Florence and Barcelona: My 2 Favorite Trips So Far

Wednesday, November 13: No site visit for NT, instead we had a lecture.

Thursday, November 14: Tried to go to Campo dei Fiori to work on my Italian project with my partner, Nicole. We had to interview an Italian at the market but we went around 3, right as they were cleaning up for the day. So, all of the Italian workers were dismissive and no one would pause for our quick 5 minute interview. I had to go back Sunday. Shows how Italians are not always the friendliest people.
BUT, the day turned around when my roommates and I went to the Rome Hunger Games: Catching Fire Premiere that night. We got there pretty late and as we walked closer we heard screams. So, we started running and saw Liam Hemsworth on the red carpet. Since we were late, we didn't get to stand as close as some of the other fans but we did get to see Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson pretty up close. It was a really cool experience and I am so glad I went! After the stars left, we tried to sneak in but it didn't work out. Amazing experience nonetheless. Can't wait to see the movie when I get home!

Josh Hutcherson

Jennifer Lawrence

Friday, November 15: My roommates and I woke up early and left for Florence! This was a trip that our program organized so after the quick train ride, we had a guided tour of Florence, which is very small. We saw some churches, a market, and the outside of the Duomo. Then, we went to the Uffizi and I saw the David, which was huge! After that, everyone from my program went to lunch at a really delicious restaurant called Gatto e Volpe. Next, we had some free time, so Michelle (who did a 3 week January term in Florence) took us to an awesome leather shop with a great discount. I got myself a nice new leather bag and I got a few gifts for family and friends. I love the feeling of buying gifts for people and I was glad to finally knock some people off my list. We also went to some great leather markets in the streets of Florence. That night, we went to a great panini place (way better than any panini I have had in Rome!) and then we went to a bar that Michelle had recommended which was pretty fun. 

In front of the Duomo

Saturday, November 16: Rachel, Danielle, Emmy, and I woke up early and got food at the market. Then, we did some last minute shopping which ended too soon! I wish I had more time in Florence; there was just so much opportunity for shopping! But we had a train to catch to Pisa. At the train station, we had some trouble buying tickets and a gypsy got a little too close but we finally made it to Pisa after rushing around all day. In Pisa, we met Kara from PC and continued moving quickly to the #1 TripAdvisor restaurant in Pisa, another panini place where I got delicious porchetta with pecorino romano cheese. At the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we had about 15 minutes to snap some pictures before grabbing a cab back to the train station in order to get back to Rome. It was so busy and we had little time but it's really all you need in Pisa. Once back in Rome, I was so tired but we had Kara visiting so of course we needed to show her some great Italian food. We went to Piazza Navona and then ate at Navona Notte where Kara, Rachel, and I had some good conversation mostly revolving around PC (which I'm really starting to miss!) That night, we were so tired but we got some gelato and then went to Scholars for a few hours.

Me in front of the Leaning Tower

Sunday, November 17: Rachel and I pretty much did our typical sightseeing day, this time showing Kara around Rome! Campo dei Fiori (I finally got my interview for my project), Trevi Fountain, lunch at That's Amore (this time I got an amazing pesto pasta dish), the Colosseum, gelato at the Island, we got pooped on by the crazy birds in Rome multiple times, the Vatican (pretty cool at night), and finally Dar Poeta! 

Vatican at night

Monday, November 18: With NT, we went to St. Peter's Scavi and toured below St. Peter's. It was pretty cool but also very hot and kind of claustrophobic.

Tuesday, November 19: With art history, we went to another palace with a lot of different paintings and very fancily decorated rooms. Got my paper back and did better than I thought: 90%.

Wednesday, November 20: We had another site visit with NT, this time at the Capitoline Museum. It was really cool with a lot of different statues. That night, Rachel and I left for BARCELONA! We got there late so we checked into our hotel and went to bed. Our plan was to sleep in since we had been lacking in sleep for weeks and we had 4 days to spend in Barcelona.

