A Final Goodbye

I am sitting here on the morning of my departure from Rome in shock. How did six weeks pass by so quickly? It felt like yesterday I was unpacking my suitcase, eating my first plate of true Italian pasta, and still unsure of what to expect. I wish I could go back to the first day and tell myself not to blink or else the time would be gone.  As sad as I am to depart from Rome, I would not go back and change a thing. In six-weeks I have managed to conquer two classes (The History of Art in Rome and Introduction to Risk Management), jam as much Roman history into my brain as possible, eat an obscene amount of pasta, pizza, and paninis, and enjoy my summer in Rome.

When I first arrived six-weeks ago, I created a “Rome Bucket-list” on my phone. At first, the list was simple, like “see the Trevi Fountain at night” and “Tour the Sistine Chapel,” but as I became more familiar with Rome, I added new items like “See the Aventine Key Hole.”

The list got long, even daunting at times, but my Roman bucket-list is a big reason  I explored the eternal city until the day of my departure. Some items were completed without a hitch, while others were not. I enjoyed completing every item on my list, but the two highlighted below stand out as the most memorable.

Seeing the Pope

The Borghese Gardens is easily one of my favorite places in Rome. The Garden is a large park with fountains, bike paths, an amazing overlook of the city, and a perfect place for a picnic.

One afternoon, three of my friends and I decided to finally have a picnic in the park. We went to the grocery store and purchased the food and we were on the train to the Flaminio stop, when the skies opened up and it began to down pour. We just looked at each other like, “What are we supposed to do with a bag full of food in the middle of Rome during a rain storm?” We could not go to the Gardens and there was no place for us to go hideout, except for the Temple Rome building. Initially, we thought we would just wait out the storm and then walk back to the park. However, as soon as we sat down we couldn’t resist breaking into the food. Soon we had a a mound of food on a Temple Rome table and we were having our picnic. Although it was not in the Borghese Gardens, I would still consider our picnic a success.

There are a few items on my bucket-list that were never completed. They were not left undone from lack of effort or desire, but rather a lack of time. As I am departing from Rome, a part of me does not feel satisfied (for lack of a better word) with the amount of time I spent in Rome. I felt as though I was just understanding the culture and beginning to get into a routine when my time was up. A part of me wishes I had the opportunity to spend an entire semester abroad, but then again I would not have had an opportunity to spend an amazing summer in Rome. Until next time, Ciao Roma!