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Lemons, charm bracelets, and the Vaticano

In between classes and getting familiar with the city, I’ve found special things in the middle of it all. One specific place so far is a charm bar I found! Getting a charm bracelet in London made me want to make another, but this time representing my time in Rome. Walking through the streets on a finally warm and sunny day, we make it to Paolina, a little charm bar by the Colosseum. The shop itself was very tiny and held only a few people at a time, to which we had to wait a little to get into the store. However, after making our way finally to the charms, we were ecstatic to see all the wonderful, little, cute charms they had! While my friend picked out charms she liked, I made mine Italy themed, including charms such as the Colosseum, ‘Ciao Bella,’ the Italy flag, and a little ‘bowtie’ pasta shape! After creating such cute charm bracelets, we decided to explore the city more and find other places to go.

Nicole, who is chronically on TikTok, always finds new and fun places to try in Rome and this week’s victim was Limoné; a gelato store that sells different lemon gelato in lemons. The perfect Pinterest gelato that we had to try. As a girl who loves normal lemon gelato (and basically gets it every-time) I knew I would love this place. 11/10! So insanely good. We made some vlogs for our abroad channels and enjoyed the gelato at the Trevi Fountain while watching people walk by. It was the perfect little day out!

Not only did that weekend hold fun little adventures, which included another trip to the Vatican (every last Sunday of the month its free to go inside), but the weekday also held fun adventures in the manifestation of my history course!

My history course about ancient Rome and Pompeii is an on-site course which allows me to know the deep history of Rome, as well as see it for myself. Seeing the buildings of the past in places such as the Roman Forum is phenomenal to see, learn about, and imagine what it could have been like in its time. To learn about the city while living in it creates a new understanding and reality of the history of the world, and where you fit into it. These huge monuments that withstood time, weather, and forces, are just amazing to learn about and imagine. While Rome is beautiful in the daylight, it also holds a different kind of magic in the night.

Seeing Rome in the night is a completely different experience. While the nightlife is what you might think about first, I’m talking about the serenity that comes over the monuments and the city at night. While the crowds are gone, the statues and temples are still there standing strong and standing bright against the darkness of the night. I was completely captured by the beauty of this architecture when I stumbled across both the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon after dinner one night. It’s difficult to explain just how surreal it is to live in that moment and also realize that your new “walk home” takes you past some of the most famous monuments in the world. I am actively living in a city that many people dream to visit, and for that I am forever grateful. To see Rome in all of its beauty in both day and night will forever ingrain itself in my memory.

https://www.instagram.com/mias_abroad/

Spending the weekend in your host city…

While studying abroad it seems that everyone is always off to a explore a different country each weekend, and spending quality time in your host city in is often overlooked. My piece of advice after studying abroad in two different countries is to balance out your weekends in your city, and time spent traveling. Not only will this help make your travel experiences more enjoyable, reduce burnout, tiredness (from those 6am budget flights, etc…) but it will also help you truly experience your city.

No one else staying behind for the weekend? No problem. Often we feel like we should make every day studying abroad a perfect one, and a social one. But the truth is, sometimes it doesn’t work out like that. For example, two of my apartment-mates came here as friends and have travel together every weekend, and I am not that close with my roommate because we have very different schedules and lifestyles. So, while I wish I had someone to walk around the city with this weekend, I plan on making the most of it, enjoying some solo time to slow down, experience and reflect. You never know what you may stumble upon or come to realize with some self-time.

On Friday I slept in and then did some chores around the house, cooked some meals… and while I felt ‘behind’ my schedule, I just needed to remind myself I am where I need to be, and that this was my chill day. I then went out walking without using any directions. At this point I know the route to the beach and back, but its also just fun to wander and see where you end up. If I only have a few days to explore a city or country, then I like to have everything mapped and planned. But if I am somewhere for a long period of time, I always try to have an experience of ‘getting lost’. I happened to wander by the well known ‘kiss mural’ in Barcelona, that I hadn’t seen yet, and pass by a cellist outside a church playing one of my favorite songs, ‘Moon River’. I then wandered a long the beach trying to find a quiet, sunny spot. It was a rather interesting day at the beach. I witnessed someone walking on someones back, massaging them, two guys selling beach blankets getting into a yelling argument, and finally, I had a lady come up to me and pinch my shoulder asking if I wanted a massage, which startled me so much because she snuck up on me. Then I watched the sunset, and the sky fade from light blue, to dusty pink, and smoky purple.

On Saturday, it was as I anticipated, a cloudy, chilly, rainy day. Perfect for what I had planned. I enjoyed sleeping in again, then walked down the block down to my favorite cafe called Afecte. It’s always these two friendly Spaniards, and one Argentinian working, and I always practice my Spanish with them. Most Spaniards are so friendly and happy when you speak Spanish to them. Also, Barcelona has sooooo many fabulous, aesthetic, wonderful cafes and brunch places. There is practically one everywhere you look, serving beautifully plated food, with people chatting or doing work. Something about Barcelona that I enjoy is that people work in cafes, similar to in the US. For example, when I was in Italy, no one did this, it wasn’t common. From there I walked down to the Boqueria, and got a few oranges from the produce stalls. I am still trying to find the best and most affordable place to buy produce in Barcelona, there are so many options! I always love getting my produce from stalls or markets rather than a grocery store, and it is usually better quality, and more local. Then I walked to La Virreina Centro de la Imagen. A wonderful free museum! I really enjoyed this, it was a great free experience to do in Barcelona, with some interesting exhibitions. After that I went to another free museum called Museu Frederic. Finally to end the night, I went to a free International mass at La Sagrada Familia! It was so amazing, I definitely recommend even if you’re not religious (like me) because it also gets you free access into the building. Overall a really nice experience, and it gave me nostalgia to going to mass with my host family way back then.

On Sunday I wanted to check out this large, free cactus and botanical garden near the beach. So I walked down there, and also walked up into the hills on Mont. Juic. There was a more extensive garden then I realized! I caught the sunset up there, then met up with my friends at Casa Batllo (one of Gaudi’s houses, which just so happens to be a few blocks down from me). At Batllo they were doing a really cool lights show, that they only do every so often. Lastly, I finished up some homework for the weekend, and planned my week!

It was a great weekend in Barcelona, and after spending two weekends in Barcelona here are some places I’ve explored. As well as a little re-cap of many different free activities you can do when in Barcelona:

  • Casa Batllo
  • Casa Mila
  • (Any other casa by Gaudi)
  • La Boqueria
  • La Virreina Centro de la Imagen
  • Museo Frederic
  • Jardins de Mossen Costa
  • Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (free on Saturday’s anytime after 3)
  • the beach!
  • See La Sagrada Familia and the park nearby
  • Bunkers el Carmel
  • Parc de la Cuitadella
  • Arc de Triomf
  • More to come!

Follow along on my time in Barca, and see more photos here! https://www.instagram.com/pranaphotos_/