Medusa at the Capitoline Museum

Thursday, November 21: We slept until 11 and then ventured out to find an American breakfast place that I had previously looked up. It's called Brunch & Cake and it is literally that: amazing brunch and amazing cakes. We loved it so much that we went back almost everyday. So this first day, I got the eggs benedict which is served over a WAFFLE instead of an english muffin and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten. I was so full after but I also tried the red velvet cake which was equally amazing. After our huge brunch, Rachel and I walked to La Sagrada Familia and waited in the pretty short line before buying tickets to go inside and go up the tower. Inside, there were so many pretty rainbow colors in all of the windows. I loved seeing a more modern church after so many ancient Roman churches! At the top of the tower, there were beautiful views. I think this had to have been my favorite day in Barcelona because of this. After spending about an hour there, we found a Starbucks, where Rachel got it for the first time since August. That night, we went to a place called Tapas 24 for some traditional Spanish tapas dishes. I had a McFoie burger with foie gras, these delicious fries with mayonnaise and spicy sauce, and a fried ham roll thing. Also, Rachel and I got some great sangria and our waiter kept saying "Fiesta!" It was a really great meal and we ended up paying 41 euro EACH (I think that's the most I have ever personally paid for a meal, but it was worth it). The tapas are so small but pricey so it adds up.

Brunch & Cake <3

Beautiful windows inside Sagrada Familia

Amazing view from tower

Top of Sagrada Familia

I loved this fries dish at Tapas 24

Friday, November 22: We went back to Brunch and Cake, this time I got a delicious french toast dish with blueberries and bananas. Then, we walked to La Rambla, a busy shopping street in Barcelona. After window shopping and walking the street, I found Dunkin' Donuts and got a Dunkaccino which tasted different than they do at home. I can't wait to get some real Dunkin' once I'm back home. Next to DD was the famous La Rambla market with rows and rows of places with all different kinds of food. Rachel had looked up that the specialty is their great fresh fruit juices. I tried a pineapple and strawberry that was really good! After looking around the market for awhile, we decided to continue to the port at the end of the street where we walked across a bridge and went into a cool mall. Then, we went back to the market and got some snacks; I tried a really good fried sausage and cheese stick. After shopping some more, we had lunch at a place called Wok to Walk which has good stir-fry to-go. It was nice to have a break from Italian food, even though I could eat it everyday! We continued shopping and I got some shoes from Zara. That night, we went to another Spanish restaurant and got a cheese platter, more sangria, and a refreshing goat cheese salad. Then, we went to Opium, a really cool club right on the water, where we had a great time dancing and ran into some other kids from our program!

French Toast

The Market

Fresh Fruit Juice

Cool Casa designed by Gaudi

Saturday, November 23: After sleeping in again, Rachel and I decided to walk to the FC Barcelona game that we had bought tickets to the week before. It was a 3 mile walk so we took our time and stopped somewhere for spinach quiche on the way. We pretty much walked the whole city which is pretty impressive. By the time we made it to the stadium, we had passed about 4 Starbucks and a lot of different shops and stores. We arrived to the game early and looked around at all of the cool souvenirs. We got some good sandwiches and beer and then found our way to our seats. They were the highest up possible but we still had a great view of the soccer field. The game was really fun and it went by so fast! FC Barcelona is such a good team that of course, they won 4-0 against Granada. It was really cool to see the spirit of the audience. Everyone clapped and they never "Boo-ed", something I hate that people do at home. I'm so glad I am able to say I've been to an FC Barcelona game in Barcelona! After the game, we walked all the way back to our hotel. Along the way, we stopped and tried some churros and chocolate. Then, for dinner, we went back to Brunch and Cake, where I had an interesting apple salad with scrambled eggs on top and a delicious brie, fig, and caramelized oninons sandwich. Love that place. We went to bed early because we wanted to hit up Park Guell the next morning before our flight back to Rome.

Huge Stadium!

Beautiful sunset during the game

Being artsy at my new favorite restaurant

Sunday, November 24: This morning, we woke up early and walked to Park Guell, a really cool park designed by Gaudi. We saw really awesome mosaics with a cool lizard and a pretty fountain. The best part was the amazing view of the city of Barcelona. After that, it was sadly time to leave Barcelona. I really loved this trip and I am so glad I was able to go! Next up is Prague for Thanksgiving.

View at Park Guell

Morgan in Rome!

Here is all I remember from the week leading up to Morgan's arrival:

Sunday, November 3: Rachel and I tried to go to Forno for lunch. I have been wanting to make it back there for pizza since the Pizza and Gelato Crawl and since Domina said she loved it when she was in Rome, but it was sadly closed. You never know when a restaurant in Italy might be closed for a break in the middle of the day. So, instead, we decided to go to Tony's. This was a sentimental lunch because on this Sunday, Tony's closed for two months since Tony is having surgery. It was weird to think that we won't be able to go back there anymore since our time abroad ends before they re-open. So that was my first goodbye to a place where I had some really great times. Until my next visit to Rome!

Tuesday, November 5: With art history, we met at Piazza Navona and learned about the Fountain of the 4 Rivers. Then, we saw some more churches and palaces, at least I think so… Our professor has started taking us on multiple visits in one class so everything is blending together and we have been on information overload.

