Okay, so Rome. It's my favorite place I've been to in Europe. By far. I love history and Rome is the definition of a historical city. But lets start at the beginning...
Day One
We woke up and got ready for the big day. The guy who worked at the hostel saw that we were up early (no one else was up) and prepared breakfast for us an hour earlier than normal! Saweeet! We took the metro the airport, checked in and hopped on the plane, jet-setting to Italy. The flight was fine and we were oh so excited to finally be in Rome! We took the public bus to the metro, and then the metro into the city (savvy money savers) to where we were staying. Our Mom was so nice to find and finance where we stayed! It was this little bed & breakfast right near the castle and the Vatican! (Thanks again Mom!) It took us a little bit to first find it and we were both tired, starving and delirious. After we checked in we decided what better to do in Italy than eat! I know you were thinking the same thing. Don't lie. So we ventured out (starving, weary (carlie's favorite word) travelers) and found this legit pasta place.
Perfection in a picture, I know (well 2 pictures). Story of my life. But what you don't know is that I was very sick. I sadly only ate about 5 bites (with carlie forcing me) (but don't worry, I took it home and ate it later). I had an awful headache and was nauseous. I think it was brought on from lack of food and sleep. But Carlie, on the other hand, hand no problem what-so-ever and ate it like she had never eaten spaghetti before in her life. Our waiters were thrilled to help us with our Italian (seriously. 4 of them came out of nowhere) when we asked how to say Ibuprofen. We found a pharmacy, got some meds, then went back to the room. I felt bad that on our first day in Rome I had to feel bad. We took a nap which was so needed. When we got up I felt a little bit better and ate my pasta. So good.
We didn't want to waste our whole day, so we set off to be exploradoras. Like I said, our room was right near the Castel San Angelo (beautiful), so we walked past it and then towards Piazza Navona. The streets were so pretty. On the way to the Piazza we stopped and got our first gelato (aka- heaven. i will never eat simply 'ice cream' again. only gelato). We sat by a fountain eating perfection, listened to music by the cutest old Italian man, watched people breakdancing, and walked through a mini market with paintings. Everything was so alive. We decided to keep exploring, so we walked to the Pantheon. It was closed when we went, but it was really cool! It's Rome's best preserved monument. It was built back in 126AD as a temple to all the gods. Hence the name. All (pan) of the gods (theos).
We continued walking and saw the Tempio Adriano (a once magnificent temple built in 145AD, dedicated to Hadrian (emperor)), and the Parliament building. It was fun just walking around and seeing Rome. We found this pizza place for dinner. Yum! We were still so tired, so we headed back and hit the hay.
Day Two
So at our B&B we had breakfast in bed. Kutos to whoever came up with that idea. I'd like to take my breakfast in bed from now on. The little Italian woman who worked there, named Dorina, spoke no english. We spoke no Italian. She was super nice and would come in talking in Italian to Carlie and I, give us our breakfast, pat our arms, still talking and walk out. Her daughter worked there some and knew some english, which was needless to say, very helpful. Anyways, we ate our breakfast (consisting of toast, a croissant, juice and coffee) and prepared for a day full of sightseeing. Today was the day for the Vatican! We got there and it was so massive and pretty! We got in line to go into St. Peter's Basilica when a man told us 'Can't wear shorts inside'. Opps. Didn't even think about that! So we decided to go see how long the line was for the museums. It was very long, so we went back to our room, changed out of our scandalous shorts and headed back to the Vatican. Take 2. We waited in line again and were cut by some suppppper rude people, right at the front of the line! I informed him and his friend that there was a line, and he just waved me off. Jerk. It ruffled Carlie and I's feathers, but we quickly forgot about it when we walked in and saw the splendor of the Basilica.
This place is unreal. It has the largest interior of any Christian church in the whole world. The Basilica was built above the tomb of Peter, who was also the first Pope. There are also a lot of other past Popes that have been buried here, including the recent John Paul II (you can see his body. weird). We walked around in awe for a while then ate our leftover pizza from the night before while sitting under the columns in St. Peter's Piazza. Success.
We went back over to the museums to see if there was still a line and great news - no line! Thanks Jesus! AND we got in with the student discount!! This always makes me the happiest! There were 10 museums all clustered together. Overload. We made our way through them, perfectly timing our steps so the english tour was directly behind us. Just addin knowledge to the noggin. Basically the grand finale is the Sistine Chapel. We sadly weren't able to take pictures, but even if we were, I don't think you could capture how beautiful it was. It was amazing!!! I can not imagine having to paint all of that!! Touche Michelangelo!!
After we finished the museums we took the metro a little ways. We got gelato (whatelse) and walked over to the Spanish Steps. Did you know that they are the widest steps in Europe?? Me either. We went and found some shade so the weary Carlie could rest. THEN the best thing ever happened!!! We stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain. We love the Trevi.
Love at first sight. This is THE BEST place ever to people watch. You see all kinds of things: people getting engaged, little kids, punk middle school aged kids, trashy Americans, too much PDA, cute Americans (who wore chacos, naturally), sassy Italians, people lounging on rocks eating their gelato, self-pics, guards patrolling way too seriously, Asian photoshoots, and much much more!! We walked around for a while, came back near the Trevi, had a great dinner, then back to the Trevi to continue people watching! We were waiting for them to turn the lights on, but we also didn't want to miss the metro (it stopped running at 9). So we took the metro back to our side of town and found a place for Carlie to have her tiramisu she'd been craving. Apparently if you order a coffee at 8:45pm, they think a shot of espresso is just the ticket. Noice. Even nicer for Carlie later that night when I was so hyper and she wasn't :) shelovesme.
