Flower Market

On Sunday we decided to head to the flower market Lyndon’s wife recommended to us. It’s only open on Sundays so we did not want to waste an opportunity to go. Denise wanted to go with us so we had planned to meet up with each other at 11:30. According to the Transport for London website it was going to be a bit of an adventure getting there as there were lots of planned engineering works set to take place. Jeana and I thought we had figured out a good way to get there though.

We set out at 10:30 as it was supposed to take us an hour to get there. The first delay we encountered was when the over ground train was not set to get to the station until 10:45. We only had to go a few stops and then changed to the underground. All was going pretty smooth still besides the fact that we were running late. Once we got off the tube we had six choices to exit the station and one of them listed exactly what we needed. We randomly went out one and luckily found out where we were supposed to be pretty quickly. From there we were supposed to get on bus 55. Well we found the bus only to learn its route was temporarily changed due to engineering works. We then figured out another bus that would take us to where we needed to be. We walked to the stop and got on the bus. When we got off we were not in the right spot. The place the bus was supposed to take us wasn’t even listed on the map anymore. It was then time to call in some reinforcements…aka Denise. After talking to Denise we began walking in the direction we knew the flower market was close to. As we walked we got a phone call from Matt. He proceeded to find our location on the computer and guided us street by street until we finally reached the flower market…only thirty minutes late! It was such a relief to be there.

We met up with Denise and began one of the best afternoons in London. First we all stopped for a cappuccino…I think it was much deserved after our stressful travels. Next we began looking through the shops around. They were some of the cutest stores I have ever been to. They were mostly vintage shops. The neat part is they are only open on Sundays so they are obviously structured around the flower market shoppers. I saw so many really neat things. We all found lots of good things to purchase for gifts to take back home which is always fun. We checked out about half of the shops then decided to walk through the flower market. The reviews we read for the market said to get your flowers as close to 2:00 o’clock as possible as that is closing time and you can get the best deals.

The market only goes for about two blocks but that didn’t make selecting the flowers any easier. I loved them all! The best part was seeing new flowers I had never seen before…discovering new flowers is always fun. We all eventually picked out our bouquets and absolutely loved our selections. While we were deciding and walking through the marketing it was fun absorbing in the atmosphere. The owners shouted out “three for a tenner” or “two for a fiver” as we walked through. They are always trying to convince you they have the best deal but it was fun in this case. The market was packed but it came as no surprise. The reviews said there was no way you could go and leave empty handed and that was completely true. No harm in treating myself to some flowers every now and then anyway :)

Once we all made our selections it was time to finish u pour shopping. By the time we got done shopping we were all hungry. We found a nice little local pub called the Sting Ray and we stopped in for lunch. Denise and I decided to split two things so we could have a bit of variety. We split some of the best risotto we have ever had and a really good pizza. The risotto had a crème sauce with leeks, mushrooms, and artichokes. We got pizza with bacon, onions, and mushrooms. Quite a delicious meal!

When lunch was over we headed home for the evening. Getting back was much more successful than getting there as we just followed Denise the majority of the way. It was late when we got back so all the stores were closed. We found this out the hard way after walking all the way to the store to try and buy a vase for our flowers. When we got home we just had to use our creative sides to come up with vases. I ended up using my reusable water bottle. Once that was all situated it was time for homework which pretty much consumed the rest of the evening.

Toy Store

Saturday morning we woke up and got ourselves ready to go to the oldest toy store with the Bailey boys and Matt. He invited us figuring we would be interested in going. Of course we were! Hamley’s was the toy store we went to and was seven stories. This year is actually its 250th anniversary so it was extra special. Ashlin, Dana, Jeana, ReBecca, and I went with the crew. We had a lot of fun exploring all the floors with the little guys. There sure were a lot of toys to look at!

I found it a little sad that I didn’t recognize half of the toys. Apparently I need to get back in the loop. The toys have changed quite a bit from what I remember. The Barbie sections wasn’t as exciting as us girls were hoping….just not a huge selection. We missed out on seeing Barbie…she was going to be at the store on Tuesday. The boys weren’t too upset about this. They wanted to avoid the girl floor like the plague. I guess that was pretty understandable.

We explored every level and then it was time for the boys to make their selections. They ended up getting a dart board that seems to be a huge hit. After we finished exploring the toy store we went our separate ways. The boys went home while the girls went shopping. We were in the Oxford area which is absolutely packed with stores. First we explored this little area where no traffic was allowed. It was a nice little haven in the chaos. We just ended up walking around on Oxford after that and going in stores we liked as we passed them. Shopping sure does wipe you out but it was fun getting to check out some new stores.

After getting our fill of shopping we headed back to our flats. We had planned to go to a haunted house that evening but it didn’t end up happening. Instead we had another night in. We had considered going out but changed our minds after being able to relax in our flat. Some people did go out though and once they left we got a little bit of peace. We were all craving some milkshakes at night so we ended up making a late night McDonald’s run. We had some good times reminiscing before heading back to our flats and going to bed.

Diwanis

Lyndon recommend a vegetarian Thai restaurant to us in class one day. On Friday we decided it was time to try it out. We went for the buffet because we figured that would enable us to try a lot of different things. It ended up taking us a while to find the place because we walked quite a ways in the wrong direction at first. The good news is by the time we found it we were more than ready to eat!

It was a cute little place with very friendly staff. They loved us for some reason but we weren’t about to complain about that! Sometimes people are fascinated with us because we are American. The great part about the buffet is that it is all vegetarian so I didn’t have to worry at all about what I was eating. Thank goodness because nothing was labeled! Going for the buffet was a great decision because there is no way I would have been able to pick something off a menu. We all tried a little of everything on the buffet. There were honestly only a few items I didn’t like which surprise me a bit. I definitely tried a lot of things I probably wouldn’t have previously and am so glad I did because it was delicious! Some of it was quite hot but that’s what the bread and water were for! The only bummer about the buffet is that nothing was labeled so I have no clue what I was eating to order it again. The place was great and I would definitely recommend it as well!

After filling ourselves up we decided to go explore Harrods. On our way we detoured. We were only a stop away from king’s Cross train station where Platform 9 ¾ from Harry Potter is so we stopped there! At first we went to the wrong station. None of us wanted to ask where it was because its such a touristy thing but I finally went in and asked. The first person we asked had to ask him boss. As we left we heard him telling his employee he got that question a lot which we found pretty funny!

We headed to the right place then but when we got there we didn’t see it either. We thought we were in the right area because we were between platforms nine and ten. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who look for the platform because the train driver stuck his head out of the train and asked us if we were looking for platform 9 ¾. It was kind of funny that everyone seemed to know what we were doing! We finally made it there and had fun being silly taking our pictures. As we left another person asked if we were looking for the platform! We told them we had already found it but we were obviously looking like tourists! It only made the experience more fun though.

We were then on our way to Harrods. As we walked there we stopped in a few other places. We spent a few hours in Harrods and barely covered anything! I think we have no gone through the first few floors but I’m sure we’ll go back again as there is just so much to explore! It had a lot of Christmas decorations up already but we want to go back right before we leave and see if they put anymore up. A lot of Christmas festivities are beginning soon and I can’t wait! I love big cities at Christmas time. After exploring for a while we headed home. We had planned to go out that evening as it was Halloween weekend but we decided to stay in and watch a movie instead. We had big plans for the morning and we wanted to be well rested to enjoy them.

Halloween Fun

After being spoiled by getting to sleep in the last two days, it made getting up for class on Thursday a challenge. I got my sleepy self to class though. Thursday health classes are always really enjoyable to me though. This week we focused on nutrition. We talked about a lot of the comparisons between American and British health. These are always my favorite topics because it’s fun to see the similarities and differences of our cultures. Food in particular is interesting because it is really different. I am actually really dreading going back to all our overly processed foods. I love being able to cook my own food so dorm food is being dreaded for next semester. Our class was really interesting though and helped me realize what to eat more/less of. We did a fun jeopardy game that had questions about fast food restaurants. The answer never seem to be what we expected which was the whole point but a good one.

When class was over it was time for another walk. Our walk was scheduled for the St. Paul’s area. As we were walking we saw that there was obviously something big going on. We later discovered this was the grand opening of a new gigantic mall. We struggled our way through the crowds and cameras but eventually all made it out. It was quite the sight to see and yet another fun find on our walks. We all decided we’ll have to go check it out again when it’s not as crazy. We finished our walk at St. Paul’s and then headed home.

Once we got back we got the final items we needed for the party then headed home to get the flat all ready. We were all pretty exhausted and each ended up taking about an hour nap to refresh ourselves. When we got up we decked out the flat and got all our party games setup in preparation for the boy’s arrival. Denise brought them over around 5:30 for the festivities to begin. We had an absolute blast together. We decorated some candy, bobbed for apples, had balloon wars, had food guessing contests, decorated pumpkins, had a cupcake eating contest and ate lots of candy! It was a great way to get in the Halloween spirit and start off the weekend.

When the boys left around 8:30 we were completely wiped out! It was well worth it though. We seriously debated following through with our evening plans. Then we figured we could sleep in the next day so we might as well go. Our plan was to go to The Roxy because Thursday nights are 80’s nights. We got ready real fast and headed out. The place was pretty empty when we got there but quickly picked up. The place was really cool but not exactly our age range which makes sense being 80s night and all. The people were probably 30 on average but there were people our age as well. We hung out for a few hours and had a good time but decided to head home early. I’m really glad we went through because it was something we really wanted to do and we don’t have any more free Thursdays as weird as that is to say! Thursday was a great start to our fun filled weekend though!

Family Day

Wednesdays are reserved for our group outings. Phillipa or Lyndon usually lead them but Phillipa was out of town. Matt, Denise’s husband, was therefore put in charge. Originally we were supposed to go on a country walk. After some reevaluating Denise decided this option would probably not interest the majority of the group after coming off of fall break. Her idea was for us to go to a park and have a “Family Sunday in the park.” We were going to go to Hamstead Heath, which is supposed to be another of London’s best parks. Matt was going to teach us how to play cricket and we were going to picnic in the park…in my opinion, one great day.

