Ciao Roma

This is it. I'm sitting in my apartment for the last morning. I still refuse to accept it.

I cleaned out my cupboards and managed to pull together a pretty impressive breakfast.

And I stuffed my life into two suitcases and a backpack. Barely.

I didn't mind saying goodbye to this extremely uncomfortable bed.

I even remembered to thank our cleaning ladies who put up with six girls' messes!

Last night, we had a big dinner at Tony's with the crew! It's impressive that I think all of the AUR study abroads packed into one restaurant in Trastevere. Wine, bread, calamari, pasta, & tiramisu, helped us to drown our sorrows of saying goodbye! People with early flights left throughout the night as we all hit our favorite places in Campo dei Fiori one more time. It was a great and terrible night at the same time - so bittersweet. I hate goodbyes.

I'm the last of my roommates to leave, as I am incredibly lucky and will be joining up with a Topdeck tour of Eastern Europe in about two hours. Going it all alone, I finally can confidently say that I'm not nervous or scared, but so very excited! Meeting people from all over the world will be awesome and the places I'll explore with them are going to be unforgettable. After surviving and enjoying four months in Rome, I feel pretty ready to take on just about anything. So bring it on!

To all the friends I hugged last night, thank you for making this an absolutely amazing semester. To all the people I'm about to meet, I can't wait to make more memories with you. To all my friends & family at home, I'm looking forward to seeing your faces again.

Ciao Roma, I will return :)

Climbing the Cupola

Today is my LAST full day living in Rome. I still can hardly accept it. I've had the most amazing semester making lifelong friends, lasting memories, and venturing out of my comfort zone in ways I could have never imagined! I am beyond blessed and lucky to have experienced all these new adventures. 

One of the last things on my list of things to do was climb the dome of St. Peter's basilica. Katie, a friend I made here at AUR who happens to go to MSU, knows a priest who works at the Vatican. He kindly met us at the gates [after asking the Swiss Guards to ring him!] and brought us through Vatican City to the front of the line. We seriously did not have to wait one second. It was awesome. It's all about who ya know, right? We bought our tickets and embarked on the 500-some odd steps up to the top. 

First, you get to be so close to the mosaics of the drum you can actually touch them. Amazing. And the letters around the inside? They're SO tall!

Walking up was, aside from exhausting, really cool since we could feel the curve of the dome. At one point, I could lean on the wall and feel like I was standing straight up! I don't want to imagine how many dirty hands have been on it, though. There was a rope I refused to hold on to at one point for that exact reason. 

Here's what we saw halfway up.

It was ALL worth it once we got to the top! Just look at this amazing view of my beloved Roma :) 

Oh, yeah, I also met Michigan State up there! There were a group of guys who recognized my shirt. Spartans really are all over the world, I guess. Go green!

After we reached the top, we climbed all the way down and visited beneath the basilica, as well. Most of the public doesn't know, but you can go down and see the shrine of St. Peter and many pope's tombs. The early morning was so worth it - it was the perfect last adventure. 

Now I'm off to meet a huge group of friends at Tony's restaurant in Trastevere for one last, fun night! I can't believe I'll never see most of them ever again, but I plan to enjoy every second we have left together! Ciao.

Last on the List

The last item on my list was to find a place so small it had no name. And I did! It wasn't a "bar" [which I've explained is actually a coffee shop], but a bakery. At the very beginning of school, we were walking up Viale dei Quattro Venti to get to AUR and happened to see a line spilling out from underneath this green awning. The heavenly aroma coming from inside never failed to make our mouths water! It's said that if Romans line up for food, it must be good, so we assumed this was the best.

[There's really no line here but trust me! This way you can see the tiny counter of the bakery :) ]

Us four girls stopped in to grab a small treat - we got castagnoles. They definitely satisfied our sweet tooth :) [Recently, I discovered these are not standard Italian treats. They are only around during the time of Carnivale! I was heartbroken after falling in love with the sugary filled donut-like pastries.] I returned another day and grabbed two cookies for Gianna and I. They were yummy, but like most Italian cookies, crunchy instead of chewy. Grr.

