When in Rome...

Pantheon 

First travel weekend and off to Rome we go. We had a half-day of classes on Thursday and decided to spend this weekend in Rome visiting HANNAH! Left on a flight Thursday night and got there about midnight after taking a bus, train, another bus then sitting in the airport for a few hours listening to Jolie’s stories of roommates and then having the gelato place close on us….our travels are always a process. Getting into Rome late we met up with the fratties just to say hi and our new friends from Minnesota (don’tcha know?), but were soon to return to Hannah’s apartment to rest for a day full of being the tourists we are. Unfortunately, it was raining out the next day, surprise surprise. It always seems to be raining anywhere we travel, bad luck? After eating an AMERICAN BREAKFAST (yum), thank you Friends Cafe, we chose to go to the Vatican to avoid getting wet. Kenzie and I climbed up the four hundred STEEPEST/SKINNEST steps (that slanted inward) to the top of the copula. After almost passing out, we made it! Here we were able to witness a spectacular view of the city of Rome. On the way up, we stopped in the top of the inside of the copula as well and were able to see in inside of the church from the ceiling. The entire walls and ceiling are made out of these tiny square tiles and when put together make an entire picture---so awesome. Made our way back down the stairs and were able to see the Vatican from ground level. I didn’t realize how enormous this place was until I actually got to see it from the inside. It was incredible and so so huge….beautiful. Walked back to Hannah’s, chatted it up with my world traveler of a best friend who has been and seen SO much over the last few years spent in Europe and then got ready for dinner. Friday night we went out to one of Hannah’s favorite pizza places in Italy along with her 5 of her friends from school. We enjoyed another delicious meal of pizza and wine then headed to hear one of their classmates sing at a bar, parading around in Rome in the pouring rain lead to an eventful evening.

Making a Wish at the Trevi Fountain

Saturday morning we stopped at the pastry shop around the corner and headed across town to help Hannah pick up a few things and see the famous shopping street Via Condotti. On the way we passed through the Pantheon, yet another one of Rome's indescribable structures. Grabbed a quick bite then met up with Colin aka one of the fratties to go see the Sistine Chapel. It is hard to describe let alone put into words the structure of this museum and artwork by the one and only Michael Angelo. The detail and preciseness that went into ever inch of every room was incredible. Gold leaf, colorful tiles, and statues filled the room that lead up to the Chapel itself, which was painted from floor to ceiling…..unreal. After taking it all in, still pinching ourselves that we are even in Europe right now, we got some gelato…you can never have enough gelato and strolled the streets of Rome.

Colosseum

No longer raining THANK GOD, Hannah, Kenzie, and I enjoyed a tasty meal for dinner consisting of pesto and ravioli and some desserts that were special from carnivale. The three of us then conquered the main sights to see at night in Rome including the Trevi fountain (yes, we through a coin in and made our wishes) and the Spanish Steps. Our last day in Rome we were quite busy. We hiked it over to Hannah’s favorite spot, a lookout where you can see the entire city, then a market close to her apartment where they sold everything imaginable that you could want/need, then the Colosseum, arguably Rome’s greatest forms of architecture and engineering, followed by the Roman Forum, a place where people use to gather to deal with political and economic affairs. Took a bunch of pictures, typical. Ate some more pizza, typical. Then we were on our way back to Paderno. A train, easyjet (yay no ryanair!!) and a cab got us safely back to campus. A relaxing and entremely enjoyable weekend to say the least, Rome has become my favorite city in Europe and am already missing Hannah Montana already. Luckily we convinced her to come celebrate our birthday with us, so we will be seeing her in a few weeks! Until next time…..