Do It On The Weekend! – Florence & Rome

View of Florence.

Submitted by Allyce Morino, Global Ambassador in Viterbo, Italy.

What a whirlwind the past two weeks have been! I started classes, and haven’t stopped moving since! What did I do on my

Me & the Ponte Vecchio.

weekends, you may ask? Rest? Relax? Of course not! I took advantage of my free time and traveled to Florence and Rome!

The first weekend was spent in Florence. My roommates and I were already in Perugia for the Umbria Jazz Festival, so we thought it would be the perfect time to see the city. Florence is beautiful! We visited the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Museo Casa di Dante (Alighieri), San Croce (where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried), Ponte Vecchio, and the Piazzale Michelangelo on Saturday, and the Uffizi Gallery, Piazza della Signora (where a fake Statue of David stands), and the Boboli Gardens on Sunday. Florence has so many shops and restaurants to choose from, and it was a fairly easy town to navigate. I really enjoyed my time, and was sad to leave!

Since arriving in Italy, I’ve wondered when I was going to get a few days to explore Rome. I was so happy to find out that my Travel Writing class wasted no time in scheduling a field trip there! My roommate Caroline and I made plans to stay for a few days to make sure we saw everything there is to see. During the field trip, we saw The Sacred Area of Largo Argentina, the Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. All of the locations were beautiful, but my favorite was the Pantheon! The Pantheon was stunning on the outside, and just as beautiful on the inside. I think I lost count of how many times I said “Wow, how amazing!”

The following day we spent a few hours at the Vatican. I was baptized Catholic, so it was a really cool thing to see. The Sistine

Exploring Rome.

Chapel is probably the most beautiful painting I have ever seen. It is mindboggling to think about the amount of time and effort that went into such an elaborate painting. We also went back to the Trevi Fountain that night, which was just as beautiful as it was during the day, and definitely still crowded!

Our final day in Rome was a quiet one. We visited the Colosseum and took our time walking around each level. It is an awesome feeling being able to see a structure that has been around since 72 A.D.! The Colosseum was a perfect way to finish off our Roman weekend. Now, back to Viterbo where mid-terms await!

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