Our program that TCU works with here in Florence, ACCENT, took us to Rome this past weekend! We left early Friday morning from the train station. It was quite fun since the last time I took a train it was set up compartment style whereas the fast train to Rome looked more like an airplane--except the train was actually very spacious!
We arrived in Rome mid-morning. After somehow mananaging to squeeze more than 30 students onto a city bus with regular Romans, we made it to the hotel, checked in, and began the day. Freya, our tour guide who is a native Australian, but Florentine by choice, took us on a historical walking tour of Rome. It included churches, piazze, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. For dinner, we took her suggestion and tried an all-inclusive restaurant. We simply sat down and the food started coming! 5 courses and 10 caraffes of wine later, we needed to leave. It was so much fun, though! We had yet to experience a hearty Italian (let alone Roman) meal, so it was nice to have that experience. That night, we managed to get a table in a packed pub in Campo dei Fiori, a square not far from our hotel that many young students go to.
The next day, Freya greeted us early in the lobby for breakfast. We set our sights on the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica. We were done with organized events for lunch. We went to La Isola della Pizza--that's right! Needless to say it was quite good. I also had pizza today for lunch, which made me think how I will feel about pizza in the States upon my return. The pizza here is so thin and (sounds weird) liquidy. A hungry person can easily have his or her own pizza. But college students on budgets always share! That night, we saw the Trevi Fountain once again (I hope that didn't count as my return) and the Spanish Steps.
Sunday was reserved for ancient Rome: theatres, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. Since I can remember, I've heard "the 7 hills of Rome." Well, let me just say, in my imagination, they were much larger and much more spread out. Ancient Rome (more or less, the "downtown" of the day) is smaller than I had imagined for a city that ruled the world for centuries. After touring, of course we had to take in some gelato in front of the Pantheon. I had one of those, "You guys, we're eating gelato in Rome, Italy in front of the PANTHEON" moments. But that's just about every day, so I guess you could call that normal. It amazes me how seemlessly Italians blend modern needs and luxuries with antiquity. Not only that, but how they think nothing of it! Structures here are built to last. It seems like no one ever even considers tearing a building down (hence why my apartment sometimes resembles an office space). But I admire that in Europeans. They do not waste. In Prague, they save the beer phoam, let it settle, and let an unsuspecting patron guzzle down what so many Americans would consider less than water. Here, the 4th stomach of cows is served with salsa verde on a kaiser. And nowhere in Europe do you let your plate go uncleaned! I think we can all take a lesson from their small, but conscious efforts. (Sorry for the slight tangent)
We arrived back in Florence exhausted! But Monday and Tuesday, we had birthdays to celebrate! Monday, we went to dinner at Il gatto e la Volpe for Sarah's 20th and Tuesday, we all met at Kylie's apartment to ring in her 21st! Well, that happened the night before at midnight, too! Midterms are next week, so I am staying in Florence to try to keep my mind focused. Perhaps a day trip somewhere like Perugia, Pisa, or Assisi wouldn't hurt though. I'll let you know next time!
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