Arrivederci, Roma!

It seems like just yesterday I was strolling the streets of Rome... well I guess that's because I was. Yes, tonight I find myself safe and sound back in Copenhagen. I was only in Rome for about 40 hours, less than two days, but in the time I was there I got a good sense of what the city is like, and noticed how completely different southern Europe is from my cozy home here in Denmark.

First, it's sunny. I actually didn't like how bright it was there and how it was so cold in the shade but then warm enough in the sun to take your jacket off. It was a bit frustrating. Also I was so pasty white that I practically sparkled like a vampire. (Do they really sparkle? I've never seen Twilight.) Anyway, my friends Marika and Christina (the two studying in Brussels) and I went to the Vatican City on Saturday to go to the museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Now, I will be honest about my opinion because this is my blog and I can write what I truly think, but by no means are you forced to agree or even care about what I thought. Ok. So I didn't really want to go in the first place, I would have rather seen the colosseum, pantheon and Trevi fountain had I known it would have taken all day. Also it cost 12 euro. I do not like religious art, especially old religious art (anything before 1700 isn't really my thing) so the museum was not that interesting. The Sistine Chapel was ok, but the entire time the security guards were yelling at people for taking pictures, and the only piece on the ceiling I recognized was the one with the fingers touching in the middle. I'll post below. And then we went onto St. Peters (at which a nun cut us in line... you can't call out a nun for cutting you in line) where we saw lots of marble, lots of dead people and lots of sparkly mosaics. In all, it wasn't an entire waste of time, but I'm not Catholic, so the religious aspect wasn't there for me, and I'm not a huge fan of ancient artwork, so the cultural aspect was lacking too. But there was a small contemporary art section I loved, but my two friends did not so we walked through pretty quickly.

After the Vatican City we had a true Italian lunch of bruschetta and caprese salad. So much olive oil, so much mozzarella, so much goodness. I am in love, and will be buying mozzarella and tomatoes at the grocery store tomorrow. And they had absolutely amazing bread.

Saturday afternoon we rested at our hotel so we could go out for dinner that evening and see the rest of our friends studying abroad there. At this little pizza place in Trastevere (a very old part of the city) I had a zucchini pizza that was to die for. The crust was heavenly. I wish I could remember what it's called! After dinner we went out for the night and I realized how casual going out in Copenhagen is! Italian men are intense. But we had fun, and called it a night early due to our whirlwind day at the Vatican.

This morning we went to a flea market near where my friend Katie lives. We ran into all the other girls that study abroad there and for once we were all united! Sadly after the market I had to leave, but we had that one hour together! The market was filled with mosaic plates, used sweaters, knock off handbags, leather jackets, stolen goods, sketchy food, jewelry and basically anything else you could think of. It really was great.

After the market I trekked to the airport to fly home... which I will discuss in another post. It is too much to handle right now! Let's just say without the help of a wonderful Dutch man in line behind me at the train station coming to my rescue as I began to hyperventilate, I would still be in Rome. But that is for another day!

Sorry for such a quick recap of Rome, it really was a whirlwind final stop! I will add pictures later this week! I will also post a page about where I stayed and how I got around, so you can see how I traveled! It actually worked out perfectly, but I did have some downtime on travel days. Thanks for reading about my trip, I am very happy to be back in Copenhagen, but loved seeing so many amazing countries - I honestly can't believe I just did all that!

More tomorrow!
Devon