Roma. March 4-6, 2011.
Awww, Rome, what a city. This was our first overnight trip outside Florence, and my first experience staying in a hostel. Rome is a completely different pace than Florence. It's much bigger and more spread out. It's more "city." There is so much to see and do here. We had to bide our time and hit all the main spots. After grabbing some lunch, the first stop was the Colosseum, of course. It's so surreal to finally see one of the most famous spots of Rome. It's so huge! I know that is like a "duh!" comment, but it's true! We also saw the Roman Forum, which is right next to the Colosseum. The next thing we came across was this huge white building that has some amazing statues in front of it and on top of it. I don't know the name of the building, but it is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, it was built in 1900 so it's not from ancient times, or even the renaissance but it's still breath taking. We took an elevator to the top and got the most amazing view of Rome. It was a definite highlight of our trip. Then next was the Trevi Fountain. It is so beautiful at night! If you can get over the crowds of tourists. But other than that minor detail it is beautifully lit and such a romantic spot. After this, we had the most disgusting Italian food ever. Do not eat around the area of anything super touristy. It's all bad. We then called it a night to prepare for our long day ahead.
Our second started off with a quick breakfast consisting of a cappuccino and a croissant. Then we headed to the Trevi Fountain to get some pictures minus the tourists. Check my Facebook for those. Then we walked through the Roman Forum, which is amazing I might add. Then we made our way to the Colosseum. However, the line was ridiculously long so we paid to join a tour group, which we ditched when we got in there. Unfortunately, it was a little miserable because it was pouring down rain, but still cool. It was cool to actually stand inside the Colosseum. Then we did some more walking around saw the Pantheon and grabbed lunch at an Irish pub (yummy), then we headed to the Spanish Steps, and then back to the hostel for a quick nap. After "rebooting" we headed back out to the Vatican, which is super cool to see at night. St. Peter's is an amazing site to see. After spending a little bit of time here, we got some much needed Mexican food and margaritas and headed back to the hostel.
At the hostel we made friends with our two roommates and went out for a few drinks. It was a lot of fun. Meeting different people from different cultures and backgrounds is so interesting.
So all in all, an amazing trip.
