What were you grateful for this week?
Sicilian donuts! Haha:) Please note that almost everything I’m grateful for is in relation to food. But I’m not joking when I say that I ate the best food on planet earth this week. I went to a pastry shop and bought what looked like a regular lemon ricotta donut and then realized the moment I took a bite, that I had bought a piece of heaven for 3€. 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?
Realizing that I can’t afford to continue buying gelato 3 times a day for the next two months so I actually had to create a gelato budget. In all seriousness, this week was a breeze and I had so much fun!

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week.
I was sitting at dinner with my host family earlier this week and they were talking about sweet potatoes, and somehow it came up that at home I make sweet potato fries and they thought it was the coolest thing so I made them for dinner a couple days later and it was delicious!

Tell us about your week!
This week was definitely my favorite so far! It started out with a tour of the colosseum and the Roman Forum. K and I were able to do that with a couple friends we met at church the day before and it ended up being so much fun! We also went to a really good restaurant called Trattoria da Teo for lunch and I had the most incredibly light and flavorful ravioli I’ve ever tasted.

 

I really enjoyed getting to know the kids better and playing with them in the piazza and at home after school. They’re the cutest kids and I’m so impressed with their language capabilities! It’s also been very fun to get to know my host mom better! She’s an extremely intelligent person, and I’ve had some really cool conversations with her. Something I’ve noticed that’s different in Italy is how straightforward and honest they are, and I love it so much!! You always know where you stand and there’s a clear sense of authenticity and openness. It’s so refreshing to live around people like that! 

 

On Friday morning, K and I left Rome on a bus to travel to Florence. It took us quite a while to get there but when we did, we immediately set about exploring Firenze. We had way too much fun shopping in all the little shops. My favorite place was a small little shop filled with things made entirely from wood and hand painted. It was so incredibly beautiful I could have stayed there for hours! We tracked down the supposed “best gelateria” in Florence and let me tell you, it definitely lived up to its reputation. 

 

After staying at a hostel that night, we took a couple trains to La Spezia where we met a couple other [English Speakers from Rome Abroad] and checked into the airbnb we were sharing. Over the next day and a half, we ate delicious food, explored Cinque Terre on foot and ferry boat, and took trains through all five of the cities. It was hands down one of the most picturesque places I’ve ever been in my life. Excited to see what next week brings!