One of the many beauties of studying abroad in Lisbon is how convenient it is to travel to other parts of the continent. This past weekend, for instance, I took advantage of this opportunity and spent three days in Rome with my sister, Chris, and my new brother-in-law, Rob. (Yes, I may have crashed their European honeymoon, but I promise I was invited.)
I’m sure you’ve heard about all the amazing things that happen when you’re able to travel internationally with ease, but since I’m supposed to be writing a practical guide, I have to tell you that things are not always as effortless as they seem. Here’s the proof in the pudding:
While planning to go to Rome for the weekend, I actually really only had to book a flight and pack my clothes– Chris and Rob took care of the Airbnb and planning the sightseeing. But this sweet simplicity soon changed the around midnight the night before I left, when the power at my apartment in Lisbon went out just hours before I had to be at the airport.
I hadn’t quite finished packing, my phone was not charged, and I was really hoping to get a quick nap in before my 5am departure from my residence, but I was committed to making the best of the situation. So I plugged my phone into my laptop to charge, gave myself a few extra minutes to get ready when setting my alarm, and put my head down to sleep. Needless to say, between my excitement about seeing Chris, Rob, and a new city, and worries about the power outage, I really didn’t sleep much at all. And actually, when my alarm went off at 4:15, the power was still out. But still set on having a great weekend, I got ready in the dark, met my friend, Casey, in the stairwell (she also was going to visit a friend in Rome), and hopped in an Uber to get to the airport.
**A quick note on my experience with Portuguese airlines: they are notoriously unreliable. Their flights are almost guaranteed to be delayed, their luggage policy is strict, their communication is horrendous, but their employees are quite amiable and despite their flaws, I will continue to be a loyal customer.**
Naturally, the airline had the wrong terminal listed online, so when Casey and I got to the airport, we quickly realized we were in the wrong place. Conveniently, things like this must happen pretty often because there is a terminal-terminal shuttle that runs every 10 minutes, even at 5am. So, after a morning of chaos, we made it to the gate in time to board as the very last passengers on the flight.
And actually, my luck started to change when I got on the plane and found out that I had a row to myself in business class, even though I had only paid for economy. That was the first time that had ever happened to me, so I was incredibly excited and decided that the day was now looking up. Despite a missed train on our way from the Rome airport to the city center and some difficulties actually finding Chris and Rob, the day really did start improving.
Even from the sky, I was already stunned by Italy’s beauty.
On our way from the train station to the Airbnb, we stopped at the Colosseum, looked at some ancient ruins, and bought some supplì for a delicious lunch. Throughout the weekend, I was able to see some stunning sights including Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Borghese Gardens, and many ruins and beautiful piazzas. I also ate some amazing food– everything from the cornetti, to the many pastas, to the pizza with fresh mozzarella, to the fruit from the market, to the cappuccini– and it was a really good thing that we walked 10 miles each day to work it all off. As my sister pointed out many times, it was probably the best weekend food-wise of my life. And on top of it all, spending time with Chris and Rob made my heart full after nearly two months without seeing my family and friends from home.
Chris and Rob secretly loved having me as a personal photographer because they aren’t used to being able to take pictures together when they travel. Here they are at the Colosseum.
It truly was a wonderful weekend. Seeing things that I had read about in history books and looked at in travel books was honestly surreal. I’m still struggling to wrap my head around how ancient structures are still standing and how I was fortunate enough to visit a city with so much history. Many of the paintings and statues that I saw (especially in the basilica and the Pantheon) were pieces that I had learned about in history classes and never expected to really see in person. To me, traveling to a place like that makes you realize how big the world really is and how much more to life there is beyond your small world. It really is eye-opening.
Chris and I made sure to take lots of pictures to send to our parents and our older sister, Beth. Here we are in front of a fountain at one of the piazzas before eating a delicious dinner.
But as happy as I was while in Rome, I knew that I had to get back to Lisbon and get some homework done after a weekend of neglecting the readings and assignments I still had to complete. When Sunday evening came around, I certainly was sad to leave my sister and brother-in-law and such a beautiful city, but I also felt a sense of relief that I would be able to return to Portugal and get back on track before I started to fall behind in my schoolwork.
Around 5:30 on Sunday evening, I left Chris and Rob and went to the train station so I could get back to the airport. And I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this trend yet, but I tend to have bad luck when it comes to the travel part of traveling. So of course, as soon as I got to the train station, I watched the police close off the hallway where tickets to the airport were sold. Knowing an extremely limited amount of Italian, I was nervous to ask for help, and instead tried to figure out an alternative, like using a machine instead of a kiosk, but to no avail. I even looked up how much an Uber would be, but I definitely didn’t want to spend 75 euros on a 30-minute car ride. Eventually, I swallowed my pride and, in a very broken mix of Italian and English, asked a security guard what I should do. Naturally, the answer was right in front of me the whole time– I was simply using the wrong machine. But anyways, I got on a train and made it back to the airport in time for my flight.
And oh boy, did I end up having enough time. My scheduled boarding time was 7:30 pm, but when I got to the gate, I was told that it would be delayed about a half hour. Then, around 8:00, I was told that the gate had changed. Then, I was told that the flight was delayed until 9:30, then 10:30, then 11:00, then 12:30, and finally 1:30. (We ended up actually leaving around 2:00.) Luckily, I had my laptop with me, and all of this extra time gave me a chance to do some readings for one of my classes and begin to reorganize. Unluckily, this six hour delay meant that I did not return to Lisbon until 4:00am local time (still in desperate need of a shower) and I had class at 9:00am.
I really do value my education, but I decided to skip that class in favor of catching up on sleep and getting some assignments done for the week ahead. It wasn’t exactly ideal, and truthfully, I was still exhausted after sleeping in, but I can tell you that there is no part of me that regrets my trip.
That’s the thing about studying abroad: it certainly is about studying, but it’s also about your experiences. In 20 years, am I going to remember missing class after returning from Italy? Nope. Am I going to remember seeing all of the amazing food and sights and crashing my sister’s honeymoon? Absolutely. Am I going to remember all of the traveling mishaps? Unlikely. So in the end, it’s worth it. Traveling isn’t as perfect as people make it out to be, but by all means, you should still do it when you have the chance, even if it means putting in a little extra effort.
Get out there, get out of your comfort zone, and see what else the world has to offer. You won’t regret it.
Living and Learning in Lisbon 