I have completed my last full month abroad and only have 11 day left, as of today, in Rome. It is crazy to look back and realize how fast this semester has gone by. Usually for me personally, the fall semester is always really slow and not as exciting as the spring semester. However, this semester abroad has been anything but slow. I have had so many amazing opportunities and have so many wonderful memories with my new friends. It is sad to be reminded that I leave in a little under two weeks because that means I have to leave behind a city I have completely fallen in love with.
In November I traveled both within and outside of Italy. The first place I traveled to was Budapest, and let me just say it may have become my new favorite city in the world that I have so far visited. Even though Budapest is a newer city and many people do not know much about it, it is very modern and a city full of food, life, and kind people. While I was there, the Christmas market had just opened and it made me a little homesick, but I loved to shop around and start to get in the Christmas spirit. Something about this city was so magical to me.
The weekend after Budapest my whole program went to Bologna as a class trip for our Italian courses. Bologna is the food city of Rome and everything I had to eat there was utterly amazing. We visited FICO, which owns Eataly, and we made our own tortelloni and had a tour of this “food theme park”. We also went around the main city center of Bologna and ordered food in Italian as a way to practice our Italian skills and ate all the food we ordered as a group for dinner. We toured the city on our last day and broke up into small groups to discover different aspects of the Bolognese culture.
This past weekend I traveled to Amsterdam and it was my last stop in Europe I will be traveling to. Amsterdam was literally freezing but still amazing nonetheless. My friend and I spent most of the time just wandering around the city and getting lost while trying not to get hit by the many people on bikes. We visited the Rijks Museum, the Anne Frank House, took a canal boat tour, and tried both Dutch and Indonesian food. It was definitely the perfect last trip of my semester abroad.
In 11 days I leave for home. I feel sad about leaving Rome and Europe in general, but I do miss home, my family, pets, friends, and my normal routine. I am mostly sad about my last days in Rome because it is final exam and final paper time. Even though I will be busy studying and writing for the next two weeks, I know I will have a great last couple of weeks in this new city I can sort of call home.