Is it weird that I am craving gelato right now as I write this? As we settle back into reality, we thought we would give you a summary of the things we did, where we stayed, what we ate, and all of the cool pictures we took...
Where we stayed
It is hard sometimes to find a hotel that allows five people, but we ended up finding this adorable place called Your Suite Rome. Our apartment was called the Superior Suite Monserrato and it was perfect! Great location and it had everything we needed, even a washing machine!
What we did
Hard to go to Rome and not visit some iconic places.
What we ate
Favorite gelato place was Giolitti - amazing! I got pistachio and nutella every time lol! Girls ate pizza every day, I ate pasta every day and my favorite pasta was at a place called Osteria da Fortunata where the sweet Italian woman sat in the window and made the homemade pasta. Oh and we drank a lot of red wine and limoncello (the adults of course!) Even stopped at a McDonald's to make sure the fries tasted the same - they did of course!
What we wore
We knew it was going to be hot, but we wanted to still dress with a little bit of flair, so we opted for a relaxed, comfortable look that didn't make us totally look like tourists :)
One of our favorite parts of this trip for Jason and I was finding this adorable wine bar called Enoteca Bortone right down from our place. We went and had a glass of wine every day and promised GiamPaolo we would be back someday :)
What a beautiful city to visit and a very special place to be with family. Can't wait to go back! Ciao!
~Jen
At this time last Sunday I was in our perfect, little apartment in Rome, I mean actually I was asleep but I was most definitely not about to wake up. Now it’s 12:17am and I’m trying to catch up an ALL the homework I missed while figuring out my Homecoming outfits for this week. But, no matter how many people I tell about the amount of work I have to catch up on, their response is always the same, “It was worth it.” And lemme tell ya, they are right.
Europe is the place to be. You could have pizza for lunch, breakfast, or dinner and there are gelato shops around every corner. A lot of people have asked me what my favorite part about the trip was and I automatically answer with the food. My sisters and I had pizza every single day… like every single day. We had pizza for dinner every night and sometimes for lunch! Of course we had gelato at least once a day, usually twice! Basically, if you know me all that well, you know I was thriving!
Besides the amazing food, Rome itself is absolutely stunning. The landmarks and historical places in Rome we visited were amazing too, don’t get me wrong, but there’s just something about walking down a cobblestone street with your sunglasses in hand and your dress flowing through the light, nonexistent breeze. One of my absolute favorite spots had to be the Spanish steps. Thank gosh there actually were not that many steps! But once you made it to the top, the view was stunning! Around the Spanish steps was a HUGE selection of high end fashion stores. (Again, thriving). We made our way into a couple of them, partially for the air conditioning, mostly because the decor and clothing setups were so cool. That was a very amazing day, being able to experience the Italian culture a little bit.
I don’t really know what else to say about this trip. I feel like there’s too much to talk about, but I can’t even describe how incredible it was! I’m so very thankful for my grandparents who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and made the whole trip (and part of my existence) possible! I’ll tell you this, after going to Rome and traveling out of the country yet again, I know I want to travel when I’m older. I want to go anywhere and everywhere just to explore and experience different cultures, people, and places. Italy really out did itself (and so did my teachers), wow.
~Elsa