Ciao Roma

So today I woke up in Rome, and will go to bed in Minnesota. I am still wrapping my head around that concept. Trust me, I have had plenty of time, I am six hours into an eleven hour flight. Bleh.

In order to not confuse you I will go in chronological order of my last 24ish hours.

We, being the roomies and I, after some last minute shopping walked around Viale di Corso (the shopping street), and the Roman Forum, and the Trevi Fountain. We wanted to soak up our last day in Rome.

Viale di Corso is gorgeous at Christmas. All the way down the street there are red, white, and green lights. It looks like there is a giant, illuminated, Italian flag running down the whole street. The place is packed with shoppers and men selling roasted chestnuts (actually, kinda gross…). In the various piazzas on the street they have big Christmas trees. It is so pretty. Also, let me just briefly say that I loved being in a country that I could say, “Merry Christmas” and be chastised for being politically incorrect.

Then we meandered on over to the Trevi Fountain. It is probably one of my favorite places in Rome. It was pretty quiet over there because the tourists are gone, so the four of us were able to just sit on the side of the Fountain and reminisce about all the awesome things we have had the opportunity to do. We also threw more coins in the Fountain, just to be on the safe side….. : )

When we had soaked up enough of the Fountain we went back to our apartment to do secret santa. Of course, going back to the apartment could not be easy. There was a public transportation strike, so we ended up hoofing it half way across Rome, in the drizzling rain, back to our apartment. I would be bitter, but it is the Italian way. Our trusty friends at ATAC just wanted to make sure we got the full Italian experience and did not go home feeling disappointed.

Brief blogging interlude. I just got a sandwich on the plane and it came with a Kit-Kat. I really am on my way back to America. Huzzah.

Okay, where was I….oh yeah, secret santa. Erica got Kesley, Kelsey got Erica, which left Molly and I with each other. It was a lot of fun. I received a beautiful frame (which will soon have a picture of the four of us) and an ornament.

Then we went out to our fancy dinner. It was a darling restaurant, the name evades me, and it was authentic because there was not a drop of English in the place. We all ordered something different and shared. It was bitter sweet. Sweet, because I love my roomies and spending an evening with them over delectable Italian food. Bitter, because I don’t know when the four of us will be reunited.

Another brief interlude. The Kit-Kat is SCRUMPTIOUS!

When we finished dinner and started walking back to the apartment the clock struck midnight and we burst into “Tanti Auguri” (Happy Birthday) as Kelsey was at that very moment no longer a teenager.

Then commenced more scrubbing of the apartment, listening to “A Muppets Christmas Carol” (ha ha ha its CHRISSST-MUUUS). We all got about an hour-ish of sleep before we said teary goodbyes to the birthday girl at 3:30am. Then back to bed for an hour and half before I got ready. Then it was another round of teary goodbyes.

And now here I sit. Wishing I was not on this ghetto Delta plane. It is an ELEVEN hour flight and we don’t have the individual television sets. It is retro style with one giant screen in the center. I have no books (negative of living in a country where they don’t speak English), my crossword puzzles are ridiculously hard, and my seat companion speaks no English. Though, I did manage to have a conversation utilizing my mad Italian skills. Covered all the basics, thanks Italian 101!

Sorry for the stream of conscious blog post. I thought I would give you a super detailed version of my last hours in Rome. Plus, the last post can’t be short, that would just be a disappointment (sorry, Mrs. Sutton), also, sleep deprivation is not helping.

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Leg one of the journey complete. Holy cow. That was an exhausting eleven hours.

Update on Atlanta. That was by far one of my most stressful travel experiences EVER. Yeesh. To start off the disaster that was that layover my flight was thirty minutes late. People were panicking and missing connections left and right. After we got off the plane we were shuttled through the normal passport/customs checks. Unfortunately for me, my flight was 100% full. So were the other two international flights that landed at the same time. Yeah for long lines!!!

Then onto baggage claim. I sat by the carousal watching the time tic on, fearing that I would miss my flight. Boarding started at 4:45 and at 4:25 I was still waiting for my bag. When my bag finally came I lunged for it, heaved the overweight bag off the carousal (so heavy, my things multiplied… also I am “that girl” with a giant carry-on that is smooshed into the overhead), and sprinted to the baggage re-check. Then I impatiently tapped my toe while Mister “let me just use five (no exaggeration) security bins AND forget to take off my belt” was putzing around. GAH!!! It became so bad that after he passed through the security man looked at him and said “just grab and go sir.” I yanked my stuff out from behind him and booked it to my gate, which was a 5 minute tram ride away. Needless to say I was out of breath, hot, and arrived at my gate just in time for boarding.

Also adding a degree of panic to this is the fact that my cell phone is dead, so I would have had to ask some nice stranger to loan me their phone had fiasco come to bear.

Clearly everything worked out, because here I am typing away on my flight to Minnesota (marking hour 12 of my 14 hour travel day). I am trying my hardest not to fall asleep because that will make sleeping tonight that much more challenging. The three hours of sleep in the last two days is definitely working against me though.


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So at long last I am home! After the longest day of traveling known to man, I arrived back in snowless Minnesota. My parents, trying to be loving and kind, and wanted to meet at the baggage claim door. However, my seasoned traveller of father (or so he says) went to the wrong door. Long story short, I had to find them. They did not recognize me. I walked up to them was all “after four months of being gone I feel like my own parents would be more excited to see me.” Then, my mom, who never cries, misted up and handed me a bouquet of pretty orangey-pink flowers.

After fetching my bag we went to eat at Pei Wei. Man, I missed Chinese food. The egg rolls and pad thai were super tasty. Except since I was still on Rome time I was not terribly hungry. Something about eating Chinese food at three in the morning is mildly unappetizing.

The semester was so much fun. I saw a lot of amazing things and met great people. It was a wonderful opportunity and I am so thankful that I was able to experience it, but at the same time I am so ready to be home.

This will be the last of my Roman ramblings as my time in Rome is now done. Thanks for following my blog and following my European adventures. I was happy to share them with you and hope you enjoyed reading the posts as much as I enjoyed my adventures. It certainly was a four months to remember.


Buona Festa, grazie, e ciao!