Erasmus in Italy

My travel writing primarily will concern about my travel and my life in Italy and the places that I have visited in Italy. First of all, I will talk about my first impression of Italy when I first landed.

Firstly, by an airline I landed to Rome in İtaly and from the airport by some help I went to the city center to find the train station and to go to the city that I would live then.

Roma Termini Train Station

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While going to the city center on the bus it was possible to see historical places like Colesseum and some monuments around.

I have to say that if you are in Italy do not trust a gypsy who tries to help you in the train station to buy a ticket. They help you to get your ticket and they want 5€ in return. So that was my first fault to trust a gypsy away from home. However, after buying my ticket except for gypsies I found Italians so warm, friendly and helpful. As a tourist who had big luggage in her hands, I wanted some help to find my train and a middle-aged Italian man helped me to find my train and to carry my suitcases. He even told me where to change my train and where to drop with his lack of English. So I got my first experience with good lovely Italian people in the train station. After three-hour train journey, I dropped in Perugia that the city I have lived for four months.

Again in Perugia luckyly, I came across to the good Italians who helped met to get a bus and to go home that I would live. Even though they had known lack of English by looking at the address they helped me to get my new flat. And finally, after being so tired and hungry I had some delicious pizza for dinner.

To say more about Perugia. Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the river Tiber. The city is also the capital of the province of Perugia. Perugia is located about 164 kilometers (102 miles) north of Rome, and 148 km (92 miles) south-east of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. Perugia’s main place is the Historical City of Perugia (Centro Storico). In the center, there is no car allowed to enter during the day not to destroy the tranquility of the city. And it is full of historical places, houses, and art around the city. In addition, you can find castles or ancient prison in Perugia which is fascinating. I had some works of art in my street which is called Via Cartolari and it was possible to see some kind of small festivals and celebrations in that street. There were pictures of art in the wall of that street which have always seen amazing to me.

Perugia City Center

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Perugia is also known as the city of students with the University of Perugia founded in 1308, the University for Foreigners (Universita per Stranieri) and some colleges such as the Academy of Fine Arts (Accademia di Belle Arti "Pietro Vannucci") public athenaeum founded on 1573, the Perugia University Institute of Linguistic Mediation for translators and interpreters, the Music Conservatory of Perugia, founded on 1788, and others Institutes.

In addition, I have lived four months in Perugia and it is possible to say that, people in Perugia are very friendly, hospitable and helpful for a tourist. The cultural mosaic of Perugia is also very impressive. It is possible to see more than one culture and many students coming from other countries to learn Italian and see some collection of art.

Secondly, I will talk about my first trip out of Perugia to Rome. Rome is the capital city of Italy and of the Lazio region. As a tourist, I needed some help from one of my African friend whose name was Fabrice Bile to show me around. So, we took the train from the Perugia to Rome and after three hours we finally got Rome. Rome is one of my favorite city in Italy. Every corner of the city consists of history and art. In every corner, you see the beauty of the city. In Rome it is easy to get the historical places by subway or by walking since everywhere is close to each other. So, first, we went to Colosseum. Colosseum is an oval amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome. Built of concrete and sand, it is the largest amphitheater ever built. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50, 000 and 80, 000 spectators, having an average audience of some 65, 000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. What is sad about my trip yes I have seen the Colosseum, but I do not remember why either lack of money or lack of time we could not enter inside of the Colosseum. Either way, it was very magnificent. It was really good to be there as one of the plenty of tourists. After taking some photos around Colosseum we continued to see around other places. I should say that I was really impressed by the beauty of the Colosseum and by the crowd of people.

The Colosseum

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After Colosseum, we went to a museum which I do not remember the name, but looking like a white palace which includes old militarian clothing, Italians old flags, and some religious things. And we kept going, finally, we went to The Fountain of Love. The reality about the fountain although we Turks know it as the Fountain of Love it is actually the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi). The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci. Standing 26. 3 meters high and 49. 15 meters wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. It is really enchanting with it is big statues and clear water.

According to some believes if you turn your back throw some coins using the right hand over the left shoulder it means you will come back to Rome again. And I did throw some coins by wishing to come back to Rome again. After all, we took some photos in the Trevi Fountain and left to have some Italian food. I addition I have to add that an estimated 3, 000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy; however, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain. It also is illegal to steal coins from the Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain

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If you are in Italy you should leave all that fast food and other kinds of food aside and try some Italian food. Italians cuisine is very famous all over the world and it is very varied. So between those various food, I had some lasagna which is one of the famous Italian food and Fabrice had some pizza. As I always say Italian foods are really delicious

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