teaganinrome

[teaganinrome]

Ireland 2/16-19

Off to the homeland!

After a long long flight, I arrived in Dublin, where Owen met me. This was a much more difficult task than to be expected because I had zero service my entire trip... Once we finally reunited, my personal tour guide for the weekend took me to Trinity College first. We walked around and sat on a bench in their park, which was so so nice because I haven't seen green grass or flowers in ages. Next we walked around Dublin, walking past the iconic Temple Bar, the Dublin Castle, and Liberties of Christ Church. We then got some fish and chips and boarded a 3 hour bus back to galway.

When we arrived, I was greeted with his room decorated for valentines and it was the nicest surprise. He then made me dinner and we went out to a bar with all his roommates. There was live music and I tried my first and only Guinness beer!! I finished it but probably never again.

The next morning, we went to a coffee shop/plant nursery and explored Galway. Of course it was raining on and off the whole day, but that's Ireland. We went to the coast and went through their downtown, and I did a little bit of shopping. Then we ate dinner and went out with some of his friends from Marquette.

The next day we were off to the Cliffs of Moher! We were originally supposed to go earlier in the day, but as we were in line for the bus, the bus filled up so we had to wait another 2 hours. We got some food and then made it to the next bus, and let me tell you, this bus is not for the weak.

2 hours later we finally made it! It was super windy but the second we got over the hill, I knew it was so worth it. The views were something I've never seen before and the more we walked, the better they got. It was also a funny walk because the wind kept almost knocking us over. I also got to see sheep!!! Which made me happy cause I really wanted to see sheep or cows in Ireland.

The next morning, I had to say goodbye and almost missed my bus to the Dublin airport. The second I got on the bus, they left so it was perfect timing. I think Galway was way better than Dublin, and was more of what I was expecting Ireland to be like. I definitely need to go back ASAP.

[teaganinrome]

Milan was the perfect trip post Iceland... I was very very sick from the cold lol, and we lots of down time. When we arrived, it was raining... of course! We made our way from the train station to this boujeeee hotel (adam's dad paid for it lol). Let's just say the hotel staff were a little confused when me, grace, and adam came in wet, with just backpacks and sweats.

We relaxed for a little in the nicest hotel room I've ever seen, and decided we should do something with our lives. We ventured out for lunch and then visited the Sforzesco Castle. It was pretty cool and we got tickets to go inside and look at a museum. That's when I decided we should bring back cool, fancy silverware, not the kind that bends when I eat icecream (I've broken a few too many spoons here).

We went back to the hotel after, and eventually got dinner where they make the pasta right in front of you!

The next morning, it wasn't raining so we felt more adventurous. We got the fancy free breakfast at the hotel, and went to look at the Duomo. We walked around, did some window shopping (because I couldn't afford to even step in the stores), and saw the famous shopping area, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Later on we went in the Duomo and eventually climbed many, many steps to reach the terrace for sunset. It was beautifullllllll.

The last thing of the night was the Ac Milan vs Napoli futbol game. Adam sat between me and grace because we didn't know all the rules or how big of floppers the players actually were. Milan scored one goal, and eventually won which caused the super fans to go crazy. It was a super fun game and the crowd went nuts. The next morning we headed home!

[teaganinrome]

I met the pope! (basically)

Today, I decided to wake up at 6am and go see the pope. There is a papal audience almost every wednesday where he blesses and speaks to the crowd. I arrived at about 7:30 and first had to figure out where to get my ticket. I was wondering around for about 15 minutes, when I finally found the Swiss Guards (who look like jesters). I got my ticket and headed to the line which was HUGEEEE. I can't even begin to describe it. Since I struggled to find tickets at first, I didn't get in line as early as I wanted, so I missed the first 5 minutes of the Pope, but I was grateful to have made it in. The place was so beautiful, I've never seen anything like it, and the pope greeted the audience in several different languages. He then spoke in Italian for a little, and blessed us, our families, and any items we wished to be blessed (I had a rosary). Everyone then ran up to the barricade and was pushing and shoving for atleast 30 minutes. My seat was 2 seats away from the barricade so I was alright, but the people behind me were very pushy shovey. Finally the pope walked down the aisle and waved to everyone. It was an incredible experience!

