Ok. Well, by now we all know I fail as a travel blogger. I'm going to do a "quick" summary of the last month I was in Italy, since it's been bothering me that my blog is unfinished! I kept a journal in 2010 for every day of the year with at least one thing I did per day, so I'll use that for my guide and talk just about the most important stuff!
(Tip: hit and hold "ctrl" before clicking on the yellow links to open them in a new tab- it's faster that way)
(Tip: hit and hold "ctrl" before clicking on the yellow links to open them in a new tab- it's faster that way)
On November 28th, I worked on the rough draft of my architecture paper... just kidding. (Well, I did go to the Ara Pacis museum and take pictures... I want to talk about the imagery on the altar but I will restrain myself)
At the end of my last architecture class, I got really sad... it started to hit me for the first time that I would be leaving somewhat in the near future. That class was definitely my favorite, since I learned so much about Rome's history and learned to really appreciate the beautiful palimpsest the city is today.
That weekend Kate, Catherine, and I left for Paris in the early morning! We met Liat, who got there on Thursday, and Katie at the metro stop by our hostel! Katie had to go study for her French final the next day, so the rest of us seriously bundled up and trekked around Paris. Honestly, guys, I can't pronounce or spell ANYTHING in French, so you're just going to have to trust me that I saw some cool stuff. Oh, we saw Notre Dame; I can spell that! We walked along the Seine at night, where we could see the illuminated Eiffel Tower from afar, and went to the Louvre for a very short while and saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and of course the controversial glass pyramids outside the museum, which I loved. I had Chevaliers de Sangreal playing epically in my head. The Louvre is enormous, though- it goes something like, if you were to spend ten seconds on everything in the Louvre, eight hours a day, five days a week, it would take you four months to see everything. We walked down the Avenue des Champs-Elyees (yes, thank you Google, that IS what I meant) and saw the Arc di Triomphe. It was absolutely frigid but the avenue was decorated for Christmas and bustling with activity, so it was fun.
In the morning we did a three-hour free walking tour with a hilarious guide. It was freezing, snowing, and beautiful, and we saw many cool sights that I can't spell. For lunch we found a tiny non-touristy cafe with our first (and only) really nice waitress, who didn't speak any English. Katie said that she was usually treated much better by the French, probably because she was speaking French and we were speaking English- even though some people gave her an attitude for having an accent! We went to the Eiffel Tower and saw it sparkle on the hour. It was almost unreal to actually be standing by the Eiffel Tower!
We returned to the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame again in the morning to see it in the daytime and take more pictures. My roomies checked out of the hostel, but since I didn't have Monday class I stayed another day, which I spent with Katie! We went back to her host family's house, which was really nice, and I got to see what a French neighborhood looks like away from the main city. We were going to go to the Louvre again but her foot got run over by a car, you know, no biggie. Katie was speaking in French and laughing, so it couldn't be too serious! After some ice back at the house, Katie the Trooper and I limped to the metro and went to a modern art museum since the Louvre had closed, where we stayed for a decent amount of time.
Back in Rome for the Immaculate Conception holiday, since we had no class, Claudia, Liat, and I went to the Jewish Ghetto for the last day of Chanukah. Actually, on our way there, we saw the Pope speaking from way up in one of the buildings in the Vatican, and everyone was running down the streets not to miss him! The Jewish Ghetto was the busiest I've ever seen it. I loved the Jewish children wearing yarmulkes and paper menorah headbands!
