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.

Finally some free time!

Sorry I haven't posted in a very long time! With Mom and Ron visiting Rome the last ten days and a lot of homework during the week, I have had no time to write down everything that has happened. So, I will recap all of the exciting moments since Paris now.

Wednesday, October 23: In the morning, my roommates and I woke up very early and walked to the Vatican for the Weekly Papal Audience. Every Wednesday, the Pope goes around in his Pope-mobile through the aisles of the audience and then does some readings, with translators of many other languages following his words. It was really exciting to see the huge crowds that attended this event. We got seats on an aisle so we were very close to the Pope as he rode by; it was a really cool moment. I brought a rosary that I can now say was blessed by the Pope. I'm glad I was able to be a part of this life-changing experience!

Crowded Audience

How close I got to the Pope (sadly he was looking in the other direction)

Thursday, October 17: Mom arrived in Rome! Mom and Ron arrived early Thursday morning and made their way to my apartment. I showed them around the apartment and then Rachel's family arrived from New York. I had to go to my World Religion class at 1 so we all grabbed a quick lunch at La Scala in Trastevere. This was the only day that Rachel and I's family visits overlapped so we only had this short meal all together. It was nice to talk to each other and share our experiences of being in Rome with our families. After lunch, Mom and Ron walked with me to class and were able to look at our small but cozy facilities at CEA. I had two classes and then took the metro to their hotel. That night, I showed them Piazza Navona and we found Navona Notte, a restaurant that Aunt Gina recommended to me when I first got to Rome. We got a good caprese salad, grilled vegetables, and a margherita pizza, all foods that Mom seemed to order at almost every restaurant! After dinner, we got tartufo at Tre Scalini in Piazza Navona. It was pricey, but it is said to be the best tartufo, so I was glad to experience it! It was really nice to finally see Mom after almost two months, so that night, we just chatted a lot about what I've done and what I've missed (not much) at home.

Rachel and I with our moms in front of our apartment in Rome!

Navona Notte

Tre Scalini's tartufo and cappucino

Friday, October 18: I got up and walked to Mom and Ron's hotel, where I took advantage of their free breakfast buffet. Then, we walked to the Colosseum and got a tour of the inside (for my second time). After that, we went to the Pantheon (my second time again, but it's my job to repeat things as a tour guide when people visit) and then I showed them the 150 flavor gelato place. We went into a few shops and Mom got some nice printed paper before we walked to the Spanish Steps. We walked up the steps to Vila Borghese where a man tried to sell us roses and then wanted to give them to us for free. We politely declined. Finally, we walked along Via del Corso and I got a nice sweater from Gap. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped and got some wine and a delicious fried dough mozzarella type appetizer. We ended up leaving our bags at this restaurant but luckily we went back the next morning and they had our stuff! After resting for a bit at the hotel, we walked back towards my neighborhood and had dinner at Dar Poeta, where Mom LOVED the nutella ricotta calzone and keeps saying that she plans to recreate it at home. We'll see if that happens.. 

Mom and I on the Spanish Steps

Flowers still in bloom in late October!

Too good not to post: buffalo mozzarella pizza from Dar Poeta

Saturday, October 19: I got up early and walked to the hotel again. This time, I FELL in the middle of the road, a faceplant, all by myself. I still have a big bruise on my thigh today. But I made it to the hotel for another breakfast before we left to meet by the cat sanctuary for our Cooking Class! The owner of the restaurant that Domina worked at in Rome runs these cooking classes so she hooked us up with a great deal. There were three other couples in our group. We first went to Campo dei Fiori where we got the ingredients for our meal. Sadly, one of the women in our group couldn't eat "anything from the sea" so we ended up with chicken. We got fresh vegetables before heading to the meat shop and the cheese shop (where I finally got some cascavad!). Then, we walked by the Jewish Ghetto in order to get to the island where the apartment for the cooking class is located. The bridge we walked over to get to the island is one of the oldest in Rome, I think it was from 60-something BC (!) and it is still intact. The island is very pretty with one restaurant, one bar, two hospitals, and two apartment buildings. The apartment where we cooked our meal is owned by the Vatican and is apparently where Marlon Brando stayed while filming The Godfather. 

Inside the apartment, we put on our aprons and started preparing our meal. It was really funny to see all of these different people trying so hard (or not trying as hard) to prepare the food in the best way. We made our own homemade pasta and cut and chopped and mixed almost everything on our own. The final menu included a delicious ricotta and zucchini ravioli, homemade gnocchi with buffalo mozzarella, and homemade fettucine with asparagus and tomatoes, along with a potato croquette, a tomato stuffed with breadcrumbs and mozzarella, marinated zucchini, and breaded chicken. After such a big meal, our dessert was cut-up peaches mixed with wine and mint leaves. Overall, it was a really cool and funny experience. I loved it!

