The past blog entry was about my first week in Rome and now I'm already packing up to leave! It is amazing how fast 5 weeks flew by. My time in Italy has been nothing short of amazing! The weather, food and way of life was a complete change from Paris and I enjoyed every second of it. Although we did have quite a few rainy days, it didn't keep us from exploring the ancient city.
Some of the most amazing things we did in Italy included seeing 2 Popes, visiting ancient landmarks of Rome and going to Venice! Our timing to be in Rome couldn't have been more perfect. We were so lucky to witness the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and seeing the election of Pope Francesco (Frances). One of the coolest things was actually seeing the white smoke rise from Vatican City. We had planned to go that night anyways just to see the smoke regardless of the color because we knew it wouldn't be long before a new pope was elected. The smoke was scheduled to go off at 7:30pm so we left campus around 7. On our walk over to the Vatican our friend Alex looked on his phone and Breaking News reported white smoke had risen from the Vatican. When he told us that we all looked at each other in disbelief and yelled "RUN!" As we were running people were coming out of the shops and looking toward the Vatican. Shop owners encouraged our run and they even began to close up shops and make their way over too. We got there just in time to see the last bit of white smoke let out into the sky. It was so awesome! People huddled in St Peter's Square to witness the reveal of the new Pope. When Pope Francesco came out there was a loud roar and then dead silence when he adressed the crowd. I couldn't believe I was witnessing a new Pope on the famous balcony to announce his induction.
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| The Spanish Steps |
During the week we tried to get out as much as we could but with our awkward class schedule and the pouring rain it made it difficult to get out all the time. On days when we had extra energy...or just too many cappuccinos we explored Rome. We were pretty central to a lot of cool monuments like I mentioned in my earlier post. One of my favorites is the Spanish Steps. Although it's just a big stair case with a church on top, it is very pretty and in a very cute area with lost of great shopping. Speaking of shoppping, I have actually tamed myself and resisted the urge to buy everything I see. One day this past weekend we decided to do a little shopping and treat ourselves. I prefer to spend my money on great food!
The only trip outside of Rome we did in Italy was a trip to Venice. It was one of the best weekends in Europe so far. We had planned to do a big group trip with our guy friends but there was a bit of miscommunication so it ended up to be a girls weekend! It was the perfect time for a little getaway from the guys anyways :) Venice was beyond beautiful. It was definitely like you would imagine. Lots of tourists, gondolas, great food and great shopping. It was picture perfect. We stayed in a prime location- St Mark's Square. We were in all the action! On the first day there we went to a little cafe in St Mark's Square and sipped cappuccinos until our hotel room was ready. We walked around the square and took pictures of St. Mark's Basilica. Once we checked in we decided to go to Murano Island which a little island next to the island of Venice. They make the famous Murano Glass there. We went into all the little shops and bought little murano glass souvenirs. We pretty much walked the whole island in less than 2 hours. It was very pretty! Later that night we went out to dinner. The food was great but the people were so rude. That was a first for our time in Italy. After dinner we attempted to go out for drinks but little did we know that everything closes before 11pm so we opted for a bottle of wine and girl talk back in the hotel room.
The next day we decided to wake up fairly early and get our day started. We walked down to the end of the island stopping in shops along the way. We found some cool Masquerade masks we had to get. They are a Venice exclusive! After doing a god amount of walking we decided to kick up our feet and enjoy a nice little ride on a gondola. We had to do the typical touristy thing of course! It was so awesome! We had the best gondolier. Although he didn't sing to us like they do in the movies, he did let us each take a turn and drive/paddle/row the gondola. He was so nice and definitely enjoyed taking 4 cute ladies for a little tour. That pretty much was the cherry on top of our Venice trip. We went out for dinner late that night and tried to find the college scene on the island which is almost non existent unless you're Italian. We ended up meeting study abroad students from Maryland though in a little Irish pub. The next morning we were up at 5am for our 9am flight, It was brutal but it all worked out. We got back to our dorms in Rome just in time to see the Roman Marathon run by our campus. That was also a pretty cool sight to see.
On our last weekend in Rome we went to Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican. We saw Pope Francesco give mass which was pretty awesome. In Rome they don't have palms for mass but rather olive branches. Some people brought palm but it was an actually huge palm leaf. The pope blessed the crowd so now I can say I've been blessed by 2 popes! After mass we met up with a family friend of Emily's who is a preist. Father Washington used to be the preist at her church in Pennsylvania but now he works at the Vatican. He was super nice and took us to lunch and gave us an insider's tour of Rome. We had great conversations with him. I learned more about Rome from him than I learned in the 5 weeks living here. He took us around the monuments we wanted to see just one last time before leaving such as the Roman Forum, Coliseum and Pantheon.
