Spring Break Part 1: Pisa, Florence, Rome- Study Abroad Week #8

Spring Break Part 1 – Pisa, Florence, and Rome.

Monday – Pisa

Monday started at Todo Modo to get some last minute studying in before midterms this week. Then my friend and I went for a walk over to the river, Ponte Vecchio, and Palazzo Vecchio .

Pisa

Monday afternoon we took a day trip to Pisa. It was pouring rain all day but we still made the best of it. We got to Pisa around 2pm and walked through the fashion district to the river then went sight seeing. We went to lunch at Kiste which had a great view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. Then we checked out the tower and took some pictures. After we went to the markets by the Baptistry and picked up some souvenirs before getting free tickets to the inside of the Cathedral at a scheduled time. The Cathedral was very beautiful inside. Then we went to one of my favorites, La Bottega del Gelato, for gelato and a nearby bar for caffelattes before heading back to Florence.

Tuesday – Florence

First day of midterms! I was very nervous for midterms as I was not sure what to expect and had 2 back to back this day. They ended up going pretty well and I got done early.

Since my best friend was in town I took her to all my favorite places in Florence while she was here.

Palazzo Pitti & Boboli Gardens

I met up with her at Palazzo Pitti where we sat in the palazzo soaking up the sun before heading to lunch. We got lunch at La Botteghina which I had not tried before. We ordered aperol spritzs’ and cacio e pepe in true American tourist fashion. This was some of the best cacio e pepe I’ve had.

After lunch we went to Giardino Di Boboli (The Boboli Gardens). The weather was much better this time I went and more spaces were open so we walked around almost the entire garden.

Piazzale Michaelangelo & Osteria dei Centropoveri

Following the gardens we went to Piazzale Michaelangelo for the sunset.

Then I took her to my favorite restaurant in Florence, Osteria dei Centropoveri. This place has my whole heart (and stomach haha). We got campari spritzs’, ribs, and the chicken and potatoes (my personal favorite). After dinner we finished the night off with my favorite gelato from La Carraia. I love the stracciatella flavor.

Wednesday – Florence

On Wednesday we spent the day in Florence and I had my last 2 midterms. We started the day at Todo Modo where we both got a cappuccino and a croissant. Then we strolled along the river as it was such a nice day out before I headed to class.

Thursday – Florence

Duomo Climb

On Thursday we booked tickets to climb the Duomo. Book Here. We booked for an earlier time slot and got the Brunelleschi Pass allowing us to climb the Duomo and have access to the Dome, Bell Tower Climb, Baptistery, Museum, and Santa Reparata. I would consider this a MUST DO in Florence! It doesn’t take very long to climb and the stairs are not that bad. I will say the area in which you climb is very narrow and there are a lot of short and tight spaces. Be sure to book your ticket weeks in advance as they do sell out. My favorite part of the climb were the little windows on the way up and the view at the top.

After our Dome climb we got lunch at I Fratellini where we enjoyed our paninos.

Following lunch we did the Bell Tower Climb which was a little bit more difficult than the Duomo Climb . After the Bell Tower we went into the Museum, Basptistery, and Cathedral.

Florence’s Famous Affogato

Then I took my best friend to Vivoli to get the world’s best and Florence’s famous Affogato.

Dinner

For dinner we went to one of my favorites, Osteria Del Gatto e La Volpe for Cacio e Pepe and drinks.

Friday – Rome

Florence American Brunch

Rome!

After brunch we packed up our stuff and took the train to Rome for the first part of our Spring Break Trip. The train from Florence to Rome is about 1.5 hours without stops and we took it to the Rome Termini Airport for convenience. When we got there we walked to our Airbnb which was a bit far from the train station with all our luggage, so I would recommend taking a taxi if you don’t want to walk.

Where we stayed

We stayed at this airbnb. It was perfect for just the two of us and was in a walkable position to all the sites we wanted to see. The first time I went to Rome I stayed in a hostel/hotel which is sometimes a cheaper option. Check out the details of my first trip to Rome and the hostel/hotel details here.

Aperitivo + Dinner

After checking in we headed to the Pantheon for aperitivo time. After aperitivo time we went and saw Trevvi Fountain at night which is really cool in my opinion. We sat there and people watched for about an hour then threw our coins in for good luck.

We went to dinner really late Friday night. We found this place called “Settimio all’arancio”. We both had the carbonara as you MUST DO when in Rome. then we got lava cake and ice cream for dessert.

