Finally Getting Used to This City

Happy February everyone! Today I write to you more adjusted to Rome than I was last month. It’s only the 9th but February seems like it will be a good month! Here are some of my highlights and fails thus far.

Papa Francesco

Yes, I saw Papa Francesco and I am still in shock and it happened last week. Loyola gave us the day off to attend his first Papal Audience for the month of February. Whether you are Catholic or not, this is a fantastic opportunity to meet the great leader of the Catholic church. A bunch of us Loyola kids were told to go line up early so we could get a good seat inside. Well us brainiacs thought that 4:30AM (yes people, AM) would be a great idea. Wrong! I will tell you, this was perhaps the biggest fail since I’ve been in Rome, HUGE rookie mistake. Just picture this in your head: 200 Loyola students huddled together in the rainy, cold, windy weather at 4:30AM. I hope you laughed, because I still laugh at myself for going that early. Regardless, I saw the Pope and it was amazing.

Florence 

We had a makeup class day on Friday due to our day off for Papal Audience so my friends and I decided to check off some of the closer cities in Italy. Our first stop, Florence. Despite getting incredibly lost and walking around the city of Florence six or seven times, I will confirm that I in fact love the city of Florence. Coming from the chaotic city of Rome where everyone is going somewhere, Florence was a great change of pace. It is quiet, clean, small and simple. What I liked most about Florence was that there was a great balance between historical sites and entertainment (shopping). You could walk through the streets and get a taste of the tourist side of Florence but also life there in general. Currently planning a trip to go back!

Venice

Florence and Venice were our first trips we planned when we got to Rome and another rookie mistake we made was not knowing when Carnival was happening. I thought Carnival was only one week but it’s actually two! So when we went it was very crowded and did change my feelings towards Venice. If we had gone during a time that was not Carnival I think I would’ve liked it but being in a huge crowd with lots of people in costumes is not entirely my scene. A plus side was that it was great weather and very sunny, making the crowds slightly more bearable.

That’s all I got for now. Till next time! 

-Lindsay