[teaganinrome]

Iceland 2/2-2/5

Icelandia! My boyfriend, Owen, and I decided to meet up in Iceland this weekend, and boy was it cold. We knew it was gonna be cold, and we were underprepared, but we said why not! Neither of us had a real winter coat, so layers, layers, and more layers. Oh! And we came in the middle of a giant snow storm.

We flew together Friday morning, and made it to Reykjavik soon after. Our plan was to walk around, but since we came right from the plane and didn't have our layers on, we didn't last long. We saw the Hallgrimskirkja and got lunch downtown. Then we went to our hotel, unpacked, layered up! We got some pizza and went to the bus stop for our northern lights tour. But as we were standing there, a tiny bus pulled up and said they cancelled it...

The next morning, we got breakfast really early and headed to the bus stop again. This time, for a tour of the South Coast. The bus stop was very chaotic, but we eventually made it on. Our first stop was Skogafoss, which was a huge, beautiful waterfall. We were both so in awe of it. Then, we went to Solheimajokull Glacier, which was breathtaking. We had to walk along this tiny, snow covered path for about 15 minutes, and I was so scared I was gonna fall right off. There was no ropes, and to the left was just a giant drop and the snow was so slippery, but we made it, so that's all the mattered. The glacier was huge, and there were little chunks left behind from when it slowly has moved over the years. The glacier itself was a really cool hue of blue with black streaks in it from when it rubs against rocks. The walk back to the bus was even worse though, because we had to walk on the tiny path again but the snow and wind were so powerful, we couldn't see a thing. Our next stop was Reynisfjara Beach, which is a black sand beach. At this point, Owen and I were really starting to get cold, but the view was so amazing here. The waves on this beach were the highest I've ever seen, the sand felt like kinetic sand, and the white snow against the black sand was just so worth it. Lastly on this trip, we stopped in Rangarping eyestra, which had 2 waterfalls. One of these you could usually walk behind, but because of the weather we couldn't. The other waterfall was in this cave that you could peer through.

After our tour was over, we had to get straight on another bus for our makeup northern lights tour. It was very meh because we were exhausted, cold, and knew we weren't gonna see them because of the weather. But we still made the most of it. Our bus couldn't go to a lot of places, and there were clouds the whole time, but I could see some of the stars which was cool atleast.

Sunday, we went to the blue lagoon. It was so nice to relax after the day before, and the water was so warm and nice. We got free face masks included and a free drink which was nice. But someone stole my $2 old navy flipflops.... so I'm praying I don't get a foot fungus. The lagoon was hugeeeee and since the air was so cold, you couldn't see more than 3 feet in front of you because of the steam.

When we got back, we walked around a little more, got dinner, and packed, because we had to leave at 3am to make the journey home. We walked 30 min to the bus station, then took an hour bus to the airport, and then I waited there for 4 hours because Owen's flight was 2 hours earlier than mine. My plane was then delayed for an hour of course, which made me nervous because I had a 2 hour layover in Manchester. When we landed, some lady started fighting with the flight attendant, and had the police called on her. Then, she ran out of the back of the plane and started running around the tarmac. I eventually made it on my flight to Rome and all was good.

[teaganinrome]

Florence 1/26-29

Firenze!! This place was so beautiful. I went with my roommate Grace, my friend Adam, and his roommate, Billy. All from Marquette.

We trained to florence, got lunch, and checked into our airbnb on Friday. It was so nice, the only issue was it was up 5 flights of stairs... When booking it, it said 4th flour and I thought, oh that's not too bad, but I forgot that the 4th floor in Italy is actually the 5th floor in America. But it was so worth it because we had a rooftop which had the best view!

