So this weekend I went to Rome! This trip was amazing and I was really excited that I ended up getting the opportunity to go because although I have always wanted to go to Italy I did not think it was going to be possible on this trip. So here is what we did:

Friday: Our flight was Friday morning around 10 AM, so we got into Rome around noon. After our flight landed, we took a train and the subway to our hostel. I was ultra paranoid about pickpocketers and was clutching my purse and guarding it so that I wouldn't get anything stolen from me. Once we got off the subway the hostel was really easy to find, we just had to walk for about 4 minutes. The hostel was very hostelish. There were 8 beds in our room with one bathroom. The bed was actually really comfortable but everytime someone came into the room I woke up. This was ok though because it was wicked cheap and the only time we were even at the hostel was when we were sleeping. Once we dropped our stuff off at the hostel we had lunch. For lunch we just went to a restaurant near our hotel and of course had to have pasta since we were in Italy. I had ravioli that was really good, it had cheese and spinach and was in some kind of buttery sauce. After lunch we walked around the Borghese park which was beautiful. We did not have time to go into the museum on this trip though. Then we headed over to the Spanish steps. I was really excited to see these and all of the other touristy attractions. The steps were cool and huge, as everything in Rome is. They were not that exciting though because they were in a really cool and pretty spot but they were covered with tourists. After the Spanish steps we started walking toward the Trevi Fountain. On the way we made a much needed stop for gelato. Then we ate our gelato and walked toward the fountain. I think that the fountain was one of my favorite things I saw in Rome. It was way bigger than I expected it to be and was beautiful. After the Trevi Fountain we walked to the Piazza Navona, looked around the square and sat at a cafe for a little while while the sun was setting. By this time it was dark out and we decided to go see the Pantheon. It was great to go at night when no one else was there because we could see it without tourists even though it was dark out. So we just sat at the Pantheon for a little while and enjoyed being in Italy. The Pantheon was absolutely huge, I was amazed that something could be that big. After the Pantheon we went to dinner and got pizza. The pizza was really good and really thin crust so mom would like it. I got pizza with mushrooms on it and I really liked it. After dinner we were all exhausted and had to be up early so we just went back to the hostel and went to bed.

Saturday: On Saturday we woke up early and went to the Vatican City. This means that I actually went to two countries on this trip, not just one. Before we went we just stopped at a little cafe by the hostel and got breakfast pastries, which were great. The first thing we did was go to St. Peter's Basilica and climb all the way to the top. We made a stop inside to see the ceiling which, just like everything else in Rome was huge and ornate. Then we continued upwards and go to go outside on the balcony of the building. Then we kept going up the stairs, which twisted around, were extremely narrow and had leaning walls that made me feel like Alice in Wonderland. Once I got to the top I was amazed at how far you could see and how much you could see. After we looked around we headed down and went into the gift shop. There were nuns working in the store. I thought about buying something for Amy but when I looked at stuff I saw lightening bolts start to flash so I didn't get anything. They also sold calendars of sexy priests on the streets but I thought they were a little sacreligious. After hiking up the Basilica we went inside to look around. It was gorgeous and I am still in shock how they could make everything so huge, beautiful and ornate. Then we went to the Vatican Museums and saw all of the artwork. This ended with the Sistine Chapel which was one of the coolest things I've seen, because of the amount of art put into one place. We ended up finding seats and were able to just sit and look at everything for a while. After the Sistine Chapel we were hungry and tired so we decided to find somewhere to get lunch. We just went to a pizza place and were able to sit outside since the weather was nice. I got vegetarian pizza and then decided to try a profiterole which ended up being pretty good but not as great as I thought it would actually be in Italy. Then after lunch we just walked around Rome for the afternoon, did some window shopping and just stopped at parks and different places to just see sights and see all parts of the city. We also headed back over to the Pantheon so that we could go inside. I liked being able to see inside but I loved being able to see it at night without so many tourists. Then we met up with one of Nick's friends who was visiting a friend who lives in Rome and she took us to a great gelato place where they had nutella gelato. Then we walked around to city for a while longer and found a place to have dinner. I just got salad for dinner but it was really good because it had mozzarella in it. After dinner we just went to the hostel and went to bed because we were tired from such a long day of touring.

Sunday: Sunday we woke up, had breakfast and headed over to the Colosseum. The Colosseum was great, it was cool to see something so old and actually be able to stand in it and think about the history of it. It also had great views of the city from inside it. After the Colosseum we went over to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill to see the ruins of the ancient city. This was wicked cool because it had pieces of ancient columns, the foundations of buildings, random rooms of buildings and random columns just floating around. The oldest temple in the world was also there as was the place where Julius Caesar was killed. This was another one of my favorite things because we could literally sit in the middle of history. We walked around the forum for a while until we were really tired and hungry and then went to have some gelato for a snack. After we got gelato we ended up not having anywhere to sit and eat it so we walked around to find somewhere to have coffee. The place we found ended up being in the Jewish section of Rome and it was a cute little neighborhood. Then we walked around for a few more hours to just see more of the city. After this walk we were exhausted and decided to find a place for dinner. We ended up walking through a residential neighborhood and down a side street to find a great restaurant. Julie and I split artichoke bruschetta which was delicious and then I just got plain pasta with sauce. It was some of the best sauce that I have ever had though. For dessert I got tiramisu and it was also delicious. This all makes sense since I was in Italy! Once we were through with dinner we headed back to the hostel and sat in the park near there for a little while, just enjoying the fact that we were in Rome and could actually sit outside and not freeze. Then we headed inside, packed up our stuff and went to bed.

Monday: Today we woke up at 4 AM to make our 7:45 flight. We had to walk to the train station, take a train and then make our way through the airport. The flight ended up only being about an hour and a half though. I missed one class but we were back in time to shower, have lunch and go to the second class.

Overall, I had a great time in Italy. I loved everything about it, especially all the touristy sights we saw and the food. The weather was gorgeous and it was one of the most interesting and fun experiences I have had.