This week, my boyfriend Dan came to spend his spring break with me here in Rome!!! It was great to have him here and I loved showing him around my little temporary home. He left from Boston on Monday and landed in Rome early Tuesday morning. He was super jetlagged, so we wandered around a bit Tuesday afternoon and got pizza and gelato (two Italian staples), and then he napped while I went to class for the rest of the day. We got dinner in a little piazza in my neighborhood and had a pretty low-key day.
On Wednesday, we walked down to Vatican City and spent most of the afternoon in the Vatican Museum, which Dan loved. I had already been once earlier in the semester, but I saw a lot of new things this time, and we spent a lot more time there than I did the first time. We wanted to see St. Peter’s Basilica, but the line was just so long. We went to Castel Sant’Angelo, which has amazing views of the city of Rome. That night, we had dinner at a fancy restaurant that overlooks the Colosseum. It was absolutely incredible, and the food was fantastic.
The next day, we started at the Trevi Fountain, which is under construction unfortunately. Luckily, you can still make wishes (thanks for the quarters, Courtney)! Then we went to the Spanish Steps and went shopping. All of the really nice stores are in that area, so it was mostly window-shopping, but it was still a really fun afternoon! Then we went to the Pantheon, which Dan really liked. It’s the largest unsupported dome in the world, and there’s so much history in one place. We stumbled upon a pretty famous and authentic gelato place, so obviously we got gelato and a cannolo (fun fact: cannoli is actually plural!).
Friday morning I had an onsite lecture for class at the non-Catholic cemetery, so we spent a few hours there. It was really cool to see the graves of John Keats and Percy Shelley. We went to the Forum and the Colosseum after that, and spent most of the afternoon there. Dan loved wandering around the Forum, and we spent almost 3 hours just walking around looking at everything. The view from the top of the Forum is amazing. We got dinner at a little restaurant across from the Pantheon (Dan loved it so much he wanted to go back), and it was a really great view!
On Saturday morning, we got on a train to Florence and spent our day wandering around the city. We went to the Academia to see the David, and they had a musical instruments exhibit, which we both loved. Then we climbed the Duomo after waiting in line for almost an hour. The view from the top was worth it, though. We shopped in the San Lorenzo marketplace for a while, and we each got a leather jacket and a bunch of gifts for our families back home. We went to the Ponte Vecchio, and then headed to a little piazza for dinner. We got gelato and headed back to the train and went home.
On Sunday, Dan had a pretty early flight back to Boston, so I dropped him off at the airport, made sure he got through security and then headed home to do homework for the rest of the day. Next week is my spring break, and I’ll be in Spain with my roommate for the week. We’re going to Barcelona, Mallorca, and Madrid, so be on the lookout for next week’s article!