Rome, Italy – “When In Rome”

So the adventure began at 6:30 Friday morning.  The metro was going on strike until 8 so we were hoping to get downtown, get in line, and get on the first running metro.  We put our backpacks on, locked up, and set off.  Once downtown we realized that there was an express bus that was only 5 euro that was leaving right away to take us.  So we went with that option and were on our way earlier than we had planned.  Once we arrived at the airport it was just a lot of waiting and relaxing until we could board our flight.  Turns out that one girl in our group purchased the wrong date for her flight so it added a little bubble in our plans but everything got worked out (another girl stayed back with her and they got on the next flight).  Once on the plan I was super excited and got educated about Easy Jet!

The flight was quick – only 1.5 hours – and we were in Rome!  We explored a bit to find the best option to get to our hostel.  There was a minibus that would take us for minimal costs right to our hostel so that was the option that we went with.  Our driver was very nice.

I was a little nervous about my first hostel experience – emotions brought about by the movie obviously.  But the place was super nice.  We had 6 in our room – all from our program – and we had the room to ourselves.  There was a safe in the room for us to use and we even had a sink in the room!

There were at least 3 showers on the floor to use and you could use them alone so it was actually very nice.  At this point we were starving so we immediately went out to explore our first Italian pizza. 

After food we had the energy to go about and explore a bit.  Here are some photots from our exploration:

After exploring, Corinne and I enjoyed a night on the town in Rome.  It was a great time – a bit more expensive than Athens and significantly colder but there is something about the Italian accent that just makes it all worth it.

We were up early the next day to continue our adventures.  We got pizza on the way to our first endeavor – the Colosseum.  

When I went to Italy in 2006 my only regret was not going inside the Colosseum so this was a big deal.  There aren’t many words to describe it but here are some pictures to attempt:

We continued onward to the Forum and Palentine Hill.  Here are some photos from that adventure:

After that was a stop at the Ben-Hur track.

The next motion was my favorite – the Trevi Fountain.

I feel like I have a relationship with that fountain.  I went in 2006 to the fountain and literally wished that I would be back one day.   So standing there on Saturday was kind of a big deal.  I redid a photo from 2006.

Corinne and I enjoyed some gelato by the Trevi Fountain and just took it all in.  A couple stopped by the fountain for wedding pictures, which was just the icing on the cake.

After that, we shopped – quite a bit.  We completed our night in that area with the Spanish Steps.  It was all quite beautiful at night.

When we returned to our area of the city, we went on a date!  We found an amazing restaurant – La Famiglia.  It was so inexpensive and amazing.

We found out the previous night that the house wines in Rome are not like the house wines in Greece – they are amazing.  So we finished off our bottle of red wine and complimentary lemon shots and continued to have an amazing night gallivanting in Rome.

We had yet another busy day on Sunday – it began with a trip on the metro to Vatican City.  The metro was a bit crazy and had some interesting signs.

Once we arrived at the Vatican it was a wonderful view.  Check it out!

We got in line to continue inside and discovered yet another fun sign!

We got inside and took it all in.  It seemed a bit bigger and prettier since I had last seen it.

We went to mass where I got to look at my favorite part of the Vatican.

After the Vatican – you guessed it! – more pizza!  This time with a much better view than the others.

We then explored more of the Vatican area before making our way to the museum.

We got close to the museum to find out that it was closed.  This did not stop us from some photo opportunities.

We used the rest of the day to shop and walk around Vatican City and then continued back home to relax a bit.  Not before getting my last gelato!

I got the best photo of a sunset that I could get in Rome – difficult with all of the tall buildings.

We packed up our things and had an amazing last dinner and completed another bottle – of water!!!

We walked around a bit and then turned in early for our 4:45a cab.  The trip was non-stop amazing.  I can’t believe it actually happened.  I left feeling completely content with the weekend – it was great.