This past week was Spring break. Here in Geneva, Spring break coincides with Easter so many folks decided to go home to celebrate with their families. It’s funny to write about Spring break, as I know that the semester at Wellesley is coming to an end and some of you are finally choosing your next steps in your educational career. Next week, I’ll have a little post celebrating those of you who have decided to come to Wellesley. If you are still having trouble, you can refer to a post I made in the past about the ways I came to make the decision to go to Wellesley.
For this break, I decided to take the opportunity to do some traveling. I visited a friend who was studying in Munich, Germany and then decided to take a trip to Rome! Here some of the photos from both journeys.
This trip to Munich was the first time I visited Germany! After visiting Munich, I hope to get a chance to visit other cities to compare my experience. I tried some traditional Bavarian meals, visited three castles and wandered around the English garden more times than I can remember. I also figured out how to use Munich’s metro system despite my non-existent German. While in Munich, my friends and I also decided to pop over to Salzburg, Austria which was only about two hours away from us. We found out later, Salzburg is where the Sound of Music was set and where Mozart lived. We took pictures in front of the house he was born in. It was a good time.
Rome was mostly a solo trip. I had a friend who was in the city but leaving the day I arrived. This was one my first trips alone which initially made me nervous. Traveling alone can be a really fulfilling experience as well as being a little anxiety-inducing. You learn a lot about yourself while roaming around a foreign city where people speak a language you don’t understand. You learn to take initiative, do things alone and yes, ask a perfect stranger to take a really cheesy photo of you in front of St. Peter’s Square. Rome was the perfect city to do this. It’s ancient but also very industrial and urban. Tons of culture and art for history and art aficionados to get excited about.
I spent the first two days roaming the city trying to see all the landmarks that have come to define Rome like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain. I also spent some time in Vatican city and visited St. Peter’s Basilica. Walking around the city, I just stumbled across beautiful monuments without really looking for them. I also went into every church I came across to admire the architecture. On my last day, I visited a museum and watched a movie.
This week, I also got my thesis approved! In the future, I will make a post about the process of choosing a topic, then an advisor and then submitting a proposal but for now, I wanted to just share the good news.
Until next time,
Laïssa