While staying in Naples with two friends (which I will write about later), we took a day trip to visit Mount Vesuvius and the Pompeii archeological site.
In the morning, we took a minivan from the train station to the entrance of the Vesuvius National Park. It was very windy but we managed to hike up to the top. There we were able to look into the top of the volcano and enjoy beautiful sights of the coastline. In a small shop at the top we had some hot chocolate bought a couple postcards before walking back down.
Then, the minivan took us to the Pompeii archeological site. We bought our tickets, grabbed a map and started exploring the ruins. From the entrance of the park you can see big structures welcoming travelers as you continue into the heart of town. Looking up at the structures and imagining a bustling roman town was a truly memorable experience.
We spent some time walking around and exploring the site. Walking around the main square, theaters, bath houses, gardens, temples, and homes with Vesuvius always in the distance. We were free to explore, enter buildings and get up close to appreciate the details which highlighted the experience.
We also visited the Antiquarium which acts as a museum displaying every thing from household objects and jewelry, to paintings, statues, and columns recovered from the site. This experience gave us more information about life in Ancient Pompeii and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
It was a lot of fun and even if I did not realize it at the moment, having the opportunity to walk around buildings from 70 AD is unbelievable. It was comforting in a way; learning about the art, politics, society and architecture of the time while comparing it to that of the renaissance and even that of our time offered a fun contrast between how far we have come and how much we share with Ancient Roman society.
I had been doing so well for 2 years, but I finally caught Covid-19. I am thankful in a way that I got it now because I am fully vaccinated with a booster, meaning that my symptoms have been all but nonexistent, and most importantly I didn’t spread it to any of my friends. I also was not traveling this weekend that I was stuck in quarantine since it was the weekend before midterms. No traveling or money was lost out on! That’s always a benefit.
I have been in quarantine since last Monday, February 21, when I got my test result back. I was in Paris that weekend visiting my roommate from last semester, and I caught it in France because when I came back to campus and did the mandatory testing for going out of the country, that’s when we found out. So, I’ve been in a little room by myself ever since. I am actually going on almost 9 days– I tested yesterday (Monday) after the mandatory 7 days and was still positive to my dismay. My friends and the resident life faculty have been really nice to me since I’ve been in here, friends have gotten me groceries, my roommate has brought me a ton of things that I forgot, and one of the Res Life people, Simone (who we all love here), even bought me a crepe yesterday because he felt bad that I was still positive.
Still, it’s been difficult. I’ve missed being outside and being with my friends, and it has been hard to focus and get a lot done. Considering that it is midterms week, my lack of motivation has not been ideal at all. It doesn’t feel good either, because, in theory, I have so much time, but I simply cannot force myself to do what I need to. I usually am one that needs a change of scenery, some physical exercise, and a good amount of coffee to be productive when I’m in a slump, and I have access to none of that here.
Nonetheless, I’m trying to do the best I can with what I have. When I tested positive, the nurse told me that I was “almost there,” so hopefully I will be okay tomorrow when I test again. If not, I have no idea what I will do! So I’m just trying to think positively for now. I will hopefully be negative, in person for my midterm exams, and on a plane to Spain for my spring break trip on Thursday night. Maybe putting it into writing will help it happen.
The Russia-Ukraine Situation
I have gotten a lot of texts from friends and family making sure that I am safe, and wondering if I will be sent home. Not that long ago, I was wondering the same thing myself. I was not very educated on the relations between Russia and Ukraine, besides the fact that Ukraine used to be a part of the Soviet Union. Since then, I have become much more educated, and I feel that it is my responsibility to.
The irony of being in Europe for this situation is not lost on me, it feels very fitting for someone who graduated in 2020, was told I wasn’t allowed on campus until 2021 and had to change their study abroad location many times over due to Covid. That being said, I do not at all intend to make this situation about me. I have been seeing a lot of discourse about how people in the West, Americans my age, in particular, are making this horrible situation about themselves, saying that “they’re going to be drafted into World War 3,” and that they’re “tired of living through historical events.” I do not intend to be one of these people. The fact of the matter is that we are bystanders to this horrible event, even me and my peers, who are in Europe as it is happening.
What I do know is this:
We (myself and the students here in Rome) are not being sent home early, and unless something truly terrible and unexpected happens, we will not be leaving until May as scheduled.