After resting at the hotel, that night we went to the Trevi Fountain and ended up going to That's Amore where the workers remembered me from last time as Domina's cousin. I got lasagna and for dessert, we shared a torta caprese. 

Cooking station

Homemade gnocchi

Flattening the pasta

My homemade fettucine and ravioli

The final products!

Sunday, October 20: On Mom's final morning in Rome, we got up and went to Porta Portese, a huge market in Trastevere that is only open on Sundays. They had clothes, shoes, bags, belts, ties, phone cases, scarfs...pretty much anything! I got a new phone case and I finally got a scarf, something I have been wanting to buy here in Rome (well Mom bought me these things). After the market, we went back to my apartment and gathered all of the roommates that were home (everyone minus Rachel and Caroline) before heading to a very early lunch at Tony's. It was really fun for Mom to meet and chat with all of my roommates. We had a great time! Then, I had to say goodbye to Mom and Ron until Thursday, since they left for Praiano that afternoon. I spent the rest of that day doing laundry and studying for my New Testament midterm.

Monday, October 21: New Testament midterm. Can't remember what else happened. Got it back today and got a 96 :)

Tuesday, October 22: With my art history class, we visited two Palaces (one is now the French Embassy). Then, we went to Villa Farnesina, which is right by my apartment, so it was cool to see something that I pass everyday on my way to school. They had beautifully decorated halls that used to hold banquets along with really pretty gardens.

Wednesday, October 23: With New Testament, we went to St. Paul's Outside the Walls, which is maybe my favorite church so far. It is in a less crowded area of Rome with a really beautiful portico (open space that you enter as a transition from secular space to sacred space). The church was really large and it was not nearly as crowded as some of the other churches we have visited. We saw the tomb of St. Paul and the gold ceiling was really beautiful. Also on this day, we went to McDonald's and I only got a cappucino...not really the smartest move. It was actually a really great cappucino but why McDonald's when there are so many cafes all over? Oh well. My management group did a great job on our presentation and this is all I can remember from Wednesday.

St. Paul's Outside the Walls

Inside the Church

Thursday, October 24: I went to my World Religions class before departing for Naples. This was my first time taking an Italian train by myself. I arrived at Termini with only 9 minutes before my train left and got right on the train without double checking if I was on the right one. Luckily, I was. The train ride was easy with comfortable seats. Once I got to Naples, I wanted to make sure I got a pizza from the place where it was invented. Upon MY recommendation, Mom and Ron had already gone to the Eat Pray Love pizza place for lunch. They said it was too far away for us to have time to go for dinner. I was mad. But, we found another place where I thought the pizza was pretty amazing. I had to get it to-go so we could catch our Metro-type train to Sorrento. From there, we got on a bus that led us to Praiano. Once we climbed up the steep hill to the hotel, we got some dessert there. The Amalfi Coast's specialty is definitely lemon. The hotel even has its own lemon garden, so I got a really tasty lemon tiramisu. 

Pizza from Naples!

Friday, October 25: Mom's Birthday! We had breakfast in the hotel, where they brought out a cute little cake with a candle for Mom's birthday. Then, we walked down to the Sita bus stop and rode to Rivello. We looked at some of the shops in Rivello before taking the long and steep pathway down to Amalfi. The views on the Amalfi Coast are unlike anything I have ever seen. Everything is so beautiful and out of this world. The pictures really don't do it justice. In Amalfi, we went into a few more shops before going to a delicious lunch. We got a caprese salad and some really great pizza with sheep's cheese and onion. Then, we got some really good gelato. I think the Amalfi Coast definitely has the best pizza, gelato, and seafood. After that, we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. Dinner that night was only so-so. We went to a place called La Strada where the service was great and there was an amazing view of the lights of Positano on the roof terrace. We started with really good bruschetta and ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers but my seafood risotto was not that great. I thought risotto was supposed to be creamy but this was really just rice. And, sadly, Mom didn't really like her pasta dish on her birthday! But we finished the meal right with some delicious profiteroles.