Finally, I purposely made a trip back with the intention of eating something "real"! Lots of families stock up on bread from there, but in the back corner I spied a tray of pizza. I'm really going to miss pizza. It's just not the same back home. I ordered a slice with broccoli & sausage, one of my favorite combos. It was divine! The crust it was on was so fluffy and tasty with lots of flavor in the seasoning of the toppings. My only complaint is I wish it was warmed up - I can't even imagine how incredible it would have been fresh out of the oven! [I wish I'd gotten a picture, but I devoured it too quickly!]

All in all, a successful mission. I have no idea the name or address of the place. In fact, if you want to go, you have to go early. They close in the afternoon and you'd never know it existed without the awning over the tiny doorway. A true hidden gem :)

[mystery bakery, viale dei quattro venti]

Forza Roma!

For one last hurrah in Rome, a bunch of us decided to get tickets to a soccer game! Here it's not actually called soccer or futbol but "calcio". After failing to buy them in the tabacchi shop and figuring it out online, we got seven seats in Curva Nord, the AS Roma section as they played Juventis.

We all met at our beloved "top hat man" tram stop [which is officially called "Belli"] and walked over the bridge. Bus 280 took us right to the stadium. Well, actually it took an hour and was packed with sweaty people. It's a good thing I was with my friends who I love and could laugh at how miserable the public transportation actually was. Seriously though, we're all too poor to take cabs! Most people were headed to the stadium so the stop wasn't hard to find.

Spilling off into a crowd of people, we picked out AS Roma scarves as souvenirs. The security was intense - I had to get searched like three times, show my passport, and scan my ticket. Walking in, we were SO excited to be at Olympic Stadium [or "Stadio Olimpico"] & enjoy a game! It almost felt like fall with the atmosphere of football season. I leaped up the steps to see the field. 

It ended up being so much fun! The fans were crazy! There were no fights, but definitely lots of red & yellow smoke bombs were somehow snuck in. Lots of good soccer to watch, too, obviously!

Juventis has 97 points from the season [you get 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss]. Apparently no team has reached over 100 points so it was BIG for Juventis to win. Unfortunately for us Roma fans, they did :( The two 45 minute halves ended, but they add on time at the end for game delays. It ended up totaling four minutes and Juventis literally scored in the LAST SECOND. Boooo! 

Really though, we just went for the experience. It was awesome - I'm so glad I did! Forza Roma!

Assissi: A Medieval Beauty

On the theme of day trips that I seem to be posting about lately, I really need to catch up on this one! A while back, I went to Assissi, a medieval town home to St. Francis' basilica and remains. When I signed up for it, I didn't know anyone else going. It was through school, however, so I figured I'd make friends by then! Sure enough, walking up to Archi Bar to meet the group, there was Danny from my Italian class. Two of our other guy friends were on the trip, too. Good start!

Upon arriving, we climbed up the steps to the town. These old, walled cities are always on a hill and make for a great work out if you want to explore them! We met our tour guide and headed down the road.

We stopped to take in this gorgeous view before going inside the first church.

Apparently the lions on the church are the old symbols of popes - before they each had their own papal crest!

One of the churches we went in had hardly any frescoes left. I guess they used it for a hospital during the plague. To clean it, they poured chemicals on the walls which literally melted the paintings away. They saved the back altar, however, by quarantining the area. It was a strange look to have stark white walls and then a brightly decorated apse to the church! I think I have decided that I like Renaissance and Baroque work better than medieval, anyway, though.

Continuing on our way, we saw lots of little shops and restaurants tucked in throughout the city. It never gets old to me!

[this used to be a trough for horses to drink from]

We finally made it to St. Francis' basilica! After sitting down for a bit of a history lesson, we went down to the basement level to visit his tomb. Very powerful. Ironic, though, since most of the kids I was with were Jewish! At least they're adventurous, too, and appreciated exploring.

