Roma, Italia

Day 1- Arrived in Rome at 12. Went to our hotel (4 of us stayed in a 2 person room, and we found out when we got there that they had cameras outside the rooms) then we headed out to start...roaming :) Started at Trevi Fountain, that was absolutely stunning. Immediately we stopped at Blue Ice (famous gelato place) and it was delicious! Continued on to Tempio Adriano, and made our way to the Pantheon, the oldest standing domed structure in Rome. The height to the ceiling and the diameter of the interior circle are the same. It is a monument in which illustrious dead are buried, and the best preserved of all Roman buildings, perhaps the best preserved building of its age in the world. From there, we met up with my friend Mario from high school who is living and going to college in Rome. He took us around the city to places such as Piazza Navona, the square where Caesar died, a couple areas where college kids hang out at night, where Mussolini (Mariachi haha) gave his last speech, Piazza Colonna, and Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. The final tourist attraction of the day was Trinita dei Monti (the Spanish steps); they were lined with bright purply-pink flowers that were absolutely gorgeous. We had attempted to see the Villa Medici (house of Medici- greatest art patron of all time) but it was closed, so we only saw it through the closed gates. Then we went back to the hotel, showered, got ready, and went to dinner. The only 3 things I ate the entire time in Rome were pasta, pizza, and gelato :) which was fine by me! Then we met up with Mario again who took us to LaVazza, it was the grand opening of the bar and one of his friend’s birthday celebration – it was so much fun!

Day 2- Almost got caught in our hotel with the four of us when the owner brought breakfast to the room as we were leaving. Shannon and I (not supposed to be staying at the hotel..) jumped in the elevator as he was asking what our room number was and Mia was SO confused as to why I was being rude (I was trying to pretend like I didn't know her haha). Anyway we had an appointment at the Vatican museum at 9 a.m. so we headed for Vatican City (holiest city in the world 20 minutes from the center of Rome). We went through the museum, going through Roman art period, Rafael rooms (famous School of Athens painting), and ending in the Sistine Chapel (Michelangelo’s Creation painting was phenomenal). Afterwards we went to Saint Peter's Basilica - by far the most gorgeous church I have ever/will ever see in my life. There are so many famous works that sit in the church, including the statue of Mary holding Jesus after he was crucified, it left me speechless. Then, we decided to wait in line for 2 hours to go to the top of the Basilica (which we thought was only in the inside of the highest dome in the church) to find out when we got to the top that we could keep going 500+ steps to the tippy top! The view was INSANE! You could see for milesss, and the girls who have already gone to Paris said it was better than the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower. That night we met up with Mario and his friend Ahmed to a seesha place for hookah, and continued to meet up with the rest of his friends at a bar called On the Rocks. It was a lot of fun, and a very eventful night that didn't end til about 5:30 a.m. (our day started at 7 a.m. lol) so we were REALLY tired.

Day 3- We wanted to sleep in, but we were forced to switch hotel rooms (we were upgraded to a nicer room for the first 2 nights for free) so we had to be out by 10 a.m. which sucked. But we got our new room, not as nice as the first one, and napped for a while - 4 girls in 1 double bed LOL. Mia and I went out wondering for the day, while Eli and Shannon did some shopping. Mia and I started at the Ara Pacis- Alter of Peace made by Augustus (which was closed due to a European holiday) but we could still see it through the clear glass of the museum. We kept walking and saw Mausoleo Augusta, Piazza dei Tribunali, Castel Sant’ Angelo, San Carlo Quattro Fontane, and stopped at a cute outdoor restaurant for pizza. We all returned to the hotel, got ready, and met Mario for dinner at his favorite Italian place in Rome. The food was out of this world!!!! Afterwards we pregamed on the bus for the biggest outdoor concert of the year in Rome, probably over 200,000 people, and it was outrageous. People in trees, drinks flying, and of course we got separated from each other. I was with Ahmed, and the other girls were with Mario, so thank GOD Ahmed and Mario have each other’s numbers to meet back up! After the concert, Mia and I were exhausted from lack of sleep, so we decided to go back and Eli and Shannon went out with Mario and his friends. They come back drunk, no keys, and almost got us caught for the 2nd time when the hotel owner walked Eli to our room and Shannon was standing there (Shannon and I were not supposed to be staying at the hotel..) and he asked her if she knew Shannon. Eli started cracking up and said no, but obviously the man was skeptical haha.

Day 4 – Started at the Roman Forum – located between the Palatine hill and the Capitoline hill of the city. It is the central area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed, and where the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city are located. We saw the Arch of Septimus Severus, a bunch of temple ruins including the Temple of Romulus and Temple of Apollo, the Arch of Titus, and the house of Augustus. Leaving the Roman Forum, we also saw the Arch of Constantine. Then we walked to the Colosseum, the largest elliptical amphitheatre in the Roman Empire seating over 50,000 people used for gladiatorial contests starting in 80 AD. It was one of my favorite things to see in Rome! All of a sudden it started pouring out of nowhere, and since we were wearing sun dresses, we just sat in the Colosseum for it to pass. It cleared, and not even a half hour later it was sunny again. We just walked around the city, got gelato again, and then met up with Mario to go to his apartment. His roommate John and him, helped us make homemade gnocchi from scratch - potatoes and flour. After they cooked, they decided they didn't come out good, so they made us eggplant parm and spaghetti instead - amaaazing! Then we left, took the LAST bus to the airport at 12:30 a.m., got to the airport at 1, slept on the floor like hobos til 4 a.m., and our flight took off at 6:30. Funny part was that Mia’s carry-on was 3 kilos overweight (6 pounds) so her and I went and put on tons of random clothes and coats from her bag. HAHA! Weighed in again, 0.4 kilos under =) nice!

Overall Rome was incredible - my favorite city so far, besides Madrid, of course. Anddd the best part is... we never got caught at our hotel!


HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY ROBIN :) I love and miss you so much <3