I was in Italy! I went on a 12-day study abroad with my graduate program. We visited Rome, Bologna, Florence, and Venice. I can claim with confidence that my life has been forever changed by my experience. It was my first time traveling to another country. I had never before experienced being on an entirely different continent and needing to adjust to a different culture and language.
While I've been to Mexico, I do not consider that as a visit to a foreign country since the area was so Americanized and it felt as if I'd never left Miami. It was absolutely beautiful, but it felt as if I was in any tropical city in the United States.
Italy was a different experience entirely. And while we did encounter some very tourist-heavy areas, we also visited some less touristy spots and experienced true Italian culture.
The trip was off to a rough start when a delay in Chicago prevented us from making our connecting flight in Madrid. Since the next flight to Rome didn't leave for 7 more hours, we spent much more time in Madrid than anticipated and missed a day of our time in Rome. As you might expect, we were frustrated and restless by the time we finally arrived in Rome that evening.
The next 11 days were a whirl wind of touring some of the oldest streets in the world. In every city, the cobblestone streets were filled with the most beautiful buildings, the most beautiful art, and plenty of annoying street vendors to off-set the beauty.
If I had to choose one experience that stands out among them all, it would be the sunny Wednesday in Rome in which I came within mere feet of Pope Benedict. We were among the thousands in St. Peter's Square for the Papal Audience. We were surrounded by people from all over the world, speaking numerous languages.
As none of us had ever been to Rome, we weren't sure what to expect. We thought he might just come out onto his balcony, wave, and go back inside. As long as we had caught a glimpse of him, we would have been satisfied. We soon discovered, however, based on the massive amount of cheering that was happening, that he was being driven around the square. We happened to be situated right along the route. We were, at the most, about 50 feet away. I became quite emotional when I realized just how close he was going to be - and the tears started flowing. Even for those that are not Catholic, it is incredible to be so close to an international leader and celebrity.
In that moment, I felt as if I could have flown to Italy for that one hour and witnessed nothing else, and it would have been worth the trip. I enjoyed so many other experiences, but nothing quite compares to the emotions I experienced in that moment.
Inside St. Peter's Basilica lies the final resting place of Pope John Paul II. Standing at the foot of his tomb was another very emotional moment. Again, the tears were flowing.
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| Anne Marie and I outside of St. Peter's Basilica |
While in Rome, we also toured the Colosseum and the forum. We toured the Vatican/Sistine Chapel and visited the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. We crammed as many sites as possible into our 3-day stay. While I did enjoy Rome, it was quite crowded and metropolitan. I felt that I had visited everything I had wanted to see in Rome and was ready to move on the the next city.
If I ever make it back to Italy, I'll spend more time in Florence. Our stay in Florence was just a day trip, which wasn't nearly enough time. I didn't make it to see the statue of David, but we spent a lot of time in the Duomo, shopping, and just meandering around the city. We did manage to find the Jersey Shore house, and it was pretty clear that Italians do not have a favorable impression of any of the cast. Well, Florentines (Florentinians ?) do not have a good impression of them anyway.
Well, this post is quite long already and I still have two cities left to discuss! So I'll wrap things up for now and continue in another post.
