Rome via Brooklyn

Hi everyone! I got to Italy a little over a week ago to do some traveling with my boyfriend before the program began. We worked our way south from our starting point in Venice, making many a stop in between before arriving in Rome on Friday.

At the moment, I’m most excited to sleep in the same bed for more than a few nights in a row, and to have access to a washing machine. I’m also of course excited for all the historic art and buildings, as well as to get to know everyone better.

This is my first “real” trip abroad since I went to Prague with my dad circa age 12, and now that my boyfriend has gone off on the rest of his travels, it’s my first time being so alone this far from home. I know I’ll only be alone until later today, but it’s still a weird feeling.

Nobody gave me too much advice, per se, but I was given lots of recommendations by friends who had previously studied abroad. I also had so many magical little interactions with travelers I met along the way; a trio who we chatted with in Florence and later ran into again in Rome; an Italian woman who my boyfriend helped carry her suitcase up a hill in Siena and who was later on our same bus to Rome; a classics professor from Philly at the cat sanctuary who was also preparing to lead a study abroad. It’s all felt very serendipitous, very meant to be.

My airport experience and flight here were uneventful, and although I barely slept on the longer overnight flight, I knocked out immediately on the one hour connecting flight from Zurich to Venice. I had no impromptu conversations, and there was no line at all at customs, which was beautiful. Here’s hoping the way back is just as easy.

I am feeling really happy that I got here so early and had time to familiarize myself with general things just through experience, which wasn’t very prepared of me, but it did work. And the coffee break Italian podcast definitely helped with being able to feel a bit more comfortable and polite. I really like the word uscita, mostly because it’s fun to say but also because when you’re exhausted from a long travel and sightseeing day, an exit sign is the best sight in the world.

I’ll end here, but I’m very excited to start off the trip and see everyone later today!