Well we had a group meeting Tuesday night where Denise informed us it was a 70% chance of rain…sort of ruined our plans. She figured even if it only rained in the morning it was still going to be damp out. Not ideal conditions for a picnic in the park. For the third time we altered our plans. The new plan was to go to her house for an indoor picnic then play games indoors if the weather didn’t cooperate or in their back garden if it did.

Wednesday morning therefore began with a nice sleep in. Denise decided we would all appreciate that. We met up at her flat at 11:00 where we all hung out and talked while we waited for lunch. Denise had a huge spread of things for sandwiches including a lot of different bread to choose from. She also got every unusually brand of chips she could find so that was pretty fun! I definitely never would have bought half of the chips ended up being really good! Once we were finished with lunch we headed to the back garden for some fun and games.

Although the ground was sort of damp it had turned out to be a really gorgeous day. The sun even decided to make an appearance for the second half of our day. We started out the games with capture the flag. All in all we had a good time but some people got pretty into the game. I’m all for a little bit if competition but sometimes it’s more appropriate to be competitive than others. The whole point of the day was to relax and enjoy each other’s company. I made sure that happened for me by staying away from anything that discouraged that atmosphere :)

We played three games of capture the flag but had enough after that. Half of us then went down to Kilburn Park to play some football while the other half went to hang out inside or disperse on their own. The day had become absolutely beautiful so it was now a perfect time for some fun in the park. Playing football was lots of fun. I really am terrible at it but I still got into it and give it my all. I had a great time just being able to run around and soak in the sun with a great group of people. Soccer didn’t get overly competitive (which was good because otherwise they probably would have kicked me out!). We played probably an hour and a half so I got my exercise in for the day for once! A few of the locals even joined us which was nice. They were a lot better and younger than me so once they joined I held back a little bit! Playing football together made for a great way to wrap up our afternoon together.

After we got done playing we began our walk home so we could get ready for comedy club that evening. On the way home Jeana and I stopped to get our necessary supplies for the Halloween party we were throwing the Bailey boys the next day. We were really excited about our party and had fun thinking up games we could play. Once we got home we all ate dinner, got ready, and then headed to the comedy club for some improv!

I haven’t seen that much improve but what I have seen has been good but nothing spectacular. I was still really excited to go to the Comedy Club. The show did not disappoint. The show was made up of five guys. I really have no idea how they came up with the things they did. It was fun to because they used a lot of crowd interaction. It was an evening full of laughter…what can get better than that! Watching the show I realized how wiped out I was though so once we got home everyone fell fast asleep!

A little bit of Glee

The rest of the week was pretty relaxed as well. Tuesday I slept in a little bit and then got up and got ready for class. We had another fun Brit Pop class...its almost impossible for that class not to be entertaining. Rob of course wanted to hear about our fall break adventures so a good portion of class was spent talking about our travels. When class was over Ashlin and I went to the study center and uploaded our pictures from fall break onto facebook. That way everyone can now experience a little bit of the awesome time we all had on our breaks! The building actually closed at 4:00 so we didn't get everything done, but at least we got the majority downloaded. We didn't want to waste our megabytes!

After we got home we had a pretty chill afternoon and waited for the rest of the gang to get home from class. When the girls got home we decided it was time we cultured them with a little bit of Glee. Ashlin and I absolutely love the show but the others had yet to experience it in all its glory :) I brought the first season because I knew I wouldn't be able to go three months without watching Glee. We watched a few episodes randomly and I think that did the trick. They are slowly beginning to get in the Glee spirit! We decided we have to start from the beginning of the series though. That pretty much wrapped our Tuesday fun up!

Back to Reality...sort of

When I went to bed Sunday night I was really dreading the fact that classes were starting back up the next morning. Monday classes always seem to be the most stressful. I really do enjoy my classes for the most part but I was enjoying not having a schedule to follow. When we got to school we learned that we only had to attend the morning session. This meant we got to start our fitness walk early and be done for the day nice and early.

During our morning session we did a recap of our traveling over fall break. It was fun to hear about everyone’s adventures. We talked for quite awhile which put us behind schedule a little bit but it was worth it. After our discussion we began some group work to recap our past five weeks in London. Some people frustrated me a little bit because they weren’t paying attention but I tried to make the best of it. After the activity we got to talking about what we had been learning. The whole point of the activity was to get us to realize how much we had become true Londoners. It was kind of neat realizing how far we had really come from when we got here. Our final activity for the day was to prepare ourselves for a debate we were supposed to have on American health, welfare and education systems versus British health, welfare and education systems. It had to be postponed for another day because the other activities had taken too long.

When class was over the walking class met up and Denise decided we should take a break for lunch then meet back up at 2:00 to begin our walk. Our walk ended up being my favorite walk we have done so far. We walked through Regent’s park to primrose hill then to Abbey Road and finally back to our flats. We got to see so many fun things on the walk. First of all Regent’s park is my favorite park in London and it was absolutely beautiful with the leaves changing and falling. Primrose hill has one of the best views of the city of London. On top of that I met this sweet old guy who had a golden retriever which I got to pet for about ten minutes. So I got my dog fix for the day :) Then we finally made it to Abbey Road where we have wanted to go for quite a while now. The great news is we found out how close to our flats it actually is! We didn’t take the famous picture so we’ll have to go back to do that. Now we know how to get there and it’s just a short walk from our flats.

Even though we got out of class early our walk ended up being extra long and we didn’t get back to our flats much earlier than we normally would have. It was totally worth it because it was such a nice walk and day. The rest of the evening was spent doing some more unpacking/cleaning. Unpacking makes things so dirty! We all spent the evening hanging out together because we just couldn’t get enough of each other after being apart for so long! What I thought was going to be a stressful day ended up being another great one in London. Haven’t quite hit reality yet though I don’t think that’s going to officially happen until I’m back in the states!

Rest and Recovery

After one amazing vacation some rest and recovery was absolutely necessary. That is exactly what I did all day Sunday...rest and recover. Everyone spent the entire day hanging out with each other and sharing more stories about the adventures we had had on our separate trips. Although the very first thing we did when we woke up was go grocery shopping! All of our fridges were empty and we were hungry when we woke up. We did sleep in but not as late as I expected that I would. I ended up getting up a little after 10:00. After we got our groceries we filled our bellies with lunch and continued to just enjoy each others company.

In the afternoon us girlies had a good time watching The Last Song together. We cried and laughed a little and it made for the perfect afternoon :) Throughout the day we all did laundry and began the process of unpacking which is never really fun. The best part about being home was getting to wear clean clothes though! Definitely something we had all been looking forward to! Being able to cook our own food was also a treat. A ten day vacation is really a long time to be away from the comfort of your own home. On this trip that's what I discovered as well...London truly was home. Once we got back it felt like home because I realized how much I actually fit in. Before break I had felt like an outsider still but once we got back I realized how much I had grown accustomed to where we were living and become a part of the community. I think it took going to other parts of the world to realize how much I had really learned about London. Its such a great feeling to have.

Another thing I learned about being able to call London my home is that its okay to venture off on my own. Before going on our break I had done everything with other people. Not because we have to but because it was convenient and I felt safe that way. When I got back I realized that I would never think that way at home. At home I go to the grocery store by myself all the time, take a walk, etc. Now that I've come to this realization I want to explore this new feeling of being able to venture out on my own.

Coming home from break sure did make us appreciate a lot of things more and realize what we had taken for granted! The tube was definitely one of those things. We got to experience the equivalent of the tube in each different country and it sure made me love the tube. Although the tube can be a drag sometimes because it takes so long to get places it gets you right where you need to go and we did not have that luxury in Rome or Athens. I love that I have learned to appreciate it a little more because I was beginning to hate it!

Sunday was a great day even though we really did nothing at all. It was absolutely wonderful spending time with each other in our flat after being gone for so long. Makes you realize how much you miss people once you actually see them again. Definitely got me excited to see my family when I return but also reminded me that I have to cherish the little time I have left here.

Day 10 - Headed Home

Saturday morning we woke up ready to enjoy our final hours of vacation. We had another wonderful breakfast at 9:30 and then went to do what we couldn’t leave Greece without doing. That would be riding donkeys. I was sort of nervous about riding the donkey after my horseback riding experience. I was thinking about not even riding one but there was no way the girls were going to let me sit out. In the end I’m glad they made me. The owners took us around Hydra on the donkeys and we got to see parts of the island that we hadn’t seen. I even managed to enjoy it and not freak out the entire time!

After we got off the donkeys Jeana and I headed to a nice quite spot to enjoy the views one last time. Once we had a nice time relaxing we went and did our last minute souvenir shopping. Then it was sadly time to begin our departure back “home.” We headed back to our hotel to grab our suitcase and begin our adventure home. We were really stressed about getting home because we had had so many problems with traveling in the past. We left our hotel prepared for the worst.

Our first bump in the road occurred when our ferry showed up about 15 minutes late. A ferry came at the correct departing time but it was just a teaser as they told us ours was on its way. The ferry ride was set to last about two hours which would give us three hours once we got back to Athens to get to the airport and go through security and whatnot. Our bus once we got back to Athens was supposed to take an hour. We had planned just enough time for it all to work out and that’s what made us nervous. All the other times we traveled we had given ourselves extra time and had used it. This time we didn’t have any room to spare.

