From Canada to Switzerland!: Roma Day One

Over the course of the past 8 months, I have often had to ask myself if my life is actually real. I have been given so many amazing opportunities that a year ago were only a dream. However today may have been the craziest day thus far.

After finishing packing my suitcases at 2am, I had a mere 3 hours sleep before my alarm chimed and I was off to the train station to catch a train to Rome! I boarded the 5:45am train from Oensingen to Zürich, where I met up with the other 38 exchange students who are embarking on this journey with me.

From Zürich, we boarded a train to Milano Centrale that made a few stops in Switzerland and Italy along the way. Thank goodness we had a reserved wagon because 43 seats together are hard to come by!

The train to Milan was just over 4 hours long but the time passed fast by gossiping and catching up with everyone and playing a few games of President and Cheat here and there. We attempted to play Go Fish, but none of us could remember the real rules...you know you're not a kid anymore when that happens!

The train was so hot and because we had a 30 minute delay, we managed to miss our connecting train from Milan to Rome. But luckily, trains aren't planes, and there was another train to Rome half an hour later.

After waiting for a little while in Milan, we boarded the train headed to Rome. The train trek from Milan to Rome was another 3 hours or so with a stop in Bologna - we all got quite the laugh out of that! We continued to play cards and talk but there were very few who slept despite the early morning.

We finally arrived in Rome around 3:15 and none of us could believe we were actually there! After looking forward to the trip for so long, it was pretty hard to believe that it was actually happening. We organized ourselves in the train station and received our "Roma Pass" that is good for the Metro and museum entries in Rome.

Then we got on the subway and headed to our hotel just outside of downtown Rome.

We received our room keys and headed up to our rooms quickly to change our clothes and freshen up. Luckily we were able to choose our rooms so I'm sharing with Olivia (from Cambridge...so close!), Emmeline from California and Isaadora from Brazil.

Then we all met up in the lobby for a quick debriefing and explanation of the night's proceedings and then we were on our way back to the Metro to head to the Colosseum! When I got off the subway and saw it, I had to pinch myself and rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't just dreaming and that this was actually real.

And then we were let loose for 3 hours to explore the Colosseum and surrounding area. What was astounding to me, was how the locals sat outside the Colosseum like it was nothing special. Excuse me, what? Just so casual...I'm jealous. I went off with 2 fellow Canadians, Carly from Port Hardy, BC, and Alex from Moncton, New Brunswick. Exploring the Colosseum was incredible - it is so old and there is so much history behind it that it's impossible to wrap my head around it while I try to take in the sight before my eyes. We wandered around inside the Colosseum for a while - there was so much English being spoken - and then we walked around the parameter and purchased a few postcards and souvenirs - so inexpensive, I can hardly believe it - and then we headed across the street and up to an edge looking out over the street at the Colosseum before it was time to meet up with everyone again.

And then we headed back to the hotel on the Metro and witnessed the sun paint a beautiful sunset over the ruins of Rome. Back at the hotel, we were off to eat at the hotel's restaurant. They truly lived up to the Italian stereotype - lots and lots of pasta and the food never stops coming!