arrivederci, roma

last friday marked the close of my roman semester and my return home. i've absolutely loved being home, yet i miss rome so terribly! it was difficult to say goodbye to all the things that became familiar to me in italia, but this is only the beginning of what portia prebys deems as a lifelong romance with the eternal city. these past 3 months proved to be the best of my life so far and i found so much good in europe. i came a long way from my first days in italy when i had been dropped out of the sky into a foreign land with limited communication to those across the sea and an uncertainty as to anything that would soon unfold. the highlights of my experience include waking up to the picturesque italian farmland on the flight over, seeing john legend in concert by san giovanni, capri and the amalfi coast, harrod's and seeing wicked in london, all of paris - especially seeing the eiffel sparkle at night, purchasing my louis speedy 30 on the champs-elysees and finding the original chanel boutique which is home to lagerfeld's offices at 31 rue cambon, seeing all of rome from massimo's vespa, conquering the roman cobblestone streets in stilettos, meeting papa benny, experiencing the scavi tour the the views of rome from the cupola, all my time at saint peter's, walks up the gianicolo hill, lunching with inge, the north american college christmas concert, the trainride to florence through tuscany, climbing the holy stairs, via condotti, the sunday morning market, evening runs along the tiber, surviving napoli, living in the tiziano, visiting the art gallery of maria grazia, mario and massimo, sparkling vino, santa maria maggiore, the pope mobile, speaking in only italiano with natives, and returning home with 47 new friendships with wonderful young people whom i shared such a lifechanging and extraordinarily special experience with. in europe i found adventure, romance, faith, much happiness and some fabulous shopping! most of all, i have gained such a broadened perspective on the world and of myself and a love for rome that will only continue to grow throughout my life. grazie, roma e a prossimo!
xx