The Countdown Begins...

Today, we realized that this is everyone's last Thursday night in Rhodes. Even though I have two months left, half of us are leaving for spring break in a week (so excited!!!), Kate and Linnea leave Rhodes the fifth of May, and everyone else leaves the seventh. Only Macayla and I are staying the extra three weeks so we'll have to see what happens! It is pretty remarkable how fast this semester has already flown, though.

When in Rome...

Or not. So, the way hostels work, for those of you who are unaware (since nobody really reads this, I'm not sure who that includes, but whatever), is interesting. The cheapest option is generally pretty simple: they have large rooms with 6-10 beds and you book a single bed. The other beds can be filled by whoever else books a bed, so you are generally rooming with random people. It makes for a social experience! Anyway, since we booked so late, we were completely split up and two of us had to be in a room alone. Since I was open to a new social scene, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, that's part of the fun of traveling! 

When I went into the room and met my new roommates, I got pretty excited. It was an all girls room and there was one girl from California studying abroad in Cannes and traveling alone for her spring break (Lindsey) and two 24 year old women from Argentina just traveling (Lede and Katalina). They were cool and the Argentinians spoke very good English. Long story short, they invited me out and, since I had a single night in Rome and wanted to explore more, I accepted! We looked at a map and Lindsey consulted her Traveler's Guide to Italy to find some good spots and headed out!

Our first stop: An Irish pub in Rome called The Fiddler's Elbow:

We wound up staying there for quite some time, bantering and hanging out. There was a definite language barrier; another three Argentinians who did not speak English had come with us, so that definitely made things more interesting. We had French, English, and Spanish flying around. One of the greatest challenges was when one of the girls asked me about Obama! Discussing politics was difficult but definitely a welcome challenge. After a couple hours, we decided to head to the next bar.

Or at least, that was the plan. We couldn't actually find the next bar, but we did find the Colosseum! It's all lit up at night and so beautiful. Lindsey suggested sneaking in - according to her book, it's really easy - but one of the other girls pointed out that security had increased exponentially over the last couple of years and it was no longer feasible. Shame. We still had a great time and got gelato, which means I achieved my goal of Italian gelato each night in Italy. Success! 


We headed back around 3 and I crashed for an hour before getting up to catch our flight. My night out was definitely worth not sleeping. I met some fascinating people and felt like I experienced Rome more than the girls who slept. It is a night I am unlikely to forget and a wonderful way to end my Italy trip. So, here's to hoping for similar nights on spring break and later in life! 

The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps

The Pantheon
Our first stop was the Pantheon. Once upon a time, the Pantheon was one of the largest Roman temples dedicated to the Roman gods. However, the original Pantheon burnt down and it is now, like so many other temples, is now a Christian temple. It also houses the tomb of Raphael, and has the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world! I definitely enjoyed seeing the exterior more than the interior - though the Pantheon is decorated beautifully - and definitely glad I made it there.

The Trevi Fountain
We finally made it to the Trevi Fountain, which was the spot most of the girls wanted to hit the most. Aside from being beautiful, it was definitely a relaxing break after a fairly stressful day. We threw coins in (of course) and hung out taking pictures for a while. I dipped my hands in the water; it was chilly! After a bit, we strolled over to our next and final destination: the Spanish Steps.

The Spanish Steps
At this point,  I am not embarrassed to admit that I had no desire to  climb the famed Spanish steps. In addition to being absolutely packed with people, as you can see, all the walking of the last few days in my boots had done a number on my feet. Seriously, it was pretty brutal. Instead, I sat near the bottom with a few of the other girls and people watched. There was a group giving out free hugs! We asked them why, but they wouldn't tell us. I didn't get a hug, though I strongly considered it! 


So, after a single day in Rome, we all headed out to our final Italian dinner and back to the hostel of a night of much needed sleep...

Colosseum

We made it to the Colosseum! And we only had to take a bus to the end of the line and wait for it to turn around (we had some difficulties...). The Colosseum was mostly what was expected: a giant stadium in remarkably good condition near the Roman Forum and the historical center of the city. Unfortunately, due to the painfully expensive Vatican tour and the general lack of interest in ancient Roman history, nobody else wanted to go inside. As I didn't want to make everyone wait (and was reluctant to spend an additional €12), I didn't to go in, which was a pretty big disappointment. We hung out for a bit, walked around, and headed on. The next desired stop was the Trevi Fountain, but I mentioned that I wanted to go to the Pantheon. Since I couldn't go by myself, of course, (don't forget how unsafe Rome is!), we all headed over to see it. 

Country #3: The Holy See

Interesting Fact: I can, in fact, cross the threshold of the center of the Catholic Church. Who knew?

So after a late start, we finally headed to the Vatican. I admit to feeling slightly anxious as I stared at St. Peter's Cathdral; most centers of worship make me very uncomfortable. However, I was quickly distracted by a persistent tour guide offering us a tour. While accepting this type of tour is generally not advisable, since we had gotten a late start, we were anxious to skip the lines. So we accepted the overpriced tour and were on our way (after a mere 30 minute wait...). My anxiety quickly evaporated once we were inside; far from seeming like the imposing, terrifying, center of one of the most influential and, arguably, oppressive institutions in the world, the Vatican - or at least what we saw of it - is more like an elaborate art museum. We toured the most important galleries and it was clear that the tour guide had been a good idea; otherwise, we likely would have had no idea what we were looking at (or at least less of an idea)! What really surprised me was how many works from Greco-Roman times there were. I mean, I understand the implications of having works from everywhere and everyone in terms of power and status and such, but there was so much pagan art. It seemed ironic to be walking through the room of the Muses and seeing statues of Apollo everywhere. Ah, well. 

