Navigating around the magnificent city of Rome can be extremely intimidating in the beginning. When one of our first assignments this semester was a scavenger hunt around the city I was nervous. How would we be able to get to all the sights in time? How will we know what we’re looking at? Like any big city, the busy streets are filled with tourists and cars coming from every direction. I’m used to traveling in large cities like New York and Chicago back in the United States, but the language barrier in Italy makes Rome seem ten times more difficult. 

With the help of my friend Kiki guiding us, we began to find the sights on our scavenger hunt project. Side alleyways became our secret passages to escape the crowds and avoid the rain. As the day went on I was still stressed out about all the sights we had to get to because we wanted time to go eat and maybe shop a little. Racing through Rome to get to each spot on our list was all I was thinking about.

When we finally thought we were done, it turned out some of the girls still needed one more picture. They told us to go ahead and go shopping and that they would meet up with us later, but we all said that we didn’t want to do that and we should stick together. The walk to the next sight – although long and rainy – was one of my favorite parts of the day. Walking through the Villa Borghese Gardens away from the loud and busy city was the perfect break. The garden contained tall trees, colorful flowers, beautiful sculptures, and an amazing terrace that overlooked the Piazza del Popolo. This stop on our scavenger hunt was ultimately what reminded me to take a step back and enjoy the time I have in such a special place. This weekend gave me the opportunity to see and learn about things that I would have never done on my own and I’m so grateful I got to experience them! 

Try to find peace in the chaos and enjoy everything you can,

Ciao!

Audrey Kullman