Florence, Rome, & Barcelona

After an incredible week in Vienna and Venice it was hard to believe that my trip could get much better! The second half of our 2 week trip was on our own, with no professors. My group of me and 5 other girls decided to do 1 day in Florence, 2 days in Rome, and 4 days in Barcelona!

After arriving to Florence, we were all absolutely exhausted, however, we knew we only had 1 day there so we needed to make the most of it! Right after dropping off our bags we met up with a group for a free walking tour. Our guides name was Emilia, who was an architect in Florence, she decided to start doing walking tours because she felt like she was taking her city for granted and she wanted to appreciate it more. She was an incredible tour guide and so enthusiastic about Florence and all the art there! One of the coolest facts she taught us was about the Medici family, who were a very very rich family in Florence. They had 2 homes, Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Vecchio, basically 2 massive palaces. They wanted a corridor built that would connect their two houses…which were a mile apart. So within 5 months, a corridor was made connecting the two palaces, going on top of the famous Florence Old Bridge, and through many shops and buildings. I thought this was so fascinating to learn because who in the heck can just build a massive passageway to connect their houses?! This family was very very powerful! While on the tour we also got to see a lot of famous statues such as The David! Later that day we bought tickets to go inside one of the Medici’s palaces and see the 111 acres that were the Boboli Gardens. To give you another idea of how powerful and rich the Medici were, the wife wanted a garden built for her so that is what the husband gave her…they are absolutely beautiful gardens, however, 111 acres?! That seems like a bit much for a family garden!

Our train from Florence to Rome was only a little over an hour which was very nice considering we had been traveling for about a week straight. In Rome we hit the 3 main tourist spots:

• The Trevi Fountain

• The Colosseum

• The Vatican City

The Trevi fountain was just as beautiful as it is in all the movies!! I felt like I was living the Lizzie McGuire movie, all I needed was a moped!! Of course we had to all throw a coin in the fountain so I guess that means I’ll be back to visit Rome someday, and I’m not complaining!! Our tour guide told us it took 30 years to be built and after looking at all the intricate details I’m not surprised!

The Colosseum was one of my very favorite things I have done/seen since being in Europe. It was magnificent! On Tuesday we just “romed” around the city and quite literally ran into the Colosseum! We had no idea we were even close to it and then all of a sudden we turned a corner and there it was! I was in awe looking at it from the outside, so much so that we just sat in the grass and stared at it for about an hour! Then on Wednesday we took a tour and got to go inside and I was even more amazed by it’s beauty and history!! Our tour guide, Angela, was the most passionate, friendly, and accommodating tour guide we’ve had yet! She taught us that before the Colosseum was built there used to be a big lake in it’s place! I knew that the Colosseum was used for gladiator fights but what I didn’t know was that in other time periods it was a large garden, and in another time period it was houses for the rich. I had absolutely no idea there was so much more to the Colosseum than gladiator fights! Angela told us that the very top tier of the Colosseum was reserved for single women so that they were out of the gladiator’s sight and therefore they wouldn’t distract them! She also told us that it took 8 years to build the Colosseum, which seemed very impressive given how massive it is! On the tour we also got to go see the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill which were beautifully preserved and it felt like we had traveled back in time. Our Colosseum tour had the most incredible people, who truly changed my life in the 3 hours that I got to spend with them, but there will be another blog on that! ;)

In the same day that we did the 3 hour Colosseum tour, we also did a 2 hour tour of Vatican City…it was quite the long day but very worth it! I am not Catholic, but I am religious so I was excited to go see the Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica. Although it is not my exact denomination, everyone there believes in the same God and to me that’s pretty powerful. Our tour was slightly less enjoyable than others have been because it was PACKED! Our tour guide, Grace, told us that we came on one of the busiest days of the year, of course lol. All of the artwork inside was very old and famous, done by people like Raphael, Michelangelo, and many more! I am not a huge art connoisseur but I can recognize amazing and intricate artwork when I see it and this artwork was amazing! We got to go inside the Sistine Chapel and see the incredible ceiling, which was a once in a lifetime opportunity! I am very grateful I got the chance to go and experience this beautiful and faithful city!

Our last stop on our spring break journey was BARCELONA!!! I was so excited to go to Spain, because they have beaches!! All of our adventures have been amazing and I have learned so much but when it came time to plan Barcelona we decided our main priority was relaxing on the beach. Many people had told us to visit the Barcelona food market (La Boqueria) and I would say it had its ups and downs. They had DELICIOUS fresh squeezed fruit juice and amazing crepes, buuutttt they also had raw meet EVERYWEHRE. I don’t even know what animals some of the meat was from but they had every single part of the animal out on display for you to buy and I am not exaggerating when I say the smell made me want to puke. I don’t each much meat as it is but I literally think I am going to go vegetarian after walking through and smelling all that raw meat!! Some of the meat still had hooves on it!! YUCK!! Thursday night we checked out the night life in Barcelona and that was a pretty fun time! Friday was a beach day and one of the very best days on this trip so far! We layed on the beach for 3 hours just listening to music and talking, it was so relaxing!! Saturday we went to Park Guell, which was a magnificent park full of tile mosaics! It was built by Gaudi in 1885, and the idea was to combine nature and houses. It was so artsy and the flowers and trees were so serine. I loved it there! Sunday morning we found a church to go to that spoke English, and I was so so happy that we did. It’s so easy to get caught up in traveling and taking this trip for granted and the church service had a very powerful message and really helped bring me back down to earth. My faith has gotten much stronger since coming on this trip, and that is something I am so grateful for! After church we had another easy day full of laying out at the beach! Overall, Barcelona was PERFECT!!

Spring break as a whole really tested us all in many ways. We had to figure a lot of timing out when it came to transportation, we had to learn how to get over many different language barriers, and we had to learn how to be surrounded by the same people for 2 straight weeks with no break!! We all grew a lot, and were definitely ready to have some alone time to unwind when we got back to Olomouc on Monday! I had the absolute best 2 weeks I could have asked for and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I met some amazing people with beautiful hearts and became a better person because of it. We now have about a month left here and I can’t wait to see what else Europe has in store for me before I head home!!

(P.S. THANK YOU to my mom, dad, sister, Austan, Rachael, and Ashley, for sending me letters and packages!! You guys have no idea how much each one of them meant to me, I am so so blessed with such kind and loving people in my life!! They all made my day after getting back from a long 2 weeks!)