This past Saturday, my six friends and I went to Napoli, Italy and Pompeii, Italy. We started off our journey at 5:00 in the morning with a cab ride to the train station. We boarded our train for Napoli at 6:30 and we arrived by 8:30. After that, we had to navigate around a crowded and foreign train station. We found the ticket station or biglietteria where we bought $5 round trip bus tickets to Pompeii. We arrived to Pompeii by 9:30 and stood in line to pay for more tickets to explore the ancient ruins. The town of Pompeii is surrounded by mountains, meaning a high chance of earthquakes. In 63 AD, an earthquake shook the town of Pompeii and the civilians spent years rebuilding. Disaster hit again in 74 AD, even one of the volcanos erupted and covered the entire city with ash and molten lava. The city was found by explorers years later. Since then, archeologists have preserved the remains of the city, allowing tourists to wander through the endless mazes of Pompeii. All seven of us were in complete shock. The rocks that remain hold so much history. Even some of the artwork and scriptures on the walls are still in tact. A lot of the colors are burnt oranges and reds. One of the main colors is called "Pompeii Red." After taking endless photos of the buildings and breathtaking mountains, we found the amphitheaters. Although some of the stone is remodeled, both of the amphitheaters are massive and quite cool. Lastly, we found the casts of the bodies that were found and preserved. Although this is extremely sad, I think it was one of the best parts of Pompeii.
After learning about the city more, we decided it was time to leave. With our bus tickets in hand, we took off for a short walk to the little bus station down the road. As we were walking, we were called "Charlie's Angels" by the street vendors. Once we got back to the Napoli train station, we decided to explore Napoli more. We found another biglietteria and paid exactly 2 euro to go to the Napoli museum and back. The museum was so much more than I expected. We saw sculptures of Greek Gods, beautiful ceiling murals, and so much more. There was even a room full of erotic paintings. It took us a few minutes to realize the paintings were supposed to be sexual. This collection of paintings was banned for the public for hundreds of years. Over the past few years, the museum has allowed people over 18 to see these explicit paintings from Pompeii. It's kind of interesting I guess, if you can get past all the obnoxiously large genitalia. We spent a few hours in the museum, carefully looking at the works of art in each room and taking pictures of our favorite pieces. At some point, all of us hit a wall and could no longer bare the thought of walking anymore. We searched and searched for a restaurant for dinner, but couldn't find anything. So we decided to take the metro from the museum to the train station and find a restaurant there. We ended up going to a sandwich shop and I ordered a pizzetta con prosciutto e mozzarella; it's basically a ham and cheese sandwich, but it's pizza dough instead of normal bread. It was huge and I finished the entire thing on my own. After all, we had walked over 20,000 steps, so I think I deserved it. Then we got McFlurries from the Italian McDonald's in the train station. The flavors for the McFlurries are completely different from America! I got one with Baci which is a hazelnut chocolate fudge sauce. YUM! After filling our stomachs, we felt a little bit less exhausted. But that didn't stop of from being obnoxious while we were waiting to board our train. 
Out of nowhere, some 80 year old Frenchmen approached us and asked if we were students. This adorable man tried his best to have a conversation with us as we spoke bit of English/Italian/French. In the end, we learned that he was a chemical engineer from France. Because of the language barrier, he took out a pen and piece of paper and started writing out math and chemistry equations to see if we could get the answers. He started with things like H20 and CO2 and then he wrote harder things like log(x) and some other equations only Kelsey could understand. He was so interested in our studies and I even spoke a couple sentences of Italian to him. I'm not sure if he understood what I was staying, but he nodded like he did! After he said  "bye bye" we joked that he was a ghost because he came out of nowhere and disappeared so quickly! By the way, his name is Victor. After Victor left, we had another period of slap happiness. There was an adorable and very animated boy sitting in the booth next to us. He ended up playing with his sword, pretending to fight with us while we were sitting at our table. Before I knew it, our train had arrived and we were off to Rome in no time. This was an amazing trip that I will remember for the rest of my life. I hope you enjoy these photos that I took. 

Here are my pictures from Pompeii--------------------------------



















































 

Our night started off with dinner at L'Insalata Ricca. I ordered a Margarita pizza and a glass of red wine. After dinner, all seven of us went back to the hotel and got ready for the night. We bought four bottles of champagne and a few pre-mixed drinks at a local grocery store. After getting dressed, we met in my friend's room and drank and took photos. We set off for Scholars around 9:30 because after 10 they begin to charge people a 20 euro cover. Once we got there, there was a huge line and they refused to let us in before 10 because they wanted us to pay cover. So, we left and went to another bar called Drunkin' Ship. We took tequila shots there and left for another bar because it was sooooo empty. By now it was probably 10:30 and we finally found a bar called The Abbey where we stayed for a good portion of the night. I ordered a Smirnoff Ice and shared a Peach Bellini with my friend Stephanie.

