Roman Holiday

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For spring break I went with a group of friends to Italy. While I Ireland, it was nice to be in warm sunny weather, eating delicious food and drinking wine for a change. We started our trip off in Rome. I absolutely fell in love with the city. It is spine chilling to be walking down the main streets in Rome and see ancient ruins and the Colosseum right in front of you. We lucked out and learned our first day that it was culture week in Italy and most of the sites were free to visitors. Our first day we toured the roman ruins, the Colosseum and walked to the major monuments like the Trevi fountain, pantheon and spanish steps. Just walking around the city you realize that Rome has truly been a center of activity for 3,000 years. The city's architecture is a mixing of the different Roman empires.

The following day we went to the Vatican. As we were arriving we discovered that there was a ceremony about to start. Even though we didn't have tickets, they let us in. Next thing I knew, I was standing in St.Peter's Square and the Pope came out in his pope mobile and began circling the crowd. Then, they read from the gospel in 5 different languages and a representative of each language greeted the Pope. The US representative was Joe Lieberman, something I still haven't quite figured out. The ceremony ended with everyone singing the Our Father in latin together. It was amazing to be surrounded by people from literally all over the world in St.Peter's Square. Later that day we went to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. The hype around the chapel is appropriate because it was absolutely beautiful. Afterwards, we headed into St.Peter's Basilica. It is the world's oldest church and houses the tomb of St.Peter and the previous popes, including John Paul II. That evening we walked around the monuments at nightime. It was so beautiful to see all the monuments lite up and walk around with the crowds of people at night.

Next, we headed to Florence. The smaller city gave us the oppertunity to move at a slightly slower speed. We went inside the city's famous Duomo church. I also went to see the David statue by Michelangelo and the Uffizi museum of art, one of the most popular art museums in Europe. Florence is just full of beautiful art and architecture and it was great to simply walk around and see it all. I also loved walking around the outdoor markets and looking at their famous leather. Florence has been known for centuries for their leather and I had a chance to go to a leather factory and watch them handmake leather products. My favorite part was on the last afternoon I climbed a hill in the city to Piazza Michelangelo. I had an amazing view of the city against the Italian mountains just as the sun was setting.

My final stop was to the small town of Assisi. The town was home to St Francis and St Clare. It is a picturesque, medieval Italian town on the top of a mountain. The town is now home to numerous, beautiful churches to honor their famous residents. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the churches but the walls and ceilings were covered in amazing painted frescos. The view from the town was wonderful and I enjoyed spending the day walking around in the sun and taking in the view.

The capstone to my trip was the Italian food. Everything I ate was out of this world. I stuck by my plan and I had a gelato every single day. Besides that, the streets are just lined with appetizing pizza, pastas and pastries. Not to mention the delicious Italian wine. While I love potatoes, Irish food cannot begin to compare with the fresh and mouth watering food I had in Italy.

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