I am now packing up my suitcase trying to figure out how to make it all fit again. You'd think I'd be a pro at packing by now but that is definitely not the case. I cannot wait to get to Spain even though I will miss Italy a lot. I have already made future plans with friends to come back to Italy and explore more of the country. I am off to Seville, Spain where I will explore a lot more. We have tentative plans to go to Madrid, Barcelona, and Portugal. When I get to Spain I will have one night there then I will be on my way to the Canary Islands for Spring Break. I would say about 40 of the 60 students in my rotation all booked the trip not knowing everyone was going too. It is about to be an amazing last 6 weeks in Europe!
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| Spanish Steps Church |
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| Justice Building near Campus |
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| Media Set Up for the New Pope Annoucement |
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| Rome Gas Station |
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| waiting for the pope |
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| Venice! |
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| St Mark's Basilica |
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| Venice Streets |
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| St Mark's Square |
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| crazy people holding pigeons |
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| St. Mark's |
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| St Mark's Floods |
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| Murano Glass |
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| Smelly man on the ferry |
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| Murano glass |
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| Emily |
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| driving the gondola |
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| Victoria! |
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| They love Easter in Europe |
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| Best Lasagna ever |
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| marathon outside our window |
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| Palm Sunday Mass |
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| Hotel where famous people stay |
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| famous Sambuca |
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| best carbonara ever |
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| coliseum one last time |
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| Us and Father Washington |
Some of the most amazing things we did in Italy included seeing 2 Popes, visiting ancient landmarks of Rome and going to Venice! Our timing to be in Rome couldn't have been more perfect. We were so lucky to witness the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and seeing the election of Pope Francesco (Frances). One of the coolest things was actually seeing the white smoke rise from Vatican City. We had planned to go that night anyways just to see the smoke regardless of the color because we knew it wouldn't be long before a new pope was elected. The smoke was scheduled to go off at 7:30pm so we left campus around 7. On our walk over to the Vatican our friend Alex looked on his phone and Breaking News reported white smoke had risen from the Vatican. When he told us that we all looked at each other in disbelief and yelled "RUN!" As we were running people were coming out of the shops and looking toward the Vatican. Shop owners encouraged our run and they even began to close up shops and make their way over too. We got there just in time to see the last bit of white smoke let out into the sky. It was so awesome! People huddled in St Peter's Square to witness the reveal of the new Pope. When Pope Francesco came out there was a loud roar and then dead silence when he adressed the crowd. I couldn't believe I was witnessing a new Pope on the famous balcony to announce his induction.
The only trip outside of Rome we did in Italy was a trip to Venice. It was one of the best weekends in Europe so far. We had planned to do a big group trip with our guy friends but there was a bit of miscommunication so it ended up to be a girls weekend! It was the perfect time for a little getaway from the guys anyways :) Venice was beyond beautiful. It was definitely like you would imagine. Lots of tourists, gondolas, great food and great shopping. It was picture perfect. We stayed in a prime location- St Mark's Square. We were in all the action! On the first day there we went to a little cafe in St Mark's Square and sipped cappuccinos until our hotel room was ready. We walked around the square and took pictures of St. Mark's Basilica. Once we checked in we decided to go to Murano Island which a little island next to the island of Venice. They make the famous Murano Glass there. We went into all the little shops and bought little murano glass souvenirs. We pretty much walked the whole island in less than 2 hours. It was very pretty! Later that night we went out to dinner. The food was great but the people were so rude. That was a first for our time in Italy. After dinner we attempted to go out for drinks but little did we know that everything closes before 11pm so we opted for a bottle of wine and girl talk back in the hotel room.
The next day we decided to wake up fairly early and get our day started. We walked down to the end of the island stopping in shops along the way. We found some cool Masquerade masks we had to get. They are a Venice exclusive! After doing a god amount of walking we decided to kick up our feet and enjoy a nice little ride on a gondola. We had to do the typical touristy thing of course! It was so awesome! We had the best gondolier. Although he didn't sing to us like they do in the movies, he did let us each take a turn and drive/paddle/row the gondola. He was so nice and definitely enjoyed taking 4 cute ladies for a little tour. That pretty much was the cherry on top of our Venice trip. We went out for dinner late that night and tried to find the college scene on the island which is almost non existent unless you're Italian. We ended up meeting study abroad students from Maryland though in a little Irish pub. The next morning we were up at 5am for our 9am flight, It was brutal but it all worked out. We got back to our dorms in Rome just in time to see the Roman Marathon run by our campus. That was also a pretty cool sight to see.
On our last weekend in Rome we went to Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican. We saw Pope Francesco give mass which was pretty awesome. In Rome they don't have palms for mass but rather olive branches. Some people brought palm but it was an actually huge palm leaf. The pope blessed the crowd so now I can say I've been blessed by 2 popes! After mass we met up with a family friend of Emily's who is a preist. Father Washington used to be the preist at her church in Pennsylvania but now he works at the Vatican. He was super nice and took us to lunch and gave us an insider's tour of Rome. We had great conversations with him. I learned more about Rome from him than I learned in the 5 weeks living here. He took us around the monuments we wanted to see just one last time before leaving such as the Roman Forum, Coliseum and Pantheon.
