Spring Break in Italy and Greece
This past week was spring break, so my friends and I planned a 10-day long trip to Italy and Greece. I flew into Milan with 4 other friends from Madrid, and then we booked several trains to travel between Venice, Florence, and Rome. I stayed with friends from Maryland in Florence and Rome, which was really fun! For the last weekend of break my friends in Rome and I booked a trip to Corfu, Greece with the travel company Bus2Alps, which is popular among college students studying abroad.
We spent a day in Venice, where we explored the island, ate a lot of pasta and pizza, and took a gondola ride (classic). We were lucky because the weather was really nice. While we were shopping, I randomly ran into friends from UMD who are studying abroad in Seville. They joined our group and walked around for the rest of the day, which was fun.
That night, we took a train to Florence, where I stayed with my UMD roommate. I was surprised by how many Americans were in Florence at that time (either studying there or visiting), and I ended up running into a bunch of people I know. We went to the Piazzale Michelangelo to get a view of the whole city, hung out at the Ponte Vecchio, got really good paninis and gelato, and of course ate more pizza and pasta. I also climbed the 414 steps of the bell tower next to the Duomo, which felt so rewarding when I finally got to see the view from the top!
The next day, I took a train to Rome, where I also stayed with UMD friends. There are a whole bunch of UMD students studying abroad there, so we ran into even more people we know. I explored the Vatican City, Colosseum, Jewish Quarter, Pantheon, and the area of Trastevere, which was really cute. We visited a marketplacenot far from Trastevere, which had all different spices, pastas, fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc. I think I had the best gelato of my life at Giolitti’s in Rome (highly recommend).
After exploring the whole city of Rome, my 2 friends and I continued on to the island of Corfu with Bus2Alps. This was my first Bus2Alps trip, and I would say it’s a pretty affordable way of traveling in Europe if you leave from where they’re based (Rome, Barcelona, or Florence) and depending on the trip. We got to Greece by train, then giant ferry, then smaller ferry, so the traveling part took a while. While in Greece we stayed at the Pink Palace with hundreds of other college students, which was a cool experience. We ate Greek food, went to a pink toga party, did an ATV safari, explored the small town of Corfu on Easter, and had plenty of beach time! We had a blast and overall great weather for the beginning of April.
After we came back to Rome, I was kind of ready to get back to Madrid. I love traveling, but sometimes it can be exhausting. The timehere is flying by so fast, which is crazy. Now I’m getting ready to see my parents later today, and I’m excited to show them around Madrid!