And that's all that was interesting until Morgan came!

Thursday, November 7: The whole day was spent in anticipation of Morgan's arrival. I made brownies while I waited, and she finally showed up at my apartment around 10:30. It was so exciting to have another visitor from home in Rome. She got to meet most of my roommates and then we chatted and caught up for the rest of the night.

Friday, November 8: My New Testament class unfortunately had a Friday site visit, so Morgan had to come to class with me before we could officially start her sightseeing. But, it was kind of cool that she was able to experience what my classes are like. We went to Santa Sabina, which is one of the oldest churches in Rome. We were also able to see some of the chambers where a lot of important religious figures once lived. After the visit, Morgan, Rachel, and I were starving so we checked out the restaurant on the Tiber Island. Once we got there, it didn't open for another twenty minutes, but the gelato place next door was open… So, we got gelato before lunch and it was some of the best gelato I have had so far. At lunch, I had eggplant parm and it was delicious!
After lunch, we went to the Vatican, where there was a really long line for St. Peter's basilica. We decided not to wait in the line, but we saw the outside of all of Vatican City and Morgan was able to buy some souvenirs. Then, we walked towards the Castel and I showed Morgan most of what our everyday walk to school is. That night, Morgan and I accompanied Rachel to Termini where we met her friend who was also visiting for the weekend. Then, we all went to dinner together, after taking a few pictures in front of the Pantheon and at Piazza Navona, before going out for a night on the town in Rome!

Sora Lella: best eggplant parm

Vatican

Dinner Friday night: Reunited!

Pantheon

Saturday, November 9: We woke up and walked to the Colosseum and went inside (this was my third time, did it for Morgan, but it is still really cool each time that you go in). Then, we got lunch at That's Amore (yet again, but it was important to show Morgan the best food in Rome). At lunch, she was able to get her first Italian cappuccino, too. Then, we went to the Trevi Fountain where Morgan was able to toss a coin over her shoulder and get the necessary pictures. That night, we went to Dar Poeta for dinner, where Morgan of course loved the pizza and thought the nutella and ricotta calzone was amazing. After chatting a ton and hanging out all night, we went to bed semi-early and sadly the trip was over before I even realized it had started!

Colosseum

Finally was smart and shared a pizza with Morgan (to leave room for dessert)

Sunday, November 10: Morgan left early in the morning :( It was so awesome to be able to share my life in Rome with her and I am so glad that she made the trip to see me. I plan on visiting her in Bath in December!
I spent the rest of Sunday working on my art history research paper. Worst paper of my life.

Monday, November 11: Art History Research Paper.

Tuesday, November 12: Handed in the paper this morning! With art history class, we went to three more churches AND a museum. The focus was on the works of Bernini and Borromini. This was actually very interesting and it was one of my favorite visits. However, we were all very tired from working on the papers so the class seemed to drag on and the huge amount of information was kind of overwhelming. But at least the paper is done and now I finally have some down-time! Rachel and I just bought tickets to an FC Barcelona game for next weekend which is very exciting. The countdown until the end of my semester has started and it is freaking me out how little time I have left. I have so much to do before I leave Rome and it is hard to imagine leaving this wonderful place.

Bernini's "Ecstasy of St. Teresa"

Venice

Tuesday, October 29: We went to Borghese Gallery with my art class. There were a lot of really cool paintings and sculptures. Most of the sculptures required that you walk full circle around them in order to see the full picture. I really enjoyed the sculpture of Pluto taking Persephone away into the underworld ("Rape of Persephone" by Bernini).

Wednesday, October 30: With New Testament, we went to Priscilla's Catacombs. My teacher had given me a warning ahead of time that I didn't have to go in since I am sometimes claustrophobic. So I was pretty nervous to go on this visit, but I am glad I did. It was definitely not as bad as my teacher made it seem. We walked through a lot of carved out spaces where the dead bodies of thousands of Italians used to lie. It was not as creepy or anxiety-inducing as I thought it would be. The highlight was seeing some bones in the tombs but they were only in one area. Otherwise, I would say I was under-impressed with this visit.
That night, we went to the Opera with our program. It was called Turandot and all I learned was that it is set in China and the main male character has to solve riddles in order to be with the woman that he loves, otherwise he will die. Everything was in Italian and our seats were not the greatest so we decided to leave halfway through the second act (out of three acts). The opera building was really beautiful and intricate and I am glad that I am able to say I attended an Italian opera. After ditching, Rachel and I got pizza at a good place called Pizza Re before heading home to pack for Venice.

