The Final Week

The time has finally come. This past week was my last in Rome and Europe. It took awhile for it to really hit me that I was about to leave the eternal city. It wasn't until the last day when everything was becoming "the last time I see this building, the last time I walk this street," etc., that it really hit me that I was leaving. However, as last week's go, it was a pretty amazing time. On Tuesday I spent most of the day preparing for my Italian finals and hanging out with friends. On Wednesday, I took my last exam and finished up the rest of my papers. It was really nice and satisfying to finally be done with school this semester and I think that took away some of the sadness of leaving such an amazing city. Luckily, on Thursday, I didn't have anything to do until around 5:30 when we had the farewell dinner with the professors, administrators, and homestay families. So, I was able to do a little bit of sightseeing to finish off my time in Rome.

The first thing that I did was go to the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. This basilica was very far outside of city center Rome. It is one of the four papal basilicas of Rome and is where the Pope used to live at. The papal basilicas are absolutely huge churches with large pillars and magnificent artwork and statues. Every time I have walked into one, I was just in awe of the enormity and extravagance of the buildings. Later that day, I also went to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterno, which is another one of the papal basilicas in Rome. It was equally as surreal as St. Paul Outside the Walls, however, one thing that stood out about this basilica were all of the statues that lined the main hall. There were multiple grand and highly intricate statues that were very pretty incredible to see.

After visiting the churches, I took a trip to say goodbye to the man who I had been interning with this semester. I interned with Italian chef Andrea Consoli for his “Cooking Classes in Rome” business. This was an incredible experience and I really got to where I felt like at home working with Andrea. I did this along with one of my roommates so we really wanted to see Andrea one last time before leaving. We showed up at his kitchen during one of the classes so we just waited to the side while he was finishing up the class. We were then able to have our last lunch in Rome with Andrea and just talk about life and our time in Italy. It was sad to say goodbye to Andrea but I know next time I come to Rome that I’ll have to come back and see him again.

The rest of my last day in Rome was spent buying last minute gifts for family, going to the farewell dinner, packing the rest of my belongings, and hanging out with my study abroad friends for the last night. Studying abroad in Rome was truly one of my greatest experiences of college and is something I’m never going to forget. I’ve found a home in Rome and I can't wait to return to Rome and Italy again to see my new home again.