Mom's birthday cake at breakfast

Top of Rivello

Beautiful view on the way to Amalfi

Amalfi

Cool cave-like staircase at La Strada

Saturday, October 26: This was my favorite day in Praiano because we went kayaking! We woke up and had breakfast and then walked all the way down to Praiano's beach. There, we met up with our kayaking guides and a couple from Paris who had just gotten married. The kayak trips are usually three hours but ours ended up lasting FIVE hours! We left the little Praiano beach and made our way towards Positano. They don't normally kayak all the way to Positano but since all of us were experienced and October is not a busy time on the water, we ended up doing it! First, we went in some caves which were really cool. One even had cutouts inside the roof of the cave where people could stand on a glass floor at a popular club in Praiano. About halfway to Positano, we stopped at another little beach where we were able to swim in the water for a bit. Then, we kayaked all the way to Positano, which has the most beautiful view of houses stacked on top of each other in pretty colors. We stopped at the beach in Positano where our guides bought us some delicious gelato! After another little break, we had to make our way back to Praiano. It was pretty tiring going all the way back without any stops. My arms were so sore! But what made it all worth it was when our guide spotted dolphins jumping through the water on our way back. He kept calling my name and telling me to kayak closer to the dolphins but I didn't want to get TOO close. It was such a cool experience seeing multiple dolphins jumping in the water though! Not many people can say they kayaked the Mediterranean Sea and saw dolphins. After the five long hours, we were tired and wet so our guide offered to drive us back to our hotel. Everyone in Praiano was so genuinely nice and helpful. It really made the trip that much better. 

That night, we wanted to go back to Positano for our final dinner, but the bus was not on time so we didn't want to risk being rushed once we made it to Positano. So, we stayed in Praiano and went to Tramonto d'Oro Restaurant, which ended up being a GREAT place for our final meal. They had a beautiful roof terrace with a view of Positano. For dinner that night, we had an incredible caprese salad with pesto and buffalo mozzarella that made it that much better. My meal was gnocchi with provolone cheese and walnuts, so flavorful. And for dessert, I had a delicious chocolate souffle with warm chocolate sauce inside and strawberries and strawberry sauce on the side. It was a great end to a great trip! 

Also, after dinner, we went to a really cool church in Praiano where I lit a candle for Grandma and Gretta's mom.

Chocolate souffle (had to post it, too good)

Mom and I on our final night!

Church in Praiano

Sunday, October 27: We had to wake up early before having one last breakfast together at the hotel. Then, we had a driver bring us to Naples where we dropped Mom and Ron off at the airport. I was sad to say goodbye to them after such a long and memorable trip. Then, I got dropped off at the Naples train station and took a train back to Rome. That afternoon, I did laundry and caught up on homework. And we finally booked Venice! I am so glad that I will not be missing out on Venice while I am in Italy. We leave Thursday morning. I CANNOT WAIT!

Site Visits and PARIS!

I haven't had much time to blog so I will just highlight some interesting things that happened before I talk about Paris!  Last week's site visits included the Vatican Museums and the Jewish Ghetto.  The Vatican Museums were very cool.  There was so much to see!  When we got in, I had to check my backpack, which I later regretted.  Then, we went through a ton of different rooms and saw many paintings and sculptures.  Some parts were very crowded with people and you could hardly get through to make your way to other rooms.  The most notable painting was "The School of Athens" since I have learned about that in many of my classes at home.  At the end of the museums is the Sistine Chapel, which I rushed through before booking it through a ton more rooms in order to get my bag.  I remember that the walls were very detailed and intricate looking.  I then had to run to my World Religions class since I had a quiz and my presentation.  It was pretty stressful but I made it to CEA with two minutes to spare.  My presentation went well, even though the projector wasn't hooking up with the computer, so I couldn't show my PowerPoint.  Luckily, no points will be taken off and hopefully I will get a good grade.

School of Athens

On Wednesday, my New Testament class was combined with a CEA visit to the Jewish Ghetto.  There was a tour guide leading us around the neighborhood which was pretty boring.  But the neighborhood itself had a lot of really cool shops and restaurants and bakeries so I definitely want to go back.  And we did learn about how Jews were crowded in this one area in Rome and they had very few rights.  This was interesting because this occurred way before the Holocaust.  After that, Nanny and Aunt Mary Lou were in town for just one night, so they took me and five of my roommates out for dinner.  We went to Taverna Trilussa, a very nice restaurant that Rachel recommended which is right behind our apartment.  It was really nice to see some family and catch up over some great Italian food.  I thought it might be awkward with the roommates but it went really well and they all thought Nanny and Mary Lou were cool, cute, and funny!  My big regret is that I didn't get a picture with Nan and Mary Lou!  But of course, I got pictures of the food... I need to re-prioritize.  After dinner, they came were able to see my apartment before heading back to the hotel before their morning flight.