Italian Opera

Selfie from our little balcony room

Caprese Pizza at Pizza Re

Thursday, October 31: Happy Halloween! First year that I didn't dress up in some way for Halloween which is pretty sad. But I went to VENICE which is pretty cool. We had to get up really early in order to catch our 6:50 train. By 10:30, we had arrived in Venice. For this trip, I traveled with Rachel and two boys from my program. It was so cool to finally arrive somewhere that I have always wanted to visit. But I always thought I would be with family. I could just imagine my dad giving me all the info about the history of Venice. Wish he was there!

We first found the hotel and dropped off our bags. Then, we were really hungry so we found what we thought was a good deal at a restaurant with free WiFi. It actually ended up to be pretty gross (worst carbonara I have had in Italy) so we were pretty disappointed. After lunch, we made our way to St. Mark's Square. Along the way, we stopped in a lot of shops which all pretty much had the same things. Masks and Murano glass are the two big things in Venice. At St. Mark's Square, we took the infamous gondola ride. It started off really nice and it was very cool to go through these small paths of water. Then, one of the boys we were with felt so sick that he said he needed to get off the boat right away. We were a little confused and we told him to just wait it out but he was adamant about getting off the boat. At first, our guide didn't really understand but he finally realized that Andrew really wanted to get off. We were all dying laughing as Andrew threw his sweatshirt over the rail and dramatically jumped over the rail. I will never forget this boat ride. Later, we went up a clock tower and saw a really pretty view of the whole city, which is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. After walking around and going in a lot more of the same shops, we went to dinner at an okay place right on the water. We all got seafood which was good but nothing special. And something that was really rude was that the waiter brought us our check without asking if we wanted dessert. Then, after we had paid and were still sitting at the table talking for just five minutes, the waiter came over and asked us to leave because other people were waiting. SO RUDE! 

Venice!

Gondola Ride

Rachel and I going under a bridge

View from Clock Tower

Overall, the two bad things about Venice were that we had two full days there when we only needed one and the food really was not that great because everything is so tourist-y. One cool thing about Halloween though is that a lot of the kids dressed up. As early as 12 noon, kids wore costumes and walked into all of the shops where they got candy from the shopkeepers. It was funny that the kids go into shops for candy, instead of going into houses.

Friday, November 1: I can't believe it's already November! We woke up in Venice and had the weird hotel breakfast before heading out to do pretty much the same thing we did Thursday. The boys went back to St. Mark's Square but Rachel and I stayed close to the hotel/train station. We pretty much went into every single shop we passed in order to kill time before our midnight train ride. We went into the Church of St. Lucia which the train station is named after. We found the Jewish Ghetto which was pretty interesting. And that was pretty much all we did. For lunch, I had another disappointing meal even though I tried to play it safe by getting a margherita pizza. Later, we went to a bakery for a snack and got treats that looked way better than they actaully tasted. So for dinner, we caved and got McDonald's because we did not want to risk getting another bad meal. 

Saturday, November 2: We finally got on our train at midnight so we could head back to Rome. That train ride was definitely an experience. We were on a night train that reminded me of Harry Potter where six people were in rooms with a door that closes and the lights out. Luckily, Rachel and I were in the same room. The train ride took 6 hours because it wasn't high-speed and it made a lot of stops along the way. I tried to sleep but I kept waking up every hour. At one point, the girl across from me got off the train, so I propped my legs up on her open seat. I guess I fell asleep and the next thing I knew, this man was sitting across from me and trying to push my legs aside. I immediatly dropped them but I think he felt bad and he wanted me to keep them there even while he was sitting. He was (pretty agressively) grabbing my legs and trying to put them back up on the chair but I kept declining. Pretty awkward because he was rambling in Italian. I kept saying "No! It's okay!" but he would not budge for a long time. And of course, Rachel is in the corner dying laughing. The guy looked at her like "what is going on with this girl?" It was pretty funny. I finally said "English" as he was rambling that I should prop my feet back up and then, he FINALLY gave up. The rest of the ride was pretty awkward.

I was very happy to get back to my own bed in Rome at 6:40 this morning. I threw some laundry in and then slept until 1:30 pm. Got some exercise in by running to the Castel of St. Angelo. Then, I was able to meet my roommate Michelle's parents and youngest sister. They were really nice and took us out for a great dinner by our apartment. Just now, I also met Danielle's parents, who were also very nice. It's really cool to see how people's parents and families are similar to them and to hear their stories from their sightseeing and traveling.

So, overall, it was a pretty weird weekend but I am glad that I was able to see Venice, a place that has always been really intriguing to me.