After rolling out of bed a little later than usual, 19 of us met at Piazza del Risorgimento to begin our journey to the coast on our day off. For most of us, this was our first time using the subway in Rome, and we were lucky to have captain Kyle along to guide us through the chaos. After a couple different trains we arrived at our first destination called Ostia Antica: an archeaological park near the coast. This place had a lot of cool views and ruins similar to Pompeii. It also had a lot of history, but I don’t think any of us knew anything about that so feel free to look it up if you’re reading this. It was really nice to be able to move at our own pace on this day off and explore where our curious minds took us at this destination. I even had an opportunity to play eye spy from the top of a ruin! See if you can spot all 18 of the students that joined me on this adventure.

Eventually, 14 of us made our way back to the train station while the others stayed at the park to continue exploring. We played spoons (using sticks) while we waited for our train to arrive at 4:26 PM. Luckily, the other five students got to the train station at 4:25 PM and made it just in time. Alex only lost three euros as he panicked to jump on the train. Finally, we arrived at the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea (at the edge of Rome where our Rome metro passes would take us). We were relieved to make it just before sunset and enjoyed the evening on the beach.

On our way back to the train station, we grabbed some gelato, and Herggy enjoyed his 23rd cup in only nine days! We took the subway home, and everyone made it back safe. I’m looking forward to the adventures we will go on tonight!

– Jack M