We are not in danger. The fighting has been in Ukraine and Ukraine only, and it is highly unlikely that Russia would expand fighting to other countries, given that Ukraine is surrounded by NATO countries, and this would *actually* trigger WWIII.
We are not in danger to the extent that we have not been limited in traveling for Spring break besides going to Ukraine. We’ve been warned about potential dangers or complications in the instance that we were traveling to countries accepting refugees such as Poland or Hungary, but that is all.
I need to be more proactive about keeping up with world news.
I have been educating myself on the history of the relationship between Ukraine and Russia, as well as looking into ways to support Ukrainians during this time. Donating to grass-root organizations in Ukraine has been one of the most useful things I have found that I can do. Second to this is to not spread misinformation, and do what I can to suppress the “American” in me by not making this about myself, because the truth is, it doesn’t involve me at all and I am extremely privileged for that.
All in all, though, I am safe, the program will not be cut short, and I am doing my part to advocate against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and to support the Ukrainians where it is needed.
On a lighter note, I’ll be posting an update about my most recent travels soon, as well as where I am headed for Spring Break (pending I test negative tomorrow– wish me luck!).
Travel Catch Up: The Joys and Pains of Meeting New People While Travelling
Hello all, it’s been a while since I’ve written, but I have a good reason for my absence- my laptop broke and it has been quite a journey to solve my tech issues. So, I come to you from an iPad, which is a little more inconvenient to type on, but I wanted to make another post catching up on the last few weeks!
Last I left off, I was in quarantine still and hoping that I would be out in time for spring break— luckily, I tested negative on Wednesday in time for in-person midterms, and on Thursday I jumped onto a plane!
Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon, oh my!
My first stop was Barcelona, Spain. I met up with my friend Ellie Stotz (who I had also traveled with in Venice and visited with in Paris) and we spent 3 days walking what felt like the entirety of the city, seeing a beach for the first time in what felt like forever, and experiencing true Barcelona culture: tapas and drinks at 5, dinner at 10, and clubbing until 3 in the morning.
One of the beaches we visited– we walked out onto the stone/sand pier for the views!
Me posing in front of the gorgeous fountain we found at a large park we stumbled into.
View over the city from Park Guell and the famous tiled benches!
My favorite house of the many throughout the city by architect and artist Gaudi.
View of La Sagrada Familia from the park across from it.
Jamie, Ellie and I on our night out together!
One of the joys from this trip is that I got to meet Ellie’s roommate in Paris, Jamie. She was so fun, we went out with her and her friends from her hostel to a club, and met up with them again for dinner the following night. Unfortunately, I have not gotten to see Jamie again, and she goes to the University of Alabama, so it is unlikely that I will get to hang out with her again, which makes me sad. As I have come to learn, this is a theme from my travels, and also the theme of this post— meeting amazing people I want to be friends with, but having only a little time with them before I never see them again.
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From there, we headed to Madrid. Ellie only had one day there before she had to quickly go back to Paris for a school project, and I had another 2 days there by myself. Ellie and I explored most of the highlights our first day, so the following two I got my first taste of solo traveling seeing some museums, visiting everything that we had missed, and finding plenty of cafés.
The lake in the middle of El Retiro Parc, the “central park” of Madrid.
The Royal Palace of Madrid
Palaza Mayor, which our hostel was right down the street from.
One of the main government buildings, featuring some flags in support of Ukraine.
There was a lot of gorgeous architecture around El Retiro.
It was a cloudy day when we arrived in Madrid, but the view from the rooftop restaurant/common area of our hostel was still pretty cool.
Because I was alone, I decided to take this opportunity to make some new friends (especially because I still am not the best at eating dinner alone!) My first day without Ellie I explored a ton of museums by myself, and revisited our favorite park, and met a boy named Nate who was studying in Madrid on a semester abroad from the University of Massachusetts. I also met a boy from Cornell that I hung out with the following day, so while I guess I was doing a “solo trip”, I wasn’t truly alone.
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Then, I headed to my last destination for break, and potentially my favorite city of all the places I have visited, Lisbon, Portugal. It felt like a European San Francisco (somewhere I also love), complete with a giant red bridge, famous trolleys and hills, and beaches– though it had a lot more history and, of course, Portuguese culture.
