Mia prima settimana a Roma!

Ciao! Today’s entry is about my first weekend spent in Roma! 

SMC Pennant at the bar!

My Friday night consisted of lots of wandering. My friends and I walked around the city, looking for a place to have dinner. We ended up finding a cute restaurant decorated like the streets of Italy, cobblestone streets and all! I had the pasta alla carbonara, one of my favorites! It was SO delicious and reminded me of my Nona’s cooking! We then ate gelato at a gelateria that served a variety of 150 flavors! It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make, but I ended up ordering the stracciatella e pistacchio a.k.a vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips mixed with pistachio ice cream. Talk about a dream come true! Later that night, we went to a bar called Scholars. Scholars is an Irish Pub that is down the street from our hotel. It is a common spot for students studying abroad. It also plays the Notre Dame Games live on game day, SCORE!

On Saturday, we toured the Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum as part of our lectures and tours course. Our first stop was Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in which Rome was built upon. It is known for its ruins of ancient imperial places. Palatine hill is one of the most historic parts of Rome, for it overlooks the Roman Forum and Circus Maximus. The Roman Forum, our next stop, is the center of the city of Rome, where many ancient government buildings were located. Lastly, after having lunch back at the hotel, we visited the Colosseum. The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater ever to be built in the Roman Empire. As many of you already know, the Colosseum was the arena ancient Romans used to hold gladiator contests and public spectacles.

Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill overlooking the city of Roma.

Me outside the Colosseum

Maddie, Kendra, me and Hannah inside the Colosseum!

A much needed sleep session took place Sunday. I was so tired and run down by then that I couldn’t resist my bed. After I woke up, I had a delicious salad (I slept through breakfast…) with my friends at one of our favorite restaurants so far, L’Insalada Ricca (or “Rich Salad”). L’Insalada Ricca is known for their amazing variety of gourmet salads, along with bruschetta and pasta selections. After we were well rested and fed, we were ready for the event we all had been waiting for: shopping down Via del Corso. Via del Corso is the Michigan Avenue of Rome, consisting of many high end stores belonging to the world’s most popular designers. For barginista’s like me, there was an H&M, Gap, Zara, Sephora and my new favorite, Brandy Melleville. We had a great day together that ended with infinity knot bracelets (representing our friendship and our time spent together in Rome) to be shared between Kendra, Maddie, Hannah and me.

Overall, my first weekend in Rome was a huge success….and it was only the first! Look out for more posts on my weekends abroad, for they will consist of my traveling experiences throughout Europe! Arrivederci!