Public service announcement: If you haven’t studied abroad yet, and still have it as an option, stop whatever it is you’re doing and send in an application right now.
Before I came to Rome, I wanted to know things. No, I wanted to know everything. What are classes like? Does the hotel have comfortable beds? Is every meal better than the one before it? How do you navigate the trains? How often can I travel? Is staying in a hostel actually as terrifying as the word makes it sound? I couldn’t ask enough questions, and luckily my sister Lauren, who studied abroad here ten years ago, did her very best to answer them. But my most important question was “What’s a typical day in Rome like?” And that was the only question I could never get a straight forward answer to. And after living here these past few weeks, I understand why. There’s no such thing as a typical day in Rome. I have been seven weeks. That’s forty-nine days, and no two have been the same. That sense of spontaneity and adventure is what makes living in Rome such a special experience.
One day you take a walk and spend three hours sitting on the Spanish Steps– people watching at it’s finest.
Or you stumble into a crowd of people who are awaiting the arrival of the Pope.
Or take a spur-of-the-moment day trip to Frascati, Italy and spend the day swinging on swings in a park and drinking wine in the mountains.
Then one day you feel homesick so you watch your go-to feel good movie (Parent Trap) in the library until you snap out of it and are hungry for gelato.
Or you spend the day walking through the Tivoli Gardens.
Or you experience the Beatification of Pope Paul XI in St. Peter’s Square.
Or you sing “This Is What Dreams are Made of” while on your group tour of the Colosseum.
Or you leave dinner saying that was the best pasta I have ever had, then realize dinner the next night is even better.
(stop drooling)
That’s Rome. Each day holds something new to discover and more gelato to eat. But I wouldn’t want it any other way…
Photos provided by the author
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