the one with all the travel.: Italia!

While most of my friends spent spring break on beaches, I went a little less mainstream and decided to spend the week in Italy! After visiting the amazing city of Barcelona, Paige and I headed off to the land of gelato, pasta, pizza and wine. Can you tell I LOVE food?? On Sunday, we woke up at the ungodly hour of 3 am for our flight to Rome. We made it there ok, and after a little mix up meeting our friend, we got all settled in at our hotel and met up with my good friend Nyssa who is studying abroad in Rome!

Of course, nothing is ever without funny little anecdotes when traveling, and checking in to the hotel was no exception. Our little B & B was hidden and tucked away from the main piazza, so it was hard to find to begin with. Once inside, we found the man at the reception desk to be very...confused. We asked if we could check in and he replied, “why not?”

-“Well we thought check-in was at 12 and we’re a little early, but if we could check in now that would be great!”

-“Okay, just head downstairs!”

So we proceeded to lug our huge bags down the stairs and tiny elevator to the basement. Then we sat. And sat. And sat. And finally the man from reception came down and asked, “Is everything ok?” and we told him that we were waiting to check in. His response?

-“Oh yes, reception is upstairs.” So we had to smush in to the tiny elevator once more. Check in went ok until he told us we could bring our bags to our room, but it wasn’t clean yet...long story short, we went up and down that tiny, rickety elevator about 6 times before finally leaving our bags in our room. This same man also forgot to tell us we needed to leave our key with reception (resulting in another mix-up the next day) and that we had to order our breakfast the night before. Oh well.

Our first day in Rome was absolutely beautiful! It was sunny and about 70 degrees, so we put on our sundresses and Nyssa showed us all around the city. I was amazed at how huge, ancient buildings would seem to just pop out from around a corner. One minute you’re mesmerized looking at all the flavors of gelato piled up in a store window and the next minute-BAM- there’s the Pantheon. Or the Trevi Fountain. Or the Colosseum. It’s incredible. We saw all of those things and more on the first day there, and we enjoyed some delicious Italian pizza as well.

Throwing our coins in the Trevi!

First Italian Pizza!

We woke up bright and early on Monday to head to the Vatican, hoping to beat the lines. (We later found out that the worst days to visit the Vatican are Mondays, days it is raining, and the day after a holiday. It’s a good thing we decided to go on a rainy Monday the day after Palm Sunday. You live and you learn). Fortunately, we avoided the lines by buying a guided tour through the museum and to the Basilica, which ended up being a great idea-we learned so much more than if we had just walked through on our own. In the museum, my favorite part was definitely the Hall of Maps. After visiting the Vatican Museum, the tour ends with a stop in the Sistine Chapel. I was so completely in awe of Michelangelo’s work there-I couldn’t help but sneak a highly illegal picture of his masterpiece. It was so cool to think that just over 10 days ago, all of the cardinals were locked in there for the papal conclave!

Ceiling in the Hall of Maps

My illegal photo taken inside the Sistine Chapel...can you see the Creation of Adam?

Being silly in St. Peter's square

We exited the Sistine Chapel and went to see St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica, which was amazing as well. I was especially blown away by the SIZE! The carved letters inside the dome are 12 feet tall! I couldn’t believe it!

We met up with Nyssa again after lunch and she took us to see the Spanish Steps and go on a walk through Villa Borghese-a beautiful park and garden overlooking Rome. It was a great end to the day!

Our last day in Rome was extremely rainy, but fortunately, the rain held off long enough for us to take some sunny pictures inside the Colosseum. After the Colosseum, we toured Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, but to be honest, I don’t really know much about the history of either. I was too wet at that point to care about much more than getting warm and dry. I hate that the rain can ruin trips in that way. We also stopped at the Rome Cathedral, where the Pope gives mass! Our last night in Rome ended with a lovely dinner on a cute street in the city with all of our friends, followed by a trip to the 150 flavors gelato shop (AKA complete HEAVEN). I’m seriously going to gain 50 pounds in Italy.

The following morning we got up early (a trend this week...) to make our train to Florence. We had booked tickets online the night before, and thought we left with plenty of time. Well, the unreliable Rome city buses took longer than we thought and when we got to the station, Paige and I got separated from our other two friends! With not much time left, we frantically searched for someone to ask about where our train was. It was conveniently located at the farthest end of the farthest track, and was scheduled to leave in just minutes. Unsure of where our friends were, Paige and I took off at a sprint for the train. We made it just in time and happened to see Elissa and Hope talking to a train worker outside the train. They made it on the train too, and we all sat down breathless and a little shaken...even more so when we found out that it was NOT the train we had bought tickets for. It was still going to Florence, but we were terrified that we were going to get kicked off the train or have to pay a huge fine for not purchasing the right tickets. Four hours and lots of stressing later, the nice train worker let us stay on the train without paying a fine! It’s always so nice to meet kind people in the world.

Once in Florence, we decided to spend the rest of the day in Siena, a small town about an hour from Florence by bus. It was sunny and nice and such an adorable place! I could have stayed there for days. It ended up being a lovely day.

Siena

Watching sunset in Siena

Today we spent the day in Florence; I have decided I like Florence even better than Rome! It’s just smaller and cuter and easier to get around. We went to the famous “mercato centrale” where all sorts of Italian leather goods are sold, as well as gorgeous scarves and other fun things. I purchased some cool postcards to add to my collection and a beautiful photo album that I plan to put my postcard collection from the semester in. We took a stroll down the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge, and decided that we wanted to take a wine tasting class! It was SO much fun, and the wines were all delicious! We ended up being the only four in the class with our lovely instructor Mauritzio. I think I’m quickly on my way to becoming a wine expert. A bit tipsy and blissfully full of wine, the four of us wandered to the Duomo with plans to climb all the way to the top. Unfortunately, it was closed already for the night so we ate some more instead. If I could some up Italy so far in one word, it would be FOOD. There are no words for the food here-all I want to do is eat all the time! It’s really a good thing I’m not studying here, because you’d have to roll me off the plane at the end of the semester.

Anyway, check back for another post this weekend about the rest of our Italy trip! I think that’s all for now!