It's day 3 and I am finally starting to settle in. I find myself endlessly wandering around Rome until class begins. Last night, we went to a new restaurant that was really modern; we think it turns into a nightclub after hours. They served us four cheese pasta, some weird turkey dish, and tiramisu AGAIN! I could eat tiramisu every day. After dinner, we decided we were going to go to Scholars which is a Irish pub. Each of us went with a glass of wine or champagne. The seven of us sat in a cute little booth for a few hours; just laughing and sipping on our drinks. By the time we got back to the dorms, we were exhausted and went straight to bed. Today, I started off my day with a coffee and a chocolate crescent- which I can order all by myself in Italian. Then I went to Italian class and I love my Italian professor. She is very sweet and adorable. After that, my friends and I walked around Campo de'Fiori and went into a few shops. We found this really cute boutique that sells hundreds of scarves, hats, jewelry and a lot of cute clothes as well. We plan to go back to that shop (I think it's called TABA) and actually buy stuff later this week. Alaina and I walked back to the hotel to meet with my roommate Kelsey and my friend Katie. We spent an hour or so in our dorm chatting about our days while starting some homework. At 3:55, I had my first Art History class and I absolutely loved it. We didn't go too far into details today, but I know I'm going to love learning about Italian art and then actually seeing it when we go on tours. After Art History, I went to Religion which should be interesting as well! By the end of Religion, it was 7:00 pm and we were starving. So, we headed over to our Tuesday dinner spot which is conveniently next to our dorms. We had pasta al dente with creamy tomato sauce, followed by a well-needed salad, and then a fruit bowl for dessert. All of the food I have eaten here has been absolutely amazing.

Throughout this first week, I have visited a ton of tourist sights in Rome. I have recently visited the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. All of these places are so rich in history and I love knowing that I can go back and visit these sights any day for the next three months.

The Colosseum is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. My friends Hallie, Stephanie, and I walked around the entire building. Certain parts of it are remodeled and there are support bands in the arches because the building is slowly crumbling. The Roman Forum was right by the Colosseum. I was surprised with the Roman Forum and I definitely need to go back to read about the history of this area. I'm pretty sure this is what is left from ancient Rome. The Trevi Fountain is one of the most surreal things I've seen here. There is so much detail in each individual sculpture and all together it is truly beautiful. The first time I saw it was at night, I reenacted the scene from Lizzie McGuire and tossed a coin in the water. The next day, we went back to the fountain because we loved it so much. All of these places are minutes away from my hotel. My friends and I feel guilty staying inside for more than an hour, so we've been getting plenty of steps in our walking apps. I will be back soon with updates of my upcoming adventures featuring New Years Eve and a day trip to Pompeii.

Pictures from this week-------------------

Roman Forum

Lunch at Pascucci

The Pantheon at night

The Colosseum

Trevi Fountain

I have finally made it to Rome! I arrived yesterday around 11 am and I've been tired ever since. It all started out with a 15 hour journey from O'Hare airport in Chicago. After a tearful goodbye to our parents, we were off to Roma! Our first flight was to Montreal, Canada and it was surprisingly fast! I slept most of the way and I had two seats to myself. After that, we had a two hour layover in Montreal where we grabbed dinner. I had no idea how French Canada actually is. Turns out it's REALLY French. I was a hot mess when I tried to order a sandwich from the airport bar. Along with my freakout attack at the food stand, I also had no internet or cell service while in the airport. Before I knew it, we were boarding the final plane to Rome and I couldn't believe the time had come! I had been waiting for that day for over a year and a half. I was seated right by my friends, Alaina and Megan. Throughout the eight hour journey, we became more and more giddy with anticipation. The flight served a dinner containing surprisingly delicious chicken, bread, coleslaw, and a brownie! After that I dosed off for God knows how long. I woke up and it was "the morning" in Rome which meant we were served breakfast. In my head, it was still 2 am and I had no intentions of eating whatever they were serving. But of course it was delicious banana bread and I had to eat it. Once we arrived to Rome, we went through customs where the Italian customs police told me to go to his favorite bar. After that, we went to the baggage claim and then we found one of our professors that helped us get a cab from the airport to our hotel.

The car ride to the hotel was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever had. I was shocked by the way our driver drove, the streets, the graffiti, the colors, the trees. Everything around me was everything I thought it would be and nothing I would've expected. After we settled into our dorms, we dropped everything and went exploring. One of the first things we did was eat. My first meal in Italy was a margarita pizza and I loved every second of it. A few of my friends got gelato and I had to stop myself from overeating on the first day. Once we filled our stomachs, we set off for Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, Castel Sant'Angelo and so much more. We had no map (don't tell my mom) and it was amazing to explore such a beautiful city without a care in the world. We took tons of pictures, said "Buongiorno!" to every smiling face, and got talked up by street vendors *cringe-worthy pick-up lines.* Last night, the entire abroad group went out to dinner together and it was delicious. The first plate was a lasagna with cheesy vodka cream sauce (instead of tomato sauce and parmesan), the second plate was pork and potatoes, and for dolce or dessert, we had tiramisu! After devouring our food, we headed back to the dorms where we showered and finally let our bodies rest. It was one of the best sleeps I've gotten in a very long time.

I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and I cannot thank my family and friends enough for supporting me as I go through this crazy adventure. The things that I have seen in the past two days will be forever memories. This is going to be the best three months of my life. I'm constantly pinching myself. Last night I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't fall back to sleep because I was so excited for today's adventures. We are always finding new things and each day I feel more and more at home. I can't wait to write more about my travels and school once it actually begins.

Here are some of the photos I took today and yesterday----











Thank you for reading!!