Rome was just plain awesome. Our hotel was located about 3 blocks from the Pantheon - which was the very first thing I went to see. It was really cool. Seeing the dome was really cool, I didn't expect it to be in such good condition it was awesome. Some other things I saw that day were Zaha Hadid's MAXXI Museum [Contemporary Arts Museum that doesn't open until April or May], 1960's Olympic Gym, Park of Music, Piazza Navona with the fountain of four rivers, and the Colosseum at night. The Colosseum was beautiful at night. Me and a few friends decided to wander around the Roman Forum while everyone else decided to go to a shady bar crawl to get drunk in Rome. We did go to an Irish Pub, which was filled with locals, to get a beer and watch the Rome soccer game - more my scene anyway. I am pretty sick of everyone who has to get drunk all the time. It's really not that great and the culture here is not that at all. It makes me sad and upset that they aren't enjoying Italy as they should be. There's too much to see to be getting drunk every weekend.
The second day was pretty epic. Things seen: Ara Pacis Museum done by Richard Meier, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Roman Forum. I sadly wasn't impressed by Richard Meier's building, but everything else was really cool. A few friends decided to race up the Spanish steps; I got a video - it's pretty funny. After that we got lunch - by the way, I had an awesome lunch: a salad loaded with carrots, corn, zucchini, tomato, and tuna - and headed over to the Trevi Fountain. It was gorgeous in Rome pretty much the entire weekend. It rained in the morning and then always turned out to be a beautiful day. By the time we got to the fountain it was sunny and so warm. We just sat on the bench right next to the fountain and absorbed the sun and relaxed listening to the water run. Next, we had an archeologist take us on a tour of the Roman Forum. He was pretty cool, somehow he learned all thirty of our names by the end of the three hour session - pretty ridiculous. He definitely knew what he was talking about too, and kept us interested. Later, once it got dark, a group of us went back to the Trevi Fountain and Roman Forum, both were still awesome at night.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum, and the Colosseum took up the entire next day. St. Peter's was actually smaller than I expected. However, still extraordinary. It was just amazing to be there as a Catholic - something that I've always wanted to do. I went down into the catacombs and saw Pope John Paul's tomb, which was very crowded for obvious reasons. The Vatican Museum was huge, and packed since the Sistine Chapel is located there. It was weird though in the Sistine Chapel. Everyone was packed in like sardines and there were only two security men telling everyone to not take pictures and videos and be quiet. I did sneak a few pictures [oops]. I also saw Raphael's famous The School of Athens painting - awesome. It still gets me every time I see something that I've read and studied about for the past 2 1/2 years. From there we trekked all the way to the Colosseum before our pass expired - at 4:00. Let me just say that that walk, from the Vatican Museum to the Colosseum, is a long one. Finally getting there, though, was bitter sweet - only bitter because my feet were killing me. I was so excited to be in a building that has been there since before we can even think to remember. Dinner was tasty, we went back to the Irish Pub because we had looked at their menu from before, delicious burger and potatoes - something I haven't had in I don't even know how long! I think this night was the best one I've had since I've been here. I got some gelato and sat next to the fountain by the Pantheon. A couple was playing the guitar and singing, everyone was having fun and enjoying the people they were with, the night air was decently warm, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Not to mention there are those cute little Italian restaurants all around the Piazza and the apartment buildings/hotels had little baskets of flowers outside of each window. I only sat there for a couple hours, but probably could have sat there forever. It was definitely the picture I had in my head of Italy, and I think it finally started to hit me that I'm really here.
The fourth and last day we had a Baroque tour. Our tour guide seriously looked like a bum off the street. He kept lighting up cigarettes and it was bugging the crap out of me. To say the least, I unfortunately couldn't pay attention to him because of it. After that, we went to the Isola Tiberina - an island in the middle of the Tiber River. Got a sandwich from a snack bar/cafe, went all the way down to the river, sat in the sun, and enjoyed our food and the weather. I can't get over how nice it was the entire time we were there, it was t-shirt weather in the middle of February. From there, we wandered around until meeting up with the rest of the group at the hotel to make it back to the train station. Unfortunately we had to ride the bus to the train station, and even more unfortunately I have a similar story to that of my Grandma's while on board. She warned me about this, but I figured being in a large group it wouldn't matter to me. Wrong. To say this in the least amount of words as possible, the bus was crammed - like no place to move, not even an inch - and there were creepy men - or at least one - on board. Me and another friend were violated. I kept elbowing him his stomach as hard as I could to get him away from me since I couldn't move, and when I finally got around to get away from him he went to another girl in our group. Disgusting, and if I would have been there another minute I probably would have punched him in the face.
Other than that I had an amazing time in Rome. Such a great time and saw so many incredible things. Can't wait to go back for Easter!!
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