we went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum and took lots and lots and lots of pictures. It's so weird standing on literally "ancient" grounds and the history involved in those places is overwhelming. After that, we went to the Trevi Fountain (which is under construction until March) so we couldn't really see that much of it. But from what I could see, it was GORGEOUS and so much bigger that I ever thought it would be. We walked to Piazza Venezia and the Pantheon and then went back to the apartment for another night of food and friendship.
The third and final day in Rome happened to be on an Italian holiday. We had a casual morning and even made breakfast before we had to check out of our hostels/apartments. I had a plate full of American styler scrambled eggs with cheese. After that we headed to a really cool part of town called Cavour with neat shops and less tourists. I also got the best coconut gelato I've had since I've been in Italy. As we walked around a corner, we realized that we were really close to the Colosseum and walked down this huge street with performers and bubbles and lots of cool stuff. This lady was singing on the street while a guy placed guitar and they started playing "The Bare Necessities". It reminded me of a scene in a movie. Here I am, with my gelato in hand, standing in the street of Rome, with the Colosseum right in front of me, watching little kids playing with bubbles and listening to a woman sing "The Bare Necessitates" in Italian. And for some reason my eyes started tearing up because of how cool that moment was. It just all caught up to me how lucky I was to spend four amazing months traveling the world and how happy I was to be around really cool people. We spent a little more time there and eventually headed to Piazza Spagna to see the overly crowded Spanish Steps. The pope was supposed to make an appearance, and there were already thousands and thousands of people waiting to see him. I had to get the bus home, so I made my way to the bus station and passed out on the three hour ride home.
Compared to my first day in Rome, I'd have to say that it definitely grew on me. When I first arrived, I wasn't really excited to be there because of the chaos and confusion of the city but I almost learned to embrace it. We had access to an awesome apartment that allowed us all to be together and eat dinner like a real family and spend time with each other. My last day in Rome was as close to a perfect day in Italy as you can get. Walking the streets with Ancient ruins surrounding you, hearing a guitarists perform, with a coconut gelato in hand. And as a final trip, I'd say it was a perfect way to end.
So my blog posts from now on won't be about my travels, but instead, be written about my finals days left in Siena.
Less than two weeks until I come home... And it's going to fly by.
Until next time,
Ciao
Second day we went to Saint Peter's Basilica, the most beautiful church I've ever seen. I saw Michelangelo's Pieta and the tombs of all the past popes which was really really cool. Then, we went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum and took lots and lots and lots of pictures. It's so weird standing on literally "ancient" grounds and the history involved in those places is overwhelming. After that, we went to the Trevi Fountain (which is under construction until March) so we couldn't really see that much of it. But from what I could see, it was GORGEOUS and so much bigger that I ever thought it would be. We walked to Piazza Venezia and the Pantheon and then went back to the apartment for another night of food and friendship.
The third and final day in Rome happened to be on an Italian holiday. We had a casual morning and even made breakfast before we had to check out of our hostels/apartments. I had a plate full of American styler scrambled eggs with cheese. After that we headed to a really cool part of town called Cavour with neat shops and less tourists. I also got the best coconut gelato I've had since I've been in Italy. As we walked around a corner, we realized that we were really close to the Colosseum and walked down this huge street with performers and bubbles and lots of cool stuff. This lady was singing on the street while a guy placed guitar and they started playing "The Bare Necessities". It reminded me of a scene in a movie. Here I am, with my gelato in hand, standing in the street of Rome, with the Colosseum right in front of me, watching little kids playing with bubbles and listening to a woman sing "The Bare Necessitates" in Italian. And for some reason my eyes started tearing up because of how cool that moment was. It just all caught up to me how lucky I was to spend four amazing months traveling the world and how happy I was to be around really cool people. We spent a little more time there and eventually headed to Piazza Spagna to see the overly crowded Spanish Steps. The pope was supposed to make an appearance, and there were already thousands and thousands of people waiting to see him. I had to get the bus home, so I made my way to the bus station and passed out on the three hour ride home.
Compared to my first day in Rome, I'd have to say that it definitely grew on me. When I first arrived, I wasn't really excited to be there because of the chaos and confusion of the city but I almost learned to embrace it. We had access to an awesome apartment that allowed us all to be together and eat dinner like a real family and spend time with each other. My last day in Rome was as close to a perfect day in Italy as you can get. Walking the streets with Ancient ruins surrounding you, hearing a guitarists perform, with a coconut gelato in hand. And as a final trip, I'd say it was a perfect way to end.
So my blog posts from now on won't be about my travels, but instead, be written about my finals days left in Siena.
Less than two weeks until I come home... And it's going to fly by.
Until next time,
Ciao