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| Architectural garden |
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| First glass of wine in Roma! |
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| Vatican, St. Peter's Church |
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| Bolgheri Vineyard in Tuscany |
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| Forte dei Marmi |
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| Colosseum |
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| Il Colloso |
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| Etruscan Village- Populonia |
Friday August 23, 2013
We finally arrived in Rome. After a seven and a half hour flight we got to Rome at around 7:30 am. It was a little chaotic arriving in a foreign with twelve other girls but we managed to find our way around to where we were supposed to be to meet one of my professors, Humberto. Humberto led us through the airport and helped us buy our train tickets to the actual city of Roma. From there we met up with my resident director Olympia and arrived at our hotel around 10:30-11. We were not able to check into our rooms right away so a few of us girls went out to explore. We had our first italian pizza and some wine. We then ventured back to the hotel and were able to take a long nap and try to make up for all of the jet lag! That night Humberto and Olympia took us to a restaurant translated to "The White Hen" where we had more pizza and wine! Seeing as we were all excited to see the city Humberto took us through a three hour tour of Rome at night. We were able to see the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Colosseum and the Forum (all the main attractions of Roma).
Saturday August 24, 2013
Saturday morning we woke up early all dressed nicely to go explore Vatican city. It was our first experience with the subway in Rome but well worth it. Once we got there we were able to walk around and take pictures. We went to St. Peters church with a tour guide and was able to explore all of the fine details that you would never have noticed if we were not on a tour. Many people bought rosary beads. It was funny to walk into a store across the street and see all of the different items that had the pope's face on it. He is considered a people's pope because many people love him over in Rome. From then we went to a famous market and got a salad for lunch. I also picked up some ten euro Ray Bans that actually look pretty real!
Sunday August 25, 2013
Today we got up and went straight to see the Colosseum. It was awesome and so much bigger than I thought! We had a tour guide us through the Colorsseum, the Forum, and the Pantheon. We then got a bus transfer to an architectural garden in what it seemed, the middle of no where. This artist made these giant sculptures and hand put all of the glass pieces on herself, so everything sparkled and shimmered when the light hit it. It was really cool and unlike anything I have ever seen before. After spending an hour at the garden, we went to the resort for the night. We were all exhausted so it was nice to have time to ourselves and we went out to dinner as a group within the resort. After dinner, we all sat by the pool (it was the only place to get wifi) and talked together until late in the morning.
Monday August 26, 2013
Today was my favorite day we have had this week. We got on the bus and went to the Truscan village of Populonia! One of the prettiest places I have ever seen. We hiked up the mountain and to the roof of an old church to get an amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea. I could have stayed there all day looking out at the endless ocean, it was crazy. From there we went to the Bolgheri Vineyard and had a wine tasting! I learned the proper way to taste wine. Smell, spin, smell, check the color, sip, gargle it in your mouth, and then fully take a sip. It is a process but it was fun to learn! We tried white, red, and pink along with the best food. We had a cheese plate with different jams and honey to eat it with, a platter of deli meats, brushetta, cheesy bread, and more. At the end of the tasting I got a bottle of white for myself and a bottle of red for when my parents come to visit! :) From there we got back on the bus and headed to Forte del Marmi.
Tuesday-Thursday Augsut 27, 2013
We are at a resort right by the water at Forte del Marmi! It was so nice relaxing out by the pool and by the beach. It reminded me of something you would see at a resort type town such as Miami. You look along the beach and see just thousands of resorts with cabanas, umbrellas and people, SO many people. The bathing suits are alot different here too. Noone wheres a one piece no matter what size you are and most of the bathing suits are very small! haha Alot of the little girls also did not wear tops either. We went to Carraca all the way up in the mountains to see the marble quarries which was really neat. The streets to go up the hill were so narrow and tiny I thought our bus was going to tip every turn we made but thankfully our driver was able to squeeze through! We also went to this insane market. It was almost too much you could not move anywhere you walked, too crowded for me! Our last night in Forte del Marmi, we had a huge dinner consisting of two pasta entrees, seafood and vegetable platter, french fries, and dessert! There was fireworks too! It was beautiful to be at a beach in a foreign country and see these awesome fireworks across the ocean. The fireworks symbolized the official end of summer in Italy.
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