ROMA!

So I just got back from Rome about 3 hours ago. It was INCREDIBLE!

Our flight left on Friday morning at 6:10am which meant our cab picked us up at 1:30am. The 6 of us stayed up and played cards until the cab came to take us to the airport so you can kind of see how this weekend started off. We were SO tired. Of course we were about 10 minutes into the cab drive and Christina found out she forgot her wallet...classic. We arrived in Rome around 10am and were welcomed by a massive protest of 100,000 Itialian students. They were supposedly protesting because the government is changing their education by segregating Itialian students and a whole other bunch of stuff. Friday was the largest protest of them all, and lucky us were there to see it all happening. It was scary just because we had no idea where we were, what was going on, where our hostel was etc. It was just chaos. There were even students carrying a coffin in the riots so it was a little bit scary at first.

On a better note though, the rest of the weekend was amazing. Once we found our hostel, we walked around Rome just looking at the buildings and shops. We then had some lunch which was delicious (spaghettie and bolognese) then made our way back to the hostel. We were so tired we all agreed to take a little nap, but none of us woke up so we ended up taking a 4 hour nap haha. By time we woke up it was getting dark out, so we walked to the Colosseum since it was literally like a 7 minute walk from where we were staying. It was so big and pretty! I got some great pictures, but it still gives it no justice to what it's like standing there (kind of like Paris). We then walked around Rome until we were tired. Rome is SO beautiful at night. We also bought some gelato which was so so good.

Saturday, we started our day off with a tour of the Vatican. It was hectic at first because we didn't know where our meeting point was, and I accidentally booked my friend Amber's tour with a different company so it was crazy at first, but things worked out. Anyway...OH MY GOSH! SO COOL! It's just mind blowing in there. The art and museum areas with sculptures are amazing, and the Sistine Chapel...no words can describe. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but of course I managed to sneak one in. The Sistine Chapel was sooooooooo pretty. I couldn't believe I was actually standing there looking at all the work in person. We also were able to see where the Pope comes out to give his blessing to the people of Roma, and were also given a tour of St. Peter's Basilica which was HUGE. It was so pretty. My mind is just in a daze right now because I'm trying to remember everything we saw, but I can't seem to remember every piece of artwork etc.

After the Vatican tour, we grabbed some lunch and walked around going into whatever shop we could. There were so many shops whether they were tourist shops or clothing shops. We then met up with my friend from high school who is studying abroad in Rome, Rachael Chesley. Her and her friends were so nice to show us around to the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, some more shops, and a delicious gelato place. Trevi Fountain was so beautiful. I got some really excellent pictures of it also. After Rachael's little tour, we made our way back to the hostel and grabbed some dinner at this delicious restaurant next to our hostel where I ate bruschetta and gnocchi (yummy). After that, it was time to pass out and get ready for the next day.

On Sunday, we had a tour of the Colosseum. Our tour guide was interesting. His English was alright, but his accent was so thick and the headphones we were given were so crappy that it was hard to understand him at times. The Colosseum was SO cool. It wasn't really what I imagined to look like inside; I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but it was still so awesome to see it. We then were given a tour of the Roman Forum. I enjoyed that tour so much. The Roman Forum is basically where Rome started, but now it's all ruins. It was very very interesting. After that we grabbed a quick lunch then made our way around Rome. Of course, we did some more shopping, saw the Trevi Fountain during the day time, came across this spray paint artist on the streets, and accidentally ran into the changing of the guards ceremony. That was very interesting to see too. I took a few videos of it because it was so long, but I'm glad we got to see that. We then made our way to the hostel to drop off some bags and went back out to the markets.

The markets there are kind of cheap, but the men selling sunglasses, scarves, and random souvenier items are so funny. I was looking at a pair of sunglasses, and the guy started with 20 euros, but I got him down to 5 euros. I still didn't buy them because I didn't want them, but it was just funny how low they can be brought down.

That night we had a Rome at Night tour. It was nice just because we were able to see things that we hadn't seen earlier, and our tour guide was so animated. It was supposed to be a scary tour with ghost stories, but it wasn't scary at all. There were so many cool stories the guide told us, and I even recorded one. By then end of that tour, we were so tired that we made our way back to the hostel to pack our things.

Today was so sad just because we had to leave :( None of us wanted to go at all. We were able to see the Piazza Navona which was very pretty, and I bought my mom an expensive gift from there :) but that was the last thing we saw really. We had to make our way back to the airport and come back to England's cold weather. Our flight there and back was amazing though because we were above the clouds and were able to see the sunrise/set. I took some awesome pictures of it. It was so beautiful. The weather in Rome was perfect; I was even able to wear shorts one day. Oh, I miss Rome already...I'm not sure if I like Rome or Paris better...tough call.

I can't believe I come home in 25 days though. IT'S CRAZY! I have SO SO SO SO much to do still, and I'm kind of starting to freak out because there is only so much time left to do it ahhhhh...It's late though, and I need to go to bed because I have class tomorrow and I'm sleep deprived.

Miss and love