Finally Friday! As the official first day of my last weekend in Rome, it was a good one! I didn’t do much today, but because it gets dark so early here it felt like I had been out so much longer than I actually had! I fully, whole-heartedly began the packing process this afternoon, and I’m not sure that every part of me is aware of what I’m packing for. I go home in 4 days.. How have three months passed this quickly?
This morning, I slept in a bit and got a late start to the day with a final trip to the grocery store to get some last minute goodies! Bryanna and I spent some time looking around and spending the last of our tickets, then we headed back to campus for lunch. We did a little packing first, then we took a lunch break. Trying to be creative with the few things we have left over from previous grocery trips is quite difficult, but in the end, it always works out! After lunch, I made some tea and we sat and talked for a while – I always enjoy a good life conversation! Then after we were finished, we decided to go to a park nearby.
We stopped in for a walk around Villa Torlonia – Mussolini’s home grounds turned museum/public park. It started getting dark much faster than I anticipated, but we were able to walk around and enjoy being outside. After a short stay in the park, we went back to campus for a pit stop before making our way into the center to stop in at a store to check the hours for an event tomorrow! We did quite a bit more walking than we planned due to the streets in Rome being very poorly labeled. It was busy in the center tonight, so it was a madhouse trying get from place to place, and we ended up walking in the street to avoid the huge crowds of people on the sidewalks! It’s always interesting to be in crowds of people in Rome – there are so many different kinds of people, stores, sights, and smells to take in! It’s awfully overwhelming, but incredibly entertaining! We eventually reached our destination, and after having a chat with the woman working, we were on our merry way back to campus.
However.. not only were the streets of Rome busy and crowded with people, but so were the buses. The first bus we got on wasn’t terrible – I’ve certainly been on worse! But the second bus.. let me just tell you.. the phrase “we can always fit more” should not apply in all circumstances. Especially when the people trying to squeeze onto a bus are large, smelly men who have no sense of personal boundaries! I become unbelievably frustrated with a man that kept breathing on my hand as I was holding onto the handrail, so I let go and struggled to stay balanced on my own for the rest of the bus ride.. HA! That was a fun experience!
Once back on campus we just relaxed for a bit, then we went to the corner bar for the last night time visit. The bar is usually open on the weekends, but due to a holiday on Monday, they’re closing for nearly the rest of the time we’re here and reopening early on Tuesday morning. So I went to get one last drink and see Sebastian again. After hanging out there for a while with a bunch of people from my group, I got a photo with Sebastian and headed back to campus with Ben for the night.
The rest of my night has been spent in the best way I know how – socializing with friends and organizing my belongings! My packing is almost complete, and I was able to sit and chat with some friends for a good while. Now the night is over and the weekend continues tomorrow with another day of freedom to do whatever we please! I’m not sure what tomorrow is going to hold for me, but I can’t wait to find out!
Xoxo,
Breanna
This is Sebastian, a friend I made at the corner bar! I’ll certainly miss my interesting conversations with this guy!
As I was trying to take this photo, a man on the street stood on his tippy toes in front of me and smiled really big. He wanted to be in my photo apparently, but I wasn’t able to capture the moment fast enough.. it gave me a good laugh!
Christmas lights in Rome
Europe Fall 2014 - exploration, education, adventure. 