ROME

Before going to Rome, I was a tad worried that I wouldn't know where to start. As in, I had not planned in the slightest until the night before I left. Thankfully, the people around me were a bit more proactive when it came to knowing what to do, and even though I hadn't booked anything specific before the trip, I was still able to book tickets online for places like the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum the day before! But before that, I started my first day in Rome by having one of the best sandwiches I've ever had in my entire life from Mizio's Street Food (probably not better than Tonton Garby in Brussels, but very close). I hadn't even been in Rome for half a day, and I already felt so immersed in my surroundings; walking down narrow streets to get to the sandwich place and seeing the beautiful sky in the distance was truly a sight to see. Unfortunately, the sun has started setting earlier and earlier in Europe, but our city walk was still very informative and beautiful! We ended the tour at the Colosseum, which I would visit a couple of days later (even though I had no idea at the time lol).

Sightseeing
Rome, pretty similar to Paris, had a lot of things to see. I managed to see Trevi Fountain (as well as like 6+ other fountains because they are everywhere), the Spanish Steps, many, many churches (I am a big fan of the architecture), the Pantheon (thankfully I got a reduced price with my German residence permit), many, many obelisks (too many to count), and more. My personal favorite, though, was the Altar of the Fatherland. This monument/museum is in honor of the first king of an independent, united Italy in the 1800s. In high school, I really loved learning history, and one of the key things I remember very vividly is the unification of Italy and Germany in the 1800s; so seeing a monument dedicated to something I found so interesting was almost nostalgic in a way. And the monument itself is just sooo grand. I truly recommend going to see it if you are ever in Rome, but it is so big that it will be pretty hard to miss.

The next big thing I saw was the Colosseum. I hope future IES Abroad Freiburg students read this because I need them to know that your residence permit will not get you a reduced price to enter the Colosseum...  Everything I visited that offered a reduced price for EU residents (and citizens!) allowed me to have a free/reduced price. However, apparently, the Colosseum only accepted Italy residence permits :/ Even when my friend begged and begged (as Americans do), we couldn't get a reduced price (or a refund, because we bought the reduced tickets online). Thankfully, the reduced price was only 2 euros, but the full price was 18, so we spent 20 in total... oh well. I hope this helps someone!
Unfortunately, I was not the biggest fan of the Colosseum or the Roman Forum, but at least I can mark them off the list of very old things I've seen. Also, my friend and I ran into another traveling American inside the Colosseum, which was pretty cool! She was traveling alone, so we ended up walking around and getting lunch with her for a while. I forgot to get pictures of her, but Angela, if you're reading this, hello!

Vatican
Technically, another country off the list: Vatican City. Visiting the museums was very, very worthwhile, especially with an audioguide that filled me in on a lot of history. I was in the museum for about 3 hours, and it was tiring for sure, but well worth it. The Sistine Chapel was gorgeous, and it convinced me to want to come back the next day to see St. Peter's Basilica. The Basilica was quite literally breathtaking. Arriving early (7 AM...) was so incredibly worth it. There was so much space, so I got to take a lot of good photos and just bask in the grandeur of it. As I mentioned before, I love religious architecture, and this Basilica is (obviously) the best example of it. I am still dreaming of how beautiful it was...

Food
This was probably the most important part. I've always been a big fan of Italian food. Growing up, my mom would describe my food preferences as just "Italian." I had Suppli from Suppli Roma, pizza pocket-like street food from Trappizino, pizza from everywhere, and so. much. pasta. Carbonara, amatriciana, fettuccine alfredo; everything. But my favorite was probably Cacio e pepe, which I had actually never had before this trip.

BUDAPEST

Budapest was, unfortunately, quite cold and dark. However! I still enjoyed it a lot, despite not being there for long.

We had all of our academic sessions on one day, which was a little tiring, but still very informative. I learned a lot about Hungary, its important election next year, corruption, and the Roma people in the country. Hungary is the farthest east I’ve ever gone, so it was really cool to learn about an EU country that is pretty different from the rest.

That night we had a very informative (but very cold…) city walk, where I learned that the inventor of the Rubik's Cube is Hungarian (emphasis on “is” Hungarian, because he is still alive!). Later that night, I had a nice boat tour on the Danube, where I got to see beautiful sights of both sides of the city, Buda and Pest :)

The next day, my friend invited me to the Buda Castle and Museum. The museum… was ok. But! Matthias Church on the Buda side was very lovely. Afterwards, I went to the iconic Szechenyi Baths with some friends. I had never been to a spa/bath place, so I was veryyy excited for this, especially because it also had some saunas as well. The experience was pretty magical because when we were in the outdoor pools, it started to snow 🤯 Obviously, it didn’t stick to the ground because the bath steam was hot, but it was still amazing to see snow falling down, which I hadn’t seen in about 3 years.  It was a tad pricey, but I highly recommend going if you get the chance. We were there for about 3 hours, and it was well worth it. After a free dinner (on IES’s dime), I actually headed back to Buda at night, which was gorgeous. It started snowing again when I was at Matthias Church, and the high-up view of the Parliament building in the snow was absolutely stunning. I ended the night by going to my first Christmas Market, where I bought a Rubik's Cube keychain (that I can’t solve) and a Chimney Cake, a dessert popular in Hungary. Sadly, my time in Budapest came to an end the next morning.

As someone who had never left America before studying abroad, I’m really grateful to IES Abroad for having a large travel component. It was very fulfilling to sightsee and explore different cultures, but I also love how academic talks were incorporated into every trip, which deepened my understanding of the different countries we went to, especially in relation to EU-related issues. This travel component is why I chose IES Abroad, and I’m glad they didn’t disappoint!

My time here is nearing the end... but blog posts will keep coming! Stay tuned...

--Dana