Arrivederci :)

Sooo...

I'm sitting here, back in the Residence, and it's my last night in Rome. I am so happy now, and feeling very blissful- I couldn't feel more any more thankful right now for having had this experience. It was absolutely enriching and life changing. I learned a lot about the world and about myself over the past few months, and feel as though I'm such a better person for it. I did things and went places I never thought I would, and every risk I took only returned reward. And I think I even managed a 4.0 for the semester on top of it all!

The time has come though, and I'm anxious and excited to return home. I miss everyone like crazy, and also a few things which I couldn't get over here in Italy that I'm craving... sushi, Wawa, LOST season 4, and kisses from my dogs to name a few! But for sure there will be a few things missing in my New Jersey life that I loved about Rome: cobblestones, Old Bridge gelato, open-air markets, and the mindset of slowing down and taking in the beauty which surrounds you (I'm not sure that's too easy to find back home!)

For my final day today (which was an absolutely beautiful day, 70 and sunny!), I went to Piazza del Popolo and rented a bike for the day and rode around, taking final glimpses at the famous sites: Via del Corso, the Wedding cake, the Tiber river, Trastevere and Testaccio, Porta Portese flea market, the Cat Sanctuary, the Pantheon, Castelle St. Angelo, and St. Peter's. I stopped and enjoyed my final gelato, too: a cone with coconut, melon & yogurt gelato from Old Bridge, of course. After returning the bike, I took my final metro ride, and got a little sentimental when I heard the metro announcer say "Prossima Fermata, Cipro, uscita lato, destro!" for the last time. I'll miss that guy.

I used my last 5 euro to buy a pizza from the good little restaurant next door to the Residence, with olive, sausage, tomato and mushroom toppings. Then I packed my luggage; 3 big bags all testing the 50lb. weight limit. I heard some fireworks going off outside, and thought they must of course be for my last night in Rome! haha. I enjoyed a bottle of strawberry champagne to make the packing go a bit smoother ;)

I have a full 16-ish hours of travel and airport fun ahead of me tomorrow: I get picked up by a Mercedes at 6:15, leave from Rome at 10:10, arrive in Frankfurt Germany at 12:10, depart for Philly at 1:40, and am scheduled to arrive in Philly around 4:20 if all goes well. No real plans set in stone for the next week or two, so I look forward to seeing everyone in the very near future.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible for me. You know who you are, and I frickin' love you! See you soon back in the one and only Dirty Jerz. I hope you all enjoyed the blog.

Arrivederci, Italia!