Our journey to Italy began at the Philadelphia International Airport where we began to tackle our worst enemies: long lines and waiting times. Thanks to Wednesday’s snow storm, our flight was delayed by an hour, which wouldn’t have been a big deal had we booked a direct flight, but that was not the case. This seemingly insignificant delay threw our entire itinerary into chaos, and we were stumped for a while while our amazing chaperones tried to amend the problem. Thankfully, they found a solution, and after 2 hours of waiting we were on our way to our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, our first stop!
Once we arrived at Frankfurt, we headed to retrieve our boarding passes. After some more waiting (and of course even longer lines), all of us but two received a seat on our flight to Italy. Sadly, one student was left without a seat on the plane because of our previous rebooking conundrum and one of our chaperones had to stay behind with this student in Frankfurt on standby. They will be arriving tomorrow; everything is fine! Our chaperones are very well equipped to handle anything that may be thrown their way.
The very first place we visited in Rome with our tour director Silvana was to the Trevi Fountain. Built in 1735, this fountain is one of the most famous places to visit in Rome. Carved within the fountain is the Roman god Neptune and his two sons. Each of his sons hold tridents, symbolizing when the sea is rough and when the sea is calm.
Many of us participated in the Trevi Fountain ritual of throwing coins over your shoulder into the fountain. The first two coins are thrown over the left shoulder; the first coin symbolizes the person will return to Rome in the future, and the second coin “grants a wish” to the thrower. The final coin, which is tossed over the right shoulder, brings the thrower the love of an Italian for life.
The next site we visited before our authentic trattoria dinner was the Pantheon, a place to worship the Roman gods during the Roman times. It was later transformed into a Catholic Church and is now a historical religious site. The building has a dome roof and a glass circular ceiling. This is called the oculus and it’s the only window in the building.
Then, we went off to have our delicious Italian dinner which consisted of pasta, chicken with ham and cheese, and, to top it all off, strawberries with whipped cream! We ended day one a sweet note and we look forward to another day in Rome!
