Day 3 - Morning Adventures
By Sarah Ness
After traveling for multiple hours and sleeping our first night in Rome, the following morning the team split up into multiple groups to tour the city. Since this morning was a free day, we were able to go and do whatever we pleased as long as we checked in and made it back to the hotel by the time that was discussed.
In the morning, the team met for hotel breakfast filled with croissants, coffee, bagels, fruits, with the cutest jam, jelly, and honey jars. As the team began to finish their breakfast, groups began to split up to take on their first FULL day in Rome. My group decided to first tour the area relatively close to the hotel where we are staying at to familiarize ourselves with the area. Right from the start there were many pictures taken whether it was in front of flowering bushes, looking over edges, or even on a playground. Once finished with our own mini tour, the team met up with our travel guide, Naomi, at 10am to introduce and show us how to safely use the metro to travel around Rome.
Once arrived, groups were once again free to explore and discover the city as they wished. As soon as we got off of the metro, we noticed the Spanish steps. After climbing to the very top to take some pictures, a few members of the team unintentionally “bought” roses. So, when traveling and a man (or woman) place a flower in your lap while taking a picture, DO NOT ACCEPT THE FLOWER. Otherwise you will owe that said person money for something you did not intend on buying. Regardless, since this was our first day, we weren’t going to let some little event like this ruin our day and then continued on.
Shortly following the Spanish Steps, we walked our way to the Pantheon. While none of us knew that our shoulders must be covered to enter, we ended up having to buy scarves. So after purchasing 4 scarves for €20, we made our way in the Pantheon to tour and relish in the enormous area dedicated to the gods.
It was then time to stop by a local restaurant and buy lunch before heading back to the hotel. Since it was the first day touring the city, some of the girls thought it would be best to stop at a sandwich and gelato shop on our way back to the hotel. We all agreed on ordering something fresh (rather than the fast food option that was already served at the airports). Overall, the food ordered was good, while the following dessert (Nutella gelato) after the meal was amazing (so I’ve heard).
We then walked back to the metro station to head back to our hotel to then pack our basketball bags and change into our kayaking outfits to complete the rest of the activities for the day. -Sarah Ness ‘23
LAKE AND GAME DAY
By Elyce Knudsen
We all knew we were in for a busy day, but we didn’t expect it to be so fun!!
We woke up at 8 to get our breakfast at the hotel before we explored some of the city of Rome. Jordan and I walked outside the front of our hotel just to take in the beautiful view! Most of our mornings will be free, and this first morning was so many of us took advantage of it! States, Chels, Jaz, Bella, Jordan and I made our walk to the Pamphili. It was a long walk, but it was worth it with all of the things we saw! We were able to see turtles, fish, and even a swan swimming in the pond out front of beautiful buildings that have been standing for quite some time! Many of the times we would get lost because we didn’t know our way, but we were lucky to have a sweet man that led us to where we walked all this way for. He might have been flirting with J????
We got to the location that we wanted to see in the Pamphili. It was BEAUTIFUL! They had beautiful “manicured” shrubs as States would say with ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL building with all of the beautiful landscape. We made our walk back after seeing that site. We got on the metro then grabbed some McDonald’s (yeah yeah we know we can get that in America, but can we talk about the patties on the BIG MAC?!?!?!) We got back to the hotel, enjoyed the McDonald’s, and then rested for a little before we departed to kayak and then play our basketball game!
Kayaking was so much fun! We had two tour guides that guided our BIG group an hour down a beautiful lake. Some were in single kayaks, some had NEVER kayaked before, and some like J and E realized that it could be detrimental to their friendship.
Once we were done kayaking we had to play a basketball game. I know some of you are probably wondering “haven’t they done enough today???” Well we walked back to the bus to change into our uniforms and then grabbed some delicious sandwiches with homemade spicy cheese!! We traveled 30 minutes to the gym we were playing at. We got to the gym, took a picture in front of an awesome Kobe Bryant mural, and then began to stretch with Charles (aka yoga masterrrrr). We warmed up for about 45 minutes in the gym and started our game around 8:20.
WE WON!!! After the game we exchanged shirts with the opposing team, and they loved them! They put our t shirts on right away and their coach even put on the jersey we brought them. We ate outside of the gym with our own team and the opposing team. It was a beautiful night to enjoy some Italian foods! We traveled 20 minutes back to the hotel on the bus, showered, and got in bed. It was a busy day, but we can’t wait to keep busy tomorrow! See you then! - Elyce Knudsen