[no pictures allowed inside but this is the courtyard]

After lunch in town, we did a little more exploring of the winding pathways.

It was a quick afternoon, though, so we hopped back on the bus soon enough! Since my mom and dad were here visiting, it left me with plenty of time to come home, eat dinner with them, and go out to Trastevere for some of the BEST gelato. [Fior di Luna {Via della Lungaretta, 96} cannot be beat!]

Frascati: Rome's Soccer Mom Suburb

I love taking day trips around here! They are so cheap & easy compared to flying out for the weekend, and I still get to spend lots of time in my beloved Roma. 

Today, my roommate Gianna and our friends from school, Nafis and Taylor, went to Frascati. It's only 30 minutes with a direct train from Termini and costs 2,10 euros each way. That's what I'm talking about. I had found it on lots of day trip lists, as well as on this blog post.

Arriving at the train station, we wandered up the hill and some steps to the historic city center. This is one of the main attractions in Frascati, Villa Aldobrani. Unfortunately, it's closed on the weekend, but it's beautiful to stare up at!

 

Across the street from that, there's an overlook with the city of Rome spanning out beneath you and mountains in the background. It's pretty incredible!

For lunch, we followed said blog post's instructions and it was amazing! So what you do is go to Piazza del Mercato where they sell fresh roasted pork. The stand is called "Leda, La Regina della Porchetta". As directed, we ordered porchetta, bread, mozzarella, artichokes, and sundried tomatoes for four people to take to a cantina. She gave us directions to one [which ended up being closed] but the blog told us about a hidden gem! At Piazza dell'Olmo, 3, is the oldest cantina in Frascati, Osteria dell'Olmo. A cantina is a place that distills wine and Frascati is known for their local white. 

It was such an experience. As Gianna put it, it may not have been swept since it opened long ago. And it smelled a lot like fermentation [for good reason]. We sat at a picnic table next to another couple enjoying lunch. Opening up our goodies, we put together sandwiches, ordered a liter of wine to drink, and dug in! The pork was fatty, crispy, & delightful complemented by the sweet mozzarella. Our sandwiches were so big we could hardly eat them! Don't worry, I managed to get most of mine down :) The wine was really interesting. It had a really full flavor that almost was more like super strong juice. It's hard to describe. All in all, a perfect meal & memory!

After that, we explored town a bit. Check out this awesome car.

 The local sweet is this odd cookie... It's a woman with three breasts - two for milk and one for wine. I have no other information about it except that it's a weirdly soft, chewy, honey flavored pastry. I sort of liked it but none of us were that impressed. The best part was taking pictures of this ridiculous thing!

We then found this amazing cake bakery that made little cream puffs. There were all sorts of flavors - cream, liquor, pistachio, and of course, chocolate! Kept in a fridge, it seriously tasted like it was stuffed with pudding. SO TASTY. After that, we took a little siesta in the most perfect, sunshine filled park :)

Wandering back towards the train station, we stumbled upon this little corner. This is what I'll miss about Italy. Molto bella.

And there was this church. It's a lot prettier on the outside than inside, actually! Strange, I know.

Wandering a bit farther, we ended up in a more modern part. Nafis and I both described it as a perfect, soccer mom suburb town. It's not a vibe you get in most places around Italy, that's for sure!

And after a lovely afternoon, we returned back to Rome before dinner. I highly suggest a little lunchtime trip to Frascati if you ever get the chance!