Somehow besides our ferry delay everything went beyond perfectly. Our ferry get us to Athens fifteen minutes behind schedule but we found our bus stop right away and purchasing our tickets was really easy. Then our bus showed up fifteen minutes early! Such a big relief…our worries were quickly disappearing. From past experience we knew something was bound to come up though! Somehow our bus managed to get us to the airport in 45 minutes. It was supposed to take an hour and a half!!!!! We were beyond ecstatic. We had gotten to the airport with no problems and actually had time to spare. Checking in and going through security was a piece of cake. We got through to our gate and had over an hour to spare. We sat and soaked in the great feeling of being at the airport on time safe and sound. Our flight was boarded early and actually took off early because we were all set to go.

We had a great flight. It was four hours long so we got dinner and they played a movie. It was actually Eclipse so it made the time pass really quickly which was nice. Normally when you are headed home it feels like it takes forever because you are so antsy to actually get there. Our flight arrived at Heathrow about twenty minutes ahead of schedule!! It was just another great surprise for a nice and easy day of traveling. I told Jeana I thought it was the travel Gods being nice to us after running into so many other travel problems. It is their way of getting us to continue to travel!

All we had to do to get home from the airport was jump on the tube. Being on our tube was so nice because it was what we knew. We didn’t have to think about anything. The tube ride was a long one but we finally changed over to our good old Bakerloo line and were minutes away from our final destination. We had the best surprise on our tube ride though…we actually ended up on the same tube as Ashlin and Brandon who were headed home from their trip to Italy! Again, such a small world! We had a great little reunion with only more to come when we finally made it back to our flat!

Once we got back to our flat everyone was beginning to roll in from their vacations so we all began sharing stories. I got to skype with my family which was really nice after not talking to them for almost ten days! We all ended up staying up pretty late because we were just all so happy to be back together in one place. Everyone here really has become like a second family so being apart for so long was a new experience. Made all being back together all the sweeter!

Day 9 - Relaxation

Friday started out the best way a day can…with an awesome breakfast. The owner and another lady went all out for us. We are pretty sure we were the only ones staying at the hotel but they still set everything out for us. We had a huge selection to choose from including several types of freshly made bread, yogurt, cereal, eggs, some meat and cheese, peaches and what appeared to be homemade jam. We also had juice, water, and coffee. This was quite the setup for only being the four of us! It was really nice having a big breakfast to start off the day.

When we finished eating it was time to explore the island. We walked around, sat by the water, took pictures, and enjoyed the scenery. My favorite part of the day was when we went down to the water and put our feet in. The water was incredibly warm and for once I actually wanted to get in! Our whole goal of the day was to just relax and really not have a care in the world. It was the firs time since we got to London where we didn’t have to worry what time it was or about getting anywhere at a certain time and it was great! The day started out a little cloudy but by the afternoon the sun was shining bright.

The morning went by without us thinking about the time at all. Then Jeana and I started to get hungry so we eventually checked our watches only to find out it was almost 2:30! No wonder we were hungry! We headed back to our hotel to make ourselves some lunch (aka peanut butter and jelly). On the way we stopped at one of the bakeries and got ourselves some goodies…baklava and some other cookie. They were really tasty treats. I don’t think I have ever had baklava before. I really liked it but it was super sweet.

After lunch we went in search of a spot where we could just sit and soak in the nice weather. During the morning we had only walked on one side of the island so we headed out the other direction. We found a really nice spot at the top of a hill where we decided to sit. I wrote in my journal while Jeana read her book. Time passed without either of us really paying any attention. At one point we both began to wonder how it was possible we hadn’t seen Tyra and Jordan in so long since it was such a small island. Not long after we thought this they appeared. They shared their afternoon adventures with us and then we all decided to head out to dinner.

We really wanted to see the sunset so we went to Sunset restaurant. The whole time we ate dinner we got to enjoy spectacular views. The restaurant we ate at actually got second place in NBC’s most beautiful views contest! Pretty cool and very easy to understand why they got second place. It was sort of cloudy out but it was still extremely beautiful! As we enjoyed yet another great meal we had a nice little kitty visitor who tried to walk on our table. Cats were all over Hydra, but besides dinner they didn’t bother us. After dinner we decided to head back to our hotel. We sat outside in front of the hostel and played some card games and then just talked. It was a great way to end our very last night of vacation!

Day 8 - From Athens to Hydra

We made sure we set our alarms nice and early today as we wanted to make it to the Parthenon right when it opened. We all got up around 7:00 so we could make it to breakfast by 7:30 and then be on our way by 8:00. This was the only other day we had in Athens as our ferry was departing at 5:00 for Hydra. We wanted to make sure we made the best of our time there since it was so short. We had all been told by various people that you only need one day in Athens and it was easy to understand why. The only part of Athens there really is to see is the ara around the Parthenon. Everything else, at least from our experience, should be avoided. If I were to ever go back I would make sure my hotel was located in that area.

But anyway we woke up and got our bags all packed and went to breakfast. On the way down the steps I got the privilege of seeing my very first cockroach. Anyone who knows me probably thinks I completely flipped out. Quite on the contrary I walked past it and said “oh my gosh” calmly and proceeded to convince myself that the moment hasn’t really happened. Now if we had not been checking out that morning I would have promptly found myself another hotel but fortunately we were. The other good news about the little bugger was that it was flipped with its little legs flailing in the air so it had no chance of moving which was comforting to me. My solution to the bug was to just use the lift from then on to avoid it. Jeana did walk up once and said it was still there but its legs had stopped moving. So that was my little adventure for the morning.

We ate a nice little breakfast, stores our luggage in the basement, checked out and headed for the Parthenon. It took us a little while to figure out how to get our tickets to the Parthenon but of course we eventually did. The ticket included entry to the Parthenon as well as six other grounds. We wanted to see the Parthenon the most so we began our climb to the top. As we walked we heard some clinking sounds. They were actually working on one of the other buildings but it made for quite the authentic experience. It was like we were back in the day while they were building it.

Getting to see the Parthenon was an amazing experience. The building is quite astounding. What made it even sweeter was that we had seen the majority of it in the British Museum already. So we got to see many of the pieces in London and then the entire building as a whole in Athens. Having some knowledge on the building prior to seeing it made the experience all the better. Some of the things Phillipa showed us at the British Museum we were able to see on the real thing so that was pretty neat. The location alone makes the Parthenon remarkable, let alone all the detail and hard work that went into constructing such an incredible building. We were all in awe of it. The views of Athens from the Parthenon were pretty impressive as well. We took our time exploring all around the Parthenon and taking in the views. Along with the Parthenon there are a couple smaller buildings up there with it.

When we left that area we went to go find more of the six other locations we could explore. Along the way we did a little souvenir/gift shopping. The next place we went to was the Archeological Site of Olympieion. It was another really pretty sight of the ruins. The fun part about this one was that we got to see a turtle just walking among the ruins! Next Tyra really wanted to see the Olympic grounds so we went in search of those. They offered an audio guide tour of the stadium so we did that. It was a really incredible stadium to get to be in. It has been redone sine the first Olympics but the structure remains the same. It is also completely made out of marble which makes it extremely beautiful. We had a good time walking around. I wish I had paid more attention to my audio guide but I was semi distracted by taking pictures and looking around!

We had ourselves some fun while we were there though. First off there were special front row seats for the King and Queen so we sat there. Then we got to walk in to the tunnel the athletes walk down to get into the stadium. When we came back down the hallway we got to enter the stadium and look out like the athletes would have. On top of this our audio guide played the sounds of a cheering crown so you really could imagine it! After that we sort of stopped listening to our guides because we wanted to run a lap around the stadium. I have to say I felt pretty special being able to run that lap. I thought it would kill me to run it but I was hardly out of breath afterwards. I think the excitement of getting to run an Olympic track made me forget I was actually running! To finish off our run in the first Olympic stadium we took turns standing on the gold medal platform. Such a fun experience overall. The best part was we didn’t even know we were going to get to see the Olympic grounds so it was a really fun discovery.

Afterwards we split up…Jeana and I went and ate our lunch in the park while the other girls went to find some food. We had decided to meet up at the metro station at two so with the rest of our time Jeana and I finished our shopping. When we met up we headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags and went on our way to catch our ferry for Hydra! We ended up leaving earlier than we had planned which ended up being a blessing. From the tube station we were supposed to be able to get directly to our port but there was construction on the line. After much confusion and stress we asked a guard and he told us a way we could get there. It required a couple metro changes but we got to the right place in the end so it all worked out. He did freak us out a little bit because he kept telling us to watch our belongings and to beware of pick pocketers. We had no problems thankfully but we are constantly on the lookout.

We did have one little scare on our last train though. One man began shouting really loud and caused quite a disturbance. He was speaking in Greek so we had no idea what he was saying. It was funny because when we all talked about it later we all thought he had a bomb and was planning on blowing up the train. Most likely our imaginations were running to wild from the stress of making it to our port on time. The good news is he got off at the next stop and we didn’t have to worry about him anymore. We also ended up making it to the port with tons of time to spare. The reason we were so worried about time was that we had to pick up our tickets from a specific place at least one hour prior to our departure. Honestly the rule makes no sense but we got there on time, got our tickets and got to sit and enjoy the beautiful weather while we waited for our ferry to arrive.

Once the ferry got there we boarded and left at exactly 5:00. Once we got on the ferry we all felt a huge sigh of relief at not having to worry about getting anywhere at any specific time for the next few days. The ferry ride was really relaxing. I enjoyed looking out the window at the beautiful scenery. We stopped at one port before we finally reached Hydra! Once we got there it really felt like we were living in a dream. Hydra is one of the most beautiful places. To make it even more serene no cars or mopeds are allowed. This gives you an idea about how small the island is but it was exactly what we were looking for!

We had been from one big city to another and were all ready for a change of pace. I really don’t know of any better place you could go to relax than a place like Hydra. We got to the island at 6:45. We didn’t have a map or anything so we really just started walking to find our hotel. Luckily there were signs all around pointing the way to the various hotels. We had no problem finding it. The hotel was by far the most adorable hotel I have ever stayed in. The lady who runs it was extremely helpful. She even made her son carry our suitcases to our rooms, which I felt bad about because they were pretty heavy since we only had one for two people. That was just the type of hospitality we got the entire time though. It seems that I am constantly saying we headed out to go eat but we really did eat a lot this break!

