Welcome to Adulthood?

Two days ago I celebrated my 21st birthday, which is an exciting thing for most people. It was definitely so for me, and also a little bit special because I celebrated it in a foreign country.

The weekend right before my birthday, which was on Monday, I decided to take myself on a little solo trip to Rome for a night to see some of the things I didn't have time for when the school took us in March. I booked a little room in a hotel very close to the Vatican City and hopped on a train after class. I had Friday evening in the city, visiting the church of San Pietro in Vincolo to see the tomb of Pope Julius II, which was carved by Michelangelo and has as part of it his famous statue of Moses. Then I found my way to the Coliseum and walked from there through some of the main parts of the city all the way to the Vatican City. That evening, I went to a restaurant and had an amazing dinner, even though it felt a little strange to be eating by myself. The next morning I went early to see the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel and rooms painted by Raphael. So much to see! The day was perfect and sunny, so I wandered to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, had lunch, and then headed back to the train station to head home, but first making a stop in Orvieto, which is a small medieval town in Umbria. It is such a beautiful little place, built high up on a cliff. It's known for it's gorgeous Gothic cathedral. It was very charming.

Sunday afternoon, the day right before my birthday, a few friends and I bought bread, cheese, pesto dip, and some other little things to take up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which overlooks the whole city, to see the sunset and just relax a little bit. It was such a nice time, after the sun had gone down, the lights of the city came up. Florence is stunning at night. After we had eaten, we walked back down into the center to see a violin and organ performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons in a little church called Santa Maria dei Ricchi.

My actual birthday was unfortunately rainy and a little bit chilly, and I had classes for most of the day, but in the late afternoon the skies cleared up and a big group of everyone from school here, about 18 or 19 of us, all went to a pizzeria in the center to eat together. It was really fun to have everything together, it seems like we hadn't all done anything like that for such a long time! I suppose birthdays are a perfect way to bring people together.

So altogether it turned out to be a very good time. I don't know if being 21 means that I am now really an "adult." My parents would probably tell you it doesn't :-) But I do think that it is just another year into a time in my life that is going to bring many changes, lots of growth, and who knows what else...I will have to wait and see.