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.

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Postcards Home and Learning Opportunities

It’s been so much fun walking around the city of Rome, exploring the streets, and stumbling across different beautiful monuments, cathedrals, and ancient artifacts. My friends and I have been taking to the town every day since we’ve gotten here, and all agreed to take as much as we can out of this study abroad. Planning day trips and finding new places around Rome, we have enjoyed our time here so far. We tried Japanese pancakes the other day while walking around the Vatican and made ‘vlogs’ along the way. Even when it was raining, we were out on those cobblestone streets enjoying the peacefulness that covered Rome.

However, comparing to last semester in London, I’ve already noticed some differences about my experience and myself. Rome is a far more sociable city than London, and I’ve noticed that in London I felt it being more okay to being alone. I felt as though London gives company to those who like solo time and gives more opportunities for solo dates, where Rome is far more social, and I felt more of a need to be around my friends and have less of a desire to go on solo dates- even the thought of it was a little more daunting. Maybe part of it is the fact that there is a huge language barrier now. Maybe I felt more comfortable and confident in London because I knew how to get around and knew everyone around me spoke English. However, I will try and work on my language skills and put my 2 years of Italian to use!

While on one of our walks through the city, my new flat mate and friend, Nicole, decided she wanted to send a postcard home. So, while she picked out a postcard, Abby found a cafe. Nicole quickly picked out a postcard, wrote a note, and sent it away. However, after a questioning from Abby, Nicole quickly learned that she needed to put a stamp on her postcard! She ran back to the stand, talked to the owner again, and quickly got the card back, to which she put a stamp on it and now it was truly on its way back home.

There have been quite a few learning opportunities here in Rome. From figuring out how to talk to locals, to ordering cappuccinos, figuring out where to get my nails done, and learning that even if its 60 degrees outside the Italians will still be in full winter coats.

The latter learning opportunity presented itself to me the other day. While I dress for the weather, Italians dress for the season. It was a sunny, 60-degree day outside, so I decided to embrace it and wear a t-shirt and jeans. While I thought it was fine, the Italians apparently did not. While walking around the streets, I got a few stares and a comment about it being cold. While it was a little uncomfortable being so stared at for just a simple t-shirt when it was warm out, I realized that’s what comes with living in a new country and learning what the locals do, how they dress, where they eat, and everything in between. Nonetheless, I’ll still be wearing my t-shirts because frankly, 60 degrees is quite warm when the sun is out…

While last week was filled with learning opportunities, this week will be filled with embracing those changes. This weekend, my flat mates and I will take on our first trip of the semester; Prague and Budapest! I’m excited to travel to these new places and explore the new countries I will be in.

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