Jordan and Trya made Jeana and I pick a place to eat since they were staying on the island one night longer than us. It took us forever to choose but we finally picked one. We sat there for about ten minutes and no one came up to us. Then we noticed no one else had food just drinks so we thought the best idea would be to find another place. We went back to one we passed earlier we thought was really cute (because that’s what matters most) and ate there. I got some pasta with broccoli, corn, chicken, and crème sauce. Obviously I did not get enough pasta in Italy. Really I just wanted the vegi’s through! Dinner was lots of fun as always. When it was over we headed back to our hotel for some rest and recovery to be fully energized for our only full day in Hydra the next day. We ran into the owner and she asked us what time we wanted breakfast in the morning. We decided on 9:30 and then went up to our rooms to crash after yet another long but fantastic day!

Day 7 - Arrival in Athens

Wednesday we all woke up at 7:30 so we could be ready to leave at 8:00. Our flight did not leave until 11:00 but we wanted to play it safe. We took the Metro to Termini station where we had to catch a train to the airport. We were extremely glad we ended up leaving so early because it took us longer to get to the station than we imagined. Our suitcases were what seemed to slow us down because we couldn’t walk as fast with them. We got to the station at about 8:40 and got our tickets for a train that was set to depart at 9:07. Jeana went to go find a bathroom while I waited with our stuff. While she was gone the train arrived so I loaded our things on and heard someone say it was leaving at 9:02. It was now 8:57 and I began to get worried Jeana wasn’t going to make it on time. I had left our luggage on the train so if it left without us we would have had nothing. Right at about the point I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown Jeana appeared and we got on the train safe and sound.

It left a few minutes later and we were on our way to the airport. The train ride lasted about 40 minutes so we arrived around 9:45. For Jeana and I this was plenty of time as we had done online check in. We checked our bag in about five minutes and it took only about ten to get through security. Security in Europe is nothing like security in the US. We didn’t even have to take off our shoes! Jordan and Tyra had barely moved through their line by the time we got through everything so we were a little worried for them. Jeana and I headed to find a bathroom but walked towards our gate along the way. After the bathroom break we arrived at our gate only to find out they had just moved it. We then began our trek back to the other side of the airport where we found our new gate. There was still no sign of Jordan and Tyra and we were set to board in ten minutes. They ended up running up to the gate just as we were supposed to start boarding. They had had to walk to the other gate first too. Luckily for them they didn’t start boarding us on time. They actually started checking our tickets about fifteen minutes before the flight was supposed to take off.

Once our tickets were checked we were put on buses to take us to our flight. They made us stand in these jam packed buses for about fifteen minutes. Just when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to handle it anymore it started to move. While we were waiting some people got really upset and one guy even started yelling at the crew. I have no clue what he said because he was speaking Italian but I think he made his point. A bunch of people wanted to do the same thing he did because they all started clapping afterward. I’m not sure the person he yelled at deserved it or was even the person to blame, but the way Easyjet handled the flight was not exactly done well. When we were finally bused to our plane they didn’t open the doors for about five minutes. I was scared I was going to pass out of something because I desperately needed some air. They finally let us off and we quickly boarded the plane. Although they got everyone seated quickly, the plane left twenty minutes behind schedule.

The actual flight was really smooth but we did end up arriving in Athens behind schedule. This wasn’t a huge deal for us but sort of a bummer since it cut into our time in Athens which was limited to begin with. We got our bags and went in search of a way to get to our hotel. We found a bus that took us to the metro station we needed so we got our tickets and waited for it to arrive. It was really crowded so we ended up having to stand for the entire duration of the bus ride which probably ended up having to stand for the entire duration of the bus ride which probably ended up being a little over an hour. On top of that we couldn’t see the names of the bus stops so we really had no idea if we were headed in the correct direction or not. Luckily we overhead a lady tell another lady the last stop was the one we were looking for. So we all piled off and probably looked confused. A guy asked us what we were looking for and we told him the metro station. He kindly pointed us to it and we were happy that it was not far.

We then proceeded to figure out how their metro worked and got ourselves twenty four hour passes. We got on the right line after a bit of a struggle to figure it out and were able to get to the stop we were supposed to be at. From there we only had one more hurdle to cross and that was walking to our hotel. Luckily we had picked up some maps at the airport so compared to the rest of the day figured it out fairly easily. The area we were in was not exactly a classy area though and we were all a little leery of our surroundings. It especially doesn’t look good when you have four girls with two huge suitcases…we were obviously tourists. We were all on edge from a long day of stress from traveling so we were ready to just be at our hotel. It really didn’t take us to long ot find and boy was there a huge sign of relief once we did. Although Jeana and I took turns lugging the suitcase around it was a lot of work to do and really wore us out. Being able to put it down in the room was an awesome feeling. Our hotel was really nice as well so we were happy about that. We didn’t stay long ot admire it as we were all famished from not having time to eat lunch.

We asked the hotel manager for some suggestions and headed out. He pointed us to the area around the Pantheon. We were just relieved to get away from the area we were in. It was just really dirty and didn’t make us feel comfortable at all. We got on the metro and when we got off all breathed a huge sigh of relief. We were finally in Athens. What I mean by this is the area was clean and we felt safe in our surroundings. On top of that it was an absolutely beautiful area. As we were super hungry we set out to find a cute place to eat. We walked along the road that ran parallel with the Parthenon and it was an incredible sight. Once we got all the way down the road we realized there were no restaurants so we headed back the other way.

As we were walking we noticed there were stray dogs all over the place. What was unusual was that some of them had collars on them. I didn’t think it was safe to get neat them. And although Jeana really wanted to I convinced her it was a bad idea. Sadly they aren’t the same dongs we know as our household pets. As we walked down the street we ran into a cute restaurant so we stopped there and ate. As we had not eaten all day we sort of decided to go all out at dinner. Jeana and I split an appetizer of fried feta and a Greek salad. For my main course I had Slovaki, which is basically a chicken kabob with some potatoes and rice. It was quite a delicious meal. Afterward I really didn’t think I was going to have to eat the rest of the trip!

We headed straight back to our hotel after dinner because we really didn’t want to be walking back when it was pitch black out. Plus we had a full day ahead of ourselves the next day. We were completely exhausted from the stress of traveling that day and we lost an hour when we got to Athens so we had to get ourselves to bed at a decent time. We all learned a big lesson today though as we realized how draining travel can be on a person. Even though we thought we had figured out all the details for our trip before we came a lot of unforeseen circumstances appear out of nowhere. Luckily everything worked out for us but from now on we are going to be extra cautious when it comes to allotting time for things.

Day 6 - Coliseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum

Tuesday was the beginning of our last full day in Rome. We had yet to see the Coliseum so that was our plan for the day. The nice part about where our hostel was is that it was only a fifteen minute walk to get to the Coliseum. We decided to sleep in a little bit before heading there since it was the only thing we had planned for the day. We got there a little after 10:00 and began the search for a tour group. Jordan and Tyra had done a tour previously and absolutely loved it. They highly recommended it so we figured we would go ahead with their suggestion. The best part about going with a tour is that you get to skip the line. It took us a little while to find the best deal. We lucked out once we did though because the tour was set to start in five minutes. Now when you go to the Coliseum it actually includes the Coliseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum. We started at the Coliseum.

Our guide gave us an overview of the history before we headed in. One of the neatest facts is that they took the marble from the Coliseum and Palatine Palace to construct the Basilica. So the Basilica is actually made from the Coliseum and Palatine Palace. This is really cool but also sad because it means that there aren’t much of the original buildings. The Coliseum is still there for the most part but I can only imagine how awesome it would have been in all its glory. Palatine Hill is the same way. The original palace was gigantic and today only pieces remain. Just getting a sense of what it would have been like makes me so curious about how it was originally.

Some other interesting information our guide told us was that there were 100 days a year the Coliseum was open. On each of these days they would kill fifty animals in the morning. Originally it was just lions but they quickly killed them all off. They ended up having to import animals from other countries. During one period of time they decided to import crocodiles. They would remove the floor and then men would be in boats. Apparently the people thought this was lame because no one was dying so they quickly got rid of the crocodile games. During the afternoon session they would crucify people and let them lions eat them. Then after that the gladiators would fight. At the end of the day there would be about ten gladiators. All in all they killed ten men a day, one hundred days a year and throughout the existence of the games ended up totaling around one million men. They killed fifty animals a day and over time totaled about three million dead. Those numbers are absolutely astounding. The people crucified were actually criminals, but the rest of the people/animals who lost their lives were just for the sport of it. I found it pretty sad to think about and also disgusting that people went to watch this madness for fun. Our tour guides said not to be critical of it since people today would probably attend if they had the option. I have to say I would not be one of them but she did make a good point.

These games were designed to be for everyone. The emperor, the vestal virgins, and foreigners or other people of importance sat on the ground level. On the next row sat the men and the women were located at the very top. Then men could actually spy on the women from this view which is why they were put at the top. According to our guide if a brawl happened between two men all of the other men would begin to fight. The fighting would go all the way around the stadium with no one even knowing what they were fighting about. For this reason there were emergency exits which could clear the stadium in a matter of minutes. Had there not been these exits there probably would have been a much higher loss of men. When the gladiators fought one of them did not always have to die before a winner was claimed. The crowd’s reaction was the determining factor. The emperor actually made the call…thumbs up you lived; thumbs down you died…but the emperor always followed the crowd’s chants. If a gladiator was not putting on a good show they would get a thumb down and that would be the end of him. If the crowd enjoyed the fight they would let him live so he could go recover from the fight and be back in the arena in a few moths time. The whole concept of the Coliseum and what it was created for was fascinating though listening to our guide explain a lot of it was not exactly pleasant to hear.

