Studietour Part 1: Rome & Vatican City

This is the first part of the story of my school trip to Rome! This includes the four days we were in Rome, and our trip to Vatican City. The next part will be about our trip to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius!

It is typical for students in the second year of Gymnasium (highschool) to take a study trip abroad for about a week. My class was no different; we were lucky enough to spend a week in Rome, Italy!

We left on Sunday the 8th of April and flew out of Copenhagen to Frankfurt, and then took a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Rome. We got into Rome at about 1am, so that night we went straight to bed.

The first full day we were in Rome it actually rained quite a lot; so much so that we had to cancel our plans for the day and return to the hotel! The next few days were quite busy though. The other exchange student in my class (Giorgia) is actually from Rome, so we were given the unique opportunity of getting to visit her school and see what life is like for a typical student in Italy. I was lucky enough to get to meet with Giorgia's family, and they took us out to dinner one night. I got to try a lot of traditional Roman food, and it was delicious!

Giorgia's family was so sweet and generous, and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful experiences they were able to introduce me to!

Of course we got to see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and many other breathtakingly beautiful monuments. Rome is so incredible and full of such beautiful historic buildings everywhere you turn. It was really a dream come true to be able to see it all.

Colosseum exterior

Inside the Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum (with Freya and Jeppe)

Outside the Colosseum (with Giorgia)

We also got to go to Vatican City one day and visit the Sistine Chapel as well as the Papal Basilica of St. Peter.

The buildings on the way to the Sistine Chapel are filled with all kinds of beautiful artwork; handmade tapestries, old maps of the different parts of Rome, and fresco pantings lined the walls and ceilings all the way down.

The Sistine Chapel was breathtakingly beautiful. The images seemed to come alive the longer you looked at them. It's truly a masterpiece and something I never expected to be able to experience in my exchange year. It was truly a magical experience being able to go here.

We saw so much in the little time we had there, it felt like we were there for three weeks rather than one- but I enjoyed every second of it. I definitely became much closer with a lot of classmates on this trip, and I will never forget it.

Papal Basilica of St. Peter

Pantheon

Pantheon 

Something that I really like about Danish culture is that they really respect and trust their children. We were allowed to walk around the city ourselves (in groups) and explore at our own pace and what interested us. Some of my favorite memories are walking around the streets of Rome with my friends.

And, of course, we got some pretty killer pasta and pizza while we were down there...

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Lowney's for donating to my GoFundMe! I love you all so much, I think you know how much you mean to me. Thank you so much for helping me get to Denmark, which helped me get to Italy!:) I miss you guys a lot and can't wait to see you again. Thank you so much!

Danish Word of the Day:
Kunst- art