December 18th, 2012 - Rome, Italy!

On Friday, the greatest thing in the whole wide world happened: My mother arrived. Mom and I have always been close and she was the first one to take me out of my little corner of the United States and out into the wider world of Europe. Since then, she's been my preferred travel partner, closest friend, and all-around best mom ever. And this weekend, she arrived in Italy! 

We started with the obligatory, much-anticipated tearful reunion in the airport. Both of us bawled like babies. Three and a half months is entirely too long to go without seeing your mother! By the time we got back to Milan, it was late, and she was jet-lagged/hungry, so we dropped her stuff off and went to go get her first Italian pizza. Before we knew it, we had devoured all the food in sight and it was time to get some sleep so we could leave in the morning! (At this point, none of my roommates had left yet, meaning there were no spare beds, so Mom and I cuddled in my twin bed. She was so exhausted and I had missed her so much that it didn't really matter. Snuggles are snuggles.)

The night was entirely too short, and before we knew it, it was time to get up and catch our train to Rome. I said goodbye to my roommates, the girls I have grown the closest to over the past few months, and tearfully closed the apartment door behind me, knowing that it was the last time I was going to see them, at least for a while. Mom was a champion though, dragging me through the streets of Milan at 6 in the morning, me still crying, her jet-lagged and disoriented. Miraculously, we made it to the train station, boarded, and even managed to find some coffee to calm us down. And then the fun began!

The high-speed train had us in Rome in under three hours, so by the late morning we had made it into Rome and were standing out front of the Spanish Steps, bags in hand, scouring the map for the easiest way to get to the Pantheon (Did I mention that Mom splurged and got us a beautiful hotel right next to the Pantheon? It was the nicest place I stayed in my entire time in Europe). The day was spent shopping, eating, and roaming (pun intended) the city, and we ended our evening with dinner at Il Falchetto. The restaurant was recommended to us by our concierge and ended up being our favorite dining spot of the trip. We even came back for dinner the next night - our waiter was far friendlier the second time around, once he realized how dedicated we were to eating at his restaurant. After dinner was the Trevi Fountain, a movie in the hotel room and us passed out in bed by 10:30. 

Trevi Fountain

Via Corso - home to some of the biggest names in fashion!

The next morning, we spent the morning wandering over to the Vatican, where we just so happened to arrive about fifteen minutes before the Pope was due to make his Sunday morning speech! What better way to travel Rome than by starting with a blessing from the Pope? After he spoke to us in rapid-fire Italian and French, we toured St. Peter's Basilica and climbed to the top of the dome (Mom and I are not very good at climbing thousands of steps in really tightly enclosed spaces - she nearly passed out on the way up, and I nearly passed out on the way down. In the words of my father, "Well, you two are just loads of fun.")

Good morning, Pantheon!

Selfies

Our first view of the Basilica and the Vatican.

The Pope's getting ready to bless us!

Entrance to the Vatican

The ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica

View of gloomy Rome from above.

Inside the Basilica

After all that climbing and walking and being holy and such, we decided it would be a good time to settle down for some lunch. Mom met a government official from California on the plane ride to Milan, and he gave her the name of one of the best pizza places in the Vatican, so with a little help from a tour guide, we sat down to eat at L'isola della Pizza. I'd like to wish this California man a really great day because he was spot on - my prosciutto/buffalo mozzarella/tomato pizza was the best pizza I've ever had. Cue to us being full and happy, walking back to our hotel, and resting for about an hour before we went back out in search of the Piazza del Popolo. Mom had read somewhere that the Piazza was home to one of the biggest "presepes" or collection of nativity scenes in the city, so we hoped to find the ticket booth for that event - we weren't disappointed! There were more than a hundred nativity scenes from all over the world, made out of every material imaginable, from wood to plastic to pasta to gloves. Next came our traditional dinner at Il Falchetto (complete with a molten chocolate dessert this time) and back to the hotel for card games, music, and a long night's sleep. 

We only had about a half of a day in Rome on Monday, so we had breakfast and went inside the Pantheon, since it was so close, before checking out of our hotel and hauling our bags through the southeast part of the city to see the Forum. While I was a bit punchy about carrying my over-stuffed suitcase that far, seeing the Forum was entirely worth it, and it suddenly struck me that I had very little desire to go home. Why go back to the United States when Europe was so big and expansive? Of course, that feeling changes about every twenty minutes depending on who I'm talking to and what I'm doing, so by the time we were being harassed by Arab men on the street trying to sell me a knockoff Louis Vuitton bag ten minutes later, I was ready to come home again. We ended our afternoon with a trip to the Colosseum and lunch at a nearby cafe. 

A quick note about the Colosseum - never in Milan have I experienced people who try to get your attention on the street just to talk to you about some cause or another, but in Rome it seems like the 'thing' to do. One man tried to get our attention by yelling - 'Excuse me, you speak English?!' When neither Mom nor I responded, he tried one last, vain attempt - "Wait, wait! Uh...you are from where? God bless Norway!" Nice try, bro. I'm from Finland. (Our Scandinavian heritage follows us everywhere.) 

Today is our last day in Italy, so Mom and I have been packing, shopping, and seeing the sites of Milan. It's bittersweet to come home - obviously I can't wait to see my friends, eat a burrito bowl, and get back into healthy habits concerning eating/exercising, studying, and spending my money. However, Milan has been my home for the past three and half months and no matter how excited I am to come back to Nebraska, it's still a little heartbreaking to leave Europe behind!

So I guess all I have to say now is thank you! Thanks Mom and Dad for helping fund this trip, for teaching me how to be a good kid in myriad of situations, for not yelling too loud when my wallet was stolen in Barcelona, and for coming all the way to Italy to fetch me. Thanks to the Boscovich girls who made my semester so wonderful and memorable, who took care of me when my own friends and family couldn't. Thanks to the best friends in the world who sent me Facebook messages and emails and woke up early or stayed up late to Skype me. You have all made my trip not only possible, but more fruitful than I could have ever imagined. I cannot wait to get back to the United States and hug every single one of you!