A Visit from Home

This past week I was blessed to be visited by someone from back home, my mother!  I was so happy to see her!  I was sadden that my sister and father weren’t able to take time off from school and work to come and visit too.

Twins in green and black?

My mother and I had an amazing time together.  I was able to show her where I have been studying and living for the past three months.  During the week she was here, we explored the Vatican, including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum, the Colosseum, Ancient Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and, of course, the Pantheon.  One of my favorite things we did was going to an Italian Opera.  We went to see the Italian Opera Tosca the night she arrived.  My poor mother I’m sure was still jet lagged and just wanted to sleep by the time the opera started around 10pm.  However, we had a great time listening to their amazing voices.  Thankfully, I was smart enough to print out a synopsis of what the opera was about in order for us to follow along.

Dinner in the Jewish Ghetto

After our 300m climb in Cinque Terre

On Friday and Saturday, my mom, two friends from my program, and I took a train north to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre is on the coast of the Italian Riviera.  “The Five Lands” are comprised of five coastline villages.  It is a beautiful region with terraces and cliffs overlooking the sea.  There is a train that goes between the five towns but the scenic way to get to the towns is by walking or hiking the trails.  We were able to walk the trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola called Via Dell’Amore (“Love Walk”).  This trail is very well known because it is decorated with locks from hikers.  It is customary for “lovers” to walk along the path and put a lock on of the many fences overlooking the sea and then to throw the lock into the ocean binding their love.  Too bad I had a lock with me but no lover. Haha.  The scenic path from Manarola to Corniglia was sadly closed due to possible landslides.  Instead, we took a trail up the hill that would then go to Corniglia.  This was not a walking path but a hiking path!  My mother was such a good sport!  She made it up the entire 300m hill and kept up with us the entire time.  It was an exhausting hike and all of us were sweating by the time we reached the top.  It was definitely worth it though because the views were amazing!  The path we were on led us through vineyards that overlooked the sea.  We finished our day of hiking with a great meal and the local Cinque Terre wine.

I had such a good time showing my mom around the city that has become my home.  But most of all it was great to have someone from home to show my new home to.

(P.S. Mom, I hope you realize you get jet lagged both coming to Rome and when arriving back home haha)