Courtney and I started traveling at 1 a.m. on Thursday night. The bus got us to the airport by 4:30 a.m. and we were on the plane to Rome by 6:30. By the time we arrived in Rome, it was around 10:30 a.m. and we were absolutely famished. We took a taxi into Vatican city; our driver was our first experience with one of the millions of sweet Italians we were to meet throughout the trip.
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| The Vatican |
My friends Taylor and Jorgi, who were nice enough to let us crash in their apartment for the next three days, met up with us in front of the Vatican around 11 a.m. The four of us walked about 5 minutes to their house to put our stuff down and immediately left again to get our first, real Italian meal. The girls took us to Il Matriciano, which is located right across from their apartment complex. The two had been their a couple times before and promised us the best spaghetti of our lives. They weren't lying. We all ordered the restaurant's specialty dish, bucatini matriciana, which was simply made up of a tomato sauce, basil, and noodles that resemble spaghetti but have a hole in the middle like a straw. It was probably the best pasta I ate the entire week.
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| Me, Jorgi and Taylor on the Spanish Steps |
After lunch we began walking toward the Spanish Steps but made a detour for Gelato. Words cannot even describe how delicious it was! Taylor and Jorgi helped Courtney and I order, and I ended up with a cup filled with hazelnut/ chocolate biscuit and banana gelato with a scoop of fresh whipped cream. Yum. We ate our gelato as we wandered our way over to the Spanish Steps and then to the Trevi Fountain, using the opportunity as a way for Courtney and I to get our bearings. After a few hours, we went back to Taylor and Jorgi's apartment to rest.
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| Trevi Fountain with Court |
That night, the girls took Courtney and I to a restaurant that serves 'apertivos' in the Trastevere neighborhood. The concept is really cool - you buy a drink and then get access to an unlimited buffet of little salad-type dishes. My favorite was a spicy cauliflower and carrot mix! After, we went back to the girls' apartment to get ready for a night full of dancing at a club called Gilda.
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| At Gilda |
The next morning, Court and I explored the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica while Jorgi and Taylor were in class. We had pre-bought our tickets so we were able to skip the massive line outside of the building. Between our tours of the Vatican and St. Peter's, we climbed over 500 stairs to the top of the dome. The view was absolutely incredible! After, we got lunch with Taylor and Jorgi at Obika Mozzarella Bar, did a quick tour of the Pantheon, then got what was probably my favorite gelato of the trip - dark chocolate and nutella flavored - and walked around Piazza Navona.
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| Navigating us around Roma! |
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| Listening to Rick Steves in the Pantheon |
Later, we went to the indoor market that is situated right across from Taylor and Jorgi's apartment and bought makings for dinner - fresh gnocchi, rich goat cheese, spinach and the best 2 euro wine I've ever had. After making our delicious dinner, we wasted time in front of the Trevi Fountain then made our way to a 24-hour bakery. A perfect night!
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| Trevi at night |
On Sunday, Court and I saw the Colloseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We got 3 euro paninis for lunch at a stand in the Borghese Gardens, then enjoyed the rest of our afternoon people watching from the Spanish Steps. The two of us went to a pizzeria in the Trastevere neighborhood called Dar Poeta. Biggest meal I have ever eaten. We ordered wine, two types of bruschetta - pesto and cheese, and honey and cheese - each got our own pizza, and then split a nutella filled calzone for dessert. We had been promised the best pizza of our lives, and our expectations fell a short by a little, however, the dessert was absolutely to die for!!
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| Inside the Colloseum |
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| My half of the delicious nutella calzone |
Still in a semi-food coma, we took a train the next morning to Siena. When we first got on the train, a scrawny, dirty Italian man tried to trick us into giving him money. I had no idea what he was trying to do and just ended up confused because no one told me I had to pay another fee once we got on the train and was not about to fork over 10 more euro. He wrote something on our ticket, made us sign a journal that was full of other people's names, then continued to try to tell us why we were supposed to pay him. Luckily, a nice Italian man who knew a little bit of English heard what was going on and saved the day by shooing him away.
The rest of the train ride was wonderful! I ate the Fage Total greek yogurt that I had been craving since I realized Ireland didn't sell it and fulfilled my longtime dream of listening to the Garden State soundtrack while gazing at the European Countryside. It took a while for me to get used to the train's calming effects, but the second I could keep my eyes open for more than 5 minutes, I was in love with what my ears and eyes were simultaneously experiencing. Coldplay's song lyrics 'we live in a beautiful world' flooded my ears, and I couldn't help but smile and agree.
We woke up Tuesday morning, fresh from a full night's sleep. Once presentable to the Italian population, we bought cappuccinos down a street we hadn't toured yet and ate paninis on the balcony of Bar Paninoteca San Paolo. We spent the afternoon strolling the streets of Siena and took a mid-afternoon break with sweets from Savini bakery.
At about 4p.m. Court and I decided to sit down for some wine at one of the restaurants overlooking Il Campo. We snagged a prime table at Bar Palio and I proceded to accidentally order us a full liter of wine instead of a half. I did this even though I ordered in English... Freudian Slip? We sat and enjoyed the day, each other's company AND the wine for almost two and a half hours. For dinner, we ate a small pizzeria we had stumbled upon the day before and both decided it was the best pizza we ate in Italy!!
On Wednesday, we took a train to Florence. Lindsay and Stephanie, our friends from Chapman who were nice enough to let us stay with them, picked us up and took us back to their apartment, which is RIGHT outside of the Duomo. As we were exploring the city that afternoon, we stumbled upon the 'TRL' music awards in front of the Santa Croce Church. It was such a cool atmosphere that we hung out and listened to a few bands before breaking for a homemade dinner. When we went back later that night, it was absolutely packed!! Most of the bands were Italian, but we DID see a group we knew called Dragonette (their most popular song - and the only song of theirs that I know - is called 'Hello'. Youtube it, I bet you know it!)
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| With Lindsay on the Ponte Vecchio |
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| TRL Awards during the day |
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| Lindsay and I at the TRL awards |
On Thursday, Court and I toured the Uffizi and the Accademia. We both LOVED seeing the statue of David, but were left unimpressed by the Uffizi. We actually almost missed our tour of seeing the Accademia though because we were having so much fun shopping for leather outside of the Mercato Centrale. I ended up with a very cute purse, a matching wallet, and souvenirs for some of my close friends :)
That night, Lindsay and Stephanie and 2 of their roommates took us to Piazza Michelangelo, where we watched the sunset with cheap wine and Gusta pizza.
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| Piazza Michelangelo |
Our plans of sunbathing went a little bit askew on Friday because the Boboli Gardens was more expensive than we had thought. So, instead of paying 10 euro to sit on grass, we spent it on wine and bruschetta at a restaurant in Piazza della Signoria.
Walking, shopping, eating, drinking, sight-seeing, catching up with friends... All of it came together to make up my favorite trip of the semester!