Inside the floor to the Coliseum no longer exists. This is interesting because you can se underneath but probably would have had a more interesting overall affect if it had been intact. When our tour was over we had a bunch of time to explore. Our next tour started at 2:45 so we had about two hours to see everything and grab some lunch. Apparently it was the very first day they were letting people go to the lower level. We tried to figure out how to get down there but couldn’t so we gave up trying. We didn’t see anyone else down there and our guide was unsure about it anyway. We explored the first level. This is the highest level you can get to. Located on this level is a little exhibit that gave a few tidbits about the Coliseum and had some displays. After we finished looking around we had seen all we wanted to see so we sat out in search of somewhere to eat lunch.

After looking for a while we ended up stopping at a little restaurant not far from the Coliseum. The service and food there was not very good but we got to eat some food which was the most important part. I had some gnocchi with tomato sauce. They brought me my food about ten minutes before they brought Jeana hers. We were confused, but we ate our food, got the bill and headed back to the Coliseum to meet back up with our tour group. For our second tour of Palatine Hill we had a new tour guide. I really liked her a lot. She took us around what used to be one gigantic place and explained how it would have looked originally. We got to see one of the smaller stadiums they used to use for chariot races as well as Circus Maximus which was the largest stadium of its time.

One bit of information we learned was pretty disgusting but interesting. The emperor would have guests over and they would literally eat for twenty four hours or more straight. When they did this they obviously became full. In order to continue to eat each guest was given a feather which they used to empty their stomachs so they could eat more. (I think you can put two and two together without me having to say it.) Another interesting thing was that there was one piece of artwork that was still intact. This piece of work we saw would have been used all throughout the palace. Some of it was purple marble which was imported from Egypt. The neat part about this is we got to see the bath that was made out of this stone at the Vatican the day before. It was originally in Nero’s palace. Although they considered it a bath it was really more the size of a pool. I just found it neat that the two things connected.

Even though the palace was for the most part nonexistent it was neat imagining how incredible it once was. Our tour lasted about 45 minutes and when it was over we were free to go explore by ourselves. We headed to check out the Forum. Before we went into the Coliseum our guide mentioned a few things to look for but sadly by the time we reached the Forum we had completely spaced on what those were. We just ended up walking around and taking some pictures of the place. When we got tired of walking and after we had seen it all we headed back to our hostel. We were going to try to meet up with a few other people who had got to Rome the night before but it didn’t end up ever happening. Jeana and I were pretty wiped after so many intense days of exploring Rome anyhow.

After we got back we relaxed for a bit and then packed up our things as we had a flight to Athens to catch in the morning. Around 7:00 we got hungry so we decided to find a bit to eat. The night before Jordan and Tyra had gotten pizza from a place close by that we thought looked fantastic. They said it was alright but we wanted to try some anyway. We remembered a general idea of where they told us it was so we went in search of it. We couldn’t find it so we got some gelato to hold us over as we continued to search. Sadly the gelato was nowhere near the quality of our other gelato so we didn’t end on the best gelato experience. Our other gelato was so good that it really made up for it. We didn’t end up getting it the day before so maybe we jinxed ourselves by not living up to the rule we had made for ourselves! Either way it tided us over as we continued the search for the awesome looking pizza.

We were having no luck the direction we were headed so we turned around and went the other way. We had no luck that way either but we did find a grocery store. We figured that Hydra was going to be expensive so we wanted a backup plan…plus we were tired of eating out all the time. We got some break, peanut butter, jell and some apples to cover a few of our meals. By the time we left the grocery we decided to try one more street and then just give up and get pizza from some other place. As we walked down the street we were really losing hope. We saw two pizza places ahead and Jeana was sure we weren’t going to find it. I told her the next place was going to be it. We got there and it really was the right place! I guess I just had a good feeling about it! We got our pizza…mozzarella with tomatoes and tomatoes with artichokes…and then we went back to our hostel extremely excited about our find! We were tired as I mentioned before so Jeana picked out a movie while I made us some tea. We ate our meal while watching the Stepford Wives. It was sort of an unusual movie, but the perfect way to end our time in Rome. We were on vacation after all, some of the time had to be spent doing a little relaxing! The girls came back right as the movie ended. We finished getting all of our stuff together and went to sleep for our last night in Rome.

Day 5 - Vatican

Monday began with an early start as we had to meet a tour group at 8:45 outside the Vatican. Jordan and Tyra had gone with the same company on a tour of the Coliseum/Palatine Hill. They absolutely loved it and upon hearing their rave reviews we decided to go with them to catch the same tour. The huge benefit of going with a tour is that you get to skip the line (which on any given day people can wait in for several hours) and the guides can take you to the most famous areas. The Vatican is absolutely enormous, it is actually its own city, and if we had gone alone there is no way we would have even known where to begin. The museum has 84 rooms for statues alone. And when I say rooms I really mean vast hallways. With our guide we were able to see the most famous pieces without the hassle of locating them ourselves. Along the way our guide also shared some really interesting information we would have never heard if we walked through alone.

When we first entered the Vatican museum we went through all of the art work/paintings. I guess all of it is art so that wasn’t a very good description. In this section we got to see one of Raphael’s very first pieces of work and then his later piece of work. This was significant because of the drastic change in his style of painting. The reason for this change was Michelangelo. The problem was that Raphael never studied human bodies like Michelangelo did so his people never were proportionally correct, though much more realistic than his original work. The other bit of significance is that Raphael painted Michelangelo in this painting of his and it is the only portrait of him that survives today. Through this painting we get a glimpse of one of the most famous artists of all time. I thought that was pretty fascinating.

After viewing this incredible piece of work we moved outside into the Pinecone courtyard (I don’t think that is really its formal name, it just has a huge pinecone that I can no longer remember anything about). In this courtyard there wasn’t much of significance, just entertainment. In the center of the courtyard is a gigantic metal ball. Our tour guide joked that this ball was actually used in the Star Wars film. Our guide had no clue how it got placed at the Vatican as he doubts people will ever stand in awe of it compared to the many other items of significance. Nonetheless it was humorous. He did say its one shining glory is that is spins!

The very first thing we got to see was a replica of Michelangelo’s famous statue of Mary and Jesus. The real one is in the Basilica which we saw later, but our guide showed us this one so we could hear the history of it. It is probably the most remarkable statue there is with an incredible story behind it that proves Michelangelo’s genius. Michelangelo never believed in signing his work because he thought people should be able to tell his work apart from others. The statue of Mary and Jesus was placed in a church and since no one knew it was Michelangelo’s piece he wanted to hear what the people thought about it. He went and stood in the crowd of people surrounding the statue and listened. As he listened all he heard were criticisms and he became deeply upset. The things the people were criticizing were the things that made his art such a masterpiece. He became very upset and asked someone in the crowed if they knew who had designed this piece. The person didn’t so Michelangelo began hitting him. Another guy in the crowed said he had made it to stop the fight but this only caused Michelangelo to attack him. Eventually he went mad and to the crowd he appeared to be destroying the statue. What he was really doing was carving his name into the statue. This is one of the first and last statues of his he has ever signed as he became pretty well known after the brawl.

Now some of the criticisms of the statue are that Mary is too big, her one arm couldn’t support a grown Jesus, and Mary looks to young. All of these “mistakes” were intentional though. Mary is too big because she is really holding the baby Jesus and having a vision of his future. Her shoulders, which appear to big as well, are being shrugged because she knows there is absolutely nothing she can do about his future. Jesus is big in the statue as Mary’s vision but in her arms rests a baby which she easily could have supported with one arm .This also explains why she looks so young. The statue is pure genius and by far my favorite of all time. Not only is the meaning incredible alone, but Michelangelo wasn’t even a very religious man. To be able to capture such a significant moment means he really did have to be a genius. Of the entire day this statue was probably my favorite part because of the incredible meaning behind it.

After the pinecone courtyard we headed to see the statues. As I said before there are 84 rooms for statues alone so we hit the key ones. In this portion our tour guide selected three statues to key in on that all tied together once we hit the Sistine Chapel. They were each done by Michelangelo. One statue that we came upon that I was excited about was Lacoon. We had studied it last year so I thought it was really neat to get to see the real deal. I have actually studied a lot of the things we have gotten to see throughout my entire time abroad which I find pretty cool. Our guide gave us a lot of information about statues but not much of it really stuck with me.

Moving away from the statues we entered a room of maps. Now that may sound kind of lame but these maps were huge. They not only practically covered floor to ceiling, but were perfectly detailed maps for the time they were created. The maps were of the entire country of Italy. This is one of those things that to really appreciate you would have to see. To give a little more perspective I could not even take a picture of one of the maps without cutting a great deal of it out of the picture. The other incredible part of this room was that the ceiling was made out of portraits and scenic paintings, all of which were framed. I cannot even begin to imagine how long it took for someone to paint that ceiling. There were thousands of different paintings…an absolutely incredible sight.

I feel like I am using the words incredible, amazing, etc a lot but honestly these words don’t even come close to describing the beauty the Vatican holds. Now as we came to the end of this room we were about to enter the Sistine Chapel. I was pretty stoked. Our guide told us that no matter what we were not allowed to look up until we were at the back of the room and could admire the entire ceiling at once. This was sort of a challenge. The Vatican is an extremely crowded place so as we were walking at a snail’s pace I cheated and looked up. I don’t think it ruined the experience for me one bit I am happy to say. I thought the Sistine Chapel was pretty incredible but not the most amazing thing I have seen in my life. As I say this thought my opinion differs as I consider many different factors. First of all Michelangelo was one man who had never painted before. He was told by the pope he was going to paint the Sistine Chapel. So not only did he have no choice but to paint, he had never painted before and did the entire thing solo. Now that is remarkable. On top of this it is a ceiling so he had to lie on his back to paint it while paint dripped on him and he breathed in toxic fumes. They didn’t exactly have the same quality of paint we have today. So all in all it was an astonishing feat Michelangelo completed.