Day Three
Words Carlie & I perfected in Italian: Ciao, Arrivedercci, Scusi, Grazie, & Burngiorno. Words we did not perfect: whatever Dorina said to us in the mornings. We understood Burngiorno and Prego... My go to is when in doubt, smile. Works like a charm :) Today was ancient Rome day. We took the metro to the Colosseum and right when you walk outside, there it is. In all its splendor. We were pretty much starstruck and did what anyone would do... whipped out our cameras and started taking pictures! Duh.
We decided to share the audio tour (so worth it) and we got to skip the long lone!! I loved listening to all the history and facts. While we were up there walking around, there was some sort of police appreciation day going on down on the street that we were watching. Everyone was dressed to the nines and it was cool to watch. Noice! Once we left, we found a restaurant nearby for lunch. Annnnd my card got declined... splendid. We used the last of our cash to pay and decided to go to the Roman Forums (our ticket for the Colosseum covered the Forums too). We should have gotten the audio guide (but didn't have $$) because after a while everything just looked like different sized rocks. If (& when) I go back to Rome, I really want to go back here and get the guide because I think it would be so interesting!! It used to be the center of Rome - the heart. With temples, churches, houses, government buildings. Coolest. We walked around for a long time and then headed back to our room. We skyped Dad and he rescued us from starving in Rome (Thanks Dad!). After showering and getting ready, we headed over to the Trevi area to find someplace for dinner. We ate at this cutest place called That's Amore. Our food was so good! Our cute Italian waiter loved us and referred to us as the sisters throughout the night. 'Are the sisters done? Would the sisters like some coffee?'. Perfect.
Afterwards we walked to the Trevi to see it all lit up. She's a beaut. We people watched for a while (our favorite thing) then started to head back to our room. When we were walking we got stopped by police and a second later all of these race cars sped right past us!! We thought it was cool, but didn't pay it much mind. Well once we got near the castle, we found out it was this huge race called the Miglia 1000! The checkpoint for that day was right in front of the castle! We have to walk right past it to go home, so we stopped to check it out (plus we knew dad would be having a field day). We were standing on our tip toes trying to see over people, when I looked over my shoulder and caught eyes with the security guy and he motioned for Carlie and I to go through to the VIP section!!! Believe it. We were directly by all of the fancy photographers! We took a ton of pictures for Dad until the last car checked in.
Just so you can get a mental picture :)
Day Four
Today was our last day of breakfast in bed :( Sad. We walked a little ways to an area called Trastevere. It was really pretty there! It was quiet and not as touristy as the center of Rome is. We walked around for a while and guess what we stumbled upon?? An Italian wedding. I forgot to mention that I have a best friend getting married and that's the whole reason Carlie and I went to Rome. To see her get married (justkidding).
We stayed and drank cappuccinos nearby as we watched the action. I loved it. We explored around the area for a while, then meandered over to the old Jewish district and had sandwiches on a park bench while watching little boys play soccer. We walked through some more ruins and around the Forum to get to the metro. We decided to go to the catacombs and from the map online, it looks like it is accessible from the metro. Well it's not. We walked probably 2-3 miles, no exaggeration, in the heat, with no map. We were not very happy. And the area where we were was suupper sketchy. We finally found it (with help from a nice old lady) and it was really cool! We didn't really know what to expect. We went to the Catacombs of San Domitilla, the supposed largest catacomb in Rome. It was all combined over 11 miles of tombs. It's made up of 4 layers, getting smaller with each layer. Like an upside down pyramid. We had a tour around some of it and it was very interesting. And cold. So cold. We found out how to take the BUS back to the city and had the biggest struggle to date. You have to pay for your tickets on this machine in the bus and it only take specific coins. Well I didn't have these specific coins, so I'm asking people on the bus if they can give me 2 twenty cent coins for 4 ten cent ones. All the while being swung around the bus like a rag doll. I dropped coins and then it ate some of my money. Carlie and I were a hot mess. Finally a man just paid for us haha! We were that pathetic. We were so so thankful and grateful for that couple that took pity on us and helped us. For real.
What better thing to make your day all better than some gelato?! That's right! Gelato at the Trevi for sadly, the last time. We did some souvenir shopping nearby and bargained a little bit. We had our last Italian meal :( I had spaghetti and Carlie had fettucini alfredo. yummm!
When we got home we packed and got a little bit of sleep.
Day Five
We had to get up so early to get to the airport on time. The guy who met us when we first checked in offered to get a cab to go to the airport. We agreed and when we went down that next morning we didn't have a cab, but a personal driver. Fancy! Driving in luxury to the airport! Our flight back to Valencia went fine. When we got back to Spain, it was sadly very cold! So instead of sightseeing, we spent some time in Starbucks. Works for me! We grabbed lunch, then played cards in the train station until it was time to go. Our train back to Alicante was the most shaky thing ever. Carlie and I thought it was going to go off the tracks! But don't worry- we made it successfully back!
We had such an amazing time in Italy and just being together!!
look closely...
Thank you for sticking through and reading all of that. Guess what??
ONE MONTH FROM TODAY AND I'LL BE ON A PLANE COMING BACK HOME!!!! :)
can't wait.
LOVE this super long post and ALL your pictures. I just talked to another friend who just got back from Rome...everyone's travelling there these days. :) I definitely want to be next!! Enjoy your last month with NO CLASS! Love YOU
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