This week has been one of the most hectic and tiring weeks of my life. Talk about nonstop walking! However, I was able to see sooo much in Italy, and I will remember this experience forever. Natalie, Taylor, and I flew into Rome last Friday and stayed at a pretty nice hostel with a super nice Mexican guy who was also exploring the city. We woke up early and were able to see the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. We also walked through a beautiful park and ended up watching dogs run around the park for about two hours. It was really relaxing and peaceful. We also had our first real Italian dinner that night, and I of course ordered pasta and wine. Yum! And, of course gelato had to be included on our first day (caramel cream and black cherry are my favorites). On Sunday, we met up with our Bus 2 Alps tour group at the Yellow Hostel in Rome. This hostel wasn't my favorite and was right above a bar that raged all night. Oh well, Rome was definitely worth it. We took a walking tour on our first day with the group where we visited the Colosseum, which was a lot bigger than I imagined. Our tour guide in Rome was hilarious and would say the most random things, but he made the tour very enjoyable. We also went to a group dinner where we had unlimited wine, appetizers, and pasta. It was the best meal we had there! Monday, we had another day to explore Rome. We went to Vatican City on this day and saw St. Peter's Basilica as well as the Sistine Chapel. I was so excited to see Michaelangelo's famous painting in the chapel. It was absolutely breathtaking! After this long walk, we decided to relax in the evening. We went to dinner and went to see the Trevi Fountain at night. It was completely lit up and magical in so many ways. Tuesday, we woke up early and departed for Florence at about 9 a.m. Florence was a lot different than I was expecting. The streets were a lot nicer than Rome, but there wasn't a lot to do there. On the firs day, Natalie and I went to a museum to see Michaelangelo's David statue, but there wasn't much else to see. We explored a hill that overlooked a city and found a nice view as well. It was quite the trek, and our feet were killing us by the end. That night, we were a bit tired of pizza and pasta, so we decided to check out a local Mexican joint where we had margaritas and nachos. So yummy! Wednesday was my favorite day by far. This day we drove by bus up to the Tuscany area of Italy. We stopped briefly in Siena and a couple other towns before having lunch at a vineyard. We got to sample all kinds of wines and had a full wine, but that didn't stop us from having the world's best gelato (which I actually didn't think was that great) in another small town. Our last stop of the day was Pisa, and we got several pics with the leaning tower and even lost one of our group members. LOL! Thursday, we left for Venice! Venice was my absolute favorite place in Italy. I don't even know how to describe its beauty. We went to Murano, an island off the coast of Venice, which is known for its glass blowing. I spent quite a lot of money on this island, but it was all so beautiful. Afterwards, we went back to Venice and took a gondola ride. I had no idea it would be 80 euros, but we had to do it!!! Too bad our guide didn't sing to us. He claimed that only happened in movies sadly. I wish we could have stayed in this city longer since we only had one day there. That evening, I went out with Kristine, and we walked to the center of the city to check out some bars. We met some kind of creepy and rude Italian guys and left fairly soon after that. Our last three days were spent in Milan. Word of advice: don't go there. We couldn't find anything to do in this city at all. We ended up walking around aimlessly and checking out a park and aquarium. Also, we saw the Duomo and shopping district. It was pretty boring to be honest, but our last meal in Milan was pretty good. We saw some pizza acrobats who performed for us. Milan is also a very sketchy and unsafe city. Our hotel was far from the metro, and I didn't feel safe walking there in the day time, so we never really went out at night due to this. I loved every city, but Milan. I don't understand how it is the fashion capital since everything is pretty run down, but whatever. Over all, though, I loved my week in Italy. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things this week and enjoy some more time in London. I'm pretty exhausted from my trip, but I know that I will always remember it. I still can't believe I have been to so many countries this semester. Heading to France next weekend. <3 I'm living the dream.
-L
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