Day Twelve: ROME!
This weekend, I headed to Rome, Italy. I was beyond excited, even at 3:45 am when I got in a cab for my 7 am flight. In Rome, I was meeting my high school friend Matt, who has been studying in Maastricht all semester. I haven’t seen him since January, and this is probably close to the longest amount of time I’ve gone without seeing him. Being able to experience Rome with him only added to my excitement. My friend from Iowa, Jordyn, was also meeting us there and she and I were staying in a hotel together.
When my flight landed in Italy, I hopped on a quick half hour train to the hotel where I was staying. I know I said this in an earlier post, but there’s something extra exciting and challenging about traveling alone. I’m making it sound effortless, but in the spirit of transparency, I’ll be honest and say I was pretty scared. I almost didn’t go because I was nervous about traveling alone. My flight from Chicago to Charlotte on the way to London was the first time I’d ever flown alone! (I’ve flown to Mexico without my parents, but even then I was with 6 friends so I felt completely comfortable.) Now, I was flying through Europe by myself.
One of my goals this trip and whole study abroad program was not to let fear hold me back. So often in life, we stop ourselves from taking risks or trying new things for fear of failure, rejection, embarrassment, whatever. It makes me think of how many opportunities I may have missed because I was scared to put myself out there. (That being said, it’s also importance to have a good head on your shoulders and not get crazy with the decisions you’re making… There. Now you can’t blame me if you make a silly decision based on my advice!) This trip to Rome challenged me to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and test myself. I am unbelievably glad I did.
Upon my arrival in Rome, I dropped my bag off at my hotel (a quaint little family-run hotel that I was pleasantly surprised by) and headed out to explore before Matt and his friends arrived. I went to Piazza Della Republica, which consisted of a small but stunning fountain and the basilica of Santa Maria deli Angeli. I snapped far too many pictures, grabbed a cup if coffee and sat along the fountain. I sat there for about two hours, but it felt like twenty minutes. From where I sat, I could see the rest of the city and the beautiful buildings for a couple miles. There’s just nothing quite like that old architecture. Even though I should be used to it by now after seeing so much of London, it still amazes me. I sat there, soaking in the scene and feeling a lot of disbelief. This whole trip was been surreal, like I can’t possibly be seeing and experiencing all the things that I have so far.
After awhile, Matt and 6 of his friends from his study abroad program arrived. I walked to their hostel, and we went to dinner. I could write an entire book about the food, so I’ll try to keep this concise. I kept it pretty boring and just ordered a simple pasta dish. But it was fabulous! The sauce was rich and so much flavor, and the pasta was cooked to perfection. I was completely satisfied. The boys had pasta, pizza and calzones that looked equally as favulous. After dinner, we sipped from the finest bottle of wine eight euros can buy you (Grandad would be ashamed of me if he read this!) and called it a night early because we had a big day ahead of us on Saturday.
