Last day in Italy...

'Twas the day before departure

And all through the dorm

Not a student was screaming

Although that was the norm.

All the suitcases packed

Or still strewn across the floor

In anticipation of tomorrow

Which will end our tour.

Okay, I got bored with the rhyming. But it's true, today is our last day in Italia!! It's about 4 pm now. We had our "last lunch" at our beloved Chinese restaurant at 1:00, and then I went with Traci and Katie to the Colosseum to get some final pictures and then to Cavour to see Michelangelo's Moses. If we email Dr. Murphy a selfie with Moses, we will get extra credit! ;) But now we're back. And it's time to blog.

Yesterday I mentioned that we were going to our farewell dinner in Tivoli. It was a fantastic way to end our trip! We visited the Villa D'Este before dinner and it was so spectacularly beautiful I couldn't stand it. Then we had our dinner at Monteripoli at the top of one of the hills in Tivoli and we had a great time singing and dancing with the musicians who were playing for us all throughout our huge meal. Let me describe this for you. We started off with an appetizer with bread, meats, cheese and a tiny salad. Then we got what I guess was an antipasto with alfredo sauce and ham. Then we got some more pasta in red meat sauce, which we thought was the main course. But no, then they brought out some pork topped with olives and mushrooms and potatoes! By then we were so full we felt bad only eating part of it. Then, to top it all off, they brought out the tiramisu and some shots of limoncello, which I can't stand so I gave it to my friend. Throughout the meal we also had both red and white wine, orange Fanta, and water. All in all, it was a huge delicious meal and we were surrounded by friendly people and great authentic Italian music played on guitar and accordion with singing. As we went around our group and gave our final reflections on what our favorite moment of the whole trip was, the sun was setting out the giant windows, creating a beautiful backdrop to the finale of our grand adventure. (Pictures below, of course.)

The view from Villa D'Este!

One of many fountains there

Breathtaking!

The beautiful sunset out the window of Monteripoli :)

In my final reflection, I said that the moment that would stay with me most from the trip, if we could only pick one, would be the moment when we finally reached the top of the Duomo and we saw the aerial view of Florence. That was the first of many breathtaking sights that I saw on this trip, and it was so rewarding to see after the strenuous climb up. But it's really not fair to choose just one thing from the whole trip. For instance, basically every time I have walked into a cathedral, the sight has taken my breath away. Climbing to the top of St. Peter's Dome was up there too. The sights at Capri were so awesome too! And the views from our hotel in Massa Marittima were spectacular. Walking around that corner in Florence and then seeing the Florence Cathedral/Baptistery/Duomo will also be a moment that I will never forget. There are just too many breathtaking moments for me to name! I am excited to go back home and see my friends and family and doggies, but I think once I finally get home and get back to the grind of life, I will miss my time in Italy. I hope I can come back someday, and I'm so glad I was able to come on this trip now at this time in my life!

I have most of my stuff packed away, but I probably won't be totally packed until right before we leave tomorrow morning. We are departing St. John's University at 8 am on a charter bus to get to the Fiumicino airport, where we need to go through security and all that before our flight at 12:15 pm. Boarding begins at 11:20 am for me, I think. I'll have to check again. It's an 11 hour flight to Atlanta, and then I have about a 3 hour layover to go through customs and all that before departing Atlanta at 8:59 pm and getting in to Jacksonville at 10:15 pm. I'll basically lose 6 hours flying over the ocean, so it'll feel like it's 4 am. This should be fun!

I keep telling myself I'll be home tomorrow night, and I'm so excited!! So the next time you'll hear from me I'll be in the United States! Arrivederci, Italia!

~Dani