Fast forward to after finals! I finished on the early side, so I had time to take a day trip before the program ended. Flying was the cheapest option, so even though it was less than an hour plane ride, that's what I did! I took a taxi to Termini station at 4:30am, a shuttle to Fiumicino airport, a vaporetto (water taxi) to the island of Murano in the Veneto! I got there pretty early, around 9am, and it was very quiet- the residents were saying good morning and chatting on the streets by the water, while I was eavesdropping and trying to understand their Italian. I got to use my Italian several times when I had to ask for directions- I was so glad we covered that in class, since I was actually able to understand them! I watched a glassblowing demonstration, which was cool to watch. I decided I absolutely love glass! After spending quite awhile in quiet Murano, I took the vaporetto to Piazza San Marco on the island of Venice. I saw the famous cathedral, the Dodge's Palace, the Bridge of Sighs, the Rialto Bridge, and after I had seen most of the major attractions I went to find the sidestreets where the locals would live. I knew I was successful when I stumbled upon a dentist, a store that sold doorbells, and a cleaners! I can't think of three places any less touristy. I asked for directions quite a lot and had fun understanding the Italian! Except for when I ask for directions, I've noticed that I get stared at a lot less, so maybe I am starting to blend in! I got back pretty late at night, but I was extremely glad I went. I wish I could have had more time, but it was so worth it to have a day.
December 16th was our Arrivederci Dinner with API. Before the dinner, Claudia, Liat, and I worked on a very addicting puzzle online- oh, Via Borsieri :) We're awesome, what can I say? The dinner was in Trastevere, and it was really fun but sad saying goodbye to our API directors. The next night my roommates and I went to dinner in Prati for the last time (had some awesome gnocchi) and then hung out more at the apartment as usual while packing. I miss you girls a lot! Shout out to any of you who've read this far in my blog ;)
On the 18th, all of my roommates left :( We all woke up to say bye to Catherine at 7am, and after she left we all kind of stood around feeling sad that now we were down one! Claudia left at 9, and Liat left a little later to go to her hotel, but I would see her later that night since she wasn't leaving until the next day. Kate and I finished packing and cleaning the apartment, and started heading down to catch her taxi at around 11:45 since we had to all be gone by noon. I was the last to leave the apartment, which was pretty depressing... I forgot to check on Nudie the noodle! The first night in the apartment when we all cooked pasta for dinner, Kate threw a noodle on the ceiling to test if it was done and it stayed up there all semester. The last week we were there we noticed it was starting to peel off, so maybe Nudie will fall down after we all leave! Crazy! After saying bye to Kate, I lugged at least 100 pounds of luggage through the metro to Termini, where I found my hostel nearby and checked in. I'm not sure if I told the broken sink geyser story, but yeah, that's what I saw when I came to check it out awhile ago! The hostel was nice, though- I was pleased with it. After, I walked to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and continued down that direction finding new things along the way, which was interesting as always. Liat called and I met her and some other people in Piazza Venezia, and we had carry-out dinner looking at the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine all lit up, which was amazing of course. After I said bye to Liat, I went back to the hostel, where I was staying in an 8-bed mixed dorm, and everyone was sleeping so I had to be super quiet!
Wow, I did so much the last week I was there, but I'll try really hard to keep it short and bearable!
Day 1
- Basically, did a lot of walking around areas I've been and finding new places- Via Nazionale, Trastevere, Jewish Ghetto
- At the free dinner at the hostel, I talked to two theater majors studying abroad in London who told me all about their adventures in Amsterdam!
- At night I went to Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Spagna. Perhaps it was the time of year, or maybe because it was pretty late and kind of rainy, but I had these places practically all to myself! They were strangely empty, but it was really nice and peaceful.
Day 2
- Stopped by the Vittorio Emanuele II monument and climbed to the top on a whim, realizing I hadn't done that yet!
- I went to the Jewish museum and spent the morning/early afternoon there. I found it all incredibly interesting and got to see the inside of the synagogue. The history of the Jews in Rome is fascinating and very long- in a nutshell, they were forced to live in the tiny ghetto under papal rule and were finally free when Italy became a unified state, but were oppressed again when the Nazis came to power. Still, the culture in the ghetto thrived and still does today, as many Jews still live there.
- Afternoon = more wandering and Christmas shopping
- After dinner I tried to rest my feet and take a bus to Piazza Venezia, but I accidentally ended up on Via del Corso so I walked along the Tiber to Trastevere. It's very pretty at night, with all the small streets and restaurants and vines covering the walls.
