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