Well I have no clue how to write this….
But here goes
Italy was phenomenal. Seriously, anything that I wrote would not be adequate. We flew in to Pisa and about 15 minutes after landing it was my 21st birthday. We went to the leaning tower at about 1 in the morning and I was very surprised at how cool the building actually is. It really leans. I know everyone says that… but it’s surprising.
We had a horrible nights sleep and then had the most beautiful train ride along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I must live in a Villa in Italy at one point in my life. Seriously.
Once we arrived in Rome we found our hostel and found out we had been switched to a different one. So (me being very time conscience) we had to rush to our actual hostel and rush to the Colloseum where we met our guide. Valentina led us around Ancient Rome. She has a Ph.D. in Archaeology and was completely brilliant. We went through the Roman Forum and she explained how we were standing on the original road work over 2,000 years ago. Just ridiculous stuff like that. We were able to go in the Pantheon which is the most incredible building I’ve ever seen. We saw Caesar’s grave and the Trevi fountain. There is no way to describe these things. It makes sense why so many people love Rome…. there are endless things to see.
After the tour we went out to eat with other JBUers and celebrated my 21st. It really doesn’t get much better than a birthday in Pisa and Rome.
The next morning we went to Vatican City and saw St. Peters. I had no idea how massive it is. I’ll get pictures up soon. Everything in the place was so intricate. There was no way to see or appreciate everything. It would’ve taken days. We climbed over 350 stairs to the top and were able to be in the dome and on the roof. What? Just incredible.
We had lunch at a pizzeria I had researched and I loved it. It’s similar to ours… but much much better of course. We then headed to the Spanish Steps and split up for the shopping district. Luke and I didn’t want to shop (of course) and so we headed back to Ancient Rome and just relaxed.
The next morning we desperately tried to see the Sistine Chapel (don’t talk to me about this… I’m still upset)… but we stood in the wrong line and we had to leave if we wanted to see Florence. So we left. The train to Firenze was fantastic. Tuscany really is beautiful.
As soon as we arrived in Florence we were all able to breathe. It felt so much calmer than Rome, obviously. We first went to the Uffizi gallery and saw hundreds of incredible paintings including the Birth of Venus. I have no sufficient way of describing the experiences of the galleries. They were fascinating.
We walked the streets for a while and shopped. There were stands everywhere where you could barter. And you know you can’t help but to barter. It’s fun… just say it.
I had the best food of my life this night. Fettuccini with pore mushroom sauce. Italy really does have the best Italian food….. but olive garden is close.
At this point in our journey we are all exhausted…we sleep really hard this night especially. And we all get over 8 hours of sleep which is a first. We wake up and walk outside our door to the Academia with the statue of David. Who knew that the statue was huge? And exceptional? I wanted to see it, but had no clue how neat it was. You could stare at it forever I think.
From here we ate really good pizza and then hit the streets for our last 2 hours. Luke and I bought lots of Christmas Presents thanks to bartering.
We had a rough time making it home….. it’s a long story. Here’s it in brief form- late for our train, wrong airport, and an hour long taxi with a man that speaks no English and definitely doesn’t know where our airport is….he stared at his GPS and we all understood that it was taking us in circles. He finally saw a sign and said “AEROPORTO!!” and we all clapped.
We made it to Dublin that evening and left for N.I. the next morning.

Italy was beyond any expectations… and the experience made all of us bitter about being in Ireland. Italy is so much cooler : )

Thanks for thinking of me on my birthday. It’s good to finally be 21