Monday - Thursday (1/28-1/31):
For the most part, this week was a regular class week. 2 exceptions:
1. SNOW! Because it usually doesn't snow in Bonn (or Texas, obviously), it was really nice getting to experience a "real" winter day. ⛄
2. On Thursday, I visited Museum Stoeckl, one of the few History of Anesthesia museums in the world. Among several things, I saw an iron lung -- a machine used to treat polio patients. Though it was a minute part of the building, one of my favorite things in the museum was artwork representing what it was like for a doctor to administer ather and how the patient felt from it.
Friday (2/1): ROME BOUND!
Friday morning, I had a 6:30 AM flight to Italy. Although it was an early flight and I was running on 3 hours of sleep, it put me in Rome around 9 AM, perfect! Not having time to eat breakfast, my friends and I headed to the Colosseum. Once I caught first glimpse of the Colosseum, I couldn't help but cheer! Knowing that adventures were ahead made me the happiest person in the world :)
By the time I finished seeing the Colosseum, the hunger and exhaustion were real. We settled down at this restaurant, and I proudly finished an entire margherita pizza. Once I had a full belly and took an hour nap, I was officially ready to explore Rome. With no particular plan, my friends and I decided to tour the city. We payed a visit to the Colosseum again and explored the surrounding area. At the top of a hill, we surprisingly found our first church in Italy. It was beautiful and made me feel so blessed to be abroad! After walking around elsewhere, we saw some pillars in the distance. We decided to "go check out the pillars." Little did we know, we were about to stumble upon so much more.
Every where we looked there was another incredible and breathtaking sight.
Afterwards, I had authentic pasta with extra Parmesan and wine for dinner, yum! We walked almost 14 miles by the end of the day. I could have not asked for a better day one in Rome. It was a day I will never forget! ❤
Saturday (2/2): Vatican City! ✨
A great day often starts with a good breakfast and that I had -- a delicious cappuccino and a light, flaky, lemony croissant. We then headed over to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. We spent about 3 hours walking around admiring all of the pieces.
The Sistine Chapel is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was hard to believe that most of what I was looking at wasn't 3D, as it seemed to pop right off the ceiling. After the Museum and Chapel, we planned to visit St. Peter's Basilica. Unfortunately, the navigator (aka Marcus) took us the wrong way, so we walked around Vatican City almost in its entirety. We eventually made it and took nice pictures outside.
In the evening, we all went out to celebrate a few birthdays. We had dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant (DELICIOUS) and then went out dancing. So much fun 😋
Sunday (2/3): Fountains, Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, and a catacomb 🌞
In terms of weather, this day was the most lovely. I visited the Trevi Fountain and made a wish! (I couldn't stop relating my experience to the Lizzie McGuire movie.) Then, I saw the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. The Piazza had a live band playing Italian music, so wonderful. On my way to the Spanish Steps, I had my first cannoli. I honestly would have not remembered to grab one had it not been for the store front window! Going up the Spanish Steps, we stepped up about 120 steps (?), but it was worth it.
Lastly, we visited a catacomb about 40 minutes outside of Rome. It was incredible to see where approximately 40,000 tombs and ancient artwork remained from the 3rd century.
Making our way to the airport was one of the most stressful situations ever. 1. the bus didn't stop for us so we had to fast walk 25 min to the train station. 2. our train wasn't directly to the airport so we ran through the station to catch another. 3. we didn't really know what we were doing. 4. we were really hungry. Everything worked out though.
THE END, for now :)
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