Week 8 At SVF

October 9th - October 15th

*The second part of The Rome Trip

The last two days of being in Italy approached and we were all becoming weary. We had seen only each other and been with only each other for more than a month already. We were ready to be alone, to sleep and to rest. Monday (måndag) in Italy would be our last full day and we were going to see the Catacombs. We were not allowed to bring cameras into the Catacombs as they would be dangerous to the artifacts. Deep within the earth we saw tombs of ancient priests and even saw a bone in an enclosed tomb. After our tour of the Catacombs we decided to walk back to the area our hotel was in. Some of us decided to go get more gelato for Linneas birthday. We found a place in a rather tourist-y part of Rome but it was okay because the place we went to was considered one of the best gelato places in Rome. We sat and ate for a while before figuring out what to do for dinner. Elin, Axel, Olivea and I decided that we wanted to stay in the tourist area and eat one night like in the movies. We sat at a nice table outside by a fountain and other restaurants. We ordered pasta and white wine while a street musician came and played violin near our table. After dinner Elin and I decided we wanted to do some shopping for gifts so we walked into a couple stores to buy presents for our loved ones. After we shopped we decided to go to a bar across the street from our hotel where I (finally) got to try some real Italian red wine; as everyone seemed to be more into white where I really prefer red. We sat and talked for a while before decided to go back to the hotel to get ready to fly home the next day. The last day in Rome came and some of us decided to visit the Colosseum. We got up early Tuesday (tisdag) morning, ate breakfast at our usual spot and walked to the train station to go to the Colosseum. We stayed for a while, marveling at the beauty of the old building, before buying some souvenirs and going back to the hotel to pack for our trip home. We got all ready, and then headed to the bus station to get a ride to the airport. We arrived home in Jönköping late at night. Linnea and I immediately fell asleep without unpacking; very satisfied with our week in Italy. Wednesday (onsdag) classes started up again, however, for the American students our classes were cancelled. We still ate lunch and had fika with the Swedes though. That night was relaxed and calm. Everyone pretty much stayed in their room resting from the hectic week. Thursday (tosdag) we were assigned a paper in our Scandinavian History class, where we were told to write a summery of everything that we had been taught so far in our class. It was rather fun as I have really been enjoying this class. We also had creativity this day and I decided to make a drawing of the Chicago flag with the skyline drawn into the flag for Axel because his walls were bare and he needed something home-y to put in his room. On Friday (fredag), Alex, Jack, Axel, Jonaton and I decided to go see a black and white film at a library downtown. The movie was split into two different movies; so we saw Creature of the Black Lagoon and Freaks. Axel and Jonaton left after the Creature of the Black Lagoon and me Alex and Jack decided to go to Pipes; a pub that we had found a while back that we enjoyed. We came back to campus and decided to go for a short walk before returning to our rooms and going to bed. Saturday (lördag) was a very relaxing day as I stayed in my room the majority of the day before heading to dinner to get some kebab pizza with Jack. Sunday (söndag) Jack, Kajsa and I decided go into the city to see if we could find a place to get brunch. We walked around for a while before it dawned on us that maybe brunch was an American thing and it wasn't so popular in Sweden. We finally found a place with amazing coffee and a breakfast buffet. We sat together and ate and talked and it was very nice. After we walked around the city and shopped for a bit. We walked into H&M and we all bought a few things. We headed back to campus where we decided to eat dinner together and then helped some of the Swedes out with their American Literature homework. After this, we decided to watch Father of the Bride and Kajsa trimmed mine and Oliveas hair. Overall, the week following our Rome trip was quiet and cozy.