I like to try new foods and step a little out of my element to earn some experience every now and then. Fortunately, in Italy pizza, pasta and sauces are all the greatest foods to try. So naturally in between all of the new dishes and pastas you gotta get a pizza; that's just life. Unfortunately, for me, the mushroom pizza I had for lunch on June 17 was poisoned.
I was out of commission for a good 24 hours with food poisoning from that 'za, and lucky ol' me missed a once in a lifetime invitation to roam the Pope's private gardens.
Not only did my class get to tour the entire estate of the Pope's private gardens, but they also got to swim in Lake Albano.
This was something I looked forward to all week, but the food poisoning crept up and shook me.
If this trip has taught me anything it is that the world doesn't stop moving when you are on vacation. It might sound like a simple-minded observation, but it seems like something I overlooked at first. People still get sick, people still have to work, there is still traffic and the weather is not always sunny and 80°—life goes on.
Which brings me to my next point: This trip has been such an eye opening experience, and a trip of a lifetime. I have been such a lucky duck to have the chance to gallivant about Europe at my young age. My parents did not get to experience this type of trip, nor my grandparents; that is a realization that really made me understand my position... This is unreal.
This is a trip of a lifetime and I am very appreciative of this opportunity.