It is the Sunday before Memorial Day (A day off in other words...hehe) and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tell you about my Spring Break this past March!
There are two places I want to visit most in this world and that is Italy and the Philippines. This past March one of my dreams came true! I got to go on a ten day trip to Italy! Along with my Grandmother, Aunt Rosa, Uncle Mario, and brother, I got the chance to visit Rome, Florence, and Venice.
On May 6th, we set off on our journey...
We left Florida and flew to Great Britain, where we had our first and only lay over. We had about 7 hours in London so we quickly jumped on a double decker bus and took a 2 hour tour of the city. It was so beautiful!
Oh...and it was about 20 degrees outside....what a change from the weather in Florida!
A tidbit about myself, I have always been fascinated with the Roman civilization. I even took an entire course on Roman history! So, as you can imagine, I was beyond ecstatic!
When we finally landed in Rome, I remember my heart was racing, because I couldn't believe that I was actually in Italy. We gathered our luggage and were picked up and driven to our hotel called Piranese. After we settled, we all went for a walk to find a place to eat.
Walking in Italy, is definitely nothing like walking here in Florida. Everywhere you turned there were ancient buildings. It was so beautiful! We finally found a place to eat called PizzaRe. It was so interesting to me because their pizza definitely didn't taste like our pizza here and their Coke cans were tall and skinny.
We went to bed early that night because we were exhausted from traveling and want to refuel our energy for our first tour the next day, which was a Monday, of the Vatican City!
The next morning, bright and early, we had breakfast at the hotel and then were picked up by our tour guide. When we first arrived outside of the Vatican our tour guide gave us the history of the city. He told us about the Sistine Chapel, about all of the Roman art that we were going to see, and about St. Peter's Basilica. Did you know that there are over 70,000 pieces of Roman art that has been found?
I was amazed at how detailed the Roman sculptures were and at how big some of them were! After walking through most of the city, our tour guide brought us to the Sistine Chapel. There are no words to describe how overwhelming that experience was. I remember walking in and tears suddenly streaming down my face. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
We then went to St. Peter's Basilica. It was huge! It was so much bigger than I ever thought or even imagined!
We toured much more of Rome, the following day, but there is so much that I want to share, that I will only share the highlights!
That following Wednesday, my family and I headed back to St. Peter's Basilica to attend a Papal audience. This was such a beautiful and moving experience for me. There were thousands upon thousands of people who came to attend this prayer service, which was said in many different languages.
That same afternoon, we boarded a train to take us to Florence. Florence, is by far the most beautiful city I have ever seen. We took a tour of the city and did some shopping there as well.
We found a cafe in Florence that we would always stop by for cappuccinos and espressos. I always found myself wanting a pastry. Haha
While we were in Florence, we took a trip to Siena, where we took another tour of the city and then we had a lunch while in Tuscany overlooking a beautiful vineyard. Then we got to see the leaning tower of Piza!
The next day we took another train to the city of Venice. Venice was such an interesting city to behold because there were no vehicles. As you know, in order to get anywhere in Venice, you either walk, or take a boat. I got the chance to ride a gondola!
My brother...so stylish...
And of course, there was no way I was going to leave Italy without having gelato! (Actually...I had gelato almost everyday I was in Italy...haha)
The next morning, we packed our things, and took a cab (a boat) to the airport for our flight to Gatwick, England, which was where we were to depart for Florida. While in Gatwick, I dropped some mail in their red mailbox and took some random pictures of some of the signs. I thought their sign for a girl was so cute...it had a balloon skirt...haha
After our 9 hour flight from Gatwick to Orlando, my entire family visited us at my house to hear about our experience.
Italy was more than a dream come true. It exceeded every expectation I had. I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to go. It was so beautiful and I will never forget my experience!