Day 3
- To make a long story short, TRAIN TICKET FIASCO. Highly frustrating. But at 10:36am I finally was on a train on my way to Siena! I almost missed my transfer, since apparently the second train I had to take was actually a bus, but I found it and got to see the awesome Tuscan scenery via coach bus. In Siena, I saw the Piazza del Campo, Torre del Mangia, Duomo di Siena, and several other churches that I forget the name of.
- Siena is a small, very beautiful medieval town, and I feel like a day was enough to get a good feel of it. It was nice to be in no rush, just walking around, popping into churches and meandering down side streets illuminated with Christmas lights.
- When I got back to the hostel, I was super confused because all the beds had been rearranged and I no longer knew which bed was mine. I had to go to the front desk and get it figured out, and, horror of horrors, my bottle of lotion was lost/stolen. Ha, but anyway, I got that figured out, but instead of having a top bunk in the corner I had a bottom bunk right in front of the door and next to smelly-feet guy. Lovely. Gotta love hostel living. But hey, the shower temperature was consistently hot, which is more than I can say for the apartment!
Day 4
- Explored on the metro line- went to northernmost end of metro A, got out at a bunch of stops and walked around for a few minutes, residential, not touristy at all.
- Got off at Lepanto in Prati and went to the market in Piazza Mazzini one more time. Did some Christmas shopping, then walked to Piazza Navona and did some more Christmas shopping.
- Had my last packed lunch in Piazza Farnese sitting outside Palazzo Farnese, just people-watching and thinking about the awesomeness that is Rome.
- More Christmas shopping in Trastevere.
-Talked to some people at dinner who were studying abroad at University College London (they didn't know Andrew, though!)
- Went to St. Peter's Basilica at night and sat looking at it for almost an hour. Near the end, I saw police giving food and drink from an ambulance to the homeless people who were staying the night in the piazza.
Day 5 (last full day in Roma)
- I finally did the Appia Antica walk! I started at the Aurelian Walls, walking on top and inside of them. Along the Via Appia Antica, I saw the ruins of lots of neat stuff (eloquent, right?). It was very pretty and with lots of greenery.
- At the end of the road, I had no idea where I was so I hopped on a bus to the Giulio Agricola stop on metro line A and found the park of the aqueducts, which was very impressive. I would love to just go for my daily jog in a park with ancient Roman aqueducts stretching across the landscape! I also found a random flock of sheep in the park- pretty cool.
- Took the metro again to Barberini, where I walked to the Fontana di Trevi and got the all-natural gelato that my teacher said was her absolute favorite. It was. Amazing. A superb last gelato in Roma!
- Went back to the hostel and began packing and making sure my stuff was in the right suitcase- breakables in the carry on, large liquids in the checked bag...
- Went to Trastevere and walked around a bit before going to dinner at my teacher's favorite authentic Roman eatery (I think I've mentioned it already, but I've been following religiously all semester my teacher's list of her favorite places to see and things to do in Rome). It was a small trattoria called Augusto, and I "splurged" and ordered an insalata as an antipasta, since it was my last dinner in Roma- whoa, livin' on the wild side here. Also needed to use my last few euros, since a couple euros isn't worth exchanging. The rigatoni cacio e pepe was a great last meal in Roma!
- After dinner, I said goodbye to Trastevere and Piazza Trilussa, crossing the Tiber over the Ponte Sisto and walking to Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona, and the Pantheon before walking back to the hostel. It had been raining since I left the trattoria, but it was kind of fitting somehow. I took the night very laid back, just enjoying again all my favorite places, and it was perfect.
Well, I won't go much into my trip back, since it's not that interesting! The only notable things are that the lady at the airport was very nice and let me go on with my suitcase weighing 25.5 kg, a good 2.5 kg over the weight limit, without charging me 150 euro for overweight luggage! Also, the regional flight I took from DC to Atlanta was the tiniest plane I've ever been in- no one's carry on luggage would fit in the overhead bins, so we all had to check them. After slight confusion at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (HUGE airport...really, wow!) I found my family and Andrew by the baggage claim, and we had our slow-motion reunion and all that jazz... it was a merry Christmas Eve :)
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