We met at Bonn HBF Saturday morning to travel to Florence; it was not that
easy though. First, we took a train to Koblenz, then a bus from Koblenz to
Frankfurt Hahn airport, then a plane to Treviso airport, Italy, then a bus to
Treviso Centrale, then a tram to Maestre, followed by a tram to Bologne, and
finally a tram to Florence, Italy. Fwew! We left at 7:30 am and arrived around
11:00 pm! We checked into our hostel and passed out pretty quickly. Sunday we
hit the ground running super early. After wandering around Florence for a
while, we went to the Accademia and saw the Statue of David. We took some
people's advice and sat and stared at him from all angles for about 30 minutes.
Then we headed to the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and did some hustling in the leather
"flea markets". We had a wonderful dinner recommended by a native and
finished the evening with some gelato. Monday was had reserved a Tuscany tour.
This was kind of a spur of the moment decision, but it turned out amazing! We went
horsback riding through the countryside (the rain even subsided and the sun
stayed out the entire time!) and had a delicious dinner with wine tasting of 8
different wines. The person leading our tasting was hilarious and had a genuine
passion for wine-making. We were also given a guided tour through the medieval
ruins of San Gingnamo that included a lot of beautiful panoramic views.
Tuesday we left Florence and headed to Pisa. It only took a few extra hours
to swing west and see the tower before going to Rome, so that's what we did. Pisa
itself wasn't extremely impressive, but the leaning tower was defintely worth
it. After taking the stereotypical pictures, we hiked back to the train station
and left for Rome. We arrived there late, said hello to a few classmates before
they left for the second part of their trip, then got ready for the next day.
Wednesday was originally going to be Roman Day, but we changed our minds at the
last minute and dcided to go see the Vatican instead (good decision!). We
walked through San Maria Basilica, then rode out to the Vatican. We spent hours
in the Vatican Museum, despite the Sistine Chapel being closed, then headed
over to St. Peter's Square. It was early evening at this point, it was pouring,
we were wet, very cold, and pretty hungry. After watching the smoke stack with
the huge crowds gathered in the square for about an hour, we went a few blocks
down to grab some food. And of course, right after we get our food, we hear
word that there is white smoke! We scarfed our food down and RAN back to the square.
The city was crazy! Everyone was hollering and dancing and running. Even though
I'm not catholic, it was still cool to be apart of the historical aspect of the
pope's announcment. Definitely an unforgetable experience. Thursday was
beautiful! The sun was out all day and it was perfect for visiting the
Colosseum, Palatino, and Forum. The Colosseum was what I had been looking
forward to the most, and it didn't disappoint. Walking into the arena was
breathtaking. The Palatino Gardens were very pretty, even without being in full
bloom and the ruins of the Forum made us all wish we could have seen the
place in it's prime. After a lunch break, we finished the day with the
Vittorian, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. Friday was relax day.
We slept in then headed for the beach! It was still chilly out, but was
comfortable when the sun came out. We pretty much had the beach to ourselves
and hung out there for a while. After that, we walked around Rome some more,
did some shopping, and had a nice dinner right outside the Colosseum.
Saturday was another long travel day
home. None of us wanted to leave Italy :( But at the same time, I'm ready to be
back in Bonn. I still can't believe we navigated all we did, saw everything we
saw, and did everything we did. I feel like I can travel anywhere now! This
whole week was unforgetable and by far the best spring break ever!
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