There were many artisans selling the tiles and other handmade and hand painted pottery that Lisbon is famous for!
A cute street with a great example of the famous tiling on facades of buildings throughout Lisbon.
We visited the old royal palace, and to our surprise and delight, the grounds were filled with peacocks!
Ellie posing on our way to a vegan restaurant for dinner.
The fountain in the plaza outside of our hostel, which also happened to be in the same building as the famous train station there!
The sun came out mid day, and the views over the city into the ocean was incredible
We stayed in an amazing hostel where we made a lot of friends that we got to spend time with everyday. There was a group of boys from London staying there for a few weeks that we met, and we also made friends with some of the people who worked there. They stayed for free and worked as compensation, and boy was I jealous of that lifestyle— they just got to hang out with their friends and meet people from all over the world and make new friends all of the time.
The “closest” friend I made in Lisbon was a boy from Germany named Johan that was working at our hostel. This was someone I could definitely see myself being friends with, we had the same music taste and interests, and he was really fun, but I got 3 days with him before I came back to Rome. This was the first instance of me being really sad about leaving friends I had made, because this was someone that I truly felt a friendship forming with, but considering that he lives across the world, I will likely never see him again in my life. While I am jealous of the hostel-worker lifestyle, I’m not sure how they deal with people leaving all of the time, it’s hard to comprehend that these people come into then are likely gone from my life so quickly!
Ellie sneakily captured a picture of Johan and I when we were all walking back to the hostel with the group of friends we made.
Our hostel! It was so cool, this is the picture of the main communal area, filled with plants and couches, from the stairs leading up to the private rooms. This was such an awesome place to stay.
Hostel friend 2: Liam, an artist and tattoo artist from London.
One big cross over episode
My next trip with friends was to Amsterdam in the first week of April! The theme of this trip was old friends meeting new friends— as a friend here put it, it was “one big cross-over episode”.
I went with my roommate Cosette, and learned that my friend from high school, Darren who studies at Georgia Tech and is currently abroad in Metz, France, was going the same weekend. He was traveling with 3 of his friends from school, and we met up with them at the Van Gogh Museum. It was really neat to see him again and to meet his friends, and for Cosette to meet him, I had never had college friends meet high school friends in person before! His friends, Emily, Anahita, and Katie were super cool, and I’m sad that I didn’t get to hang out with them more! (Are you noticing a theme yet?)
We visited the Keukenhof Gardens for the very first weekend of the Tulip Festival!
Just one of the many canals with cool houses. Fun fact, there are a lot of houses and buildings that are leaning forward or to the side because the structure under water had deteriorated a bit!
The canals at sun set were so gorgeous– this was right around the Anne Frank house.
One of Van Gogh’s final paintings before his death, at the Van Gogh museum.
On Sunday Cosette and I hung out with a girl named Andrea who had been staying with us. She took one of the beds in the room in our hostel, and she is our friend Malena’s friend from high school! We explored markets and got some famous apple pie, and she was really cool to hang out with but it was odd to meet her without Malena being there. I’ll luckily see Darren when we’re both home, but the other 4 I likely won’t, which, again, so sad.
(left to right) Me, Cosette, Anahita, Katie, Emily and Darren took a selfie in front of the canals.
Darren and I took a picture to show our friends from high school that we had found each other in Amsterdam
Cosette, Andrea and I on our way to get some famous apple cake at Winkel 34, a cute cafe!
First Solo Adventure
For Easter break, I had my first solo trip! I was headed to London, England for 3 days, and Edinburgh, Scotland for 2 days. My first day in London I walked around as much of the city as I could, finding cute markets and a huge thrift store, seeing the Tate, a modern art museum, and getting dinner with one of the girls from my hostel, Linda who was from Munich.
I found Borough Market, a cute and crowded market with a ton of food vendors for lunch before heading to the Tate.
Tower Bridge, which was only a 10 minute walk from my hostel.
Brick Lane was also very close to my hostel, which has a ton of vintage shops and markets, including this, the largest market all underground!
On Saturday there were a ton of food vendors and artisans out on Brick Lane as well.
d!China town was all decorates
The British Museum was gigantic, I spent 2 1/2 hours there and felt like I barely scratched the surface!