A Twilight Adventure

Exam week has begun. Yesterday my art professor reviewed [and loved!] my final project as we were assigned to draw animal statues around Rome. This morning I took my Art of Rome test and this afternoon I wrote my essays for Sociology of Contemporary Italy. All I have left is Intro to Italian next Tuesday, which I'm not too worried for. Tonight called for a small celebration! Unfortunately most of my friends still have more exams tomorrow. Gianna, forever my adventure buddy, was free, though :)

Gianna was the first roommate I met here in Rome. We went on a tour with school and then proceeded to get lost, find the Trevi Fountain, get gelato, and cab it home. After a long flight here, it's truly a great memory. On our way to school that first day, we had seen a small little place called "Litro & Vino". It's honestly almost across the street from school and we thought it looked perfect! Though we planned a date together, we had not gone until today. Good timing considering I have less than a week left [I don't wanna think about it :( ]. It was so cute! The waiter who worked in there kindly asked about our preferences and ending up serving us a deliciously sweet white wine. We ordered a bruschetta with prosciutto & melted cheese, too. Molto buono!

Continuing our little adventure, we made our way near Campo dei Fiori. This was our view on the way.

We planned to eat at Ditirambo, a restaurant I had found rave reviews for online. It must have been good because we sadly couldn't get in! I had a list on my phone we walked to over near Piazza Navona, but some looked more like wine bars while others weren't too tempting. Stumbling upon a charming little cobblestone street a bit more off the beaten path, we found an intriguing place called "Old Bear". On the specials was a pumpkin lasagna. Obviously, our mouths watered! It enticed us inside and I'm so glad we branched out! A look at the menu told us the place was semi-Italian, but with some other cuisine mixed in. Gianna looked up a review on her phone to find that it was Germanic, but highly frequented and well-loved by Italian locals. SCORE.

After eating there, I can tell why! We ordered a dish of the pumpkin lasagna as well as some parpadelle with mussels, tomato, and pecorino. It was all delicious! Gianna described the lasagna as "Italian mac 'n cheese" - it was more of a pasta and cheese dish with accents of ham and pumpkin, but delectable all the same. My seafood dish was incredible, as well, like most here in Rome! The mussels were big and fresh, the tomato sauce light, and the pecorino the perfect touch. The wine was a bit strange - sweet without much of an after taste. Not my favorite, but a unique one to try. Nonetheless, the meal was delightful!

[pumpkin lasagna]

[parpadelle with mussels, tomatoes, and pecorino]

I was too stuffed, but Gianna stopped at Frigidarium for gelato on the way home! It's a place near Piazza Navona known for dipping the cup or cone of gelato in hot chocolate to create a shell on top. The gelato is average, but it's a fun place to try out if you're around! All in all, a perfect little adventure for an aperitivo and dinner out on the town. I'm really going to miss this place and this girl.

Florence for the Weekend

Over Easter, my friend Catherine came to Rome to visit me. I paid the visit back to her in her home of Florence this past weekend!

Once I made it to the train station [my timing still isn't perfect], I had an easy train ride to the Santa Maria Novella station. I finished reading Where'd You Go Bernadette on the way -  such a good book! Always bittersweet to come to the end of such a captivating story. It was probably good to spend the train ride relaxing a while because unfortunately I spent the entire weekend sick :(

We made the best of it however! She walked me to my hostel since Florence is such a small city - you can seriously walk everywhere. It's pretty refreshing after dealing with all these buses and trams in Rome. Since the receptionist wouldn't be back for fifteen minutes, she took me around the corner for her favorite fruity gelato! The weekend was spent eating gelato and we think it's important to differentiate between the "bests". Fragole & limone [strawberry & lemon] was perfectly refreshing! I still, however, always prefer chocolate. 

The Tourist House Santa Croce was my first true hostel experience [before I'd always been with a travel group like Bus2Alps]. People were nice and the bed was comfy, so I can't complain!

It was so fun to have my own personal tour guide of the city - I saw it so differently than I did when I was only there for an afternoon!

We even stumbled upon this performance of drummers and flag throwers.

Even better, we stopped for Nutella & cinnamon cappuccinos. DELISH!

For dinner, we ate right next to the Duomo. It's crazy that she can walk by it everyday! The food in Florence is actually a lot different than in Rome. I tried to ribbolita, a soup made of vegetables and day old bread.

