GL 350

With week two in its completion, I have discovered that this trip is flying by. I can already say I have traveled to Barcelona and Venice and have safely arrived back to Rome home. All this traveling definitely gets a girl tired and extremely sleepy. All our travelings have been amazing experiences so far, yet coming back to Rome is the best part. Just the comfort of being in Rome makes me feel relaxed because I feel like I know the city enough to never get lost. It has become home to me.

I think the most exciting and painful part of my week was our long bike ride down the old Appian Way. When I imagined bike ride, I thought of a nice path where we all are laughing and singing songs from the Sound of Music. Oh, was I wrong. The old Appian Way is a jagged road with cobblestone, mud puddles and very treacherous paths. Let's just say I endured a couple falls. The bike I rode was too tall and the path we had to ride upon was equivalent to mountain biking. Sounds awful right? I had so much fun. Just the fact that we were going upon such an ancient, historic road was amazing, but we were all laughing and joking. We all had our difficulties along the road, but we were all troopers and kept on going.

Our weekend consisted of a beautiful, cold, rainy Venice. With the rumors that the water in Venice was as high as me, I was nervous, scared, and unwilling to go. With a suitcase full of warm clothes and rain boots, we all traveled to the flooded city. Taking the ferry to the island that we were staying, we noticed that the water level had significantly dropped and I was safe from drowning. Venice was gorgeous even in the cold, rainy weather. We did all the fun things like gondola rides, glass factories, and the best gelato ever. I have to say my favorite part is when my friends Katie Dodds, Emily Cramer and I went to see a play on Venice's history. Sure it was a little on the touristy side, but hilarious and completely worth it. We learned so much more than I had the entire weekend. The best part was when we spent hours sitting at a cafe eating tiramisu and sipping on cocktails talking with other members from our group.

Even though I had do much fun in Barcelona and Venice, there was nothing like returning to Rome. Barzini talks about how people travel to other cities to find better elements like food or cuisine, but how can anything be better than Rome? Barcelona was great, but Rome was better. Venice was gorgeous, but Rome was better. Will I always compare everything back to Rome now? How about when I travel to Paris or Dublin or even back to my hometown of London? I'll just have to wait and see.