In the afternoon, we went to the Accademia Gallery in Florence, where we say the statue David, and a few other art pieces. Then, we got dinner which came with a free focaccia and free mystery shots for our table. After, we went to a record store/ bar, got a drink, and walked around, looking at all the vinyls. After that, we hit up a popular dive bar where lots of study abroad kids go, and I signed my name on the wall.

Saturday morning, we woke up early and went to the Uffizi Gallery to look at more art, and then we went on a wine tour in Tuscany. This wine tour consisted of us going to 2 different wineries and trying 7 different kinds of wine. This was actually super fun because I never drink red wine, so I was learning the difference between them, and starting to like red wine. Still not more than white wine though!

That night we stopped at an American 50's Diner for dinner, and then went out for drinks later, where I may or may not have seen a few furries... but they played the best music and I had the time of my life.

The next morning, the boys were tired so they stayed in bed the whole day, so Grace and I decided to go shopping. First, I took her to this movie theatre/book store, which was an old cinema, with a bookstore below it, so you could watch the free movies while seeing people shop below. This was the coolest thing ever. After, we hit up a few book stores, street markets, and clothing stores. As we were walking, we stumbled upon a parade they called the Carnival Parade. It was a huge parade, and all the kids were dressed up throwing confetti. Talk about right place, right time.

Later that evening, Grace and I wrapped up our night with the infamous Florence photobooth because it is must, but it ended up taking like an hour... This photobooth is super old and there's a few of them around Florence. It takes your picture in black and white and makes everyone photogenic. The only thing was, it takes 5 minutes to develop and it only prints one. Of course, Grace and I each wanted one strip together, and one strip of us solo, which means 4 strips, 20 minutes. But.... the first one we took, we were not looking so we had to retake. And then other people got in line. But it was so worth it.

The next morning, Grace and I did a little last minute shopping, saw hot air balloons going up, and went into the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. And then back to Rome!

[teaganinrome]

Lake Como 1/19-1/21

Our first trip out of Rome!!!! We decided to go to Lake Como, which is in Northern Italy, so we could have a more relaxing weekend and focus on figuring out how the trains worked. Well.... it didn't go as planned.

We first took a train to Milan, and then hopped on a train to Como, but as we are sitting on that train in the station, the conductor said a bunch of Italian words and then, "Eh, train no work." All of a sudden everyone started running to catch a new one, and so we just blindly followed them and hopped on a random train. It then took us to a town called Monza... Not much to do or see, a little sketchy. We ended up getting stuck there because I booked a train from Monza to Como, but it was cancelled. I finally found us a new train to take us to Lecco, but when we got on, we were squished, standing room only for an hour. As we were moving, the conductor said a bunch of things in Italian, but no English. I then heard a family say we need to run when we get off this train, so I prepared myself. When we stopped at the Lecco station, everyone started sprinting off the train trying to catch a bus.... we did not make it. So we were stranded in Lecco now! This town was much cuter and we walked around for an hour ish, and caught the next bus to Bellano, where we were staying.

We finally arrived to our Airbnb, settled in, got dinner, and went to bed.... it was a long day.

The next morning, we all went to check out this waterfall i found called Orrido di Bellano, and it was literally breathtaking. We had to climb a few steep hills to get there, but the view on the way up was 100% worth it. We then walked around the town, seeing ducks, cats, and swans. And of course, I had to put my feet in the water, even though they completely went numb afterwards.

Later in the day, we decided to hop on a ferry to Menaggio. It wasn't our favorite town, but the ferries were limited since it was winter. We got dinner, walked around, and finally found postcards. The town was nice, but I prefer Bellano. Both towns were quiet since it was the off season, but it made a perfect, relaxing trip.

My favorite part of this trip was the swans. They would just be swimming on the lake, and added the perfect touch to the view.

