What were you grateful for this week?Good friends! Experiencing things with people you love, make everything 10 x’s more fun.

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week? Navigating the bus system when google maps was having technical issues. I had to rely completely on my sense of direction so…yep you guessed it. I got desperately lost and no one would help me so once I finally found my bus and got home it was an amazing feeling!

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. [My host mom] and the kids took me out to get pizza and desert for my birthday and it was SO GOOD! Also, sooo nice of them! I have the best Italian familia EVER. 

Tell us about your week! Ciao! This week was just pure fun! On Tuesday, the kids didn’t have any sports practice or anything so we went out and roller skated in the piazza which was really fun. The kids here are so tough! I saw them bite the dust more than a few times, but every time they just hopped back up and kept skating. I was really impressed, haha 🙂 I turned 18 on Wednesday and I’ve never received so much love, in one day, from all over the world. It was amazing!!???? 

Lily, my friend from Switzerland, also arrived Wednesday and stayed until Sunday morning. It was SO much fun to play tour guide for a weekend! I took her to all the Rome must-sees, and we averaged about 4 gelatos a day. Also, Sicilian pastries:) fun fact of the day: those Sicilian donuts I was dying over are called ‘Bombe’s’, not donuts, go figure. 

We hit the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, an old paper shop, Fatamorgana (best gelato I’ve ever tried.), had a private cooking class, and we even went to the beach! We packed a picnic and spent a whole day on the black sand beaches of Ostia. It was incredible! 

On Saturday we spent a whole day in Vatican City admiring the brilliant artistry, and I about died when I walked into St Peters Basilica. It’s just so breathtaking!! The Sistine chapel and Vatican museums were also incredible???? On Lily’s last night in Rome, we went to this little restaurant and I ordered THEE BESTEST EVER spaghetti and meatballs!! It was magic in a bowl. Eating my way through different cities is my all time favorite way to travel, can you tell? 😉