I’ve officially passed the one month mark here in Rome and the excitement of finally being here has worn off. But that’s not to downplay the experience I’m having, it’s just that I’ve actually settled into a routine and the only times I get to actually recognize that I’m really here are the weekends which have mostly been filled with traveling. I’ll try to detail what I’ve done so far as best as I can remember.
For Orientation Week (week 1), we met up with all of the other students on our program and went on a few different tours around and throughout Rome. The stops on these tours included famous places such as Piazza Navona, La Fontana di Trevi and the Colosseum. On the first night here, ISA treated us to a wonderful dinner at a cute Italian restaurant where we sampled various local cuisines from Cod to Bruschetta (pronounced “brewsketta”) to the dessert at the end which was Cheesecake with wild berries…YUM! Following dinner, myself and a few other ISA students went out and had a chance to experience Roman nightlife for the first time.
The second week we were here was the first week of classes so it was an exciting time where we got to meet people studying at the American University of Rome who weren’t on our program. It was also a chance to test out the different classes for which we had signed up back in April and I ended up changing my schedule quite a few times. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the 5 classes I’m taking and I only have a few issues with my schedule (mainly because my classes aren’t back to back).
After the second week everything kind of becomes a blur. Since then, I’ve traveled to so many different places. Elba Island, a small island off the coast of Tuscany in northern Italy, which was a fun weekend getaway with my two roommates and a friend from Rollins who’s on this program. Munich, Germany where I went to Oktoberfest. I have to say that this weekend has probably been my favorite thus far as I was really excited to visit Germany since I studied it for 6 years in middle and high school. It was such an incredible experience that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. After Munich I traveled to Prague, Czech Republic where we celebrated the birthday of one of the boys from Rollins on this program. It was interesting because I had never really considered going to Prague and it wasn’t high on my list or even on my radar but once I arrived I absolutely fell in love with the city. It was hard to leave. This past weekend was also one of my favorite experiences of my lifetime. We traveled with our program, ISA, to the Campania region of Italy, which has places such as Capri, Sorrento, Positano and Pompeii; it’s commonly associated with the Amalfi Coast. The first day we visited Mount Vesuvius, which we hiked up (incredibly hard cuz I don’t go to the gym and also it’s a huge mountain). After the hike we checked into our hotel and had the evening free to explore, eat dinner and experience Sorrento’s nightlife. On Saturday, we walked to the ferry where we boarded and had a short ride to Capri. Capri was easily the most beautiful place I’ve been fortunate enough to actually see and visit. The water was so blue and the cliffs and mountains surrounding the water were surreal. We rented a boat with some others on our program and began to enjoy a lovely day on the water. The two hours we spent on that boat are two hours of my life that I think I’ll remember forever.
I have quite a few different trips planned while I’m here and I’m excited to share my experiences on those trips with you all! I hope this blog has been exciting enough thus far.
Arrivederci!