Submitted by Olivia Smith on the 2016 spring semester program in Tuscany, Italy…
VATICAN CITY! This morning for breakfast I had a chocolate filled croissant, 2 muffins, yogurt with cereal and a cup of tea! Today, we walked pretty far to Vatican City, and it was so worth it. An interesting fact is that Vatican City in not part of Rome, it is its own state and they have their own separate currency. When we got there, there were SO many people, the line looked about 4 hours or more wait. We were very discouraged because we wanted to go inside. Luckily, when we were walking around we met a really nice lady that was with the “Official Tours of Vatican City” and she told us how this company that she works for already has the tickets to the Vatican, you don’t have to wait in any lines and you get a tour guide, all for 41€. So we decided to do this! We walked through the Vatican Museum first and it was VERY beautiful. Then we were able to go into the Sistine Chapel, no pictures or even talking was allowed because it could cause damage to the paintings. I have no words to describe the inside of the Sistine Chapel. The last stop was the Vatican, which is HUGE. Every detail inside is significant, which makes the Vatican so important. At the Vatican, I got a couple of items which I thought were special. Outside of the Vatican, I was given permission to talk to one of the Swiss Guards! He was really nice and he gave me 2 tickets to see the Pope on Wednesday…but I am unable to attend. This was a great experience. For dinner, we found another Irish restaurant and I had a chicken wrap! One last time, we walked to the Trevi Fountain and my Mom and I both tossed a coin in and made a wish!
T
This morning my parents and I had breakfast before I had to go on the bus back to Volterra and they took the train back to Rome because their flight home was early the next morning. Saying goodbye to my parents is always sad, but I know that I am becoming a stronger person. There are only about five more weeks left before the semester is over and then I am back in the U.S. for the summer. The bus I took went as far as Saline, and then from there a taxi picked me up and drove me all the way to campus. I got to campus around 11:30 AM and at 1:00 pm I had to walk up to town to eat my lunch at the restaurant that caters all of our meals. I was the only one on campus, so it would be kind of pointless for them to come down so I just went up to them. For lunch, I had bread strips, ravioli with tomato sauce, grilled pork, white beans and salad. I was super stuffed after this meal. When I was finished eating, I walked back to campus and got myself organized.