La Mia Vita in Italia: Il Mio Viaggio a Roma

Il Colosseo di Roma

La Cappella Sistina

On the exit steps of the Vatican

This past weekend I took a trip with my whole program to Rome. We spent three days and two nights there. We set off very early at 7 am on Thursday morning by bus. We arrived late morning, put our stuff down at our hotel, and immediately headed to the Vatican Museum. It was a gorgeous day out, 60s and sunny, so it was a very pleasant to walk around. Right away I noticed how different Rome is compared to Florence, mainly because it is such a big city. The cars are bigger, streets are bigger, and it just seems to have a busier life-style. Although it’s amazing that mixed into that big city atmosphere there are also so many incredible cultural and historical aspects too. When we arrived at the Vatican we were allowed to go off and explore it on our own. I went with a couple other girls from my program, Andrea and Amy, and began in a lovely garden right outside of the building. Then we headed into the museum, and I was in awe immediately. It was just room after room of absolutely incredible art. From the ceilings to the floor, every room was covered with artwork. I still can’t get over how the ceilings in these rooms. They have these elaborate frescos that cover the entire ceiling, my neck was in pain from looking up so much!

After wandering for a while, we made it to the famous Sistine Chapel. I have been learning about the Chapel and many of the frescos in it in my Renaissance Art class, so it was very exciting to see the Chapel up close. I was completely overwhelmed when I walked in. The detail that Michelangelo put into every image in that room is unbelievable, even when its rights in front of you. The room was packed with other tourists, and security guards were constantly yelling “No Foto”, so it was somewhat chaotic. But even in the midst of all that chaos I felt myself get lost in the artwork. I had to sit down, and just try to take it all in. We continued through the rest of the Vatican, and headed back outside. I met up with a couple other girls, Andi and Melissa, and we headed to one of Rome’s famous plaza, Piazza Navona. The plaza included pretty fountains, restaurants, and an art fair. It had a very exciting atmosphere to it. We then headed to the famous Pantheon. It was very exciting to go inside of it. It included some beautiful memorials and paintings.

After walking around so much I was in dire need of some espresso. We stopped at a little bar; I got two espresso shots, and talked with the barista a bit. I asked her where a good gelateria was and she directed us to one called Blue Ice. We met up with a few other people from the program and all went to get gelato. And luckily the barista was correct and the gelato was great! I got white chocolate and hazelnut. Yum. Our group then headed to a bar called Prime for apertivo. We got a couple drinks and then received free appetizers, which ended up being our dinner. They had pasta, rice dishes, chicken, little sandwiches of proscuitto and cheese, and salad. Later than night we went out in Rome and went to a discoteca called Mood. We got these fun carnivale masks at the door and then explored the club. There were a bunch of different rooms, a bar, and dancing. It was a really fun night! It was great to go out with people from my program that I haven’t hung out with much outside of class yet. We danced until about 2:30 am and went back to our hotel to get some sleep before another long day in Rome.

We started the next morning at the Roman Forum. This was my favorite part of the entire trip. Some of the most important structures of ancient Rome lie in the Forum. The area is filled with Roman ruins and was very exciting to see up close. There are ancient temples, churches, government buildings, and archeological fragments. It is crazy that the remains an ancient empire can still be visible for us today. The next place we headed was equally exciting as the Forum… the Colosseum. We headed in and walked around the whole structure. At this point in the day the sun was just coming out and it made the Coliseum look even more incredible.

After an exciting morning a group of us headed to lunch for some Roman pizza. We found a great place after I asked a police officer for a suggestion. I ordered wine and a veggie pizza that had artichokes, red peppers, and basil. It was probably the best pizza I’ve had yet. I got an espresso to get ready for the rest of our day, and Andi, Melissa, and I headed off to find the famous Trevi Fountain. I had just watched La Dolce Vita in my Italian Cinema class, so it was awesome to see the Fountain in person. It was stunning! We then headed with a larger group to the Spanish Steps. I thought about the movie Roman Holiday the whole time we were there. After the Steps we went to another famous Roman plaza called Piazza del Popolo. It had another beautiful fountain and lots of people in it. We finally headed back to our hotel after seeing all the main Roman tourist attractions. After resting and showering, I headed to dinner.

A group of four of us went and found an adorable restaurant. We ordered wine and a foccacia of proscuito, cheese, and tomato to start. I later ordered a smoked salmon, gorgonzola, and apple salad. Everything was great. But I think the best part of the dinner was how long it was. We sat for about 3 hours! It was really nice to just relax, eat great food, and enjoy one another’s company. After our dinner we met Andi’s friend who is studying abroad in Rome. We met her and a group of her friends in Piazza Nuvona, and headed to some bars. It was really fun being out on a Friday night in Rome. The streets were packed outside the bars because you can bring your drinks outside and hang out in the street. It was another good night, and it was fun to meet some other study abroad students.

Saturday morning we had a little bit of free time before out last tour. I went back to the Trevi Fountain with a group of girls, because I had forgotten to throw a coin in the day before. We then walked up the Spanish Steps and headed to another side of the city. The area was less touristy which was a nice change from the previous two days. We saw two famous churches, La Basilica di San Maria degli Angeli e Martiri and La Basilica di San Maria Maggiore. We got some more Blue Ice gelato before going on our final program tour of La Villa Borghese. The Villa was used by the Borghese family for their private art collection, which is an incredible collection. My favorite part of the collection was all the sculptures. Many of them were of mythological stories. The detail in them was unbelievable, and absolutely amazing to see. It was a great way to end our time in Rome. I was exhausted and slept most of the bus-ride home.

Rome was better than I had imagined it would be. It was great to see a different city in Italy, and see such a historic place. I am hoping to go to a couple other Tuscan towns this coming weekend, and spend some more time in Florence. Next week I have midterms, so it’ll be a busy next week and a half. And then it’s our Spring Break already! I will be heading to Spain (Barcelona, Granada, and Seville) for 9 days. I am so excited!

Miss and love everyone at home.

Tanti Baci,

Laura