Week Eight: Trip To Italy!

Castel Sant Angelo

Most of the titles to my weekly blogs have been directed toward a major city we've traveled to, but this week was a rather special week for me. Week eight was our semester break! For nine days, I stayed in Rome, Italy! It was a mind blowing experience for me especially when I think back as to what I saw, the people I met, and the food I ate! Not only did I see the sites in Rome, but I also made a day trip to Venice and a day trip to Assisi! These places were beyond my imagination and for the duration of the trips I continued to look around in disbelief that I was there! I spent a majority of my time visiting Vatican City as well, and continued to be amazed at where I was!

Gelato Time!

In Rome, I saw several sites including the Castel Sant Angelo! I spent a whole morning there walking around and enjoying the architectural beauty. When I finally ventured inside, I was absolutely astounded by what I was seeing. I walked along the Castel walls and saw several rooms that were painted from the floor up to the ceiling and the paintings continued across the ceiling. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed to be taken, but the imagines were truly unforgettable! There was one night that I did go to the Trevi fountain. I’ve heard the name before, but I had no idea as to what it looked like! While visiting the fountain, I learned that it was good luck to toss in three coins into the fountain! The belief was that through this action good luck will eventually bring the individual back to Rome! I threw in three coins and now I’ll have to wait and see how long it takes before good luck brings me back to Rome! I did see other sites, like the Coliseum, St. Paul’s Basilica, and the Spanish steps, but there is only so much I can write about in one blog.

St. Peter's Basilica

Visiting Vatican City was truly a blessed experience as I visited several of the sites in the city. I climbed to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica, visited the Tomb of the Popes, saw the Vatican Museum with the Sistine Chapel, and attended the audience with the Pope! Vatican City also had some of the best restaurants where I enjoyed Penne Salmon with a tomato cream sauce, Tiramisu, and my all time favorite Nutella Gelato!

Venice

Venice was completely different from Rome! It my understanding that most of the city is surrounded by water, but this was incredible! The city was like little individual islands connected to each other by short bridges. One of the methods of getting around was by taking a water bus and people could even take gondola taxis to cross from island to island for 50 cents! There were several tours on gondolas being offered as well. Everyone has heard the expression “when in Rome...” well I said to myself “when in Venice…” and I took my first gondola ride!  Later, I saw St. Mark’s Basilica while I was there and this basilica made my day when I saw it. I’ve taken several European history classes with the same professor now for two years and have been amazed with some of the places she has gone. In one class, Dr. Woods showed us a picture of this Basilica. I thought that it was truly spectacular and thought that all I could do was dream of going to this basilica, I thought I would never get to see it. I did though and it was truly a wonderful feeling to see something of this magnitude! Venice was truly spectacular!

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Assisi was by far one of my favorite cities that we have visited! I had no idea what Assisi look like, but I remember learning in my Religious Studies course last fall that it was a relatively large city and that was back in the early 13^th century! It was a big city all right, but gorgeous!  I was so thrilled to see Assisi and visit the glorious Basilica of St. Francis!  While visiting the basilica, I visited the tomb of St. Francis and saw the different chapels within the basilica. We were there for a few short hours, and I did not want to leave! If I could learn Italian, I would move there in a heartbeat!

My week in Italy was truly spectacular and someday I hope to go back to Rome and Assisi. If I manage to come back to Italy, I would also like to try and see Florence! What a great semester break!