The paintings were also special in the fact that again Michelangelo was not a religious man but could capture the right emotions through his work. My favorite part was the most famous scene where God and Adam are reaching towards each other but doesn’t quite touch. While Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel the pope and him got into a few quarrels so throughout his masterpiece Michelangelo incorporated various subliminal messages that the pope would recognize but not be able to do anything about Guess it shows you something about Michelangelo’s character…he was not someone you messed with! I could list all those little things but then I could be writing for a century plus it’s much easier to explain while you are looking at the Sistine Chapel than through words. I think Michelangelo completed the ceiling when he was in his 60’s and vowed never to paint again. He never did until the pope asked him to complete the Sistine Chapel twenty some years later. Michelangelo completed the Sistine chapel when he was year some years old! He was able to get it done before he died. The rest of the room was completed by Raphael and then some of Raphael’s (and I think Michelangelo’s) students. (Raphael studied under Michelangelo so either way it was from students of the same skill.)

We got to spend a lot of time admiring the Sistine Chapel which you really must have in order to fully take it in. The one thing that was disappointing was that the room was super crowded and loud. It sort of killed any atmosphere to fully take in the significance of the room. There were officers who randomly hushed the place but that lasted for all of ten seconds. On the bright side, while we were in the Sistine Chapel we actually ran into Rebecca!! (Another girl with the BSU group) Sort of amazing how we ran into her there of all places we could have. She was in Rome the same time as us but we had no means of contacting her so it was a fun little moment. I absolutely love running into people in place you would never imagines because it just goes to show how small the world really is!

She was with a tour as well so we decided to try to find each other outside when our tours were over. After we exited the Sistine Chapel our tour ended and we were pointed in the right direction for the Basicilla. The Basicilla is one fantastic place. It is absolutely gigantic. You really feel like an ant when you are inside. We got to see the original statue of Mary and Jesus inside which was by far one of the neatest things inside. The entire place is filled with incredible sculptures. The Basicilla left me a little disappointed though. Not because it wasn’t one of the most beautiful places I have seen but because of the way people behaved inside. To most people it was just another tourist spot where they were pushy and had no respect for their surrounds. To me the place should have been treated a whole lot differently. If you didn’t know where you were people probably would have never guess they were in the largest church on earth based on the way people acted. Being around those people made me want to leave as soon as possible. Back to a move positive note…we did located Rebecca inside and picked a time to actually meet up. We also go to see something kind of special though we still really don’t know what it was. Some of the pope’s guards ushered in someone who appeared to be of importance though. So although we don’t know what we saw we got to see the pope’s guards which was pretty cool.

After we had seen all we wanted to see we met Rebecca outside. We then decided that before we left the Vatican for good we wanted to see the tombs of the popes. We walked through that and then got to see the shrine they have to St. Peter. I thought this part was really neat. It was an entire room that you couldn’t even see entirely. We aren’t exactly sure if his body is buried there or not because there was no grave but it was still really a neat sight. Once we finished the tomb section we decided we had seen all we wanted to see of the Vatican and headed out to get some lunch. We met up with Rebecca’s mom who waited for us while we weren’t through the toms and just began walking to find somewhere to eat. To go to a good non-touristy place Rebecca’s tour guide said to find a side street. We were on the lookout for one but it took us forever to find one. Eventually we just decided we had to pick a place before we passed out from hunger.

We went to a pizzeria place and I think it was an excellent pick. I tried the eggplant pizza with parmesan and loved it. I was a little wary of trying it since I have only had eggplant once before but I figured I should be a little adventurous. We all had a really nice time at lunch together. Running into Rebecca and her mom put a really fun turn on the day after being a bit overwhelmed by all the tourists at the Vatican. We also had a really goofy waiter which only made lunch better. He kept singing and dancing so it made for quite an entertaining meal. After lunch they were heading back to their hotel to pack up as they were leaving for Ireland in the morning!

Jeana and I decided to head to Trevi fountain area one more time to do our souvenir shopping. It was definitely my favorite area the entire time we were in Rome. We shopped until we dropped basically and then headed back to the hostel for some relaxation time. Once we got back to the hostel we had just planned to recover some energy and head back out but we never seemed to actually gain any energy. We ended up staying in the rest of the night. The other girls came back early as well as they were exhausted form a day that didn’t go to smoothly for them. As we were all feeling the drain of being so busy we decided to make some tea, pop in a movie (Madagascar II…can never go wrong with that one) and call it a night. I think we were all feeling the need to get some rest as we all headed to bed early and fell fast asleep.

Day 4 - A Turn of Events

On Sunday we woke up and got ready. We had planned to leave by 10:00 but that didn’t happen as it took us a little while to figure out how to actually get to the catacombs. By the time we left it was already 10:30 and we knew the catacombs were far away so we decided to do our afternoon plans first. We had to stop at an ATM on the way and sadly it only gave us 20s. To get a pass for the metro the largest bill you can use is a 5 so we had to find somewhere to break up the money. Since it was Sunday nothing seemed to be opened.

We eventually found a McDonald’s that opened at 11:00 so we sat outside to wait. It was about 10 till 11:00 at the time so we didn’t think we would have to wait long but it didn’t actually open until about 10 after. This was sort of the beginning of many things not going right for the day. We each got a drink at McDonald’s and since we now had change headed for the metro and got our day pass. We easily got to our stop. When we got off we looked around at an art festival that was set up. There was some pretty neat art work around so I enjoyed looking through the stalls.

Once we were done looking we headed to the Baths of Diocletian. We figured these were going to be actual Roman baths so we were really excited to see them. According to Rick Steves there were three different sections beginning with St. Mary’s Basicilla. The church was really pretty like most that we have seen. It was originally designed by Michelangelo but over time has been renovated. The only part that is original is the main entrance. Inside the church there was a lot of information on Galileo and the discoveries that he made throughout his lifetime. There was also an exhibit about the Baths and how the church had changed over time. Upon reading the information we slowly began to realize the church had been built over the baths. It was a tad bit disappointing when we made this realization but the church was still really neat. We spent a little more time looking around the church then left.

We went outside and sat the huge fountain to figure out what we wanted to do with our extra time. Doing little things like sitting on a fountain makes me love Italy even more. Those are the kinds of things I will be missing the most. We decided to head to Borghese Gardens because it was a beautiful day out and we wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. On the way to the gardens Jeana and I found a cute little pasta shop so we stopped in. It had the best prices on pasta that we had seen so we figured it was a good time to purchase some pasta to take home to our families. It was extremely difficult to decide which pasta to get but after some heavy contemplating we made our final selection then we headed on to find the park and eat.

Our plan was to find a little café and then eat in the park. Sadly we could not find any place to eat at besides a few street vendors you see all over the city. We didn’t want to eat any of that food so we decided to walk through the park and find a café outside. The park is absolutely enormous…basically it’s the Central Park of Rome’s. I love how they have these great giant parks in huge cities. I particularly loved Borghese Gardens because people had their dogs all over unleashed running around playing together. It was just super cute and about the only thing keeping me happy while my stomach was telling me it was starving. I really was starting to get in a bad mood because I was just so hungry. We neared the exit to the park and on our way did get to pass Borghese Gallery. We finally made it out and turned right only to walk a ways and realize we were going the wrong way. We turned around because we didn’t want to have to back track later. Our feet were beginning to fell all the walking we were doing.

As we walked there were absolutely no places to grab food in sight. Honestly I was really frustrated at this point. Normally we are able to find places to grab food everywhere we turn. It only made sense that when we were the hungriest there was nowhere to stop! We just kept on walking because there was really no other choice. As we walked we ended up finding the bust stop that would take us to the catacombs. We figured we might as well hop on since there was no food in sight anyway. Our hope was that near our stop there would be some food options. We ended up looking out by getting off at the wrong bust stop. We found one café but none of the prices were listed. We figured that wasn’t a good sign. Close by there was a pizzeria so we headed there and finally hit the jackpot.

In this place you simply paid for your slice of pizza by weight and got to pick how big or small it was. I just wanted something to eat that I was going to for sure like so I ended up getting margarita pizza. It was probably a good chance to be a little adventuresome, but my starving stomach told me to play it safe and feed it. There were a few tables outside so Jeana and I sat there to enjoy the still fantastic weather. As I was eating I realized I bit into something hard and sharp. When I took it out of my mouth I found out it was a piece of plastic. I probably should have been a little worried/upset about that fact, but I was just so happy I finally had food I just pretended it didn’t’ happen.

As we continued to finish our pizza two children came up to us and begged us for some money. It’s a scam parents use their kids for so I didn’t feel bad telling them no. at first they spoke to us in Italian but when we said no they were like “oh you speak English” and continued to beg. When they realized they would have no luck with us they moved on to the couple sitting next to us who told them to go away as well. The kids went into the pizzeria and promptly came out a minute later each with some food. The little bit that I did feel bad for them quickly evaporated. Jeana and I finished our food and went to catch the next bus as we were one stop away and did not know how to walk there. We got on and of course our bus driver did not stop at our stop but proceeded to take us two stops farther away.

When we got off we were not about to get back on the bus so we tried to back track the same way the bus had come. We did pretty well for a while and eventually figured out where we were on the map. Then we made it to Priscilla road but could not locate the catacombs. A police officer was mearby and told us to just keep going straight as we were headed in the right direction. We then were super extatic when we made it to the catacombs. By this point I was dead tired and totally ready to crash. That of course was not an option as we had just finally reached our destination and had a tour to go on!

