Submitted by Emily Workman on the 2024 Spring program in Rome, Italy…
It’s my third week here in Rome and it is finally starting to feel real that I am living here for the next four months. I had two site visits this week for my classes and we got to explore the seven hills of Rome and learn different stories about the creation of Rome. It’s so surreal that I am able to sit at the base of aventine hill with my classmates and be taught about thousands of years of history while looking at it. I love how everywhere you turn in Rome there is history, and you can never run out of different sites to see. Another site I finally got around to this week was going to Vatican City. It was about an hour walk from our apartment, but it was so worth it to be able to see the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. My friends and I went later in the day and we were able to see the sunset there which was gorgeous. Inside the Sistine Chapel you aren’t allowed to take pictures, but it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and it was well worth going. Not only was I able to see the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo, but I also took a trip to Florence this week and went to see his famous sculpture, the David. I was shocked at how big it was in person, it is around 17 feet tall! While in Florence I also saw the Duomo and went to the Uffizi Gallery where I saw some of Da Vinci’s unfinished work and Botticelli’s famous “The Birth of Venus” painting. Week three in Rome was another memorable one and I was able to see so much art this week and learn a lot about the history of Rome. (Submitted on January 29, 2024)