Spring Break Trip to Rome, Italy Part 1

Hello All! 

Happy Tuesday!! 

It’s so good to be back to blogging. I got back late Saturday night from Rome, Italy where I was for Spring Break. I have been a part of a leadership program during my time at college. During the spring semester of our senior year, we travel to Rome to study abroad. Since I’m graduating early I went as a junior, I’m so glad I was able to go with this group since I have so many friends who are a year older than me, it made it so much more fun. There were 13 student that went with 2 professors and a few other chaperones, we had a great group. I had the absolute best time this past week.  I can’t wait to get into all the things I did while I was abroad. 

I was able to rest up on Sunday and get things done before starting back to reality yesterday. It’s been a busy few days but they have been so good. Instead of having a huge post all about my time abroad, I’m going to break it up into two posts. Part One will be today and Part Two will be up next Tuesday. Grab a cup of coffee and let’s get started.

I left early Friday morning for Rome. After an early wake up call at 3:30, I think I got maybe three hours of sleep. We were off to the airport. We went from Pittsburgh to Newark and were in Newark by 10 am. We then had a long layover until 5:45 when we jetted off for Rome. During our layover my group and I hung out, grabbed lunch and did homework.

We took off at 5:45 to take an overnight flight to Rome. It was about a 6 hour flight. During the flight I watched Crazy Stupid Love, ate dinner, and tried to get a few hours of sleep. ( I think I got maybe 2?) This lack of sleep is consistent through the whole trip. Haha! We got breakfast on the plane the next morning before we landed.

We landed at 8:00 am-super early. We were all pretty tired but we dropped off our bags, walked around the area near our hotel and enjoyed a mid morning coffee. 

We stayed at Via San Pio, it was near a Church, San Anselmo, which became our base. We were staying in a more residential area, therefore it was much more quieter and not as touristy.  We were 20 minutes away from the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. We walked everywhere on the trip. I think I averaged between 25,000-30,000 steps a day. Because we walked so much we became very familiar with this area, as long as I knew where the Colosseum was, I could get you to our hotel, the restaurants, and the shops. 

After a mid morning coffee break, we got lunch at San Anselmo’s and we were able to eat with the monks and priests that live there. After lunch, we were able to check into our hotel, freshen up, shower and unpack. My friend Olivia, who was also on this trip, and I grabbed some gelato and and took a walk around the neighborhood we were in. 

Since this trip was with an academic, leadership program, every night we had discussions and assigned readings and toasts were given out. We went to our discussion then went to dinner at Bucatini, a delicious restaurant that was a 15 minute walk from the hotel. It was delicious.

In Italy, the biggest culture change besides the time difference (they are 6 hours ahead), was the meals. First, they eat much later, most days we didn’t eat dinner until 8:00 and there are many courses and it takes a while to eat. Most nights, there were four-five course (appetizer, pasta, meat, dessert) and we would be there for 2.5-3 hours eating. We weren’t getting back to our hotel until 10:30 or 11:00 and then going straight to bed since we had to be up early the next day. The days were long, I think I averaged between 5-6 hours of sleep a night. Long days and short nights, to put it in perspective, when I would be talking to people back home before I went to bed it would be dinner time back home, by the time I woke up, they were still awake. Crazy!

After delicious dinner, I came back to the room and went to bed, keep in mind I had slept about 5 hours in the past 2 days so I was very tired. 

On Sunday, our first full official day in Rome, we were up early for Mass and then we took a walk as a group to see a few sites such as the Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Novena, and the Pantheon. It was so nice to see what a Sunday morning was like, by simply walking the streets, seeing the markets and the locals. After a nice morning walk we got lunch at a small Italian restaurant where we had the best pizza and bruschetta. After lunch we stopped for gelato. The orange and chocolate raspberry was a favorite for me. We then took a long walk back where we passed a few Churches, my favorite was Saint Maria Della Vitoria. It was absolutely stunning. I couldn’t get over the beauty and the detail of the art work. We also passed the Colosseum on our way back. We had some downtime before we had our discussion and dinner. We had a big dinner with five courses, the pasta was delicious and I tried everything that was offered. The Arch Abbot of our school was in Rome for a few days and he joined us for dinner too which was an honor. After a lively dinner, we all went back to the hotel to get some rest before the full week began.

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On Monday, we woke up bright and early, grabbed some breakfast and were off to explore the Palentine Hill, Roman Forum and the Colosseum. The Palentine Hill was the residential area of Ancient Rome and the Roman Forum was the city area. We saw some amazing views from the Palentine Hill. The Roman Forum was quiet impressive as well, it’s amazing how well preserved everything is from hundreds of years ago. The pictures don’t do it justice. We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant were we were served Panchetta (an egg/cheese pasta) and veal along with Tiramisu. We ate these same meals often, but every place they were different. In the afternoon, we spent time in the Colosseum, exploring the ruins and just imagining what life was in Roman Times, once again the pictures don’t do it justice. We took a scenic walk back to our hotel and went straight to our discussion and dinner. For dinner, we had delicious thin crust pizza (I don’t know how I can go back to eating American pizza) and a mushroom pasta. It was such a fun time to eat together and share our favorite moments of the day. After a late dinner we went back to the hotel to get to sleep since we had a big day on Tuesday.

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On Tuesday, we woke up very early and took a bus to the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica where we had mass in the crypt next to St. Peter’s tomb, along next to where many of the other Pope’s in history lay. It was so amazing to be praying and have mass in St. Peter’s, it was one of my favorite moments. We had a fantastic tour guide of St. Peter’s and the Vatican. She was so knowledgeable and friendly. The artwork, the detail and the history behind this Bascilica was incredible. I was in awe the whole time even though I have been there before. I loved seeing the artwork and paintings and hearing how they all came to be. Without a doubt, the Sistine Chapel was phenomenal, no words can describe it. I could have spent hours there. After a full morning of touring, we went to lunch where we had Panchetta and Veal with Tiramisu. We then had the afternoon free to shop, see other sites around the Vatican and just relax. We spent most of our time shopping and getting gifts for people at the Vatican. We then made our way back to our hotel where we rested and got ready for discussion and dinner. We had dinner at one of my favorite places, we had a flavorful appetizer, delicious pasta and gourmet chicken. We decided after dinner to check out the Colosseum at night which was a must see in Rome. We then made our way back to the hotel very late and got some rest before the next day.

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Whew, that’s a lot, for those of you stuck with it, THANK YOU! Part 2 will be up next Tuesday. I hope your enjoyed part one of my Rome recap, it was truly the best trip I have ever been on, from organized tours, free time, good food, shopping and downtime. It was the best time. See you Thursday for a look of the day! See you then! xoxo