Italy! Wow! It is difficult to know where to begin. I also know that regardless of what I write, I won’t be able to explain how amazingly awesome the trip was. The trip was one of those tour trips where you pay a flat price and you get a strict itinerary with hotels, meals, tour guides and bus included. We were 22 students living in Spain for the year in from different parts of the world. While we were mainly from the States, there were 3 Canadians and one Brazilian. We went with the Rotary Secretary who lives in Madrid, a calm yet bad-ass Alejandra who did an amazing job.

On the Monday, 16th we met up in Madrid’s Barajas airport and took a direct flight to Rome, Italy. There in Italy we got our luggage and went to our hotel. The hotel was a mediocre place named Sisto V. Sisto the fifth, not Sistov as we initially thought.

On Tuesday we took got on the bus and went through Rome. We had a Spanish tour guide who spoke to in Spanish, even though all but one of us spoke English fluently. From the bus we were able to see many of the ancient Roman ruins around the city. Later we got off the bus at the Colosseum and went inside. This was a spectacular sight. It was really incredible that it still stood so big and so tall after nearly two millenniums. Afterwards we walked nearby the Roman Forum and down ancient Rome to our restaurant where we ate for our time in Rome. I will digress to unfortunately inform y’all (there is no vosotros, or a you plural, in english) that the food was included with the trip and so it was at these restaurants where we all had to eat the same thing and it seemed to be slightly cafeteria style. I think that when you go to Italy you should be prepared to spend a lot on the food, because it will be worth it. I did eat some meals in the streets and those were delicious. Anyways, after dinner we took the bus back to the hotel. The following day we went to another country. The Vatican City is legally a country of its own with all citizens having dual citizenship (usually with Italy). Also, interestingly, it might be the only country where you can enter without any form of identification. The Vatican is really just a huge museum. It has soo much art. Really the whole thing is art. From Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to sculptures and even to remains from ancient civilizations before the Romans, the Vatican is one big museum. St. Peter’s Basilica was really cool, and even bigger. It had inside it a comparison to other churches in the world which are all smaller in terms of largest interior. That afternoon we had some free time around Rome and saw the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

The next day we left the hotel around 6 AM and went to Naples. This was a long bus ride but we made it fun and it went by quickly. In Naples we drove around a little to see the panoramic of the bay and then took a boat to Capri. Capri is beautiful. It is a little island about 30 minutes away from Naples and very touristy. Really everywhere we went was very touristy. We saw some beautiful sites and spent the afternoon walking around. I even dipped my legs in the water, although the water was nearly frozen. We returned to our hotel in Rome that night and next went to Assisi.

Assisi is the town of St. Francis who was a friar and the founder of the Franciscans. The town was green and beautiful with a nice church and tomb where St. Francis is buried. Then we went on to Florence. Florence was nice but the weather was cold so the day was a little more calm because of that. We took a tour and had the afternoon free. I went and saw Michelangelo’s David which really impressed me. I was wondering before I went in if it was really as good as people said it was. And it is! Pictures can’t explain it at all. The size and perfection of it is just astonishing. We were in the Academia, the museum where it is housed, for almost an hour, and most of that time was just spent staring at the David.

Next we went to Pisa. And the tower is leaning quite a bit. Like a lot. Like it might fall soon. It was built on marsh land and one side is sinking. There is also a nice cathedral in Pisa. We spent the afternoon relaxing there and laying on the grass in the sun. It was a really nice afternoon. Then we continued on to Venice!

We took a boat to Venice in the morning and spent all day there. Venice is really beautiful with its canals and bridges. We took a Gondola ride through the canals and walked around the city. There are so many tourists that I think it would be annoying if you lived there. There is very little green, just a lot of blue. There are no parks or cars. There is public transportation in the form of a boat that goes along the grand canal every 10 minutes, but people mostly walk. Overall, a really incredible place.

In the morning we left our hotel at 5:40 and went to the Milan airport for our flight back to Madrid. It was hard to say goodbye to the other exchangers because we had grown really close. After 6 months of exchange we have so much in common that in a short 9 days we become really good friends. I hope that I can stay in contact with them and visit them in either Spain or North America. Now that I am back in Spain I feel that I have not much longer left. Next Thursday is my last day of school until Semana Santa, or Easter. Then we have a 10 day break. After that I will have less then one month until school ends on May 15th! I am planning on staying another month after that until mid June when I will return to Oregon.