Laocoon and the Serpents, based on the scene in the Iliad

Of course, the main attraction of the Vatican is the Sistine Chapel. The fact that a single man, even a man as brilliant as Michelangelo, could have painted the entire ceiling in addition to The Last Judgement was mind boggling. The room was beautiful, of course, but no pictures allowed! Before you start thinking "well, that's reasonable, pictures can negatively affect the priceless works of art," that is not the reason no pictures are allowed. The Vatican owns the reproduction rights to the artwork in the Sistine Chapel so...no other photography is allowed. Thanks, Catholic Church.

The full tour took almost four hours so once we got out (slight delay due to an unfortunate separation and miscommunication), we hopped on a bus immediately and went to our next stop: the Colosseum! 

Minor Setbacks in Rome

The good news: we made it on our 5:50 am train and arrived at Termini just after 8:00, giving us the entire day to see Rome.

The bad news: when we got to Termini, we were told that the airport is not, in fact, open all night. [I will now take this opportunity to point out that, yesterday, I had said this may be an issue and was condescendingly and completely shut down. I was, understandably, a little peeved.] 

The result of this issue was that we had to spend over an hour making a new plan. I floated the idea of going out and staying out all night until our bus from Termini to the airport left, but was, again, shut down. Rome has a bit of a reputation for not being the safest city, you see, and apparently the idea of nine girls sitting in a pub was too risky. So, instead, we found and booked a €25 hostel for the night. With that finally taken care of, we headed out! First stop: the Vatican!

Firenze!

We woke up the next morning pretty early; the plan was to be ready to go by 9 am. And we were! Except for Linnea, of course. By the time we were all ready, she hadn't even gotten in the shower yet. But we finally got out and headed to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. The statue is, as expected, beautiful. A surprise highlight, though, was the Museum of Music, a small gallery attached to the Gallery, where a variety of instruments and the world's oldest upright piano! Pretty awesome. We took our time in the Gallery, as some of the girls weren't feeling well and there was a lot to see, but we headed out and towards the Cathedral de Santa Maria and the Florence Duomo. The Cathedral is massive and incredibly ornate  (not to mention a few stops from the hostel!):


                           

While walking around the square, we looked around and noticed Linnea was missing. Surprise, surprise. Our phones didn't work in Italy and the square was packed so we didn't see the point in searching for her; we could look for hours and never find her. As a result, we decided that, since she is a 23 year old woman, she would be fine and either eventually find us or meet us later. And, so, we headed up! 463 stairs up narrow hallways and curving stairwells and we finally reached the top! The views were beautiful and completely worth the claustrophobia of the climb:

When we exited the Cathedral, we saw Linnea sitting at the bottom waiting. After some unnecessary yelling and tears which we mostly ignored (does the girl ever stop crying?), we moved on.

After the Duomo, we headed over to the Piazza del Michelangelo, a large plateau that overlooks the city. The walk was equally strenuous and it was outdoors so the sun made it even more difficult. However, eventually we made it! I actually liked this view better; you can see the river (ignore the unpleasant color) and the Cathedral. 

After a long day of walking, we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. The most exciting moment? Laurel got wedding shoes! (by the way, Laurel is my friend on the trip who is engaged!) They're "dusty rose" with a slight heel. Very cute, very Laurel. We also explored the open-air markets and practiced our bargaining skills. We finished the night with another delicious Italian meal, though this time I got the most incredible gnocci for dinner. We headed back early for bed because we had to be up at 4:30 am to catch our train to Roma!

First Night in Florence

After landing at Ciampino, we hopped on a bus to Termini, Rome's largest train station, so we could catch our train to Florence! Termini is huge and we had a bit of difficulty finding the right platform, but we got on with time to spare (though the others were panicking a bit!). The train was great- only a few hours and beautiful countryside the whole way. Italy is very, very green. 


We arrived in Florence that evening and checked into our hostel, B&B Maison. It was definitely nice; I was in a room of six and the other three girls were also in a room of six with three others. One of the first things we did was cancel our hostel in Rome. Our flight was an 8 am flight and it made more sense to simply either stay out all night or head to the airport super early and wait it out there. After the cancellation, we dropped off our stuff and headed out to eat. Our first night of Italian food was delicious. Mmmmm, pizza. The waiter was very friendly and they even cooked my pizza in the shape of a heart: 

After dinner, we headed out! We met up with Elana, Anne Marie's friend studying abroad in Florence, and a few of her friends. After a bit of wandering, we found a bar and hung out for a while. Interesting fact about Florence? It's one of the top study abroad spots in the world. As a result, it's full of Americans and the bar we went to reflected that; there wasn't a single non-American to be seen. Jen got a little crazy and the night got a little late so Ricki, Laurel, and I headed out early and got our first cup of Italian gelato! Chocolate and strawberry was such a good call.

First Ryanair Flight

  

Ryanair is one of the cheapest carriers in Europe which makes it perfect for students looking to travel! Our entire round trip flight cost a mere €28. Flying Ryanair is actually a pretty cool experience, although there were ads everywhere and they charged for everything - even a bottle of water - on the flight. To begin with, there is no assigned seating so, when the gate opens, everyone just sort of bolts to the plane. The best part was that I got a window seat on both flights. The views from the plane were spectacular, although I unfortunately slept through most of it. I did, however, wake up in time to see the Italian Alps. So beautiful: