When In Rome...

 Day 1:

Rome is one huge city... with so many sites to see and things to do! That's why this weekend was the perfect time to go to Rome! Our teacher gave us off most of Thursday and all day Friday! So after morning class, we stayed for lunch at the villa and then left for Rome mid afternoon. This weekend I was traveling with Debbie, Linda, and Amanda. It was a bit of a train ride and by the time we got to Rome it was evening time. 

We then had a little bit of a struggle trying to find our hostel, but we found it after wandering around for a while. Once we were inside we were met by Mr. Rome (what the owner of the hostel calls himself and the name of the hostel as well). What an incredibly friendly guy. He was full of suggestions for us, engaged us in conversation, and made us feel very welcome.

We settled into our room around 8:30 or so. Since we had an extra day and it was already dark outside, we decided to stay in and just relax because we knew we had a long day ahead of us.

Day 2:

I woke up and headed out to the small kitchen area of the hostel. There waiting on the table was a box full of fresh pastries! The one I choose to eat was absolutely delicious (the picture does not do it justice)! The hostel owner's wife and mother were there in the mornings and they made us cappuccinos the traditional style by steaming the milk over the stove. It was strong, but such a good wake-me-up. I was so excited I would be getting two more mornings of this breakfast :)

Today was our day full of walking and big sites to see! Our first destination was the Colosseum and Roman Forum! Something I've only seen in movies, but never dreamed I'd find myself standing in the middle of it!!

Our hostel was close enough that we could walk there. An enjoyable walk since it was 75 degrees and sunny outside! I have not had weather like that for at least a month or two.

Before going into the Colosseum, we first entered into the Roman Forum. Since none of us knew that much about it, we got a tour guide. Now she was supposedly an "English-speaking guide" but I had the hardest time understanding her because her accent was so thick. But nonetheless, I'm glad she took us around because she knew where she was going and what parts to see. 


The whole place was ruin. But it was incredible what structures were left... I could not believe we were walking in a site that was built 2,000 years ago at the height of the Roman Empire. And the fact that a good portion of it is still standing speaks volumes to the types of architects they must have been.

We got to walk all over the grounds. Places that once held magnificent government structures, a palace, chapels, and other various structures.

When we left the Forum, we walked right across the street to the massive Roman Colosseum!! 

The best way I can describe the feeling: I was starstruck by the Colosseum. To me it is probably one of the most iconic sites I've seen in Europe (parallel to the Eiffel Tower.) This edifice was completed in 80 AD and is still here to tell its tale. After seeing the "Gladiator" several times, I kept thinking back to what it must have been like back in its heyday. The people, the outfits, the shoes, the rowdy crowds, and sadly those forced to fight inside the Colosseum.

When we went inside the Colosseum it seemed even more gigantic. The stands surrounded the center area, which was open and we were able to see all the passageways underneath the arena. We also got to see the trap doors where the lions would come from to attack the fighters. All of it was surreal and amazingly epic... everything I hoped the Roman Colosseum would be.

 We spent quite a while there and I felt like I could have spent even longer, but we did have other things we hoped to see that day. Our next big place to see was the Trevi Fountain! I did not expect it to be crammed in between a bunch of buildings though, but it was still beautiful. Of course we had to toss coins behind us... signaling that we will be back in Rome again some day :)

This spot was super crowded! We left after a short time because there were just so many people around. We walked just a short distance to the next site of the day, the Pantheon! I had always thought the Pantheon was some type of government building, but when we got inside there were religious alters as well. I was pretty confused the purpose of this building, but I found out that the original purpose of the Pantheon was to honor the Roman gods. My favorite part of this building was the ceiling. It's a beautiful dome shape that has an opening at the top to give natural light.

The sun was just starting to set, but we still had one more place we wanted to see before night time fell. We walked briskly through the streets to reach the Spanish Steps! Not stopping along the way, I climbed all the way to the top to get this view!

I got to watch the sunset over Rome! It was very beautiful and we stayed up there until it got dark. When we went back down all the steps, I noticed again how crowded they were! So many people just hanging out on the steps and enjoying conversations. I was glad I got to see that part of this culture.


At this point it was definitely dinner time. We went back to a restaurant we had seen earlier in the day and it was on the way to our hostel. I got a pizza again which was not as good as I expected it to be but was still pretty good. We hung out for a while eating and chatting until we were all pretty tired. We walked back to our hostel, showered, and then went to bed! I was exhausted from all the walking we did this day, but it was such a perfect day. I had a great time :)

Day 3:

We only had one big plan for the day... Vatican City! I woke up to another morning of a tasty pastry and a homemade cappuccino. That was really the best way to start the day :) I were running a little behind this morning, but made it to the Vatican with no problem. 

We naively thought since St. Peter's Basilica was free, that we could go right in and catch Saturday morning mass. Well that didn't happen. There was a huge line wrapping all around St. Peter's Square to get into the basilica. It worked out though. Instead of rushing inside, we took our time taking the square in (which was really more circular) and seeing everything there was to see while we waited in line. It was again a wonderful day outside! In the back of this picture is St. Peter's Basilica.

The line really wasn't too bad, it moved pretty swiftly and we were inside St. Peter's Basilica within 20 minutes. Now this was one breathtaking church. It felt like an incredibly powerful and holy place, and its beauty was truly magnificent. There were gold designs interlaced with royal blue all along the ceilings. Marble patterns along the floor and the columns of the church. An Altar with spiraling black intertwined with gold. Behind the columns was the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove that was full of light, almost as if it was on fire. Several small domes in the ceilings, all painted with the illusion of figures and angels in the sky. Statues, crowns, large paintings, and on and on. There were also papal tombs inside the church with areas set up for prayer. 

This church was amazing, the only thing I wish is that there would have been some form of crowd control because there were so many people. A lot didn't seem as interested in the church itself, only in making sure they got the best pictures possible. And for that, they didn't mind being rude and pushy to make sure they got that picture. It's sad to me how a holy place for worship turns into a tourist attraction. Don't get me wrong, I was a tourist and excited to see it, but I also was respectful and loved the opportunity to say prayers inside this basilica. 

Before we headed to another area of the Vatican, we paid a couple of euros and made the trek up to the top of St. Peter's Basilica to get a view of the square. Man the hike up to the top was a challenge. I don't know how anyone much bigger than me could have managed because at the end, the staircase took on the shape of the dome at the top of the basilica. So where my feet and head could move was not in a straight line because of the curve of the dome. We made it to the top though and got one of the best views of the city!! Definitely worth going up there and in this picture it's clear the circular shape of St. Peter's Square.

Making the trek back down the stairs, we left this area and went to the Sistine Chapel! Thank goodness we had made reservations on line because that line would have taken us over an hour. We went right in with no problems. I didn't realize before we went in the Sistine Chapel we got to go through an entire museum. It was an option to skip ahead and go straight to the chapel, but we decided why not go through the museum since we were in no rush that day. 

The museum exhibits were pretty vast and had all sorts of things. I was surprised because I assumed most of them would be religious, but that wasn't necessarily the case. There were old maps, famous pictures, Egyptian artifacts, along with the religious features of different statues and beautifully woven tapestries depicting a religious scene.

But I will say my favorite part about the Vatican Museum was all the ceiling designs. Each new room or hallway we entered was gorgeously painted! I was taking pictures of the ceilings more than I was anything else.

After going through the museum for awhile, it was eventually time to enter into the Sistine Chapel. I was expecting the famous Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam to be the sole painting on the ceiling... when I walked in I was completely astounded. I stood surrounded by more paintings than I could count. All down the sides of the walls and individual paintings on the ceiling... all done by Michelangelo. I was in awe at the detail of his work and how long it must have taken him to complete all this. I will say though that The Creation of Adam lives up to its expectations. The two hands almost touching but within reach, so incredible. The inside of the chapel had to be treated with much caution; the temperature was at a low setting and absolutely no pictures were allowed to help preserve the chapel (unfortunately). My neck really started to strain though from looking up at the ceiling. I finally had to take one final glimpse at it all and then leave.

We went right across the street and ate outside at a restaurant there. I had some of the best lasagna I have ever tasted (besides my mom's of course!) 

Then we went back to our hostel. It was still very early in the evening and we decided to relax, take naps because we were planning on going out that night.

When night time fell, we all got ready to go out! We heard of a pub crawl that met up outside of the Colosseum and since we didn't know our way around Rome, we decided that was the best thing to try out! And man did we make a good decision! I think all of us had an awesome time! We were also able to meet up with our friend Zack from Riva and his girlfriend studying abroad in Florence for the night. It was one of the best ways to end such a great weekend :D

The best part of the night: We all gave ourselves fake names. They were Victoria Secret Angel names. I was given the name Candice for the night. I told someone my name and across the street a girl also doing the pub crawl yells "Oh I know ain't nobody's name here also Candice! There can only be one!"Then she comes up to me and asks how I spelled it... so immediately I froze. She was asking the world's worst speller to do this. I must have looked like a deer in headlights, I had no clue how to spell the name. I tried to look over at my friends to give them a signal of help, but I had no choice but to spell it out. The only basis I have for spelling the name was the state Kansas... so I spell it "K-a-n-d-a-s". Silence followed. Then she bursts out, "Okay everybody it's okay! This is Candice with a K!" phewww!! She nor anyone else caught on to my ridiculous spelling. All she was concerned about was the K. I'm pretty sure my face was bright red because it felt like it was on fire. After we left that encounter my friends and I burst out laughing haha and I learned the real spelling of Candice. That is one memory none of us will ever forget.

Day 4:

We were all pretty sluggish this morning, feeling a bit out of it from the night before. We didn't have anything planned for the day so we just took our time getting out of bed and getting breakfast. My last day of pastries and cappuccinos :( It ended on a good note though with a very delicious pastry indeed!

We checked out of the hostel and were so happy we ended our trip in Europe at the best hostel! We slowly made our way to the train station. After walking around outside for some time, it looked as though it was about to start raining. My friends got some food, but the only thing on my mind was gelato!

Gelato needs its one section here. I ended up getting gelato 4 different times in Rome!! And once I got it twice in a day! And yes, I documented it each time.

                              Chocolate and Cookie!                            Cinnamon!

            Mint Chocolate Chip and Nutella!        Honey with Rice and Chocolate!

Needless to say, I loved the gelato and made sure I got as much as I could while I was in Rome :)

After eating my last gelato, it was time to head to the train station. Leaving Rome gave me a very weird feeling... it was my last traveling weekend during my studying abroad program. We would all be leaving Riva the following weekend and I couldn't believe this was it. Literally, where had the time gone? But truthfully, I could not have asked for a more perfect weekend to end my travels in Europe. I was traveling with truly wonderful girls, the weather was perfect and sunny, the food was amazing, and I got to see some of the most monumental sites in the world. I am so blessed.

The City of 118 Islands... Venice, Italy!

Day 1:

Just what we did not need... yet another train delay! After the train delay last weekend, starting off with another was frustrating. Our first train was delayed enough that by the time we arrived in the Milan station it was the exact time our next train was supposed to depart! I have never run so fast in a train station, skidding in and out of people. Only to arrive at the platform and see the train already departed from the station and on its way. It was so sad... we just stood there for a while unsure what to think. We could literally see it leaving.

But we picked ourselves back up and looked at the boards to see if there was an alternative route to get to Venice. We saw a train departing in about 20 minutes headed toward Venice. We asked that train conductor if we needed a reservation for that train and we did not! We were so fortunate. Although this train had us arriving an hour and a half later than we originally planned, at least we would get there! It was annoying that we paid for a reservation for the previous train and would not be getting refunded :( But there was no point stressing about it... we were on our way to Venice!! For this trip, I went with Linda, Debbie, Angela, Amanda, and Amanda's friend Kristin who was studying abroad in Perugia, Italy.

When we arrived in Venice, we took just a couple steps outside of the train station and immediately there was water!! And I thought to myself, Yes, I am actually in Venice. We had to catch the public transportation, which was a water taxi, in order to get to where our hostel was. I stood on the deck of the boat, feeling so excited to be there. That in itself was a peaceful half hour boat ride right as it was turning to dusk :)

Where we were staying was just off the main islands of Venice. When we went up to our room, we could look out our window to a view of the main islands of Venice. By the time we were all settled in, we just wanted to relax and have a big dinner. We went to a local restaurant on the island. All of us ordered pizza and wine to make for a wonderful Italian dinner experience!

After getting our fill, we took a stroll along the water front. The lights from the islands across the way reflected on the water and the stars shinned brilliant overhead. It was like a movie.

That night we went to bed early, tired from schoolwork during the week but very excited for the next day.

Day 2:

Waking myself up with a nice morning shower, I got ready for the day. We all headed downstairs and paid for breakfast at our hostel. It was a good buffet with an awesome coffee maker. I'm pretty sure both days we were there I had two cappuccinos in the mornings haha (More than I needed since it makes me hyper!) By the way, this was the view from my hostel window!

We took the water taxi across to the main island because we had a tour planned for the day! It was a sightseeing tour that took us to three other well-known islands of Venice! Again to get to these islands we had to travel by boat and during the rides the guide would give us background information on Venice and the islands we were going to.

Our first stop: Murano! It may or may not sound familiar, but if it does that would be because the island is famous for its glass blowing!! And I got the amazing opportunity to be able to observe glass blowing!

Our group was taken into a back room that had a huge furnace with big tools all around. The skilled artisan puts a ball of glass into this large furnace and once it’s to his desired temperature he takes it out. At this point, he can either put on shards of glass (which he then puts into the furnace again to melt onto the existing glass and give it color) or shape the glass with special tools. He made a vase and demonstrated to us blowing into the tube to give the vase its shape. Also he made an elaborate rearing horse by shaping and bending the glass like it was taffy. Both items took only a short time for him to complete, as we gathered around and stood amazed by it. The craziest thing is the artisan did not even have any sort of gloves on this hands or protective face gear… I suppose he must have been very confident with his abilities.  

After the demonstrations, we entered into the gift shop! I enjoyed looking at all the extensive and exquisite glass pieces here. Stunning chandeliers, beautiful figurines, and one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. All of it was amazing, but unfortunately too expensive and too challenging to transport back to the US... but I did get a couple of little things though :)

We headed back on the boat to our next island stop: Burano! This island is known for its lace making and designs. When we got on the island, I was immediately enchanted by it! It was simply adorable. The houses and buildings were so bright and all different colors! And there were canals with little boats throughout the island... just so cute.

We got to go inside one of the lace shops and see a woman hand stitching a design. The shop was so quaint, with hundreds of portraits all made of lace. There were also delicate clothes and beautiful scarfs... I got myself a dainty, feminine light pink lace scarf.

We got time to explore around this island for a little bit. Walk along the market streets and over the bridges. I was sad we had to leave this charming little island, I wish we could have had more time to spend here.

We got back on the boat for our final island stop: Torcello! Now this island was a lot different from the previous two. Although the other two were traditional, they were also commercialized. This island though was pretty much vacant and looked abandoned. That's because Torcello was established between the 5th and 6th centuries and it was the earliest center of civilization in the Venetian Lagoon. At one time it held the largest population of the Republic of Venice, but that time has come and gone. When we were there we got to see the remains of the baptistery and Cathedral founded in the 7th century.

We checked out the island for a little bit and then went back on the boat to head back to the main islands. This boat ride was about half an hour and I almost fell asleep sitting up I was so tired from the days events... man it was such a good day though! I got to see so much of Venice! But it was not over yet!

When we got back on the main islands, we got to explore this area since we did not have time to before the tour! We walked through some of the smaller side streets, going in and out of the shops. Almost all of the shops sold glass or the famous Venetian masks. We eventually made our way into Piazza San Marco! The amount of people in this square was incredible! Some were just relaxing, but most were bustling about. I saw a small boy chasing pigeons around. 

Unfortunately we did not get to see the square in all its glory since there was construction that covered up most of the outside of the Basilica in the square. I really wanted to go inside to see what it looked like on the inside. We waited for a couple minutes, but when we got inside it was so dark in there I could hardly see what it looked like! :( I could tell however that this church was full of mosaics... gold mosaics on the ceilings and brown, black, and white tiled mosaics on the floor. That is what stood out to me and made this church unique.

Then we did something I've only ever imagined, something I've seen in the movies, but never thought I'd get the chance too... we went on a gondola ride!! That right there made it feel like I was truly in Venice! It was so fun too :D I think it was about an hour and we went in and out of the canals in Venice. The gondolier told us that Venice is composed of 118 islands and has 409 bridges!!! We were all surprised by that.

The picture above makes me laugh because it looks like the gondolier is a little man standing on my head hahah! 

The gondola ride was so peaceful and relaxing. I enjoyed every part of it! It was interesting to see how the buildings were built up right along the canals. The foundations of the buildings did not look sturdy at all to me and it looked like some of them were falling apart, but how would I know. Some had entrances that faced these water canals; I suppose you had to get straight off the boat and go right into the building. The whole set up of Venice was incredibly fascinating and unlike anything I've seen before. 

After our gondola ride, only one thing was on our mind... dinner!! All of us were so hungry! We went to a restaurant that had local Italian dishes. I had some of the best tortellini, filled with spinach and cheese, topped with meat sauce! We were at that dinner table for quite some time. The waiter was in no rush to give us the check and we were in no rush to get the check. That is one thing I've gotten use to and really like about European meals. Everyone takes their time and enjoys the dinner experience. 

By the time we finished and went back outside, it seemed as though the streets had cleared out! Venice does not have much of a nightlife and we were witnessing its emptiness at night. When we went back to Piazza San Marco, there were just a handful of people.

Now unfortunately we did have an incident happen... we got totally and completely lost. The streets, canals, bridges, or whatever it is that can give you a sign where you are were not marked at all. And if they were, there were like 3 or 4 signs pointing different directions for the same place... it was pretty comical actually. I have yet to be in a place where the streets were that badly marked. We ended up going in circles and having to ask at least 5 or 6 people for directions back to the dock we needed to get to. After a solid half an hour to an hour being lost, we made our way back! At that point we were very ready to call it a night and go to bed.

Day 3:

Waking up to a drizzly morning, we took our time checking out of our hostel and eating breakfast. We were glad we left for the train station with so much time because our water taxi ride took much longer than we expected as we had to change boats 2 times during the ride. By the time we got to the train station, we only had about 45 min to wander around. I went into one of the small churches there. I was able to listen to the end of a mass and say a couple prayers. 

Four of us got a real traveling picture before leaving, backpacks included! Right on the bridge over the Grand Canal of Venice!

But at this point, it was time to get on the train. It was a smooth ride back to Riva and I did some reading for my class the next day. We arrived at Riva in time for dinner and were able to have a relaxing Sunday evening. I reflected on my time in Venice and I could not have asked for more out of my weekend. It was truly such a fun time with great sites, good friends, and amazing food! :)