Monday, April 6

Last night at around 3:30 in the morning, I experienced my first earthquake.  I woke up to our my bed, window and furniture shaking.  It took me awhile to realize what was going on! But my roommate and I were pretty scared.  The place that took the biggest hit was about 30 miles outside of Rome.  Nothing got damaged around where I live and my friends and I are all safe, but it was a pretty crazy experience.  Then I had to get up this morning and take a midterm.... but it was the hottest day we have had yet in Rome, so that makes up for it!

March 26-31 and April 1-5

Thursday: 

I woke up and went to the airport to meet my family! I was so excited!  The airport was kind of confusing because I havent been there since I arrived in Rome.  But I managed to get there before my family got off the plane and I got to see them arrive!! I cried right when I saw my family because I was so happy to see them and have them in Rome with me!  We got a taxi and headed to their hotel.  After they settled in, we started to walk around Rome and site see.  We saw the Trevi Fountain, the 

Pantheon and Spanish Steps.  My family got tired so they took a nap and I headed to class.  After their nap we went out to dinner to a place close to the Colosseum

 called Luzzi.  It was a restaurant where very few americans go to so we all had a fun time!  After dinner I took Jay and Dana out and we went clubbing for the night.

Friday:

I had to give a presentation o

f on the Colosseum Friday morning, so while I was in class, my family got to tour inside the Colosseum.  After my class we met up and and went through the Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and the Imperial Forums.  Later that night we went out in Trastevere for dinner.  We were so exhausted that after dinner we just went home and went to bed.

Saturday:

I had to get up at 5 am to schedule classes.  It was a good scheduling and I managed to get in

to all the classes I needed!  I met up with my parents and we toured the Catacombs and walked around Rome again for the day.  That night we went out to a place near my parents hotel.  After dinner, I took Jay and Dana to Schola

rs Lounge and met up with my friend Meghan and her sisters who were visiting.

Sunday:

We got up and went the Vatican.  The line wasn't too long to get into St. Peter's Basilica.  After St. Peter's we climbed the dome and went into the tombs and saw were all the Pope's are burried.  After touring through St. Peter's Basilica, we went to the Penn State bar and watched the Michigan Stat

e game, which they won, so Jay was very excited!

Monday:

My family went to Florence for the day and I studied for a midterm that I had the next day.

Tuesday:

I took my midterm and skipped the rest of my classes for the day so I could be with my family for the rest of the day.  We went to the Vatican Museum and spent hours there and then we went into the Sistine Chapel, where I

 got caught taken pictures.  After the Vatican Museums, we went back into St

. Peter's so we could rub his foot.  That night we had an aperitivo, which is basically cocktails and appetizers before dinner.  After that, we went out to eat around my parents hotel again.  After dinner I stayed at my family's hotel since it was there last night.

Wednesday, April 1st:

My family left early in the morning. Very sad to see them go since we had such a fun time together!  After they left, I went to see the Pope at the Papal Audience.  It was in St. Peter's square and I got to see the Pope up close an

d personal and I got to have him bless some charms for my family.  My friend Kelly also turned 21 today!  So she had a BBQ and we ate hotdogs and hamburgers and had cake!

Friday, April 3rd:

I went to the Vatican Museum again today for class.  After the field study, my friend Ross and I rushed home because we had to pack and get to the train station by 1 to meet some friends and go to Venice for t

he night.  The

 train was very long and seemed like forever.  But right when we stepped off the train and headed out of the train station, it was totally worth it! Venice was absolutely beautiful!  They

 do not drive there so instead of cars, the have water taxis and buses! I

t was amazing!  The boat system was hard to navigate, but my friend Kellyn brought a tour book and we figured it out!  Our first hard task was to find our hotel... it took longer than expected but we finally found it.  We dropped off our st

uff and headed to Piazza San Marco.  The Piazza was all lit up and it looked beautiful at night.  Basillica San Marco is located in Piazza San Marco and it also looked beautiful at night!  After we went site seeing for a little, we met up with the rest of our friends, and went out to dinner on the river.  I had amazing seafood pasta and great wine.  After dinner, we had gelato and went to a little night club close by.  We fell asleep to a man playing the violin outside of our window.... just like in a movie! I was in heaven!!

Saturday:

We got up bright and early and wanted to head out and see the islands surrounding Venice.  We ran into a little problem that morning though.  We booked the hotel for 4 people but snuck one more person in.  However, we got caught on Saturday morning and had to pay more for the extra guest... we thought we beat the system, but not so much.  We went to the Murano Island in Venice also know as the glass island.  At the island we got to see people blowing glass and making all differ

ent sorts of things.  After the glass island, we jumped on another boat and headed to the island of Burano, the lace island in Venice.  The houses and buildings in Burano were the most colorful houses I have every seen (bright pink, yellow, blue, etc)  It seemed like out of a movie!  After we went to the 2 islands, we took another ferry back the the mainland, bought our tickets, and went on a gondola ride!!!!  Our guy friends surprised us with a Bellini, which is V

enice's form of champagne.  So we drank champagne and rode on the gondola!  However, the gondola man didn't sing... he said that only happens in movies.  I was a little disappointed but it was still so much fun!  After the gondola, we jumped back on a train and headed back to Rome. Venice has been my favorite place in all of Europe thus far! Everything went according to plan and I was having the time of my life!

Sunday:

This was a day to relax and study since I had a midterm the Monday.  A nice day to recuperate after an amazing weekend in Venice!