Arrivederci Italia

After my 11 hour flight at the Atlanta Airport

So my luggage was only 22.3 kg which is about 49 pounds!! I made it back safely to Atlanta yesterday afternoon around 2:30 after an 11 hour flight from Roma. Although I was very sad to leave, I was relieved to be home. I was so exhausted. I wasn’t able to sleep on my 11 hour flight so last night I went to bed before 8 o’clock and was able to sleep all night until 8 o’clock this morning! My body clock is so messed up- hopefully I can get my sleep schedule back on track. 

Now that I am back in the states it is hard to believe it is all over- what a great trip I had. Now I can reflect back on all my experiences. I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to be in Italy for an extended period of time. I loved getting to meet new people from all around the world and will miss Florence and those friends so much.  I can’t think of one thing I would change about my trip except for staying longer! My journey this summer in Italy included many places- Rome, Pompeii, Piza, Firenze, Maremma, Marina di Massa, Viareggio, Bolgheri, Versilia, Cararra, Pietrasanto, Positano, Capri, Sorrento, Venice, Tonfano and Forta de Marmi. I managed to make it to all this cities in such a short time. I always seemed to be on the go making the most of my time in Italy.

 I have tried to the best of my ability to describe my experiences to yall on this blog,  through my words and pictures but I still do not think I will ever be able to fully describe just how amazing this trip really was. I think a large part of that I owe to the friends I have made. Those girls MADE my trip wonderful and I hope to stay close with them. We have already made plans to meet in New York this fall for a reunion.

Clearly so excited to see me!

I need to thank my Grandmother for encouraging me to make this trip. I can’t believe I even thought twice about my decision to study abroad. My mom was also a big encourager and I need to thank her support and for this opportunity as well. I know it was hard for her to let me go but I appreciate it so much!  I also need to thank my brother, Taylor, for all his smart advice on traveling abroad. His tips were so helpful. Our puppy, Rusty was also very excited to see me! I had missed him so much.

I hope I will have the opportunity to visit other parts of the world and will be able to embark on another journey abroad sometime soon.

 As my friend Jillian said, with a full heart and what will forever be an empty stomach until I return, I say Arrivederci Italia until next time!

P.S Here are some pictures to just recap my trip!

Trip is almost over!

So Tuesday was my last day in Italia! I didn’t have too many things on my agenda- but it was nice because I could just enjoy my day and reflect on my trip. I walked over to Termini (the train station) to purchase my train ticket to the airport for the next morning. I bought the 5:52 AM train ticket. WOW I was going to have to be up so early! I then just walked towards the Trevi Fountain too see it for the last time. I also walked to the Spanish Steps- something I had not seen yet so I was glad I got to! Then I walked down Via dei Condotti which is the famous shopping street in Roma- shops like Hermes, Gucci and Prada. Clearly, I was just doing window shopping but it was still neat. It was crazy to see all the people actually buying items from these high end stores!! Overall it was a nice, relaxing day to end my trip with. I went back to my hotel and started thinking about my flight home. I needed to repack my suitcase and hope and pray that it would be until 50 pounds!

Back in Roma

Wow. I can't believe my time in Italy is almost over..... I don't know how to feel about it either so I am just going to enjoy these last few days and then decide how to feel

This past Thursday (my day night in Firenze) I presented my project in my class and packed up my things. I cleaned my apartment and then we walked over towards the Ponte Vecchio where we watched an amazing sunset. What a perfect way to start our night. We walked to dinner at our favorite place in Firenze.. GUSTA PIZZA! MMMMMM it is literally the best pizza I have ever eaten and no pizza in American will ever compare. Their spicy olive oil makes the pizza even better not to mention the guys who make the pizza make ours in the shape of a heart! We then decided to walk up to the famous Piazza Michelangelo which has an amazing panoramic view of the entire city. This was a great place to reflect on our time together in Florence.

On Friday I finished cleaning my apartment and my friends Dana and Joanna met me at the train station to travel back to Roma where our journey began weeks ago. Jillian would meet me there the next day. 

Last night I got to see the Trevi fountain in the dark! It was so much more peaceful than during the day and there were less people!

Vatican City

Today I visited the Vatican. I bought a ticket before hand for the museum because I had heard the lines were just crazy. Well today I barely waited 10 minutes and those minutes were spent going through the metal detector. I have heard that Italians take August off for vacation and so a lot of people go home and shops start to close for a few days. Works for me! It was such a neat experience. I even got to climb to the very top! The staircase was so narrow and it was very hot but it was well worth it! I got some great pictures.

