Buongiorno Roma!

The past 2 days have been simply AMAZING. I spent both Wednesday and Thursday in Rome, Italy. Wednesday we arrived into port around 6am (there is no way I was awake for it). I woke up, got breakfast, and went to see someone from the US embassy in Italy speak to us about being safe and what not to do to avoid being put in jail. I then ran up, grabbed my passport and my bag packed for staying in Rome, and then headed to the bus for my trip – Rome on your Own, which I was using just for the bus into the city since I was planning on meeting Tim and Rachel and we were going to find a place to stay in Rome. We were dropped off outside of St. Peters Square. I met up with this girl from Berkley, Danielle, who was also going to meet up with someone at the Spanish Steps and we headed into Rome. Once getting there, I found a bank, and then we went to find her friends since they actually had at least one phone on them. So After they left, I parked myself on the steps and waited…and waited… and waited… for 2 hours. Got some great people watching done! Finally Rachel and Tim found me and brought along Nate and Eric Rittenhouse. They apparently got onto a late train and then got lost trying to find the Spanish Steps from their Metro station. (They later found out that there was a metro stop AT the Spanish steps…oops!).

So after finding me, we found a restaurant down the street from our next destination, the Trevi Fountain. We all ordered pizzas which were big enough for two people. They were pretty delicious. All of them are thin crust and they don’t dump sauce on them, which is good. I am more excited for pizza in Naples though since that is the home off pizza. We headed off to the Trevi Fountain after lunch. Set in a really small piazza and only accessible by small allies, the Trevi Fountain looks HUGE. It was amazing just walking up to it. Basically from here on out, and of the sites that I describe are just too amazing for words. There is no way I could describe any of them, so I’ll probably just start telling you where I’ve been.  So the Trevi Fountain. Haha. We got gelato there. I had hazelnut flavored gelato. It was AMAZING! I love hazelnut flavored things. I guess well with the Italian names.

After this we headed to The Castil Angelo. (The very place that is in Angels and Demons). We didn’t go inside because it was 8 euros and we’re cheap (so cheap that on the second day we forgot a map and just used Tim’s camera to take a picture of one). By this time, the sky was just about black. There was definitely a storm coming, so we found a small bar just in time. We split a few large bottles of beer until the rain let up. At this time we decided to head back to the train station. It was only 9 euros for a 2 way ticket into Rome from Civitevecchia, so it would be cheaper to go back, sleep on the boat and then come back the next morning to see the rest of what we missed in Rome. Unfortunately we were about an hour and ½ walk away from the train station! Well what we thought. Little did we know that there was a train stop close to St. Peters…. Oops! When we walked about though, we passed the Piazza Venezia and stopped to take pictures. From one of the roads, we could see the Colosseo, or the Coliseum! It was insane just looking down the road and there it is! We walked up to it and around it and then found a way to get back on track to the train station. I’m not saying anything about the Coliseum because again, no words. We found our way to the train station, and then headed back to the boat, exhausted. We all showered since it was SO hot and sticky in Rome that day.

The next day, Tim, Rachel and I left for Rome around 9am. We got into St. Peters Square around 10:30. We knew to get off at the St. Peters terminal instead of going all the way to the Stazione Termini. We walked to St. Peters square and assumed a line we were standing in was for the Vatican. It wasn’t. BUT this woman asked us if we wanted to go on a tour of the Vatican with an English speaking tour guide. So we signed up for that. It was 20 euros for the tour and 8 for a student ticket into the Vatican museums and stuff. Which, after the tour, I think was worth it. The museums were So confusing. There is no way we could have found the Sistine chapel in any less than 3 hours. Haha. It was great learning things about the Vatican though and the process in actually getting the Sistine chapel finished and stuff. She was a great tour guide. Apparently if you spend 20 seconds looking at each piece of artwork in the museums, you would be there for 12 years! Isn’t that insane! There is so much stuff crammed into those walls. We finally reached the Sistine Chapel. Again, no words. Not even one. Just see it at least once before you die. The guards have a pretty shitty job though. No Photo! And SHHH!!! They want to maintain the atmosphere of the chapel.

We saw St. Peters. We didn’t have a chance to walk around the Vatican city, which kind of sucks, but oh well. Maybe next time! (I did throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain!) We then headed to the Pantheon. I have never felt so small in my life! Seriously! It was HUGE. The dome was gigantic. We were supposed to meet Eric and Nate at the Trevi Fountain again, so we walked towards it stopping at St. Ignacios to see the ceiling that is flat but painted to look 3D. It is definitely worth a stop! Just make sure that if you’re a girl you’re knees are covered and you shoulders are too. They are more strict about the length of your shorts though. I brought a long skirt with me so I threw that on over my shorts. Nate and Eric didn’t show up, so we headed to this other church towards the train station that had different displays made completely of human bones. It was so gross and so awesome at the same time. I got this confused with a church that I once looked up on wikipedia that is completely decorated in bones. But this was just as cool. For 1 eruo you would walk down the hallway and see the various displays and ceiling designs and lamps made of human bones. At the end it has a plaque that says in 6 different languages – What you are we once were, what we are you will be.

We headed back to the train station, I showered and passed out! Today I am just walking around Civitevecchia getting post cards and stuff. Finding internet, uploading this and some articles about Spain. Looking up things to do in Croatia and traveling things. Should be a fun day! Anyway, go to Rome. It’s amazing. I want to go back, there is so much more that we just didn’t have time to see. It is VERY expensive though. Boo! Not as bad as Ireland though! (Right Frank? Go to Rome)

Btw – we ran into a family from Pittsburgh on the way to the Parthenon…. How did we know they were from Pittsburgh? Steelers shirt. What were they looking for? The Steelers bar in Rome! There is a Steelers bar in Rome! Crazy.