An Impromptu Trip to Florence

Ciao!! I'm sorry that it has been awhile since I have updated, things have been super busy!!! Last weekend the forecast said that it was going to snow again in Rome. We had a trip planned through our school to Umbria which ended up getting cancelled due to the chance of snow. However, I and some of my friends decided that we did not want to be stuck in our apartments for another snowy weekend. So we decided to go to Florence for the weekend! It was a really spontaneous decision but I am so glad that we went!!

We met at Termini train station on Friday morning and took a train to Florence which only took about an hour and a half. After we arrived, we found a hotel to stay at which was really nice and an amazing deal (20 euros a night!!) After checking in to our place we decided to roam around the city. We went inside the Duomo which was absolutely beautiful! Then we met up with some of Kiernan's friends from home that are spending the semester in Florence. We saw their apartment, and went to dinner at a really good restaurant. Here's a picture of my dinner:

After dinner we went to a pub called the Lion's Fountain which was a lot of fun! The next day we woke up and headed straight to Michelangelo's David. The statue actually gave me goosebumps. Every centimeter is filled with detail and it is just unbelievable. I probably stared at it for a good 20 to 30 minutes. Because I was so amazed I decided to get myself a tiny 3 euro replica of the David :) Next we headed to a Chocolate Festival that was being held in the middle of the city. There were dozens of vendors selling amazing chocolate. I bought Hot White Chocolate, which was pretty much melted white chocolate. Needless to say, it was delectable. After that we made our way across Ponte Vecchio to Gusto Pizza, which was supposed to be amazing. And it was. It was the best food I have had in Italy so far.

Next we met up with my friend Hollyn from Marist and climbed to the top of Duomo. It was absolutely freezing and so windy but the view was amazing!!

After that we went back to out hotel to relax for a little, and then we went to apertivo at a really cool place. I had a frozen strawberry daiquiri which was so refreshing and tasty! Then we went back to the lion's fountain and met up with some other people from our school.

The next morning we woke up early to hop on a train back to Rome. We originally were going to take the regional train which is a lot cheaper, however, due to "snow" in Rome, they were cancelling all regional trains. So a really nice man that works at the train station told us to take the express train in order to get back to Rome. We quickly bought a ticket and hopped on a train. However, once we got to Rome we noticed that it was a beautiful day with no sign of snow. The Italians are so silly.

Overall it was a very successful weekend! Florence is so different from Rome, I probably saw the entire city about 5 different times. I feel like I will never be able to see all of Rome no matter how hard I try!! But I'm really happy that I spent the weekend seeing another part of Italy!!

Brrrrrr.

So even though all of the snow is melted, it is still absolutely freezing in Roma. Yesterday we had a snow day, because Italians do not know how to deal with snow. All schools and public offices were closed due to about 2 inches of snow on the ground, which was mostly all melted as of Sunday night. I decided to take advantage of my day off by exploring some new areas of the city. I went to lunch with some people from my school at a restaurant that was supposed to give us a 10% discount with our student ID cards. However, the Italian waiter had no idea what our ID cards meant so we got no discount. However, the food was still wonderful. I had spaghetti with clams (the first time I've had spaghetti here!). It was delicious. After lunch we decided to get on the metro, and to get off at a random stop we had never been to before. We decided on Flaminio- Piazza del Popolo. I haven't uploaded pictures of it yet, but it was basically a beautiful square with a giant obelisk in the middle complete with some fountains. We did some window shopping in the area. I went to a candy store called Jollyland and purchased my first Kinder egg, which is kind of like a WonderBall. It's a chocolate egg with a toy in the middle. It was yummy and my puzzle was also fun to put together:) We eventually found ourselves on Via del Corso, which is the best/most expensive shopping street in Rome. All of the big designers are located on this street. We also discovered an H&M, Gap, and a Northface store which I might have to pay a visit to if it continues to be bitterly cold!! After a long day of walking around, I took the metro home. Because I had such a large pasta lunch I did not want to make more pasta for dinner, so some of my roommates and I went out and got pizza at the pizzeria on our street. Our goal is to eat there often enough that we begin to get discounts (although it is only 3 euro for 2 slices of delicious pizza) and/or for the woman to memorize our orders (although I'm hoping to try something different every time I go!)

This morning I had my History of Architecture class. We were supposed to walk around the Colosseo/Roman Forum yet they were both still closed due to the snow. So instead my professor had us walk around in freezing cold weather at 9am while she talked about it. I knew the things she was saying were interesting yet it was so difficult to pay attention because I could barely feel my entire body! Our professor then took us to the Basilica di San Clemente which was a beautiful church. Underneath the church lies an actual house from Ancient Rome. Our professor told us that at y times churches and basilicas were built on top of preexisting structures so that no foundation was necessary. It was amazing to see how well preserved these ancient structures were! After visiting the church/house our professor could tell how cold we were and let us go a little bit early.

Later today I had my Ancient Rome class. Because most outdoor monuments were closed, my professor brought us to the Palazzo Massimo Museum. The museum was filled with ancient Roman sculptures and other artifacts which were really cool. However, one of the exhibits actually took my breath away. This picture does not do it justice. A group of students from the University of Roma were performing an excavation of a site near the Colosseum. They found these glass balls, which belonged to Roman emperors. They were usually found at the end of a long rod that they carried to demonstrate their power. I was so amazed because the artifacts were so colorful and shiny compared to everything else in the museum. I hope to go back again to spend more time admiring them!!

Tomorrow I have one more day of class and then it's the weekend again! We're supposed to get more snow in Italy unfortunately... I'm hoping it's not too bad because we have a school trip to Umbria this weekend! I don't want it to get cancelled!! Okay well it's time for bed! Until next time, love you all! xoxoxo

Pictures of the Snow!

Yesterday my roommate Kiernan and I decided to go out and explore Rome in the snow, and I'm so happy that we did! Everything looked absolutely beautiful covered in snow. Here are some pictures:

Snow in Roma!

Ciao! Yesterday it snowed in Rome..for the 4th time in a century! I honestly was not too pleased...prior to leaving the US I anticipated the weather in Italy to be much warmer...I didn't even bring my heavy winter coat! But I guess that Poughkeepsie weather can't escape me! It was actually kind of funny to see all of the Italians react to the snowfall. A man in the apartment across the street from us stood in his window for about an hour videotaping and photographing the snow! Because it rarely snows in Rome, we figured that the city might've practically shut down. So we just had a lazy day in our apartment, and got some homework done (Yes I am here to study too!! ;)) I also did laundry for the first time. We have no dryer in our apartment, so all of my laundry is on a drying rack, and is still wet today. I honestly think I might try to find a laundromat around here because how will I wash my sheets and towels if they won't dry for days??

Later last night I went to get some pizza for dinner, then we went out for the night. We were going to find an Irish Pub but got lost in the snow and were freezing, so we ended up at Scholars (The American Irish Pub). However, on our journey we managed to see several Roman monuments covered in snow such as the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Wedding Cake! That was a lot of fun and we also met up with some other people from our school. However getting home was just as confusing as getting there, and after waiting outside in the snow for awhile, we finally found a cab to take us home (which only cost 8 euro for all of us!)

Today I might go to the Vatican to see it covered in snow which will be really pretty!

Oh and by the way I tried apertivo the other day which was awesome!! I've been working on planning some trips for spring break and stuff and hopefully I will go to: the Netherlands, Spain, London, Prague, and maybe Ireland and Budapest!

Until next time!! xoxoxo