Carbonara (yet again) at Taverna Trilussa

The most exciting part of this past week was my trip to Paris!  On Thursday night, Rachel, Emmy, and I took a cab to the airport.  We made it through security, even though Emmy and I were both given an uncomfortable full-body "pat down" by a (female) security guard.  Then, we got some pizza and snacks before boarding the plane.  We flew with Easy Jet, a cheap but pretty nice airline.  Within two hours, we had arrived in Paris!  From the airport, we took a shuttle and then the Metro in order to get to our hostel, St. Christopher's Inn.  At this point, it was midnight.  We checked in and then looked at the hostel's bar before heading to bed.

On Friday morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the hostel before meeting our WSA guide, Kevi. He was really great at showing us around throughout the weekend.  Since we paid for the WSA program, Kevi had metro passes ready for us everyday and we got to skip the lines at all attractions.  First, we went to Sacre Coeur and Montmartre.  Along the way, we saw the neighborhood that is highlighted in Amelie, which was cool since I watched that movie senior year of high school.  We had to climb up a bunch of steps in order to get to the church, but the beautiful view of Paris made it worth it. We walked through the church and then continued on to see the Moulin Rouge.  We took some picutres in front of it and then left for Notre Dame Cathedral.  This year is the 850th anniversary of the cathedral so we saw some cool mini exhibits of the church, along with the beautiful stained glass windows inside.  Next, we continued on to see a lock bridge (not the original but still full of locks) and then walked around the Latin Quarter.  We got lunch at a small cafe where a sandwich, a sugar and butter crepe and a drink was 5 euro.  

We then walked around some more and came upon the Eiffel Tower, where we took a bunch of pictures.  We walked by a few more sites and then left for dinner.  We went to a small, traditional restaurant where I had a delicious warm goat cheese over bread, escargots (kinda weird but not bad), beef bourgignon, and some great chocolate cake.  Our WSA program had a great group of people that I got to know better at dinner.  It was cool to learn about everyone else's study abroad experience.  After such a long day, we then went back to the Eiffel Tower which is beautifully lit up at night.  We skipped the line and took the elevator to the top where we saw the city of Paris all lit up.  It was freezing at the top, and in general Paris was much colder than I expected! I am really glad Rome has such nice weather. We decided to take the stairs on our way down from the top.  This seemed cool to me at first, but realizing how high up we were made me a bit anxious, so I had to walk down really slowly while staring at the ground.  That night, we went to a bar in Oberkampf where we met up with Emmy's friend who is studying in Paris.  We got some crepes before taking a cab back to the hostel and heading to bed.

Sacre Coeur

Moulin Rouge

Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside Notre Dame

Rose Window

Lock Bridge

Eiffel Tower by Day

Eiffel Tower at Night

On Saturday, we went to the Louvre all morning.  The highlight was the Mona Lisa, which is as small as people have told me.  Next, we took the metro to the Champs Elysees, where we took some pictures in front of the Arc de Triomphe.  We finally had some free time so we did a little window shopping before finding a restaurant on a side street.  I got the croque madame that I had been craving since my last visit to Paris.  Then, I definitely wanted to find Laduree, where I got delicious macaroons on Easter Sunday with Kathy and Brittany 5 years ago.  We came across one on the Champs Elysees so we all got some macaroons before heading back to the hostel.  We put our stuff down and then left again for a bike tour around the city.  This was a really fun part of the trip because we got to bike through busy areas and it was funny to see some inexperienced bikers.  One girl fell at one point!  It was so funny.  In between the bike ride, we took a Bateau Mouche along the River Seine.  We got some good views of the Eiffel Tower and other monuments again, but it really was SO COLD in Paris.  After returning our bikes, it was 11:30 so we went to a crepe stand that was recommended by our bike tour guide.  He said the best crepe was chicken, egg, tomato, and cheese so pretty much everyone got this one.  But it was cool because I was one of the only people in the group who knew French, so I translated the menu for everyone.  Besides this time, I didn't use much French because we had Kevi with us almost all the time.  I wish we had more free time to do whatever we wanted, and it would have been cool to use more French in a more local area.  But overall, the trip was definitely worth it because, as you can tell, we packed so much into two days.  

Mona Lisa and I

Croque Madame

Laduree! (Chocolate, Vanilla, Pistachio, Lemon, Columbian Chocolate, Raspberry)

Bike tour!

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

On Sunday, we had to wake up at 4 am in order to catch our 7 am flight.  In the cab, we heard "Sympathique" and "Je serai la", two songs that I've listened to in many of my French classes, so it was really cool to end the trip on that note.  Paris was great, but I was glad to come back to Rome and its warmer weather.  Going to Paris helped me realize that Rome really is the BEST place to study abroad.  Can't wait for my mom to arrive on Thursday!