100 feet, 1000 feet, and I see the world below me, hills, valleys, the coast and now the shining sea. Everyone around me was watching movies on their screens and tracking the treacherous ride home, a full 10 hours across the Atlantic from Rome to Atlanta. It wasn’t long ago that we landed in a foreign country, and the memories flooded my head. Mentally I was back to July eleventh, the day the plane landed in Rome, Italy, and the day my perspective on life entered a new level of thought.

 We were here.  My Family and I were only twenty minutes away from a dream we have dreamt of for a year, a year of excitement that was built up for this one moment. Despite the many hours of sleep I lacked from the overnight flight from Atlanta, my emotions could barely contain itself. Looking around, I realized that I wasn’t the only one lacking sleep. My twin, Chloe, who sat next to me was still attempting to close her puffy eyes. One aisle next to me, my poor aunt and uncle were slouched against each other next to my Down syndrome cousin who had watched a total of nine movies during the flight, setting a family record for the number of movies watched. Still with bloodshot eyes, he continued to watch The Lion King, refusing to give up his screen time. The only person on the plane that seemed unbothered was my dad, happily snoring behind me, who was used to the “red-eye flights”, as he traveled for a living.  The time difference was six hours ahead, so I knew the jetlag would only go downhill from here.

Suddenly I felt the plane jerk, and looking out my window I saw the exhilarating oranges and pinks of the sunrise and noticed the plane was descending. Taking a better look through the window, I spotted valleys, rolling hills, and cities, something about the distinct landscape told my mind that I wasn’t in the U.S. anymore. When the plane stopped my mind was overwhelmed with emotions, emotions that told me to cry tears of joy, but my body did not have it in me, I felt numb.

My cousin Olivia, Chloe, my grandma and I jumped into one of the three taxis for my family. Before that, the Leonardo da Vinci airport of Rome did a great job of making me feel uncomfortable, almost as if I was an alien to the country and culture. Driving to the city in the back of the taxi was filled with surprises I could have never prepared myself for.  I hardly could contain my excitement when one of the most iconic American songs, “Dancing Queen” came on the radio. What a feeling it was to hear an American song being played in a country thousands of miles away. I could tell that Chloe and Olivia felt the same. Being the obnoxious Americans we were, we sang and danced in the back of the taxi like nobody was watching.

After what felt like forever in traffic, the taxi stopped in the heart of Rome, at a compact, classical building with regal gold letters that spelt out “The River Palace”. Walking inside, I could pick out so many details of the hotel that made it profoundly diverse from American hotels, from the tight lobby, to the lounge area that was decorated with all things both historic and gold. Following that, Olivia, Chloe and I made it to our abnormally tiny (emphasis on tiny) hotel room on the third floor.

Eager to get into the city, we squeezed into the bathroom, filling every empty space with makeup bags, toiletries, and soaps. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the windows were easy to open, and we had a great view. Surrounding the hotel window were buildings tainted in hues of yellow, orange, pink, and green. There was even a rooftop garden, with an old Italian lady tending to her plants. In the meantime, the three of us paced around, getting dressed and freshened up for the day ahead. With all the clutter filling our minds, we were unaware of our level of noise.

Suddenly, a booming sound came from the door, and our voices fell silent. I was quick to realize it was someone who wasn’t knocking, but pounding on the door, and from his accent he was unquestionably European. Following the pounds, the man said in a thick accent, “IT’S NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR, NOW OPEN UP”. As you can imagine we were terrified. Olivia was quick to say, “Sophia, grab the door, before he gets really mad!” I replied, “No way! Are you out of your mind?!” So being the intellectuals we were, the three of us hid in the bathroom until the eternal pounding finally wasn’t eternal. I can’t officially say I was on the verge of being kidnapped, but I can without a doubt say that that moment was the closest I’ve ever gotten to being lured and taken in another country.

Fortunately, the day got gradually better. The one thing that made Rome so unique from other cities was that there are thousands of years old monuments at every block. However, as we walked deeper and deeper into the streets of Rome I noticed several American stores like Sephora and Lush. Not to mention every block had a gelato shop, and being tourists it was hard to find genuine Italian gelato. Our solution... try it all! No matter the gelato we ate or the shops we explored, nothing will even measure close to the Trevi Fountain. It was regal, grand, and had the most pristine aqua water. The site was enough to take my breathe away. We weren’t the only ones in awe of the site, clearly the hundreds of other tourists from around the world felt the same.

If we thought it was hard to find good gelato, we clearly weren’t ready for the hundreds of restaurants in Rome. However, having a dad that knew what he was doing when traveling really helped the situation. We settled at what looked like an underground restaurant that was close to the hotel. It was a joy to finally sit down with my family and eat a four-course meal (very highly suggest having a four-course meal sometime in your life).

