So I’m a little off schedule with this whole thing. Missing a week or two, so this is definitely going to be a catch up post and a post about this past weekend in Paris. The weekend before Tunisia, my two friends from Madrid, Chris and Jimmy came into town. Chris and Jimmy were the people that we visited when we took our first trip to Madrid. It was a little tough hanging out with them at first because it was right before midterms week, and one of my classes got switched so Mike, Kevin and I had our first midterm that Friday, so we didn’t get to see them until that night. The next day we took them for a tour around Rome and walked all over. We hung out on Tiber Island for a little, and then went up to Aventine Hill and saw the view from there and the keyhole. Aventine is definitely one of my favorite places in Rome. That night we did the Colesseum Pub Crawl which was a lot of fun, and then Mike and I hung out with them Sunday before they left to go back home. That week was the rest of midterms and I had a couple papers due, and then Tunisia.
After Tunisia, we got back and I only had a day to get readjusted and then my dad came into town! At first I thought I was going to be super stressed with coming back and meeting him down in Rome all week but it was really nice to immediately have something to do when I got back to keep my mind off of missing Tunisia. Is it still called homesick if it’s not your home? Dad got into Rome late Monday night with his girlfriend Diane and I met them Tuesday after class down at their hotel. We went to a really delicious dinner and I stayed down there since we had to be at the Vatican at 7:30 in the morning for our tour. It was nice to take a break from JForce, plus seeing my dad was just what I needed at this halfway mark. Dad hired a private tour guide which actually turned out to be great and I learned a lot that day about the Vatican and in particular St. Peters which I wouldn’t have found out just on my own. Our tour also included a trip to the catacombs and down the oldest road in Rome which is a beautiful area up on a hill that is still the original cobblestone and is surrounded by absolutely gorgeous villas that have been in the family since they were built. I went home after that to finish a take home midterm and bought my ticket to meet them in Florence on Saturday. But before that, Victoria, one of my DG sisters came into town from London where she’s studying abroad. I met up with her and two of her friends Alexis and Maggie, Thursday night and then again on Friday. With them, I finally went into the Forum, Palentine Hill, and Colosseum. Palentine Hill was definitely my favorite of the three and the weather was absolutely beautiful. I took them up to Aventine Hill, and then we went to a bar (café in Italian) and then I said goodbye and got ready for Florence.
Florence wasn’t originally a place that I really cared if I went too or not, a lot of people went there the weekend when I was in Madrid, and I just had other places that were higher on my list of places I had to see. However, once I got there on Saturday morning , I realized just what it was that everyone who goes raves about. It’s a picture perfect Italian city, what I thought Rome was going to look like before I got here. I got off the train and met Dad and Diane at their hotel. They had already been there for a day and had it mapped out. We took a bus to the train station which is kinda in the center, and started walking around because we had time to kill before our reservation at the Uffizi gallery. We walked straight into the Duomo, which was absolutely breathtaking. It’s amazing that building like that were created so long ago without the technology we use today. We walked across the river on the bridge where all the jewelry shops were and just kinda wandered. We went to the Uffizi and then did a little leather shopping. Dad surprised me and told me he would buy me a leather jacket for an early birthday present, which I was not expecting at all, and I got the most beautiful jacket. We grabbed an early dinner and went back to hang out at the hotel and get some sleep. The next morning we woke up and decided to wander some more, and hiked up to the Piazza Miche’ngelo which has the most beautiful view of Florence. We went to the Academia to see the David and I was once again blown away. I’ve seen plenty of museums, paintings, sculptures in my life, but when I walked into the room with the David I was completely mesmerized. I like a lot of the art I see, but I’ve never been an art buff or been able to just stare at a piece for hours and hours. But with the David I finally understood what all my more artistic friends and family members see when they go to museums. He was perfect, and imposing and gentle all at the same time. After awhile just staring we left, and went back to the hotel to meet my dad’s business partner Eric and his girlfriend Kim and her two daughters for a fabulous dinner at a local pizza and ristorante. It was some of the best food I’ve had yet in Italy and we must have stayed there for 3 hours. We closed the restaurant and then I went to bed because my train left early Monday morning. The week days are going by so fast now, and it felt like only a day later I was heading out to Paris. I got back in the afternoon and then had class all day Tuesday, Wednesday I had a day to myself and went downtown and did a little shopping on Via del Corso, and then Thursday was class all day again and we left at 7 AM Friday morning for Paris, which I’ll post in the next day or two. I can’t believe there’s only a month left till classes end, and just 5 weeks and two days till I go back to the states. If you had asked me during the first three weeks here, I would have never thought time would go any faster. Each day felt like a week and I wasn’t quite feeling it yet. But now, especially when I think in terms of the weekends left, it seems like I’ve got zero time left. This weekend is Easter, next Amsterdam, then Munich, and then the last weekend in Rome at least, is finals. And then that weekend after classes are done I’ll be with my mom and others in the Amalfi Coast. And then back to the real world.
