My Roman Holiday

Greetings from Roma! What Turkey and Russia lacked in “Europeanness,” Italy is making up for ten fold. I am loving it. I’ve felt the warmth of the sun for the first time in a while, I’ve seen the architecture and art that was the inspiration for everything to follow and I’ve been checking quite a few items off the bucket list. 

Saturday consisted of a $35 plane ride to Milan (yayy budget airlines! I only thought I was going to die once on the flight so it really was a bargain). Then we (my floor-mate Meghan and I) took a six hour train to Rome which was actually amazing and I slept and read my guidebook (guidebooks by the way, borrowed from the Copenhagen library so yayy more money-saving even if it is 12 years old.) Arrived in Rome, found our hostel which was adorable, and I met Leilani who is Meghan’s friend from school and the person I did all of the touristy Rome stuff with because Meghan’s been here before. 

Inside the Coliseum! And to the left, we're being gladiators. 

Rome is so cool. Every single corner has some incredible ruin or historic church or monument. Our second day morning was dedicated to the Vatican museum. I’ve been told that every person has one thing that they are disappointed by in Rome. For me, it was the Vatican museum. It’s cool, don't get me wrong but you don't walk in and think WOW. Not to mention the Sistine Chapel is tiny and packed with tourists. Amazingly though, there was absolutely no line to get into the Vatican. Sometimes it can get up to be a two hour wait! November is apparently the time to go. 

When we arrived at the Vatican, Leilani and I were trying to find one of my DIS friends (we didn’t make a meeting place specific enough) and needed to get the internet to find her number. The Vatican reception staff were amazing and spent about 30 minutes trying to help us. One of them had just been to Boston and loved it and we discussed the North End and the Red Sox which was hilarious. We eventually contacted her thanks to his help...and then he gave us not only his phone number but email address too and some special pope coins. Good times in the Vatican. 

Our final night in rome, we treated ourselves to a nice final dinner and some delicious wine (no offense Denmark, but I can’t get on your level with the whole beer obsession thing). 

Today we split up and I am now resting my feet for the first time all day on a beautiful train to Florence. This may be one of the most introverted things to say but being by myself is one of the best things of all time. Did I mention that I live in a room with four people in Denmark? Yeah, this is a nice break. Not to mention after 2 DIS trips with large groups and even in a small group for a few days you begin to discover that traveling with other people can be really difficult. Travel styles can be very different and luckily, me myself and I always agree on when and what to eat, how much to spend, when to go to bed, where to walk next. So basically I had a great last half day in Rome by myself. I walked the side streets of Rome, guidebook and map in hand, I sampled some truffles, got some fresh fruit, went back to the Vatican to go into to St. Peter’s Basilica, explored some more and walked up to a park where there was a beautiful view of the city. 

It was a lovely day though it was way too late before I realize that every part of my body is sore and my blood sugar is dropping steadily. But I’ve got snacks and delicious Italian mini meals on the steps of ruins - what more could you want? Besides, I’m not vacationing, I’m traveling. There’s a difference! 

Making a wish in the trevi? Check! 

Sistene Chapel. Don't get me wrong. It's amazing and I spent a very long time on a Michelangelo project so I was ready for it. But just very crowded. 

The Pantheon was amazing (left). And (right) - a major reason I walked back to the Vatican today was to see Michelangelo's pieta which I analyzed for several months of my high school career. Yayy National History Day. 

Anyways, after a bit of a fiasco with the metro system being down, combined with the fact that I don’t speak Italian and that when I tried to put my giant backpack on I literally fell over and broke my 3 euro watch, I made it on the right train and I am headed to Firenze! 

Quick facts: 

On our first day we were literally clapped into a restaurant by a party of Italians and an "Obama" chant was then started. What a fun country. Not that I don't love the silence that is Copenhagen but it's kind of nice that people actually talk to you and smile at you.

I had so much Gelato and it was the greatest thing ever. Dark chocolate and Lemon Sage. Yumm.

Mopeds are scary. 

Hostels are the one place in the world where I can tell people I'm an anthropology major and have no idea what I'm doing with my life and not get a smirk and a "you'll figure it out." It's kind of hilarious. People are more like "wow, that's so interesting. Yeah, we're young, you shouldn't have a life plan." 

There are a lot of Churches in Rome. And the entire city is a museum. 

And it was in the 70s today! I was determined to wear a dress for my solo Italy day but wanted to make sure I’d be able to get into St. Peter’s so I just tucked in my dress and took my jeans off in the Vatican bathroom...there’s a sentence I never thught I’d say.

Highlights = weather, weather and did I mention the weather? Also the history, the awesome recognizable landmarks, the lack of lines and the realization that my life is pretty darn cool. 

Okay! Off to find some food in Florence. Ciao!