Roma

I thought I would like Rome more than I did. After a tearful goodbye and a 3 hour train ride from Perugia I wasn’t in the best of spirits. The incredible crowded 2 line metro in Rome didn’t help, especially because, as an experienced traveler now, I know how to use metros. You MOVE IN when you get on so other people can get in. Apparently this was a difficult concept for the citizens and visitors of Rome to grasp. Ridiculous.

We found our hostel with little difficulty, but the rooms weren’t ready. We dropped our stuff off in the kitchen and headed out: first stop, Vatican City and Sistine Chapel.

Pause. First stop amended: FOOD. We found a kebab place near the Vatican (Cesca introduced us to this wonderful food in Perugia the first night and I’ve had like 7 since. So. Good). We also stopped again along the way for, you guessed it, gelato! After following the scenes for the Vatican Museum, we ended up at the exit. How? I have no idea. So we decided the entrance must be close, we should just follow the wall. Bad idea. We ended up walking around the ENTIRE Vatican, which, mind you, is a different country. So we totally walked around a country. How many people can say that? Anyway, we ended up near St. Peter’s Basilica, and after finding out the chapel was closed for the day, decided to go in. It was amazing! I love that kind of architecture because it is so much more decorative than the architecture of most English cathedrals, not that they aren’t cool too. After that, we headed back to the metro to get to the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately, Andrea and Casey got left behind (again, it happened the first time on the metro there too) but we met up there. They were beautiful, but the stupid salespeople were killing me. We were just sitting there and at least half a dozen came up and tried to sell us something. They also take like 10 tries before NO finally gets through to them. Ugh.

Next we tried to head over to the Trevi fountain, but went the wrong way and wandered for a bit. We stopped for some crepes, but I wasn’t feeling well enough to eat so I didn’t. We got directions and kept moving on. After finding it and making a few wishes on coins (I saw yours dad, I’m sure of it!) we headed back to a great gelato place we saw and I got a nutella crepe while Casey and Andrea got their 3^rd serving of gelato of the day. Stuffed, satisfied and exhausted, we returned to our hostel to relax and practice our Spanish, as we were heading to Valencia the next day. We were given flowers at the hostel because it was La Festa Della Donna- Women’s Day! Kind of cool, huh?

The hostel was alright, though sleeping over Liz on a bunk bed isn’t my most preferable sleeping arrangement (you toss a lot Liz, it’s a known fact), and some boys came in late and were a bit loud. Hostels aren’t  my favorite things anyway, but we managed with this one. After a good night’s rest, we were up and at ‘em for day 2.

First dinner in Rome = Kebab

so much nutella

So good!!!

Basilica di San Pietro

inside the basilica

Trevi Fountain

Piles of gelato. so good

saw one. for realz

Flowers for the Festa della Donna

Liz, Sarah and I attempted to return to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel, forgetting it was Ash Wednesday. The Pope was making a speech later, so the Vatican was waaaay crowded. We cut out losses and headed to the Coliseum, which was huge, impressive and awesome. It wasn’t quite as big as I thought, but I think that’s cause they make it look so huge in movies. We wandered around enjoying the sun, then headed over to Ancient Rome and wandered there for a few hours, as it is HUGE. We saw some other IC students there, which was kind of comical, then headed back to the hostel, got one last gelato and gathered our stuff and headed off to the airport. I accidentally left my phone on the bus (all is well, I have a new one) and we almost got on a plane to Baden Baden, but the point is we made it safely to Valencia, were yet another crazy adventure was surely awaiting us. Even though our feet where killing us. KILLING US. 

Il Colosseo 

Inside the Colosseum 

Arch of Constantine

Last gelato in Italy =(