Not to be a negative Nancy this whole entry but the first downside we experienced was that it cost more than we had originally thought. This wasn’t a huge deal, just a bummer because there were other catacombs we could have gone to that were cheaper, closer and easier to get to. We selected this location because we were supposed to go on a tour with a nun guided by a flashlight. It was supposed to make it more intimate and less touristy as it was in a more secluded location. Our tour guide was not a nun although other tours were guided by nuns. This was not a problem, what was a problem was that our tour guide barely spoke English. She struggled the whole time to tell us the information and said um after almost every word. I guess I should have appreciated the fact that they offered a tour in English at all though. Overall the information she gave us was really good, it was just a struggle for her to present it to us. I think because of the morning we had already had this just sort of piled on top of things.

I really did enjoy seeing the catacombs. It was a really neat experience and I got to learn some interesting information. For example, they used to display the bones but tourists took them as souvenirs so they had to store them in the parts of the catacombs they no longer allow guests. In all the catacombs were ten kilometers long and three stories deep. We probably only saw a fraction of the entire thing but it was plenty. We got to see a lot of the graves as well as the church. Definitely a neat place to experience and ponder. When the tour was over Jeana and I hopped on the bus we need to get home. It was quite a long bus ride and when we got off we had to get on the Metro before finally reaching our hostel. We were meeting Tyra and Jordan at our hostel at six so we could go to dinner together at a place the hostel owner recommended. We got back and had a bit of spare time to relax before they got back. When they got back they informed us the restaurant didn’t even open until 7:00 and that they had made a reservation for us then. This was really nice because it gave us even more time to relax and unwind from a semi chaotic day.

At 6:40 we headed out to walk to the restaurant. It was located near the coliseum so it wasn’t far away at all. When we got there it wasn’t open yet so we waited on the benches outside. A guy who was in Rome for business heard us talking and asked where we were from and so we all got to talking for a little bit. He was from NY and was curious about what we were doing abroad as most people are when they find out. Not after long we were let in the restaurant. This place was recommended because they have this special where you pick the number of different pastas you want to try and they choose them for you randomly. The place offers over twenty different pastas so they can pretty much bring you anything.

We decided to do four different pastas. They bring them out to you one at a time. Our first one was fettuccine noodles with artichokes. Second we got risotto with broccoli sauce, third we got pasta with mushrooms in fettuccine sauce and fourth we got noodles in tomato sauce. Then we decided we wanted another…our waiter told us we had to ask for another, not one more because you never really know what will be your last one. It did end up being our final one only because there was no way we could eat any more. It was by far our entire favorite as well. It was noodles in fettuccine sauce with finely chopped walnuts. Absolutely to die for! I’m going to try to learn how to make it so I can share it with others and have some more!

The greatest part about the meal was that we got to try so many pastas, most of which I would have never tried because I would have been too scared that I wouldn’t like them. On top of that the meal was so good it turned somewhat of a frustrating day into a memorable one. Our fun didn’t stop there though. Even though we were all full enough that we didn’t need to eat for a week our waiter convinced us to get desert. I didn’t eve know what I was getting before he brought it out because he just picked for me. I knew you couldn’t exactly go wrong with desert and our waiter sure did pick well. Basically it was three breaded balls filled with custard, dipped and smother in chocolate and then topped off with whipped cream. Can’t get much better than that! I thoroughly enjoyed it and let me tell you my plate was scraped clean.

As we all finished our deserts they brought us complimentary lemon cello shots. Apparently Italian’s are very generous…though they probably should have been with how much we paid for that meal! If there has ever been a meal I have not been sad I had to pay for it would be that one. After dinner we decided to talk to the coliseum. Now we made a rule in Italy that we had to have gelato at least once a day and Jeana and I hadn’t yet. Jordan was not okay with the fact so as we walked to the coliseum we all stopped to get gelato. Trust me we know we were crazy to get more food after that meal but you only live once and it may be the only time we are ever in Rome or Italy for that matter! I got coffee and strawberry. The coffee was kind of disgusting which was really disappointing but the strawberry was so good that it made up for it. We ate our gelato as we sat in front of the coliseum. To me that was one of the best moments of the whole trip. Sometimes it’s the little things that make for the best memories. We all had a great time together that night with amazing food and some fun conversations and company. It was the perfect end to a day when we were all feeling a little wiped out!

Day 3 - Rick Steves Day

Jeana and I were going to get up early on Saturday so that we could have plenty of time to get ready and hit up the catacombs before they closed at noon. Sadly we slept through our alarm. I actually woke up and heard it but no one else was moving so I just turned it off and fell back asleep while I was laying there. We probably all needed the sleep as we had had quite the eventful day previously. At 10:17 Jeana came over and woke me up and I was caught by surprise how late we all actually slept in. We got up and started to get ready for our day. Since it was already 10:30 we decided the catacombs were not going to happen in the morning so we flipped our day around. Instead we decided to hit up a few of the spots around the Coliseum that Rick Steves recommends.

We left the flat around 11:00 and headed on foot in the direction of the Coliseum. It was quite easy to find as we had walked past it the night before. Our first stop was to St. Peter-in-Chains Church. In this church you can actually see the chains that held St. Peter. This church is also famous for housing Michelangelo’s Moses. This giant statue was supposed to be one of the 48 that Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to build as a massive tomb. When Julius died Moses was one of the only ones that were finished and no one cared to complete the project for Julius. The statue was a pretty impressive sight to see.

After seeing the rest of the church we sat on the steps outside for a little pow wow to figure out what was in store for the rest of our day. The plans we had we decided needed to be changed and we therefore had to replan our entire time in Rome. It was well worth it as we were quite happy with our new set of plans. The only bit of disappointing news was that one of the things we both really wanted to do we couldn’t. That would be Borghese Gallery. We didn’t know that to go you needed to book a reservation at least two weeks in advance. I gave them a call just to see but it’s true, they were booked all through next week and it’s even off season! Jeana and I just decided it’s an excuse to come back to Rome. And since we threw our coins in Trevi we shall be back someday!

After finalizing our plans we set off for our next destination. As we were walking we spotted a pet store so of course we went in and had a look. As we continued along we both bought a few postcards. Then we walked straight into the Forum basically. There was a great area where you could take pictures from above the Forum so we did that and took in the incredible sights all around us. There are spectacular buildings all over Rome. The good thing about this is its beautiful, but bad thing is none of them are labeled so you constantly feel like you are just passing by something that could potentially be really cool! They are rarely listed on the map though so they city just must be full of some awesome buildings.

The next place we were in search of was Mamertine Prison where St. Peter and Paul were held. As we were walking in search of it we ran into this vast white building we later learned was a monument to united Italy called the Vittoriano. There was security all over this place. No one was allowed to sit on the steps and if people tried police officers blew their whistles at them and told them to move. I have no idea what is in the building, but the outside was very neat.

After we took our pictures we moved on in search of Mamertine Prison again. We realized we had walked too far so we back tracked a little bit. By this point we were starting to get pretty hungry but we wanted to see it before we sat down for lunch. We continued to look and finally saw some signs for it! It was a huge relief. We followed the signs down the hill and did not see the place anywhere in sight. We knew it had to be around because we were at a dead end. From where we were there were even more great views of the Forum so that distracted us a bit. When we had almost completely given up on looking for the place we realized it was right in front of our faces the entire time. We had thought we were going to get to explore by ourselves but they have set up an audio guide tour you have to do if you want to see the place now. So we got our tickets and had to wait around for about fifteen minutes for our tour to begin. We each had a little snack to tide us over and waited.

The tour ended up being pretty cheesy but was interesting as well. The prison is 2,500 years old. In the tour it had the walls talking to us telling of its past. We got to see the hole in the floor where they lowered prisoners as well as go down to the actual prison floor. On the prison floor we got to see the column where Peter was chained. Seeing the cell was the neatest part. The rest of the time they showed us videos, and while it was interesting the modern twist on things kind of killed the neatness of the age of the place. When the tour ended we found out that we got a bus tour of the city included as well. We figured we might as well do the tour. It probably would have been really neat but there were some protestors on the road we had to take so it was blocked off. We did get to do half of the tour still which included seeing the Vatican so it was well worth it. After that it took us back to the prison where it dropped us off. When we got off the tour we were ready for some food.

Rick Steves recommended a place on Capitol Hill so we went in search of it. As we looked for it we found a replica of the She-Wolf. We finally located the little café. It was at one of the highest points and over looked the city of Rome. It was a beautiful sight and we got there right in time because it had just begun to rain. The good news was this café was outside but it had a glass canopy covering it. Since it was almost 4:00 Jeana and I decided to just get a cappuccino and treat each. They were both quite delicious and full of sugar which got our energy back up. When we were done we headed to the Capitoline Museums. On our way we searched for a fountain called the Ill Nasone Drinking Fountain, “the big nose,” where you can stick your finger under the spout and it will come out another spout for drinking. (We thought this was really cool at the time but tested other fountains throughout the trip and found out they all pretty much did the same thing!) Jeana and I just love these little Rick Steves tips though!

We then made our way into the Capitoline museums at the perfect time as it had just started to really start raining. We explored the Tabularium hall first and it was neat but nothing spectacular. Next we went to go in the spot where you are able to see the Forum through the windows but for some reason it was closed. It was a tad disappointing but we got over it quickly. We explored the rest of the museum. There are actually two but they are connected underground so you go from one to the next without even realizing it. We saw a ton of statues of heads and various other full body statues. A few of the more famous ones included Venus, Hercules, a boy with a thorn in his foot and the She-Wolf.

On the top floor there was an art gallery. The art was beautiful but we were exhausted at that point so we didn’t spend too much time there. There were a bunch of porcelain figurines and mini statues that I really liked though. Of major significance we saw two Caravaggio paintings that Phillipa recommended that we see if we went. That was the final part of the museum so we headed out. We walked down another entrance to Capitoline Hill to see another view. Next we were headed to the Pantheon because we had a restaurant that we wanted to check out. Yet another thing we had discovered though Rick Steves book. At first we walked the wrong direction but got to see a few neat sights so it was worth going the wrong way. We got back on track and made our way there without any real glitches.

