I love Rome! This weekend was easily the best weekend I've had yet. Rome is absolutely beautiful. I loved it, and I didn't want to leave.
Our first night there, we enjoyed a delicious dinner. I ordered spaghetti bolognese and we had white wine. Not too shabby people. After we all finished our pasta we asked our waiter for a pizza and he asked us if we were serious. After realizing we were he said, "mama Mia!" Then I cracked up. You had to be there but it was great.
Our first night there, we enjoyed a delicious dinner. I ordered spaghetti bolognese and we had white wine. Not too shabby people. After we all finished our pasta we asked our waiter for a pizza and he asked us if we were serious. After realizing we were he said, "mama Mia!" Then I cracked up. You had to be there but it was great.
On Saturday we got up and went to the Sistine Chapel. That church is stunning. There are never enough words to describe anything I'm seeing and doing. I could've stayed in the chapel all day just staring at the walls and the ceiling. It's truly magnificent. I said over and over, "you guys, we're in the Sistine chapel right now!!" I was real excited.
We wandered around Rome looking at different fountains. First, we found the brothers fountain. Kathleen got annoyed with me for saying I liked the smaller, less famous one more because it looked like the one in the movie When in Rome. Regrets on not downloading that before we left.
Then we went to see the Pantheon. We walked around and took pictures. We admired the horse and carriages outside and then went to find more gelato.
After the amazing gelato, we found the Trevi fountain. That one was definitely my favorite. I wanted to stay there all day, too. There's a tradition with the Trevi fountain and making wishes. If you throw in one coin you wish to come back to Rome, two coins you wish to fall in love in Rome, three coins you wish to get married in Rome. I giddily threw in a coin and sincerely wished to return to Rome someday. It was wonderful.
After the fountains and lots of spontaneous gelato stops- we ate gelato three times in 24 hours so you know we did it right- we headed back towards our apartment. We had to pass St. Peter's Basilica on the way so we decided to get in line and see how long it'd take to get in. To our surprise and delight the wait was only about 40 minutes. We walked through the Holy Door. Catholics believe that walking through this door absolves you of all your sins and allows you to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven. We walked in and I kept saying "Wow! This is beautiful!" Over and over again. We walked towards the front and realized someone was saying mass!! Cardinale Comaste was saying mass while I was in St. Peter's basilica and I was maybe five people away from actually getting in to watch and worship. I made everyone stay and listen for a while. I figured out that they were close to communion by listening to the tunes of the chants and picking up some of the words. We think it was in Latin. We walked through the sacristy which is not the same thing in the Lutheran world so I got confused. It was so fun. I didn't want to leave.
After our full day of sightseeing, we went out for dinner. I had spaghetti carbonara for the first time ever, and it was delicious. Game changer. I want to try it when I get back to America to see if it's still that good but I know it won't be. We found a gelato place after that, of course. All the food was amazing. I can't wait to go back to Rome to eat all the food.
Sunday morning, we woke up and headed towards the Colosseum. We went to the Forum first. Sunday we had to carry our packs around with us because it made logistical sense. Walking around the Roman ruins carrying my backpack, not wearing a jacket because it was actually warm was everything I hoped studying abroad would be. It was everything. I absolutely loved it.
From the Forum, we walked up the hill to the Palatine Hill. It was very pretty, and I took lots of pictures and listened to Kathleen tell me about all of the historical significances of all the things. We found a great view of the Colosseum on the Palatine Hill and took pictures there. After seeing that view, we had to get in the Colosseum.
Story time: We got in line and got through with our tickets. Then we got to security. Keep in mind, all of us have about the same size pack. Some look different because of how weight is distributed or how we each pack differently but it's all the same, really. Well. This woman let Michael and Kathleen through but told Morgan and me that our packs were too big. So we waved them through to go on, and we just stood there. After about a minute of just standing there being angry I asked Morgan, "If I make a scene, will you follow me in?" She agreed. I don't think anyone understood how badly I wanted to walk around the Colosseum with Tilly (short for Matilda, I named my backpack, I know it's lame- don't care). I was preparing for water works. So I took my jacket out of pack to show the woman that my pack could squish smaller. We walked up again and I started telling her, "Look! They're not that big we can make them smaller..." and she got so annoyed she waved us in. SCORE! As Michael said, "Do not mess with Jersey!" Damn right.
So! We finally get in the colosseum and it's, of course, spectacular. I'm amazed and at a loss for words, shocking I know. It was just so cool! It's so old but it's still there after all these years! They had so many opportunities to knock it down and build something else, or some strong weather could've knocked it down, but no! It's still standing there! I tried not to think about the gladiators that killed people in there while we were walking around enjoying the sights. It was magnificent. I took at least a hundred pictures. They will be on Facebook if you're interested, and one of these days I'll try to add a picture gallery to this site.
Before leaving we had another amazing meal. I had spaghetti carbonara again because why not! It was such a terrific weekend. I am so happy to be here.
All for now,
Swiss Miss
All for now,
Swiss Miss