So I’m a little off schedule with this whole thing. Missing a week or two, so this is definitely going to be a catch up post and a post about this past weekend in Paris. The weekend before Tunisia, my two friends from Madrid, Chris and Jimmy came into town. Chris and Jimmy were the people that we visited when we took our first trip to Madrid. It was a little tough hanging out with them at first because it was right before midterms week, and one of my classes got switched so Mike, Kevin and I had our first midterm that Friday, so we didn’t get to see them until that night. The next day we took them for a tour around Rome and walked all over. We hung out on Tiber Island for a little, and then went up to Aventine Hill and saw the view from there and the keyhole. Aventine is definitely one of my favorite places in Rome. That night we did the Colesseum Pub Crawl which was a lot of fun, and then Mike and I hung out with them Sunday before they left to go back home. That week was the rest of midterms and I had a couple papers due, and then Tunisia. 
Florence wasn’t originally a place that I really cared if I went too or not, a lot of people went there the weekend when I was in Madrid, and I just had other places that were higher on my list of places I had to see. However, once I got there on Saturday morning , I realized just what it was that everyone who goes raves about. It’s a picture perfect Italian city, what I thought Rome was going to look like before I got here. I got off the train and met Dad and Diane at their hotel. They had already been there for a day and had it mapped out. We took a bus to the train station which is kinda in the center, and started walking around because we had time to kill before our reservation at the Uffizi gallery. We walked straight into the Duomo, which was absolutely breathtaking. It’s amazing that building like that were created so long ago without the technology we use today. We walked across the river on the bridge where all the jewelry shops were and just kinda wandered. We went to the Uffizi and then did a little leather shopping. Dad surprised me and told me he would buy me a leather jacket for an early birthday present, which I was not expecting at all, and I got the most beautiful jacket. We grabbed an early dinner and went back to hang out at the hotel and get some sleep. The next morning we woke up and decided to wander some more, and hiked up to the Piazza Miche’ngelo which has the most beautiful view of Florence. We went to the Academia to see the David and I was once again blown away. I’ve seen plenty of museums, paintings, sculptures in my life, but when I walked into the room with the David I was completely mesmerized. I like a lot of the art I see, but I’ve never been an art buff or been able to just stare at a piece for hours and hours. But with the David I finally understood what all my more artistic friends and family members see when they go to museums. He was perfect, and imposing and gentle all at the same time. After awhile just staring we left, and went back to the hotel to meet my dad’s business partner Eric and his girlfriend Kim and her two daughters for a fabulous dinner at a local pizza and ristorante. It was some of the best food I’ve had yet in Italy and we must have stayed there for 3 hours. We closed the restaurant and then I went to bed because my train left early Monday morning. The week days are going by so fast now, and it felt like only a day later I was heading out to Paris. I got back in the afternoon and then had class all day Tuesday, Wednesday I had a day to myself and went downtown and did a little shopping on Via del Corso, and then Thursday was class all day again and we left at 7 AM Friday morning for Paris, which I’ll post in the next day or two. I can’t believe there’s only a month left till classes end, and just 5 weeks and two days till I go back to the states. If you had asked me during the first three weeks here, I would have never thought time would go any faster. Each day felt like a week and I wasn’t quite feeling it yet. But now, especially when I think in terms of the weekends left, it seems like I’ve got zero time left. This weekend is Easter, next Amsterdam, then Munich, and then the last weekend in Rome at least, is finals. And then that weekend after classes are done I’ll be with my mom and others in the Amalfi Coast. And then back to the real world.
No comments:
Post a Comment