The next day I did some more exploring, then actually got a cool opportunity to hang out with people! I had made a friend named Ella when I was staying at my hostel in Venice, and she lives in London working for Netflix. Ella invited me to hang out with her and her friends that afternoon/evening. Ella, and her friends Lydia and Megan, took me to Camden, and up to Primrose hill which had a view of all of London. That evening I got to meet their flat-mate Jonah, and they took me along to a going-away party for their friend Monika. They were all very sweet when I had to leave, giving me hugs and making me promise to follow them on Instagram and stay in touch.
The view of London from Primrose hill.
Me, Ella, and Lydia (I stole this from Megan’s instagram story post, so don’t mind the stickers and tags!)
The houses in Primrose were so cute.
I am not sure how people handled making friends while traveling back in the 90s and early 2000s. I am so thankful to have social media to be able to stay in contact with these people. Even if it’s just seeing a glimpse of their life every now and then, it’s still better than in the past, when it’d really just be chance to ever run into them or hear from them again!
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My next stop was Edinburgh. I stayed in a really awesome hostel, right at the foot of the famous castle on the hill, and it was in a great area overall. I also had someone to meet when I got there! My friend Christian Kephart, back at Loyola in Chicago, had a friend from high school Dervla, who had moved there from Ireland. She moved back to the UK for university, to the University of Edinburgh, and agreed to show me around the city! The night I got in, she met me outside of my hostel and we went to a popular chain in the UK called Spoons for dinner and drinks. We ended up getting along extremely well (we have the same music taste and sense of humor, and love to tell/hear stories) and I went back to her apartment with her to hang out more! We also texted Christian to make sure he knew that his two friends were getting along.
The picture Dervla and I sent to Christian
One of the many famous Gothic churches throughout the city, this was on the Royal Mile.
My hostel and the view of the castle on the hill from it!
Diego and Dervla leading the way to one of their favorite look-out spots.
The view from the hill the 3 of them took me to!
(stolen from BeReal, the new social media app the 3 of them made me get) Alex and I are in the large picture, with Diego and Dervla in the top left!
The next day I walked, again, what felt like all of Edinburgh (I have a thing with walking 10+ miles while exploring new cities as I have learned). Then Dervla texted me and asked if I wanted to hang out again with her that day, and meet her flat-mates. So that afternoon I spent time in a famous park there called the Meadows with Dervla, and her two friends Alex and Diego. They were really cool and fun to get to know, and we ended up spending the rest of the day together, getting food, showing me things I had missed on my self-guided walking tour, and going back to their place for a movie.
I think that this group of people was the hardest to say goodbye to. How we interacted felt exactly like how my friends and I back in Rome and back in the States interact, and I really felt like we could have been great friends if I got more than 48 hours there. But unfortunately, they study in Scotland, and I study in Rome/Chicago. It was still amazing to meet them though, and I’m so glad I did. It made my Easter break a not-so-solo trip.
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So, that’s me all caught up on trips with new people! I have less than 2 weeks now, and will give an update on my last few trips with friends, how I’m feeling about going home, and what finals season in Rome is like. For now I’ll leave some advice for any students that may be reading this who are considering going abroad:
1. Stay in hostels when you travel, don’t exclusively stay in Airbnb’s. It’s the classic way for young people to travel, and it’s an awesome way to meet new people. You can use the website HostelWorld to find well rated ones or ones that are good for young people/partying, and they’re much cheaper than other alternatives!
2. Put yourself out there to meet new people. Traveling with your friends is great, but there’s genuinely nothing better than being able to come back from your time abroad having made friends from all over the world. (Plus, you’ll always have somewhere to stay if you travel to where they live in the future!) Small groups when traveling with friends makes this easier!
3. Be active on Instagram. You may already be, or you may have gotten rid of it as a social-media cleanse, but it is a great way to keep in touch with anyone you may meet, whether it is people from your school studying abroad with you, or people you meet while traveling. It is also a wonderful way to document your time abroad, in case you don’t want to blog about it 😉 Many of my friends, including myself, have made separate accounts to document our time abroad, and it’s so nice to look back on, and is also a great way to keep friends and family updated on what you’re doing! (If you need an example, my account is lauren_goesabroad, feel free to check it out!)
Well, that’s it for now- if you read through all of this huge update, thanks for sticking with me!
