When in Rome...

Before I start talking about all of the things that I saw in Rome, I would just like to say that I didn't even see half of the things that Rome has to offer. Our trip started early friday morning and we arrived in Rome by mid morning. We got off the bus and immediately started off with a tour. Two of the main historical hotspots that we saw were the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Both amazing although the Trevi Fountain beat out the steps. For those of you who don't know, the Trevi Fountain is the fountain were you can throw a coin in and your wish will come true. If you throw in a second coin you will fall in love with a Roman boy and if you throw in a third coin you will get married in Rome. I wish you could skip the fall in love with a Roman boy one because I would love to get married in Rome, but I have yet to meet a good italian boy haha. The fountain itself was so beautiful and elaborate. I probably could have just sat there for hours and just stared at it. After a quick lunch and gelato run, but continued around Rome. There was so much that they told us on the tour but the one thing that I remember was what the tour guide told us about tourists. As we were about to cross the street our tou guide said " there are two types of tourists, those that walk quickly and those that are dead". I think I laughed for like 15 mins because it is so true. Later that day after we checked into our hotel we had a free afternoon to do whatever we wanted. I finally found boots that I liked and that fit me so of course I needed to buy them. My shoe size isn't that common in Italy. This purchase made me real happy! Later we popped in to the Da Vinci museum and wandered around for a little while. That night we went to a great salad bar and I got a salad with loads of seafood on the top of it and it was great! It was one of the first nights were I haven't had tons of carbs in my meal. After dinner we did some more wandering in the streets of Rome. I guess that weekend Scotland was playing Rome in rugby so I saw more guys in kilts than I would have ever wanted to see. I believe that Scotland lost becuase there were some very angry Scotish men out in the bars that night haha. The next morning we got up pretty early to go to St. Peter's Basilica and Castel St. Angelo. Saturday was by far the nicest weather I have experienced since being abroad. The sun was out and shining and the temperature was probably mid to high 60s. It was gorgeous! The weather was nice but not as nice as the Catherdral. I have never seen a more beautiful church in my life. We spent over and hour just walking around and our tour guide was explaining all the statues and art in the church. Everything had a small story behind it. The church was overwhelming, I probably took like one hundred pictures here. If you ever go to Rome you must go to Vatican City and see the Cathedral, you cannot go to Rome and not see it! After the Basilica, we went to see a castle just outside of Vatican City. I guess there is a long wall that connects Vatican City to the Castle and if there was ever any trouble that Pope would take a secret passage to go to the Castle to be safe. On top of the Castle, there were some great views of the city and there were even better because it was so nice out. This was the last stop on our guided tour for the day, but we were not done exploring. I figured since I was in Rome it was completely necessary to go see the Cistine Chapel. There was quite a long walk through museums in Vatican City to get to the Cistine Chapel, but it was worth it. The art was amazing in the Chapel. We couldn't take any pictures or else I would put them up. We couldn't talk in there, the guards keep telling us to shhhhh! Later that night we went to a great appertivo place and then explored the Roman nightlife. We ended up near the Tiber River at some bar with many Italians and it was really fun. Sunday was our last day in Rome, but it was a packed day. There was a flea market in one of the piazza's that morning and we were told that they had a lot of really good deals, so we got up early to go check it out. There were a ton of people, but the market was really cool. I didn't get much, the only thing that I got were come antique post cards which were really cool. I think there was more junk than good stuff, but it was an experience. The afternoon consisted of a bus tour around another area in Rome. I wish I could tell you more about the bus tour but I might have fallen asleep, I was really tired. But I was not too tired to see our last major historical site. THE COLOSSEUM! It was crazy to be at the Colosseum. It was huge! I can't even imagine what it was like when it was all in one piece. I guess they took out some of the stones to help make St. Peter's. The whole thing was like one giant ruin, but it was awesome. It was a great way to end our trip! I need to go back to Rome, there was so much that I didn't see. One side note: we went to get a bottle of water at a snack shack outside the Colosseum and the price was 4.50 so obviously we didn't get it. But one of the ladies in our program said that if she went up and asked they would charge her less so I told her to go see. When see went up it was only like 1.50 for her. Those Italians are out to get tourists!