Brussels and Beyond: Italy

My roommate Emily and I went to Italy the day after we got back from Paris. We flew to Rome first and arrived late on Wednesday night. The bus from the airport took us past beautiful landmarks, and we could not wait to see the city. When we stepped out of the airport, we were thrilled to find 70 degree weather a city covered in palm trees and other tropical plants. We dropped our bags off and took a tip from other girls staying in our hostel room about where to go to get a late dinner. We went to a cozy Italian restaurant and had an incredible three-course meal. The first course was homemade pasta with a creamy sauce and green peas. Then came roasted chicken and salad and finally a custard for dessert. What a perfect first Italian meal!

The next day we saw all of the sights in Rome. We bought a bus pass that allowed us to hop-on and hop-off a tour bus that makes a big loop around the city. We saw the Vatican, the Collosseum, and the Forum. My favorite part was the Trevi fountain, which was absolutely beautiful. I even threw a coin in and made a wish. We took the 6pm train to Florence, which took about 2 hours.

Florence was the most beautiful city I have ever seen. We climbed to the top of the Cathedral tower and were blown away by the sights. The gorgeous architecture and green mountains surrounding the city were breathtaking. We also saw the Statue of David and had incredible pizza. It was a warm and bright day, and the people were unbelieveably friendly.

We took another train to Venice that evening. The weather was not quite as wonderful there, but it did not take away from the beauty of the city. We walked along the beautiful canals to St. Marco’s square, where much to the disgust of my roommate, I fed the pigeons. They were so used to humans that they sit on your wrist and eat bread right out of your hands. After washing my hands for 2 hours, we walked along the coast of the ocean and took a gondola ride! It was very touristy of us to do so, but we had a great time and broke out singing “That’s Amore” a few times.

When it was finally time for us to head back to Brussels, I was terribly sad to leave. The pasta, pizza, gelato were amazingly delicious, and the sights were even more beautiful than I thought they would be.