Dome in the Basilica

San Pietro Basilica

Narrow Stairs!

View from the Top!

Last days in Firenze

Today is my last full day in Florence! I'm sad to leave-I am cleaning up and packing my cute little Italian apartment. I will miss it so much. Tomorrow a group of 5 of us will take the train to Rome. Some of them will fly out Saturday and then some are flying out Monday. We are staying in a hostel all together. Once all my friends leave I will have Monday and Tuesday by myself and then my flight home is Wednesday. I will move to a hotel Monday and Tuesday- I just feel more comfortable being in a hotel than a hostel by myself!!  I have plans to go to the Vatican one day and I am thinking about signing up for a Rome Food Tour that lasts all day- They take you around Rome to the best food places and you get to sample everything! Today I had my final presentation in my class-it went well and I am expecting an A! I cannot believe how fast these past few weeks have gone by. I wish I could stay longer!! I would love to find a job here after I graduate.

Last night we went to our regular favorite place for dinner- it is outside and is a few doors down from my friends apartment. I have never been a big fan of lasagna but this is some delicious lasagna with a yummy meat sauce.

This week I went to all the museums and churches in Firenze- a post with pictures is coming!

Thea, Me, and Joanna

Adventure in Venice

This past Saturday some of us decided to venture to Venice for the day! From Firenze, It is only a two hour train ride. The train we took was VERY nice. We got to Venice around 11 bought a map and headed on our way! We took our time walking through the tiny street and bridges over the grande canal thru Venice. We walked in many Venetian glass stores- It was all so beautiful. We finally stumbled upon Ponte Di Rialto. Here we did some shopping and sat down for a nice lunch. My favorite spot in Venice was Basilica San Marco. It was just stunning- all the details that were put into are beatiful. Of course I decide to wear the only shirt I brought that resembles the outfit the men who drive the gondola wears- a blue and white striped shirt. I didn't even think about this until I got to the train station and my friend Joanna started laughing at me! I promise I didn't wear it on purpose!!!! It did help us get the price of a gondola ride down to 60 euros (down from 80) but we still thought that it was kinda a ripoff!!! Although Venice smelled a little haha I still really enjoyed it. It might be one of my favorite cities in Italy I have been to! Finally around 6:30 we headed to the train station. We were all EXHAUSTED so naturally this would happen to me... We walked into our train car and started walking to my seat. A lady was sitting in my seat so we kindly told her. We thought maybe she just got on the wrong car. Well as it turns out TranItalia had booked two people for the same seat!!!!!! Well actually they double booked about 10 seats. What a mess. We finally got it all figured out and I did in fact have a place to sit.

Sunday afternoon we spent the day at the pool! My school organized this trip and we went to a nice Villa outside of Florence. It was so nice to be able to relax. It was funny though because in order to swim in the pool you needed to wear a swim cap- so weird! Crazy Italians.. haha


I am so busy this week finishing up my shopping, working on my final project for my class, visiting all the places in Florence that I haven't gotten a chance to see yet and trying to figure a way to move here!!!  My final day of class is Friday. I will then travel to Rome for the remainder of my trip. I can't believe I have a little over 1 week left in Italy. I could stay here FOREVER!!! Ciao!

Pisa and Pizza

Wow. I cannot believe another week has gone by. Time is going by too fast!

Wednesday after class a group of us decided to travel to Pisa for the afternoon. IT only took close to an hour to get there by train. Pisa was not at all what I expected. It was very quiet and very deserted. We finally found the famous leaning tower and that was where all the people were! We took lots of pictures- some are pretty cheesy but we had to do it! There was not much else to do there but we looked around for an hour or two and headed back home. It’s nice to be able to say I have seen the famous leaning tower!

Thursday morning my International Marketing class had a field trip, which was a nice break from the classroom. We got to visit the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, which is one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The company dates back to 16^th century and was established by Dominican friars. I forgot to bring my camera with me so these pictures are from the Internet but I just wanted you to get a feel for what I got to see!

I have been eaten A LOT of pizza but I think I had the best pizza tonight! We walked across the bridge to Gusta Pizza, which pretty much everyone had told me I HAD to visit. I got the spicy salami pizza and they have this amazing spicy olive oil that was delicious on top of the pizza. Our pizzas came out in the shape of a heart- so cute!! I will definitely be returning to Gusta before my trip is over!

Tomorrow morning I am heading to Venice for the day!! I have heard mixed review about it so I’ll let you know what I think!! Ciao!