One Week

Ciao a tutti. In case you didn't know, I'm back home in the good ol' USA. It's so weird to think a week ago, I was spending my final hours roaming around Rome. Between studying for finals and packing and soaking in the last of the city, I was unable to put up a blog post, but trust me, my last week was incredible. Besides one slight mishap, which I'll refrain from commenting on here to focus on the positives, my last week was full of fantastic experiences which I'll never forget. In this blog post, I'll give a brief highlight of my final days in the eternal city.

Sunday
On Sunday, I was finally able to go inside the Colosseum and tour the Roman Forums. My roommate, Marree, and I were so lucky, as the rain that day had cleared up right when we got to the Colosseum. So many amazing photo ops.

The Colosseum!

View from the second level

I'm like a gladiator

View from the first level

Cheese!

Inside the Forum

Marree & I

View of the Roman Forum

Monday
This day was spent studying for my hardest final. Yes, I studied.

Tuesday
After my hardest final, I attended an AS Roma football game. Although they lost the game, I had fun sitting in the stands, immersed in the excited atmosphere.

The whole group!

View of the Stadium

The Curva

Forza Roma!

Wednesday
With my exams finally over, I got together with people from my program to celebrate one of our last nights. We had a fun night bouncing around the city and I had a delicious bomba on the way home (basically a sugared donut filled with nutella- YUM.)

Thursday
I went to the Vatican museums and climbed to the top of the cupola to see an incredible view of Rome. Emotions started running high and I realized I would soon be leaving this magnificent place. That night, the Arcadia staff provided the students with a delicious, catered meal. One final night out with a large group of people.

The Vatican Museums

The School of Athens

Secret picture of the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Incredible view

On top of the world

The Arcadia kids

Friday
I got my last cappuccino at my regular cafe and talked with my favorite baristi. After finishing up packing, a few remaining students got dinner together at a great restaurant. Since I had an early travel time in the morning, I decided to stay up all night and meander around the city with friends. It was a perfect ending to the semester.

My last cappuccino

Some of the girls with Tony from "Tony's"

Saturday
The travel day!!! So much travel. 5:45am train ride to the airport. 8:45am plane ride to Munich. 3:10pm flight to Chicago. Arrived in Chicago at 6:20pm (1:20am on Sunday, Rome time). Long. Day. But I was finally home!

Rough day of traveling, but I'm home!

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's followed my blog or even just read an article here or there. I'm hoping to come back and go into further detail on some of these events, so check back. I had an incredible semester and it was something I'll never forget. Thank you to my parents for supporting me in so many ways as I went abroad, the Arcadia staff and faculty for acting as a second family, and to the new friends I made in the beautiful city. Grazie mille.

And to Rome, you beautiful, wonderful city: ciao until we meet again.