Saturday – Rome

Vatican Museums

On Saturday we walked to the Vatican.

NOTE: You NEED tickets to get into the Vatican. We were not able to find tickets in the days leading up to our trip so we decided to risk it and see if we could get tickets there. Luckily we were able to get tickets, but did pay an outrageous price for them as the only option left was a guided tour and we are still pretty sure we got scammed a little bit. BOOK IN ADVANCE!

We were at the Vatican for about 2 hours. We also did the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica. I think a guided tour is nice for the first time, but we definitely did not need it the second time.

After the Vatican Museums we got pizza for lunch nearby at “Pizza & sandwich da pasquale” it was quick and easy.

Following lunch we walked to the Castel Santangelo. We did not go in as it was too expensive, but it was cool to see. Nearby the Castle they have a cute little pop-up market where you can get souvenirs for cheap. I didn’t have enough time to go the first time I was in Rome so I made sure to go this time. We picked up a couple post cards.

Then we went back to our airbnb and took a nap.

We headed back to the Pantheon for aperitivo night #2. We tried a different place for drinks this time.

Dinner

Sunday – Rome

Storytime: The longest day of my life

Berini’s Four River Fountain

On Sunday we checked out Piazza Navona. My favorite part of this area is Berini’s Four River Fountain or the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. It is a fountain showcasing the four major rivers of the four continents through which papal authority had spread: the Nile representing Africa, the Danube representing Europe, the Ganges representing Asia, and the Río de la Plata representing the Americas. Definitely a MUST SEE in Rome. This is my favorite fountain in Rome. There are also live street performers and farmers markets in this area.

Brunch + Spanish Steps + Trevvi Fountain

We went to brunch nearby at Ai “Tre Tartufi” and met the owner. This brunch was amazing! We both got the pancaked and cappuccinos.

After brunch we went to see the Spanish Steps.

After the Spanish Steps we saw Trevvi Fountain during the day.

Colosseum Tour

We did a Colosseum tour in the afternoon that included the Roman Forum. Book the tour we did here. I highly recommend it. Fist we saw the Colosseum then the Arch then walked over to the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum.

Life Threatening Experience/Hospital Visit

So I’m not really sure where to start with this so I will try and make it brief, but I felt it was important that I add this in here because it could save someone else’s life in the future. I will do a full blog post explaining everything and giving tips and recommendations later.

Following our Colosseum Tour our tour guide provided us chocolates to take with us. I was not thinking very straight because it was hot out and we were tired and hungry and I grabbed one of the chocolates. The chocolate as not very well labeled, other than saying “dark chocolate”. I decided to take a bite of the chocolate.

To preface I have a very severe allergy to all nuts. Chocolate in Europe is not nut allergy friendly 95% of the time. I’m not sure why, but Europe doesn’t really care about cross contamination and so as a result if you have food allergies to things in US that say may contain and you’re fine with them, you will most likely not be fine with them in Europe.

Anyways, I stupidly ate the chocolate and immediately felt myself have an allergic reaction. My throat started to close and I ran to the nearest store to get water and took 3 Benadryl. I have had allergic reactions before but not one like this. This one was very different. My friend asked me what I wanted to do and I said I’m not gonna make it we need to find a hospital.

We walked to the nearest busiest street and called an ambulance. While the ambulance was on its way I injected myself with one of my epipens and informed my parents about what happened. The ambulance took forever. Long story short we went to the nearest hospital and were there for 6 hours and I was treated very poorly. I survived and was given the medical attention I needed, but the way in which it was done was terrifying, I truly did not think I was going to make it.

My simple advice from this is: don’t eat foods you’re not sure about if you have food allergies, call an ambulance (# is 112) multiple times until they arrive, get health insurance while traveling abroad, have your documents with you or copies at all times, have medications on you at all times, and when you get to the hospital act like you are dying, make a show out of it, do the most you can to show that you are dying, otherwise they will not attend to you and you will be there for 6 hours stranded in a hallway with no cell service like I was. The language barrier also made the situation 5x more difficult as very few people in the hospital spoke English.

The whole thing did end up being free because I had health insurance which was a huge reliever.

If you want to read more about my experience and how to avoid it I will make a new blog post about it and about traveling abroad with food allergies.

We got back home around midnight that night then went to McDonalds as it was the only thing open, then we were followed home, which was really scary.