Gettin’ Carried Away

The first time I traveled out of the country was when I visited Canada in 2002. In 2004, while attending Saint Xavier University, I caught wind of a trip to Rome that was to be led by one of the English professors. Why? For fun! Having caught the travel bug four short years prior to this, my ears perked up and I made up my mind: I’m going!

Dr. Lawrence Musgrove led a small group to Rome about a year before his next planned trip. He created the SXU Travel Society, and expressed a desire to lead interested Saint Xavier affiliates on excursions to Italy. This was just too good to pass up.

Along with other students, I met with Dr. Musgrove several times to discuss the logistics: fees, itineraries, flights, accommodations, etc. We were to depart from Chicago O’Hare the day after Christmas and return on January 2. Upon hearing this, I thought, “I GET TO SPEND NEW YEAR’S IN ROME? That seals the deal… count me in!”

So on a very cold, semi-snowy December day in Chicago, a rather large group of SXU students and professors boarded a coach bus outside of the school and headed to the airport. This would be my first experience witnessing a de-icing of an aircraft. Before we could take off, the plane had to be sprayed with this pink liquid (much reminiscent of the ooze from Ghostbusters II) that trickled down the windows. After about 20 minutes, we were ready for take off. I’ll spare you the details of a cramped 8.5 hour flight.

After we arrived, claimed our baggage and checked into our hotel, we were ready to begin exploring. Dr. Musgrove had already been to Rome before, so he took us around the city to The Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and the Vatican.

~* Carrie at Trevi Fountain *~

One of the places I enjoyed most was the Vatican. We attended an outdoor mass said by the newest Pope: Pope Benedict XVI. So in my lifetime, I have attended two different masses said by two different Popes. I consider this an honor and a privilege. This is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. The Pope even performed a communal blessing for religious items everyone brought with them to the mass. I brought my Kairos retreat necklace and a brand-new rosary I purchased for my mother.

~* Pope Benedict XVI *~

~* Matt, Ashley, Carrie (me) and Lauren at the Vatican *~

When you travel abroad, you should prepare for the unexpected. During one of our planned tour days, Dr. Musgrove announced, “You can either come to the Villa Borghese gardens, or you can take a day trip to Florence.” Wanting to add to my list of cities visited, I immediately wanted to hop a train to Florence. I was surprised that more than half the group was not interested in going. Only seven of us headed to Florence on a rather inexpensive (and short) train ride. Lesson learned: It’s pretty affordable to travel within Europe.

~* Eileen, Amanda, Matt, Ashley, Lauren & Carrie (me) in Florence, Italy *~

When I say, “prepare for the unexpected,” I mean it. In Rome, it was rainy and cool. Florence was snowy and freezing! We had to buy extra sweaters, scarves and gloves, because we did not think the temperature between Rome and Florence would change so drastically. Lesson learned: Always account for changes in climate. After we warmed up, we hit the streets in search of what I believe to be the highlight of Florence: the sight of the David Statue. That thing is monstrous! I never knew how big it was until I actually laid eyes on it. It truly is a masterpiece, and I can now say that I have seen a world-famous work of art in person. We also visited the Palazzo Vecchio, the Basilica di Santa Croce and the Church of Santa Maria Novella.

On the way back to Rome, we encountered another mishap. When we arrived in Florence, we had not purchased a return ticket to Rome, figuring we would just get one when we wanted to come back… wrong! Every express train was full, and were stuck taking a local train that would take over six hours to get back to Rome. Lesson learned: always buy round trip tickets if you plan to come back to your original destination.

My final memory of Rome comes from New Year’s Eve. My new friends (Matt, Lauren, Amanda, Patti and Ashley) celebrated at the Drunken Ship. Yes, the Drunken Ship. It’s the name of an American bar nested in Campo di Fiori, one of the most visited squares in the city! The bar offers amazing deals for college students such as €1 shots and beers on college night with a student ID. Several TVs in the bar were playing what I believe to be Rome’s equivalent to the Dick Clark countdown in Times Square. We counted down from 10 to 1 as a sparkling ball dropped. I still can’t believe it: I spent New Year’s Eve in Rome, Italy!

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Have you ever driven down a road surrounded by forests? When you look down the road, the trees in the distance seem as if they were far away mountains. As I see the leaves on these “mountains” change from fresh greens to vibrant oranges and bright reds, I can’t help but reminisce about my trip to Denver, Colorado last October. I went to visit my good friend, Lindsey. We had been apart for about eight months, and I thought it was about time I saw one of my best friends.

Lindsey and I met while studying abroad in London, England (don’t worry - you’ll hear all about that in much later posts). We instantly became very close best friends and bonded as we traveled throughout the UK and Europe. So one day, long after we returned from our trip, while I was bored at home searching for cheap flights on the Internet… I found one!

Carrie and Lindsey in Dublin, Ireland (October 2006)

Lindsey and Carrie in Denver, CO (October 2007)

Southwest Airlines had a flight to Denver that only cost $79 each way. What a steal! If you missed it check out my post about affordable flights so that you too can travel on the cheap! Anyway, I called Lindsey and booked my trip all within 10 minutes of finding the deal.

I love the fall weather in Chicago, so I was really excited to experience it in Denver. The very first thing we did when I arrived was take the very scenic drive to her lovely abode. The monstrous mountains that seemed so distant from the airport became even bigger as we headed towards Lindsey’s house. Her beautiful home offered breathtaking views of the mountains, and I couldn’t help but stare out of the sliders in the kitchen every chance I got.

We then headed up into the mountains. I was not used to the altitude, so my ears popped as we weaved around and around on the winding roads that lead to the top of the mountain. We came across a quaint town called Evergreen. The center of the town featured a long, wooden boardwalk full of unique shops and yummy restaurants. Much of the clothing and jewelry inside the shops was one-of-a-kind, and I jumped at the chance to own a gorgeous silver ring and a black cowboy hat. The perfect end to this amazing day: seeing Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D at the movie theater.

My final day in Denver, Lindsey took me into the city, which is actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be. In 2007, the Colorado Rockies were in the World Series facing the Boston Red Sox. While the game was being played in Boston at this time, I felt so lucky to be amongst all the hype in Denver. Fans were walking around the city wearing black, purple and white to represent their Cinderella-story team. And I think I already mentioned that I am a huge baseball fan, so this was such a sight to see! Even one of the skyscrapers had the lights left on in several offices to form a mountain and the letters “CR” below to support the team. I also caught a glimpse of Coors Field!

Near the baseball diamond, there are tons of bars and restaurants. Lindsey and I spent some time in a few them dancing, singing Karaoke and just having a good time… like we used to in London. I also ran into a friend of mine from back home - how random! At the end of the night, we schlepped back home, completely exhausted.

The next morning, before I left for the airport, we carved pumpkins (it was October after all) and chatted more about all the fun we had in England together. Being with Lindsey again was a great feeling. And it just goes to show you that you can develop lifelong friendships with people from anywhere in this gigantic world.