After saying goodbye to my parents, I met up with my study abroad program to begin the next three weeks of my time in Europe. The first few days we spent in Rome before making the journey to our final destination, Florence.
The first full day of our time in Rome, our study abroad program provided us with tours of the city, one by bus and one walking tour. Rome is quite a large city, and I'm not a fan of walking...but the sights we saw made up for the exhaustion that ensued. We saw the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon all in three hours. So by the time we were done, I was more than ready for a long nap.
That night we did what any normal students in Rome would go do, a pub crawl! (Just kidding, we aren't normal) It was interesting to see what the Italian nightlife was like here compared to places like Austin. Definitely an experience. But it was fun to meet lots of Americans from all over the US.
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| Random street market we found |
The next day, in an almost sacrilegious act, we visited the Vatican, where once again I was in a state of frenzy over finally getting to see this much studied church. It completely went above and beyond my expectations. I'll limit my pictures to not overwhelm everyone.
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| School of Athens by Raphael (!!!!!) |
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| Duh I had to take a picture of the Swiss Guards |
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| Illegal picture of the Sistine Chapel - Photo Credit to Quinlan |
After a great time in Rome, we made our way to Florence. Getting settled in and starting classes has been a whirlwind, but the more I see of Florence, the more I fall in love with it. Despite missing my family, I don't think that I ever want to go home, sorry mom and dad!
This weekend we will be traveling to Lake Garda and Verona, so I am super excited for that! I'll try and post about everything that has been going on this past week in Florence soon. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I know I will..
-- Maria
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