Just Roman Around

Now that I have moved home and am officially settled back in Kansas City, I am excited to share trip summaries from my last two months of traveling! To kick this off, I will share my adventures in Rome, Italy, where I spent Easter weekend with fellow UCD friends and the Pope.

Before I booked this trip, I was sure that I didn't want to go to Rome. Back to Rome that is. It is not that there is anything wrong with Rome, but I had already been to this beautiful city twice in my life and a third time seemed like it could wait until at least my late twenties. Then a friend of mine casually suggested going for Easter, when the weather should be beautiful, when we had a long weekend off from school, and when a student tour group was running a trip and I wouldn't have to plan a thing. I was sold - how could I pass up on such a unique and educational experience! So we grabbed our credit cards, got on our computers, and booked away.

Prior to this trip I had been in charge of planning every other international trip alone or with my travel partner. I would scour TripAdvisor and other sites reading reviews and planning the most exciting and busy weekends of my life. For Rome we decided to book a tour with Weekend Student Adventures - a student travel company founded by Rick Steve's son, Andy - that would include transportation, admission tickets, and guides so we could simply follow along. This was the first thing we did right, and I would have traveled with them much more if I hadn't run out of time.

The other awesome thing about going with this group is that other friends of ours independently booked the same tour and we had no idea how many students from UCD were on the trip until we got off the plane in Rome. It was such a fun surprise and made the trip that much more memorable and fun!

Because I had no classes on Friday, my travel partner, Laura, and I flew out that afternoon. We ended up learning of seven other students from UCD that were on the same flights and this became my main group for the weekend. What a huge and hysterical coincidence!

We arrived in Rome late Thursday night and, after we found our way to the hostel, we stopped at a local pizza joint for some grub. It was very tasty and we were very slap happy that it truly hit the spot! We then went to the hostel, checked into our rooms (which were more like hotel rooms) and went to the hostel bar for a quick drink. 

Laura, Me, Will

The next morning we woke up bright and early to head to the Vatican for the day. We started with a public bus trip to the city and, after some shopping in the Vatican shops we had a pleasant tour of St. Peter's Basilica. Even after seeing this amazing structure two other times, the enormity of the basilica is still overwhelming! All of the walking made us ready for some more pizza which we ate for lunch and some delicious gelato after. Then we toured the Vatican museums (and ignored our sunburns from the hot, sunny, non-Irish weather).

Maura, Me, Laura, Rachel

Laura, Maura, Rachel, Rachel, Claire, Me

Once we left the museums we went back to the hostel to freshen up. We then headed to dinner and walked by the Colosseum as the sun was setting perfectly behind it! For dinner we ate pizza and pasta and then went back to the Colosseum to see the Stations of the Cross with Pope Francis. Even though the Pope was far away and the service was in Latin and Italian, it was still a fun thing to witness with thousands of other people around the beautiful landmark!

The next morning we got breakfast at the hostel and headed to the Colosseum for an official tour. Our guide was pretty good and we had individual headsets so hearing him was nice and I could wander without missing any information. We then took an adorable group picture and went to the Roman Forum for a tour. Then we walked to the Pantheon, took a look inside, and made another souvenir and gelato run! 

Maura, Me

Me, Claire, Rachel

On the way back I went with Laura and our other friend, Maura, to a local grocery store for snacks. I then took a little nap and we prepared for the evening. Our meeting place for dinner was the famous Spanish steps where we met got to meet the famous travel author, Rick Steves, before we headed with him and the rest of the group to the Trevi Fountain. Although the fountain is under construction and was a bit unexciting, when we left and walked to the restaurant I talked the entire time with Rick Steves - just me and him! He asked me what I wanted to do with my life and I told him all about Ireland and my ambitions of being a math teacher and eventually a principal. For about 15 minutes I talked to him and answered his questions about the US educational system, Ireland, and even Kansas! 

Rachel, Brian, Rachel, Claire, Laura, Maura, Me

Rachel, Me, Rachel (A Rachel Sandwich)

Maura, Sarah, Rachel, Me, Giorgio, Claire

Rick Steves, Me

After the awesome encounter we finally arrived at the restaurant. This meal was planned by WSA and included a ton of delicious food (pizza, pasta, bruschetta, and tiramisu). Not to mention unlimited wine! My table had a blast and it was definitely one of my favorite memories from the trip!

After a late adventure getting back to the hostel, we woke up at 3am, packed our things, and headed to the Vatican to stand in line for Easter mass. It was an exhausting 6-hour wait and a very wet and rainy day for mass but, hypothermia aside, the experience was amazing! Every time I have come to Rome I have hoped to see the Pope - and that dream was finally realized!

Me, Laura

Once the mass was over and Pope Francis drove around in the Popemobile, we headed back to the hostel to get our things. We changed our clothes and departed for the airport to conclude our amazing trip! 

Claire, Me

I had 27 plane rides and left Ireland 11 times during my 9 months abroad. While every trip was amazing, this one really stands out. Rome was a perfect 4 days and I will never forget the places, the food, the memories, or the people! I am so grateful.

Yours,

The Opinionated Lassie

For the video version:

Tea Time!

For those that knew me before, before this experience, and before tea entered my life with any kind of great consistency, I was definitely known as a coffee drinker. A dedicated, highly-trained, coffee drinker, sporting a Starbucks Gold membership, having seasonal favorite drinks, and caffeinating at every given opportunity.

When I was a child, I remember the distinct smell of coffee beans and how they repulsed me. But some point in my high school years I began to venture into chocolatey coffee drinks and never turned back. 

It also didn't help that my high school had a coffee shop where cups of coffee were sold for a mere $1. I would often run to this shop before class, during class, or on bathroom breaks, to indulge in this delicious treat. When I was a lab aid, I even had a teacher that would send me on coffee runs for her. I became her own personal barista as I fixed her coffee and brought it back to her perfectly sweetened, that wonderful caramel color, and splenda'd to perfection.

Over the years, my dedication to coffee and love for the drink has grown. As I get older and have to study more, I find that that I get less sleep and need more artificial energy. This resulted in my getting a Keurig machine last year and my addiction being satisfied multiple times during the day.

Then I came to Ireland. While Ireland is absolutely wonderful in many respects, they don't even use coffee makers in their homes. These people opt for instant coffee and think that it is similar to the real thing! 

Well, it's alright, I'm flexible; I knew from the start that I would just have to spend more time in coffee shops, and have my coffee fix and study time fulfilled out of the apartment. But this takes me to another problem: Irish stores do not stay open late, and I never start studying before 5pm anyways (which is when 99% of the coffee shops here close).

Therefore another solution needed to be found. And this solution was found my first grocery trip in Ireland and then neglected for nearly a month until I saw is again on the very back of the shelf: tea.

This is not your ordinary, trying-to-be-healthy, dirty-tasting-water, kind of tea. Instead it is black tea prepared the Irish way (loaded with cream and sugar until you are essentially drinking sweet, tea-flavored, milk). Turns out this stuff is great, relatively cheap, and full of energy! Thus, the conversion began.

Not that I will ever turn away from coffee entirely, but tea has become a worthy substitute in this world of freeze-dried coffee. My Irish roommate Deirdre swears by it, as she drinks nearly 4-5 "cups a scald" every day. Even my mom became obsessed when my parents visited and she was appalled by the lacking coffee game in this country.

While I write this post from Starbucks, drinking a venti iced caramel macchiato, I happily reflect on a beautiful aspect of studying abroad - assimilation. They love tea, I should try to love tea, I learn to love tea, success.

Yours,

The Opinionated Lassie