I spent the past week in the old country…the land of my grandfather…Italia. It was incredible. First and last thought about Italy: “Why didn’t I study abroad here???” Now I have an entire journal filled with my thoughts on this trip so I won’t even begin to scratch the surface with this blog but here’s an idea of what it was like. The first part of the trip was spent in Roma. Here I met my family! My Uncle Peter, my papap’s brother, lives in Roma, as well as his two sons and their families. What a crazy but amazing experience. My Uncle Peter doesn’t speak English so the hostel called him for me and told him I had arrived. He came to the hostel with my cousin Tony and Tony’s wife Maria, and their son, Peter. I remember feeling so excited and nervous about meeting them. Uncle Peter was dressed in a beautiful grey suit and looked just like my papap! He hugged me and gave me a kiss on both cheeks and I just wanted to cry at that moment. 
I was with family for the first time in two months! As the four Americans and four Italians couldn’t all fit in one car we went to a café across the street from our hostel and had delicious desserts and café(expresso). We sat around the table all very excited tobe together and laughing because we couldn’t speak the same language. With my Italian/English dictionary and Ashley’s phrase book we learned so much about one another! My cousin Tony is so talkative and wanted me to know everything about them! I saw pictures of his house, their dogs, and Peter in his karate outfit! We talked about our families and Tony told me so many times 
that I was definitely a Perri! It was just so amazing to be around all of them…to know that they exist and that we all love each other! We said goodbye for that night but made plans to meet again the following day. That evening Eric, Ashley, Nicole and I walked to the Trevi Fountain, made wishes, and then just wandered the streets of Rome. The city is just as I expected it to be…well, even better than I imagined! The next day Tony picked us up in his FIAT and took us all around the city. He pointed out famous sites and then took us to places that off the beaten track of a tourist! We saw the most amazing views of the city and in between the sightseeing learned a little bit of Italian from Tony! He was so eager to talk to us! After a busy morning of sightseeing we went to lunch at Uncle Peter’s apartment. His wife Dora made us this incredible lunch. It just never ended! This was the menu: 
Orange Apartif to drink
Salami, Pepperoni, Capricola
Olives
Green Beans
Calabraise bread (traditional)
Lasagna
Fettuccini with meat sauce
Peas and beef
Chicken and mushrooms
Breaded rice balls
Salad
Cheese
Fruit (Sicilian Oranges and apples)
Orange/almond cake
Cookies that I gave to them the previous day
Café (expresso)
Red wine and sparkling water
Have you ever seen a menu like that for lunch?! It was just so much food! I was seated at the head of the table with Uncle Peter next to me who kept saying, “Mange, mange!” (Eat, eat!) I just loved it! I felt like I was at my Nona and Papap’s house. The house was decorated like their house and it even smelled like it! I saw pictures of my cousins, Claudia and Andre. And my Uncle Peter took me aside and said “Surprise”, then showed me the picture of his mother. I just wanted to cry at that moment. It was the same picture that my papap has and that we have hanging in our house. I just loved being with family. It was the best day of my trip and a day that I will never forget. I didn’t want to leave them but the day had to end. I know that I will learn to speak Italian and my family has an invitation to visit anytime. Hopefully I will see them all again next summer!
We didn’t have to navigate Rome at all because the next day we had Nicole’s friends (three high school friends studying abroad in Rome) show us the city. We started in the Vatican, walked through the Piazza Navona, had fresh fruit from a stand in the Piazza Fiore, pet cats in the Cat Sanctuary (which was actually in old Roman ruins!), had lunch from the best sandwich shop ever (!), explored the Pantheon, ate amazing gelato, and then sat on the Spanish Steps to rest! What a packed day! We saw so much and just had an amazing time!
The next part of our trip was spent in Napoli. We took a train from Roma. None of us knew what to expect from Napoli so we all we wanted to do was explore it! We walked through the garbage (there’s a garbage strike) and started out a little disappointed. Luckily we kept walking and found the heart of the city. We walked along these little streets, barely bigger than a sidewalk, beneath hanging laundry, and just fell in love with the city. Vespas zoomed past us and people were just living their lives. We seemed to be the only tourists there! We walked to the top of a large hill and had an incredible view of the city, the Mediterranean Sea, and Mount Vesuvius. For dinner we had margherita pizza from a great restaurant near the sea! The next day was spent in the Amalfi Coast. It was such a beautiful area. I am really not describing these places very well and my pictures don’t do justice either. You really have to just see the areas and develop your own experience. That is why I love traveling…there is just too much to describe…it’s more of a feeling that can’t ever be truly shared.
We flew out of Ciampino Airport in Rome so we spent our last evening back in Rome. The plane left at 6am and we had to take a bus to the airport at 4am so we decided not to get a hostel for the night. Staying up all night wasn’t bad at all! In fact it was a great time! We ate dinner and had a gelato at our favourite gelateria. It was a small little shop and we just loved the owner. He was so kind and we spent time trying to talk to him. He didn’t speak English but we got along great! He gave us all a glass of champagne with a strawberry for free! I’ll never forget that place or him! From there we went to the Trevi Fountain and played UNO with some Spanish high school exchange students on their spring break too. It was so crazy seeing these 16-year-olds traveling Europe alone. They were eating cookies for their meals…hahah, I could see Hope doing that! Then we walked to a piazza where the Pantheon is and just people watched for a while. When it started to get less populated we walked back to the Trevi Fountain and waited to take the bus to the airport. While there we met this guy from England who was just traveling around Europe for a month. He didn’t have a hostel for the evening because he said it was just such a nice night, why waste the money!? He had been to Greece before Italy. What an amazing life to just wander without a true destination, just experiencing life in different countries. The people that we met in Italy were all just so friendly and that is definitely a part of what makes Italy so amazing. This trip just made me so proud to be Italian and I can’t wait to go back with my family! Arrivederci da una donna italiana!
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