It's a nice day for a trip to Rome... When planning for study abroad, my list of cities I wanted to visit quickly became enormous, and impossible to achieve in a single semester. With this realization, I made a list of my top five locations that I wanted to see the most - among them: Rome, Nice, and Barcelona. This past week, I got a chance to go on a ten day trip around these three cities with two friends from Rochester and one friend from my classes here at DIS. Our first stop: Rome. I'm lucky enough to have a friend from Rochester studying abroad there, who was able to show us some of her favorite places. The weekend was packed with carbs, gelato, and my complete amazement at the Colosseum. Here are my top ten tips for how to make the most of your trip to Rome!
3. Get lost. My first glimpse of the Colosseum was when we accidentally ended up next to it when taking the wrong tram. I couldn't stop staring at it, and must have repeated the phrase "Guys, we're standing next to the Colosseum" at least 5o times when my friends tried to figure out which tram we were actually supposed to be on. If was awesome getting to see the Colosseum at night time, when there were no tourists in sight, or salespeople with armloads of neon selfie sticks. While we were a little late to where we were supposed to meet, I got to see the Colloseum for the first time, which sparked an obsession that lasted the rest of our time in Rome. However, if you want to see the sites in the daylight... 4. Buy tickets at the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill are right next to the Colosseum, but the line for the combo entry pass (12 Euro) is much shorter if you buy your tickets at the Roman Forum. We had more time to explore the ancient sites this way, meaning I had more time to stare at the columns, trying (and failing) to imagine what they must have looked like in their prime. We walked through the Forum to Palatine Hill, which had tons of lovely flowers and a gorgeous view of the landscape dotted with houses. The entry pass is valid for 48 hours, so we decided to save the Colosseum for the next day, and spent the evening exploring the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps! 5. Look up. Another incredible place we got to visit was the Vatican. We went there first on Saturday, and were swarmed with tour guides offering to let us skip the line. While it would have been great to be able to save some time, the whole student budget thing really didn't allow us to shell out the 35-40 Euros. Luckily, one of the tour guides was nice enough to let us know that the museum is actually free on the last Sunday of every month, which happened to be the very next day! This means you have to be willing to wake up really early to try to get a place in the line, and you may end up waiting about 2 hours, but if you get some snacks/breakfast to eat in line while you wait, it's not too bad! We got to save the 8 Euro (Student) entry fee, and every room was beautiful, filled with tons of artwork and sculptures. While they were incredibly intricate, my favorite parts were the ceilings. I'm surprised that I didn't end up face planting, because I was looking up 96% of the time at the elaborate and colorful ceilings - and of course, the Sistine Chapel wasn't hard to look at. Photography is not allowed in the chapel, and while there were some rule breakers, I am a law abiding citizen and do not have a photo of my own...but check out some of the other ceiling artwork below! 6. It's not really a discount... I bought a bag in Rome! It's a lovely little blue backpack that the salesman tried to convince me he was giving me for a "special discount" of 40 euros...? I explained that I only had 20, and when I consistently refused his offer of 25, I ended up getting the bag at half price. Still more than I really was looking to spend, but I got a bag and a funny story out of it! 7. Get some aperitif! We decided to stop to get Italian aperitivo before dinner; if you order a drink, the bar has trays full of appetizers to munch on. We stayed a while to sip and chat after not seeing each other for about two months, and ended up having quite our fill of appetizers. We ended up at a bar with a pretty elaborate spread, with pasta, salads, veggies, mini sandwiches, hummus, and more - we were a bit to full to get dinner that night, which meant saving money...and I didn't mind at all! Here is a helpful guide to Italian aperitivo. 8. Drinks with a view. Travelling in cities like Rome that seem to have infinite things to see can be very high paced at times. One of the most relaxing parts of the trip for me was when we got drinks at a little shop and took them to the wall next to the Colosseum to drink. It was completely surreal to me to stare at such a famous piece of history as we sipped our drinks and talked, listening to street musicians and admiring the dogs walking by. If you're looking for a place to take a breather, I can't really think of a better place to sit and unwind. 9. Buy the Advil. If you are travelling for long periods of time, odds are your feet will hurt, you will be dehydrated, and you may get a horribly intense headache at some point. I'm not a huge fan of spending money unnecessarily but...taking care of your body is necessary! While it is frustrating to spend 3 dollars on a bottle of water or 9 on a package of Advil, it's not a ton of cash to shell out in the big picture, and it's likely a purchase that will ensure you wont have to suffer through illness on your super exciting vacation. I got some great souvenirs on this trip, including a pack of Advil, a tiny towel from our hostel, and a new toothbrush after I dropped mine on the floor of our hostel...grody.
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Hi Everyone!I'm Lydia, a 21 year old college student studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark for the spring 2017 semester. I'm excited to spend the next few months adventuring around Europe, and it'll all be documented here! Feel free to look around. Archives
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