Rome

see all photos »

My trip to Italy was probably one of my best experiences yet this semester. Everything went well and there were no big problems of any kind.

4^th of April: I left the same day that my family went home but in the evening instead of 3am like they did. I was happy to find a friendly and exciting hostel in Rome which had an excellent breakfast. Yum!

When in Rome... you'll have an amazing time

5^th I met a young woman from Argentina, named Roxanna, who basically grabbed me verbally inviting me to eat with her at breakfast after meeting me the night before and learning that I speak Spanish. I guess there aren’t very many people who speak Spanish in Italy and she didn’t speak any English. So, we hung out the entire day and I got to practice my Spanish! I think she was about 26 or 27 traveling on her own as well. When she found out that night that I was only 20 she was very shocked.

My first Gelato (the best one)
see all photos »

First we went to the Coliseum. Wow. It is just as grand and massive as I had imagined. I couldn’t help but wondering what I would have done if I had lived during the times of its use. Would I have cheered with the roaring crowd?

(I also need to mention that I was very lucky to find out that during most of my week there Italy was celebrating a cultural week which meant all nationally owned museums were free.) I was in aw of the city in general. I pretty much walked around with my mouth open. I wondered “Why am I not studying here?” But then I realized that I was conducting all my conversations that day in Spanish, including the one with the gelato guy because it’s closer to Italian than English.

Me in front of St Pete's
see all photos »

We also went to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum where we saw some amazing ruins where it said that the city was founded and emperors lived for hundreds of years.

We then spent a few hours trying to find our way to the Catacombs. On our way we stopped for my first gelato, which for better or worse, was the best I had on the trip. I don’t know why it’s so hyped up and so bloody expensive? I gave it about 5 chances, but was never incredibly impressed. Of course I’m very willing to give in a dozen or 200 more chances because it was far from bad. The catacombs were cool too, but there were no bones or skulls as I had been told there were. They were used by the Christians as a cemetery for hundreds of years. I’m glad we don’t use them anymore though. Too dark dank and scary. Though on the walk from the bus there 2 cute Italian guys gave us free film for Roxy’s camera from the shop they worked at because they didn’t know how much it cost and I was having trouble translating their broken English into Spanish. How do you explain “Pay what you want” when it doesn’t make any sense in any language in a tourist shop! They were the peak of Italian men for me, the rest were too forward and I basically looked at the ground a lot when I was alone rather than make eye contact. One actually jumped in front of me when I was walking in Florence, scared the crap out of me, but no problems really.

2 American Buddies, Jeff and Brian
see all photos »

Then we walked around the main part of town seeing Fontana di Trevi (aw how romantic and touristy) the Pantheon and Piazza Venezia. By this point I’m just so happy I can’t stand it. That night was also a blast with people from the hostel.

6^th I got up with only 2 hours sleep to go see the Vatican. I went with 2 American college guys (Jeff and his friend Brian) who I met the night before at the hostel. They are studying in England and made for lovely company. We got there early but there still has a very long line to get in. Some how I managed, completely accidentally, to bring in my swiss army knife! When I found it I was wondering if I would get kicked out, or worse… but then I’d be able to say I got deported from a country! Nothing happened though. After spending hours in the museums seeing very famous works of art such as School of Athens etc. we walked into the Sistine Chapel. I couldn’t believe I was actually there. It really was amazing, though I couldn’t help but laugh in a sad way at how little control the guards had. This one man just kept shouting “Selencio! No Foto! No film!” What a job, I felt sorry for him.

Could this picture be more Catholic?
see all photos »

We then made our way to St. Peter’s which was sadly closed, don’t know why. So, shopping it was! Then back to the hostel for a much needed nap and shower. The three of us then went to dinner at the cutest out of the way café for another big Italian meal. I had cheese ravioli which had this hint of lime flavor in the sauce. Sorry, had to mention that cause it was just fabulous. Another exciting night followed.