Roma!

Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II

Roman Forum

Colosseum from the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II

Colosseum!

Inside the Colosseum

Arch of Constantine

Trevi Fountain

Wedding + Spanish Steps

The Pantheon

Dinner at “Miscellanea” outside the Pantheon

Temple of Hercules

St. Peter’s Basilica

Tiber River at sunset

THE CREATION

After the pizza and gelato coma the boys and I experienced in Naples, we were very excited to get out and explore the city of Rome in the warm weather! Since our train got in rather early, we didn’t waste any time after checking into our apartment. The nice surprise was that our place was right in the middle of downtown Rome (less than twenty minutes from the Colosseum) and a block from the central train station. Without further adieu, we made our way to one of the most famous places to visit in Rome; the Colosseum. As we waked down the streets full of vendors and tourists, we managed to snap a few group shots and get to know the personality of the city. For those of you who may be visiting Rome, I suggest you invest in some type of card that will allow you to have access to multiple attractions. It will be much cheaper than buying a ticket for every single place you visit. While we were in line to see the inside of the Colosseum, the card that we ended up getting was the “Roma Archeologia Card” for twenty three euros. I’d say it was worth it because we had access to the following; Terme di Diocleziano, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Crypta Balbi, Palazzo Altemps, Colosseo, Palatino / Foro Roma, Termi di Caracalla, Tomba di Cecilia Metella and Villa dei Quintili. Some of these are clearly more well-known than others, and although we ran out of time for sightseeing, I would recommend seeing as much as possible!! Anyway, the Colosseum was unreal- you can still see the scratch marks from when gladiators and lions/other animals fought until the death back in the day. We took far too many pictures and spent a lot of time exploring every creves in the huge arena. Our next stop was what I like to call “home base” at the Altare della Patria. It’s a national monument that was built in honor of Victor Emmanuel; the first king of unified Italy. From the top of the monument, we were able to see St. Agnese, St. Andrea, St. Peter’s dome, Monte Mario, St. Marco basilica, Colosseum, Roman Forum and the Arch of Constantine. It was one heck of an awesome view on the cloudless day. After taking in the crazy view, we made our way to some other famous spots; the Trevi Fountain, Parliament, the Spanish Steps and lastly, the Pantheon. The Spanish Steps were actually quite hard to see because there was a wedding taking place when we stopped by! As you could have guessed, we were exhausted from fitting so much into one day after we had been traveling and soaking up the sun. For dinner, we went to a restaurant that one of Elliot’s friends had suggested to us. As food connoisseur that had studied in Rome last semester, we were extremely satisfied with her suggestion. If you go to Rome and you’re young and on a budget, this is restaurant is an absolute MUST. It is to the left of the Pantheon and the name is ” Miscellanea.” For fifteen euro, we were given unlimited red and white wine, water, a huge plate of bruschetta to share, a plate of two different types of pasta each, a large pizza to share AND dessert. What. A. Steal. RIGHT!? We all had a little too much fun with the “unlimited” portion of our meal, so this next part is a bit fuzzy. Apparently, Paul and I jogged back to our apartment. Now, this is impressive for more than one reason: 1: I was in a long skirt 2: We had no idea where the apartment was (we’re both directionally challenged) 3: the streets are cobblestone 4: to get into the building, you had to unlock the main door, the elevator door, the door to the hall and the door into our place 5: we somehow managed to realize that we needed to unbolt the locks to all these entrances for Elliot and Eric who walked back (like normal people). Thankfully, we all made it back unharmed, except for our livers. Three of us were very sick and no one made it out that night (we were all asleep by maybe 11pm). I’d say the first day in Roma was successful. Day two came with a few more struggles than anticipated.

Paul woke up with a terrible case of what I will simply refer to as, “the runs”..I don’t think a description is necessary. I mention this because you should NEVER drink the tap water from countries without asking locals if it is a common/safe practice. FYI, Naples tap water is not safe to drink- which is what we blamed Paul’s, eh, condition on. Unfortunately, Eric came down with the same condition during the day, so not much was accomplished aside from walking through the back streets for a few hours. Later in the day, Elliot’s friend Paige came into town and hung out with us for the night. Since it’s Italy, it should be no surprise that I feel compelled to mention dinner again. This time, we decided to keep ourselves under control and try the chicken parm at “Tony’s,” which again, was top notch food. Tony was actually present and served our food! Super nice people and a great atmosphere. The location was right across the river in the area that entertained a younger crowd- where of course we stopped to get gelato, yet again (no shame, folks). Another day in the bag.

The next day was dedicated to Vatican City; St. Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel. I can’t even begin to describe how cool it was to walk into the courtyard where mass is held by the newly elected Pope. Then of course there are the masterpieces by some of the most talented artists in history. Seeing “The Creation” in person was breathtaking. Note to travelers: You aren’t allowed to take pictures where this particular painting is, but there are ways to break the rules. I suggest using the front-facing camera option on your phone and pretend you’re texting, when in actuality, you’re taking pictures of the ceiling. It’s foolproof. The day was spent in this crazy cool city/St. Angelo’s Castle (there is a secret passageway from here to the Vatican that was used as an escape for popes!) and we ended our last full day in Roma hanging out at the Trevi Fountain with some gelato. You can’t go wrong with some shade, people watching, and gelato.

My last day in Rome was spent at the Caracalla baths, which are the second largest in Rome! The other cool stops that were made were at San Giovanni in Laterno Cathedral of Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore, and for you book lovers (Angels and Demons) I went to Santa Maria della Vittoria. As much as I enjoyed my time in Rome, boarding the plane back to London was comforting. I was back at Westminster for less than twelve hours before leaving for my second leg of spring break that began in Berlin. I have perfected functioning on close to no sleep.