The great cities of old: from Paris to Rome to home (again)

Ciao and bonjour, friends! If you can’t already guess, we’ve just wrapped up our travels over midterm break and are back with some stories for you!

Here in London, we are beyond lucky to have a ten-day break that allows us to take a nice breather before internships begin during the second half of the semester. When you heard from us last week, we were right in the middle of this break, but figured we’d give you the final report all at once.

We’ll start with Kayla and a long-awaited trip to three destinations in Italy:

I have spent the last two months extensively planning a whirlwind trip to Italy during this break. You can only imagine the build-up to this, booking plane tickets, and then trains, and then places to stay and then activities—it’s been a process. Being able to actually enjoy the end result was a huge relief.

I was accompanied by four other Johnnies at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, as we grabbed the first train out to Gatwick Airport for a 7:00 a.m. flight to Naples. After landing, we drove past Pompeii, through Sorrento and under a few mountains to the small city of Positano. Built literally straight into a cliff, this town is the one you’ve probably seen in photos when you Google “Italy Amalfi Coast.”

Our accommodations for our quick stay here were incredible. We had the most perfect view of the sea from our balcony as we were higher up on the cliff, but you can probably imagine the downside to this.

In order to get anywhere close to the city center down by the black sand beach we had to walk down approximately 50 sets of stairs. By the end of this trek, I was convinced my legs were going to fall off. In a freaky coincidence (halfway through the stair nightmare that wouldn’t end) we ran into a SJU alum on an anniversary trip with his wife who stopped us because he saw my St. John’s T-shirt. So yeah, the stories are true…alumni are everywhere, even across the globe on a random Sunday in October.

We were so exhausted from our early start to the day and our stair journey that almost all of us passed out on the beach for a while, which was much needed. Amalfi lemon sorbet was required in order to motivate us to climb back up to our place.

Unsurprisingly, the walk back up was nearly vertical and a lot worse. So, the scenery was beautiful and beyond worth it, but we weren’t entirely upset about leaving the excessive stairs behind to travel to Rome the next day.

One train ride later, we made it to Rome! We spent one morning in Vatican City at the massive Vatican museums and St. Peter’s Square, and then walked all the way back across Rome to hit all the typical tourist landmarks: Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, etc.

Our accommodations were close to the Colosseum, so we had a few great nights enjoying aperitivo with an ancient Roman view. I now feel that I’ve done sufficient field research to fully enjoy Gladiator II in November (and no, I didn’t get a Paul Mescal sighting. I’ve heard he’s been in the UK lately, so I’ll keep trying!). Another train ride, and our final stop was my personal favorite: Florence.

As someone who is now used to living in a massive city like London, Florence felt more manageable, walkable and quaint. I’ve now determined after traveling upward of 350 miles in Italy over the course of a week that Tuscany is my favorite region that we visited.

The scenery was great, the shopping was fantastic and I was lucky enough to have a good friend from my summer internship who studied abroad in Florence last spring, so we had some great recommendations to work from.

I had a chance to admire Botticelli masterpieces and Michelangelo’s original “David” at the Uffizi and Accademia galleries, respectively, which was a dream.

We watched a fantastic sunset at the Piazzale Michelangelo (the best place for panoramic views of the city), marveled at the intricate Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and had the best affogato of my entire life at Vivoli, the oldest gelateria in Florence. One more early 7 a.m. flight later, we were back home in London. I was so exhausted that I decided to take a nap around noon and accidentally slept too late and woke up at 8:00 p.m., which somehow just made me more tired.

So much for a semi-normal sleep schedule, but I spent a week in Italy, so who cares! This trip had a lot of moving parts involved and despite some inevitable unexpected events, we pulled it off and had a great time. At this point, if a future dream publishing gig doesn’t pan out, I’m considering an alternative career as a travel agent.

Now over to Summer with her ‘Tour de France’ and final days of break spent back in London:

I set off to Paris with my mom and grandmother, ready to take on the city with a high tolerance for cheese and a low threshold for long lines. After arriving by train, we took a taxi to our hotel, dropped off our stuff and went on our way to enjoy what Paris had to offer.

Our first stop was the Louvre, a seemingly endless maze of halls filled with everything from ancient statues to Renaissance masterpieces. To make things even more memorable, we met up with my boyfriend (a Johnnie also on the London program) and his family to explore together.

While our parents slowly made their way through each room, the two of us made a beeline for the Mona Lisa, who, if you didn’t know, is far smaller than you’d think.

We squeezed our way through the crowd and captured a quick selfie in front of the painting. Wandering the museum with family made it less of a checklist stop and more like a reunion in one of the world’s grandest settings.

After a night of much needed rest, the next morning my mom, grandma and I were off to the Christian Dior Museum. Here we experienced a whole different side of Parisian culture. Dior’s classic silhouettes and sparkling gowns gave us a real appreciation for the “art” part of “fashion is art.” My grandma and I marveled at the craftsmanship while my mom quietly contemplated the impracticality of wearing anything Dior to the grocery store.

But in that museum, among the haute couture, we couldn’t help but feel a little chic ourselves- at least until we checked the price tags.

Finally, we decided to tackle the Eiffel Tower, choosing the stair route because we figured the elevator was for quitters (or, you know, people who think ahead and book tram tickets before they sell out).

Over a thousand steps later we reached the second floor. The view was breathtaking, as was the climb—mostly in a “whew, that’s a lot of stairs” sort of way.

Three generations of us, standing together and overlooking the city, gave the moment a special kind of magic. Our legs may have been sore, but hey, memories are priceless, right?

Returning to London, I had barely recovered from Paris before I shifted gears to once again become a tour guide for my friend Hannah (a fellow Bennie studying in Austria) for a few days.

Our first stop was the V&A (which Hannah said was by far her favorite museum she’s ever been to) before heading to the science museum, and we finished off her first day by going to Mass at one of the local churches near us.

Since Hannah has been in Austria, it was the first service she’s been able to attend that was in English. The next day we went to an immersive Van Gogh exhibit where all of his artworks were projected onto the walls. It was such a cool and unique experience, and we even got free posters at the exit.

After the exhibit I showed Hannah all of the popular tourist spots in London.

We took some goofy photos and then headed home for the night.

In the end, playing Parisian art critic, mountaineer at the Eiffel, and then full-on London tour guide within a week’s time was an unforgettable (and slightly exhausting) way to soak up Europe.

Now that our midterm break is over, we’re launched right back into the action with our internship placements that started this week. We’ve written in the past about the challenges of “locking it in” when you’re in another country, and that’s especially true for us now.

While our classes were certainly an important part of our semester here, starting a new job in a different country is a whole other beast, especially after we just had a massive influx of visitors the last few weeks and are still recovering from some crazy travel plans.

So trust us, we are feeling the mid-term grind just as much as you. Whether you’re juggling your activities and commitments back home or abroad, being a student is hard work.

We hope that as you begin registering for spring classes and prepping for next semester, you don’t forget to start the second half of the current semester off strong (we’re having to remind ourselves of this too).

If you’re finding yourself stuck between essays and exams, just remember: You’ve done it before, and you can do it again. It always goes faster than you think!

Case in point: How is it basically November already? Winter break (and our Minnesota homecoming) is right around the corner. Time flies, so enjoy it.

We’ll be keeping that sentiment top of mind as we speed through the next six-ish weeks here in London, where we’re planning more experiences both near and far to close out our semester.

But in the meantime, we’ve just got three things left to say: Wish us luck for our first week in the British professional world, vote and Happy Halloween.