 Again, delicious! One of the best things we did was hang out that night in Piazza Signoria. It's full of incredible statues, including The Rape of the Sabine Women. It was chilling to be surrounded by so many ancient masterpieces. The more you look, it's amazing how much more you can see.

An early night [because we were both exhausted] led to an early morning. Friday we made a small day trip to Fiesole, a little town on a hill above Florence. It had Etruscan roots but after being conquered, a Roman theater and baths were built and left in ruins.

[roman theater]

[roman baths]

It poured rain so we grabbed coffee, but I'm glad we held out for this view! We walked up a scenic path to a church and overlooked the Tuscan hills.

[there happened to be a mummy up there]

We had delicious gluten-free pizza for dinner! She's found some incredible places to eat :) Florence nightlife was pretty fun, too, as we danced away at the Red Garter. And maybe even did some karaoke...

Saturday was SO rainy. As usual when we're together, we went into the kitchen and ended up with some delicious French toast! Since Florence is known for its museums, we ventured into the Bargello. There was a Bandini exhibit that I loved. [The line for the Academia was wayyyyy too long!]

It ended up clearing up plenty for us to enjoy the GELATO FESTIVAL that was occuring. That's right! It was like walking into heaven. We each got a "gelato card" that gave us five tastes of gelato and a "gelato cocktail". I thought that meant a teeny tiny taste, but each one was a full cup of gelato! SO. MUCH. GELATO. We tried more normal flavors first - I got a combo of macaroon, caffe, and caramel. Pretty tasty. There was a contest, however, for more creative flavors, which were so fun to try. The pecorino, pear & honey was unique...

But the pumpkin, blueberry, myrtle, & cinnamon was divine! So fresh and full of fall flavor. It reminded me of being at Grandma's Pumpkin Patch back home!

Stuffed, we got our gelato coktails to go and headed to the leather market. Mine was a mojito and Catherine's was a passionfruit one. Mmm.

After lots of shopping, I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous tan, leather messenger bag made of 100% true Florentine leather. You could say I'm a happy girl :)

It stayed nice into the evening and we went up to Piazzale Michelangelo with a bottle of wine to watch the sun go down. I can tell why it's such a popular idea - what a view! And lots to chat about as we sat and drank our bubbly on the steps.

Sunday was my last day there but my train didn't leave til late. We packed the day full with the Bardini Gardens & her favorite, the Boboli Gardens! They were beautiful. I can tell whey they're her favorite - a perfect little oasis among the touristy city life.

[fountain in boboli gardens]

We explored the Pitti Palace too. I cannot imagine living in such an ornate place! Now it houses art and jewelry on display.

Of course, we couldn't let our other gelato tickets go to waste so we headed back to the festival! We found the best gelato ever. I am not even kidding. It's ricotta, pistacchio, almond, & chocolate and tastes like perfection. I could eat it every day. We shared our first cup and almost fought over each bite. So we got another one. The other flavors we tried were a vanilla, pistacchio, & raspberry [good but nothing special] and a Sicilian orange & chocolate [that I thought I wouldn't like but was super fresh and tasty]. Nutella was our last sample, which was the perfect way to top it all off!

Dinner was a highlight of the trip! We had "bistecca alla fiorentina", a Florentine specialty. It came out sizzling on a stone with grilled veggies & accompanied by a glass of Chianti. I was in food heaven again! I haven't eaten steak since I came here and this was so on point. And perfectly accented by the red wine. So worth every penny [I mean Euro cent].

Catherine is a gelato expert, and had one more place to take me. Yes, I ate four cups of gelato in one day. Before dropping me off at the train station, I got chocolate mousse & almond gelato from La Carraia which we ate on the bridge watching the sunset. It was perfect.

It was so fun to see her city and I can tell how much she loves it! I was pretty charmed by it too, but I'd be hard pressed to leave Roma for good. Speaking of, I have to do just that in about a week. I still haven't accepted it :(