Of course, on our way back, we were standing on the train station platform, and as our train was supposed to come, it was announced our train was cancelled. Who could've guessed! So we ran and caught a bus that took us to Lecco, but since the bus takes way longer, we missed our connecting train... But the bus views sort of made up for the lost money in train tickets.

[teaganinrome]

First Week in Rome

The first week in rome has been jam packed with all the sight seeing spots and getting to know the area. I visited the Pantheon the first night I got here along with dinner right outside of it. (of course it was fettuccine alfredo) On the walk home, we stumbled into a few huge basilicas that were lined with art and amazing details.

The next morning, I went for coffee and a croissant. I love iced coffee so I knew this would be a change. I saw they had “cold coffee” so i ordered it, but when she handed me this tiny tiny cup, i was very humbled. Apparently I ordered a cold shot of espresso… yum. I also got a chocolate croissant which was the best thing of my life. I then finally found a grocery store which was in the basement of a clothing store?? very confusing.

That night, I met with some people and planned to go to dinner. Well, we got side tracked and instead went to the Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, and St. Peter’s Basilica. The Trevi Fountain was not that crowded and I could stare at it for hours. The Spanish Steps were a little underwhelming but I had to see it, and St. Peter’s Basilica was gorgeous because we went at night so it was lit up and empty.

The next day, we hit up the Colosseum! We didn’t actually go inside, I’m saving that for another day, but even just seeing it from the outside was amazing. We also walked past the Roman Forum which I didn’t even know existed. We then followed a path that led to who knows what, but we ended up at this church (Basilica of Saint Frances of Rome) and saw St. Frances Romana’s crypt.

We ended the day walking back to our apartment, stumbling across a large field of ruins called Trajan’s Market.

Of course, I’ve stopped by the cat sanctuary many many times, and have stumbled across so many beautiful fountains, I can’t keep track of them.

We then went out on Friday to explore the nightlife. The crazy thing here is that you can drink openly in the streets and you don’t go out u til 11 or 12!! I went to an irish pub which is ironic and they played all american music so it was a blast.

Sunday Morning, grace and I hit up a huge flea market at 8am which was over a mile long! We couldn’t even see everything before getting too cold, but I definitely plan on going back.

[teaganinrome]

The Flight

Our flight wasn’t bad at all. First we went to Toronto, where Grace and I had random seats. We each had a window and no one was next to either of us! When we landed at the airport, we realized there was not a lot of food places and we were starving. Then the security lights started flashing and they said something in a french and briefly in english about something to do with a security issue but everyone seemed to ignore it so we did too🤷🏼‍♀️

Our next flight was the long haul. 9 whole hours. I knew I should sleep, since we were arriving at rome at 10am, but I couldn’t. I tried twice but i could not sleep sitting up so I watched netflix the entire time and watched the sun rise through my window. Besides not being able to sleep, the flight was very easy besides the fact it was freezing cold. The food was also very mid.

“Breakfast in Bed”

When we landed, customs was super easy and we made it out of the airport in like 15 minutes…. but then we had to wait for our bus for an hour and half with all our luggage freezing. It was not fun and me and grace just wanted to sit down after our long travel day.

Finally we made it to campus, and when we arrived, my first impression was why did i pick this place. The way we took was very sketchy and graffiti everywhere and armed guards everywhere. We then had to sit through check in which took 3 hours and they messed up apartment keys which took even longer. We had qfinally made it to our apartment at around 3pm and could finally relax after what seemed like the longest travel day ever.

^an apartment tour

Grace and I share the bedroom and my side is the messy one of course! In my defense, I’m still unpacking and we can’t find hangers at any store so I have no where to put some clothes

[teaganinrome]

Welcome to my Blog! Grace and I are currently waiting for our 1st of 2 flights to Rome! Our flight to toronto got delayed, of course, so we grabbed a starbucks and are setting up our journals/blogs. Saying goodbye was very hard but I’m excited for my new travels!