I have another confession to make. I have officially been in Rome a week and adjusted to the new culture quite smoothly. Given this, however, I still have an obsession with all things French, particularly the language and its elegance and grace. Yes, Italian is a beautiful language as well, but there is something about the French language that flows and sounds beautiful even if you are just greeting someone on a street or reading something off the cafe menu. When we were leaving Paris, I found a pinterest board of inspirational quotes in French. A little something to remind me of how much I love the language and to hopefully help me learn the language better someday. Sois l'artiste de ta propre vie stuck out to me. It means be the artist of your own life, and I could not think of a better mantra for myself these last few weeks in the program or just life in general.
We have officially been here for 3 weeks and 2 days, meaning that I am 1 week and 2 days past my personal record for being out of the United States at any given time. Go me. With July 4th coming up I am reminded that this will be the 13th or so year in a row that I won't be at home home celebrating, but the first time that I will be out of my home country. With just a little less than a month remaining in the program (no, mom, I'm not counting down-just observing), I plan on taking every little moment and opportunity given to me and taking it in stride. And today, I did just that. I am so thankful to have chosen IES as my study abroad sponsor this summer. They have planned some pretty incredible extracurricular activities for us this summer, and this morning we had one that I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did. One of my classmates and I walked over to the center this morning at 9am and met our professor guide for the day, and we proceeded to hop in a cab in the midst of Roman Rush Hour towards the Appia Antica Way. Appia Antica was one of the earliest and most important roads of the ancient Roman republic, connecting Rome to Southeast Italy. The professor, who I love by the way, took us to breakfast at a cafe near the start of the walk, where we drank cappuccino and shared Roman donuts, before we went on a walk of some of the most ancient ruins. It was absolutely beautiful. We walked about 5 miles up and down the way, visiting different catacombs and villas, before stopping for lunch at the same cafe where we had breakfast-after all, who would turn down free breakfast and lunch? We got back to our apartment around 1:30 after a light-hearted educational morning, well-rested enough for the remainder of the day.
Before coming to Rome, I consulted everyone I knew who visited or studied there during some point in college. Turns out, everyone has a different opinion about the best restaurants, coffee shops, places to live, pizza slices, gelaterias, transportation options, etc. IES even gave us a bucket list upon arrival in Rome about what they thought were the best places to visit as well. Today when we got back I pulled out the different lists and ideas, completely overwhelmed, and decided that I needed to visit Trastevere. According to my friend Melissa, "Trastevere is everything you dreamed Italy would be. It is a treasure. It is just across the Tiber from the historic center, accessible by the 8 Tram. I will kill you if you don't spend time here...wander around the cobblestone streets and just take in the incredible beauty. Get a little lost and enjoy it. Pop into shops. This is the liveliest area of Rome, and it's very easy for tourists to navigate." Well, according to google maps, Trastevere was about a 2 mile walk from my apartment and even more complicated if you tried to get public transit there. So, I decided to take the opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and walk to Trastevere. Quite the adventure, might I say. By the time I finally got there, I could see exactly what she meant. Trastevere may have been one of the cutest places that I have ever seen. It is easily comparable to my favorite neighborhood in Paris-Le Marais-with its high quality restaurants, fun nightclubs, shops, and cobblestone streets. I found myself walking around for almost 2 hours before stopping for a gelato cone somewhere just on the outskirts and then walking back inward. Just as I was walking down a street, I found this adorable leather store and walked in not expecting to buy anything but just look around. Instead, I walked out of the store after a 2nd visit with a beautiful leather tote that could easily double as a messenger bag with the extra longer strap, with two-tone leather and cute buckles on the front. As it was getting later, I decided to stop for an early dinner at a restaurant highly recommended to me by another friend Shelby, who described the restaurant as "heaven." Whatever you're doing right now, drop it and book a flight to Rome. As soon as you arrive, get in a cab and head straight for Dar Poeta. The best pizza-the absolute best pizza-I have ever had. In. My. Life. Ugh, so good nothing can compare...well, I'm not going to have enough time to go to Naples so maybe I'll retract that statement sometime in the future. But, never in my 21 years of living have I had such an incredible Margherita Pizza. There, done.
After dinner, I decided to make the long trek home and ended up getting lost in the process, getting on the right tram headed in the wrong direction. After attempting to call the cab company (fail because no one spoke English), I walked back to the tram station and got on the right one headed for Piazza Venezia. Luckily tonight there were no protesters. I was easily able to navigate my way back to Via del Corso, the main shopping street, and followed the signs for Piazza Navona only to stop by the Pantheon on my way home. After getting lost...again, I found the street where the IES Center is located and made the final leg of the trek back home. Only after collapsing on my bed did I realize that today I walked nearly 13.5 miles total, clearing my record for the most miles walked in a day since being abroad and I have hardly gotten off my bed since getting back a few hours ago.
Sois l'artiste de ta propre vie. This quote comes to mind when I think about the last 2 days and my solo adventures abroad. I've come to realize that everyone has an opinion on everything, and this is true about being abroad. I was so nervous about trying to impress my friends and family by going to all the places they recommended that I nearly had a heart attack trying to figure it out. So sorry Melissa, I wasn't able to go to your favorite pizza and pasta places in Rome (in my defense, one was closed and the other one I couldn't find). But, at the same time I feel like I have in a way created my own experience. In picking restaurants that look good, I know that I am making a conscious choice to eat somewhere that I would like to go. And, I am not recording any restaurant names. For now. Except Dar Poeta and Giolitti's. Because everyone deserves to have a great time when they go abroad, and visit the places that they want to visit and eat where they want to eat. I've had some pretty great carbonara since getting to Rome, and pizza margherita, and gelato, and house wine. All have been memorable because of the experiences that I had in those moments. Being abroad is a bunch of experiences intertwined, like my own personal coloring book, and only I can really fill in the pages the way that I want to. I am being the artist of my own life.
Tomorrow it's off to Florence for me, time to explore the places that I learned about in MEHAP in high school and just getting out of the crazy busy streets of Rome. I can hardly believe that a week has gone by and I've been doing so much Rome-ing around (pun creds to my friend Toni). This time next week we will begin part 3 of our abroad adventure in Madrid, and I am looking forward to going back to a city that I once called home for 2 weeks.
Until then, it's off to shower and get ready for tomorrow. Bus trip calls for a 7:15 meeting point...on the other side of town. So I better get to bed!
Addio bella!
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