Last week, my program gave us a week off between the 3 week intensive German period and the start of regular classes. So with that, I left Wednesday night and took an over night trip to Rome. I choose to go to Italy because my friend from home was studying there, but she was going to Florence for the weekend which is where I was meeting with her. I have literally wanted to go to Rome since I was a little kid, even before I got the idea that I wanted to see the world. I initially thought about choosing Rome to study abroad, but I decided against it because of how touristy it has become. I wanted something a bit more natural and authentic, which I happily found in Austria. Regardless, the architecture and history that embodies Rome is so incredible to me.
I arrived around 9:00 am and got to my hostel by 9:15. The hostel was about a 5 minute walk from the train station, and not terribly far from both the Fountain of Trevi or the Colosseum and ancient ruins. I was only going to be in Rome for a day (The city was more like an out of the way pit stop for Florence. I was actually in Rome for less than 24 hours.) and I planned on making the most of it. I planned out a walking tour for myself and set off for an adventure by 9:45. I started off heading towards The Trevi Fountain, but stumbled upon The Palazzo delle Esposizioni. I didn’t know what this place was at first, but took a picture of the building because it was beautiful. What had caught my attention though was a banner hanging from the top that said “La Grande Advventura: celebrating 125 years of National Geographic.” The palazzo was art exhibition place, and that just happened to be displaying an exhibition celebrating 125 years of photographs from NatGeo (*for anyone who follows basically anything from NatGeo on instagram and has been seeing pictures with captions about the 125 year celebration…this was the place it was being held at). I was going to forgo the display because I was on a tight schedule with everything I wanted to see, but I realized that I was never gonna get the chance to see a display like this again. Going to see the exhibition was probably one of the best decisions I made all trip.
I eventually made my way to the Trevi Fountatin, then the Pantheon, and from there it was on to The Vatican. The Pantheon was as incredible as everything I’ve seen about it. The building is amazing and a true testament to the Roman’s engineering talent.
On my way to the Vatican, I passed by the Castel Sant’ Angelo. It is this massive bunker that’s only a 2 minute walk from the Vatican. The bunker is massive and when you climb to the top, you can see over virtually the whole city. It also gives you a 360 degree view. Finally, I made it to the Vatican. By the time I reached there, it was later than I originally planned. I decided to choose against going into the the Sistine Chapel or Saint Peter’s Basillica, because the lines to get tickets were way to long and I didn’t want to wait.
From the Vatican, I walked along the Tiber River south until I got near the Colosseum. The Colosseum was as breathtaking as I could have pictured it. All in all, I ended up walking a distance of like 10+ miles, which in hindsight was my brightest idea; and I would NEVER recommend doing Rome in a day. It’s way, way too much. However, I had an incredible time and will definitely be going back before I leave.
(p.s. tomorrow I’m probably going to do a separate blog about Florence)
Location: Rome, Italy
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Hi Theresa! I’m so so so incredibly jealous of you getting to visit Italy! I, like you, have wanted to visit Rome since I was little. Although I have to agree with you, Rome in a day seems incredibly overwhelming! But I’m happy you got to see everything you wanted to, plus some. National Geographic always has amazing photographs, so I’m sure the exhibit must have been amazing! I’m definitely going to try to visit Rome while I’m abroad, but I’ll definitely try to stay longer than a day. 🙂