When we got to the Pantheon we began looking for our restaurant but got side tracked with a few stores along the way. We just window shopped quickly as we were both pretty ready for dinner after not exactly getting a real lunch. It took us a little while to find the little road the restaurant was supposed to be on. When we did we were really excited because the outdoor seating was real cute. We quickly found out it wasn’t the restaurant and although we did find the right building it had moved. The waiter/owner was nice enough to give us directions to the new location which was situated right next to the Pantheon. We were surprised he told us how to get there and didn’t even try to get us to eat at his place. We found the correct place called Miscellanea. We choose this place because Rick Steves recommended it for study abroad students. He said the owner really loved them and with his book would even treat them to a glass of Fragoline, otherwise known as “sexy wine.” We were of course hoping to get the wine but moreso went for the cheaper prices!

The menu was pretty big so it took us a while to choose but our waiter told us to take our time as it didn’t close until 2:00 am. He was quite the jokester all night long but apparently I didn’t pick up on them because I just got confused a lot. Luckily I had Jeana there to explain things to me! I ordered fettuccine with tomato and basil while Jeana got spaghetti carbonara. We both scarfed our food down when it came and wiped our plates clean. They were no small portions either. Both of us enjoyed our meal but I have to say I expected a bit more being in Italy and all. After we finished we sat there a while waiting for our water to come back around. As I have said they are in no rush here to get you out of a restaurant. We were ready to be home though and Jeana kept trying to get the waiters attention.

Eventually he brought us the bill but he also brought us each a glass of wine so that was quite the nice treat. I have to say this was the best wine I have ever had. Now I’m only comparing it to about three others but it well surpassed those. I’ve never had any that tasted anywhere near that good. So we sat and talked and fully enjoyed our glass of wine. Just as we were done and about to leave he brought us another glass. Mind you we had already paid our bill so it’s not like they expected us to pay for it. I don’t think he remembered he brought us the first glass already but he still left the other two for us to drink. So we then sat and enjoyed those but as soon as we finished we got up and left because there was no way I was going to be able to drink a third! We were not sad we got the second free glass as it was so delicious!

When we left we decided we had to have ourselves some gelato before the day was over. There was a place we saw the day before that Rick Steves recommended so we headed there. I had some scrumptious hazelnut and chocolate mousse. The chocolate mousse was so amazing I thought I might have died and gone to heaven. A day without gelato here just might be a sin. We walked around with our gelato with the Trevi fountain as our goal. We wanted to see it at night as we heard it was even more spectacular. It really was beautiful and probably twice as crowded as it was during the day. So far Trevi has been one of my favorite spots because I just love the atmosphere and simplicity of it (the concept that is, there is nothing simple about the design of the fountain the least). We snapped some photos and then began walking to the Spanish Steps as we wanted to see those at night as well.

After viewing the steps we caught the metro home. By that time we were so exhausted we could barely walk. Luckily our hostel is only a few minute walk from the metro station so we managed to make it back. Once we did we were so ready to crash but first we showered and then headed for another awesome nights rest…a full day of sightseeing sure makes sleeping easy!

***During the night Jordan thought an intruder came into our room but it was really Jeana. She was on guard and ready to attack. Jeana was had just gone to the bathroom and had come back, but it woke Jordan up from her sleep. When she had looked over she thought she saw all of us laying there so that’s why she thought it was an intruder. Apparently she even sat up in bed and was ready to jump Jeana but Jeana spoke up before any of that happened! I slept through it all but everyone else was awake. We had a great laugh about it the next day and continue to!

Day 2 - Trevi and Pantheon

Jeana and I woke up early on Friday morning so that we could get our breakfast and figure out if we would be moving rooms or not, only to find out our reservation did not include breakfast after all. We were staying in the same room so waking up early ended up being completely pointless. I was sort of upset about the no breakfast thing since when we booked it said there would be, but there are just some things you have to let go. Luckily for Jeana and me we had brought plenty of snack food for the trip so we had food to eat for breakfast. After we ate we showered and I thought I died and went to heaven because there was water pressure! The shower was quite normal by most standards, but a luxury to me after using our shower in London for so long with no water pressure.

I really began to soak in the vacation feeling after my fantastic shower. I then got to use an Italian hair dryer which took me about fifteen minutes to dry my hair but it was an experience. Once Jeana and I were all ready to go we decided to just head out the door and start exploring. We know the Coliseum was only fifteen minutes away so we figured we would run into something eventually. Well we ended up just making a huge loop around where we were staying and saw nothing of particular significance. We then walked in the opposite direction and upon seeing a map realized how far away from things we really were. We decided it was time to get a metro pass and hop on the metro. We weren’t really sure what we wanted to do so we just got on and got off the metro at Barbani where Trevi fountain is supposed to be.

The whole time we had been solely relying on my Rick Steves book for maps which works for a while but is really impossible to use to actually find anything except for general areas. Our first mission was therefore to locate a detailed map of Rome. We looked for a little while and couldn’t find one so we decided to just start walking. We knew we’d make it eventually and we were in no rush. We stopped in a little cafe to each buy a sandwich on the way. As they didn’t speak English and couldn’t tell me what was on the sandwiches, I played it safe and got a tomato, basil, and mozzarella sandwich. It was quite tasty and did its job of subduing my grumbling tummy.

We continued to walk as we ate and ran into a tourist group. We thought about following them around for a bit but decided to go a different route as we noticed something was ahead of us. Through we had no idea at the time this something ended up being the Spanish Steps. We were at the top originally and didn’t even know there were so many steps below us. We took pictures of the fantastic view and decided to head down to see what was there. First we saw some painters with their paintings. Some drew caricatures while others did portraits. After we watched for a little while we headed down farther. We then realized we were somewhere important as there were loads of people everywhere. This is when we saw there was a vast amount of steps as well and began putting two and two together. We still weren’t certain it was the Spanish Steps though. We made our way all the way down and took our pictures in the fountain at the bottom. I love how many fountains there are all over Italy! Next we realized we had to be at the Spanish Steps so we took some pictures.

From there we decided to find Trevi fountain. We walked a ways and finally found a place to purchase a map. Jeana is quite good at reading the map and getting us to/from places so that became her official job. As we walked along we looked into a few shops. Finally we reached our destination we had looked so long for and it was well worth it. Trevi fountain was much more grand and beautiful than I imagined. It was neat because before we even got there you could hear the atmosphere of the fountain a block away so we knew when we were close. At the fountain Jeana and I took our pictures and absorbed the atmosphere a bit. Then we of course had to toss our coins in the fountain. Legend has it that if you do you are guaranteed a trip back to Rome and I’m not about to take my chances on missing out on that one! I’m already looking forward to my next visit and I’m not even done with this one yet! This is a little fountain off to the side where you can drink out of/use to splash your face. Jeana and I took time to refresh ourselves there and the water really tasted quite good.

From Trevi fountain we went in search of the Pantheon. It didn’t take us long to find it. Sadly half of it is covered in scaffolding but you could still see its incredible structure. We went inside and it was absolutely spectacular. The space was just so vast. The ceiling was by far the most incredible part. It was just so gigantic. There is absolutely nothing like it that I have seen that has been around for so long. We walked around and checked out everything around and it was all pretty interesting. It’s sad but I can’t remember half of it already…just been seeing to many things to keep track of it all! Once we saw the Pantheon we decided it was time we found ourselves some gelato. We’ve been using my Rick Steve’s book as a guide and he listed a couple places to try. He also recommended a few other little places to see so we check those out as well. We went to the first gelato place and it looked neat but we were not in awe so we decided to walk to the other one and we hit the jackpot!

This place was absolutely the best. There were about fifty different flavors to choose from. This of course proved to be difficult to pick something but since it was in Italian I had no clue what things were and just picked two that looked yummy. I don’t think I could have gone wrong honestly. We saw a lady ask for crème on hers so we got that too and it only made it all the more superb. I honestly haven’t had something that good ever. I had a dark chocolate and purple berry kind. I didn’t think I would ever get better gelato than that. We sat outside and ate it which only added to the great experience. After getting our gelato we decided to walk around, check out some places and head back to the hostel to meet Tyra and Jordan who were arriving around 4:00.

We hopped on the Metro and headed home. We got there a little before 4:00 and just sort of crashed. We were totally exhausted from all the walking and had a nice time just being able to sit and chat. We made ourselves some tea as we waited and got all unpacked and settled in. The time kept passing and still no Tyra and Jordan. We figured it would be at least 6:00 before they got here since the guy at the desk told us their flight landed at 3:50. It took us about two hours to get to the hostel so we factored the same amount of time for them. They ended up getting in right about 6:30. After they settled in a bit we all headed out to dinner together. They guy at the desk told Jordan about a few really good places in Traverse away from the tourist traps so that’s where we headed. It didn’t take us long to find it when we got off our bus. We stopped at a cute place that was tucked in a back little corner of a courtyard. Our view from our outdoor seats was a beautiful fountain and church. Doesn’t get much better than that.

I ordered a margarita pizza and Jeana and I split brushetta for our appetizer. The four of us ordered a bottle of wine to share to capture the full experience. The full experience includes eating over several hours. Nobody here eats and leaving within an hour. I fully enjoyed the meal and we had a grand time wining and dining for a few hours. After dinner we walked a little bit until the girls spotted gelato and they had to get some since they hadn’t gotten any yet! It was such a beautiful night so we walked some of the back less crowded cobble streets. We eventually made it back to our bus stop and were waiting when I noticed the bus stopped at 22:00. It was 22:20 by that point and no metro nearby. We decided we would just walk home. It was a beautiful night for a walk and it was nice getting acquainted with Rome better. It was one far walk. We didn’t end up getting home until a little bit after midnight aka 0:15, but overall, tired feet and all it was worth it. We passed the Coliseum on the way home and it was a great sight to see at night. We all collapsed when we got back and enjoyed one night of slid sleep! We couldn’t have started our time in Rome any better!