ITALIA: Roma & Firenze

Ahh my first trip outside of Spain. I kind of just booked this spur-of-the-moment trip to cater to my itch to start my travels, and see my friends! Here's a little recap of my fabulous trip to Italy: 

ROME

Now are you surprised that I tried to do one of the largest cities in Europe in one day? Needless to say, ya can't. So I stumbled in late Thursday night. Al and I decided to go out for a little and we coincidentally saw the girls: Kelsey, Kristen, Christina, Lauren & Sam. I was so happy to be with everyone again! Since it was a long day we decided to go home for the night. Alex decided she wanted me to see a little something before we went back. We went to the Pantheon, and it was AMAZING! Almost 2,000 years old still standing, beautifully. It was awesome at night, and it was so quiet too, which made it 10x better. 

So we awoke the next morning for a day of exploring. I went on the school trip with them to St. John Lateran's Basilica. It was the original cathedral of Rome and the Pope lived there first until he switched over to the Vatican fully. Later, I went with Kels and the girls to some sightseeing. We walked around for a while, then we got to the Vatican city. It was phenomenal. We decided to climb the stairs to the top.. Not realizing the hike that we were getting ourselves into. It was well worth it though. We reached the top of the Vatican and overlooked the city of Rome. It was crazy because we got to see exactly what we learned about all these years studying Art History. All of us girls also got a special gold necklace that was blessed. Really cool.

St. John Lateran's Basilica

Atop the Vatican

Inside the Vatican--breathtaking

I was craving some authentic, Italian pizza so we went to a little place, Dar Poeta, that was INCREDIBLE. We each got our own little pizza. I got this pizza called, "Campagnola" that was unreal. Across the street from this restaurant we found a cool looking, painted doorway a little bit propped open with the light on. Sam looked in and we saw one of the coolest things ever. It was this little Italian guy with a barat, smoking a cig and just painting. The room was filled with all sorts of art, made from different recycled materials and all. It was incredible. We talked about how you would never find something like this in the U.S. Just a sweet old man who had a passion for art and just had a room full of it. He dedicated his time to his work. That was one of the coolest things I saw (The pictures don’t do it justice).

Later that night, I met back up with Alex, Christine, Danielle & their roommates and we ate dinner outside the Pantheon. Still pretty mind blowing. Then we got delicious gelato for dessert! We went out that night and obviously had a ball. We somehow snuck up to the VIP section and were on stage the whole night. Nottttt a clue. I loved Rome and I loved seeing my friends. There is still so much I want to see.

FLORENCE

So I decided to get up and make the trek to Florence on Saturday morning. After some trouble at the train station, I was on my way! I arrived at about 12ish and foolishly forgot to get Lucie’s address. So now I’m in Florence, with no means of communication, trying to figure out what to do. The only information I have of the whereabouts of her apartment is that it's near the Duomo, which is no help at all. It was raining when I got there, but one thing I can say is you know that a city is truly spectacular when it’s pouring rain and it STILL beautiful. So meanwhile, I’m walking down the streets of Florence, in and out of bookstores and cafes trying to find Wifi to call Lucie. Two hours later, I stop in a Café for some Bruschetta and a Cappiccuno and FINALLY get a hold of her! It actually was pretty fun getting lost because it was so nice.

Stumbled upon this guy-- Piazza del Duomo 

The cool thing about Florence is that it is significantly smaller than Rome, so you can walk almost everywhere. That afternoon, Lucie, Emily, Casey and I walked around the city. I loved it. We went to the Piazza del Signoro and saw the statue of David (remake) and other statues. It was SO cool and everything was so intricate. We got some more gelato, obviously. The fact that some of my first gelato experiences were in Italy is somewhat troublesome because I don’t know that anything will ever compare. We walked along the river and Ponte Vecchio.

We went back to Lucie’s apartment with her insane view of the Piazza del Duomo, you can literally throw a stone at it. We hung out for a while and I got some bad news from my mom, but I was SO grateful that I was with my friends.

That night we went out to dinner at Dantes, which has endless bottles of wine. Ummm Okay! Needless to say we had about 12 bottles haha. We had so much fun and the food was delicious. We went to the corner store and got some 2€ boxes of wine (insane). We went out that night and had a ball. The girls were RAVING about this “secret bakery,” which is one of those hole-in-the-wall places that you only know about from word-of-mouth. They said that the workers go in at 3 a.m. to start baking for the next day and they will give you fresh baked pastries for 1€. So we are literally hiding behind a car at 2:59 waiting for them to turn on the light and open the door, like the fatties we are. Someone walks by and goes, “The bakery’s not open on Sunday.” Sooooo that was embarrassing. I'm still pretty upset about it.

It was sad leaving my friends, but they were all SUCH good hosts and I'm so grateful to have them. I most definitely love Italy. I want to see every city. 

I will chalk that trip up as a success!