Cuando en Roma, haz lo que los Romanos hacen

Last weekend was absolutely fantastic. Helena and I headed up to Italy for a five day wonderful vacation. Maryn was supposed to come as well, but long story short her ticket purchase didn't go through and she wasn't able to join us on our trip. It was a definite bummer, but it was still nice to spend time with Helena. We got to do so many cool things, the food was fantastic, the people were wonderful, and the cities were beautiful.

We decided to skip our Thursday night and Friday morning classes and head out early. We took the bus to the Barajas airport in Madrid and from there we flew to Rome.

ROMA!!

Unfortunately we didn't have much time on Thursday night to make our way around Rome. We got to the city, took the bus through town, and made our way towards my friend Amy's apartment. Amy has been studying in Rome since September and had two couches that we were able to sleep on. Her roommates were wonderful for letting us sleep there! That night we went to the only restaurant that was open in the area and ordered pizza, spaghetti, and wine to share. It was delicious and the food only got better from there!

On Friday we got to see the Spanish Steps and go to a street market with Amy and her roommate Kaitlin (who also happens to know my good friend Laura Tyson from high school). They showed us around for a little bit, and then we went our separate ways. Helena and I wandered around Rome for so long! We made our way towards the Colosseum, saw the Roman Forum, and wandered around forever. Unfortunately it was raining on and off, but it wasn't too bad. It amazes me how many times we were just walking and stumbled upon ruins; it's just like, there they are, right there in the middle of a huge modern day city! We got lunch at a little restaurant called L'Insalata Ricca. We got a salad, bread, pasta, and gnocchi. Yum!

The Colosseum

Roman Forum

Our delicious lunch :) It was all gone by the time we were finished!

Later that afternoon we met up with one of Helena's friends from high school, Martin. He showed us around Rome at night and it was absolutely beautiful! He took us to the Pantheon and to a gelato place right next door. He took us to the Trevi Fountain (if you throw a coin behind your back it means you will one day return!) and we got to see the Colosseum at night and all the Christmas lights that were around Rome. We also went to a famous café called "Caffé Greco" and got to have wonderful cappuccinos. After that, he took us to the place where the kids from his program are staying and we met the other Americans who are studying with him as well as his girlfriend. The four of us went to dinner and had a wonderful meal of pizza, pasta, and more gelato! Martin walked us home right past the Vatican. Some of these buildings are so beautiful at night!!

the Colosseum at night... stunning!!

The next day (after a breakfast of croissants and cappuccinos) Helena and I went and toured the Vatican. We thought that it wasn't going to take that long, but with lines and so much to see, we spent about five hours there. We got to see the Sistine Chapel (even the walk up to the chapel was beautiful!), climb to the Cupola of St. Peter's Basilica, and got to wander through the throngs of people in Vatican City. Talk about amazing!! After that, we went over to  Piazza Navona, a nice little piazza that Martin told us to check out; we ate dinner there and did a little souvenir shopping. It was nice.

the walk to the infamous chapel (long hallway with beautiful painted ceilings!)

view from the Cupola at St. Peter's

inside St. Peter's

After wandering and saying goodbye to Amy's roommate Kaitlin (unfortunately Amy was already away on her weekend vacation), we headed to the train station and got the first train to Florence.

FIRENZE!!

The hostel that we stayed at was pretty small, nice, and in a wonderful location. We were only about a ten minute walk from absolutely everything that we wanted to do. Because so many of our friends had either studied in Florence or had already visited, we had a whole list of things that we were advised to do. We tried to get everything in, but we only had a small window of time in order to complete everything.

That night we had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant. I got a Greek salad that I am still dreaming about (I became obsessed with salad after one experience in Rome). The next day we started our day with cappuccinos and croissants (again) and made our way through the San Lorenzo market which has a plethora of leather goods, hand made products, and other fun things. It was really cool and HUGE! Helena and I then went to La Academia and saw The David which was absolutely STUNNING!! (And ate lunch at a restaurant called the Little David which was actually the worst of the wonderful food we had on this trip... now I didn't say it was bad, I just said it wasn't as great as all of the other food we ate.) Unfortunately, it is of course a museum in Europe where you aren't allowed to take pictures (like all other museums we've been to). We got to go into the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore which is the famed Duomo of Firenze. It was stunning (once again)!! We got to wander around, took a nap, ate dinner, and got gelato at the most awesome gelato place ever (recommended by Becca) named Grom. I had pear and extra dark chocolate.

Helena and I at Grom (thanks Becca!)

View of Ponte Vecchio

The next day we went back to the San Lorenzo market, walked around an open air market, and saw the famed Ponte Vecchio, and walked to the other side of the river. From there, we walked up to the highly recommended Piazzale Michelangelo (every single person I've talked to about Florence said that the view was absolutely beautiful). From there we could see all of Florence, unfortunately it was slightly overcast so the view wasn't super spectacular, but it was still great. From the top, I bought a few paintings from a wonderful street artist. They cost a pretty penny, but I love them! We stopped at a little restaurant on that side of the river called "Casalinga" which Becca had recommended, and then was also recommended by every single guide book we came across. It was absolutely fantastic and totally authentic, like, nobody at the restaurant spoke any English!!

View from  Piazzale Michelangelo

view again

The street artist I bought paintings from

Of course, we got Grom again and then headed to meet some of the other Cal Poly girls who were in Italy at the same time. They knew of a little German Christmas market that was going on in one of the piazzas. They reminded me of the Christmas markets in Hungary. We ate German food for dinner on our last night in Italy which was kinda disappointing, but still delicious. After that Helena and I had a wonderful relaxing night of wine, cheese, and American Beauty at the hostel.

The next morning, we headed out to Milan because that's where our flight was leaving from. Unfortunately we didn't get to see too much of Milan because our flight left relatively early in the afternoon and we had our bags and stuff. We just hung out in the airport and relaxed. I completed a little homework and read the book that I took from the hostel: The Associate by John Grisham. No, I did not steal it, a lot of hostels have bookshelves where travelers leave and take books as they come and go.

We didn't get home until super late, and I am still tired from all the excitement and wonderfulness of the weekend, but it was totally worth it.

Thanks to everybody who gave us advice on where to go and what to see. Also, thank you so much to Amy and all of her room mates who let us crash on their couches for two nights!!!

I absolutely loved everything about Italy and I can't wait to go back another time, this time in the summer or spring when the weather is nice and clear.