Our final day in Rome covered all the areas in which our trip had been lacking. It was slow-paced, provided us with some time to explore on our own, and was completely relaxing after a whole week of sprinting around from tour site to tour site. We slept in, had breakfast, and enjoyed an easy bus ride to Villa Borghese, the private park of the Borgia family. The scenery was beautiful and trees canopied the walkway to the park.

Once there, we rowed around in a boat on an extremely aesthetic pond, searched for the Vale di Cane, and climbed a fallen tree. We took the metro back and enjoyed lunch on our own, then did some minor shopping, ran to the grocery store for some last minute souvenirs for family and around 4:00 we met Josh to leave for Frascati.

The train ride to Frascati was slow and scenic, albeit hot. After taking in the awesome view from the mountainside town, and the cool, fresh air we did some more minor shopping, and explored the picturesque town that is Frascati.

We all met back up in front of a gorgeous church and walked together to the restaurant where we would enjoy our last meal together in Italy. We watched the sun set over Rome, picked out the Dome of St. Peter’s, and enjoyed four courses of some of the best food I can ever hope to experience.

My experience in Frascati was one of the best, but I find myself thinking most fondly on the train ride home. After talking with our chaperone, Mrs. Kelly, and some friends for a while I was drawn to the window by the moon. Once I stuck my head out there was no going back in. The countryside was beautiful, illuminated by the silvery moonlight. I saw fields and vineyards and houses and mansions and aqueducts. I saw families eating dinner on their rooftops and graffiti and the inside of tunnels and the whole time I had an inexplicable feeling of connectedness with Rome. I remember arriving in Rome and only noticing the trees and how completely different they look from Florida trees. That was Rome’s one great identifying feature at the time-trees. I now know better.

After eight days I have been all over Rome, through Florence, and up to Frascati. I have seen some of the most incredible forms of human achievement in existence and walked through a city as part of living history. I can only imagine the layers and layers of undiscovered history underfoot. I have mastered the metro system, grown familiar with the Termini Station and become a capable navigator of Rome. I know enough Italian to get by, and am wary of the trickiness of salespeople. My experience in Rome has come to an end, but its influence will never leave me. Already, my worldview has shifted, and I find it a foreign notion to be heading home to Florida with its lack of unidentifiable trees and metro systems and persistent salespeople.

I’ll return with an unquenchable travel lust, I know, which will almost guarantee my eventual return to Roma. I have so much left to see.