"My desire to travel to Rome started as a bit of a romantic notion, fueled by high school studies of Renaissance masters and Hollywood versions of a place home to women as beautiful as Sophia Lauren and men as charming as Roberto Benigni, as they sip on espressos in open air cafes." 

First line of my study abroad application essay. November 2010.

Well, my idea of Rome is slightly more realistic now, but as I look back at how I was feeling over a year ago, I can safely say that I am ten times more ecstatic to spend the upcoming semester in what I expect to be one of the most exciting  cities in the world. Along with being nervous about the flight, stressed about packing 4 months of my life into a 27 inch suitcase, and distressed about a semester away from many of my friends and ND, I’m just a big unstable bundle of nerves. It’ll be a miracle if I can get to sleep tonight.

A big shout out to my family for putting up with me as I’ve been preparing to leave. I can promise that the anxiety started way before I started folding clothes and making sure my liquids don’t exceed 3 oz. and all fit in one of those clear plastic quart baggies (Hear that TSA? I follow your rules and am NOT a terrorist… contrary to what you thought at the start of my last flight). Couldn’t have done it without them! Now I just have to pray that the travel gods smile upon my journey - I must broken a mirror or walked under a ladder somewhere along the way because I have quite possibly the worst luck in the world when it comes to traveling.

So, for the next four months, this blog will be primarily dedicated to the art, people, places, music, peculiarities, and most of all beauty of “la città eterna.” Arrivederci gli stati uniti. Ciao il resto del mondo!