Parents Weekend Rome Edition

It was great to have my parents come and visit the weekend after fall break. For months they had told me that my sister would not be coming because she could not miss school but as soon as I came to the apartment they surprised me with her. It was really cool to have her in Rome because I could show her everywhere that I had been going in person and not jus through pictures (she would take care of that plenty). The first say I was able to bring them around the area that my school is located. I brought them to an overlook point near a fountain where you can see the entire city. At that point it felt really cool to know the city well enough to know that this location existed outside of the the tourist center.

Overlooking Rome

From there we went to the area of Trestevere. My mom continuously mentioned how she thought the area looked like a movie set, I guess I have become accustomed to this style of architecture after seeing it for months. Of course, later that week we did all of the tourist attractions: Colosseum, Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. Even though this sis more a tourist attraction than that of the overlook fountain, I took them to the the top of the Vittorio Emanuel monument in Piazza Venezia where you can see every site in Rome. That night I took them to my favorite pizza place, Dar Poeta, for amazing Italian pizza and good wine.

Another day we went to the Vatican City with a private tour. The Vatican was really cool and seeing the Sistine Chapel was also really cool. These are locations that you hear about for years at home and are constantly in movies but to see them in person was awesome. That Monday we went to Florence for a day trip. Florence was really cool, we saw the Ponte Vecchio and climbed the Duomo. The Duomo was interesting with it's extremely detailed exterior. The view from the top was spectacular and it was interesting to see how the city really did all have matching architecture. The best part of the trip though had to be the Florentine Steak dinner. It was the best steak I've had in a very long time and the pasta appetizers are spectacular.

Duomo in Florene

Even though my parents had already seen Rome it was a different experience seeing the area of Trestevere that I live in that more closely resembles a classic Italian residential area. It was also great having my sister meet some of my friends and being able to show her some of the Italian night life. 

Seeing the apartment

Bologna: The City of Letters

Many people do not know about Bologna. Bologna is a city in the center of Italy and has one of the largest Universities in Italy. Bologna may not have much significance but to my friends and I Bologna is where our Fraternity, Kappa Sigma, was founded in 1400's. We decided to take a one night trip by a three hour train ride. It was really cool to see all of the sights that are in our rituals. There isn't much that I can say in detail that isn't Ritual related but one of the coolest things that we did was climb to the top of Torre Degli Asinelli (part of the two towers piazza). It has an amazing view of the city. For dinner we tried Spaghetti Bolognese, another Bologna staple, and at night we found some english speaking bars because even with our limited Italian knowledge we are still totally lost in Italian bars.

view from the top

artsy picture of the towers

AEKDB(Kappa Sig thing) from the top of the tower

Overall I would say it was a great experience because I got to see places that I have learned about as a Brother of Kappa Sigma and got to see them with fellow Brothers.

London Weekend

For my final trip I decided to take a trip to London. This trip was different than any other trip that I took all year. First off I did this on by myself. I stayed with a friend who was studying in London and I was able to use a train to get to the airport in both Rome (Fiumicino) and London (Gatwick). While trying to get to the airport in Rome I was told that the trains had very large delays and it really got me worried. Luckily, after an hour wait (which should have been 15 minutes) a train came and brought me to the airport in plenty of time for my flight. I'm happy that this delay happened though because it allowed me to meet a couple from London that was actually on my flight. I helped them with the trains, even though neither one of us could understand the announcements, (if you think English conductors are hard to understand try it in a foreign language) I was able to look at the departure board and it said that a train was coming soon.

Big Ben from the London Eye

After the train fiasco the trip was pretty easy from the Gatwick airport to Victoria Station using their railway system. London was amazing overall. I was expecting for it to be rainy and cold the entire weekend but it was actually about 40 degrees and barely ever rained. I arrived Thursday night around 1am so we just hung out at her school. My friend in London studies at a school in Regents Park, completely opposite from me in Rome she lives in dorms and does not need to leave campus to get to class and also had a dining hall. Honestly I prefer living in apartments in Rome, it has allowed me to completely adapt to Roman and Italian culture by having to deal with the sporadic buses and store closures just like all the local residents.

Friday I was a tourist. First stop? CHIPOTLE! Italian food is amazing but it can be very repetitive. The thing that struck me most about London Chipotle happened when they ran out of rice. For those that eat chipotle, chipotle without rice isn't at all worth it but all the locals behind me had not problem getting it with extra beans, my friends and I decided to wait it out like normal Americans. Later that day I saw the London Bridge, did the London Eye and saw Big Ben. It was really cool to see things that I've seen in movies for years. Later that night we went out in Camden area at a bar with 90's music and good beer. It felt like a higher end college bar which was really cool.

Tower Bridge

Saturday was my favorite day. We went to a soccer game: West ham United v Fulham. For those that have seen the move Green Street Hooligans West ham United is the team that the main characters are supporters of. This was my third soccer game in Europe (Barcelona and Rome being the others). It was really cool because even though these teams in particular aren't the top of the league, they are still in the Premier League in England which is a top league in the world. West ham United won 3-0 in a packed stadium. European soccer is really fun to attend, constant cheering and loyal fan support.






Overall London was a great experience and I would return in a second.

West Ham United v Fulham