Hi all! I'm so sorry I have not updated in so long! I had a wonderful week traveling Italy and then spent 8 amazing days with my mom in Granada, Madrid, & Toledo! She left this morning and I miss her already!
I have a few tests this week that I should probably study for so I'll write about Italy and save the week with my mom for after my test....
My trip started two thursdays ago-- I flew into Milan and stayed with my friend Elissa for the night and then toured the city with her and her friends the next day. We had a great time! I loved seeing the Duomo, the castle, and a great art museum. We had a great dinner at an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet and were so full! That night I met up with 8 of my friends and slept in a hostel (we were their first travelers-- kind of sketchy!) before our early departure to Venice.
On Saturday we took a 7am train to Venice and spent the entire day there. The city was celebrating Carnivale-- there were so many tourists and people dressed in crazy costumes. We loved it! We went to the huge church, had a great lunch by the river, tried gelato for the first time (amazing!), and then went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum. At night we danced on the streets with all of the other people celebrating Carnivale-- it was so fun!
We arrived in Florence on Sunday morning and walked around the leather market where they were selling jackets, gloves, ties, scarves and lots of souveniers. Josh Keller and Marc Kovarsky, two of my friends from Illinois (Josh from high school too!) that are studying in Florence, met up with us and showed us around the city. I stayed with them for 3 nights and had a great time-- they were wonderful hosts. We had 3 great dinners-- my favorite was at Agua el 2 where we got delicious strawberry wine! I loved climbing to the top of the Duomo and seeing the city, seeing Michaelangelo's David in person (incredible!), and walking across the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge multiple times a day. I also got to spend time with my friend Stephanie and it was great to see her and catch up. Florence is a beautiful city and I can see why my friends love studying there.
We took our final train to Rome on Wednesday and I arrived to see my friend Becky waiting for me at the train station! I was so happy to see her and I loved spending time with her while I was in Rome. After checking into our hostel, I met up with Becky and Dre (my roommate from freshman year- also studying in Rome- wonderful to see her!) and they walked around with us to the spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain is breathtaking-- especially at sunset. That night I had a great dinner with Becky at a cute restaurant near her apartment.
My friends and I declared Thursday "Vatican Day" and spent the day there. I loved walking around the huge basilica and climbing to the top of the copula to see the entire city. It was beautiful! We had a great lunch in the plaza and then walked to Plaza Navoa and the Pantheon. I loved the Pantheon-- it is incredible! I enjoyed listening to Rick Steve's (free podcasts that we downloaded about different sights in Rome) explanation of the history behind it. I had a great dinner that night celebrating my friend Lauren's birthday (she was visiting from London!) and catching up with her.
On Friday we started off the day at the Colosseum-- my favorite site in Rome. I cannot believe that Romans used to watch prisoners being killed as a sport! It was incredible to be there and imagine the spectacle. In the afternoon I went to the Jewish Ghetto with my two jewish friends I traveled with and we got a tour of the synogague which was really interesting. We then ate great Kosher fast food before meeting up with the rest of our friends. We went to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum which were both really interesting. We returned to our hostel before heading back out to the Spanish Steps barcrawl-- a great way to end my 9 days in Italy! I flew back to Madrid on Saturday and met my mom at the airport the next day.....
Time to go study for my test in Culture of Islam...
Hope you are all doing well! I will update and post pictures from the week with my mom soon!
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