When Olivia, Chloe, and I entered our hotel room, it was midnight. My mind wasn’t mentally prepared to accept that, for as I finally showered and got in bed it was 1 am. In the back of my mind, I knew I wasn’t about to sleep the day away in Rome, Italy. So, with much willpower, I called the hotel service to make an alarm for 5 am. It was hard for someone who usually gets a full nine hours of sleep to only reach four hours. In Johns Creek, I would rarely ever stay up until 1 am, but now the late nights were a regular in the city.

Like that, the phone blared, reminding me that I wasn’t back in the suburbs. The three of us got ready, getting dressed and putting on some mascara and bronzer to hide the fact that we barely got any sleep. We grabbed my dad and the four of us escaped to the city leaving the rest of the family asleep in their rooms. We paced down the cobblestone streets, and looking around I noticed that there was a profoundly low number of people on the streets compared to yesterday afternoon. When we made it to the Trevi fountain, it almost looked abandoned compared to the hundreds of people swarming it yesterday. Chloe, Olivia and I all took turns taking pictures of each other by the fountain.

We got back at the hotel just in time for breakfast, which was a buffet that was filled with pastries, fresh fruit, and of course cappuccinos. I happily grabbed a frothy cup, and a warm cream filled croissant, which just about made my morning.  We were soon accompanied by the rest of the family who were oblivious to the fact that we already toured the streets.

After my content morning, the whole family hurried to the train station. At that moment, we realized that we wouldn’t make it all the way to the gate with the train, so we made a very risky decision to take the metro all the way down. Of course, I’ve heard stories about the gypsies and pick pocketers that swarmed the metros, but getting on that subway was a real eye opener for all of us. As we finally piled onto the subway we caught our breaths and took this time to recoup and relax.

Once the subway stopped at one of the gates, a couple dressed in black leather scurried off the train and broke into a run to their gate. It was at that same moment that my grandpa exclaimed, “They took the money, the euro deposits!” I was in utter shock. How could we be so oblivious to the fact that the couple were gypsies and happened to be “bumping” against my grandpa? Just like that it was too late. The couple wasn’t in site, and neither was my grandpa’s money.

With all the chaos we’ve gone through that morning, it was a pleasure to finally sit down on the train and sip a refreshing coke that reminded me of home. The train ride to Cortona in Tuscany was two hours, but the ride was worthwhile. It was that ride that I finally understood the saying “Take the scenic route”, because this train ride sure did. About every 10 minutes, we would pass hills filled with flourishing sunflower fields.

After much driving to find the house we were staying at, we were dropped off at the top of a hill with an old, but grand house overlooking lake Trasimeno. While Thomas, Chloe and Olivia claimed rooms and jumped into the pool, I passed out. Literally passed out. I found a warm couch on the porch and fell asleep. The next couple of days were characterized with cappuccinos, gelato, pizza, and late pool nights.

I woke up for yet another day in the countryside with an early start. My dad, Chloe, and I went into the small town of Cortona to grab a cappuccino. As we entered the cappuccino bar, I could really pick out the differences in the people and culture of the countryside versus Rome. For starters, the cappuccinos were a whopping one euro, and all around us were old Italian men and women, getting their drink and newspaper in before work. The rest of the family joined us in the town that day to roam the streets and check out the shops.

In about midafternoon, Thomas and I discovered a town square, with some kids our age playing soccer. Pearson, my Down syndrome cousin was quick to notice the soccer ball and eagerly shoved Thomas to the boys, knowing that he played soccer. Thomas and I reluctantly introduced ourselves to two Argentinian boys about my age and their little sister who couldn’t speak any English. We started to pass the ball, which escalated to a competitive soccer game where Thomas showed off his “American tricks” to the boys. To my surprise the boys exchanged Xbox accounts and it’s a pleasure to say that to this day Thomas continues to play Fortnight with them. It’s a crazy thing to realize that you had things in common with a couple of kids from Argentina. When we got home, Chloe, Olivia and I jumped into the pool and spent the night floating and talking about life. All of us could say that we were still in awe of the fact we were in Italy and had this amazing opportunity to meet people our age from all over the world.

“Soph... SOPH!” I was awake. I could smell cold cabin air and looked over at Chloe who sat right next to me on the plane. “Sophie we are landing in 30 minutes.”  I snapped back to reality, realizing I was back in the U.S., and my trip has finally come to an end. However, one thing was for sure that the trip has changed my life. I just saw a sliver of what the world was like outside the U.S., and I craved more of it. I would have stayed for weeks more if I could. Like the saying “with endings come new beginnings”, this was the start of my new life, the life I spend with no limits, no regrets.